WTCR: Cyan Racing's veterans triumphant at Macau Guia Circuit
The Swedish-Chinese team Cyan Racing Lynk &Co. made the most in the ninth and the penultimate round of the 2019 WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup season, by winning all three races at the famous Macau Guia Circuit.
Yvan Muller scored two victories in Race 1 and Race 2 while his teammate Andy Priaulx finally clinched his maiden WTCR victory by winning Race 3 at a dangerous 6.2km street circuit.
Yvan Muller celebrates victory
Now, with just one more round (three races) on the calendar, we have four championship contenders for the season’s finale at Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia on December 14-15.
Norbert Michelisz (BRC Racing, Hyundai i30 N TCR) leads the championship standings with 316 points on his account, just nine points more than Esteban Guerrieri (ALL-INKL.COM Münnich Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R TCR). Great result in Macau brings Yvan Muller on just two points behind Guerrieri. The fourth contender is Thed Bjork (Cyan Racing Lynk &Co), who has 288 points.
Norbert Michelisz is going to season’s finale as championship leader
On Saturday, Yvan Muller converted his DHL Pole Position into a Race 1 victory. Norbert Michelisz finished second and took lead in the points because his main rival Esteban Guerrieri was out of points, finishing one lap down on 24th place after starting from the back due to an engine change. Team Mulsanne’s Kevin Ceccon claimed the final podium position in his Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR.
Andy Priaulx was running third but he intentionally slowed down and dropped to sixth, to benefit Lynk &Co teammate and title contender Thed Björk. In the end, Rob Huff was fourth and Björk was fifth.
Former world champion Andy Priaulx finally scored his first WTCR victory
On Sunday, Yvan Muller started from P5 in Race 2 and progressed to the victory, his fourth this season. He shared a podium with Thed Björk and Kevin Ceccon. Esteban Guerrieri was set to start Race 2 on the pole only to be hit with a grid penalty. He finished fourth, six placed ahead of championship leader Norbert Michelisz.
In Race 3, Andy Priaulx scored his first WTCR victory after defeating fellow Briton Rob Huff in Volkswagen Golf of Sebastien Loeb Racing. Huff was looking for his record-setting tenth victory in Macau but he has to wait for the next attempt, probably next year. Jean-Karl Vernay (Leopard Racing Team Audi Sport) joined them on a podium.
Points leader Norbert Michelisz finished where he started in P12, with his closest rival Esteban Guerrieri in P10 and double Macau race winner Yvan Muller in sixth.
Check the results of WTCR races at Macau
Photos: Florent Gooden/DPPI/WTCR
