SLR’s Benjamin Leuchter converted his pole position into victory in the final FIA World Touring Car Cup race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, ahead of Comtoyou Racing’s Frédéric Vervisch and Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri.
Before the race got underway there were concerns for second-row starter Guerrieri, who had fluid leaking from his car on the grid and a slow start to the warm-up lap.
But those concerns soon went away as Guerrieri got a good start, being able to pull alongside Leuchter heading to Turn 1, where he briefly took the lead. Leuchter then got his Volkswagen up the inside of the Honda at Turn 2, retaking the lead.
At the end of the Nordschleife on the opening lap, Guerrieri made another attempt for the lead, pulling alongside Leuchter into Tiergarten, before outbraking himself and losing momentum onto the start straight.
That allowed Vervisch to get his Audi into second, with Guerrieri dropping to third, and the positions remained that way for the final two laps.
WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay was fourth, after a superb opening lap saw the Frenchman go from 15th on the grid to sixth by the end of the Grand Prix loop, before he gained another place when Attila Tassi’s engine overheated on the Nordschleife.
Reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini was the best Hyundai driver in fifth, in a difficult race for the BRC Racing team after Norbert Michelisz retired on the opening lap due to contact from Vervisch at Turn 2, whilst Augusto Farfus was taken out by Tiago Monteiro when Aurélien Panis came between the pair on the run to Turn 1.
The lead CUPRA was Comtoyou Racing’s Tom Coronel in sixth, with team-mate Panis following him home in seventh, the pair switching places on lap two.
BRC Racing’s Nicky Catsburg was eighth, although the Hyundai driver was involved in an incident with Yvan Muller on the second lap as he tried to pass the sole remaining Lynk & Co in the race.
Catsburg was forced onto the grass by Muller, and in turn lost momentum, allowing Johan Kristoffersson to draw alongside in his Volkswagen. However, the Swede lost control of his car on the grass and was unable to turn into the high-speed Mutkurve, hitting the barriers hard on the exit of the corner.
Muller dropped back on the final lap, allowing WRT’s Gordon Shedden to claim ninth and his first top ten since Marrakech, whilst Muller completed the top ten.
Team Mulsanne’s Kevin Ceccon was 11th, scoring the Alfa Romeo outfit’s best result of the weekend, ahead of the Comtoyou Audi of Niels Langeveld in 12th, who claimed the position back after earlier being tagged by the other alfa of Ma Qing Hua.
Three of the Cyan Racing Lynk & Co drivers retired on the opening lap of the race, with Yann Ehrlacher slowing at the end of the lap together with Andy Priaulx, whilst Thed Björk picked up damage to his front-right wheel.
SLR’s Rob Huff failed to start the race after the significant damage his Volkswagen picked up in race two earlier in the morning.
By once again finishing on the podium, Guerrieri has extended his points lead to a comfortable 45 points over Michelisz. The next WTCR round takes place on the streets of Vila Real on 5 – 7 July.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 33 | Benjamin LEUCHTER |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 27:23.485 | 9:04.729 | 1 |
| 2 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 0.495 | 9:04.458 | 7 |
| 3 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 1.885 | 9:04.698 | 3 |
| 4 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 2.505 | 9:03.235 | 15 |
| 5 | 1 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 7.179 | 9:05.913 | 5 |
| 6 | 50 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 8.623 | 9:07.320 | 13 |
| 7 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou DHL Team CUPRA Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 11.014 | 9:07.845 | 12 |
| 8 | 88 | Nicky CATSBURG | |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 3 | 13.099 | 9:07.996 | 23 |
| 9 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN |  |
Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 14.191 | 9:07.984 | 16 |
| 10 | 100 | Yvan MULLER | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 14.524 | 9:07.078 | 20 |
| 11 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3 | 15.342 | 9:08.480 | 21 |
| 12 | 10 | Niels LANGEVELD | |
Comtoyou Team Audi Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 15.664 | 9:08.776 | 26 |
| 13 | 55 | Ma QING HUA |  |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 3 | 16.146 | 9:09.343 | 27 |
| 14 | 96 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 3 | 17.198 | 9:09.200 | 25 |
| 15 | 13 | Antti BURI |  |
AS Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 3 | 20.626 | 9:12.567 | 9 |
| 16 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 3 | 21.566 | 9:09.782 | 6 |
| 17 | 18 | Tiago MONTEIRO |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 44.546 | 9:09.214 | 14 |
| 18 | 29 | Néstor GIROLAMI | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 3 | 1:37.527 | 9:28.819 | 24 |
| R | 111 | Andy PRIAULX | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 3 | 4:33.505 | 9:26.850 | 18 |
| R | 14 | Johan KRISTOFFERSSON |  |
SLR Volkswagen | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 1 | DNF | 9:14.967 | 10 |
| R | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
KCMG | Honda Civic Type R TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 8 |
| R | 11 | Thed BJÖRK | |
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 19 |
| R | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 4 |
| R | 8 | Augusto FARFUS |  |
BRC Hyundai N LUKOIL Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 11 |
| R | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
Cyan Performance Lynk & Co | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 17 |
| R | 37 | Daniel HAGLÖF | |
PWR Racing | CUPRA TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 22 |
| NS | 12 | Rob HUFF | |
SLR VW Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | – | DNS | N/A | 2 |
