Photo: TCR

Josh Files takes championship lead with second win of the season

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Josh Files controlled the opening race of the Red Bull Ring weekend to take his second victory of the 2019 TCR Europe series, snatching the championship lead in the process.

The Target Competition driver had qualified on the front row alongside pole-sitter Luca Filippi, but got the better start and immediately grabbed the lead heading into the first corner. Nelson Panciatici initially held on to third as Hyundai cars ran 1-2-3, while further back Stian Paulsen and John Filippi made contact and retired.

Erstwhile points leader Julien Briché was another early retirement, pulling to the side of the track at Turn 6 on lap two as his and Peugeot’s nightmare weekend continued to unravel.

The safety car was called on lap three due to a multi-car pile-up at the Turn 2 hairpin at the top of the hill. Triggered by Honda driver Martin Ryba tagging Team WRT driver Santiago Urrutia into a spin, the incident also involved Target Competition driver Jessica Bäckman, Peugeot drivers Teddy Clairet and Aurélien Comte, as well as Honda driver Viktor Davidovski, all six retiring on the spot.

The stewards investigated the incident but ultimately decided to take no further action.

The race resumed on lap eight, with Luca Engstler grabbing the opportunity to snatch P5 away from qualifying star Davit Kajaia.

Up front, meanwhile, Files gradually pulled away from the chasing BRC Racing Team driver Filippi, eventually sealing an unchallenged second win of the season following his triumph at Hockenheim earlier in the year.

Filippi finished second, 1.1s behind, while Dan Lloyd (Honda) managed to overtake Panciatici for third with a bold move on the penultimate lap to break the Hyundai dominance.

Panciatici almost lost fourth after sliding wide at Turn 3 on the final lap, but just hung on to finish ahead of Engstler and yet another Hyundai driven by Dusan Borkovic.

The second race of the weekend starts at 11:30 CEST tomorrow.