James Nash took victory in the second TCR International Series race at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand, giving the Craft-Bamboo Racing driver the points lead after team-mate and rival Pepe Oriola hit trouble.
At the start of the race WestCoast Racing’s Mikhail Grachev got a good start to lead from Thai local Kantadhee Kusiri and Nash in third.
The racing didn’t last long, however, as the safety car was called out after the first lap when Grachev’s team-mate Gianni Morbidelli made a mistake exiting Turn 8, running wide onto the slippery astroturf which pitched his Honda Civic heavily into the barriers on the opposite side of the circuit.
With Morbidelli out of the race, it effectively spelt the end of his championship charge, which had been looking increasingly distant as the season progressed.
When the race started on lap four, Grachev got off to a good restart as second-placed Kusiri appeared to be caught out. Nash then got past the Honda Civic driver on lap five and immediately set about reducing the 2.5-second lead that Grachev had been able to easily open up as a result of Kusiri’s poor restart.
Nash made short work of the deficit, catching and passing the Russian driver at just past the half-way stage of the race. Grachev was able to hold on to second, thanks to the scrapping of the drivers behind him.
B3 Racing’s Dušan Borković took the final podium position, after some fierce, but clean, battling with the likes of Stefano Comini, Jean-Karl Vernay and Kusiri.
Leopard Racing’s Comini took fourth, ahead of Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Davit Kajaia in fifth, the Georgian racer pulling off a superbly-timed move on lap 14 to pass three cars in one go.
Attila Tassi brought his B3 Racing SEAT home in sixth, ahead of Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Sergey Afanasyev in seventh and Leopard Racing’s Vernay in eighth, who had lost out in the close duels, having at one stage been in contention for a podium.
Kusiri and B3 Racing’s Mat’o Homola completed the top ten, the former having gradually slipped back as he was caught in almost all of the battles for position.
As the lower half of the top ten took part in close battles, the bunching caused two casualties. Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Munkong Sathienthirakul caught the back of the pack, only for contact with Vattana Motorsport’s Narasak Ittiritpong to take him out of the race with a broken right-front wheel.
Race one winner Pepe Oriola was also a high-profile casualty, picking up a puncture after contact with Homola on the opening lap. After making a lengthy pitstop for a new tyre, the Spaniard could only manage 11th by the chequered flag and failed to score any points.
Vattana Motorsport’s Jack Lemvard originally finished in 13th, but was later hit with a post-race penalty for having overtaken Rafaël Galiana under yellow flag conditions, a penalty also applied to Sathienthirakul despite his failure to finish.
Failing to take the start were Mulsanne Racing’s Petr Fulín, after his race one accident, and Top Run Motorsport’s Luigi Ferrara, who had suffered from overheating issues earlier in the day.
Victory for Nash means he leads the drivers’ championship standings on 204 points, seven ahead of team-mate Oriola and ten ahead of third-placed Comini.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 54 | James NASH |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 30:31.095 | 1:44.251 | 5 |
| 2 | 8 | Mikhail GRACHEV |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 16 | 7.272 | 1:45.296 | 1 |
| 3 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 11.332 | 1:45.228 | 4 |
| 4 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 16 | 12.122 | 1:45.016 | 7 |
| 5 | 7 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 16 | 15.181 | 1:45.114 | 13 |
| 6 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 18.516 | 1:45.152 | 11 |
| 7 | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV | |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 18.753 | 1:45.271 | 2 |
| 8 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 16 | 19.870 | 1:45.001 | 8 |
| 9 | 15 | Kantadhee KUSIRI |  |
Eakie BBR Kaiten | Honda Civic TCR | 16 | 20.208 | 1:44.844 | 3 |
| 10 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 20.538 | 1:44.859 | 6 |
| 11 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 16 | 23.276 | 1:45.134 | 10 |
| 12 | 12 | Alexander MIES |  |
Kratingdaeng Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 16 | 27.736 | 1:45.964 | 17 |
| 13 | 44 | Jack LEMVARD | |
Vattana Motorsport | SEAT León Cup Racer | 16 | 33.520 | 1:45.928 | 14 |
| 14 | 53 | Kari-Pekka LAAKSONEN |  |
LMS Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 16 | 34.406 | 1:46.282 | 18 |
| 15 | 11 | Grant SUPAPHONGS | |
Kratingdaeng Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 16 | 39.262 | 1:46.816 | 21 |
| 16 | 58 | CHEN Jian Hong |  |
Kratingdaeng Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 16 | 46.479 | 1:46.917 | 23 |
| 17 | 97 | Paritat BULBON | |
Sloth Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 16 | 55.815 | 1:46.358 | 22 |
| 18 | 13 | Narasak ITTIRITPONG | |
Vattana Motorsport | Honda Civic TCR | 14 | 2 Laps | 1:45.670 | 15 |
| 19 | 55 | Munkong SATHIENTHIRAKUL | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 13 | 3 Laps | 1:44.870 | 24 |
| 20 | 35 | Rafaël GALIANA | |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 12 | 4 Laps | 1:46.549 | 16 |
| R | 66 | Nattachak HANJITKASEN | |
TBN MK Ihere Racing Team | Honda Civic TCR | 6 | 10 Laps | 1:46.460 | 20 |
| R | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 9 |
| NS | 22 | Petr FULÍN |  |
Mulsanne Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 12 |
| NS | 32 | Luigi FERRARA | |
Top Run Motorsport | Subaru Sti TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 19 |