A step forward for Polestar Cyan Racing in Vila Real qualifying
Polestar Cyan Racing took a step forward in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) qualifying session at the challenging street circuit Vila Real where both drivers made it to the Q2 session and Thed Björk was just five tenths from making it to the final Q3 session.
”We are gaining on the others and we have made good progress, testing a lot of different things, even during the qualifying sessions. The track is tough and it will be really difficult to overtake, but I do like the track,” said Thed Björk.
Team mate Robert Dahlgren impressed by making it to the Q2 session on his WTCC return. Dahlgren drives his first WTCC race since 2011 in the new Volvo S60 Polestar TC1 this weekend after switching with Fredrik Ekblom who will focus on development instead.
”We couldn’t have picked a more difficult track for my return to the championship, but I have to say that I have a good feeling after qualifying. I am of course always aiming for the top, but for my first WTCC race since 2011, I am not unhappy with the result. There is of course more to do in terms of me getting to grips with the car and working with the setup, but I am confident we will continue to make progress,” said Robert Dahlgren.
Björk will start from fifth in the reversed grid for race one and sixth for the second race while Dahlgren will start both races from eleventh.
”The weekend is proceeding according to plan, we have closed the gap to the competitors compared to the previous race. If the conditions remain the same, we will continue to close the gap tomorrow and hopefully our drivers will put on a good show for our 500 guests with Volvo Cars Portugal on site,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
The first race of the weekend starts at 16:05 CET tomorrow, follow the team live via wtcc.polestar.com and watch the races on premium.fiawtcc.com.
WTCC Race of Portugal
Circuit: Circuito International de Vila Real
Length: 4785 m
Lap record (WTCC): 2:00.873 (López)
Results
Q1 – Top 5
1 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 1:56.900
2 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +0.264
3 Rob Huff Honda Civic +0.338
4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.417
5 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +0.588
…
7 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +1.173
11 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +1.486
Q2 – Top 5
1 Rob Huff Honda Civic 1:56.403
2 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.025
3 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +0.179
4 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +1.238
5 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +0.733
…
6 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +1.238
11 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +2.174
Q3 – Top 5
1 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +1:56.633
2 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.109
3 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +1.740
4 Rob Huff Honda Civic +2.398
5 José María López Citroën C-Elysée No time
Schedule
(Times in CET)
Sunday 26/6
16:05 Race 1 (13 laps)
17:15 Race 2 (14 laps)
TV Schedule
International: https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv/
Online: http://premium.fiawtcc.com
2016 FIA World Touring Car Championship Entry List
No – Driver – Team – Car
2 – Gabriele Tarquini – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
3 – Tom Chilton – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
5 – Norbert Michelisz – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC
7 – Hugo Valente – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
9 – Tom Coronel – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
10 – Nicky Catsburg – Lada Sport Rosneft – Lada Vesta WTCC
11 – Grégoire Demoustier – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
12 – Rob Huff – Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC
18 – Tiago Monteiro – Castrol Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic WTCC
25 – Mehdi Bennani – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
27 – John Filippi – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
37 – José María López – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
55 – Ferenc Ficza – Zengo Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
62 – Thed Björk – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
63 – Robert Dahlgren – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1
68 – Yvan Muller – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
77 – René Münnich – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
89 – John Bryant-Meisner – Nika Racing – Chevrolet Cruze WTCC
99 – Dániel Nagy – Zengo Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC
FIA World Touring Car Championship 2016 Calendar
1-3 April FIA WTCC Race of France (Circuit Paul Ricard)
15-17 April FIA WTCC Race of Slovakia (Slovakia Ring)
22-24 April FIA WTCC Race of Hungary (Hungaroring)
7-8 May FIA WTCC Race of Morocco (Moulay El Hassan, Marrakech) S
26-28 May FIA WTCC Race of Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife)
10-12 June FIA WTCC Race of Russia (Moscow Raceway)
24-26 June FIA WTCC Race of Portugal (Circ. Internacional de Vila Real) S
5-7 August FIA WTCC Race of Argentina (Circ. Termas de Río Hondo)
2-4 September FIA WTCC Race of Japan (Twin Ring Motegi)
23-25 September FIA WTCC Race of China (Shanghai International Circuit)
4-6 November FIA WTCC Race of Thailand (Chang International Circuit)
23-25 November FIA WTCC Race of Qatar (Losail International Circuit) N
S = Street race
N = Night Race
About Polestar
Polestar is the performance brand of Volvo Cars. The company was founded as a motorsport team in 1996 and has been successful in numerous championships, racing with various Volvo models. In 2009, Polestar started to offer performance related products and thereby intensified the business relations with Volvo Cars. The first performance cars, based on Volvo’s S60 and V60, were launched in 2014.
In 2015, Volvo Cars acquired the performance unit of Polestar, as a strong commitment towards a credible performance offer and with the mission to define future premium performance.
About Cyan Racing
Cyan Racing is the motorsport partner to Polestar. The company is owned by Christian Dahl and handles all motorsport operations of Polestar. Cyan Racing, formerly named Polestar Racing, has claimed five STCC drivers’ titles and seven STCC teams’ titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.