Thed Björk was just 26 thousands of a second from pole position in the FIA World Touring Car Cup qualifying session at MotorLand Aragón in Spain, claiming four vital championship points.
"It feels so good to be back at the top, fighting for pole position. The team gave me a great car, a feeling that I've had since the first session of the weekend. Big thanks to everyone for fighting hard to get us here and I'm looking forward to two exciting races tomorrow," said Thed Björk.
Yann Ehrlacher, who was crowned World Champion here last year, was eighth fastest and will start third for the first reversed grid race.
"It was a really tough qualifying session and unfortunately we had two cars out of the top ten. I'm not pleased but we will make the best out of it tomorrow," said Yann Ehrlacher.
Yvan Muller was left disappointed after qualifying, being knocked down to eleventh in the dying moments of Q2 - meaning that he will start from that position in both races instead of the reversed grid pole of tenth position.
"We were aiming for the reversed grid pole because we knew it would be too hard to fight for the overall pole position. Unfortunately, I finished P11 with a margin of just some hundredths. We will see what we can do tomorrow," said Yvan Muller.
Santiago Urrutia, who claimed his maiden WTCR win at MotorLand Aragón last year, had a disastrous qualifying session - being knocked out of Q1 with six thousands of a second.
"It was a difficult qualifying session for me as I made a mistake. I will start 13th for both races, so we have to fight back and see how far we climb into the points tomorrow. It is what it is, my focus is now on the races," said Santiago Urrutia.
Next up are two races, starting at 11:15 and 13:15 CEST tomorrow respectively - both broadcast live on: eurosportplayer.com
Results - FIA WTCR Race of Portugal
Qualifying 1
Qualifying 2
Qualifying 3
Schedule
Times in CEST
Sunday - July 11th
11:15 - Race 1 - 10 laps
13:15 - Race 2 - 12 laps
Standings - Drivers
1 Jean-Karl Vernay 62 points
2 Yvan Muller 56 (-6)
2 Santiago Urrutia 56 (-6)
2 Attila Tassi 56 (-6)
5 Tiago Monteiro 52 (-10)
5 Esteban Guerrieri 52 (-10)
...
7 Yann Ehrlacher 49 (-13)
11 Thed Björk 26 (-36)
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 90 (-18)
5 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 82 (-26)
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.