Kristian Poulsen back in front of the independents

Danish driver Kristian Poulsen’s run of bad luck appeared to be at an end in Valencia, at least on race day, with the 35-year-old taking two wins in the Yokohama Independents’ Trophy and grabbing the lead back from Norbert Michelisz.

Despite missing out in the top ten in qualifying, a great start saw Poulsen’s Liqui-Moly Team Engstler BMW up to sixth from 12th on the grid on first lap. From there, Poulsen kept up with fellow BMW driver Tom Coronel, passing the ailing Monteiro and gaining a further position after Tarquini’s retirement to take fourth position and his first independents’ victory since Brno in June.

“It’s crazy, after qualifying yesterday I thought there was no change,” said Poulsen to TouringCarTimes.

“I had a good line on the outside in both race one and race two, there was nobody there, everybody was going on the left.”

“(Tom Coronel & I) had the same speed and we were behind (Tiago) Monteiro, and when Tom passed him I could see (Javier) Villa in the back so I had to pass him as well, and then I just took it easy to get the points.”

In race two, Poulsen inherited the independents’ victory after a spin in the final corner of the last lap for Norbert Michelisz. The Hungarian managed to continue but finished right behind Poulsen, staying in touch in the independents’ fight as the two drivers have pulled out a slight lead over Franz Engstler.

“In race two I just stayed behind and Tarquini and waited for the others to make the fights and mistakes and it was a little luck.”