Kristian Poulsen takes first DTC win

Kristian Poulsen has taken part in three rounds of the FIA World Touring Car Championship this year alongside his Danish Touringcar Championship campaign, and this Sunday he managed to take his first race win, when he claimed the win in the final at the sixth round of the series at Sturup Raceway in southern Sweden.

The BMW driver had qualified alongside pole sitter Jan Magnussen on the front row for the tricky first race, which began on a damp circuit, leaving many drivers to gamble on tyre choice. Neither Magnussen, nor Poulsen were able to hold on to the top positions as they slid down the field, leaving Peugeot 407 driver Robert Schlünssen and BMW 320si E90 driver Martin Jensen to hold the two top positions.

However, on lap seven Michel Nykjær was moving up through the field, and when he went past Jan Magnussen, the pair of them had a slight touch, sending the latter out into the gravel and into instant retirement. ”Jan tried to press me towards the inside, but I kept the pedal down, and then we touch slightly,” Michel Nykjær explained. ”We barely touched. However, it was a very vital place, where we touched, so I broke a steering rod,” Jan Magnussen added.

The man on the move, however, was James Thompson. The Brit has qualified his Honda in tenth position and was one of the drivers to have chosen slicks. In the two opening laps he had only made up two places, but with five laps to go he found himself in third position, eventually passing Martin Jensen and Robert Schlünssen to claim his second race win of the season.

During the race Kristian Poulsen had three times crossed a line bordering the circuit, and the time penalty for this moved him from fifth at the chequered flag to eleventh, which was also his starting position for the second race, where the safety car was soon put in use, as a multiple car accident involving Michael Outzen, Michel Nykjær, Martin Jensen and Kim Lund saw the latter’s car roll over. Kristian Poulsen managed to move up to fourth place, while Tom Pedersen claimed his third race win of the season.

This also helped him secure pole position for the final, which he led from Robert Schlünssen and James Thompson, the latter finding it difficult to be competitive with the Honda in dry conditions. Kristian Poulsen, however, was really into his stride. At the end of the opening lap he was lying in fourth place, he then passed James Thompson to take third and closed in on Robert Schlünssen. At the start of the fifth round he claimed second place and one lap later he was into the lead, never to loose it.

”It is just fantastic. It was such a good weekend,” Kristian Poulsen said. ”It didn’t look to well when I got the penalty for crossing that line and I was moved back six positions. But I knew from practice that I had a good car, as I had been able to match Jan Magnussen. I could feel that the car was good, so it was just a matter work for it.”

”The main reason for my result is all the races I have driven this summer,” he explained. ”I have barely done anything else. I have been doing nothing but racing for a month with four races on four weekends, and the WTCC starts really have given me experience and a routine that I can use now.”

The penultimate round of the Danish Touringcar Championship takes places on September 21st at Padborg Park.