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FILES EXTENDS HIS CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD WITH MAJESTIC DRIVE THROUGH THE FIELD

Coming into the second visit to Oschersleben for the 3rd round of TCR Germany was never going to be easy. The Honda driver was carrying 30kg of success ballast in already the heaviest TCR car due to the new Balance of Performance figures.

Free Practice
Free practices started well, with progress made on qualifying setups and a race run with Files recording P8 in both sessions. Noticeably the weight was already showing its hand as the lighter cars were leading the field around the start/stop nature of the Oschersleben circuit.

Qualifying
In Qualifying Files found a miraculous turn of speed and made a time of 1m32.010 to put him provisionally Pole position before the lap was then deleted due to track limits. On the second flyer, he hit traffic in awkward places and could only rustle together a time of 1m32.642 as a result good enough only for P14 in both races

Race 1
Race 1 saw the always fast starting Honda pilot go from P14 to P7 by turn 1 before then taking 6th place by the end of the lap. A long battle continued with Dutch driver Niels Langveld before Files finally made it to 5th. An unusual mistake though lost files 5 places so P10 for race 1 was the final result for the Brit.

Race 2 
Race 2 was a different set of conditions all together. With heavy rain overnight the track was wet. Files opted for dry weather slick tyres however, knowing the track will dry eventually, but it was a risky strategy never the less. A risk that paid off. Another fast start took Files into 7th place by turn 1 and then he gained 5th place by Turn 3. Fighting forwards, he managed to pass both Liqui Moly Golfs in one move to take 2nd place to the finish.
 
“It was always going to be a tough weekend” Explained Files “I am more than 80kg heavier than a Golf or Seat and that hurts around here. We did a great job all weekend with the car, and managed to carry the weight well in the end, and race 2 was exactly what I hoped for. Slicks on a wet track, my favourite conditions, and to go from P13 to P2 was a great effort by everyone in the team and I’m very proud of them all for it”
 
Files is now 87 points clear at the top of the driver’s championship with the next round taking place in just 2 weeks’ time at the beautiful Zandvoort circuit in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.