The FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) races in Japan proved to be the best weekend of 2016 so far for Polestar Cyan Racing, with drivers Néstor Girolami and Thed Björk claiming fifth and sixth position respectively in very hot conditions.
”This has been a very good weekend for me. We made a lot of changes to the car for the second race, improving it a lot and when I passed Chilton I could really make some ground on the top cars ahead of me. I am very proud and grateful for the result and the opportunity the team has given me,” said Néstor Girolami.
The Argentinian impressed on his debut for the team at Twin Ring Motegi and fought his way up to fifth in the second race, being outpaced only by newly crowned champion José María López.
Team-mate Thed Björk fought for second place in the first race and posted the fastest lap of the race, but dropped back towards the end of the race due damage from an earlier incident. The Swedish driver claimed sixth position nonetheless, followed up by seventh position in the second race.
”This has been a productive and interesting weekend where we have taken a couple of steps forward. My car was great in the beginning of the first race before I unfortunately sustained some damage to it. Overall, the WTCC race of Japan has been positive for us on several levels and I can’t wait for the next race in China where I have raced before in the WTCC,” said Thed Björk.
The Japanese WTCC weekend at Twin Ring Motegi proved to be a clear step forward for Polestar Cyan Racing, with both drivers finishing in the top ten of both races, as well as making it to Q2 of the qualifying session, despite temperatures reaching 35°C.
”If you expand your testing efforts, as we have done, this is the kind of evolvement you are expecting and hoping for. This is the most competitive championship we have ever competed in and we are happy for these results today, but we will work hard again tomorrow and remain patient for what is to come further on,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
WTCC continues in three weeks at Shanghai International Circuit in China.
WTCC Race of Japan
Circuit: Twin Ring Motegi
Length: 4806 m
Lap record (WTCC): 1:57.136 (Tarquini)
Results
Race 1 - Top 5
1 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 13 laps
2 Rob Huff Honda Civic +1.358
3 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +2.173
4 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +3.609
5 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +4.805
…
6 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +8.049
9 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 +10.135
Race 2 – Top 5
1 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 14 laps
2 José María López Citroën C-Elysée +1.045
3 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +2.561
4 Mehdi Bennai Citroën C-Elysée +3.280
5 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 +5.204
…
7 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +9.159
Q1 – Top 5
1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 1:56.759
2 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +0.366
3 Rob Huff Honda Civic +0.432
4 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.512
5 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +0.513
…
8 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 +0.777
11 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +0.878
Q2 – Top 5
1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 1:55.887
2 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.460
3 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +0.736
4 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée +0.755
5 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée +0.864
…
6 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 +0.982
8 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +1.208
Q3
1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 1:55.602
2 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée +0.807
3 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée +0.933
4 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic +1.000
5 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée +1.275
Championship standings
1 José María López Citroën C-Elysée 319 pts
2 Tiago Monteiro Honda Civic 199 (-120)
3 Yvan Muller Citroën C-Elysée 199 (-120)
4 Rob Huff Honda Civic 178 (-141)
5 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 172 (-147)
…
12 Thed Björk Volvo S60 55 (-264)
13 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 35 (-284)
15 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 12 (-307)
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
12 – Rob Huff – Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic
18 – Tiago Monteiro – Honda World Touring Car Team – Honda Civic
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
68 – Yvan Muller – Citroën Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC
77 – René Münnich – Münnich Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1
81 – Néstor Girolami – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 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 (International 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 Intl. 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.