Josh Buchan became the second Australian driver to win a TCR World Tour race, two years after Will Brown scored a double win in Sydney. At the wheel of his HMO Customer Racing Hyundai Elantra N, the double TCR Australia champion led the field from the lights to the flag and won by a margin of nearly six seconds.
Behind him, Esteban Guerrieri made up from a disappointing qualifying and recovered from P6 on the grid to finish second, keeping a charging Thed Björk at bay.
The points leader Yann Ehrlacher came home in fourth position and lost only five points to his closest rival Guerrieri who has now a gap of 37 points.
The track was damp, and all drivers went for slick tyres but the Parks who had rains at the rear. Buchan made good use of the pole and led at the start from Ehrlacher, Santiago Urrutia and Ma Qing Hua, while Björk was touched, went wide at T1 and was passed by Guerrieri and Junesung Park.
In lap 2, both Park and Björk passed Guerrieri, while Buchan began to build a gap. In lap 4, Guerrieri benefited from the fight between Park and Björk to pass both moving into P5.
In lap 6, Urrutia and Ma dropped behind Guerrieri and Björk, while Buchan’s lead exceeded the six seconds. Guerrieri closed in on Ehrlacher and passed him in lap 7, while Aurélien Comte overtook Ma for P6. Further down the field, Mikel Azcona, Ignacio Montenegro and Norbert Michelisz were fighting for the tenth position that would mean the pole for Race 2. In lap 9, Björk passed Ehrlacher for third.
In TCR Asia, Choi and Moran were having a close battle for the lead, with the Ecuadorian driver passing the Korean in lap 8.
With the top three split by several seconds, the focus was on the battle for P4 between Ehrlacher, Urrutia, Comte and Ma. In the final part of the race, with the track completely dry, Björk got closer to Guerrieri but could find a gap to pass.
Ma and Azcona were classified ninth and tenth and so they will share the front row on the grid for tomorrow’s Race 2, with the Spaniard on pole.
Race 2 is due to start at 10:55 local time (03:55 CEST), with Race 3 at 16:40 (09:40 CEST).
Race 1
- Josh Buchan (HMO Customer Racing, Hyundai Elantra N), 18 laps
- Esteban Guerrieri (GOAT Racing, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 5.850
- Thed Björk (Lynk & Co Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co 03), 6.371
Championship points
- Y. Ehrlacher, 324 pts; 2. E. Guerrieri, 287; 3. T. Björk, 280
Championship points – TCR Asia
- Chang C.S., 235 pts; 2. D. Moran, 193; 3. B. Santoso, 188
Picture: WSC/Jun Qian Motorsport
