Backmans scores points in TCR Europe 2019

The racing series TCR Europe 2019 began last weekend, April 27-28th, at Hungaroring in Hungary. Andreas and Jessica Backman met both tough competitors and weather but still ended up scoring points - Jessica with the best practice time overall among the 37 competitors.

Last weekend, April 27-28th, the first competition of TCR Europe 2019 took place at Hungaroring, near Budapest. The Backman siblings did not just start this year’s season, they also entered their first competition with the Target Competition team, and with their Hyundai i30 N TCR cars. The Hungaroring track is technically advanced, for example the Hungarian Grand Prix in Formula 1 takes place here, and has a maximum capacity of 70,000 in the audience. Last weekend, they welcomed 37 racing drivers, including siblings Andreas and Jessica Backman.

Challenged by tough rain in race two
Saturday begun with two practice races - which included a car crash for Andreas and an impressive finish time for Jessica - followed by two qualifying rounds for Sunday's race. The qualifying races ended with a 2nd and a 7th place for the siblings.
– Thanks to a high score from Saturday, I started Sunday's first race in the first starting line. Unfortunately I quickly got nudged but the speed felt good and I managed to end up at 10th place. Race two started with rain and challenged us all, since we drove on slicks this day. It was difficult to find the rhythm and I finished at 14th place, Andreas Backman says.
– I went into Sunday's first race with the best time from Saturday’s practice race's. I quickly turned a tough start into success with good speed and several overtakes, and ended at a 9th place. I also had problems entering a rainy second race and I’m therefore very pleased with scoring points, Jessica Backman says.
The series' first competition has, despite its challenges, given the Backman siblings a taste for more and they have good support to thank for their points.
– We would like to thank the Target Competition team and Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing for all support. Now we will analyse the first couple of races and reload for the next competition, May 24-26th at Hockenheim in Germany, Andreas says.

Andreas’ results:
FP1 (Free Practice 1): 8th
FP2 (Free Practice 2): 37th (No time because of the car crash)
Q1 (Qualifying 1): 11th
Q2 (Qualifying 2): 2nd
R1 (Race 1): 10th
R2 (Race 2): 14th

Jessica’s results:
FP1 (Free Practice 1): 5th
FP2 (Free Practice 2): 1st
Q1 (Qualifying 1): 6th
Q2 (Qualifying 2): 7th
R1 (Race 1): 9th
R2 (Race 2): 15th