Kasper Jensen and Mike Halder victorious in Padborg Park opener

Title rivals Kasper Jensen and Mike Halder were victorious in the three races of the TCR Denmark season opener at Padborg Park.

The first race of the weekend saw Mascot Motorsport driver Malte Ebdrup starting from pole position ahead of Jensen and Halder.

But the young Honda driver stalled as the lights went out and dropped to eighth and last position, handing the lead to team-mate Jensen ahead of Halder.

TPR Motorsport driver Halder quickly put pressure on Jensen and managed to snatch the lead before the end of the first lap.

Ebdrup fought his way back up through the field to claim the final podium position.

Jensen remained close to Halder for the majority of the race but was not able to get close enough to seriously challenge for the win.

Halder won the race just below a second ahead of Jensen while Ebdrup was a distant third, close to six seconds behind.

Jacob Wunderow was even further behind in fourth, close to 17 seconds from Halder, while René Povlsen rounded off the top five.

The second reversed-grid race saw Marco Dahl starting from pole position with his Hyundai i30 N TCR, the sole non-Honda driver of the field this weekend.

Dahl claimed the lead as the light went out ahead of Wunderov while Jensen made a rocket start from seventh on the grid to claim third before the end of the first lap.

Wunderov soon attacked Dahl for the lead, a fight which instead enabled Jensen to pass them both for the lead.

Dahl was unable to recover after that move and dropped down to finish seventh.

Ebdrup was also on the move early in the race and made his way past Wunderov for second place, setting his sights on team-mate Jensen in the lead.

Ebdrup piled the pressure on Jensen and was up alongside the reigning champion at one point. But Jensen showed his experience and held onto the lead, winning the race by just half a second over his young team-mate.

Race 1 winner Halder was also making his way up through the field from eighth and last on the grid, but could only get as high as third, finishing six seconds behind title rival Jensen.

The third and final race had Jensen starting from pole ahead of Halder and Ebdrup.

The Mascot Motorsport driver claimed the lead as the lights went out ahead of Halder while Ebdrup dropped two place to fifth behind Wunderov and Povlsen.

Ebdrup was quickly able to reclaim third place, a position he kept over the finishing line.

Jensen controlled the lead over Halder and won the race with a margin of two seconds.

The next TCR Denmark race takes place at Jyllandsringen on May 9-10.