JSB Compétition’s Julien Briché took a controlled lights-to-flag victory in the final TCR Europe race of the weekend at Hockenheim, and with DG Sport’s Aurélien Comte behind it made for a 1-2 finish for the Peugeot 308 TCR.
The two Frenchmen were imperious at the front, with Comte’s move on the second lap at the Turn 6 hairpin to claim the runner-up spot from Jessica Backman’s Hyundai the only real point of note in the top six.
Comte was ultimately unable to close on Briché thereafter, who took the chequered flag 1.302 seconds clear to move into second overall in the standings behind race one winner Josh Files.
Backman completed the podium – her first silverware in TCR Europe – with sibling Andreas in fourth in another of the Target Competition-run Hyundai i30 N TCRs.
Santiago Urrutia dropped back at the start but fought back through the order to fifth, sending a brave lunge to the inside of Josh Files and Luca Engstler for sixth at Turn 2 before passing Maxime Potty’s Volkswagen Golf at the hairpin for fifth.
Potty duly took sixth ahead of a thrilling scrap between Engstler, Files and the Audi RS 3 LMS of Gilles Magnus.
A safety car for Stian Paulsen’s stranded Cupra in the gravel at Sachs Kurve bunched the pack up, with Files initially passing Engstler heading through the sharp right-hander at Turn 1, but ran slightly wide and gave the Hyundai junior an opportunity to fight back.
Both weren’t expecting the aforementioned lunge from Urrutia, though, and the delay brought Magnus’ Audi back into the mix.
Files’ next attempt at passing Engstler – to the inside of Turn 6 and down towards the Mercedes Grandstand – was once again met with frustration, and being left on the outside gave Magnus a chance to nip past.
A bold lunge to the inside of Turn 12 gave the Brit his eighth place back, but ultimately Englster held on to keep seventh spot.
Tom Coronel’s Boutsen Ginion Racing Honda Civic Type R completed the top ten after another bold drive through the field, with Gianni Morbidelli and Luca Filippi in close company.
Dan Lloyd’s first weekend in TCR Europe ended in a frustrating 13th for the reigning TCR UK champion, with the Brit hoping pre-race to move up through the pack.
Teddy Clairet and Daniel Nagy round out the points finishers, the latter taking his first point of a tough weekend in the M1RA-run Hyundai.
Four others joined Paulsen on the sidelines; Target Hyundai duo Mat’o Homola and Dusan Borkovic both parked up, the latter after a penalty for the contact with Paulsen.
Martin Ryba was forced to slow to a crawl and park up on the exit of Turn 11 with just under five minutes remaining, raising fears of a late safety car, though these proved ultimately unfounded, and Nelson Panciatici, concluding a nightmare weekend for the M Racing driver, who entered the weekend as joint championship leader.
The championship heads next to Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium, over the weekend of 8th-9th June.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 24 | Julien BRICHÉ |  |
JSB Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 25:16.667 | 1:48.448 | 1 |
| 2 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 1.302 | 1:48.594 | 4 |
| 3 | 26 | Jessica BÄCKMAN |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 2.235 | 1:48.430 | 2 |
| 4 | 19 | Andreas BÄCKMAN | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 2.666 | 1:48.298 | 5 |
| 5 | 55 | Santiago URRUTIA |  |
Team WRT | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | 3.951 | 1:48.439 | 3 |
| 6 | 88 | Maxime POTTY |  |
Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 5.360 | 1:48.592 | 6 |
| 7 | 8 | Luca ENGSTLER |  |
M1RA Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 10.998 | 1:49.495 | 7 |
| 8 | 9 | Josh FILES |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 11.503 | 1:49.129 | 10 |
| 9 | 16 | Gilles MAGNUS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 13 | 13.932 | 1:49.296 | 9 |
| 10 | 50 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 15.770 | 1:49.215 | 21 |
| 11 | 45 | Gianni MORBIDELLI |  |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 16.010 | 1:49.468 | 15 |
| 12 | 30 | Luca FILIPPI | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 16.718 | 1:49.388 | 12 |
| 13 | 123 | Daniel LLOYD | |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 17.662 | 1:49.926 | 8 |
| 14 | 111 | Teddy CLAIRET | |
Team Clairet Sport | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 18.769 | 1:49.797 | 17 |
| 15 | 99 | Dániel NAGY |  |
M1RA Motorsport | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 20.830 | 1:49.681 | 18 |
| 16 | 112 | Jimmy CLAIRET | |
Team Clairet Sport | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 21.522 | 1:50.031 | 16 |
| 17 | 46 | Olli KANGAS |  |
WestCoast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 23.533 | 1:49.826 | 25 |
| 18 | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Vuković Motorsport | Renault Mégane RS TCR | 13 | 29.948 | 1:50.279 | 20 |
| 19 | 3 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
PCR Sport with Georgia | CUPRA TCR | 13 | 30.414 | 1:49.834 | 31 |
| 20 | 96 | Abdulla Ali AL-KHELAIFI |  |
QMMF Racing by PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 13 | 30.720 | 1:50.051 | 22 |
| 21 | 81 | Stéphane VENTAJA | |
Team Clairet Sport | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 31.086 | 1:50.426 | 27 |
| 22 | 44 | Lilou WADOUX | |
JSB Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 33.371 | 1:50.601 | 19 |
| 23 | 10 | Viktor DAVIDOVSKY |  |
PSS Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 35.230 | 1:50.686 | 26 |
| 24 | 21 | Marie BAUS-COPPENS | |
JSB Compétition | CUPRA TCR | 13 | 36.799 | 1:50.672 | 30 |
| R | 23 | Tamás TENKE | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 10 | DNF | 1:50.097 | 24 |
| R | 25 | Natan BIHEL | |
M Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 10 | DNF | 1:50.575 | 28 |
| R | 12 | Nelson PANCIATICI | |
M Racing | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 9 | DNF | 1:49.799 | 23 |
| R | 17 | Martin RYBA |  |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 8 | DNF | 1:51.412 | 29 |
| R | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 7 | DNF | 1:49.864 | 14 |
| R | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA | |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 1 | DNF | 2:41.132 | 11 |
| R | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | CUPRA TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 13 |
| NS | 5 | Alex MORGAN | |
Wolf-Power Racing | Renault Mégane RS TCR | – | DNS | N/A | – |