Johan Kristoffersson took his maiden victory in the FIA World Touring Car Cup in the second race on the Nürburgring Nordschleife, after the Volkswagen driver held off an early challenge from fellow front-row starter Antti Buri.
At the start Buri’s Audi made a stronger getaway than Kristoffersson’s Volkswagen, giving the wildcard entry the lead into the first corner. But Kristoffersson was able to retake the lead two corners later, and thereafter the SLR driver opened up a comfortable margin on the Nordschleife over the chasing pack.
Buri also lost out to fellow Audi driver Frédéric Vervisch on the Grand Prix loop, and the Finn then slipped down the order over the initial tour of the 25.4 km Nordschleife, ending the first lap in fifth position.
Vervisch had powered past Buri on the outside line at Turn 4, but the Comtoyou Racing driver had no answer to Kristoffersson’s pace, unable to close the gap and five seconds adrift come the chequered flag.
BRC Racing’s Gabriele Tarquini had been running in third for much of the race, having worked his way into the position before entering the Nordschleife. But the Italian was involved in a controversial incident with Rob Huff at the Carousel on the final lap, when the Volkswagen racer dived up the inside of the Hyundai driver.
The two made contact, spinning Huff into the barriers on the outside of the turn and out of the race with substantial front-end damage, whilst Tarquini limped home to fourth, having been passed by team-mate Augusto Farfus on the Döttinger Hohe straight. The incident is under investigation by the stewards.
Farfus secured his first-ever WTCR podium in third, whilst Tarquini was classified in fourth and secured his best result on the infamous circuit.
KCMG’s Attila Tassi was the leading Honda driver in fifth, ahead of SLR’s Benjamin Leuchter – the race three pole-sitter – in sixth.
Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri once again extended his drivers’ championship advantage and was seventh, although the Argentine also asked the team to request for fellow Honda racer Tassi to move over late in the race.
Race one winner Norbert Michelisz brought his BRC Racing Hyundai home in eighth, whilst Comtoyou Racing’s Aurélien Panis and WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay completed the top ten.
The second Comtoyou CUPRA of Tom Coronel was 11th, despite the Dutchman having briefly been ninth with some slipstreaming on the last lap, before both Michelisz and Panis re-passed him on the same straight.
BRC Racing’s Nicky Catsburg made up the most positions in the race, surging from 23rd on the grid up to 12th, ahead of Buri in 13th, who had put up limited resistance to the various passing moves he was subjected to during the race.
Aside from Huff, the only other retirement in the race was the Lynk & Co of Yann Ehrlacher, who pulled into the pits at the end of the opening lap with damage to his front splitter.
Race three gets underway at 12:20 CEST (11:20 BST).
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 27:08.370 | 9:02.039 | 1 |
| 2 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 5.108 | 9:03.235 | 4 |
| 3 | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 10.891 | 9:03.483 | 10 |
| 4 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 11.180 | 9:04.063 | 5 |
| 5 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 11.827 | 9:03.852 | 3 |
| 6 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 12.340 | 9:04.107 | 9 |
| 7 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 17.591 | 9:06.094 | 7 |
| 8 | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 22.715 | 9:08.734 | 6 |
| 9 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS |  |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 23.072 | 9:09.250 | 11 |
| 10 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 23.657 | 9:07.863 | 14 |
| 11 | 50 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 24.329 | 9:09.442 | 12 |
| 12 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 24.902 | 9:06.766 | 23 |
| 13 | 13 | Antti BURI |  |
AS Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 26.773 | 9:11.917 | 2 |
| 14 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 27.121 | 9:07.639 | 18 |
| 15 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 27.178 | 9:07.488 | 25 |
| 16 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 27.626 | 9:08.830 | 13 |
| 17 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 29.256 | 9:08.856 | 19 |
| 18 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 29.647 | 9:09.654 | 15 |
| 19 | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 29.839 | 9:08.083 | 22 |
| 20 | 111 | Andy PRIAULX |  |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 30.559 | 9:09.240 | 17 |
| 21 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3 | 30.810 | 9:09.815 | 20 |
| 22 | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 31.157 | 9:08.282 | 26 |
| 23 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 31.839 | 9:09.167 | 21 |
| 24 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3 | 32.385 | 9:08.054 | 27 |
| 25 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 2:49.920 | 9:08.749 | 24 |
| R | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 2 | DNF | 9:04.064 | 8 |
| R | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 1 | DNF | N/A | 16 |
