Jensen wins his second TCR Denmark title at Padborg Park

Kasper H. Jensen has successfully defended his TCR Denmark title during a wet race day at Padborg Park, finishing the season on a high with victory in Race 3, while Michael Markussen won Race 2, and Jan Magnussen the opening race, to secure second and third in the championship standings respectively.
Jensen started from pole position for Race 1, but he was outdragged to the first corner by Jan Magnussen, with Michael Markussen running just behind them in third. On lap 6, Magnussen’s LM Racing teammate Nicolai Sylvest then dived down the inside of Markussen to grab the final podium place from him at the Turn 7 chicane.
There was a safety car late in the race and the race resumed for a two-lap sprint to the finish, with Jensen passed by Sylvest into the first corner, before Jensen quickly retook the position from Sylvest. On the same lap, Markussen was able to get back past Sylvest, before Sylvest retook the position on the back straight. Meanwhile up front, Magnussen and Jensen were going side-by-side down the back straight, with Jensen’s car just a nose ahead, but Magnussen had the line into the next corner and would hold on to claim his eighth win of the season. Jensen would finish second with Sylvest initially classified third, but he dropped to 12th after he was given a post-race penalty for passing under the yellow flags, which put Markussen back on the podium.
Jensen’s second place, despite Magnussen’s victory, and with Casper Elgaard finishing sixth with a valiant charge from the back of the grid, meant Jensen secured his second consecutive drivers’ title even before the final two races.
Jensen had an ignominious start to the second race, with his Honda Civic’s bonnet coming loose on the formation lap, forcing him to abort from ninth and head to the pit lane from where he’d start the race. The Insight Racing Alfa Romeo Giulietta cars of Jacob Mathiassen and Philip Lindberg started the top-ten reversed grid race from the front row, and while they led at the start, the man on the move was Markussen, who was blitzing through the field from eighth on the grid and had taken the lead by lap six. Elgaard was running just behind the two Alfa cars but was soon passed by both Magnussen and Sylvest who then caught and passed Lindberg but didn’t have the pace to catch up to Mathiassen. Markussen won the race from Mathiassen, while Magnussen and Sylvest both battled each other for the final podium spot, crossing the line separated by just one-tenth of a second. Jensen recovered from his pit lane start to finish sixth. Markussen’s win was his first of the season, and the result moved him up to second in the championship.
Markussen had a good start from the pole in the final race, with Magnussen pressuring him on the way into Turn 1, but he was able to hold the lead. The race was soon held behind the safety car as the Honda of William Nyberg had been spun around by Lars Højris’s Opel Astra at the first turn. When the race resumed, Markussen began to pull away, while Jensen soon passed Magnussen. 
Magnussen tried to re-pass him, but to no avail, and then Magnussen soon found himself defending against Sylvest. Markussen was closed down by Jensen, with the new champion overtaking him on lap 11. Jensen then pulled away from Markussen to comfortably take the win ahead of Markussen, while Magnussen and Sylvest continued to battle it out for the final podium position, with Magnussen just coming out on top as Sylvest found himself forced into the pit lane on the last lap as he tried to get around the outside of his teammate.
Jensen’s eventual points lead was 46 points over Markussen, with Magnussen third in the standings, 62 behind at the end of the season.

Padborg Park – Race 1
1. Jan Magnussen (LM Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 13 laps
2. Kasper H. Jensen (Massive Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 1.166
3. Michael Markussen (Markussen Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 2.876
4. Kenn Bach (Massive Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 5.694
5. Gustav Birch (Brian Madsen Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 10.321

Padborg Park – Race 2
1. Michael Markussen (Markussen Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 14 laps
2. Jacob Mathiassen (Insight Racing, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce), 7.651
3. Jan Magnussen (LM Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 10.959
4. Nicolai Sylvest (LM Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 11.059
5. Philip Lindberg (Insight Racing, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce), 15.040

Padborg Park – Race 3
1. Kasper H. Jensen (Massive Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 17 laps
2. Michael Markussen (Markussen Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 4.494
3. Jan Magnussen (LM Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 5.847
4. Jacob Mathiassen (Insight Racing, Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce), 10.624
5. Casper Elgaard (Brian Madsen Motorsport, Peugeot 308), 16.816

Championship points
1. KH. Jensen 371 pts; 2. M. Markussen 325; 3. J. Magnussen 309  

Picture: TCR Denmark