Lynk & Co has just made history as the first Chinese automobile manufacturer to secure the team title of the FIA World Touring Car Cup and did so with the help of Swedish-based motorsport outfit Cyan Racing, formerly known as Polestar. The outfit is claiming its third straight World Title as the team won in 2017 with Volvo Polestar and 2018 with an independent program, and now with the Chinese-Swedish marque.
Lynk & Co Cyan Racing fielded not one or two but four, 03 TCR mid-size saloons for the 2019 WTCC season with motorsport veterans Yvan Muller, Thed Björk, Yann Ehrlacher and Andy Priaulx behind the wheel.
The season finale took place at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia, where Fredik Whalen, team manager of Cyan Racing had this to say, "This has been one of the toughest race weekends the team has ever experienced. Everyone really pulled together when we needed it the most. I am proud of all in the team that we for the third year in succession are the champions of the world,"
The team claimed the title by 34 points over main rivals Hyundai in i30 N TCRs and 54 points over Honda in Civic TCRs. “We have fought hard until the very last lap. We never give up. The races at Sepang were among the most difficult I have ever driven. A big thanks to everyone in the team and to everyone that have developed the Lynk & Co. It truly delivered under very difficult conditions," said Thed Björk.
As for the machines, the 03 TCR is powered by a force-inducted 2-litre, four-cylinder engine that churns out 260kW and 420Nm of torque - as per FIA TCR regulations - and is mated to a six-speed paddle-shifting sequential box. Bringing the 1,265kg Chinese-Swede mass to a halt are a pair of massive 6-piston stoppers squeezing on 380mm ventilated rotors upfront while the rear measure 278mm. Not bad considering the 03 TCR project went from “plans to a finished car in less than 25 weeks” said Alexander Murdzevski, Head of Geely Group Motorsport.
In late in August 2019, Lynk & Co took a 394kW 03 Cyan Concept and broke the records set at the Nurburgring for a front-wheel drive and four-door production car, beating out the Renault Megane RS Trophy-R and Jaguar XE SV Project 8 respectively with Thed Björk behind the wheel.
Aside from Lynk & Co’s immense success on the race track, the marque is also growing at a breakneck pace with the recent introduction of their 05 and 06 SUV models in China. However, because the company has global aspirations, we expect these cars to reach us soon.
When it arrives in Europe, Lynk & Co is planning on offering a flexible subscription-based mobility solution as opposed to a conventional leasing scheme. An interesting concept, but we’ll let you decide that one.
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