Temperatures are expected to hit close to 40 degrees Celsius this weekend as Lynk & Co Cyan Racing heads for the third FIA World Touring Car Cup round at MotorLand Aragón - a circuit that has proved successful for the team in the past.
Yvan Muller and Santiago Urrutia share second place overall in the standings currently, just five points from points leader and Hyundai driver Jean-Karl Vernay after a challenging previous race weekend in Portugal.
Both drivers claimed a victory at the Spanish circuit last year.
"This is obviously a special place for me as I took my first WTCR win there and it's a circuit that suits my driving style. It's difficult to say where we will be, it's a strong track for us but Audi and Cupra will be stronger this weekend. It will also be super, super hot. But it's all about consistency, to keep scoring points," said Santiago Urrutia.
"It's a very close season so far and this race is no doubt going to be very challenging, especially with the hot weather conditions. Aragón has historically been a strong circuit for us, but as we've seen so far this year, nothing can be taken for granted and we need to be on the limit all weekend," said Yvan Muller.
Lynk & Co Cyan Racing claimed a 1-2-3 finish in the reversed grid race at Estoril two weeks ago, with Santi Urrutia as the top scoring driver of the team in fifth in Race 2.
The competitors, that had a more favourable Balance of Performance, failed to capitalise on their advantage, suffering punctures, loose bonnet latches, getting involved in crashes and more.
"We could only manage seventh in qualifying due to the BoP situation and to be able to secure that result from the weekend is an amazing testament to the efforts of everyone in the team," said Fredrik Wahlén, Team Manager of Cyan Racing.
"Consistency is as always king in racing and we managed to stay away from trouble and properly maximise our performance. But we cannot relax this weekend, despite a strong history here - we need to continue to deliver at our very best."
Reigning champion Yann Ehrlacher claimed his first WTCR win of 2021 at Estoril and has climbed to seventh overall, just 12 points from the lead. And the Lynk & Co 03 TCR driver has got fond memories from MotorLand Aragón where he was crowned champion last year.
"This is the track where I've had the biggest emotion of my life, so I'm definitely looking forward to get back there. We ended last year strongly, but this year we race on the circuit version with the long straight which won't make it easy for us as we are down on top speed with the BoP. We will fight to try and qualify better than we did in Portugal and the target is obviously to score as much points as possible," said Yann Ehrlacher.
Thed Björk is a man on a mission after a tough race weekend in Portugal, chasing the top spot on the circuit where he claimed his most recent WTCR victory.
"I had an awesome race here last year and I want more. There has been changes to the BoP and the compensation weight for this weekend which makes it hard to predict where we will be. But what I do know is that I've not had the start to the season that I wanted, and I am very much ready to fight back," said Thed Björk.
The 2021 WTCR Race of Spain starts on Saturday this weekend with free practice and qualifying, followed by two races on Sunday - both broadcast live on: eurosportplayer.com
Schedule
Times in CEST
Saturday - July 10th
09:45 - FP1 - 40 min
12:45 - FP2 - 40 min
16:30 - Qualifying - 40 min
Sunday - July 11th
11:15 - Race 1 - 10 laps
13:15 - Race 2 - 12 laps
Standings - Drivers
1 Jean-Karl Vernay 61 points
2 Yvan Muller 56 (-5)
2 Santiago Urrutia 56 (-5)
2 Attila Tassi 56 (-5)
5 Tiago Monteiro 52 (-9)
5 Esteban Guerrieri 52 (-9)
...
7 Yann Ehrlacher 49 (-12)
13 Thed Björk 22 (-39)
Standings - Teams
1 Münnich Motorsport ALL-INKL.de 108
2 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 105 (-3)
3 Münnich Motorsport ALL-INKL.com 94 (-14)
4 Engstler Hyundai 89 (-19)
5 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 78 (-30)
2021 FIA World Touring Car Cup calendar
03-05 June – Nürburgring Nordschleife – Germany
26-27 June – Estoril – Portugal
10-11 July – Motorland Aragon – Spain
31 July-01 August – Adria – Italy
21-22 August – Hungaroring – Hungary
16-17 October – Inje Speedium – South Korea
06-07 November – Ningbo – China
19-21 November – Circuito de Guia – Macau
Media 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 the last four touring car World Titles, most recently the 2020 WTCR drivers' and teams' titles 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. The company launched the Volvo P1800 Cyan in 2020, Cyan Racing’s interpretation of the iconic Volvo sports car from the sixties.
About Lynk & Co
Lynk & Co was created to provide mobility solutions for the connected generation. We do make really, really good cars (the kind that have all the features you want without you having to ask for them), but we also offer a new way of using those cars. Our membership-based approach makes it simple to get on the go. Members can access a car on a flexible, month-to-month basis and share with friends, family, and the Lynk & Co community.