Points leader Josh Files focussed only on wins and podiums in title fight

TCR Europe series points leader Josh Files says he is not focussing on securing the championship at Barcelona this weekend, despite starting Race 1 on the front row.

The Target Competition Hyundai driver came into the weekend with a 78-point margin over M1RA’s Luca Engstler, which he extended by a further four points after qualifying.

JSB Compétition’s Julien Briché is also in contention, a further seven points adrift of Engstler in third.

But with wet weather set to dictate the rest of Saturday’s action, Files says his aim is to score points instead of thinking about championship implications.

“For me, it’s still about just trying to get podiums and wins and maximising what we can with the conditions as they are,” Files told TouringCarTimes.

“Luca is 12th but you forget that Briché is not that far behind for Race 1, he’s light and has got a very fast-starting Peugeot. That’s today’s race but then tomorrow’s race is reversed grid and Luca is right with us so it should be an interesting scrap between us.”

He added: “Championships take care of themselves. We’ll only think of the championship the very race we can win or lose it. Other than that, we are just looking for wins and just have fair, hard racing.”

With the Hyundai i30 N TCR the heaviest car on the grid this weekend, Files believes the heavy rain shower which hit the circuit ahead of qualifying was key to securing a front row starting position.

But the British driver is wary of the pace advantage of the much lighter Audis and Peugeots behind him come the race.

“I think the Peugeots will be quick, with Briché and the Clairets, so I just want a close, hard-fought touring car race. That’s what everyone wants to see and that’s what we want to,” Files said.

“[I’m] really happy the rain came to be honest, because we knew from yesterday that [the Audis] had a little bit more in hand and we didn’t. So, in the dry on one lap performance, we could have made Q2 probably, but it would have been the back-end and focusing on the reversed grid.

“In the rain, we could push a lot more because it wasn’t such a deficit. So that was good but I think the cars are all very close and the teams are pushing as hard as they can and I just hope it’s a close race.”

He added: “We only know the car over one lap in the rain, because we’ve never run it over a long run in these conditions.”