Jessica Bäckman (24, Sweden, ROJA Motorsport by ASL Lichtblau) strikes at the Red Bull Ring: The Swede clinched her second win of the season in round three of the ADAC TCR Germany at the Red Bull Ring in Austria.
In Styria, Bäckmann celebrated victory despite a 5-second penalty due to a false start. The 24-year-old in the Hyundai Veloster N TCR, in good conditions, started from pole position and over seven seconds ahead of Szymon Ladniak (19, Poland, Liqui Moly Team Engstler).
Martin Andersen (27, Denmark, Liqui Moly Team Engstler) and Patrick Sing (30, Crailsheim, RaceSing) steered their cars into third and fourth place.
“After the penalty, I knew I had to push. When my race director then told me that I was seven seconds ahead, I couldn’t believe it at first. Tomorrow I want to get pole and win because today I was only started from P1 because of an engine change for Jonas Karklys,” said Bäckman after the award ceremony.
Bäckman defies time penalty – Team Engstler completes the podium
After the false start, Bäckman continuously increased her lead. The Swede from ROJA Motorsport presented herself in absolute top form in Styria. In the second free practice session, the 24-year-old was the quickest to maneuver her Hyundai around the track.
Second place followed in qualifying, but due to the engine change for Jonas Karklys (32, Lithuania, NordPass), who was fastest in qualifying, this was enough for first place on the grid. The Swede is now the first woman in the ADAC TCR Germany to win two races.
Junior pilot Ladniak had no chance of overtaking Bäckman in this race and ended up in second place. The winner of the Junior Challenge was nevertheless very satisfied after the race. “It’s a big moment for me. I’m very happy with the result. My pace was very good, but unfortunately not good enough for first place,” said Ladniak.
Behind Ladniak, his teammate Martin Andersen finished the race in third place. “The Hyundai were very fast in the race and I had a lot of exciting battles in the race. Third place is good and secures me important points in the championship,” the Dane summarizes his race.
Pole setter Karklys starts last due to engine change
Patrick Sing (30, Crailsheim, RaceSing) also drove a strong race. The Hyundai driver started the race from eighth place and steered his car up to fourth place. For Sing it is the best result of the young season. Fifth went to Jonas Karklys, who found himself in sixth place after just one lap. However, he couldn’t get past Sing, so his strong race to catch up ended in fifth place.
Sixth, seventh and eighth places went to Robin Jahr (31, ROJA Motorsport by ASL Lichtblau) in a Hyundai, Junior Max Gruhn (22, DEU, Gruhn Stahlbau Racing) in an Audi and Junior René Kircher (21, DEU, ROJA Motorsport by ASL light blue) in the Hyundai, which was unable to complete a lap in qualifying due to problems. The best Trophy pilot was Roland Hertner (62, Heilbronn, LIqui Moly Team Engstler). Hertner drove his Honda Civic TCR in ninth place. Kai Rosowski (28, Germany, K-Ro Racing) completed the top 10.
The second qualifying continues on Sunday at 9:15 a.m., before the second race of the TCR is due at 3:35 p.m. All ADAC TCR Germany races can be seen in the free live stream on sport.de.
Dates of the ADAC TCR Germany 2022, subject to change:
April 22-24, 2022: Oschersleben ADAC GT Masters
May 20-22, 2022: Red Bull Ring ADAC GT Masters
June 17-19, 2022: Salzburgring ADAC Racing Weekend
August 05-07, 2022: Nürburgring ADAC GT Masters
August 19-21, 2022: Lausitzring ADAC GT Masters
September 23-25, 2022: Sachsenring ADAC GT Masters
October 21-23, 2022: Hockenheimring ADAC GT Masters