Jean-Karl Vernay headed a Leopard Racing 1-2 in the opening TCR International Series around the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore, with Stefano Comini finishing in second and Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Pepe Oriola in third.
Vernay took his third win of the season in dominant fashion, leading the entire race to ensure that he remained unheaded around the Marina Bay circuit.
By finishing in second, defending champion Comini took the points lead from James Nash, whose Craft-Bamboo Racing team-mate Pepe Oriola brought his SEAT home in third overall.
B3 Racing’s Mat’o Homola finished in fourth, despite applying race-long pressure to Oriola for the final podium position.
Nash himself took the chequered flag in fifth, keeping the Brit in the title contention, with the top three drivers in the standings now covered by just two points.
Sergey Afanasyev was sixth, to ensure that all three of Craft-Bamboo’s entries had a strong race.
Dušan Borković brought his B3 SEAT home in seventh after a relatively quiet race, ahead of WestCoast Racing’s leading Honda of Kevin Gleason in eighth.
B3 Racing’s Attila Tassi and the second WestCoast Honda of Gianni Morbidelli completed the top ten, the latter having spun out of the top half of the top ten on the opening lap, dropping him down the order.
Three drivers failed to finish the race, including Malaysian racer Douglas Khoo, who crashed into one of the tyre barriers head-on after seven laps. Mulsanne Racing’s Petr Fulín [pulled into the pits and retired after three laps with mechanical issues on his Alfa Romeo, whilst Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Filipe Clemente de Souza stopped on the track after five laps.
The second race takes place at 15:00 local time (08:00 BST, 09:00 CEST) on Sunday.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 10 | 24:33.044 | 2:25.954 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 10 | 3.132 | 2:26.289 | 3 |
| 3 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 7.101 | 2:26.636 | 4 |
| 4 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 9.688 | 2:26.546 | 2 |
| 5 | 54 | James NASH |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 11.57 | 2:26.637 | 5 |
| 6 | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 12.589 | 2:26.698 | 7 |
| 7 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 13.489 | 2:26.951 | 8 |
| 8 | 24 | Kevin GLEASON |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 10 | 15.735 | 2:27.005 | 10 |
| 9 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 10 | 17.835 | 2:26.708 | 6 |
| 10 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 10 | 18.264 | 2:26.959 | 9 |
| 11 | 8 | Mikhail GRACHEV | |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 10 | 18.873 | 2:26.737 | 18 |
| 12 | 33 | Jordi ORIOLA | |
Kissling Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 10 | 42.029 | 2:29.068 | 13 |
| 13 | 99 | Martin CAO Hongwei |  |
FRD Racing Team | Ford Focus TCR | 10 | 49.346 | 2:30.324 | 17 |
| 14 | 35 | Rafaël GALIANA | |
Target Competition | Honda Civic TCR | 10 | 1:28.099 | 2:29.715 | 11 |
| 15 | 64 | Neric WEI Chaoyin | |
Son Veng Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 10 | 2:19.332 | 2:30.646 | 14 |
| 16 | 50 | Loris HEZEMANS |  |
Target Competition | SEAT León Cup Racer | 8 | DNF | 2:26.541 | 20 |
| 17 | 7 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 7 | DNF | 2:27.807 | 16 |
| R | 65 | Douglas KHOO Kok Hui |  |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 6 | DNF | 2:35.878 | 19 |
| R | 22 | Petr FULÍN |  |
Mulsanne Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 6 | 4 LAPS | 2:27.597 | 15 |
| R | 68 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 5 | DNF | 2:30.915 | 12 |