Polestar Cyan Racing Keeps Double World Championship Lead Following Chaotic Macau Street Race Weekend

November 25, 2017 by Polestar Cyan Racing

Polestar Cyan Racing has maintained a double World Championship lead following a chaotic WTCC weekend on the extremely challenging Macau street circuit, with Thed Björk leading the drivers' championship by 6,5 points ahead of the season finale in Qatar.

Despite a major disadvantage compared to his competitors of never having raced in Macau, Thed Björk did not put a wheel wrong all weekend and claimed two top five finishes to keep his lead over main title rival and Honda driver Norbert Michelisz who has raced at Macau five times before.

'This race weekend was the most difficult of my life in terms of making no mistakes and keeping the pace needed strategically. While I always race for victories, I must say that I am pleased with the outcome and above all to accomplish our goal of leading the championship ahead of the season finale. We are no doubt in for an extremely exciting last race weekend of 2017,' said Thed Björk.

Team-mates Nicky Catsburg and Néstor Girolami had a challenging weekend in Macau with crashes during qualifying. But both managed to get back to score points in the races with the Dutchman finishing ninth in the first race and the Argentinian repeating that position in the second race.

'I am not happy with the result for me personally, but I am happy to see Thed keeping the championship lead. I had too many issues this weekend and I am more or less out of the title fight, so it is all about assisting Thed in the season finale and together claim the manufacturers' title,' said Nicky Catsburg.

'It has been a tough weekend and I am very grateful to the team who managed to get my car back in perfect condition for the races after my crash in qualifying. Starting far back in both races meant difficult conditions to try and make up ground on this very narrow track. My ambition is to be back in strong form for Qatar to fight for a double World Title for the team,' said Néstor Girolami.

Polestar Cyan Racing keeps the manufacturers' points lead ahead of main rivals Honda by 12,5 points going into the final race weekend of 2017; the WTCC Race of Qatar.

'Following qualifying we knew that we were going to have a tough fight and the points we scored were just about what we could expect. We are heading to the last race of the year in the lead of both championships to a circuit where we had a strong result last year. Our goal is of course none other but to secure a double World Title,' said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.

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The 2017 WTCC season finale takes place in Qatar on December 1st: wtcc.polestar.com

WTCC Race of Macau

Circuit: Circuito da Guia

Length: 6120 m

Lap record (WTCC): 2:27.009 (Huff)

Results

Race 1 – Top 5

1 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 5 laps

2 Tom Coronel Chevrolet Cruze +1.952

3 Ryo Michigami Honda Civic +3.265

4 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +3.627

5 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +4.577

…

9 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 +10.688

13 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 +18.512

Race 2 – Top 5

1 Rob Huff Citroën C-Elysée 13 laps

2 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic +8.142

3 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée +8.684

4 Esteban Guerrieri Honda Civic +9.228

5 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +21.237

…

9 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 +34.326

13 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 +1:22.466

Championship Standings

Drivers' – Top 5

1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 255,5 pts

2 Norbert Michelisz Honda Civic 249 (-6,5)

3 Mehdi Bennani Citroën C-Elysée 216 (-39,5)

4 Nicky Catsburg Volvo S60 211,5 (-44)

5 Tom Chilton Citroën C-Elysée 210,5 (-45)

…

9 Néstor Girolami Volvo S60 112 (-143,5)

Manufacturers'

1 Volvo 804,5 pts

2 Honda 792 (-12,5)

Compensation weights for Macau

Model – Time difference – Weight

Volvo S60 Polestar – 0.0 sec – +80 kg

Honda Civic – +0.1 sec – +70 kg

Chevrolet Cruze – +0.7 sec – +10 kg

Citroën C-Elysée – +0.8 sec – +0 kg

Lada Vesta – +1.0 sec – +0 kg

TV Schedule

https://www.fiawtcc.com/watch-it-on-tv

http://www.eurosportplayer.com

2017 FIA World Touring Car Championship Entry List

No – Driver – Team – Car

3 – Tom Chilton – GBR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC

5 – Norbert Michelisz – HUN – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC

8 – Aurélien Panis – FRA – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC

9 – Tom Coronel – NED – ROAL Motorsport – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

12 – Rob Huff – GBR – Münnich Motorsport – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC

18 – Tiago Monteiro – POR – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC

22 – Manuel Fernandes – POR – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC

24 – Kevin Gleason – USA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC

25 – Mehdi Bennani – MOR – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC

27 – John Filippi – FRA – Sébastien Loeb Racing – Citroën C-Elysée WTCC

34 – Ryo Michigami – Honda Racing Team JAS – Honda Civic WTCC

61 – Néstor Girolami – ARG – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1

62 – Thed Björk – SWE – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1

63 – Nicky Catsburg – NED – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60 TC1

68 – Yann Ehrlacher – FRA – RC Motorsport – Lada Vesta WTCC

86 – Esteban Guerrieri – ARG – Campos Racing – Chevrolet RML Cruze TC1

99 – Daniel Nagy – HUN – Zengő Motorsport – Honda Civic WTCC

FIA World Touring Car Championship 2017 Calendar

WTCC Race of Morocco (Marrakech): 7-9 April

WTCC Race of Italy (Monza): 28-30 April

WTCC Race of Hungary (Hungaroring): 12-14 May

WTCC Race of Germany (Nürburgring Nordschleife): 25-27 May

WTCC Race of Portugal (Vila Real): 23-25 June

WTCC Race of Argentina (Termas de Río Hondo): 15-16 July

WTCC Race of China (Shanghai Ningbo Circuit): 13-15 October

WTCC Race of Japan (Twin Ring Motegi): 27-29 October

WTCC Race of Macau (Circuit de Guia): 17-19 November

WTCC Race of Qatar (Losail International Circuit): 30 November-1 December