Santiago Urrutia and Yann Ehrlacher secured a Lynk & Co Cyan Racing 1-2 on the streets of Vila Real as the FIA World Touring Car Cup held its fifth race weekend of 2022.
The duo started from the front row and held the lead throughout the race to secure vital points to the championship.
"It's been a really good weekend with pole and victory in the first race. We have collected some big points which was our main target for the races here in Portugal. The next race is going to be tougher with more weight onboard, so we need to keep fighting hard," said Santiago Urrutia.
"The first race was good, with strong points for the team which is the main goal. I broke my front anti-roll bar in the second race but could still salvage some points," said Yann Ehrlacher.
The duo heads from Portugal in second and third position of the drivers' championship respectively, trailing points leader Mikel Azcona of Hyundai by 16 and 20 points.
Ma Qing Hua secured two top six finishes to continue his strong run of consistent results, climbing to seventh position in the drivers' championship.
"It has been a good weekend for the team, collecting a lot of points. I had good pace in both races, but it's very difficult to overtake. My results have still been quite good and the team has made strong progress in the standings. I'm looking forward to the next races in Italy," said Ma Qing Hua.
Yvan Muller heads from the streets of Vila Real with a fourth place finish in the final race as his best result, having started from the reversed grid pole position.
"My first race stopped too early after I was hit on my rear tyre which meant that I got a puncture. The second race was tough as I lost a big lead when the safety car came on track. Then I lost too much time during the joker lap, it was my mistake and I'm sorry for the guys," said Yvan Muller.
Thed Björk had another tough weekend, retiring from the first race due to damage from an incident while he crossed the finishing line of race two in eleventh position.
"There was a lot of incidents in the two races and I tried to help my team-mates as much as I could. It was another weekend to forget for me personally, but I am happy to see the team scoring so strongly in a very tough weekend," said Thed Björk.
The strong Portuguese result has brought Cyan Performance Lynk & Co (Urrutia/Ma/Björk) and Cyan Racing Lynk & Co (Ehrlacher/Muller) to a joint second position overall, just seven points from the lead.
The next FIA World Touring Car Cup race weekend will take place at Vallelunga in Italy on July 23-24.
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WTCR Race of Portugal
Standings - Drivers
1 Mikel Azcona 153 points
2 Santiago Urrutia 137 (-16)
3 Yann Ehrlacher 133 (-20)
4 Rob Huff 130 (-23)
5 Néstor Girolami 113 (-40)
...
7 Ma Qing Hua 97 (-56)
9 Yvan Muller 78 (-75)
14 Thed Björk 35 (-118)
Standings - Teams
1 BRC Hyundai 218 points
2 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co 211 (-7)
3 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 211 (-7)
4 Münnich Motorsport 180 (-38)
5 Zengo Motorsport 155 (-63)
2022 FIA World Touring Car Cup calendar
May 7/8 – France – Circuit de Pau-Ville
May 26/28 – Germany – Nürburgring Nordschleife
June 11/12 – Hungary – Hungaroring
June 25/26 – Spain – MotorLand Aragón
July 2/3 – Portugal – Circuito do Vila Real
July 23/24 – Italy – Vallelunga
August 6/7 – France – Anneau du Rhin
October 8/9 – South Korea – Inje Speedium
November 5/6 – China – Ningbo International Speedpark
November 18/20 – Macau – Macau
Media contact information
Johan Meissner
Press Manager
Cyan Racing
+46(0)70 241 3234
johan.meissner@cyanracing.com
About Cyan Racing
Cyan Racing was founded in 1996 and was formerly named Polestar until Volvo Cars acquired the performance section and trademark in 2015. Cyan Racing is privately owned and operated. The team has claimed the last five touring car World Titles, most recently the 2021 WTCR drivers' and teams' titles with Lynk & Co – and participated in the development of the Polestar performance models of the Volvo S60 and V60 in the years 2013 to 2015, including the concept models Volvo C30 and S60 Polestar Concept Prototype. The company launched the Volvo P1800 Cyan in 2020, Cyan Racing’s interpretation of the iconic Volvo sports car from the sixties.
About Lynk & Co
Lynk & Co was created to provide mobility solutions for the connected generation. We do make really, really good cars (the kind that have all the features you want without you having to ask for them), but we also offer a new way of using those cars. Our membership-based approach makes it simple to get on the go. Members can access a car on a flexible, month-to-month basis and share with friends, family, and the Lynk & Co community.