Polestar Cyan Racing win fifth MAC3 of the season

Volvo scored their fifth MAC3 time trial victory of the season at Termas de Río Hondo, dominating the race after the Hondas were on the backfoot after a turbo issue for Ryo Michigami. The Swedish manufacturer now leads the manufacturers’ table on 513 points, 32 ahead of their Japanese rivals.

The Honda Team were the first ones out on track, with Tiago Monteiro leading the trio, followed by Norbert Michelisz and Ryo Michigami who, with a brand new engine, had a slow start to the trial.

The Honda team completed their first lap with a time of 1:58.078, and after their two-lap run was complete, their total time was 3:49.487.

The Volvo S60 TC1s were next out. Nicky Catsburg took the lead, followed by Néstor Girolami and Thed Björk. The Swedish team was over seven seconds ahead of Honda after the first lap, going on complete their trial with a time of 3:33.885, 15 seconds clear of their rivals.

“I thought Nicky was so fast that we had to hurry. Honda had a problem, so the difference is no indication of real pace,” said Thed Björk.

Néstor Girolami added: “Congratulations to Nicky, he did a fantastic lap to get pole position. We won again the MAC3, so it has been a very good weekend so far for Polestar Cyan Racing. We had the same vibration problems than in Portugal, leading to understeering, the team are looking at it. I know the mechanics want to give me a good car, so I’m confident.”

Nicky Catsburg added: “It was a good lap both in qually and in MAC3. We did a good start and a good team effort to beat Honda. Obviously they had problems but, still, points are points and we did a good job.”