Viktor Andersson claims maiden TCR World Tour win at Inje
Viktor Andersson claimed his maiden FIA TCR World Tour win in the second race of the weekend at Inje Speedium despite hard pressure from Ma Qing Hua.
The Cupra driver started from the reversed grid pole position and made a strong start to lead a squabbling pack into the first corner.
Disaster struck reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher who made contact with Junesung Park and Aurelien Comte right after the lights went out, resulting in terminal suspension damage for the Geely driver who pulled to the side of the track during the first lap.
Jean-Karl Vernay made contact with Ma in the fight for second place during the first lap, resulting in a slide for the Chinese driver who still was able to cling on to second place.
Vernay meanwhile lost a lot of momentum and found himself passed by Park, Aurélien Comte and Thed Björk.
Comte then hit trouble on lap six as he slowed down and headed into the pits with some kind of technical issue.
Trouble also hit former points leader Urrutia who started to slow on lap seven, losing several positions.
The Uruguayan driver pitted on lap 16 due to a failed power steering issue and had to be assisted by his pit crew to exit the car.
Ma meanwhile piled the pressure on Andersson for the lead during the last part of the race.
But the Swedish driver managed to withstand the pressure to claim his first FIA TCR World Tour win, just over a second ahead of Ma.
Local hero Park finished a strong third to claim his first FIA TCR World Tour podium.
Björk made his way from seventh on the grid to finis fourth ahead of Vernay.
Norbert Michelisz was let past by BRC Hyundai team-mate and Race 1 winner Mikel Azcona towards the end of the race, with the duo finishing sixth and seventh.
Diego Moran rounded off the top eight for ATE Racing By DM23.
Azcona now heads Urrutia by 33 points in the standings, with the Uruguayan driver sharing second place with Michelisz.
The third and final race of the day starts at 16:30 local time/09:30 CEST.
