Stefano Comini claimed victory in the opening TCR International Series race on the streets of Macau, which was severely delayed, interrupted and red-flagged early after barely a lap of racing.
The race started more than 40 minutes later than originally scheduled due to essential barrier repairs following an earlier race.
When it eventually got underway, it was Comini who got the best start to pass pole-sitter Jean-Karl Vernay through the first two turns, with WestCoast Racing’s Tiago Monteiro briefly following through before Mandarin corner.
Vernay retook second from Monteiro at the third turn at Lisboa, and thereafter the racing at the front effectively ceased, with the red flags behind flown for both a turn one shunt involving several local Chinese Touring Car entries and a crash further around for Tang Chi Lung.
There was also a shunt for WestCoast Racing’s Gianni Morbidelli at the exit of the high-speed Mandarin bend, ending the Italian’s race from a strong top ten position.
A half an hour delay followed during which time the cars were cleared and Tang was taken away in an ambulance.
When the race resumed it lasted for barely a lap, as Craft-Bamboo Racing’s James Nash made contact with B3 Racing’s Mat’o Homola at Lisboa, forcing the latter into the tyre barriers and blocking the circuit. The red flags flew again and with just five minutes left on the clock there would not be enough time for another racing lap.
Any damage to Nash’s championship lead was lessened by the fact that Comini would only be awarded half points for his win, as the race did not achieve 75% distance.
More news and official result to follow.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME/GAP | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 5 | 37:08.856 | 3:04.726 | 2 |
| 2 | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 5 | 1.040 | 3:07.131 | 1 |
| 3 | 81 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 5 | 1.467 | 3:07.732 | 3 |
| 4 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 5 | 1.844 | 3:09.423 | 5 |
| 5 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 5 | 2.192 | 3:11.640 | 10 |
| 6 | 83 | Tin SRITRAI |  |
Team Thailand | Honda Civic TCR | 5 | 3.253 | 3:18.207 | 15 |
| 7 | 23 | Andrea BELICCHI |  |
Mulsanne Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 5 | 3.933 | 3:22.078 | 22 |
| 8 | 35 | Rafaël GALIANA | |
Target Competition | SEAT León Cup Racer | 5 | 14.443 | 3:04.934 | 20 |
| 9 | 8 | Mikhail GRACHEV |  |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 5 | 15.238 | 3:04.816 | 19 |
| 10 | 64 | Neric WEI Chaoyin |  |
Son Veng Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 5 | 16.564 | 3:05.932 | 17 |
| 11 | 50 | Josh FILES |  |
Target Competition | Honda Civic TCR | 5 | 17.23 | 3:05.188 | 11 |
| 12 | 7 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 5 | 18.341 | 2:59.237 | 14 |
| 13 | 20 | Hon Kei LOU |  |
Elegant Racing Team | SEAT León Cup Racer | 5 | 22.496 | 3:00.265 | 21 |
| 14 | 28 | Kevin TSE | |
Teamwork Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 5 | 48.171 | 3:18.966 | 18 |
| 15 | 54 | James NASH | |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 4 | 1 Lap | 5:33.662 | 7 |
| 16 | 3 | Andy YAN Cheuk Wai |  |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 4 | 1 Lap | 3:16.014 | 13 |
| 17 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 4 | 1 Lap | 3:14.629 | 12 |
| 18 | 48 | Antti BURI |  |
LMS Racing | SEAT León Cup Racer | 4 | 1 Lap | 3:12.768 | 4 |
| R | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
B3 Racing Team Hungary | SEAT León TCR | 3 | 2 Laps | 3:10.587 | 9 |
| R | 22 | Petr FULÍN |  |
Mulsanne Racing | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3 | 2 Laps | 3:30.052 | 16 |
| R | 77 | Sergey AFANASYEV | |
Team Craft-Bamboo LUKOIL | SEAT León TCR | 1 | 3 Laps | N/A | 8 |
| R | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Honda Civic TCR | 0 | 4 Laps | N/A | 6 |
| NS | 33 | Jordi ORIOLA | |
Liqui Moly Team Engstler | Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR | 0 | 4 Laps | N/A | 26 |
