Photo: TCR Germany

Antti Buri takes commanding victory at the Red Bull Ring

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Finnish driver Antti Buri claimed a commanding victory in the final TCR Germany series race of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring, crossing the finishing line close to seven seconds ahead of yesterday’s winner Harald Proczyk.

The LMS Racing driver started third but made his way past fellow Audi driver and pole sitter Rene Kircher and Honda driver Michelle Halder early in the race.

There was an early safety car session as Profi-Car Team Honda ADAC Sachsen driver Dominik Fugel stopped on track after being collected following a collision between Opel driver Jan Seyffert and Honda driver Bradley Burns.

WTCR driver Gabriele Tarquini had another troublesome race, having to pit for repairs and losing a lap on the leaders to finish 14th.

VW Team Oettinger driver Mitchell Cheah put some pressure on Buri in the first part of the race but was given a drive-through penalty for jumping the start, dropping him from second to tenth place.

This elevated Racing One driver Kircher to second place but was soon reeled in by HP Racing International driver Proczyk who was able to make his way past. Proczyk finished second with Kircher third, three seconds behind.

Michelle Halder, who started second, finished fourth for Profi-Car Team Halder while a trio of Hyundai drivers finished fifth, sixth and seventh in the form of Max Hesse, Lukas Niedertscheider and Theo Coicaud.

Honda driver Mike Halder had a tough race, driving the last part with his bonnet flapping in the wind due to damage sustained earlier in the race. The final bonnet latch managed to hold the bonnet in place though and Halder was able to cross the line in eighth place despite hard pressure from TOPCAR Sport driver Julien Apotheloz.

Buri heads the championship table on 207 points, 13 points ahead of Proczyk and 31 points ahead of Mike Halder.

The next TCR Germany series round takes place at Zandvoort on August 9-11th.