Polestar Cyan Racing drivers Thed Björk and Robert Dahlgren had a hard-fought FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) weekend in Argentina with vital experiences gained.
Björk was tapped into a spin on the first lap of the first race that saw him dropping to last position. The Volvo driver then fought his way up through the field to finish eleventh, one tenth of a second from making it to the points.
”Our performance in the first race was really good. But if you get behind like we did in terms of setup, it just isn't enough in a world championship and I struggled in the second race where I just couldn't get past. We didn't achieve the results we hoped for but we gained valuable data that is very important for when we can start to test properly between races,” said Thed Björk.
Both Polestar Cyan Racing drivers suffered from limited testing ahead of the race with one of the practice sessions being removed for the remainder of the season, leaving them with just 60 minutes of practice prior to qualifying.
Dahlgren fought hard in both races where he pitted in the first race to test a new approach with the setup of the car and was just six tenths of a second from the fastest lap in race two, compared to over two seconds in qualifying.
”Our goal for the races was to gain data for next year and to gain on the front-runners, something that we achieved and that I am pleased with. I am really looking forward to the races in Japan,” said Robert Dahlgren.
The Polestar Cyan Racing cars have been away from the workshop in Gothenburg, Sweden, since the first race in April, leaving the team with no chance to test between races in this very first season of the new programme.
”The team has fought well under the circumstances they found them selves in after practice and qualifying. The lap times achieved in the races from both drivers were encouraging and that is what we take with us to the coming races,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
The team is heading to Asia and Japan for the next race at Motegi on September 3-4th.
WTCC Race of Argentina
Circuit: Termas de Rio Hondo
Length: 4806 m
Lap record (WTCC): 1:45.899 (López)
Results
Race 1 – Top 5
1 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée 13 laps
2 Rob Huff Honda Civic +0.792
3 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +1.384
4 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +2.471
5 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +7.646
…
11 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +17.476
16 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +1 lap
Race 2 – Top 5
1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 14 laps
2 Tom Coronel Chevrolet Cruze +2.032
3 Rob Huff Honda Civic +2.583
4 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +3.956
5 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +4.305
…
14 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +20.827
16 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +24.931
Q1 – Top 5
1 Esteban Guerrieri Chevrolet Cruze 1:42.993
2 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +0.150
3 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.501
4 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.508
5 Tom Coronel Chevrolet Cruze +0.539
…
16 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +2.254
17 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +2.368
Championship standings
1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 284 pts
2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 167 (-117)
3 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 160 (-124)
4 Rob Huff Honda Civic 158 (-126)
5 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 144 (-140)
…
12 Thed Björk Volvo S60 41 (-243)
13 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 35 (-249)
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
86 – Esteban Guerrieri – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
89 – John Bryant-Meisner – Nika Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
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.