Cyan Racing’s Thed Björk won a thrilling opening FIA TCR World Tour race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Mid-Ohio, passing majority race leader Mikel Azcona with just over two laps to go.
Björk, who last raced at the circuit 24 years ago in the Barber Dodge Pro Series and was then denied a win due to an engine failure, made up for his past misfortune with an emphatic victory early morning on Saturday.
The Lynk & Co driver had leapt past BRC Racing’s Norbert Michelisz at the start, and kept the pressure on early leader Azcona throughout the race.
As Azcona’s car began to fade in the latter stages, the Swede was all over the back of the Spaniard’s Hyundai, and on lap 15 he made a late lunge at Turn 9 to seize the lead.
Once in clear air, Björk pulled away to score a first win of the season by over a second.
Michelisz was second, having got by Azcona on the final lap with a move at the same corner as Björk, with Azcona completing the podium.
BRC’s Néstor Girolami took fourth, having got by fellow Argentine Esteban Guerrieri on the sixth lap.
GOAT Racing’s Guerrieri was nonetheless the best Honda driver in fifth, ahead of Cyan Racing’s Yann Ehrlacher in seventh.
Despite starting from the penultimate row of the grid after his grid penalties, Ehrlacher was quickly up to seventh by lap three, and three laps later he passed Ma Qing Hua for sixth after team orders, remaining there to the finish.
Santiago Urrutia followed team-mate Ehrlacher home in seventh, having steadily made inroads into the top ten late in the race. Ma took eighth, after his team-mate got past on the last lap.
Volcano Motorsport’s John Filippi was the leading Audi in ninth, with GOAT Racing’s Dušan Borković completing the top ten after falling back from a seventh-place grid position.
The only driver not to finish on the lead lap was Riley Pegram, who had to pit after suffering from setup issues and was thus seven laps down.
Race two is scheduled to get underway at 17:45 local time (22:45 BST, 23:45 CEST).
Race result
| POS | NO | CL | NAT | DRIVER | ENTRANT | CAR | LAPS | TIME | BEST | GD |
| 1 | 111 |  |
Thed BJÖRK | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 17 | 25:39.406 | 1:29.635 | 3 | |
| 2 | 105 |  |
Norbert MICHELISZ | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 17 | 1.339 | 1:29.566 | 2 | |
| 3 | 196 |  |
Mikel AZCONA | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 17 | 2.180 | 1:29.485 | 1 | |
| 4 | 129 |  |
Néstor GIROLAMI | BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 17 | 2.953 | 1:29.645 | 6 | |
| 5 | 186 | |
Esteban GUERRIERI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 17 | 3.678 | 1:29.532 | 5 | |
| 6 | 168 |  |
Yann EHRLACHER | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 17 | 10.990 | 1:29.793 | 13 | |
| 7 | 112 |  |
Santiago URRUTIA | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 17 | 23.158 | 1:30.080 | 12 | |
| 8 | 155 |  |
MA Qing Hua | Lynk & Co Cyan Racing | Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR | 17 | 23.779 | 1:29.754 | 4 | |
| 9 | 127 | |
John FILIPPI | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 17 | 33.029 | 1:31.400 | 9 | |
| 10 | 62 |  |
Dušan BORKOVIĆ | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 17 | 33.604 | 1:31.351 | 7 | |
| 11 | 98 |  |
Mark WILKINS | Bryan Herta Autosport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 17 | 33.908 | 1:30.486 | 10 | |
| 12 | 38 |  |
Harry GOTTSACKER | Bryan Herta Autosport | Hyundai Elantra N TCR | 17 | 34.248 | 1:30.735 | 11 | |
| 13 | 199 |  |
Marco BUTTI | GOAT Racing | Honda Civic Type-R FL5 TCR | 17 | 47.759 | 1:32.116 | 8 | |
| 14 | 92 | |
Megan TOMLINSON | Volcano Motorsport | Audi RS3 LMS TCR II | 17 | 1:20.934 | 1:34.142 | 14 | |
| 15 | 72 | |
Riley PEGRAM | Pegram Racing | Audi RS3 LMS TCR | 10 | NCF | 1:38.173 | 15 |