Norwegian racer Stian Paulsen has received a post-race drive-through penalty demoting him to 14th for contact with Reece Barr’s Hyundai in race one at Spa-Francorchamps for TCR Europe.
Paulsen qualified in fifth position, but struggled to get off the line and lost positions, dropping further down the order at Les Combes after taking to the run-off.
After the race, Paulsen told TouringCars.Net he made contact with the Target Competition Hyundai of Reece Barr, putting the latter out of the race.
“On the first lap I was hitting Reece Barr – he was in front of me and he was weaving from left to right and under braking he just closed the door and then turned back to the left and then I’m hitting him and of course he’s going off because he was weaving.”
Barr was intially happy after making up positions at the start, but then fell foul to contact with Paulsen.
“I had an okay start, gained a few places in the first corner around the outside which I was happy with, and was on for a good race.
“And at the end of the first lap before the back straight I got hit from the rear by Paulsen, which was a bit disappointing. The driving standards out there is a bit questionable.
“People just get too greedy and they try and grab something that they can’t get and it ends up leading to contact.”
Attila Tassi was also later penalised for contact with Jens Reno Moller that pitched the Dane into a high-speed slide at the Eau Rouge corner.
Revised race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY |  |
Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 11 | 28:03.224 | 2:31.425 | 1 |
| 2 | 88 | Maxime POTTY |  |
Comtoyou Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 0.705 | 2:31.479 | 2 |
| 3 | 25 | Mikel AZCONA |  |
PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 5.055 | 2:31.764 | 4 |
| 4 | 62 | Dušan BORKOVIĆ |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 15.509 | 2:32.951 | 6 |
| 5 | 4 | Julien BRICHÉ | |
JSB Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 15.552 | 2:32.615 | 3 |
| 6 | 94 | Kris RICHARD |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 25.314 | 2:33.490 | 9 |
| 7 | 38 | Danny KROES |  |
PCR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 29.867 | 2:34.101 | 11 |
| 8 | 999 | Dániel NAGY |  |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 30.546 | 2:34.749 | 14 |
| 9 | 23 | Francisco ABREU |  |
Sports & You | Peugeot 308 TCR | 11 | 32.210 | 2:34.473 | 16 |
| 10 | 13 | Cedric PIRO |  |
Autodis Racing by Piro Sports | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 11 | 45.907 | 2:34.581 | 17 |
| 11 | 63 | Giovanni ALTOÈ |  |
Pit Lane Competizioni | Audi RS3 LMS TCR DSG | 11 | 47.468 | 2:34.851 | 19 |
| 12 | 35 | Munkong SATHIENTHIRAKUL |  |
Monlau Competición | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 47.704 | 2:35.535 | 21 |
| 13 | 34 | Stian PAULSEN |  |
Stian Paulsen Racing | CUPRA TCR | 11 | 53.103 | 2:33.052 | 5 |
| 14 | 14 | Loris CENCETTI |  |
Autodis Racing by Piro Sports | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 11 | 53.154 | 2:34.289 | 18 |
| 15 | 17 | Martin RYBA |  |
Brutal Fish Racing Team | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 11 | 1:01.648 | 2:36.743 | 22 |
| 16 | 21 | Marie BAUS-COPPENS | |
JSB Compétition | CUPRA TCR DSG | 11 | 1:02.013 | 2:35.524 | 20 |
| 17 | 9 | Attila TASSI | |
Hell Energy Racing with KCMG | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 11 | 1:15.409 | 2:34.690 | 15 |
| 18 | 11 | Jens Reno MØLLER |  |
Reno Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 9 | + 2 LAPS | 2:34.334 | 12 |
| R | 8 | Reece BARR |  |
Target Competition | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 7 | DNF | 2:33.954 | 10 |
| R | 42 | Stefano COMINI | |
Autodis Racing by THX | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 5 | DNF | 2:34.584 | 8 |
| R | 99 | Josh FILES |  |
Hell Energy Racing with KCMG | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | 4 | DNF | 2:34.457 | 7 |
| NS | 10 | Viktor DAVIDOVSKY |  |
PSS Racing Team | Honda Civic Type R FK7 TCR | – | DNS | N/A | – |
| NS | 26 | Francisco MORA | |
M1RA | Hyundai i30 N TCR | – | DNS | N/A | – |