TCR World and life

The ADAC TCR Germany season finale at the Nürburgring was all about the battle for second in the Drivers’ championship between Martin Andersen, Dominik Fugel and Eric Scalvini. Luca Engstler, who had secured the title in the previous event at Hockenheim, was racing in the WTCR at Adria and so left the stage to his vice-champion wannabe. Engstler’s teammate Andersen began the weekend in the best possible way, taking pole position for Saturday’s Race 1 that he then led from the lights to the flag (left), scoring his maiden victory in the German series. His life was made easier by a couple of controversial penalties handed to his rivals Dominik Fugel and Scalvini who had made contact in lap 2. Scalvini spun and rejoined in 12th position, while Fugel moved up to second ahead of his brother Marcel and began to eat into Andersen’s lead. However, Fugel had to serve a drive-through for the incident, while Scalvini received a 5-second penalty for track limit infringements. Fugel eventually finished fourth, and so Andersen moved up to second in the standings, three points clear of his rival. Marcel Fugel, the pole-sitter in Race 2, was eager to help his brother, but he overdid things. Pipped by Andersen at the start, he punted him into a spin which resulted in a drive-through. After serving the penalty, Fugel made several contacts with Nico Gruber who was running second ahead of Dominik and finally was black-flagged. Up front, Jonas Karklys passed Szymon Ładniak during the final lap to claim his maiden victory in the series (above and below), while Andersen recovered to finish fifth behind Dominik Fugel, outscoring him by one point in the final standings. Round 13 – Saturday 6 November, Nürburgring 1. M. Andersen (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N); 2. D. Fugel (Team ADAC Sachsen, Honda Civic Type R Fk7); 3. N. Gruber (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N) Round 14 – Sunday 8 November, Nürburgring 1. J. Karklys (Jutaracing, Hyundai i30 N); 2. S. Ładniak (Halder Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7); 3. N. Gruber (Team Engstler, Hyundai i30 N) 15