Podium but still not quite happy
Chevrolet Motorsport had their ups and downs at the latest round of the Danish Touring Car Championship. In the first heat, both Michel Nykjær and Henrik Lundgaard got a good start and crowded in the wake of Casper Elgaard in pole position. While Nykjær held his second place, Henrik was unable to escape his followers, which meant loosing his third spot.
“I had a problem with lack of grip in the frontend, “ Henrik explained. “The front tires simply gets to warm, in the matter of minutes.”
Lundgaard had this problem all through the day. Despite that, he was able to gather several points in his account in the second heat. However that was the time when Nykjær was left fighting. Eight spot was the best he was able to obtain, due to problems with the starting lights.
“After the second spot in the first heat, I was looking forward to a drive up through the field. But that was not bound to happen, at all. The start was a mess. The starting lights didnt work properly, and I felt certain that it would mean a restart. Obviously Jason in front of me, felt like that as well. Because the start was on, and neither me nor him got a decent start.”
”In the break before the last heat, we agreed on adjusting the car. And that hit the spot! The car was flying! I managed to fight my way onto second spot, and overtook Thompson on the way. Honestly it was a great feeling to drive around him.”
Still the Chevrolet team was left with a sinking feeling, as the season draws to a close. Nykjær managed to gather good points for the championship.
“Michel gathered points on Thompson, and that’s the right way to go,” team boss Kent Bo Steffensen explained. “It did look quite bleak after the second heat, but it saved the day that we corrected it in the final heat.”
The DTC championship is led by James Thompson with 239 points, then Michel Nykjær is second with 227 points, and teammate Henrik Lundgaard is third with 205 points.
The next challenge for Michel Nykjær and Chevrolet Motorsport is the first World touring Car Championship at Oschersleben the 5. / 6. of September.
