Nicky Catsburg penalised after opening race clash with Thed Björk

Lada Sport’s Nicky Catsburg has been penalised following his incident with Volvo’s Thed Björk on the first lap of the opening race at Marrakech, Morocco. The Dutchman will have to start from the pit lane in the second race.

The incident had been under investigation during the race, but with Catsburg retiring shortly after the clash the penalty was imposed for the main race.

Despite losing a good position due to the incident, Björk has no hard feelings towards the Dutchman, who immediately apologised to the Polestar Cyan Racing driver: “He just misjudged the braking, locked his wheels and he hit me from behind,” explained the Swede to TouringCarTimes. “It happens when you are racing, and I appreciated his apology after the race. Everything is okay for me.”

Björk was happy with the performances of his S60 WTCC’s performance: “The car felt good, even after I came back to the pits and went out again. We will try hard again already this afternoon in the main race.”

Catsburg’s penalty promotes Björk to seventh, with Yvan Muller and Tom Coronel occupying the third row ahead of him.