DTC: Round 2 of 8 - Ring Djursland

Thorkild Thyrring won a close win, when the second round of the eight round Danish Touringcar Challenge took place at the hilly and twisty Ring Djursland. On the difficult circuit the Nissan Primera driver had a close battle with the championship leading Peugeot 306 GTI of Michael Carlsen, whom he followed like a shadow for the majority of the race. However, with five laps to go Thyrring finally got the opening that he needed, when he managed to outbreak Carlsen at the end of the main straight into the circuit's hairpin. "Michael Carlsen is a very clever driver and he made no errors at all during today's race," Thyrring admitted after the race. "When we went through the forest section of the circuit, the track started getting slippery, and both Carlsen's and my car started drifting, so suddenly I got the chance to get right onto the tail of his bumber. I thought it was now or newer, if I was going to win the race, and I then went for the inside of Carlsen at the end of the straight, and I managed to get through." Following the passing manouvre Thyrring slowly, but surely build up a small cushion to Michael Carlsen. However, last year's series runner-up had not given up, even though he held a gap of more than ten seconds to the rest of the field. "I was evident that I was carrying more weight than Thyrring, as I have got the winner's ballast following my victory three weeks ago at the Jyllands-Ringen," Carlsen said. "But I won't complain. After all the idea of the ballast weight is to make everybody as even as possible." Third place went Michael Schröter's way, and he was very pleased with the result, as his day at Ring Djursland had been far from trouble free. "When we went out to the qualification race, my clutch started biting as soon as I exceed 7.000 rpm, so I had to pull the hand brake," the Volkswagen Golf driver explained. "However, when the lights turned from red to green, I had completely forgotten about the handbrake, so I dropped from fifth to tenth or something like that at the start." In the qualification race Schröter managed to climb to fifth place at the chequered flag, and during the 20 lap final he moved up another two positions to take the last podium place. But when he crossed the finishing line, his car was completely finished. The differential had broken, and with an oil pressure of just three bar the engine was in need of an overhaul. Another driver making a lot of overtaking this Sunday was John Nielsen. In his Nissan Primera the former Le Mans held second place behind Michael Carlsen at the start of the qualification race, but then his second gear broke, and the veteran found it difficult to keep up with the pace. "Even though I crossed the line in third, I chose to start the final from the very back, as I was afraid that the other drivers simply would pass over my head, when I could not get up to speed at the start," John Nielsen admitted. He then went on to go from last on the grid to a brave seventh place at the finish. "I am a bit disappointed today, as this could have been a good weekend for me. The car was just perfect, but a lot of small things have caused us problems. Today it was second gear that broke, which also meant that the clutch started sliding at the end, and yesterday a drive shaft broke, just as I was about to take pole position during qualifying." Not making the final was Mika Häkkinen's old opponent from the 1988 Opel Lotus Euroseries, Henrik Larsen. The former single seater ace was a stand in for DAMS F3000 driver Kristian Kolby in the Renault Motorsport Denmark Megane Stationcar, but even though he finished the qualification race in 15th place, he could not start the final as his headgasket had blown. This fated incidenly also befell teammate Casper Elgaard, who had finished a brilliant eight place. The third round of the Danish Touringcar Challenge will take place on the Jyllands-Ring on June 12th.

<pre> Result - Round 2 - Qualification race - 10 laps of 1.750 kms:

1. Michael Carlsen      Michael Carlsen Motorsport      Peugeot 306     GTI     9.46,911
2. Thorkild Thyrring    McDonald's Nissan Racing        Nissan  Primera         9.47,981
3. John Nielsen         McDonald's Nissan Racing        Nissan Primera          9.53,650
4. Mike Legarth         Legarth Racing                  BMW 320i                9.54,460
5. Michael Schröter     Michael Schröter                VW Golf GTI             9.54,736
6. Jesper Sylvest       Sylvest Motorsport              Citroën Xsara Coupé VTS 9.55,550
7. Klaus Madsen         Team Brask Racing               Peugeot 306 GTI         9.56,403
8. Casper Elgaard       Renault Motorsport Danmar       kRenault Megane St.car  9.57,632
9. Pierre Legarth       Peugeot Sport Team              Peugeot 406     Coupé   9.59,757
10. Carsten Leveau      Team Brask Racing               Peugeot 306     GTI     10.01,027

Fastest lap: John Nielsen, 56,209s (112,082 km/h).

Result - Round 2 - Final - 20 laps of 1.750 kms:

1. Thorkild Thyrring    McDonald's Nissan Racing        Nissan Primera          19.11,909
2. Michael Carlsen      Michael Carlsen Motorsport      Peugeot 306 GTI         19.13,951
3. Michael Schröter     Michael Schröter                VW Golf GTI             19.26,739
4. Jesper Sylvest       Sylvest Motorsport              Citroën Xsara Coupé VTS 19.28,294
5. Klaus Madsen         Team Brask Racing               Peugeot 306 GTI         19.28,612
6. Pierre Legarth       Peugeot Sport Team              Peugeot 406 Coupé       19.43,453
7. John Nielsen         McDonald's Nissan Racing        Nissan Primera          19.44,404
8. Carsten Leveau       Team Brask Racing               Peugeot 306 GTI         19.48,100
9. Gunnar Kristensen    Team Brask Racing               Peugeot 306 GTI         19.48,484
10. Johnny V. Nielsen   Peugeot Sport Team              Peugeot 306 GTI         19.52,350

Fastest lap: Michael Carlsen, 56,400s (111,702 km/h).

Championship positions:

1. Michael Carlsen      Michael Carlsen Motorsport      Peugeot 306 GTI         52,5 p.
2. Michael Schröter     Michael Schröter                VW Golf GTI             33,0 p.
3. Jesper Sylvest       Sylvest Motorsport              Citroën Xsara Coupé VTS 31,0 p.
4. Thorkild Thyrring    McDonald's Nissan Racing        Nissan  Primera         27,5 p.
5. John Nielsen         McDoland's Nissan Racing        Nissan Primera          20,0 p.
6. Mike Legarth         Legarth Racing                  BMW 320i                18,0 p.
7. Klaus Madsen         Team Brask Racing               Peugeot 306 GTI         16,0 p.
8. Carsten Leveau       Team Brask Racing               Peugeot 306 GTI         13,5 p.
9. Pierre Legarth       Peugeot Sport Team              Peugeot 406 Coupé       11,0 p.
10. Jørgen Poulsen      S40 Racing                      Volvo S40               4,5 p.