Lynk & Co Cyan Racing will face three challenging FIA World Touring Car Cup races at the Slovakiaring this weekend as the intense season hits mid-point. The team will run on maximum compensation weight on a circuit that proved very tough last year.
Yann Ehrlacher has started the 2020 season best of all so far with three podiums in four races of which two have been victories, most recently winning at the fearsome Nürburgring Nordschleife.
"We had a really, really good weekend in Germany and everyone in the team made a fantastic job. Now we need to carry that success to Slovakia where we had a really difficult race last year. We will carry a lot of weight this weekend and we need to be smart and score consistently this weekend," said Yann Ehrlacher.
32 points cover the top four drivers and Thed Björk is sharing second place in the championship with Honda driver Néstor Girolami. Yvan Muller is third, just one point behind.
"With the very short and intense season that we have this year, each weekend is crucial. Especially Slovakiaring as we know it's going to be an extra level of challenges. There is no point in over-analysing the situation, we need to keep our game faces on and just continue to deliver, no matter the challenges," said Thed Björk.
"I expect our weight and ride height to play a major role in Slovakia and I think it will be hard for us to fight with this at the top. But we need to continue our progress anyway and the Lynk & Co 03 TCR is capable to be fast on every circuit, we will fight hard," said Yvan Muller.
Santiago Urrutia had a steel bath in the previous race weekend when he made his Nürburgring Nordschleife race debut. This weekend he faces yet another new circuit.
"I'm definitely ready for Slovakia and it's another new circuit that I have to adapt to quickly. I had a mixed weekend at the Nürburgring with ups and downs. But the most important thing is that we are leading the teams' and drivers' championship. I will do my best to help the team win," said Santiago Urrutia.
The compensation weight is calculated on the average lap times of qualifying from the previous two races. As the Lynk & Co 03 TCR cars have been fastest so far this year, the Cyan Racing drivers will carry 40kg of compensation weight and an increase of 10mm in ride height in Slovakia.
"We had a difficult race at Slovakiaring last year when we arrived with no prior testing and a new car. We have taken considerable steps forward since then and we have tested several times at the circuit. We do however expect a tough challenge as we are on the maximum compensation weight with an increased ride height. That will affect the cars considerably, especially over a race distance," said Fredrik Wahlén, CEO and Team Principal of Cyan Racing.
All races will be broadcast live on Eurosport, read more.
Read more about the first race weekend at Zolder here.
Read more about the second race weekend at the Nürburgring here.
FIA WTCR Race of Slovakia
Schedule
Times in CEST
Saturday October 10th
10:00-10:45 - Free Practice 1
13:45-15:15 - Free Practice 2
16:30-17:30 - Qualifying
Sunday October 11th
09:15-09:45 - Race 1 (9 laps)
12:45-13:15 - Race 2 (9 laps)
14:45-15:15 - Race 3 (9 laps)
Standings - Drivers
1 Yann Ehrlacher 92 points
2 Thed Björk 61 (-31)
2 Néstor Girolami 61 (-31)
4 Yvan Muller 60 (-32)
5 Tom Coronel 45 (-47)
...
9 Santiago Urrutia 34 (-58)
Standings - Teams
1 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 152 points
2 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 101 (-51)
3 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 95 (-57)
4 Comtoyou DHL Team Audi Sport 68 (-84)
5 All-Inkl.de Münnich Motorsport 53 (-99)
Media contact
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 the last three touring car World titles, most recently the 2019 WTCR team title with Lynk & Co – and participated in the development of the Polestar performance models of the Volvo S60 and V60 in the years 2013 to 2015, including the concept models Volvo C30 and S60 Polestar Concept Prototype.
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.