Target Competition’s Roberto Colciago took victory on his début in the TCR International Series, edging out Leopard Racing’s Stefano Comini in a nail-biting finish to the race.
At the start, pole-man Colciago initially got off to a poor getaway which allowed the WestCoast Racing Honda of Mikhail Grachev to pull alongside and pass before turn one.
But Colciago was able to retake the lead at the third turn moments later, whilst further back Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s Andy Yan was forced to cut across the inside of the turn when FRD Motorsport’s Nicky Pastorelli aggressively defended his line.
When Yan came back onto the circuit, he collected team-mate Davit Kajaia and ended his race, whilst several other drivers got caught up in the melée. Kajaia’s Volkswagen required recovery, which brought out a two-lap safety car period.
When the race resumed, Comini tried to pressure Colciago for the lead, but was unable to pass for the rest of the race, despite sustained pressure and a last corner rub that saw the duo side-by-side over the finish line.
Craft-Bamboo Racing’s James Nash took third and limited the damage to his championship lead, whilst his team-mate Pepe Oriola took fourth after getting past the Spaniard early in the race.
Grachev had been running in the final podium position just after the restart, but a feisty move from Nash at Turn 1 on lap six saw the Russian lose several positions, with the contact ultimately damaging his steering and forcing him out of the race.
Leopard Racing’s Jean-Karl Vernay was fifth, after losing out at the start of the race to drop to seventh at one stage on the first lap.
B3 Racing’s Dušan Borković took sixth, ahead of team-mate Attila Tassi and WestCoast Racing’s Kevin Gleason, who was the top driver for the Swedish team.
Gianni Morbidelli had earlier failed to take the start due to experiencing yet more steering problems before the start of the race.
Completing the top ten were Craft-Bamboo Racing’s Sergey Afanasyev and B3 Racing’s Mat’o Homola, the latter having been shouldered off the circuit on lap four when Oriola passed at Turns 5 and 6.
Target Competition’s Loris Hezemans was 11th, whilst Kevin Tse was the leading TCR Asia Series competitor in 12th, ahead of new champion Andy Yan in 13th, who finished the race to take the title despite his lap one incident.
Tin Sritrai failed to finish the race after pitting with apparent engine issues after four laps.
Race two takes place at 15:30 local time on Saturday (08:30 BST, 09:30 CEST).
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO |  |
Target Competition | Honda Civic TCR | 11 | 26:46.089 | 2:17.562 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 11 | 0.176 | 2:17.268 | 6 |
| 3 | 54 | James NASH |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 4.341 | 2:17.651 | 8 |
| 4 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 5.111 | 2:17.435 | 2 |
| 5 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 11 | 6.392 | 2:18.039 | 4 |
| 6 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 7.445 | 2:18.058 | 11 |
| 7 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 8.085 | 2:18.241 | 13 |
| 8 | 24 | Kevin GLEASON |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 11 | 8.558 | 2:18.153 | 9 |
| 9 | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 10.570 | 2:18.296 | 12 |
| 10 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 10.972 | 2:17.988 | 5 |
| 11 | 50 | Loris HEZEMANS |  |
Target Competition | SEAT León TCR | 11 | 11.994 | 2:17.752 | 14 |
| 12 | 28 | Kevin TSE Wing Kin |  |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 11 | 17.978 | 2:18.581 | 17 |
| 13 | 3 | Andy YAN Cheuk Wai |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 11 | 22.366 | 2:19.458 | 15 |
| 14 | 68 | Filipe Clemente DE SOUZA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 11 | 23.523 | 2:19.417 | 18 |
| 15 | 65 | Douglas KHOO Kok Hui |  |
Viper Niza Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 11 | 40.393 | 2:20.944 | 22 |
| 16 | 72 | Nicky PASTORELLI | |
FRD Racing Team | Ford Focus TCR | 11 | 1:00.279 | 2:19.764 | 19 |
| 17 | 27 | Bill O’BRIEN | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 11 | 1:02.633 | 2:23.278 | 21 |
| 18 | 20 | Mario FERRARIS | |
Mulsanne Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 9 | DNF | 2:20.000 | 20 |
| R | 8 | Mikhail GRACHEV | |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 6 | DNF | 2:18.248 | 3 |
| R | 83 | Tin SRITRAI |  |
Team Thailand | Honda Civic TCR | 4 | DNF | 2:43.505 | 10 |
| R | 7 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 16 |
| NS | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 7 |
| NS | 35 | Rafaël GALIANA | |
Target Competition | Honda Civic TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 23 |