Josh Files took victory in the second TCR Europe race of the weekend at Zandvoort after a strong start saw the Honda driver leap from fourth on the grid into the lead on the opening lap.
Reverse-grid pole sitter Danny Kroes lost out to the Honda of Jens Reno Møller when the lights went out, with Files then sneaking into second as Kores attempted to fight back against Møller around the first corner.
Files then took the lead from Møller further around the first lap at Turns 7 and 8, with Kroes able to follow past the Dane in the process.
Files then set about building a comfortable lead at the front of the field, as Kroes had no answer to the KCMG Honda drivers pace and held second as the field bunched up behind him.
That allowed the Audi of Jaap van Lagen to close in to the pack and the Dutchman demonstrated some strong driving to pass Dániel Nagy for fifth on lap two, Møller for fourth on lap three and then Kris Richard for third on lap six.
Kroes put up a stiff defence against van Lagen, but on lap eight the WRT driver found a way past, taking second from his fellow Dutchman at Turn 9.
By that stage Files had a lead of five seconds and van Lagen was unable to close the gap to the race leader, ultimately having to settle for runner-up and a second podium of the weekend.
Kroes took the final podium position, although it was not for Attila Tassi’s lack of trying, with the KCMG driver being forced onto the grass on the final lap as the two diced for position. The contact is to be investigated after the race.
Tassi took fourth, with Richard the leading Hyundai driver in fifth. Richard’s Target Competition team-mate Dušan Borković pulled into the pits with a technical issue at the end of the first lap, but rejoined the field and finished in 18th.
PCR Sport’s Mikel Azcona finished sixth and as a result the CUPRA driver is tied on points with Borković at the head of the points standings.
Møller took seventh, ahead of M1RA duo Francisco Mora and Nagy in eighth and ninth respectively. Nagy was involved in a controversial incident with Stian Paulsen on lap four, which saw the Norwegian end up in the barriers at Turn 7 after contact between the duo.
Francisco Abreu completed the top ten in his Peugeot 308 TCR after battling with compatriot Mora for much of the race.
The next TCR Europe event is at Spa-Francorchamps in three weeks’ time on the 9 – 10 June.
Update – Danny Kroes and Dániel Nagy were subsequently given post-race penalties for their incidents, dropping them to fourth and 12th respectively.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 99 | Josh FILES |  |
Hell Energy Racing with KCMG | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 14 | 14 LAPS | 1:47.753 | 4 |
| 2 | 46 | Jaap VAN LAGEN |  |
Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 4.296 | 1:47.590 | 10 |
| 3 | 38 | Danny KROES | |
PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 14 | 7.408 | 1:48.078 | 1 |
| 4 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
Hell Energy Racing with KCMG | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 14 | 7.844 | 1:48.397 | 8 |
| 5 | 94 | Kris RICHARD |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 8.208 | 1:48.275 | 7 |
| 6 | 25 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 14 | 8.593 | 1:48.362 | 9 |
| 7 | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 14 | 13.149 | 1:48.856 | 2 |
| 8 | 26 | Francisco MORA |  |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 13.759 | 1:48.429 | 18 |
| 9 | 999 | Dániel NAGY | |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 18.274 | 1:48.987 | 3 |
| 10 | 23 | Francisco ABREU | |
Sports & You | Peugeot 308 TCR | 14 | 19.080 | 1:48.573 | 15 |
| 11 | 88 | Maxime POTTY |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 23.251 | 1:48.956 | 14 |
| 12 | 14 | Loris CENCETTI |  |
Autodis Racing by Piro Sports | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 28.708 | 1:49.191 | 19 |
| 13 | 20 | Márk JEDLÓCZKY | |
JLG Sport | CUPRA TCR | 14 | 32.063 | 1:49.271 | 16 |
| 14 | 13 | Cedric PIRO |  |
Autodis Racing by Piro Sports | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 14 | 33.101 | 1:49.137 | 17 |
| 15 | 10 | Viktor DAVIDOVSKY |  |
PSS Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 14 | 38.919 | 1:49.858 | 20 |
| 16 | 7 | Igor STEFANOVSKI | |
Stefanovski Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 41.287 | 1:49.508 | 12 |
| 17 | 21 | Marie BAUS-COPPENS |  |
JSB Compétition | CUPRA TCR DSG | 14 | 1:07.770 | 1:51.463 | 22 |
| 18 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 14 | 1:08.326 | 1:48.126 | 6 |
| 19 | 17 | Martin RYBA |  |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | + 1 LAP | 1:49.638 | 21 |
| R | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | DNF | 1:49.072 | 11 |
| R | 4 | Julien BRICHÉ | |
JSB Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 3 | DNF | 6:33.376 | 13 |
| NS | 8 | Reece BARR |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 5 |