Team Honda ADAC Sashsen’s Mike Halder converted his pole position into a comfortable victory in race one of TCR Germany at the Nüburgring.
Halder resisted early pressure from Lukas Niedertscheider in the opening laps, before the latter received a drive-through penalty for jumping the start.
That resulted in a 1-2 finish for Team Honda ADAC Sashsen as Halder’s team-mate Dominik Fugel took the chequered flag over five seconds behind.
Niels Langeveld completed the podium, closing the gap in the driver’s standings to championship leader Harald Procyzk who progressed from the back of the grid to 13th by the end of the race.
Max Heese challenged Langeveld in the closing stages of the race, before being forced to defend from Michelle Halder on the final lap as the pair came home fourth and fifth respectively.
In sixth position was the Volkswagen of Benjamin Leuchter, ahead of Theo Coicaud’s Hyundai.
Antti Buri enjoyed some hard battles throughout the race, and eventually finished eighth in front of Coicaud’s team-mate Luca Engstler, who currently sits third in the championship standings.
Rounding out the top ten was the Audi RS 3 LMS of Simon Reicher, who defended to hold onto the top-ten position.
Niedertscheider emerged from his drive-through in 25th position, but made up positions throughout the remainder of the race to finish 16th.
Race two of TCR Germany at the Nürburgring is set to get underway tomorrow at 14:45 CEST (13:45) BST.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 7 | Mike HALDER |  |
Team Honda ADAC Sachsen | Honda Civic TCR 2018 | 20 | 32:10.731 | 1:35.251 | 1 |
| 2 | 88 | Dominik FUGEL | |
Team Honda ADAC Sachsen | Honda Civic TCR 2018 | 20 | 5.694 | 1:35.860 | 6 |
| 3 | 14 | Niels LANGEVELD |  |
Racing One | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 20 | 9.721 | 1:35.799 | 4 |
| 4 | 19 | Max HESSE | |
Prosport Performance | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 20 | 10.017 | 1:35.824 | 2 |
| 5 | 53 | Michelle HALDER | |
Profi-Car Team Halder | CUPRA TCR | 20 | 10.359 | 1:35.492 | 5 |
| 6 | 10 | Benjamin LEUCHTER | |
Max Kruse Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 20 | 11.397 | 1:35.762 | 8 |
| 7 | 27 | Theo COICAUD |  |
Hyundai Team Engstler | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 20 | 18.528 | 1:36.554 | 11 |
| 8 | 30 | Antti BURI |  |
LMS Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 20 | 20.681 | 1:36.193 | 14 |
| 9 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER | |
Hyundai Team Engstler | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 20 | 21.429 | 1:35.859 | 17 |
| 10 | 54 | Simon REICHER |  |
YACO Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 20 | 22.058 | 1:35.721 | 12 |
| 11 | 17 | Jasmin PREISIG |  |
Steibel Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 20 | 22.510 | 1:36.177 | 10 |
| 12 | 11 | Luke WANKMÜLLER | |
HP Racing International | Opel Astra TCR | 20 | 27.197 | 1:36.821 | 9 |
| 13 | 22 | Harald PROCZYK | |
HP Racing International | Opel Astra TCR | 20 | 27.863 | 1:36.754 | 29 |
| 14 | 77 | Justin HÄUßERMANN | |
Team Engstler Germany | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 20 | 32.491 | 1:36.585 | 16 |
| 15 | 6 | Oliver HOLDENER | |
Wolf-Power Racing | CUPRA TCR | 20 | 36.487 | 1:36.960 | 7 |
| 16 | 42 | Lukas NIEDERTSCHEIDER | |
Niedertscheider Motorsport | Peugeot 308 TCR | 20 | 37.712 | 1:35.722 | 3 |
| 17 | 29 | Jussi KUUSINIEMI | |
Positione Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 20 | 39.883 | 1:36.666 | 15 |
| 18 | 40 | Olli KANGAS | |
LMS Racing | CUPRA TCR | 20 | 40.295 | 1:36.737 | 13 |
| 19 | 3 | Kai JORDAN | |
Team Engstler Germany | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 20 | 45.264 | 1:37.184 | 20 |
| 20 | 47 | Niko KANKKUNEN | |
Team Engstler Europe | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 20 | 47.260 | 1:36.840 | 19 |
| 21 | 23 | Sebastian STEIBEL | |
Steibel Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 20 | 49.843 | 1:36.799 | 24 |
| 22 | 31 | Leonardo TINLAND | |
Young Driver Challenge | CUPRA TCR | 20 | 50.767 | 1:37.284 | 23 |
| 23 | 33 | JC REYNOLDS |  |
TOPCAR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 20 | 54.383 | 1:37.338 | 22 |
| 24 | 36 | Dino CALCUM | |
BC Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 20 | 55.558 | 1:37.413 | 25 |
| 25 | 99 | Maurits SANDBERG | |
Racing One | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 20 | 55.975 | 1:36.909 | 21 |
| 26 | 9 | Daniel DAVIDOVAC | |
HP Racing International 2 | Opel Astra TCR | 20 | 59.840 | 1:36.620 | 28 |
| 27 | 39 | Florian THOMA | |
Team Engstler Europe | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 15 | + 5 LAPS | 1:37.002 | 18 |
| R | 45 | Peter TERTING | |
Prosport Performance | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | DNF | 1:36.612 | 30 |
| R | 4 | Jan SEYFFERT | |
Lubner Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 9 | DNF | 1:37.284 | 27 |
| NS | 41 | Steve KIRSCH | |
Besagroup Racing Team | Renault Mégane TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 26 |
| NS | 15 | Franjo KOVAC | |
Besagroup Racing Team | Renault Mégane TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 31 |