Josh Files took an authoritative victory in TCR Europe’s first race at the Red Bull Ring and so took the leadership in the standings, because none of the drivers who were placed on top of the classification before the race scored.
Files’ winning move was the overtaking of pole sitter Luca Filippi after the start; from that moment on, the Briton showed a superior pace, which was the evidence that the Target Competition crew had worked well to solve the problems his Hyundai car had suffered during Friday’s Practice. Not even a safety car intervention that regrouped the field prevented Files from pulling away at the restart.
L. Filippi was unable to convert the pole into his maiden Touring Car victory, but achieved his first podium result since he joined the category and completed a 1-2 finish for Hyundai. The Korean brand would have made a clean sweep without Daniel Lloyd who managed to finish third, worming his way amongst a group of five i30 N cars. Lloyd stole third place to Nelson Panciatici, who then put in a great defence driving and resisted the assaults from Luca Engstler.
Julien Briché, Gilles Magnus and Aurélien Comte who were first, second and third in the standings after Spa remained scoreless. The Frenchman’s Peugeot stopped on the track with a technical problem, Magnus was dropped out of the points by a 5-second penalty for a grid infringement and Comte was eliminated in the pile up triggered by the collision between Martin Ryba and Santiago Urrutia that eliminated Jessica Bäckman and Teddy Clairet as well.
Files now leads the standings by 12 points over Briché, while Magnus is third a further 13 points adrift.
The second race will start tomorrow at 11:30 with Tom Coronel and Gianni Morbidelli sharing the front row of the top-ten reverse grid; live streaming at www.tcr-series.comand www.tcr-series.tv.

Key facts
Grid – Urrutia is dropped by five positions, from 13^th to 18^th because of the penalty he was given for the incident with Magnus in the second race at Spa; Bihel’s car is missing after it suffered from a power steering issue during Qualifying
Start – L. Filippi starts well from the pole, but Files is faster and takes the lead into T1; J. Filippi and Paulsen collide at T1, they both retire
Lap 1 – Files leads from L. Filippi, Panciatici, Lloyd, Kajaia, Engstler and Potty; Briché goes wide at T3 and drops down to 24^th
Lap 2 – Files pulls away, while Kajaia and Engstler are in a close fight for 5^th; Briché stops on the track with a technical issue
Lap 3 – A. Bäckman overtakes Urrutia for 15^th, soon afterwards Ryba hits Urrutia sending him into a spin and triggering a pile up that involves Davidovski, J. Bäckman, Kangas, Comte and T. Clairet
Lap 4 – the safety car is deployed, Bihel joins the race
Lap 9 – racing resumes with less than six minutes to go; Engstler overtakes Kajaia for 5^th
Lap 10 – Borković overtakes Potty for 7^th
Lap 11 – Homola overtakes Coronel for 9^th, then they collide, Coronel drops to 13^th and then retires
Lap 12 – Lloyd overtakes Panciatici for third
Lap 13 – Files wins from L. Filippi and Lloyd, while Panciatici retains the fourth position beating Engstler, Borković and Kajaia in the final sprint

Race 1
1. Josh Files  (Target Competition, Hyundai i30 N), 17 laps
2. Luca Filippi (BRC Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 1.187
3. Daniel Lloyd (Brutal Fish Racing Team, Honda Civic FK7), 4.664
4. Nelson Panciatici (M Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 5.549
5. Luca Engstler (M1RA Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 5.768

Championship points
1. Files 159; 2. Briché 147; 3. Magnus 134