Santiago Urrutia put on an impressive performance in the FIA World Touring Car Cup qualifying at Slovakiaring, despite carrying maximum compensation weight on a circuit he has never been on before.
The Uruguayan driver finished eighth in the Q2 session, meaning that he will start third on the reversed Race 2 grid.
"I am quite happy with my performance, especially since this is my first day here. But we have to focus on tomorrow to improve the car further and score as many points as possible," said Santiago Urrutia.
Championship leader Yann Ehrlacher had a tough qualifying session, finishing 15th behind team-mate Yvan Muller. The French duo will start 15th and 14th for all three races.
"This was not the start to the weekend we were hoping for. We need to improve ourselves and find some more pace so that we can grab some points from the three races," said Yann Ehrlacher.
2017 world champion Thed Björk, who is shared second in the drivers' championship, had an equally tough qualifying session, finishing 21st after struggling with a technical issue.
"I had some kind of issue with the car, something felt broken as we headed out for qualifying. We've got a long night ahead of us to turn this around ahead of the races tomorrow," said Thed Björk.
The first race of the weekend starts at 09:15 CEST tomorrow and is broadcast live on Eurosport: eurosportplayer.com
FIA WTCR Race of Slovakia
Schedule
Times in CEST
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 47 (-45)
...
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 80 (-72)
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.