Luca Engstler was victorious in the opening TCR Asia series race of the weekend at Zhuhai, heading fellow Hyundai driver Pepe Oriola in a race which ended behind the safety car.
Engstler led the race from start-to-finish, claiming his second win of the season to move into the championship lead ahead of Ecuadorian Diego Moran.
Moran had start the race from second but lost out to Oriola and TCR China competitor Dan Lloyd, who both passed the Hyundai driver on the first lap, with Dongfeng Honda driver Lloyd initially getting past Oriola before the positions swapped mid-way through the race.
Oriola would hold on to take second, his second podium in TCR Asia, despite pressure from Lloyd late in the race. Lloyd claimed victory in the TCR China class, in which he is contesting the full season.
TA Motorsport’s Filipe Clemente de Souza was fourth in his TCR China Audi, ahead of Teamwork Motorsport’s Alex Hui and the second Dongfeng Honda of Martin Xie.
Moran eventually finished in seventh after slipping back in his first race in a Hyundai i30 N TCR.
The race finished behind the safety car due to the accident for Viper Niza Racing’s Douglas Khoo, who had gone off late in the race.
Race two takes place at 11:35 local time (05:35 CEST, 04:35 BST) on Saturday.