DTC: Series Jyllandsringen and Championship summary

Magnussen wins the Danish Touringcar Championship

Major rivals Henrik Lundgaard and Tom Pedersen sidelined by incidents

Jan Magnussen is the new champion in this year's Danish Touringcar Championship, after having won two of three races at the season's final at Jyllandsringen and finishing sixth in the remaining one. Before the race meeting an unprecedented total of five drives could claim the title, but one by one their chances evaporated.

The first race was dominated by Jan Magnussen, whereas Henrik Lundgaard and Tom Pedersen kept their title dreams alive by claiming second and third place after a race long duel, while Michael Outzen also got sufficient points to still have a chance. That possibility went out of the window for Michel Nykjær. The reigning champion could only finish eighth in the first race, and thus he was out of the equation.

Soon Henrik Lundgaard and Tom Pedersen would also be out.

The former just managed to get through the first corner, where he got hit by Jens Edman, so that his suspension got broken. And one minute later Tom Pedersen had to park his BMW with a broken engine. Now Michael Outzen was the only driver who could catch Jan Magnussen, but as he finished just ahead of him in fifth place in the second race that was not enough. And Michel Nykjær's win in that race came a bit too late to be helpful.

"Suddenly my chance of winning the championship was gone," Henrik Lundgaard said afterwards. "After the first corner of the second heat a competitor thought that I shouldn't have that chance any more. It was a pity, as I would have liked to battle for it and make it exciting right till the end. There is no doubt that Jan still would have good cards on his hand and that it would have been difficult to change that, but I would have liked to give the spectators a decent show."

"I'm sad for Henrik's fate and the way the championship got finished," Jan Magnussen said. "But nevertheless we had the speed to take the title, so everything went according to plan. We have been fastest at Jyllandsringen. Previously we have not been running strong here, but this year we have. It is a fantastic day with my son Kevin winning the Formula Ford championship and me taking the DTC title."

But Jan Magnussen not only claimed the DTC title. He also won the final race of the year, even though he was slow on the accelerator when the red lights were turned off. Instead Jason Watt was leading the race with his Seat Leon in front of Irishman Emmet O'Brien, but midway through the first lap he almost lost control of his car, allowing both Emmet O'Brien and Jan Magnussen to get alongside him. The latter claimed the lead, and even though Jason Watt held on to second place, a gearbox problem forced him to drop down and eventually retire. Second place thus went to Michael Nykjær who managed to pass team mate Emmet O'Brien who had his best race of the season.

In the privateer section Robert Schlunssen claimed the overall cup win, even though main rival Jens Edman was more competitive and scored more points.

-credit: dtc-net.dk