Adam Shepherd wins safety car interrupted TCR Spain finale

TCR UK champion Adam Shepherd (Cupra) won the final TCR Spain race of the season, surviving two safety car sessions and a late charge from newly crowned champion Mike Halder (Honda).

Giovanni Scamardi started from the reversed grid pole position but was immediately swamped by the field and dropped down to eighth place before the end of the first lap.

Instead it was Monlau Motorsport’s Shepherd who made the best start from third on the grid to claim the lead ahead of Honda driver Ruben Fernandez.

Michael Markussen tapped René Povlsen into a spin at Turn 4 on the first lap, resulting in a retirement for Povlsen and a drive through penalty for Markussen who dropped down to finish 13th.

The incident brought the safety car on track.

The race resumed on lap five as Brickley made a strong restart while Felipe Ferndandez was caught napping and was passed by Halder for third position at Turn 1.

The German driver then passed Ruben Fernandez for second place a lap later and set his sights on leading driver Shepherd.

Halder brought the gap down to below a second by lap eleven, only for the safety car to head back on track on the penultimate lap as Sandro Pelatti went off into the barriers.

The field finished the race behind the safety car, with Shepherd crossing the finishing line first ahead of Halder and Ruben Fernandez.

Felipe Fernandez finished fourth ahead of the Monlau Motorsport duo of Jenson Brickley and Eric Gene.

Audi driver Sebastien Thome and pole-sitter Scamardi rounded off the top eight.