Yann Ehrlacher on first Geely podium: “It’s not bad”

Yann Ehrlacher secured a podium finish in the race debut of the new Geely Preface TCR of Cyan Racing in the FIA TCR World Tour season opener at Misano.

“It’s not bad. I’m very happy with this podium, and it’s the first one for Geely, which is very important for China,” said Ehrlacher.

The Frenchman qualified third and is still recovering from a bicycle accident earlier this year.

“Our qualifying was good; we had good pace, but it was difficult to put a whole lap together,” said Ehrlacher.

“It’s a good comeback to be honest, after my injury in the winter it’s been a long time since I’ve been in the car, so I’m happy to be the lead driver of the blue cars with no testing.”

The reigning champion finished just below two seconds from race winner and Hyundai driver Norbert Michelisz, setting a personal best lap time which was 0.259 seconds from the fastest lap of the race set by Mikel Azcona.

“We have some strengths, but they’re 6km/h faster than us in the straight, which is bit a shame as there was no way to make a move,” said Ehrlacher.

“Everyone’s working very hard on all the cars, all the teams, all the drivers, but if the speed could just be a little closer, the racing would be more fun.”