Thed Björk had mixed feelings after securing his and Polestar Cyan Racing’s first-ever outright front-row start in qualifying for the World Touring Car Championship in Qatar.
Björk believes he could have gone even faster on his decisive Q3 lap, but the Swede ultimately lost out to first-time pole-sitter Mehdi Bennani.
“To start from the front row is awesome, but I am actually both happy and unhappy,” said Björk, who was making his third Q3 appearance of the season.
“I am really happy [about] the improvements we have made, but I am unhappy with the mistake I made on my lap. Without it I would no doubt have been on pole, but that’s life sometimes and I will fight really hard in the race.”
Polestar’s Head of Motorsport, Alexander Murdzevski-Schedvin, says that Björk’s performance, along with Robert Dahlgren putting his Volvo in eighth for the Main Race, have cemented the improvements made by the Swedish outfit in recent months.
“We are very happy to see our development programme during the season paying off, making for a promising end to the season.
“Both drivers and the team did a good job to overcome the challenges in testing and we are in for two exciting final races of the season later tonight.”
Both of the season’s final races take place later on Friday evening.