Two wins for Jensen, while Magnussen moves points lead
The three races which made up the fifth event of TCR Denmark saw a pair of wins for Kasper H. Jensen, with Mike Halder taking victory in Race 2. The results from the series’ second visit of the season to Jyllandsringen mean that Jensen has moved into second in the standings, one point behind Jan Magnussen.
Race 1 - After qualifying on pole, reigning champion Jensen took a lights-to-flag win. With Kevin Engman failing to take up his third place on the grid due to a mechanical issue, Nicolai Sylvest made a strong start from P4 and challenged Jan Magnussen going into Turn 1, although Magnussen held onto P2, and gaps then started to open up between the leading trio. On lap 1, Halder moved up to P8 with Gustav Birch in P9 after the pair started from 10th and 12th respectively. Championship returnee Martin Andersen passed Michael Markussen for fourth place halfway through the race, with slight contacts between the pair. Markussen, Philip Lindberg and Silas Rytter then fought for P5 to P7, but positions remained unchanged. Birch passed Halder for P8 on the penultimate lap, while Jensen took a comfortable win over Magnussen and Sylvest.
Race 2 - The reversed grid saw Michelle Halder start from pole with her brother Mike alongside her. At the start, Mike drove around Michelle to take the lead, with Birch in P3 and Lindberg up to P4. On lap 3, Sylvest and Jensen passed Markussen for fifth and sixth places respectively and when Michelle Halder pulled into the pits on lap 8 with a broken driveshaft, Birch, Lindberg, Sylvest and Jensen advanced to the positions from two to five. Those four drivers ran within a second and a half of each other for the remainder of the race, with Sylvest dropping to sixth behind Magnussen on the final lap, allowing Jensen to finish fourth. Halder took the win by nearly six seconds from Birch, with Lindberg finishing on the podium for the first time.
Race 3 – Jensen again was on pole, but a confused start saw both Lindberg and Halder pass him off the. Jensen then passed Halder for P2 on lap 2 with Magnussen also passing the German for P3. By lap 5, Halder had dropped a further two places to Markussen and Rytter while Magnussen was catching Jensen and so there were two three-car battles developing, for P1-P3 and for P4-P6. Lindberg then received a drive-through for jump start, which meant Jensen moved into the race lead with Magnussen second and Lindberg third after serving his penalty. Halder moved up to P5 on lap 10 and then passed Rytter for P4 on lap 12 but there would be no further changes. Jensen duly took his second victory of the day, with Magnussen and Lindberg alongside him on the podium.
In the championship, Jensen has moved up to second, one point behind Magnussen, with Halder now in third place a further six points behind.
The series will resume at Padborg Park on 15/16 September.
Jyllandsringen – Race 1
1. Kasper H. Jensen (GMB Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 14 laps
2. Jan Magnussen (Auto Lounge Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 4.381
3. Nicolai Sylvest (Green Development, CUPRA Leon Competición), 5.915
Jyllandsringen – Race 2
1. Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 14 laps
2. Gustav Birch (GMB Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 5.837
3. Philip Lindberg (PL Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 6.456
Jyllandsringen – Race 3
1. Kasper H. Jensen (GMB Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 14 laps
2. Jan Magnussen (Auto Lounge Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 0.611
3. Philip Lindberg (PL Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 9.858
Championship points
1. J. Magnussen, 242 pts; 2. KH. Jensen, 241; 3. M. Halder, 235
Picture: TCR Denmark/Stump Photo
