Mike Halder wins two and jumps on top of the standings

With two wins at Valencia, Mike Halder has taken the lead of TCR Spain, demoting the previous leader Eric Gené to the second place, 14 points behind.

The German driver and his TPR Motorsport-run Honda Civic FL5 sprinted from P3 on the grid at the start of the first race and led from the lights to the flag ahead of Jenson Brickley’s Monlau Motorsport CUPRA and Sten Dorian Piirimägi’s ALM Motorsport Honda.

In the second race, Halder recovered from P10 on the reversed grid and cruised to a second victory beating Piirimägi and Gené.

Race 1 – Piirimägi on pole and Victor Fernández formed an unseen front row, with Halder and Mikael Markussen behind them, while Gené was fifth. At the start, Halder sprinted to the lead ahead of Brickley, Piirimägi and Gené, while Markussen had a slow reflex and dropped several positions. The Dane’s race came to a quick end in lap 3, when his Honda stopped at the end of the straight in a cloud of smoke.

Top positions did not change, while the former champion Enric Bordás recovered up to P6 until he retired in lap 11; the safety car was deployed to recover his Audi and racing resumed with only two laps left.

Halder kept Brickley behind and went to take his third win of the season ahead of Piirimägi and Gené.

Race 2 – Sébastien Thome and Marco Aguilera were ahead on the reversed grid and led the field at the start, with Halder sprinting from P7 on the grid to third ahead of Guillaume Savoldelli. During the first lap, Halder and Piirimägi overtook Aguilera, moving up to second and third just before the safety car was deployed to recover Demir Eröge’s Honda from the gravel. At the restart, Brickley and Gené passed Aguilera for fourth and fifth.

In lap 7, Thome went wide at T1, allowing both Halder and Piirimägi through; soon the two Honda cars were able to pull away, while Thome was under pressure from Brickley and Gené. In lap 12, Gené overtook his teammate Brickley and then they both passed Thome during the last lap to finish third and fourth, while up front Halder kept Piirimägi at bay to score his second win of the weekend.

The next race meeting will be at Jerez de le Frontera after the summer break, on 19/21 September.

Race 1

1. Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 15 laps
2. Jenson Brickley (Monlau Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 1.208
3. Sten Dorian Piirimägi (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 2.178

Race 2

1. Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 15 laps
2. Sten Dorian Piirimägi (ALM Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 0.903
3. Eric Gené (Monlau Motorsport, CUPRA Leon VZ), 11.667

Championship points

1. M. Halder, 213 pts; 2. E. Gené, 199; 3. S.D. Piirimägi, 154

Picture: TCR Spain/Carlos Casimiro