Lynk & Co Cyan Racing fought through three tough races in the first of two back-to-back KUMHO TCR World Tour race weekends in Australia to salvage vital points for the championship fight.
The four Lynk & Co 03 TCR drivers showed strong pace in practice at Sydney Motorsport Park while a sudden rain shower in qualifying meant the quartet had to fight back in the races.
Yann Ehrlacher battled through three tough races with plenty of incidents and changeable weather conditions to three top ten finishes, including an impressive charge from 13th to sixth place in the first race.
The Frenchman keeps in the title fight and is currently placed third, 21 points from the lead.
“It has been a very tough race weekend in Australia. We scored in all races despite crashes, pit stops and difficult weather. Unfortunately, the driving standards leaves a lot to wish for. Now I’m looking forward to the next race at Bathurst where I will carry less weight and we are going to fight hard but fair,” said Yann Ehrlacher.
Ma Qing Hua managed to claim a strong second place finish in the first race and has climbed to seventh place overall.
“This has been a mixed race weekend for us. The podium in the first race was obviously the highlight for me, but there was a lot of contact in the races, and we didn’t get the result I think we had potential for. We will reload for Bathurst, a race that I’m really looking forward to,” said Ma Qing Hua.
Team-mates Thed Björk and Santiago Urrutia showed strong pace but found themselves in tough fights in all three races.
“We started the weekend strongly but obviously the results in qualifying and the races are not something that we are pleased with. My focus is completely set on heading to the next race at Bathurst, one of the best circuits in the world,” said Thed Björk.
“While I had a really good comeback in Race 2 from 22nd to tenth place, for me this is a weekend to forget. We need to learn from this, recharge and come back stronger next weekend,” said Santiago Urrutia.
Lynk & Co Cyan Racing has maintained its team championship lead after the Sydney Motorsport Park weekend, heading main rivals Hyundai by 101 points ahead of the penultimate race weekend.
“This has been the toughest race weekend of the season so far. A difficult qualifying session meant that we had to fight back in all three races. We were struggling for pace, and we need to work hard to bounce back from this, which I’m confident we will,” said Fredrik Wahlén, Team Manager of Cyan Racing.
Lynk & Co Cyan Racing and the TCR World Tour will continue racing in Australia, heading for legendary Bathurst next weekend on November 11-12.