Monlau Motorsport’s Eric Gené claimed victory in the opening TCR Europe race at the Red Bull Ring, which had been red-flagged on the opening lap due to a multi-car accident.
Gené had earlier claimed his maiden pole position and started on the front row of the grid, with Nicolas Taylor alongside.
The Spaniard made a good start, but after the first two corners there was drama behind. ALM Motorsport’s René Kircher had made contact with Nicola Baldan at the hairpin, resulting in Kitcher being slow exiting the corner.
Then behind him, Jacopo Cimenes, Jenson Brickley and Santiago Concepción went three abreast over the top of the hill, with Cimenes making contact with Brickley’s CUPRA and spinning across the pack.
As Cimenes then rolled backwards across the circuit he was collected by Junui Park, who was in turn hit hard by Felipe Fernández, who skidded into the path of Sandro Pelatti, who was trying to avoid the carnage. Aikoa Racing’s Filippo Barberi also crashed in avoidance.
Racing was stopped for half an hour. The racing then resumed behind the safety car, but there weren’t any changes in the podium positions and Gené, who has already been a race winner in TCR Spain this year, scored his maiden TCR Europe victory ahead of reigning TCR Italy champion Taylor.
Marco Butti completed the podium, giving the MM Motorsport team something to be positive about after the extensive damage caused to Cimenes’ car.
Baldan was fourth, ahead of Brickley in fifth. Kircher crossed the line in sixth, but was given a five-second time penalty for causing a collision, presumably in relation to hitting Baldan at Turn 2.
Team Clairet’s Jimmy Clairet took sixth, coming from tenth on the grid and passing Concepción with contact at the hairpin on lap six.
After his penalty, Kircher was classified in seventh. Concepción lost out to Target Competition’s Max Hart a lap after Clairet passed, which in turn opened the door to MA:GP’s Viktor Andersson and Solite Indigo Racing’s Junui Park.
Hart was thus eighth, with Andersson and Park completing the top ten, whilst Concepción could only manage 11th.
Erstwhile championship leader Teddy Clairet struggled to 12th with 30kg of success ballast on his Audi, and consequently has lost the points lead to Gené, who leads with 167 points from Teddy Clairet (149) and Jimmy Clairet (147).
ALM Motorsport’s Ruben Volt would have finished in 13th but for a five-second jump start penalty which dropped the Estonian to 16th.
Race two is scheduled to take place at 11:35 CEST (10:35 BST) on Sunday.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 28 |  |
Eric GENÉ Casanovas | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 16 | 53:29.963 | 1:37.816 | 1 | |
| 2 | 17 |  |
Nicolas TAYLOR | PMA Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 16 | 1.643 | 1:37.954 | 2 | |
| 3 | 111 |  |
Marco BUTTI | MM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 2.834 | 1:38.040 | 3 | |
| 4 | 8 | |
Nicola BALDAN | Aikoa Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 16 | 6.311 | 1:38.171 | 4 | |
| 5 | 246 |  |
Jenson BRICKLEY | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 16 | 7.080 | 1:38.126 | 7 | |
| 6 | 21 |  |
Jimmy CLAIRET | Team Clairet Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 16 | 12.070 | 1:38.508 | 10 | |
| 7 | 108 |  |
René KIRCHER | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 12.734 | 1:38.349 | 6 | |
| 8 | 69 |  |
Max HART | Target Srl | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 16 | 13.102 | 1:38.688 | 9 | |
| 9 | 10 |  |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 16 | 13.341 | 1:38.655 | 14 | |
| 10 | 97 |  |
Junesung PARK | Solite Indigo Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 16 | 14.016 | 1:38.589 | 12 | |
| 11 | 33 | |
Santiago CONCEPCIÓN | Auto Club RC2 Valles | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 15.995 | 1:38.755 | 11 | |
| 12 | 20 | |
Teddy CLAIRET | Team Clairet Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 16 | 22.853 | 1:39.230 | 16 | |
| 13 | 145 | |
Raphaël FOURNIER | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 16 | 24.197 | 1:39.000 | 8 | |
| 14 | 4 | |
Julien BRICHÉ | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 16 | 25.038 | 1:39.119 | 18 | |
| 15 | 12 | |
Gabriele COVINI | BRC Racing Team | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 16 | 26.665 | 1:39.106 | 15 | |
| 16 | 27 |  |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 28.714 | 1:39.004 | 21 | |
| 17 | 45 | |
Victor FERNÁNDEZ Gil | Auto Club RC2 Valles | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 31.472 | 1:39.213 | 23 | |
| 18 | 3 | |
Giacomo GHERMANDI | MM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 16 | 31.509 | 1:38.968 | 17 | |
| R | 82 | |
Jacopo CIMENES | MM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 5 | |
| R | 87 | |
Junui PARK | Solite Indigo Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 13 | |
| R | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | Auto Club RC2 Valles | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 0 | DNF | N/A | 20 | |
| R | 80 | |
Filippo BARBERI | Aikoa Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 0 | DNF | N/A | 19 | |
| R | 72 | |
Sandro PELATTI | PMA Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 0 | DNF | N/A | 22 |