Max Hart picked up his first win and Target Competition’s first in over two years in an action-packed first race the Hockenheimring in Germany, capitalising on a bad opening lap for pole-sitter Marco Butti, before diving past TCR Europe veteran Nicola Baldan to snatch victory, while there was plenty of drama behind him.

Butti bogged down on the line in his MM Motorsport Honda, allowing rival Italian Baldan to get the jump and lead into Turn 1 in his AIKOA Racing Audi RS 3, while Hart went side-by-side with Butti into Turn 1, but dropped in behind both Butti and Eric Gené’s CUPRA, who had a run around the outside of the corner.

Butti then locked up at Turn 6 and fell behind both Gené and Hart, while there was trouble behind as Jean-Laurent Navarro spun around Filippo Barberi’s Audi at the same corner, which also saw Navarro’s brother and team-mate Pierre-Arnaud take damage, as well as the RC2 Honda of Victor Fernández.

Hart then dived past Gene for second just before the safety car was called to recover the car of Jean-Laurent Navarro, while his brother was called in to remove his trailing rear bumper by the race director.

After the restart, Hart dived on Baldan’s Audi at Turn 2 and snatched the lead, with Gené following him through into second place, while behind Nicolas Taylor clipped the rear of Santigo Concepción’s RC2 Honda at Turn 2, which knocked him out of fifth place.

Butti took third from Baldan at Turn 6, while Concepción’s race went from bad to worse as he made contact with the rear of Junui Park’s Hyundai as they entered the same corner, and both fell further down the order.

Jimmy Clairet was now on the move, passing Taylor for fifth place, while Taylor was now under attack from both Ruben Volt’s Honda and Jimmy’s brother and points leader Teddy, with Volt getting ahead at the end of the lap.

Butti soon took second from Gené and began to close down on race leader Hart, while Baldan soon passed Gené as well, with the Spanish driver now fighting to fend off Jimmy Clairet.

Clairet completed the move for fourth with a dive down the inside of Gené at Turn 6 on lap eight, and set off chasing the rival Audi of Baldan. 

Team-mate Teddy Clairet’s race came to an end on lap 11, as he locked up at Turn 6 and hit the rear of Taylor’s Audi, dropping Taylor behind his own PMA Motorsport Audi team-mate Felice Jelmini, while Clairet stopped in the escape road.

At the front, Hart had settled down into a comfortable lead ahead of Butti, while Jimmy Clairet grabbed third from Baldan after a daring move at the chicane at Turn 8, dropping Baldan to fourth, with Gené crossing the line fifth.

In the championship, Jimmy Clairet now retakes the lead, 17 points clear of Butti who moves up to second, one point ahead of Teddy Clairet.

The second race of the weekend is scheduled for 11:40 CEST tomorrow, with Felipe Fernández set to start from pole, but with championship leader Jimmy Clairet alongside him on the front row.