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WORLD AND LIFE
TCR 2018
NEWS
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DRIVERS TEAM
The title fight
becomes red hot
NIELS LANGEVELD JUMPS ON TOP OF THE STANDINGS
Harald Proczyk had kept the
leadership in the standings from the
opening round at Oschersleben, but
in the two latest events at the
Nürburgring and Zandvoort his rivals
relaunched their chances in the title
fight.
Racing One’s Niels Langeveld claimed
one victory and a second place in his
home event at Zandvoort that, added
to another second place at the
Nürburgring, propelled him to the
top of the standings, nine points
ahead of Proczyk. At the same time,
Luca Engstler and Mike Halder have
closed the gaps from the leader to 22
and 39 points respectively, when 170
are still on offer in the two race
meetings left at Sachsenring
(September 8/9) and Hockenheim
(September 22/23).
Engstler switched from the
Volkswagen Golf GTI to the Hyundai
i30 N before the Nürburgring and
finally scored his maiden victory in
TCR Germany at Zandvoort; as for
Halder, he finished first and second
in the Nürburgring races and claimed
another appearance on the podium at
Zandvoort.
To add spice to the show, the four
contenders drive four different cars:
Audi, Opel, Hyundai and Honda in
the current order.
In Nürburgring’s Race 1, Halder took
command from pole position and
resisted the pressure from Lukas
Niedertscheider’s Peugeot 308 until
the Austrian was given a drive-
through penalty for a jump-start.
With Halder in control, Dominik
Fugel and Langeveld settled for
second and third ahead of Max Hesse,
Michelle Halder and Benjamin
Leuchter. The race was mostly
processional until the end, with only
Engstler and Proczyk trying to elbow
their way through the field. On his
first race in the Hyundai, Engstler
recovered from 16th on the grid to
ninth.
At the start of Race 2, Fugel sprinted
from fourth on the grid and squeezed
between pole sitter Wankmüller and
Leuchter; the latter moved into
second at Turn 1. Two pairings were
leading the field: Fugel and Leuchter
were fighting for victory, while Halder
overtook Wankmüller for third. He
then joined the leading duo and on
lap 11 managed to outbrake Leuchter
at the chicane, but the latter was able
to retake the position. What promised
to be a thrilling battle for victory was
then frustrated by the crash of Daniel
Davidovac’s Opel that prompted the
safety car into action; then, with five
minutes left, the race was red flagged.