Niels Langeveld claims victory in controversial TCR Germany race two

Racing One’s Niels Langeveld claimed victory from tenth on the grid in a controversial TCR Germany race two at Oschersleben, although the Dutchman remains under investigation for incidents in the race.

The race began in damp and overcast conditions following early morning rain at the German circuit, and it was Engstler Motorsport’s Florian Thoma, from second on the grid, who initially took the lead after a poor start from reverse-grid pole-sitter Lukas Niedertscheider.

At Turn 1 Niedertscheider then made contact with Target Competition’s Tim Zimmermann, who had started from third, to knock both drivers out of the top 15. Niedertscheider was later handed a drive-through penalty for the incident, before he retired from the race.

Further back Prosport Performance’s Sheldon van der Linde stalled from fourth on the grid, bringing his race to an end and compounding a miserable weekend for the South African, who had entered the meeting second overall in the championship.

Gosia Rdest also retired from the race on the opening lap after spinning out and hitting the wall on the inside of the circuit as she strived to avoid van der Linde’s stricken car.

On lap two Target Competition’s Jürgen Schmarl’s poor weekend continued as he spun off into the gravel at Turn 4, requiring a safety car intervention in order to move the beached car.

When the race resumed on lap five, Team Honda ADAC sachsen’s Steve Kirsch was pressuring Thoma for the lead, with the duo swapping places at Turn 3 briefly before Thoma held his ground.

Then on lap 4 Langeveld, who was in third at the time, looked to pass Kirsch going into Turn 11, but the duo made contact and Kirsch was pitched into the gravel and out of the race.

Another safety car pause was required, as GermanFLAVOUR’s Thomas Kramwinkel also made contact with the Opel of Jasmin Preisig at the final corner a lap earlier, beaching her car in the gravel. Kramwinkel was later handed a drive-through penalty for the incident.

After a lengthy ten-minute safety car period, the race resumed but Thoma lost control of his car at Turn 2, possibly after contact, handing Langeveld the lead from Target Competition’s Josh Files, who had earlier made his way from 14^th on the grid to fifth by the end of the opening lap.

Langeveld ultimately held on to win from runaway points leader Files, although the Dutchman remains under investigation for the incidents he was involved in.

Luca Engstler completed the podium in his Volkswagen for the second race in a row, elevating the 18-year-old to 14^th overall in the standings. Saturday’s race one winner Moritz Oestreich took fourth in his Honda to allow him to move into second overall in the drivers’ championship standings.

HP Racing’s Harald Proczyk was fifth, ahead of Target’s Tom Lautenschlager in sixth.

The next round of TCR Germany takes place at Zandvoort on the 22^nd and 23^rd July.

Race result

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	14	Niels LANGEVELD		Racing One	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	32:35.872	1:32.715	10
2	1	Josh FILES		Target Competition UK-SUI	Honda Civic Type R TCR	18	4.416	1:33.326	14
3	8	Luca ENGSTLER		Junior Team Engstler	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	18	6.238	1:33.540	7
4	88	Moritz OESTREICH		Team Honda ADAC Sachsen	Honda Civic Type R TCR	18	7.285	1:33.616	8
5	22	Harald PROCZYK		HP Racing	SEAT León TCR	18	7.706	1:33.494	16
6	98	Tom LAUTENSCHLAGER		Target Competition GER	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	9.227	1:33.543	12
7	19	Max HOFER		AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	9.965	1:33.597	15
8	7	Mike HALDER		Wolf-Power Racing 2	SEAT León TCR	18	10.215	1:33.507	19
9	39	Florian THOMA		Junior Team Engstler	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	18	12.313	1:33.311	2
10	28	Pascal EBERLE		Steibel Motorsport	SEAT León TCR	18	13.000	1:33.450	9
11	99	Tim ZIMMERMANN		Target Competition GER	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	16.412	1:33.317	3
12	44	Sandro KAIBACH		Aust Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	17.991	1:34.084	11
13	94	Kris RICHARD		Target Competition UK-SUI	Honda Civic Type R TCR	18	19.338	1:33.783	6
14	36	Dino CALCUM		Lubner Motorsport	Opel Astra TCR	18	20.043	1:33.847	13
15	66	Ronny JOST		TOPCAR Sport	SEAT León TCR	18	22.745	1:34.207	24
16	2	Alex MORGAN		Wolf-Power Racing 2	SEAT León TCR	18	23.464	1:34.108	18
17	20	Niko KANKKUNEN		LMS Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	25.624	1:34.002	23
18	13	Kai JORDAN		Racing One	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	18	27.257	1:34.424	25
19	35	Rudolf RHYN		TOPCAR Sport	SEAT León TCR	18	28.012	1:34.267	31
20	78	Fabian DANZ		Schläppi Race-Tec	SEAT León Cup Racer	18	33.844	1:33.654	26
21	27	José RODRIGUES		Target Competition AUT-POR	Honda Civic Type R TCR	18	34.889	1:33.765	20
22	12	Simon LARSSON		Target Competition SWE-POL	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	36.640	1:34.974	27
23	31	Floris DULLAART		Racing One	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	37.109	1:34.051	33
24	64	Sven MARKERT		GermanFLAVOURS Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	44.166	1:35.720	36
25	40	Dillon KOSTER		Certainty Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	50.939	1:36.257	34
26	82	Thomas KRAMWINKEL		GermanFLAVOURS Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	18	1:24.334	1:36.312	29
27	23	Sebastien STEIBEL		Steibel Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	17	+ 1 Lap	1:35.190	37
28	54	Simon REICHER		Certainty Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	17	+ 1 Lap	1:34.905	35
29	9	Stefan GOEDE		Team Engstler USA	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	15	+ 3 Laps	1:35.080	30
30	38	Jason WOLFE		Team Engstler USA	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	14	+ 4 Laps	1:42.261	17
31	24	Robin BREZINA		Aust Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	14	+ 4 Laps	1:34.944	22
R	42	Lukas NIEDERTSCHEIDER		Niedertscheider MSP	SEAT León TCR	12	DNF	1:46.103	1
R	41	Steve KIRSCH		Team Honda ADAC Sachsen	Honda Civic Type R TCR	4	DNF	1:43.236	5
R	17	Jasmin PREISIG		Lubner Motorsport	Opel Astra TCR	3	DNF	1:53.089	32
R	11	Jürgen SCHMARL		Target Competition AUT-POR	Honda Civic Type R TCR	1	DNF	1:50.594	21
R	3	Gosia RDEST		Target Competition SWE-POL	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	0	DNF	N/A	28
R	18	Sheldon VAN DER LINDE		AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	0	DNF	N/A	4