NYKJÆR AND BASOV WIN FIA EUROPEAN CUPS
Before 10,000 spectators, the 38 competitors of the third
FIA European Touring Car Cup delivered two exciting races
in Adria.
By winning the second, freshly-crowned Danish Touring Car
Champion Michel Nykjær clinched the Super 2000 cup;
the second consecutive for SEAT and the GR Asia team after
Ryan Sharp’s victory at Estoril in 2006.
The winner of the first race, Tomas Engström from Sweden,
took second in the points after being classified third in
Portugal last year. Another Dane, Kristian Poulsen, climbed
on the third step of the final podium.
Thanks to Nykjaer’s and Poulsen’s results, the
Danish Federation (DASU) won the Nations’ Cup.
The Super Production class produced an all Russian podium:
Aleksey Basov encored his Race 1 victory and claimed the title,
from fellow countrymen Nikolay Agapov and Arkadiy Pavlovskiy.
The Super 1600 class was won by Jens Guido Weimann in a Ford
Fiesta.
NYKJÆR TAKES TITLE WITH RACE 2 WIN
Before the second race Pontus Mörth was given a 30-second
penalty because of the collision with Jens Reno Møller
at the start of Race 1; he should have started sixth on the
reverse grid for Race 2 but lost three positions and started
ninth.
Kristian Pouslen took an early lead from pole position man
Charlie Geipel when the Toyota driver made a poor start. Alexander
Lvov was second with Møller third. Michel Nykjær
overtook Møller for third at the beginning of the second
lap and they touched slightly. By the end of lap 1 Mörth
had recovered to sixth after overtaking Tomas Engström,
winner of Race 1.
Some of the drivers who had started from the back of the
grid after they were involved in incidents in the first race
elbowed their way up the field: César Campaniço
passed Charlie Geipel to take 8th position on lap 4, while
Henrik Lundgaard and Maurizio Ceresoli where immediately behind.
On lap 5 Nykjær was able to take second place from
Lvov, reducing to two seconds his gap from Poulsen. Møller
went wide at turn 4 outbraking himself; he slipped from fourth
to the middle of the field and eventually retired.
There was an exciting fight over the fifth position between
Engström and Mörth; the latter got the better of
his rival on lap 7.
At mid distance Poulsen’s lead had been nearly scrapped;
Nykjaer was really chasing hard and on lap 12 took over the
lead of the race. O’Brien was third with Mörth
close behind.
In the final laps Engström benefitted from the fight
between O’Brien and Mörth, moving up to third,
but eventually Mörth overtook him again. On the last
lap Lundgaard stole seventh position from Campaniço.
Nykjaer won the race and the title, crossing the line ahead
of Poulsen and Mörth.
BASOV TAKES DOUBLE WIN FOR SUPER PRODUCTION TITLE
Aleksey Basov led from the start to take his second win of
the day and claim the Super Production title. His team-mate
Nikolay Agapov was second in the race beating Dmitry Dobrovolskiy,
a result that meant second position in the points for Agapov.
For the first part of the race Fabio Fabiani was running
third but then dropped to fifth after a collision with Anton
Markin. As a consequence the Russian, that had been third
in Race 1, was forced to retire.
DRIVERS’ QUOTES
Michel NYKJÆR (SEAT León) – Winner
of the Super 2000 Cup
“I am very happy, this was the best way to end the
season after winning the Danish title. It was hard to overtake
Poulsen but I really wanted to win this race and the cup and
now I hope that this will help me to get to Macau to compete
in the WTCC finale…”
Tomas ENGSTRÖM (Honda Accord) – 2nd in
the Super 2000 Cup
“I have been quick over the weekend but I am a little
bit disappointed not to win the cup. We have had a bad season
in the Swedish championship, but we were a bit luckier here.
I finished third last year, second today, maybe 2008 will
my time.”
Kristian POULSEN (BMW 320si) – 3rd in the Supèr
2000 Cup
“I am very happy it was a good result. And also very
encouraging for the team and myself. This was our first participation
in an international event and finishing third in the FIA Cup
made us very proud. ”
Aleksey BASOV (Honda Civic) – Winner of the
Super Production Cup
“This year I was crowned Russian Super Production champion
and of course I wanted to win the European Cup as well. I
started very well both races and overtook some S2000 cars,
which was crucial for success. The rest of the race I was
just having fun. It is my very first visit to a European racing
circuit, and I hope this victory will be a boost for my carreer.”
Nikolay AGAPOV (Honda Civic) – 2nd in the Super
Production Cup
“I had problems with the start in race one. The second
start was much better and helped me to finish on the podium.
We also changed the set up a little in-between the races and
the car was better.. The team did their best and I’m
really happy. I enjoyed this weekend very much.”
Arkadiy PAVLOVSKIY (Opel Astra Coupé) –
3rd in the Super Production Cup
“Obviously I would be more pleased to be in a better
position than third. Especially because I had high hopes after
finishing second in Race 1. But all considered I cannot complain.
Third place was a great result for the team.”
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