Photo: TCR Germany

Josh Files wins at Sachsenring as Mike Halder keeps title bid alive

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Josh Files won the second race at Sachsenring from pole position. The Honda driver came home ahead of title rival Mike Halder, who denied him the chance to win the championship before the Hockenheim finale by coming second in his SEAT. Kris Richard completed the podium for Target Competition.

At the start Files stayed into the lead, with Richards following him closely as Mike Halder made up two places from fifth to get straight into the podium zone. The SEAT driver managed to pass Richards on the second lap and tried to put pressure on the championship leader, but the Brit made no mistakes and went on to win the race.

A little further behind in the order Race 1 winner Sheldon van der Linde overtook fellow Audi driver Antti Buri for fifth on the third lap, with Volkswagen’s Luca Engstler immediately doing the same as he took advantage of the Finn’s difficult moment.

The fight for fourth between the two Honda ADAC Team Sachsen drivers resolved on the sixth lap as Steve Kirsch made a clean move on team-mate Moritz Oestreich, who subsequently came under pressure from van der Linde and Engstler for several laps. The Audi driver overtook the Honda on lap 10, followed by Engstler a couple of laps later.

Oestreich was then pressured by Antti Buri and Harald Proczyk, the SEAT driver making full use of his experience to pass the Finn for eighth on lap 17. It took him two more laps to pass the Honda as Team Engstler’s Florian Thoma also joined the queue. A couple of good moves allowed the Volkswagen driver to pass both Buri and Oestreich, who slipped out of the points as he tried to defend from the Finn.

Files won the race ahead of Halder, the Brit’s advantage now up to 78 points in the championship with 85 still up for grabs. Kris Richard was third in his Target Competition Honda, ahead of stable-mate Steve Kirsch and Sheldon van der Linde, who withstood the pressure from Luca Engstler to finish fifth. Proczyk came seventh ahead of Thoma, with Antti Buri and Audi’s Max Hofer completing the top ten.

Next up for TCR Germany is the season finale at Hockenheim next week, where Josh Files could clinch the title as early as in qualifying provided he scores two points more than Mike Halder.