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WORLD AND LIFE
TCR 2017
NEWS
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DRIVERS TEAM
TCR Germany’s second season began
with a stunning 41-car field that
packed into the Oschersleben
Motorsport Arena for two eventful
races.
The reigning champion Josh Files
resumed his winning ways at the
wheel of his Target Competition
Honda Civic; the Briton won the first
race, was classified third in the
second and took the lead in the
standings with a margin of 14 points.
In the first race, Files made a great
start from fourth on the grid and
chased his teammate, pole-sitter Kris
Richard. By the start of lap 2, Files
had snatched the lead, with Steve
Kirsch having taken second place in
another Honda and the Audi of
Sheldon van der Linde up to third
ahead of Richard.
Two incidents within moments of
each other on lap 5 then brought out
the Safety Car for the first time. Files
controlled the restart beautifully and
led Kirsch by nearly a second, but
the Safety Car was again deployed
after another collision.
When racing resumed, Files and
Kirsch had a close fight, but
frustratingly for Kirsch, another
incident again brought out the
Safety Car and the clock had run
down by the time the race could
restart, which meant one last lap in
which to dash for the line.
Kirsch wasn’t close enough to benefit
and so Files got his title defence off
to the best possible start by winning
the opening round. Kirsch was
second and van der Linde third,
In Race 2, the 21-year old Florian
Thoma started from pole in a Junior
Josh Files
makes
a winning start
Team Engstler Volkswagen Golf and
controlled the race from the front,
holding off the challenge from the
Target Competition Audi RS3 LMS of
Tim Zimmermann.
Files started from seventh on the
grid, but another good start meant
he was fourth going into Turn 1. He
then passed José Rodrigues on lap 2
for third place and held onto the
position to claim the final podium
place.
Almost inevitably, the Safety Car
reappeared and it was duly deployed
twice, first to recover a car from the
gravel trap and again following an oil
fire involving the Honda Civic of
Moritz Oestreich; there were just two