Champion Josh Files wins red-flagged final race of season

Josh Files won an eventful final ADAC TCR Germany race of the season at the Hockenheimring ahead of Max Hofer and Niels Langeveld, which was halted early with four minutes to go.

Files, who started the reverse-grid race from pole position, got off to a good start initially, but behind him Team Honda ADAC Sachsen’s Mortiz Oestreich was looking to challenge for the lead.

On lap two Oestreich made his move on Files, passing into Turns 2 and 3, before opening up a comfortable advantage in the ensuing laps.

However Oestreich’s lead would not last, as the Honda driver was later added a drive-through penalty for a jump start, handing the new champion back the lead of the race.

Thereafter Files held on to his lead, despite pressure from ProSport Performance’s Max Hofer, who had made his way into the position after superbly passing Niels Langeveld and Sheldon van der Linde one lap prior.

The win is Files’ sixth of the season in what has been a dominant campaign for the Target Competition Brit, who ends his season as he began it.

Second marks Hofer’s first podium of the season, whilst Racing One’s Langeveld held on to take third and secure fifth overall in the championship standings.

Wolf-Power Racing’s Mike Halder was fourth, giving the German the runner-up spot in the final championship standings, ahead of ProSport Performance’s Sheldon van der Linde in fifth, who was involved in fierce battles with Langeveld and Hofer in the race.

Steibel Motorsport’s Pascal Eberle took seventh, ahead of an impressive showing from Luigi Ferrara in the V-Action Alfa Romeo in eighth, with the Italian making up 19 positions in a spirited drive.

Although LMS Racing’s Niko Kankkunen was classified in eighth, it was the Finn who caused the end of the race early when he went off into the barriers at Turn 12 whilst trying to make a move to the outside of Ferrara.

Wolf-Power Racing’s Alex Morgan and Engstler Motorsport’s Florian Thoma completed the top ten.

The race featured a brief safety car intervention on lap ten when Simon Larsson clattered into Target Competition team-mate Tim Zimmermann at Turn 8, ending the former’s race, whilst battling for the final points positions.

Having served his drive-through penalty on lap seven whilst leading, Oestreich emerged in 16^th position and by the end of the race had made up limited ground to finish in 12^th.

Early casualties in the race where Team Honda ADAC Sachsen’s Steve Kirsch and Target Competition’s Kris Richard, after Kirsch made contact with Richard at Turn 12 whilst they were battling for fourth.

After her huge shunt in Saturday’s first race, Lubner Motorsport’s Jasmin Preisig failed to take the start, after she spent the night in hospital as a precaution. Also not starting was her former team-mate Dino Calcum.

Race result

POS	NO	DRIVER	NAT	ENTRANT	CAR	LAPS	TIME	BEST	GD
1	1	Josh FILES		Target Competition UK-SUI	Honda Civic Type R TCR	12	12 LAPS	1:50.109	1
2	19	Max HOFER		AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	0.530	1:49.735	11
3	14	Niels LANGEVELD		Racing One	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	1.536	1:49.951	3
4	7	Mike HALDER		Wolf-Power Racing 2	SEAT León TCR	12	2.070	1:49.709	7
5	18	Sheldon VAN DER LINDE		AC 1927 Mayen e.V. im ADAC	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	3.364	1:49.978	9
6	28	Pascal EBERLE		Steibel Motorsport	SEAT León TCR	12	3.755	1:50.110	16
7	16	Luigi FERRARA		V-Action Racing Team	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	12	4.669	1:50.032	26
8	20	Niko KANKKUNEN		LMS Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	5.375	1:50.289	18
9	2	Alex MORGAN		Wolf-Power Racing 2	SEAT León TCR	12	5.792	1:49.587	29
10	39	Florian THOMA		Junior Team Engstler	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	12	6.034	1:50.475	17
11	22	Harald PROCZYK		HP Racing	Opel Astra TCR	12	6.698	1:49.993	10
12	88	Moritz OESTREICH		Team Honda ADAC Sachsen	Honda Civic Type R TCR	12	7.288	1:49.811	2
13	56	Jaap VAN LAGEN		Certainty Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	9.347	1:50.585	12
14	73	Fredy BARTH		TOPCAR Sport	SEAT León TCR	12	9.853	1:50.294	22
15	38	Jason WOLFE		Team Engstler USA	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	12	10.176	1:50.390	23
16	98	Tom LAUTENSCHLAGER		Target Competition GER	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	10.634	1:50.446	20
17	35	Rudolf RHYN		TOPCAR Sport	SEAT León TCR	12	11.257	1:50.901	19
18	42	Lukas NIEDERTSCHEIDER		Niedertscheider MSP	SEAT León TCR	12	11.689	1:50.741	25
19	78	Fabian DANZ		Schläppi Race-Tec	SEAT León Cup Racer	12	11.895	1:50.558	27
20	8	Luca ENGSTLER		Junior Team Engstler	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	12	12.292	1:49.966	6
21	15	Cosimo BARBERINI		V-Action Racing Team	Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR	12	12.796	1:49.933	30
22	11	Jürgen SCHMARL		Target Competition AUT-POR	Honda Civic Type R TCR	12	13.089	1:51.158	21
23	23	Sebastien STEIBEL		Steibel Motorsport	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	12	13.374	1:50.614	36
24	41	Steve KIRSCH		Team Honda ADAC Sachsen	Honda Civic Type R TCR	12	13.626	1:49.333	8
25	29	Max HESSE		Aust Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	14.511	1:51.548	28
26	34	Orhan VOUILLOZ		Young Driver Challenge	SEAT León TCR	12	17.063	1:51.120	34
27	9	Stefan GOEDE		Team Engstler USA	Volkswagen Golf Gti TCR	12	17.313	1:50.674	33
28	84	Maurits SANDBERG		Racing One 2	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	18.155	1:51.302	35
29	54	Simon REICHER		Certainty Racing Team	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	22.539	1:51.886	32
30	10	Antti BURI		LMS Racing	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	12	34.826	1:49.594	13
R	99	Tim ZIMMERMANN		Target Competition GER	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	9	DNF	1:50.808	15
R	12	Simon LARSSON		Target Competition SWE-POL	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	9	DNF	1:50.427	31
R	44	Sandro KAIBACH		Aust Motorsport	Audi RS3 LMS TCR	6	DNF	1:49.870	4
R	66	Ronny JOST		TOPCAR Sport	SEAT León TCR	5	DNF	1:51.005	24
R	94	Kris RICHARD		Target Competition UK-SUI	Honda Civic Type R TCR	4	DNF	1:51.593	5
NS	36	Dino CALCUM		Schläppi Race-Tec	Opel Astra TCR	–	DNS	N/A	14
NS	17	Jasmin PREISIG		Lubner Motorsport	Opel Astra TCR	–	DNS	N/A	–