Thed Björk claims crucial victory to set up gripping championship climax
Thed Björk scored a crucial victory in the first FIA TCR World Tour race of the Macau season-finale, setting up a thrilling title climax as he edged to within five points of the championship lead.
Björk was in control throughout, converting pole position into his third win of the season and his first ever on the Macau street course.
Along with bolstering the Swede’s own chances in the drivers’ championship, the outcome also hands Cyan Racing Lynk & Co the teams’ title with one race to spare.
Björk crucially managed to win while championship leader Norbert Michelisz finished second, leaving the pair now separated by just five points heading into the final, reverse-grid race of the season on Sunday.
Although Björk eventually sealed a convincing victory, the race began in chaotic fashion and featured a lengthy stoppage for a multi-car pile-up.
In the original start, Björk had launched efficiently off the line from pole, defending his lead despite being lightly tagged by the chasing BRC Hyundai of Mikel Azcona into Lisboa Bend.
Further behind, however, mayhem erupted.
It all began as Esteban Guerrieri attempted a dive down the inside of Yann Ehrlacher, forcing them both wide around the outside at Lisboa.
Eager not to lose further ground as he rejoined the racing line, Guerrieri swerved to the inside on the short run towards San Francisco, right into the path of GOAT Racing team-mate Marco Butti.
The two Honda drivers made contact, pitching Guerrieri into a spin that left him stationary sideways across the narrow track.
That triggered a multi-car pile-up that completely blocked the circuit, necessitating an immediate red-flag stoppage.
Guerrieri retired on the spot with heavy damage to the right rear section of his Honda Civic Type R TCR, while Butti was able to return to the pitlane but eventually unable to take the restart.
Adding insult to injury after seeing his title hopes now crushed, Guerrieri will also be investigated for his actions after the race.
Several other drivers were eliminated in the incident, including the Audis of John Filippi (Volcano Motorsport) and Yifan Wu (326 Racing Team).
Also retiring in the original start were Ma Qing Hua and Gary Kwok, the former stalling on the grid and being hit from behind by the unsighted Kwok.
Following a lengthy delay for barrier repairs and car retrievals, the race finally restarted behind the safety car.
Björk again kept his lead and opened up a slight gap, while behind, Azcona let championship-leading team-mate Michelisz by into second.
Azcona then faced the challenge of defending from Björk’s Cyan Racing team-mate Ehrlacher in the battle for third, the Lynk & Cos appearing to enjoy a straightline speed advantage on the long run through Mandarin and the downtown section.
The Spaniard managed to hold firm, however, as the race settled in.
Behind the top four, the third BRC Hyundai of Néstor Girolami followed in fifth, while Rob Huff was one of the main beneficiaries of the original chaos and came home in sixth in the Volcano Motorsport Audi.
Huff had a brief look on Girolami into Lisboa with three laps to go after the Argentinian had made a small mistake at Melco, but could not make it past.
Duŝan Borković passed Martin Cao for seventh, which meant both TCR China title contenders finished nose-to-tail as Jason Zhang took P9 – leaving the pair virtually inseparable going into Sunday’s final race of the season.
Rounding out the top ten was Zhang’s Lynk & Co Teamwork Motorsport team-mate David Zhu.
The final, all-deciding race of the FIA TCR World Tour campaign is scheduled for 10:55 local time (03:55 CET) on Sunday. Michelisz leads the standings on 305 points, five ahead of Björk, with Ehrlacher and Azcona also technically remaining in title contention, both tied on 279 points (26 off the lead with 30 still up for grabs).
