Josh Files’ car to be replaced following Spa shunt

Josh Files expects to get a new car for the next round of the TCR Europe series following his disastrous weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, where the former points leader slid to fifth in the standings following a no-score weekend.

Files weekend became unstuck in qualifying on Saturday morning, when he crashed out his Target Competition Hyundai i30 N TCR at Raidillon, after he was tasked to put together another lap after his first lap had been deleted by the stewards.

The team managed to repair the car in the three-hour gap ahead of Race 1, and Files was up to 22nd from 33rd at the start, before stopping with a puncture.

The team opted to take the engine change penalty which was mostly harmless for Race 2, and Files against started 33rd, and worked his way up to 21st after one lap, eventually finishing the race 16th, one place outside of the points.

Files is now fifth, 35 points behind new points leader Julien Briché.

“The championship will look after itself – but to be one place away from the points is always challenging,” said Files to TouringCarTimes.

“There’s too much damage to the car after my accident in qualifying, I think the differential and the gearbox is broken, all accident damage, the boys did a great job to get it out there and we did what we could.

“For Red Bull Ring, we should lose a bit of weight, and the others should gain some weight, and we should have a better chance with probably a new car.”