Tyler Maxson on… cloud nine at Road America

Ninth race and ninth win for Tyler Maxson in the TCR class of the TC America championship. The Copeland Motorsports’ driver and his Hyundai Veloster N struggled in the early stages while chasing Tim Lewis and Victor González, but eventually they took the chequered flag behind the safety car, with slim gaps over the Honda Civic cars of Scott Smithson and González.
Maxson had set pole position in a wet Qualifying session with a lap of 2:38.938, beating González by 1.4 seconds, however it was the newcomer Lewis who sprinted from P3 on the grid to take the lead in his KMW Motorsports Alfa Romeo Giulietta.
In the first part of the race, Lewis led from González and Maxson, but after ten minutes the Alfa lost pace and retired, while Maxson overtook González for the lead. He tried to pull away, but a long safety car intervention that lasted from minute 20 to 31, helped González to stay in touch; however, when the green flag was waved, Smithson managed to pass the Puerto Rican for P2. He tried to get close enough to Maxson for trying an overtaking move, but a second safety car intervention froze the race until the end.  
Race 2 is scheduled for 11:40 local time (18:40 CEST) on Saturday; live streaming at www.tcr-series.com. 

Race 1
1. Tyler Maxson (Copeland Motorsports, Hyundai Veloster N), 13 laps
2. Scott Smithson (DXDT Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 1.091
3. Victor González (VGMC Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 1.968
4. Olivia Askew (DXDT Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 2.568
5. CJ Moses (DXDT Racing, Honda Civic Type R), 3.040

Championship standings
1. Tyler Maxson 225 pts; 2. Victor González 120; 3. Roy Block 91 
 

Picture: SRO Motorsports