Target Competition’s Michel Nykjær has called his win in the second TCR International Series race in Portimão “a dream” result, after he scored his first win of the season.
Nykjær started on the front row of the grid and was able to pass poleman Kevin Gleason’s Honda at the start of the race, giving him an advantage.
Later in the race, both Liqui Moly Team Engstler Audi TTs of Kelvin Van der Linde and Nicki Thiim managed to catch up to Nykjær, with the duo occupying the final two podium positions.
However Thiim hit a kerb too hard, breaking his wheel, whilst Van der Linde crawled to a halt just one lap later, allowing Nykjær to take his first TCR win in comfort ahead of Gleason.
Nykjær’s win wouldn’t have happened if his Target Competition team hadn’t been able to repair his SEAT’s front radiator during the pause between the two races, as the Dane had damaged it earlier in race one.
“In the first race I hit [Andrea] Belicchi and the radiator was broken,”said Nykjær. “All the mechanics gave everything for me to make the car ready for race two.
“I made a very good start, was first in the corner and had Gleason behind to chase me. After that it was Van der Linde and Thiim and that was a hard race for me, because they were quite fast on the straight but I could manage to close the door.
“I am just very happy for the victory for the team as they were able to make the car ready for the second race. It is a dream. I had some problem with the brakes as I started to brake earlier each time to stop the car; brakes, tyres, the driver – everything got a little bit hot. But I was able to manage to the end of the race.”
As a result of his maiden TCR win, Nykjær moves up to seventh in the drivers’ championship, and it now means that seven different drivers have won the first eight races, with only points leader Stefano Comini having won more than once.