Thed Björk says third in qualifying was “so frustrating”

Thed Björk qualified in third place for the first FIA TCR World Tour race at Mid-Ohio and was closest to the Hyundai duo of Mikel Azcona and Norbert Michelisz.

But the Swede says it was a frustrating session, being unable to challenge the Hyundai drivers that he trailed by seven tenths of a second.

“I was struggling a lot with my balance in the car, it was snapping a lot in the rear, and the Hyundais beat us by seven-tenths. It was so frustrating,” said Björk.

“Ma and I were going flat out, while my other team-mates were after P10 which made sense after their engine changes.”

Björk and his team-mate Ma Qing Hua will line up right behind the Azcona and Michelisz for Race 1, but the Lynk & Co driver is not expecting to challenge them in the race.

“Tomorrow, I think P3 is the best we can do. The Hyundai cars are sneaky fast, and I think a lot of the rest us were struggling with the pace,” said Björk.

“We should have been closer, I don’t think we would have been able to beat them, but seven-tenths is too much.

“However, with all the dirt and gravel we’ve been putting on the track, it shows it’s easy to make a mistake here. And now if you go off-line it’s quite dirty, so there’s a possibility there also, so hopefully there’s a good fight tomorrow.”