Josh Buchan: “I probably took more risks than what I needed”

Josh Buchan entered the league of FIA TCR World Tour winners after a dominating performance in the greasy first FIA TCR World Tour race at Inje Speedium.

“A race in these mixed conditions is always risky and with these guys behind me I probably took more risks than what I needed to take. But I wanted to get a gap,” said Buchan.

The reigning TCR Australia champion quickly pulled up a gap which was up to almost eight seconds on lap seven until Honda driver Esteban Guerrieri started to reel him in.

“Through the middle of the race, I started to conserve,” said Buchan.

“Then, suddenly Guerrieri pulled 7 seconds out of me! So, the second half of the race was a big push. It looked like I had a good gap, but Esteban had nothing to lose! So, it became quite stressful, and getting across the line was a big relief.”

The HMO Customer Racing driver managed to win the race by close to six seconds in the end.

“To get the job done and to become a winner in TCR World Tour is very special,” said Buchan.

Guerrieri meanwhile charged from sixth on the grid to finish a strong second, most importantly outscoring title rival Yann Ehrlacher who finished fourth.

“In qualifying for some reason, in Q2 my pace was nowhere,” said Guerrieri.

“So, it was like trying to get a good result, but I had to make sure not to have any heavy contact and try to manage the car because the track was slippery. I think I hit Thed (Björk) in the back, to be honest I don’t remember how many things happened out there!”

The Honda driver’s pace faded somewhat in the final part of the race as he instead had to focus on Thed Björk behind him.

“Once I got to P2 I really pushed hard,” said Guerrieri.

“I told my team not to tell me the gap because I could see Buchan ahead. I felt I was catching him in the beginning but then he picked up the pace. And then Thed caught up, and it was just about keeping up the pace and trying to not make any mistakes.”

Björk started third and finished third, having dropped four places on the opening lap and had to work his way back up onto the podium.

“In the start it was hard because I had to lift to avoid hitting Yann (Ehrlacher),” said Björk.

“But my car was so good, and me and Esteban were fighting a lot. But then, when him started to pass my teammates, I told them on the radio: you have to move because I want to try to take as much as I can.

“And they did, because there was such a difference in pace. I was really happy with my car.”