Thed Björk misses WTCC Q3 in Slovakia by hundredths of a second

”To be this close to Q3 this early in our WTCC programme is a real confidence booster,” said Björk.

Björk was sixth fastest in the Q2 session, meaning that he will start fifth in the first race and sixth in the second race.

”I am happy with how we have moved forward with the car. We have two challenging races ahead of us, I will start right in the thick of it and I love it!” said Björk.

The Polestar Cyan Racing drivers showed strong form in the sessions leading up to qualifying, with Fredrik Ekblom being fastest in Free Practice 1 and team mate Björk second fastest in Free Practice 2.

Ekblom was 12th fastest in the Q2 qualifying session, a position he will keep for the grid of both races tomorrow.

”We made some strategical misses in qualifying, but in total the start of the race weekend here in Slovakia is promising. The car is fast and we are improving on plenty of areas,” said Ekblom.

The first race in Slovaka starts tomorrow at 12:10 CET, followed by the second one at 14:15, with both broadcasted live on Eurosport.

”We have moved one step closer to the front compared to the first race in France and that is what we bring with us from today,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.

UPDATE: Fredrik Ekblom has got his times in qualifying disallowed because he missed a weight check in the Q2 session. The penalty means that he will start 17th and last in both races tomorrow.

Follow Polestar Cyan Racing on Twitter to get live updates from the team during the races: https://www.twitter.com/cyanracing

WTCC Race of Slovakia

Circuit: Slovakiaring

Length: 5922 m

Lap record (WTCC): 2:05.748, Tarquini

Results

Q3

1 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 2:03.910

2 Nicky Catsburg Lada Vesta +0.040

3 José Mariá López Citroën C-Elysée +0.281

4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.468

5 Rob Huff Honda Civic +0.841

Q2 – Top 5

1 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 2:04.297

2 Nicky Catsburg Lada Vesta +0.160

3 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +0.227

4 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.413

5 Rob Huff Honda Civic +0.465

…

6 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +0.524

12 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 +0.982

Q1 – Top 5

1 Hugo Valente Lada Vesta 2:04.604

2 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +0.116

3 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.139

4 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée +0.166

5 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.237

…

6 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +0.278

11 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 +0.574

Free Practice 2 – Top 5

1 Nicky Catsburg Lada Vesta 2:05.581

2 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +0.304

3 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 +1.015

4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +1.024

5 James Thompson Chevrolet Cruze +1.131

Free Practice 1 – Top 5

1 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 2:05.420

2 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +0.313

3 Nicky Catsburg Lada Vesta +0.343

4 Gabriele Tarquini Lada Vesta +0.623

5 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.752

Schedule

(Times in CET)

Sunday 17/4

12:10 Race 1 (11 laps)

14:15 Race 2 (12 laps)

Championship standings

Drivers

1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 41 pts

2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 34 (-7)

3 Rob Huff Honda Civic 34 (-7)

4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 32 (-9)

5 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 22 (-19)

…

9 Thed Björk Volvo S60 6 (-35)

13 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 1 (-40)

TV Schedule

International: https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv/

Online: http://www.eurosportplayer.com/