Tristan Herbert wins as Smithson eliminates Lewis

TC America returnee Tristan Herbert claimed his maiden victory in the series at Indianapolis driving an Audi RS 3 LMS DSG for the New German Performance team. Herbert was running in third position halfway through the race when the two drivers in front of him, Tim Lewis and Scott Smithson, were eliminated in an absurd incident.  
Lewis from P3 on the grid sprinted to lead the field from pole-sitter Smithson and Herbert. There was commotion behind them: Roy Block was punted into a spin at Turn 1 by Olivia Askew and soon afterwards Askew and Victor González made contact and spun, forcing Tyler Maxson on the grass in avoidance. Block, Askew and González rejoined in the middle of the pack of the slower classes, while Maxson was forced to pit and retired. 
In lap 2, Herbert passed Smithson for P2 and began putting the pressure on Lewis, but in lap 5 Smithson retook the second position.
González and Block were quickly elbowing their way through the field of the TC and TCA cars, but on lap 8, Block’s charge was stopped by a blown front tyre. 
Two laps later, Smithson completely missed the braking point at Turn 1 and his Honda brutally t-boned Lewis’ Alfa Romeo; both cars were seriously damaged and the safety car was deployed. 
When racing resumed with seven minutes left on the clock, Herbert was closely followed by C.J. Moses, Askew, González and Vinnie Lima, however he was able to resist the final attack from Moses and took the chequered flag with a margin of 28 hundredths, while González completed the podium.
Race 2 is scheduled tomorrow for 11:10 local time (17:10 CEST); live streaming at www.tcr-series.com. 

Race 1
1. Tristan Herbert (New German Performance, Audi RS 3 LMS DSG), 22 laps
2. C.J. Moses (DXDT Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 0.280
3. Victor González (VGMC Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 2.601
4. Olivia Askew (DXDT Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 9.987
5. Vinnie Lima (VVL Systems & Consulting, Audi RS 3 LMS DSG), 12.364

Championship standings
1. Tyler Maxson 297 pts; 2. Victor González 205; 3. Scott Smithson 183 

Picture: SRO Motorsports