Duŝan Borković claimed victory in the opening TCR International Series race, which was red-flagged on the penultimate lap after a crash for championship leader Jean-Karl Vernay.
Pole-sitter Mat’o Homola finished 4.219 seconds adrift of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, with Stefano Comini muscling through to claim the final spot on the rostrum.
Roberto Colciago failed to capitalise on Vernay’s retirement to close the deficit at the top of the standings – Comini did not. His result sees him move to within three points of the Leopard Racing Volkswagen Golf.
Colciago will, however, start the second race from pole position.
The change for the lead came within moments of the start, with Borković out-dragging Homola to the first corner, with the Craft-Bamboo pairing of Pepe Oriola and James Nash in close attendance.
With Borković breaking clear at the front, Comini began his fight through the top ten, outbraking Thomas Jager into Turn 1 for fifth.
Homola found himself acting as a road-block of sorts to the SEAT pairing behind, backing Nash into the clutches of Comini as Oriola struggled to find a way through into second.
The defending champion then demonstrated his patience and tenacity to pick off both Craft-Bamboo drivers and take third.
The safety car made it’s first appearance after Milovan Vesnic found himself spun into the gravel at Turn 1 by Duncan Ende, before extensive damage to Rob Huff further around the lap elongated the delay.
Jager used his superior pace in the closing stages to relegate Oriola and Nash to fifth and sixth respectively.
The top three found themselves thrown together by the safety car period, but after Vernay hit the barrier at Turn 9 the race was halted by officials and a result declared.
Kajaia and Moller would take seventh and eighth after strong showings, whilst Attila Tassi – who only had his car delivered in the early hours of Saturday morning due to a heavy crash in testing – will be pleased with a battling ninth ahead of series debutante Daniel Lloyd.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 14 | 24:50.968 | 1:27.015 | 2 |
| 2 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 14 | 0.873 | 1:27.444 | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Stefano COMINI |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 1.465 | 1:26.791 | 6 |
| 4 | 35 | Thomas JÄGER |  |
Team Kissling Motorsport | Opel Astra TCR | 14 | 1.964 | 1:27.202 | 4 |
| 5 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 2.638 | 1:27.440 | 3 |
| 6 | 54 | James NASH |  |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 3.098 | 1:27.282 | 5 |
| 7 | 16 | Davit KAJAIA |  |
GE-Force | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 14 | 4.006 | 1:27.227 | 11 |
| 8 | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 14 | 4.631 | 1:27.352 | 12 |
| 9 | 9 | Attila TASSI |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 14 | 4.855 | 1:27.072 | 20 |
| 10 | 6 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 5.373 | 1:27.433 | 9 |
| 11 | 17 | Daniel LLOYD | |
Lukoil Craft-Bamboo Racing | SEAT León TCR | 14 | 5.556 | 1:27.263 | 8 |
| 12 | 5 | Roberto COLCIAGO |  |
M1RA | Honda Civic Type-R TCR | 14 | 5.995 | 1:27.350 | 13 |
| 13 | 10 | Gianni MORBIDELLI | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 6.753 | 1:27.253 | 7 |
| 14 | 66 | Grégoire DEMOUSTIER |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Opel Astra TCR | 14 | 7.825 | 1:27.168 | 16 |
| 15 | 21 | Giacomo ALTOÈ | |
West Coast Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 14 | 8.626 | 1:27.592 | 17 |
| 16 | 36 | Enrico BETTERA | |
Pit Lane Competizioni | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 14 | 10.834 | 1:28.669 | 19 |
| R | 2 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | DNF | 1:27.170 | 10 |
| R | 18 | Duncan ENDE |  |
Icarus Motorsports | SEAT León TCR | 11 | DNF | 1:27.857 | 18 |
| R | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | SEAT León TCR | 8 | DNF | 1:27.611 | 14 |
| R | 3 | Rob HUFF | |
Leopard Racing Team WRT | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 7 | DNF | 1:27.234 | 21 |
| R | 31 | Milovan VESNIĆ | |
ASK Vesnić | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 7 | DNF | 1:27.470 | 15 |