DTC: Jyllandsringen round six race summary

Magnussen took convincing Jyllandsringen win
The BMW driver is now within 21 points of the championship lead

Jan Magnussen became a very convincing winner of the major round of the Danish Touringcar Championship held at Jyllandsringen. The BMW 320si E90 driver won the first qualification heat from Seat Leon driver Michel Nykjær and reigning champion Casper Elgaard, then climbed from eighth position on the grid to fifth at the chequered flag in the second qualification heat, securing him pole position for the final. In this race he just romped away into the distance, never being challenged, and with his win he reduced his deficit to the championship leader from 43 to 21 points.

"If just all race Sundays were like this," Jan Magnussen said after his win. "The final was easier than the second heat, but I had the speed to open up a gap and drive sensibly. In the second qualification heat I had to fight for it, and it was very hard, as nobody wanted to open any doors. That was by far the most exciting race of the day, even though I just got fifth place. On behalf of the team, I am very pleased, because we showed that we have found some speed, and I hope that we can find more, as this is the best start when chasing a championship lead. Not since driving Peugeots years ago have I had such a convincing win."

The second qualification heat see the top eight drivers from the first qualification heat start in reverse order, and thus Jason Watt got his first pole position for three years in the Danish Touringcar Championship. At the start the 2002 championship winner led from Henrik Lundgaard's Chevrolet Lacetti and Nicki Thiim's BMW 320si E90, but within a lap and a half, both had moved by him and started fighting for the lead. Several times the son of Kurt Thiim made attempts of passing the leading car, and the pair even touched each other a couple of times, but he never managed to avoid Henrik Lundgaard giving Chevrolet its first race win in the series.

"It is a race result that we have been longing to get, as we ought to have had it at Padborg Park, and I do feel this win is well deserved, as we had the speed to justify it," Henrik Lundgaard said.

The battle for third was also exciting in qualification heat 2. Michel Nykjær took third position from Jason Watt after a third of the race, but towards the end he was being chased down by Michael Outzen. However, before the latter could really put the pressure on Michel Nykjær, he himself got under attack from Jan Magnussen.

The final saw Michel Nykjær finish in the runner-up spot, and as John Nielsen's BMW 320si E90 was fiercely ballasted following his Padborg Park successes three weeks earlier, he could not keep up with the pace of the Seat Leon driver, who duly retook the championship lead.

"It was difficult with all the kilos in the car, and it all happened as I had predicted," John Nielsen said. "I had hoped that I could inherit some positions or gain from others driver's errors, but nothing went my way. On average I did get a top 5 position in the races, and that was okay."

"Before the meeting I had expected to regain the championship lead, as John would be driving with a lot of load in his car, but he did a fine job under the circumstances," Michel Nykjær said. "I am very happy to get these results, as the car was not running properly. We had thought that the dampers were the cause of the problems, but something else is wrong."

-credit: www.dtc-net.dk