The final weekend of the FIA World Touring Car Cup at the Sepang International Circuit was a difficult one for all the drivers with changing weather conditions, but ended well for Andy Priaulx and his team mates with Lynk & Co Cyan Racing winning the team title. Andy and his team mates had difficult qualifying sessions due to the Lynk & Co 03 TCR carrying the most weight and having the least amount of power in the WTCR field, as per the Balance of Performance (BoP) regulations.
The best the triple world champion could achieve was 27th in both qualifying sessions, and after the sessions on Friday he said: “Obviously it was a disappointing result for the team, as we genuinely struggle on circuits like these. We will be working hard behind the scenes to improve our pace for Sunday.” In the first race tyre choice was crucial with changing weather conditions and, thanks to making the right decision, he moved up to finish 11th. In race two there was a lot of standing water on the track, and on the first lap Andy suffered severe damage to the front right of his car.
The race was red flagged on lap two due to an enormous amount of carnage and a car on fire on the track. The mechanics worked flat out on the number 111 car and Andy started the race from the pit lane and finished 21st. In race three he again worked his way up the field and finished 14th. After the third race and the last and 30th of the season, Andy said: “I had a strong pace this weekend, but it was important to play the team game to try and get Yvan (Muller) and Thed (Björk) up there in the drivers’ battle. Sadly neither of them took the title. This weekend has been tough with changing conditions and we have had other tough times during the year, but I have thoroughly enjoyed being in this championship and racing for such a great team.
“While we didn’t get any wins today, we did clinch the team title and that is amazing in such a competitive championship. I want to thank everyone in the team for the way they have worked so hard all year, and also my guys today who turned round the car after the damage in the second race so I could get back into action. This was a true herculean effort.”
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