Harald Proczyk wins rain disrupted race in Zandvoort to take title to the wire

HP Racing’s Harald Proczyk won the second race of the weekend at a rain-hit Zandvoort to ensure the TCR Germany title will be decided at the season finale in Hockenheim, with Target’s Josh Files finishing in fifth.

After three acclimatisation laps to get used to the wet conditions, the race started with a standing start, with pole-sitter Simon Larsson’s Target SEAT quickly passed by Proczyk’s SEAT from second on the grid as well as the SEATs of Mike Halder and Antti Buri.

The race was soon halted behind the safety car when Larsson slid into the gravel at Scheivlak, with Honda Team ADAC’s Dominik Fugel also off at the same corner.

The race barely had a chance to get going again on lap four, when VFR Racing’s Finlay Crocker slid off at the Arie Luyendyk curve before making it back to the start line, and with the other Honda Team ADAC driver Steve Kirsch burying his Civic in the gravel at Tarzan, effectively ending his title challenge.

There was one more attempt to get the race restarted on lap seven. When the green flag waved, Antti Buri passed Halder’s SEAT around the outside at Tarzan, with Engstler Volkswagen Tim Zimmermann repeating the move on the outside on the next lap to grab third.

The move would prove to be in vain for Zimmermann though, as the Honda of Finlay Crocker, which had rejoined the race after his earlier off, slid off the track again, this time at Tarzan, and with just four minutes left, the race director brought out the red flag, with the result counting back to the end of lap seven and Proczyk confirmed as the winner.

Files crossed the line fifth after limited opportunities to make his way forward from his ninth spot on the grid in the rain-affected race. The British driver heads to Hockenheim on October 2nd with a 41.5 lead over Proczyk, his only rival for the inaugural TCR Germany drivers’ title with 55 points remaining.