Mike Halder: “The most important win of my career so far”

Profi Car Team Halder’s Mike Halder says that his Race 2 win in the TCR Europe series season opener at Paul Ricard was perhaps “the most important win of my career so far”.

The German, who previously won a TCR Europe race in the 2018 season finale at Barcelona, claimed a pole-to-flag victory in just his fourth series race, beating WTCR regular Néstor Girolami from the reversed grid pole position.

Halder said that while he struggled with tyre management in the stifling heat during Saturday’s first race, fresh rubber in the second was the key to the win.

“Yesterday I drove with very bad conditions on my front tyres so today I started on new tyres and I got a very good start,” Halder said.

“When I looked in the mirror and saw the Honda of Girolami behind me, I was able to control the gap so it was nearly the same throughout the race.

“I was able to drive [at] my own pace, it’s perfect. Unbelievable.

“It’s been a brilliant start to my TCR Europe [campaign], so it cannot get any better.”

Having made the late decision to switch from TCR Germany to TCR Europe, Halder was particularly happy with how quickly he has been able to taste success on the European stage.

“I have to say huge thanks to my team, my mechanics and my sponsors who have given me the opportunity to join TCR Europe in such a short time,” Halder said.

“We have no engineers, so I have to sort out the set-ups for both our cars and deal with the organisation, so I have to say this is probably the most important win in my career so far.

“I’m really proud to have won this race.”