Polestar Cyan Racing left Vila Real with a brace of top ten finishes thanks to driver Thed Björk, who took home his biggest points haul of the current World Touring Car Championship season.
Björk once again proved to be the fastest Swede in Portugal, and he only just missed out on getting through to Q3 once more on Saturday.
The reigning Scandinavian Touring Car Champion was then able to finish seventh in the Opening Race. With overtaking difficult around the street circuit, Björk lost out to only Citroën’s José María López early in the race and Honda’s Rob Huff late in the race.
The Main Race saw no changes of position amongst the top drivers, allowing Björk to claim a strong sixth-place finish.
“I am happy with the outcome of the weekend in terms of the work we have done with the car and that I was able to fight with the drivers around me from my qualifying positions,” summarised Björk.
The weekend was more challenging for his returning team-mate, Robert Dahlgren, who had also never before raced around the Portuguese circuit.
Dahlgren took 13th in the Opening Race, before retiring from the Main Race with overheating problems on his Volvo S60.
“With my limited time in the car and no experience from the circuit for neither the team nor me, this has been a positive first weekend,” said Dahlgren. “We made steady progress forward all weekend and I can’t wait to dig my teeth into all data and move forward for the coming races.”
Polestar’s Head of Motorsport Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin believes the team were able to make progress by using data which they had previously collected on the streets of Marrakech earlier in the season.
“The learnings from our last visit to the street circuit in Marrakech could be applied today,” he said. “We are happy with being back in the points.
“Street circuits like Vila Real are like walking on a tightrope without a safety net, especially for us having never been here before. The team and our drivers have been very brave and professional all weekend.”