Thed Björk has admitted that the reason he lost second in the final FIA World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) race in Marrakech was because he ‘turned the car off’.
The Swede moved into second at the very start of the race when YMR team-mate Yvan Muller moved to block Norbert Michelisz at the launch, allowing Björk to jump both of them.
The reigning WTCC champion then followed BRC Racing’s Gabriele Tarquini for much of the race, until he momentarily slowed on lap 18, allowing Muller through and dropping Björk to third.
He later admitted that the issue wasn’t any sort of failure on his car, but rather an error on his own part.
“I turned the car off,” admitted Björk. “It’s not so good. It’s a new car, Gabriele developed it, but it worked really well. I’m happy to be here and it was good that only Yvan took me. It would be bad to lose loads more positions.
“I started the car again and kept going. It was a small mistake from my side and I have to learn not to do that.
“It happened to Néstor [Girolami, former team-mate] last year so I feel like a good team-mate with him.”
Björk leaves Morocco second overall in the series standings, and admits he is pleased with his performance, saying that he simply could not match Hyundai development driver Tarquini’s pace in the i30 N TCR.
“Of course [there are] 27 more races to go,” added the 37-year-old. “We travel the whole world. It feels good to start like this.
“I must say I’m very happy with Yvan Muller Racing because a couple of months ago they were not even thinking about this. They did a really good job to be here on the grid so I’m happy for that.
“I’m a couple of points behind Gabriele and he did a fantastic job this weekend and I have nothing to add to that.”