Thed Björk “feels cool” in championship battle
World Touring Car Championship points leader Thed Björk had a positive weekend in Macau, despite being a rookie at the iconic Circuito da Guia. The Swede bagged 27 points, losing 10 from his title rival, Honda’s Norbert Michelisz. He is particularly happy with his performance in the tricky conditions on a wet Macau track.
“The conditions were very difficult and demanding,” said the Polestar Cyan Racing driver to TouringCarTimes. “It’s so difficult to feel the grip in such a short time, I used all my experience to find my way in the beginning. I’m leading the championship, so I had to avoid the risks. I knew Esteban would attack and he knows I was leading the championship, while he had nothing to lose. I built my confidence and once I had that I started to push, also because the track was drying up. The most difficult thing was the first three laps.”
Macau was a boost in confidence for Björk who, despite losing 10 points from his chief rival, believes he got the best out of himself under the circumstances. The pressure is now all on Michelisz as he feels good in his S60.
“I’m happy because if I managed to do this weekend without losing the lead then I cannot ask for more, Norbert will have a hard time because I feel good with the team and the car. I felt like I could have lost the championship this weekend by not scoring enough points. Norbi is a very fast driver around here and I’m happy that he didn’t take even more points. That means we’re going to fight in Qatar.”
Asked to rate himself in a scale from 0 to 10, Björk rates himself as over a 9, stating that a win would have allowed him to have a perfect weekend.
“I’m very proud of myself. There’s always something you can do better, and the line between hero and zero is so thin. I think I’m over 9 in this case, I would have loved the thrill of a podium and if I’d take a win I would have given myself 10. I learned so much from this weekend, and it makes me feel cool and trust that I can win the championship.”
