Josh Files and Target Competition happy with strong start of the year

The TCR Germany series had plenty of action and incidents at the season opener in Oschersleben today, with Josh Files, Steve Kirsh and Sheldon van der Linde visiting the podium after a tough race.

Target Competition’s Josh Files was satisfied after controlling the race, making the right move at the beginning: “A perfect start, I am very happy. The key to victory was that I came to the front so early. Steve was close, but if you look too much backwards, it will only slow you down. I did not give him any chance to attack me again. I had to focus during the safety car periods, which is never easy, but it worked fortunately.”

Files’ boss at Target Competition Andreas Gummerer was happy with the season start after a strong team result: “We are very satisfied. Josh won, we’ve had five drivers in the top ten and no retirements in such a big field. Of course we want to go back to win the championship. Having a larger entry in the ADAC TCR is certainly a step in the right direction and makes the series even more attractive. Today’s problems on the track will surely be avoided with increasing experience.”

Second-placed Steve Kirsch was caught by surprise during the start procedure: “We were all surprised at the start that went so fast. The traffic light has jumped quickly, we all have a little twitched and then it was already started. I would have liked to drive a bit faster, but Josh did not leave me. But we still have a few events. During the safety car phases it was mainly a problem to keep the tires of our Hondas to temperature. For such a big driver field, it worked well today, we expected worse. ”

Audi driver Sheldon van der Linde put on a controlled drive to reach the final step of the podium, but expects a tough fight with the men from Target Competition: “I am happy with the results, precisely because of the safety car phases. The Target Hondas are already very strong. In the second race, we will start before them, which could be an advantage.”

Luca Engstler made his debut in his national series, being 17th overall after a tough qualifying session and winning the Rookie Class: “On the whole, I am satisfied, although I would have preferred to have finished a bit higher. But we still have a few events to go. Tomorrow I will start from the 27th position, so I have a good deal of work ahead of me.”

Race 2 is scheduled for Sunday afternoon at 14:50 CET.