Julien Briché did it again! Just like in the TCR Europe season opener at the Hungaroring, the experienced Frenchman was able to score victory in the weekend’s second race. At Hockenheim he converted his pole position into a lights-to-flag win ahead of his fellow countryman Aurélien Comte who chased him throughout the race and completed an impressive 1-2 for the Peugeot 308 cars. Jessica Bäckman claimed an historical female podium in TCR Europe, emerging as the best of the large and qualified group of Hyundai drivers, including her brother Andreas who was classified fourth.
Although the first four positions did not change, behind the leading quartet there were several battles for the positions with plenty of contacts and overtaking. Santiago Urrutia was able to recover to fifth, passing Maxime Potty, while the most entertaining fight was for the seventh position between Luca Engstler, Josh Files, Gilles Magnus and Tom Coronel who finished in this order. Among the victims of the fierce competition were Mat’o Homola, Dušan Borković, Stian Paulsen and Natan Bihel.
Files managed to retain the leadership in the standings, but Briché has moved up to second, only five points behind, demoting Magnus to third with a gap of 23.
The TCR Europe Series will resume in two-week time at Spa-Francorchamps for round 5 and 6.

Key facts
Start – Briché sprints from the pole ahead of J. Bäckman, Comte, Potty and A. Bäckman
Lap 1 – Comte overtakes J. Bäckman for 2^nd; A. Bäckman overtakes Potty for 4^th; Borković hits Paulsen and sends him onto the gravel at T13
Lap 2 – the safety car is deployed; Homola pits and retires with damage at the front
Lap 4 – the race resumes, Engstler and Files fight for the 7^th position; Magnus and Coronel join them in the battle; Wadoux, Al-Khelaifi and Kajaia rejoin after driving wide
Lap 5 – Borković is given a drive through for the incident with Paulsen
Lap 6 – Magnus overtakes Files for eighth
Lap 7 – Files retakes eighth from Magnus; L. Filippi and Coronel fight for 10^th
Lap 8 – Urrutia overtakes Potty for fifth; Davidovski punts Bihel into a spin
Lap 9 – Ryba stops along the track; Panciatici retires into the pits
Lap 10 – Tenke and Bihel pit and retire
Lap 12 – Comte defends the second place from the Bäckmans and Urrutia
Lap 13 – Briché wins from Comte, Jessica and Andreas Bäckman, Urrutia and Potty

Race 2
1. Julien Briché (JSB Compétition, Peugeot 308), 13 laps
2. Aurélien Comte (DG Sport Compétition, Peugeot 308), 1.302
3. Jessica Bäckman (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 2.235
4. Andreas Bäckman (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 2.666
5. Santiago Urrutia (Team WRT, Audi RS 3 LMS), 3.951

Championship points
1. Files 112 pts; 2. Briché 107; 3. Magnus 89