Thed Björk maintained Cyan Racing’s 100% winning record at El Pinar in Uruguay, clinching victory in a red-flagged second FIA TCR World Tour Race which had seen a lengthy delay following a starting procedure error.
Ma Qing Hua should have lined up on pole position for the first start, but as the grid moved away to start the formation lap, his Lynk & Co remained stationary on the grid.
That effectively gave PMO Racing’s Pedro Cardoso the top grid position, with Volcano Motorsport’s John Filippi next up.
When the lights went out though, there was confusion as yellow lights appeared to flash rather than the red lights simply going out.
The botched starting procedure saw Cardoso not move initially, whilst Filippi went and then checked up as the flashing yellows came on.
Behind them, the rest of the field variously went for the start or hesitated, creating a chaotic launch in which miraculously no cars made contact.
The race was red-flagged after half a lap of racing, cars returning to the pits before ultimately assuming the original grid order for a safety car restart, albeit without Ma at the front following his earlier dramas – although the Chinese driver was able to join the race from the back on the leading lap.
When racing finally got underway after a lap under safety car conditions, Cardoso pulled clear as behind him Filippi’s Audi proved to be a formidable cork-in-the-bottle for the chasing field.
Going into Turn 3 on the first real lap of racing, Cyan Racing’s Santiago Urrutia made contact with GOAT Racing’s Esteban Guerrieri whilst battling for third, turning the Honda sideways onto the mud and losing the Argentine three places.
That helped Björk up to fourth, and two laps later the Swede passed his Uruguayan team-mate at the final corner, after Urrutia had tried again to pass Filippi for second.
It took Björk a further three laps to finally complete a pass on Filippi for second, going outside at the last hairpin and completing the pass into Turn 1 on the ninth lap.
By this stage, Filippi in third was heading up a nine-car train, and after holding station for six laps, Urrutia finally passed the Audi into Turn 1.
The Frenchman’s descent down the order came quickly after that, Filippi making a mistake on the following tour to drop behind the BRC Hyundais of Norbert Michelisz and Mikel Azcona down to seventh.
At the front, Björk closed down Cardoso’s near-four second lead within four laps, and by lap 13 was on the tail of the leading Peugeot.
Björk attempted to pass for the lead into the final corner on lap 13, but the Brazilian got a switchback on him to immediately retake the lead. But on the next lap, Björk completed the pass correctly, and swiftly scampered off, ultimately winning by over a second.
Cardoso impressively held on to second to also secure the victory in the TCR South America field, with Urrutia completing the podium, having seen off a close-quarters battle with Guerrieri and Néstor Girolami at mid-distance before eventually overhauling Filippi seven laps from the finish.
Guerrieri was fourth, ahead of the leading Hyundai of Michelisz in fifth, the Hungarian benefitting when Girolami seemed to allow him by at mid-distance.
Azcona took sixth, ahead of GOAT Racing’s Dušan Borković in seventh, the Serbian driver having a strong race from 18th on the grid which saw him claim two places in one go on the 17th lap with a swift and decisive pass on Filippi that also saw him get by Girolami.
Ma followed Borković through to eighth at the same time, completing a strong recovery drive by the erstwhile pole-sitter, with Girolami left to take the chequered flag in ninth.
Filippi completed the top ten, ahead of fellow World Tour driver Marco Butti in 11th, with Butti having run inside the top ten before going off at Turn 1 when battling with Azcona at mid-distance, with possible contact between the duo.
Toyota’s Matías Rossi had looked on course for a top ten result and second in TCR South America, until his Corolla stopped on track with two laps to go.
Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher was running in ninth but suddenly dropped down the order on the fifth lap, failing to get up to speed out of the final corner, before resuming near the back of the pack. He eventually finished in 22nd with a result that deals a blow to his championship charge.
Michelisz continues to lead the drivers’ standings with 242 points, ahead of Guerrieri (217) and Björk (215).
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 111 | WT |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 22 | 32:07.780 | 1:21.292 | 6 |
| 2 | 43 | SA |  |
Pedro CARDOSO | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 22 | 1.281 | 1:22.029 | 2 |
| 3 | 112 | WT |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 22 | 1.964 | 1:21.330 | 5 |
| 4 | 186 | WT |  |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 22 | 4.410 | 1:21.566 | 4 |
| 5 | 105 | WT |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 22 | 10.790 | 1:22.068 | 8 |
| 6 | 196 | WT |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 22 | 11.255 | 1:21.952 | 9 |
| 7 | 62 | WT |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 22 | 12.488 | 1:21.702 | 18 |
| 8 | 155 | WT |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 22 | 12.797 | 1:21.252 | 1 |
| 9 | 129 | WT | |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 22 | 17.125 | 1:21.917 | 7 |
| 10 | 127 | WT |  |
John FILIPPI | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 22 | 18.394 | 1:22.133 | 3 |
| 11 | 199 | WT |  |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 22 | 19.256 | 1:21.692 | 13 |
| 12 | 16 | SA | |
Juan Ángel ROSSO | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 22 | 19.327 | 1:22.422 | 12 |
| 13 | 47 | SA | |
Norberto FONTANA | Squadra Martino Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 22 | 19.837 | 1:22.454 | 14 |
| 14 | 60 | SA | |
Juan Manuel CASELLA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 22 | 20.266 | 1:22.181 | 15 |
| 15 | 8 | SA | |
Rafael SUZUKI | PMO Racing | Peugeot 308 TCR | 22 | 20.756 | 1:22.377 | 17 |
| 16 | 77 | SA | |
Raphael REIS | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 22 | 23.378 | 1:22.510 | 19 |
| 17 | 28 | SA | |
Galid OSMAN | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon VZ TCR | 22 | 36.215 | 1:22.490 | 23 |
| 18 | 34 | SA | |
Fabio CASAGRANDE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 22 | 39.524 | 1:23.237 | 20 |
| 19 | 7 | SA | |
Thiago VIVACQUA | Cobra Racing Team | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 22 | 41.556 | 1:23.435 | 22 |
| 20 | 15 | SA | |
Enrique MAGLIONE | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 22 | 43.143 | 1:23.019 | 25 |
| 21 | 18 | SA | |
Carlos SILVA | Paladini Racing | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 22 | 1:03.048 | 1:23.992 | 21 |
| 22 | 168 | WT | |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 22 | 1:07.813 | 1:21.088 | 10 |
| 23 | 17 | SA | |
Matías ROSSI | Toyota Team Argentina | Toyota Corolla GRS TCR | 21 | 1 LAP | 1:22.300 | 11 |
| R | 37 | SA | |
Guilherme REISCHL | W2 Pro GP | CUPRA Leon Competición TCR | 18 | DNF | 1:25.423 | 24 |
| R | 3 | SA | |
Rodrigo BAPTISTA | Squadra Martino | Honda Civic Type-R FK7 TCR | 13 | DNF | 1:22.757 | 16 |