DTC: Series Padborg Park summary

Tom Pedersen holds off Jan Magnussen

ALMS star beaten by James Thompson replacement

The second round of the Danish Touringcar Championship took place at Padborg Park in the southern part of Denmark with the first of the two races resulting in an expected and dominant win by Jan Magnussen, who was followed across the finishing line by team mate Casper Elgaard.

The latter had started from ninth position following an overnight engine change, but he managed to fight his way up through the field, where he fought a stern battle to get past the Seat Leon pair of Jens Møller and Jason Watt.

A late entry for the race meeting was Tom Pedersen, who was drafted in by the Hartmann Honda Racing team to race the Accord chassis, James Thompson had vacated at the end of April During the first race, Tom Pedersen made a couple of pit stops, as his engine wasn't running properly, but in the second race he had to start from the front row due to the reverse-grid format.

Tom Pedersen managed to enter the first corner in first place with Jens Møller and Jason Watt in tow, while Jan Magnussen and Casper Elgaard started their climb up through the field. By lap two, Tom Pedersen was put under pressure from Jens Møller, while Jan Magnussen had to fight with Jason Watt to get third place. In the end Jens Møller could not keep up with the speed of Tom Pedersen and on lap seven he made a slight error, letting Jan Magnussen past into second place.

Within a couple of laps Jan Magnussen was right on the tail of Tom Pedersen's car, and even though he tried to pass several places on the circuit, he could not find the opening that would let him get by. In the end the pair was separated by 0.2 second at the finishing line.

Behind the two leaders Jens Møller, Jason Watt and Casper Elgaard had a battle for third place that was just as exciting. Casper Elgaard found it difficult to find a way past Jason Watt, but with four laps to go he succeeded. Now Jens Møller was his next target, and in the very final corner - where the finishing line is - he dived inside the Seat Leon driver and just squeezed by, ending up on the infield in the process.

Jan Magnussen's first and second places mean that he now leads the Danish Touringcar Championship from Jens Møller. Next round of the series is the Scandinavian Touring Car Cup race at Gothenburg at the start of June.

-source: dtc-net.dk