Third weekend for Poulsen in WTCC

Kristian Poulsen is driving his third weekend in the World Touring Car Championship this year. In the past two events, at Estoril and Brands Hatch, the Danish driver scored several Independents points (18, giving him 8th place in the standings) and even finished on the Independents podium once. Normally the Dane drives in the Danish Touringcar Championship (DTC) where he currently lies in 13th place in the championship. Poulsen talks about the Danish and World Touring Car Championship.

How did your season go so far in the DTC and WTCC?

The season so far was ok! The results in the WTCC were good, but in the DTC we had some bad luck with some crashes. I hope my season will get better as we go along.

What are your plans for the next season?

We want to be at the start with two cars. The races we have driven in WTCC so far are tests for next season. We hope to be at the start next year with me and hopefullly Emmet O’Brien. When you have two cars at the start, it’s easier to get a set up, because the two drivers can talk about their experiences together and speed up the learning process by doing that.

In Danmark the racetracks are very different. They have narrow corners and low topspeeds. The character of a WTCC track is very different from that. But we’re planning two cars for the WTCC and for the DTC. We’ve got a good sponsor who helps us a lot with that.

How hard is it for a privateer team, that is new in the WTCC. What are the differences between the DTC and WTCC?

As I said, the tracks are very different, but so is the entire field. In the WTCC the drivers are within a few tenths of eachother. The field is much closer together. Every mistake can mean you loose a lot of positions on the grid. Apart from that, you have to test a lot more in the WTCC to find out exactly how you have to set up the car.

Do you have any support from BMW Danmark?

No, nothing at all. All four cars are entered without support. We only get the normal Customer Service from BMW, who is already good by it self. Kurt Thiim, who’s also here at Oschersleben, helps me out a lot this year and will also help me next year.

How big is your team?

We enter four cars in Danmark, two Clio’s and one Cup Porsche. And than there are ofcourse the WTCC races. In total seven people have to deal with that, but during the race weekends we’re working with more people. Apart from that my family own’s a big truck shop in Sweden and Danmark. In the summer I concentrate on the racing. I live in Germany, as there is only industry in Padborg (Danmark) and the living is much more pleasant in Flensburg (Germany).