Target Competition celebrate team title but slam penalty for Josh Files

Target Competition boss Andreas Gummerer believes Josh Files should only have been penalised five seconds instead of 30 for his start infringement in Saturday’s opening TCR Europe series race at Barcelona.

Files was penalised for being out of his grid hatching at the start of Race 1, and was handed a 30-second time penalty which dropped him to 22nd at the end.

Gummerer also revealed that a miscommunication between Files and track marshals resulted in Files overshooting his grid slot, leading to the inevitable punishment.

Files also tried to roll back into his grid slot before the start but was unable to engage reverse gear.

“The marshal waved Josh to come forward [to his grid slot] and then Josh recognised he was in the wrong position and he tried to move back,” Gummerer told TouringCarTimes.

“He was told to go backwards but the reverse gear was not entering. [Josh] tried, we have the data so I don’t know.

“If he got the 30-second penalty and he didn’t get the advantage because he wasn’t first into the first corner, then he should also have had a five-second penalty in my opinion.”

Andreas Bäckman eventually won the opening race after on-the-road winner Julien Bricé was penalised five seconds for a similar offence to Files.

Bäckman’s victory enabled Target to claim the teams’ championship, which Gummerer says was a culmination a season-long development programme.

“Yes we are very happy with the Teams’ championship but at the same time we are disappointed for Josh that he had his penalty in the race,” Gummerer said.

“Andreas drove a great race and we are so happy for him for his first win, especially after Oschersleben. Despite having five cars this season, not everything went well every race. When there was a bad situation, we came back strong and that is important.”

Gummerer also praised the efforts of both Andreas and sister Jessica Bäckman in 2019; the pair have enjoyed success in the European and German TCR championships.

“[Andreas and Jessica] have been incredible this season. I am so happy for them because after the first test day, it was a little bit hard in the beginning but they have performed well and have tested a lot,” he added.

“They have been getting help from Josh as well, so it’s just been really good team work.”