Thed Björk closes off fantastic weekend for YMR with Ningbo Race 3 win

Thed Björk took his second win of the weekend and moved up to second in the drivers’ championship in a weekend where a YMR-run Hyundai topped every practice, qualifying and race session, though trouble for team-mate Yvan Muller means the Frenchman dips to third in the standings, with just nine points covering the top three.

Ma Qing Hua’s car was withdrawn from the race due to a damaged turbo after his hit with Yann Ehrlacher’s Honda at the end of Race 2, while Ehrlacher was unable to take his grid spot as his Münnich Motorsport team were forced to repair the entire left-rear of his Civic TCR, and ran out of time before the pit lane closed.

At the start, Björk led from pole, followed by the two BRC Racing Team Hyundais of Norbert Michelisz and Gabriele Tarquini, while the other Münnich Honda of Esteban Guerrieri was already quite racey, passing Tarquini at Turn 2 and then made a move on Michelisz’s car, but the two made contact which damaged the Argentinian’s suspension, which caused him to retire from the race.

Michelisz fell behind team-mate Tarquini in the fracas, with Comtoyou Audi driver Denis Dupont up to third.

Frédéric Vervisch was the man on the move, passing Yvan Muller’s YMR Hyundai for sixth in his Comtoyou Racing Audi, while Jean-Karl Vernay tried to also pass the Frenchman, but his move was more clunky, with the two drivers colliding in the chicane, with Vernay dropping down the order and Muller losing two spots.

Muller’s race lasted just a few more laps before he stopped with a puncture and dropped out of the points, and then the race was red-flagged after one of the DG Sport Peugeots broke the kerbs at Turn 16.

The kerbs were replaced with a tyre stack and the race resumed, with Vervisch again in a feisty mood, passing Rob Huff’s SLR Volkswagen for fifth before closing down and passing Norbert Michelisz’s Hyundai for fourth with one lap to go.

Huff fought off the other Comtoyou Audi of Nathanael Berthon who ran wide and dropped two spots in the battle, with Pepe Oriola now right on Huff’s tail until the finish in seventh.

Berthon finished eighth ahead of team-mate Aurélien Panis, with Mehdi Bennani completing the top ten.

Björk’s win elevates him to second in the championship, eight points behind new championship leader Gabriele Tarquini, with Yvan Muller just one point behind going to the next round of the championship at Wuhan next weekend.