Thed Björk leads Cyan Racing 1-2 in first race at Zandvoort

Thed Björk claimed his second win of the season and launches up to third in the drivers’ standings at Zandvoort, with Cyan Racing team-mate Yvan Muller crossing the line second, with PWR Racing’s Mikel Azcona completing the podium.

Björk launched off the line and into the lead from pole position at the start, followed by Muller’s Lynk & Co 03 TCR, while Andy Priaulx had a sluggish start from third and dropped behind the Cupra TCR of Azcona, as well as Johan Kristoffersson’s Sébastien Loeb Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.

Priaulx quickly re-passed Kristoffersson, while the top three began to slightly break away at this point, with the trio of Priaulx, Kristoffersson and Mehdi Bennani in the next best Volkswagen in tow.

Yann Ehrlacher, who had started ninth after his grid penalty from qualifying, moved up to seventh at the start but made little progress from there, while Benjamin Leuchter, who had a terrible start from fifth on the grid and fell to tenth, was able to pass both Frédéric Vervisch’s Audi and Nicky Catsburg’s Hyundai to recover to eighth.

There were two retirements from the race, with Augusto Farfus pulling out of the race with damage to his BRC Hyundai’s front splitter, while Rob Huff, who started last in his SLR Volkswagen, had recovered to 21st, but still suffering with a power defecit, brought the car in early.

Up front, Björk controlled the race to win by just under a second ahead of Muller, with Azcona third.

A last lap move by Kristoffersson saw the two-time Scandinavian champion grab fourth and Volkswagen’s best result of the season, with Priaulx forced to settle for fifth.

Esteban Guerrieri was the best-placed Honda in 12th, and the Argentinian now takes back the lead from his team-mate Néstor Girolami, who had finished 15th, albeit by just one point, while Thed Björk has now closed to within ten points in the standings.

Next is Qualifying 2 at 8:00 CEST tomorrow, with Race 2 at 13:15 and Race 3 at 16:35.