Photo: TCR Spain

Mike Halder and Michael Markussen claims TCR Spain wins at Jerez

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Mike Halder and Michael Markussen were victorious in the penultimate TCR Spain round of the season at Jerez in Spain.

The first race saw Halder starting from pole and headed the field from lights to flag, beating Cupra driver Eric Gené by just over two seconds.

Gené started third but passed Monlau Motorsport team-mate Jenson Brickley heading into Turn 1 on the first lap.

Danish Honda racer Markussen made a mistake on lap nine and lost fifth place to Felipe Fernandez.

Brickley came home in fourth ahead of TCR South America front-runner and team-mate Raphael Reis.

The start of the second race saw both drivers on the front row bogging down, with pole sitter Samuel Chaligne dropping down to finish eleventh while Sven Karuse dropped down to ninth.

Instead it was Victor Fernandez who claimed the lead from third on the grid ahead of Markussen, Sten-Dorian Piirimagi and Gené.

Race 1 winner Halder was on the move early on in the race and passed Cupra driver Reis and Gené for fourth on the first lap.

Markussen made the move for the lead on Victor Fernandez in the final turn on the first lap, allowing Piirimagi past as well.

And ALM Motorsport’s Piirimagi claimed the lead from Markussen a corner later, only to make a mistake a couple of corners later which allowed Markussen back past into the lead.

The safety car was called into action at the end of lap two as Demir Eroge made a mistake on his own and spun off into the gravel.

The racing resumed on lap five which saw Halder and Felipe Fernandez snatching second and third place from Piirimagi who later continued to drop down the order to finish sixth.

The next lap saw contact between Victor Fernandez and Gené in the fight for fifth, allowing Reis to pass them both. Reis was later passed by Monlau Motorsport team-mate who claimed the final podium position.

Halder closed in on Markussen towards the end of the race, but it was not enough and the Danish driver crossed the finishing line just over seven tenths of a second ahead of his German rival.

Felipe Fernandez rounded off the podium ahead of Monlau Motorsport drivers Reis and Brickley.

Halder heads the standings on 298 points, Gené is second on 257 and Brickley is third on 209.

The TCR Spain season finale is held at Barcelona on November 14-16.