Lynk & Co Cyan Racing fought through a chaotic race weekend at Vallelunga in Italy to defend its TCR World Tour points lead with two podium finishes.
Two-time world champion Yann Ehrlacher defied 40 kilos of compensation weight to claim a podium finish and maintain second place in the drivers’ championship.
“A podium finish with 40 kilos in the car is just amazing. A big shoutout to the team and to everyone at Lynk & Co for their support. It's been crucial today and I'm very happy to be here with a new podium finish. We will keep working hard to be even better in Hungary next weekend,” said Yann Ehrlacher.
Thed Björk qualified a strong third on the grid for the first race, a position he kept to claim his second podium finish of 2023 – jumping from tenth to fifth in the standings.
“I’m really happy to secure my second podium finish of the year, I can’t thank the team and Lynk & Co enough. The second race was a classic touring car race with plenty of action where I gave it everything I had. The Hyundais were really strong this weekend and we need to find some more pace for Hungary,” said Thed Björk.
Team-mates Santiago Urrutia and Ma Qing Hua had a tough weekend, with both being involved in incidents during the eventful second reversed grid race.
Ma Qing Hua started from the reversed grid pole but was sent into a spin following contact with one of the competitors who also made contact with Santiago Urrutia.
“It’s been a difficult weekend for me. I think it’s ridiculous with so many crashes. My car was damaged when I was running third and I had to pit for repairs. I’m disappointed, but it is what it is and now we’re going to focus on the next weekend in Hungary to claw some points back,” said Santiago Urrutia.
“The second race was very unfortunate. I got a good start from pole position, but with a 60-kilo difference to the Audis it was an impossible task to defend. There was contact and that was it. It was not the result we were after, obviously. But we can’t do anything but reload and push for the next race in Hungary,” said Ma Qing Hua.
Yann Ehrlacher is placed second overall in the drivers’ standings, 25 points from leading driver Norbert Michelisz while Thed Björk is fifth, 56 points adrift.
Lynk & Co Cyan Racing heads the team championship, nine points ahead of BRC Hyundai and 66 points ahead of Audi Sport Comtoyou.
The next TCR World Tour race takes place at Hungaroring in Hungary on June 17-18.
Standings - Drivers - Top 5
1 Norbert Michelisz 159 pts
2 Yann Ehrlacher 134 (-25)
3 Rob Huff 126 (-33)
4 Mikel Azcona 120 (-39)
5 Thed Björk 103 (-56)
...
7 Santiago Urrutia 95 (-64)
11 Ma Qing Hua 54 (-105)
Standings - Teams - Top 5
1 - Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 254 pts
2 - BRC Hyundai 245 (-9)
3 - Audi Sport Comtoyou 188 (-66)
4 - Comtoyou Racing 100 (-154)
5 – ALM Motorsport Honda 97 (-157)
2023 TCR World Tour calendar
28-30 April – Portimao – Portugal
26-28 May – Spa – Belgium
09-11 June – Vallelunga – Italy
16-18 June – Hungaroring – Hungary
18-20 August – El Pinar – Uruguay
25-27 August – San Luis – Argentina
03-05 November – Sydney Motorsport Park - Australia
10-12 November – Bathurst – Australia
17-19 November – Macau – China