Thed Björk lost out on the podium in Vila Real’s Race 2, after the leader Norbert Michlisz lacked pace in the latter part of the race and backed the Swedish driver up into the pack behind, causing him to lose five positions when he eventually took his final joker lap with just over a lap to go.
Due to the timing of the safety car, Björk was one of a few drivers still to take their second joker, while Michelisz had served both of his before the restart.
Björk put on an incredible fight to try and get past Michelisz in order to at least salvage second place but ultimately couldn’t find a way past on the tricky street circuit.
“I thought the tactics he did was risky, as he knew I could just go for it,” said Björk. “They played the tactics and did it well. I was nearly ahead on the outside of T15, but it was too slippery there, but he was risking the win. He knew I had to take the joker, so he would have won anyway, but I would have finished ahead of the CUPRA cars for sure, so I know he was holding me back.”
Michelisz, who said he was struggling for pace after pushing hard in the early stages when he took his two joker laps, was happy with the addition of the format to the race weekend.
“I think it was a good call for the audience,” said the 2023-2024 champion. “I think two joker laps was the perfect choice to make racing exciting on this street track, as now there is some overtaking, full push qualifying-style laps, so I hope we keep this in the future.”
Picture: WSC/Fastclick-AvensImages
