Polestar Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk has been excluded from the results of the World Touring Car Championship races in Slovakia due to breaching the technical regulations on the diameter of the air restrictor.
Björk had originally finished in eighth and fourth in the two races respectively, equalling the best-ever result for Volvo in the WTCC in the latter.
However he has now been excluded completely from the results, promoting Honda’s Norbert Michelisz up to fourth.
“The temperature of the engine and air restrictor was considerably higher when measured after the second race in Slovakia compared to during the race,” explained Mattias Evensson, Head of Engine Development at Cyan Racing. “This means that there was no performance gain in the races, only the fact that we have not been able to test the expansion of the metal at these extreme temperatures that are only reached when stopping the car in parc ferme.”
Björk’s exclusion specifically relates to a breach of Article 263.334 of Appendix J (Supercharging System) of the 2016 International Sporting Code.
Polestar’s Head of Motorsport Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin confirmed that the team would not appeal against the exclusion.
“The decision of the organisation is correct, we will not appeal it. As beginners in a new championship, you have to take into account that they are going to check the new car specifically.
“The important thing that we can take with us from the races here is that we have a good starting point both in terms of reliability, performance and that the results Thed achieved were taken on fair sporting grounds.”
It is the third time in two meetings that Cyan Racing have suffered penalties, with Björk having his qualifying times deleted in France, and team-mate Fredrik Ekblom suffering the same fate in Slovakia qualifying.