Halder Motorsport’s Jack Young emerged victorious ahead of team-mate Mike Halder in the opening race of the 2022 TCR Europe season at the Autodromo do Algarve in Portugal.
Halder had earlier claimed pole position in qualifying, and the German led the first three laps of the race.
But on lap four, Halder appeared to move over at the hairpin to allow his Honda team-mate Young into the lead, which he would hold thereafter.
For Northern Irishman Young it marks not only his first win in the series but also his first victory in TCR machinery.
Halder claimed second, just over two seconds back, whilst Target Competition’s Nicola Baldan completed the podium, the Italian having had a relatively untroubled race to his first-ever visit to the rostrum in the series.
Volcano Motorsport’s Isidro Callejas was the best CUPRA racer in fourth, and the Spaniard had to work for the position. Having started from fourth, he dropped behind the Audi of Franco Girolami at the start.
However on the second lap he fought back past Comtoyou Racing’s Girolami in the final sector to reclaim fourth, which he held until the chequered flag.
Girolami held on to fifth, with the second Target Hyundai of Josh Files in sixth, the Brit having faded towards the end of the racing having been in the mix for fourth early on.
Klim Gavrilov brought his Volcano CUPRA home in seventh, ahead of Tom Coronel in eighth, the Dutchman having dropped a place on the opening lap.
The top ten was completed by Brutal Fish Racing’s Pepe Oriola and Sébastien Loeb Racing’s john Filippi, the two having swapped places from their grid positions after Oriola got the better of the Corsican racer on the opening lap at the hairpin after half a lap of side-by-side action.
All 20 drivers who started too the finish on the lead lap.
Race two is scheduled to take place at 14:15 local time on Sunday (14:15 BST, 15:15 CEST).
Race results
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | GAP | GD |
| 1 | 62 |  |
Jack YOUNG | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | 22:44.95 | 1:52.887 | 2 | |
| 2 | 7 |  |
Mike HALDER | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | 2.246 | 1:53.063 | 1 | |
| 3 | 8 |  |
Nicola BALDAN | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 3.306 | 1:53.073 | 3 | |
| 4 | 26 |  |
Isidro CALLEJAS | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 4.786 | 1:52.573 | 4 | |
| 5 | 72 |  |
Franco GIROLAMI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 12 | 5.115 | 1:53.038 | 6 | |
| 6 | 99 | |
Josh FILES | Target Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 6.833 | 1:53.839 | 8 | |
| 7 | 14 |  |
Klim GAVRILOV | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 7.928 | 1:53.736 | 5 | |
| 8 | 33 |  |
Tom CORONEL | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 12 | 11.084 | 1:53.815 | 7 | |
| 9 | 74 | |
Pepe ORIOLA | Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | 11.642 | 1:53.829 | 10 | |
| 10 | 27 |  |
John FILIPPI | Sébastien Loeb Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 12.763 | 1:53.825 | 9 | |
| 11 | 24 |  |
Jáchym GALÁŠ | Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 13.216 | 1:53.968 | 12 | |
| 12 | 70 |  |
Mat’o HOMOLA | Janík Motorsport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 17.040 | 1:54.128 | 11 | |
| 13 | 110 |  |
Viktor DAVIDOVSKI | Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 12 | 19.903 | 1:54.248 | 16 | |
| 14 | 53 | |
Michelle HALDER | Halder Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | 20.570 | 1:54.402 | 15 | |
| 15 | 44 | |
Felice JELMINI | Target Competition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 21.723 | 1:53.874 | 13 | |
| 16 | 2 |  |
Luís CIDADE | Élite Motorsport by Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | 12 | 24.648 | 1:54.461 | 14 | |
| 17 | 16 | |
Evgenii LEONOV | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 25.057 | 1:53.804 | 17 | |
| 18 | 124 | |
Gustavo MOURA JR | Volcano Motorsport | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 33.065 | 1:54.890 | 19 | |
| 19 | 17 | |
Martin RYBA | Brutal Fish Racing Team | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 12 | 39.515 | 1:55.051 | 18 | |
| 20 | 3 | |
Giacomo GHERMANDI | Lema Racing | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 12 | 49.030 | 1:55.640 | 20 | |
| NS | 18 |  |
Miklas BORN | Élite Motorsport by Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS TCR 2021 | – | DNS | N/A | – |