New championship leader Thed Björk says red-flagging the race was the right call

Thed Björk has taken the lead of the championship by half a point, after the second race at the Ningbo International Speedpark was red-flagged due to heavy rainfall at the Chinese circuit, with the Swede saying it was the right call.

The 36-year-old failed to finish the first race after a coming together with the Citroën of Mehdi Bennani, but the team were able to repair his Volvo S60’s suspension during the race to get him back out to ensure the car was ready to take part in Race 2.

The Swede started third on the road for Race 2, but the result was declared after two laps due to the torrential conditions and excessive standing water all around the circuit.

“It’s a really strange way to lead the championship, because they cancelled the race,” said Björk to TouringCarTimes.

“In my body, I wanted to race, but it also said it was just too wet. When you aquaplane, you’re not in control. You’re not deciding what the car should do, so it was good they cancelled the second race, for us as drivers, it was a safety issue and was the right decision. There was so much more water than the first race, you can’t even compare it.”

Björk now leads the championship by 0.5 over absent Honda driver Tiago Monteiro after scoring 9.5 points in Race 2, with Monteiro’s Honda team-mate Norbert Michelisz 1.5 points further behind.

The next round of the championship is in two weeks’ time at the Motegi circuit in Japan.