Photo: TCR Media

Josh Files: “It was all down to the start”

Josh Files made up for a poor start on Friday, which left him battling all race with Mulsanne Racing’s Davit Kajaia, with a sensational start in Race 2 on Saturday, picking off five cars to move into the lead in the space of half a lap.

The British driver rocketed away into the lead after that in the Lap57 Motorsports Honda Civic TCR, the type of car in which Files wrapped up his 2016 TCR Germany series title and never looked back, crossing the line 13 seconds clear of Kajaia’s Alfa Romeo.

“It all comes down to the start,” said Files. “Yesterday I got it wrong and today it was back to normal. I was actually in a position to go into the first corner four abreast with the Golf cars, but I thought ‘this will end in a crash’.

“I got past two of them in Turns 3 and 4, and I then just had Luca in front of me and he pretty much let me past in the first chicane. Thanks to him for that – he probably thought he didn’t have quite the same speed and let me go…the car Lap57 and JAS produced this weekend was just awesome and I can’t thank them enough.”