Hyundai Team Engstler’s Max Hesse was declared the victor in a rain-halted second ADAC TCR Germany race at the Nürburgring, reducing the gap to points leader Antti Buri yet further.
The race began in the dry, but rain soon started falling by the end of the first lap of racing, intensifying as the first few laps were completed.
Dominik Fugel initially led into the first corner after a strong start in his Honda, from third on the grid, ahead of front-row starter Mitchell Cheah and Harald Proczyk’s Hyundai, from sixth on the grid.
Reverse-grid pole-sitter Pascal Eberle made a poor start and dropped to eighth by the end of the first lap, although the young Swiss racer quickly regained ground in the early tricky conditions.
Theo Coicaud was the race’s first and only casualty, retiring on lap two after the Frenchman collected an advertising hoarding at the front of his car, blocking the cooling and causing his Hyundai to overheat.
Proczyk passed Cheah for second on lap two at Turn 8, before then piling the pressure on Fugel and passing for the lead just a handful of corners later at turn 1 on lap three.
However as the torrential rain intensified, conditions became unbearable for the slick-shod cars and seven drivers, including leader Proczyk, pitted for a change of tyres at the end of lap four.
That proved pivotal in the race, as a number of driver stayed out for a few more laps, including Max Hesse, Eberle, Antti Buri and Mike Halder.
All six of the leading drivers went off at turn 8 on lap six, before the majority then pitted on lap seven for a tyre change.
At this stage the only driver not to pit was Jan Seyffert, and when he aquaplaned off at the hairpin in his LADA on lap eight, whilst under safety car conditions, the officials decided to red-flag the race.
The result was wound back two laps, giving Hesse a second win of the year ahead of Eberle, Buri and Halder, with those who stayed out the longest on slick tyres ultimately benefitting in the classification.
As the result was declared after six laps, only half points were awarded.
The next TCR Germany event takes place at the Hockenheimring on 13 – 15 September.
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 19 | Max HESSE |  |
Hyundai Team Engstler | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 10:16.283 | 1:37.587 | 9 |
| 2 | 28 | Pascal EBERLE |  |
Steibel Motorsport 2 | CUPRA TCR | 6 | 1.000 | 1:36.645 | 1 |
| 3 | 13 | Antti BURI |  |
LMS Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 6 | 4.498 | 1:36.842 | 4 |
| 4 | 7 | Mike HALDER | |
Profi-Car Team Honda ADAC Sachsen | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 6 | 4.828 | 1:37.409 | 8 |
| 5 | 22 | Julien APOTHÉLOZ | |
TOPCAR Sport | CUPRA TCR | 6 | 7.487 | 1:37.426 | 11 |
| 6 | 104 | Thierry NEUVILLE |  |
Hyundai Team Engstler 2 | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 9.539 | 1:37.758 | 10 |
| 7 | 23 | Sebastian STEIBEL | |
Steibel Motorsport | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 6 | 17.672 | 1:38.640 | 14 |
| 8 | 98 | Jan SEYFFERT | |
Lubner Motorsport | LADA Vesta TCR | 6 | 19.148 | 1:39.138 | 16 |
| 9 | 30 | Karen GAILLARD | |
TOPCAR Sport 2 | CUPRA TCR | 6 | 34.208 | 1:39.729 | 17 |
| 10 | 88 | Dominik FUGEL | |
Profi-Car Team Honda ADAC Sachsen | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 6 | 1:23.999 | 1:38.346 | 3 |
| 11 | 6 | Bradley BURNS |  |
Team Pyro Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 6 | 1:25.030 | 1:37.368 | 19 |
| 12 | 29 | Mitchell CHEAH Min Jie |  |
VW Team Oettinger | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 6 | 1:36.330 | 1:38.394 | 2 |
| 13 | 8 | René KIRCHER | |
racing one | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 6 | 1:42.740 | 1:38.504 | 15 |
| 14 | 1 | Harald PROCZYK |  |
HP Racing International | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 1:50.648 | 1:37.081 | 6 |
| 15 | 53 | Michelle HALDER | |
Profi-Car Team Halder | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 6 | 2:24.013 | 1:39.241 | 13 |
| 16 | 42 | Lukas NIEDERTSCHEIDER | |
HP Racing International | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 6 | 2:39.489 | 1:38.936 | 5 |
| 17 | 50 | Kai JORDAN | |
VW Team Oettinger | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 6 | 2:53.973 | 1:37.952 | 12 |
| 18 | 61 | Jörg SCHORI | |
Lubner Motorsport 2 | Opel Astra TCR | 5 | + 1 LAP | 1:50.707 | 18 |
| R | 27 | Theo COICAUD |  |
Hyundai Team Engstler | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 1 | DNF | N/A | 7 |