Thed Björk secured a dominant lights-to-flag victory in the opening FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race at the Ningbo International Speedpark, comfortably winning ahead of Esteban Guerrieri and Frédéric Vervisch.
YMR’s Björk moved to cover off his pole position at the start and then pulled clear at the front of the field, demonstrating that he had sufficient pace in his Hyundai to go unchallenged for the remainder of the 13-lap race.
Behind the Swede, Münnich Motorsport’s Esteban Guerrieri made the best start of the front-runners and was in second by the end of the first half of the lap, having dispatched Vervisch’s Audi for the position at Turn 10.
But Guerrieri was unable to catch a dominant Björk, who eventually won the race by over four seconds, claiming his third win of the season to elevate himself to third in the drivers’ championship standings.
Vervisch completed the podium – his fifth visit to the rostrum this season and this third in a row – in a race where the Comtoyou Audis had the upper hand over their WRT rivals.
Championship leader Gabriele Tarquini finished in fourth, and in doing so the BRC Racing driver has extended his lead at the top of the table to nine points.
Sébastien Loeb Racing duo Mehdi Bennani and Rob Huff finished in fifth and sixth respectively, despite the latter repeatedly calling his team over the radio to ask for the Moroccan to let him through, although no team orders would be deployed.
YMR’s Yvan Muller was seventh, and consequently loses ground to Tarquini in the title battle, ahead of his nephew Yann Ehrlacher, who brought his Münnich Motorsport Honda home in eighth.
Comtoyou Racing duo Denis Dupont and Aurélien Panis completed the top ten, whilst WTCR newcomer Timo Scheider fought his way through from 18th on the grid to 11th in his first front-wheel drive race.
Disaster struck for BRC Racing title contender Norbert Michelisz on the opening lap, with the Hungarian returning to the pits with power steering issues on his Hyundai. A seventh non-score of the year means he has slipped to fourth in the standings as a result.
WRT’s Jean-Karl Vernay also retired after the opening lap, pulling his Audi off the circuit after contact with Zsolt Szabó, whilst the Comtoyou Racing Audi of Nathanaël Berthon limped back to the pits with suspension damage.
The second qualifying session of the weekend of the weekend will get underway tomorrow 09:00 local time (02:00 BST).
Race result
| POS | NO | DRIVER | NAT | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 11 | Thed BJÖRK |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 24:27.793 | 1:52.317 | 1 |
| 2 | 86 | Esteban GUERRIERI |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 4.098 | 1:52.560 | 4 |
| 3 | 22 | Frédéric VERVISCH |  |
Audi Sport Team Comtoyou | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 6.509 | 1:52.439 | 2 |
| 4 | 30 | Gabriele TARQUINI |  |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 7.459 | 1:52.517 | 9 |
| 5 | 25 | Mehdi BENNANI |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 12.512 | 1:52.781 | 10 |
| 6 | 12 | Rob HUFF |  |
Sébastien Loeb Racing | Volkswagen Golf GTi TCR | 13 | 12.92 | 1:52.742 | 8 |
| 7 | 48 | Yvan MULLER |  |
YMR | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 13 | 15.681 | 1:53.188 | 13 |
| 8 | 68 | Yann EHRLACHER | |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 18.262 | 1:52.801 | 12 |
| 9 | 20 | Denis DUPONT | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 21.33 | 1:53.247 | 7 |
| 10 | 21 | Aurélien PANIS | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 22.571 | 1:53.208 | 14 |
| 11 | 42 | Timo SCHEIDER |  |
ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 22.991 | 1:53.000 | 18 |
| 12 | 31 | Kevin CECCON | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 13 | 24.891 | 1:53.245 | 17 |
| 13 | 74 | Pepe ORIOLA |  |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 13 | 34.043 | 1:54.393 | 11 |
| 14 | 52 | Gordon SHEDDEN | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 13 | 36.378 | 1:53.826 | 20 |
| 15 | 9 | Tom CORONEL |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 36.45 | 1:54.338 | 22 |
| 16 | 7 | Aurélien COMTE | |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 36.721 | 1:54.006 | 25 |
| 17 | 70 | Mat’o HOMOLA |  |
DG Sport Compétition | Peugeot 308 TCR | 13 | 37.224 | 1:54.440 | 24 |
| 18 | 88 | Fabrizio GIOVANARDI | |
Team Mulsanne | Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR | 13 | 37.54 | 1:54.193 | 23 |
| 19 | 55 | MA Qing Hua |  |
Boutsen Ginion Racing | Honda Civic Type R FK8 TCR | 13 | 38.583 | 1:54.036 | 16 |
| R | 27 | John FILIPPI | |
Team Oscaro by Campos Racing | CUPRA TCR | 4 | DNF | 1:55.193 | 19 |
| R | 8 | Norbert NAGY |  |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 4 | DNF | 1:54.508 | 21 |
| R | 66 | Zsolt Dávid SZABÓ | |
Zengő Motorsport | CUPRA TCR | 3 | DNF | 2:06.216 | 6 |
| R | 69 | Jean-Karl VERNAY | |
Audi Sport Leopard Lukoil Team | Audi RS3 LMS | 1 | DNF | N/A | 15 |
| R | 5 | Norbert MICHELISZ | |
BRC Racing Team | Hyundai i30 N TCR | 1 | DNF | N/A | 3 |
| R | 23 | Nathanaël BERTHON | |
Comtoyou Racing | Audi RS3 LMS | 1 | DNF | N/A | 5 |
