TCR World Tour – Mexico: Thed Björk wins the C1 on the green carpet

After his Lynk & Co Cyan Racing teammate, Yann Ehrlacher, was penalized. The Frenchman had crossed the line first, but was given a 10-second penalty for overtaking Santiago Urrutia outside the track limits on lap 13 during their battle for the lead. This penalty dropped him to third place, behind Björk and Urrutia. With this victory, Björk also takes the lead in the championship, three points ahead of Esteban Guerrieri.

The race started with Guerrieri on pole, but the Argentinian remained stuck on the starting line, as did Björk. Yann Ehrlacher also had some issues getting off the mark from second position. This allowed several drivers from further down the grid, including Santiago Urrutia (P5), Julio Rejón (Cupra Leon- Prorally Mothers) and Michel Jourdain (Cupra Leon- Peralta Racing Team), to make spectacular starts. Urrutia then took the lead. Rejón briefly held second place before running wide, allowing Ehrlacher to move up, while Jourdain Jr. moved into third from the sixth row!

On the first lap, Ignacio Montenegro retired after the right rear wheel of his Honda came off. With Guerrieri's troubles, the start of the race for Goat Racing was close to a nightmare. On the second lap, Ehrlacher overtook Urrutia, but was forced to give him back the position on lap 5. An intense battle then ensued between the two Cyan Racing teammates, lasting seven laps. When he talks about communications with the team, Yann Erhalcher says: " It was like arguing with your husband or wife in a car, but at about 250 km/h. We were finally able to hear each other, but it was really heated.. "

On lap 8, Ehrlacher attempted an overtake at the chicane, cutting the corner to avoid the guards, before surrendering his position. The safety car was brought out after a separate incident moved the tire stacks at Turn 3. On the restart, Ehrlacher attacked Urrutia and took the lead on lap 13. This overtake was the one that would cost him the victory. 

Behind, Björk managed to overtake Jourdain and Aurélien Comte for 3rd place, then Urrutia for 2nd. Guerrieri, in full recovery after his poor start, managed to move up to 4th position against Comte. The Frenchman held off Ma Qing Hua (Lynk & Co03- Cyan racing) to hold on to a fine 5th place. 

The Hyundai boys are struggling

Julio Rejón finished as the best Mexican, overtaking Jourdain Jr on lap 4. Absent from the battles at the front, the drivers Hyundai suffered. Mikel Azcona, 10th, took pole position for the second reverse-grid race scheduled for this Saturday at 19:30 p.m.

TCR World Tour - Mexico
Race 1 – Ranking