Back into the points for Polestar Cyan Racing in Vila Real street races

The reigning Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) champion crossed the line in seventh position in the first race and one place better in the second race, just one second behind reigning double world champion José María López.

”I am happy with the outcome of the weekend in terms of the work we have done with the car and that I was able to fight with the drivers around me from my qualifying positions,” said Thed Björk.

Robert Dahlgren is back in the WTCC for the first time since 2011, qualifying eleventh and finishing 13th in the first race, being forced to retire from the second race due to a technical issue.

”With my limited time in the car and no experience from the circuit for neither the team nor me, this has been a positive first weekend. We made steady progress forward all weekend and I can't wait to dig my teeth into all data and move forward for the coming races,” said Robert Dahlgren.

The WTCC race weekend in Portugal concludes the European part of the season with Argentina next up after the summer break on August 5-7th. More than half of the season has been completed with Polestar Cyan Racing claiming 14 points finishes, two top five finishes and one Q3 session.

”The learnings from our last visit to the street circuit in Marrakech could be applied today and we are happy with being back in the points. Street circuits like Vila Real are like walking on a tightrope without a safety net, especially for us having never been here before. The team and our drivers have been very brave and professional all weekend,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.

WTCC Race of Portugal

Circuit: Circuito International de Vila Real

Length: 4785 m

Lap record (WTCC): 1:58.385 (Huff)

Results

Race 1 – Top 5

1 Tom Coronel Chevrolet Cruze 13 laps

2 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée +0.597

3 Nicky Catsburg Lada Vesta +2.626

4 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée +3.145

5 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +3.626

…

7 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +5.155

13 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +20.282

Race 2 – Top 5

1 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 14 laps

2 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.821

3 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +2.181

4 Rob Huff Honda Civic +3.402

5 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +16.164

…

6 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +17.374

DNF Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60

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

Championship standings

Drivers

1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 244 pts

2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 143 (-101)

3 Nicky Catsburg Lada Vesta 139 (-105)

4 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 134 (-110)

5 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 133 (-111)

…

12 Thed Björk Volvo S60 41 (-203)

13 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 35 (-209)

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.