South Korean racer Roelof Bruins and Thailand’s Tin Sritrai shared the victories in the opening round of the TCR Asia Series season at the Korea International Circuit.
Viper Niza Racing’s Bruins took the lead half-way through the opening race when his SEAT León Cup Racer made contact with the Team Thailand Honda Civic of Sritrai, causing the latter to spin out of contention for a podium finish.
The controversial incident was met without penalty for Bruins, allowing him to take a first TCR Asia Series victory ahead of Hong Kong racer Andy Yan, who he caught and passed late in the race, and Champ Motorsport’s Henry Ho.
Sritrai managed to salvage a fourth-place finish, ahead of Macanese trio Michael Ho, Kevin Tse and experienced touring car racer Filipe Clemente de Souza.
Round 1 result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 | Roelof Choe Albert BRUINS |  |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 14 | 33:50.393 | 2:23.404 | 5 |
| 2 | 3 | Andy YAN Cheuk Wai |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 1.527 | 2:23.350 | 3 |
| 3 | 88 | Henry HO Wai Kun |  |
Champ Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 14 | 5.312 | 2:23.910 | 4 |
| 4 | 9 | Tin SRITRAI |  |
Team Thailand | Honda Civic TCR | 14 | 7.054 | 2:23.244 | 1 |
| 5 | 38 | Michael HO Hon Keong | |
Champ Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 14 | 19.459 | 2:24.515 | 6 |
| 6 | 8 | Kevin TSE Wing Kin | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 19.768 | 2:23.943 | 2 |
| 7 | 26 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 29.589 | 2:24.553 | 7 |
| 8 | 17 | Terence TSE Kin Leung | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:27.331 | 8 |
| 9 | 22 | YU Kam Cheong | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:32.781 | 10 |
| 10 | 7 | Bill O’BRIEN | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:32.545 | 9 |
| 11 | 65 | Douglas KHOO Kok Hui |  |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León TCR | 12 | 2 Laps | 2:32.397 | 11 |
Race two
Race two saw Sritrai exact his revenge, taking victory from eighth on the reversed grid. The Thai racer had caught leading duo of Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Yan and Viper Niza Racing’s Bruin, successfully passing Bruins for the lead on lap four.
Sritrai then built up a comfortable lead, whilst Yan took second from Bruins on lap six and then spent the remainder of the race defending his position.
Bruins finished third, whilst Kevin Tse was fourth, improving on his race one result.
The result of the two races mean that Sritrai leads the drivers’ championship on 45 points ahead of Bruins on 41 and Yan on 39.
Round 2 result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 9 | Tin SRITRAI | |
Team Thailand | Honda Civic TCR | 14 | 14 Laps | 2:22.634 | 8 |
| 2 | 3 | Andy YAN Cheuk Wai | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 2.591 | 2:22.402 | 6 |
| 3 | 1 | Roelof Choe Albert BRUINS | |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 14 | 3.503 | 2:22.814 | 4 |
| 4 | 8 | Kevin TSE Wing Kin | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | 10.099 | 2:22.849 | 7 |
| 5 | 26 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:23.873 | 2 |
| 6 | 88 | Henry HO Wai Kun | |
Champ Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:22.701 | 5 |
| 7 | 38 | Michael HO Hon Keong | |
Champ Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:23.687 | 3 |
| 8 | 17 | Terence TSE Kin Leung | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:27.054 | 1 |
| 9 | 22 | YU Kam Cheong | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:33.712 | 10 |
| 10 | 7 | Bill O’BRIEN | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:31.094 | 9 |
| 11 | 65 | Douglas KHOO Kok Hui | |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León TCR | 13 | 1 Lap | 2:33.226 | 11 |
Qualifying result (top ten – Q2, 11 – Q1)
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP |
| 1 | 9 | Tin SRITRAI | |
Team Thailand | Honda Civic TCR | 4 | 2:21.137 | 0.000 |
| 2 | 8 | Kevin TSE Wing Kin | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 4 | 2:22.295 | 1.158 |
| 3 | 3 | Andy YAN Cheuk Wai | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 4 | 2:22.856 | 1.719 |
| 4 | 88 | Henry HO Wai Kun | |
Champ Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 4 | 2:23.006 | 1.869 |
| 5 | 1 | Roelof Choe Albert BRUINS | |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 4 | 2:23.489 | 2.352 |
| 6 | 38 | Michael HO Hon Keong | |
Champ Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 4 | 2:23.901 | 2.764 |
| 7 | 26 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 4 | 2:24.027 | 2.890 |
| 8 | 17 | Terence TSE Kin Leung | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 4 | 2:27.934 | 6.797 |
| 9 | 7 | Bill O’BRIEN | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 4 | 2:29.400 | 8.263 |
| 10 | 22 | YU Kam Cheong | |
RoadStar Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 2 | No time | N/A |
| 11 | 65 | Douglas KHOO Kok Hui | |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León TCR | 7 | 2:32.149 | 9.435 |