Target Competition’s Josh Files edged ever closer to successfully defending his ADAC TCR Germany title with victory in the second race at the Sachsenring, ahead of Wolf-Power Racing title rival Mike Halder.
Files started the race from the reverse-grid pole, inheriting the position after fellow Brit Alex Morgan was thrown out of the qualifying results on Friday.
The defending champion made a strong start in his Honda, whilst further back Halder charged from fifth on the grid to third by turn three, before then passing Kris Richard for second further around the opening lap.
Halder looked to have the best pace for the first half of the race, closing in on Files to reduce the gap to three tenths of a second by lap eight.
However Files managed his tyre wear better than the chasing SEAT driver and the battle for the lead never materialised, with Halder being forced to settle for second.
The result gives Files a near-unassailable 78 point lead heading to the season finale at the Hockenheimring, with only 85 points on offer. The Brit could secure back-to-back TCR Germany titles if he out-qualifies Halder by two positions inside the top five next time out.
The final podium position went to Files’ team-mate Richard, who held on to the position after losing out to Halder early in the race.
Team Honda ADAC Sachsen’s Steve Kirsch was fourth, having secured the position after passing team-mate Moritz Oestreich on lap six.
Fifth went to the leading Audi of ProSport Performance’s Sheldon van der Linde, although the South African had to defend hard from the Volkswagen of Luca Engstler late in the race, with the young German taking sixth in the end.
The latter stages of the race saw a superb battle for seventh, which eventually went to Harald Proczyk, after the SEAT racer got past LMS Racing’s Antti Buri and Oestreich whilst the two were battling ahead of him.
Engstler Motorsport’s Florian Thoma took eighth after getting past Oestreich and Buri late in the race, with Buri having to settle for ninth.
The second ProSport Audi of Max Hofer completed the top ten, after the Austrian got past Oestreich on the final lap of the race, with the Honda racer having to settle for 11th after slipping back six places in the second half of the race.
Target Competition’s Tim Zimmermann had been running on the edge of the top ten early in the race, but the German was hit with a drive-through penalty for a jump start and eventually finished in 26th position.
After being thrown out of the qualifying result, Brit Alex Morgan’s race came to an end after just eight laps when he pulled his SEAT off the circuit with an apparent issue on the front-left corner of the car. Dino Calcum failed to start the race due to technical issues with his Opel.
The TCR Germany season finale takes place in one weeks’ time at the Hockenheimring on 22 to 24 September.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 | Josh FILES |  |
Target Competition UK-SUI | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 22 | 22 LAPS | 1:28.059 | 1 |
| 2 | 7 | Mike HALDER |  |
Wolf-Power Racing 2 | SEAT León TCR | 22 | 1.627 | 1:27.748 | 5 |
| 3 | 94 | Kris RICHARD |  |
Target Competition UK-SUI | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 22 | 7.605 | 1:28.193 | 2 |
| 4 | 41 | Steve KIRSCH | |
Team Honda ADAC Sachsen | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 22 | 12.835 | 1:28.149 | 6 |
| 5 | 18 | Sheldon VAN DER LINDE |  |
AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 13.079 | 1:27.717 | 8 |
| 6 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER | |
Junior Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 22 | 13.210 | 1:27.958 | 10 |
| 7 | 22 | Harald PROCZYK |  |
HP Racing | SEAT León TCR | 22 | 16.574 | 1:28.075 | 9 |
| 8 | 39 | Florian THOMA | |
Junior Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 22 | 17.119 | 1:28.452 | 14 |
| 9 | 10 | Antti BURI |  |
LMS Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 21.770 | 1:28.517 | 4 |
| 10 | 19 | Max HOFER | |
AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 26.424 | 1:28.836 | 15 |
| 11 | 88 | Moritz OESTREICH | |
Team Honda ADAC Sachsen | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 22 | 26.839 | 1:28.248 | 7 |
| 12 | 28 | Pascal EBERLE | |
Steibel Motorsport | SEAT León TCR | 22 | 26.892 | 1:28.978 | 11 |
| 13 | 14 | Niels LANGEVELD |  |
Racing One | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 31.139 | 1:28.743 | 17 |
| 14 | 98 | Tom LAUTENSCHLAGER | |
Target Competition GER | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 31.151 | 1:28.780 | 13 |
| 15 | 11 | Jürgen SCHMARL | |
Target Competition AUT-POR | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 22 | 31.489 | 1:28.828 | 19 |
| 16 | 33 | Oliver HOLDENER | |
Young Driver Challenge | SEAT León TCR | 22 | 32.890 | 1:28.872 | 21 |
| 17 | 42 | Lukas NIEDERTSCHEIDER | |
Niedertscheider MSP | SEAT León TCR | 22 | 33.359 | 1:28.879 | 18 |
| 18 | 20 | Niko KANKKUNEN | |
LMS Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 35.026 | 1:29.108 | 24 |
| 19 | 37 | Manuel BRINKMANN | |
TOPCAR Sport | SEAT León TCR | 22 | 35.150 | 1:29.067 | 22 |
| 20 | 66 | Ronny JOST | |
TOPCAR Sport | SEAT León TCR | 22 | 35.407 | 1:29.041 | 25 |
| 21 | 78 | Fabian DANZ | |
Schläppi Race-Tec | SEAT León Cup Racer | 22 | 35.932 | 1:28.374 | 16 |
| 22 | 44 | Sandro KAIBACH | |
Aust Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 39.410 | 1:28.925 | 12 |
| 23 | 23 | Sebastien STEIBEL | |
Steibel Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 22 | 40.521 | 1:29.486 | 28 |
| 24 | 38 | Jason WOLFE |  |
Team Engstler USA | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 22 | 41.394 | 1:29.347 | 23 |
| 25 | 50 | Georg BRAUN | |
Lubner Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 22 | 42.074 | 1:29.223 | 30 |
| 26 | 99 | Tim ZIMMERMANN | |
Target Competition GER | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 47.442 | 1:28.411 | 3 |
| 27 | 17 | Jasmin PREISIG | |
Lubner Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 22 | 50.736 | 1:29.734 | 27 |
| 28 | 29 | Max HESSE | |
Aust Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 61.117 | 1:29.633 | 29 |
| 29 | 12 | Simon LARSSON |  |
Target Competition SWE-POL | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 61.479 | 1:29.280 | 31 |
| 30 | 84 | Maurits SANDBERG | |
Racing One 2 | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 22 | 1:10.917 | 1:29.763 | 32 |
| R | 9 | Stefan GOEDE | |
Team Engstler USA | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 14 | DNF | 1:29.339 | 26 |
| R | 2 | Alex MORGAN | |
Wolf-Power Racing 2 | SEAT León TCR | 8 | DNF | 1:29.021 | 33 |
| NS | 36 | Dino CALCUM | |
Schläppi Race-Tec | Opel Astra TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 20 |