TCR World and life

15 GERMANY Luca Engstler’s cleansweep inOschersleben ON HIS RETURN TO THE CHAMPIONSHIP, THE YOUNG GERMAN DRIVER SWAYS OVER THE FIELD IN BOTH RACES Luca Engstler got his TCR Germany return off to the best possible start by taking two dominant victories in Oschersleben. With the additional 18 points scored thanks to the new Qualifying system, Engstler has already built a gap of 22 points in the standings. The first race was all about the start. Engstler (top left) got away cleanly from P2 on the grid to take the lead and then was never threatened. His teammate and pole- sitter Martin Andersen had a poor start and was passed by both Dominik and Marcel Fugel. For the leaders, the race was largely processional, until Nico Gruber passed Andersen for fourth place; he then started to close in on Marcel Fugel. Over the final five laps, two battles emerged, as Marcel Fugel began to close in on his brother Dominik for second place and Gruber was forced to switch from attacking Marcel Fugel for P3 to defending fourth position from a determined Scalvini. On the final lap, Scalvini finally found a way to pass and snatch fourth place while Dominik kept Marcel at bay to finish second. Engstler then started Race 2 from pole with Gruber alongside. They made good starts and were first and second, while Dominik and Marcel Fugel both passed Andersen and Scalvini, moving into P3 and P4 respectively. With the two Hyundai cars and Dominik Fugel starting to pull away, a terrific four-way scrap for P4 developed between Marcel Fugel, Andersen, Scalvini and René Kircher. There were contacts between Fugel and Andersen, which saw Fugel dropping to seventh and Andersen being given a drive-through penalty. The battle for fourth was then a two-way affair between Scalvini and Kircher and was only settled on Lap 18 when Scalvini locked up his brakes and Kircher was able to dive past. Dominik Fugel, meanwhile, had been catching Gruber (bottom left) and was trying everything to get past. On the final lap the pair made slight contact and Fugel managed to muscle his way past to finish second behind Engstler again. After the race, however, he was given a 1.5-second penalty for the incident on the final lap that meant he dropped to third behind Gruber. Round 1 – Saturday 15 May, Motorsport Arena Oschersleben 1. L. Engstler (Hyundai Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N); 2. D. Fugel (Honda ADAC Sachsen, Honda Civic Type-R); 3. M. Fugel (Honda ADAC Sachsen, Honda Civic Type- R) Round 2 – Sunday 16 May, Motorsport Arena Oschersleben 1. L. Engstler (Hyundai Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N); 2. N. Gruber (Hyundai Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N); 3. D. Fugel (Honda ADAC Sachsen, Honda Civic Type-R)