Photo: TCR Europe

Adam Shepherd wins Barcelona opener as title fight heats up

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Adam Shepherd commanded the first race of the TCR Europe season finale at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to win ahead of Mike Halder, who continues to close the gap in the title fight.

The race started with pole-sitter Halder getting a good launch into the lead while Victor Chan jumped the start by over a second from second place on the grid, something the Honda driver received a five-second penalty for.

Shepherd made a strong start from fourth on the grid to second place heading into Turn 1.

The Monlau Motorsport driver then quickly caught ALM Motorsport driver Halder, passing for the lead before the end of the first lap.

Mikhail Simonov was involved in the top fight in the first part of the race before coming to a halt beside the track on lap four due to a technical issue.

Viktor Andersson was on the move during the first part of the race after suffering a fuel pump issue during qualifying which saw him starting 12th.

The Cupra driver made his way past Ruben Volt for fifth place on lap five.

There was a tough fight for third place between Chan, who had his five-second penalty hanging over his head, and Junesung Park.

The two drivers swapped paint and positions several times, with Park claiming the final podium position as Chan’s penalty dropped him down to seventh.

Shepherd won the race with a margin of two seconds over Halder while Park was four seconds behind in third.

Andersson came home in fourth ahead of Volt and points leader Marco Butti, who drove an anonymous race to finish sixth.

Julien Briché took his JSB Competition-prepared Hyundai to eighth ahead of the PMA Motorsport duo of Nicolas Taylor and Nicola Baldan.

Butti remains in the lead of the drivers’ championship, but Halder is only five points adrift in second place while Andersson has moved to third, 19 points behind.

Taylor is fourth, 25 points behind and Alex Ley, who finished the race in 17th place, has dropped to fifth, 27 points adrift.

The final race of the season starts at 11:35 CET on Sunday.