Thed Björk defied a tough FIA World Touring Car Cup weekend at MotorLand Aragón in Spain to claim his first podium finish of 2021 with second place in the main race.
The Lynk & Co 03 TCR drivers struggled on the long straights due to the Balance of Performance power and weight levels, making very hard for them to defend from the Audis and Hyundais at the top.
"To be back on the podium feels super good. I knew it was not going to be easy and I had to be right on the edge through the slower parts of the circuit to stay ahead of the Audis on the straights. I am really happy with the performance of the car under the circumstances and a massive thanks to the team for a fantastic car," said Thed Björk.
Yann Ehrlacher had an equally tough first race from third grid position on the reversed grid, finishing fifth - scoring enough points from the weekend in total to climb to second position in the drivers' championship.
"It was a long time since I had such tough races, fighting from the first lap to the last. We hoped for a better result but we did our maximum this weekend. Second place in the championship is not bad but now we have to see what we can do for the next race," said Yann Ehrlacher.
Yvan Muller and Santiago Urrutia had two tough races in Spain, with the Frenchman finishing eleventh and tenth, while the Uruguayan driver finished 12th in Race 1 but retired from the second race.
"It was not the weekend that we wanted. We did not have the pace on the straights to overtake. Let's see what will happen in the next race," said Yvan Muller.
"It was a difficult weekend and I am unhappy with that I could not bring more points. The mistake in qualifying was the big issue as we were not that quick in the races. But I am glad for Thed who took a podium and good points for the team. Now we focus on the next one and see if we can improve," said Santiago Urrutia.
Yann Ehrlacher is eight points from leading driver Jean-Karl Vernay of Hyundai. Yvan Muller is third, 15 points from the lead, while Santiago Urrutia is fourth and Thed Björk ninth.
Cyan Racing Lynk & Co (Ehrlacher/Muller) heads the team standings, 20 points of Hyundai Engstler, with Cyan Performance Lynk & Co (Björk/Urrutia).
The next WTCR round takes place at Adria in Italy on August 1st.
Standings - Drivers 1 Jean-Karl Vernay 82 points 2 Yann Ehrlacher 74 (-8) 3 Yvan Muller 67 (-15) 4 Santiago Urrutia 60 (-22) 5 Gabriele Tarquini 58 (-24) ... 9 Thed Björk 52 (-30)
Standings - Teams 1 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 141 2 Engstler Hyundai 121 (-20) 3 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 112 (-29) 4 Münnich Motorsport ALL-INKL.de 111 (-30) 5 Münnich Motorsport ALL-INKL.com 103 (-38)
2021 FIA World Touring Car Cup calendar 03-05 June – Nürburgring Nordschleife – Germany 26-27 June – Estoril – Portugal 10-11 July – Motorland Aragon – Spain 31 July-01 August – Adria – Italy 21-22 August – Hungaroring – Hungary 16-17 October – Inje Speedium – South Korea 06-07 November – Ningbo – China 19-21 November – Circuito de Guia – Macau