Photo: TCR Spain

Mike Halder wins incident-packed TCR Spain opener in Barcelona

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TPR Motorsport driver Mike Halder claimed the first victory of the 2025 TCR Spain season in the first race of the weekend in Barcelona.

Both ALM Motorsport drivers Ruben Volt and Sten-Dorial Piirimägi (Honda) had their qualifying lap times deleted for not having enough fuel left after the session during the technical scrutineering.

Monlau Motorsport’s Eric Gené (Cupra) started from the pole position and claimed the lead as the lights went out, followed by Auto Club RC2 Vallés’ Felipe Fernández (Honda). Gené’s team-mate Jenson Brickley (Cupra) went wide during the first lap and dropped positions.

Fernández challenged Gené at the end of the opening lap and overtook for the lead, with Halder taking advantage to overtake the Spaniard as well.

The next lap saw Giovanni Scamardi of SP Compétition (Cupra) coming under fire from Monlau’s Erik Zabala in the fight for fourth, as Halder overtook Felipe Fernández for the lead.

Further back, Volt had recovered up to sixth place, as Brickley overtook Scamardi for fourth position.

The safety car was called into action on lap three due to Víctor Fernández (Honda) spinning off and got stuck in the gravel trap at Turn 2.

The track went green again on lap five, with Gené attacking Fernández at Turn 1 for second place. The two made contact, with the Fernández also losing a place to Zabala and Brickley.

Fernández and Scamardi came together on lap seven, with the RC2 Honda driver stuck in the gravel while Scamardi lost several places, causing the second safety car intervention of the race.

Halder led as the race went green on lap ten, followed by Gené, Brickley and Volt, who overtook Zabala.

Further back, Michael Markussen (Honda) had made good progress to sixth place, followed by TPR Motorsport’s Rene Povlsen.

Halder claimed the victory at the chequered flag, with Gené and Brickley completing the podium. Volt was fourth despite carrying a one-second time penalty for track limits, followed by Zabala and Markussen.

Povlsen crossed the line in seventh place, followed by Piirimägi and RC2’s Rubén Fernández Gil (Honda). Team Clairet Sport’s Guillaume Salvodelli (Audi RS 3 LMS) completed the top ten.

“I would like to thank the whole team for the opportunity to come back here to Spain and to this track, which I really like,” said Halder after the race. “I had a really good feeling in the car and I’m very happy with this win.”

The TCR Spain field returns to the track for Race 2 on Sunday afternoon at 17:30 CET.