The fast and unforgiving Vila Real street race in Portugal beckons for Lynk & Co Cyan Racing this weekend, the final European race of the 2019 FIA World Touring Car Cup season.
Thed Björk, currently placed third in the championship, has strong memories from the Portuguese circuit where he last year got caught in a massive crash that eliminated a big part of the field. But the team fought back and the 2017 World Champion won the main race of the weekend.
"What I carry with me from last year is the amazing effort from the team to repair the car and that I was able to win. It feels great to return to a street circuit; they suit my driving stile and I enjoy them. We are still in touch with the title fight and my goal is of course to reduce the gap, I think we can achieve strong results here," said Thed Björk.
Yvan Muller was also involved in the big crash last year but managed to avoid major damage and won the first race of that weekend. The four-time World Champion is keen to bounce back after a difficult weekend at the Nürburgring two weeks ago.
"My goal is always to do my job as best as possible. But the balance of performance system does not help us and this frustration cost us some clarity in our work, we need to find it back. I hope that this will be at Vila Real," said Yvan Muller.
Fellow Frenchman Yann Ehrlacher is also looking for revenge this round after missing out on vital points in Germany despite promising pace.
"I am looking forward to this weekend and hope that our luck changes. We all had a very difficult weekend in Germany, but we have learned from it. The layout of Vila Real with chicanes and quick corners should suit us. But whether we can fight for the win is something we won't know until the weekend starts. The main focus is to bring as much points as possible to the team and climb some positions in the championship," said Yann Ehrlacher.
Three-time World Champion Andy Priaulx has never before raced at Vila Real but does not lack experience of racing at street circuits.
"This will be my first visit to this track, although I have raced on the other Portuguese street circuit of Oporto, which is about a hundred kilometres west on the coast. I really enjoyed that track and had a win there back in 2007. I have always loved racing on streets and this circuit looks like it will be really challenging and fast. Let’s hope our Lynk & Co 03 TCR goes well there and we can turn around our recent luck," said Andy Priaulx.
The race weekend in Portugal starts on Friday with a first free practice session, followed by the first qualifying and race on Saturday and the final two races on Sunday.
FIA WTCR Race of Portugal
Schedule
Times in CEST (local time is -1h)
Friday July 5th
18:00-18:45 – Free Practice 1
Saturday July 6th
10:00-10:30 – Free Practice 2
12:00-12:40 – Qualifying 1
16:15-16:45 – Race 1 (11 laps)
Sunday July 7th
11:00-12:15 – Qualifying 2
16:30-17:00 – Race 2 (11 laps)
18:00-18:35 – Race 3 (13 laps)
Standings
Points for drivers – Top 5
1 Esteban Guerrieri Honda Civic 215 points
2 Norbert Michelisz Hyundai i30 170 (-45)
3 Thed Björk Lynk & Co 03 161 (-54)
4 Néstor Girolami Honda Civic 154 (-61)
5 Frederic Vervich Audi RS 3 132 (-83)
...
8 Yvan Muller Lynk & Co 03 115 (-100)
11 Yann Ehrlacher Lynk & Co 03 98 (-117)
20 Andy Priaulx Lynk & Co 03 37 (-178)
Points for teams – Top 5
1 Münnich Motorsport 369 points
2 BRC Hyundai Squadra 288 (-81)
3 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 276 (-93)
4 BRC Hyundai Lukoil 194 (-175)
5 SLR Racing Volkswagen 164 (-205)
...
9 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 135 (-234)
What happened in the last race?
Read all about it right here.
Contact information
Johan Meissner
Press Manager
Cyan Racing
+46(0)70 241 3234
johan.meissner@cyanracing.com
About Cyan Racing
Cyan Racing was founded in 1996 and was formerly named Polestar until Volvo Cars acquired the performance section and trademark in 2015. Cyan Racing is privately owned and operated. The team has claimed multiple titles, most recently the 2018 FIA World Touring Car Cup team title and the double 2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship titles for driver and manufacturer – and participated in the development of the Polestar performance models of the Volvo S60 and V60 in the years 2013 to 2015.
About Lynk & Co
Lynk & Co is the new global urban mobility brand addressing the needs and preferences of the connected generation and challenging auto industry conventions. Its products are designed and engineered in Sweden and will be sold globally.