Andreas Bäckman was left elated by a maiden TCR Europe victory at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but admitted being awarded the win after the judicial process was a surreal feeling.
The Target Competition racer made a level start from pole position, but had to catch a half-spin in the Hyundai i30 N TCR at the sweeping right-hander of Turn 1.
He recovered to slot in behind Julien Briche and team mate Josh Files and took the chequered flag third on the road, but penalties for the duo ahead elevated the Swede to the winner’s circle.
His performance also helped contribute towards Target sealing the Teams’ title at the 2.89-mile Catalan circuit.
“It is a bit strange when you win it afterwards, but I’m happy and we scored good points as well,” Bäckman told TouringCars.net in Barcelona.
“There’s still a long way to go in the championship but now I’m in P3, so I’m very happy with that.
“It won’t change anything for today because still I will push to go forward and score as many points as possible.”
Bäckman also reflected on his rapid rise through the TCR ranks, which began with a dual TCR UK/TCR Scandinavia campaign in 2018 and this season has seen him announce himself on an international stage.
“It’s been a really fast journey,” he admitted.
“My expectations for this year was maybe to be in the top ten overall, but now I’m in P3. It has been good all year, I have improved a lot and compared to last year, when I was driving in TCR UK, I was learning a lot as well.
“I think this year I’ve learnt a lot and I keep learning all the time. Yesterday I learnt a lot in the race, I made a mistake and that was my own fault, but I just learn from that and move forward.
“I think the speed is really good, it’s just important to get everything together in one weekend, especially now my qualifying [performances] are very good, it’s about getting a good race and good starts.
“I’m very happy about the progression during the year and also last year.”
Bäckman also paid tribute to his team mates; Josh Files, Mat’o Homola and Dominik Baumann, for their role in helping Bäckman and sister Jessica progress.
“Especially Josh [Files], has been a big help for me,” said Andreas.
“He has been helpful with both me and Jessica, and also Mat’o [Homola], he has the experience with WTCR.
“It’s been a really good year with them and we’re really happy to be in the team, it’s been a really good atmosphere and we always try to help each other and move forward.”
One defining moment of the race for Bäckman was that half-spin at Turn 1, which he believes was due in part to the slippery track surface after intermittent heavy rain in Barcelona throughout Saturday.
“I made a bit of a mistake at the start so I got a big slide through the first corner, so after that I just tried to catch Josh and Briche,” he explained.
“There wasn’t enough time to get past them because they were very close in lap times.
“I used to race in rallycross two years ago, so I think I’ve got quite good experience! I think it looked more dramatic than it actually was.”
“The track was still a bit slippery from the rain so when I arrived into the corner, I just touched the brake and the car just snapped a little bit, so it was my mistake, I just braked a bit too late and a bit too hard.”
Bäckman will start the reverse-grid contest at 12:30 CEST today [22nd September] from tenth.