PMA Motorsport’s won the second TCR Europe race behind the safety car at the Hockenheimring, after getting into the lead early on thanks to running with a full wet-tyre setup.
Jelmini started from 11th on the grid, but with rain falling in the morning in Germany, the race began on a wet circuit.
Pole-sitter Felipe Fernández, Viktor Andersson and Junesung Park were the only drivers to start the race with slick tyres. Although Fernández made a good start and held the lead for the opening lap, the RC2 Racing Team driver went backwards thereafter.
Jelmini was up to sixth after the first few corners, and ended the opening lap in third after gaining eight places on the opening tour.
The Italian then followed ALM Motorsport’s Ruben Volt past Fernández into Turn 2 on the second lap, before passing Volt for the lead two corners later.
Jelmini then proceeded to open up a huge lead over second – by the end of the lap the Audi driver was seven seconds clear.
MM Motorsport’s Marco Butti passed Fernández for third on lap four, and was into second past Volt two laps later, by which time Jelmini was 12 seconds to the good.
By lap eight, the rain intensified, and such was Jelmini’s tyre advantage – as the only driver in the field on wet tyres all around – he doubled his margin in the space of one lap to over 40 seconds by the time the safety car had to be called for.
Many cars fell off the circuit on lap nine, most notably Felipe Fernández and Nicolas Taylor, who had been running in fourth and seventh respectively at the time.
Both drivers ended the race in the gravel at the final corner, with Taylor crashing into the barriers.
Numerous other drivers went off in the wet conditions at the corner, and although there was five minutes left on the clock, the lack of time meant the race would end behind the safety car.
Jelmini claimed victory by eight seconds from Target Competition’s Max Hart, who scored a second successive podium by dint of not falling off the circuit on that treacherous ninth lap.
It marks Jelmini’s first-ever TCR Europe win, despite having contested two full seasons previously and been a multiple race-winner in TCR Italy.
Butti had looked set to finish second, but the Honda driver fell down the order on the final lap behind the safety car and eventually finished in 13th.
Jimmy Clairet thus completed the podium in third, having spent the entire race battling around the fringes of the podium places, the Team Clairet Sport driver thus extending his championship lead in the process.
JSB Compétition’s Julien Briché was fourth, completing most of his ascendancy up the order in the lap before the safety car, having been 11th on lap eight.
Monlau Motorsport’s Eric Gené was fifth, ahead of Team Clairet’s Teddy Clairet in sixth.
Solite Indigo Racing’s Junesung Park, RC2’s Santiago Concepción, Monlau Motorsport’s Jenson Brickley and ALM Motorsport’s Mikael Karlsson completed the top ten.
Volt fell off the circuit on lap nine and eventually finished in 11th after reversing out of the gravel at Turn 11, ahead of Aikoa Racing’s Nicola Baldan in 12th, who had pitted for full wets on lap eight but missed the opportunity to benefit from the rubber change due to the safety car.
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 44 |  |
Felice JELMINI | PMA Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 28:46.446 | 2:05.659 | 11 | |
| 2 | 69 |  |
Max HART | Target Srl | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 8.113 | 2:10.146 | 8 | |
| 3 | 21 |  |
Jimmy CLAIRET | Team Clairet Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 11.920 | 2:09.591 | 2 | |
| 4 | 4 | |
Julien BRICHÉ | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 12.970 | 2:04.519 | 13 | |
| 5 | 28 |  |
Eric GENÉ Casanovas | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 12 | 13.356 | 2:11.788 | 6 | |
| 6 | 20 | |
Teddy CLAIRET | Team Clairet Sport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 14.381 | 2:11.325 | 19 | |
| 7 | 97 |  |
Junesung PARK | Solite Indigo Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 12 | 19.681 | 2:11.457 | 17 | |
| 8 | 33 | |
Santiago CONCEPCIÓN | Auto Club RC2 Valles | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 20.711 | 2:11.787 | 16 | |
| 9 | 246 |  |
Jenson BRICKLEY | Monlau Motorsport | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 12 | 21.168 | 2:05.093 | 14 | |
| 10 | 48 |  |
Mikael KARLSSON | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 22.079 | 2:05.293 | 12 | |
| 11 | 27 |  |
Ruben VOLT | ALM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 23.649 | 2:08.609 | 3 | |
| 12 | 8 | |
Nicola BALDAN | Aikoa Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 12 | 24.263 | 2:07.705 | 9 | |
| 13 | 111 | |
Marco BUTTI | MM Motorsport | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 12 | 25.442 | 2:07.978 | 10 | |
| 14 | 6 | |
Jean-Laurent NAVARRO | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | + 1 LAP | 2:08.720 | 21 | |
| 15 | 45 | |
Victor FERNÁNDEZ Gil | Auto Club RC2 Valles | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 11 | + 1 LAP | 2:07.674 | 4 | |
| 16 | 10 | |
Viktor ANDERSSON | MA:GP | Lynk & Co 03 TCR | 11 | + 1 LAP | 2:06.216 | 18 | |
| 17 | 80 | |
Filippo BARBERI | Aikoa Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 11 | + 1 LAP | 2:07.529 | 15 | |
| 18 | 98 | |
Pierre-Arnaud NAVARRO | JSB Compétition | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 11 | + 1 LAP | 2:18.137 | 20 | |
| R | 19 | |
Felipe FERNÁNDEZ Gil | Auto Club RC2 Valles | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 8 | DNF | 2:10.636 | 1 | |
| R | 17 |  |
Nicolas TAYLOR | PMA Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 8 | DNF | 2:10.801 | 5 | |
| R | 87 | |
Junui PARK | Solite Indigo Racing | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 8 | DNF | 2:12.513 | 7 |