Belgian podium spot for Andreas Bäckman

On the hilly Formula 1 track Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, TCR Europe’s third event was held last weekend. Swedish siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman competed for the Target Competition team, with a podium spot and red flag as a result.

Belgian Spa-Francorchamps, short for the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, is one of the racing world's most challenging tracks. The length (a total of 7,004 km) and hilly, curved nature also challenges the most experienced drivers, not least when Formula 1 annually occupies the stadium. Last weekend (June 7th–9th) the third event in the TCR Europe 2019 was held here, and Europe's 34 top elite drivers gathered to compete for new championship points. The Swedish racing siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman competed for the Italian team Target Competition (as of the entire season this year) and Hyundai Motorsport. With their Hyundai i30 N TCR cars they raced drivers like Josh Files and Julien Briché, in a competition weekend that really challenged their skills.

Podium spot and near-crash-experiences
It was the siblings' first race on the Belgian circuit and they quickly understood why it is so talked-about.
– Spa-Francorchamps is a racing track that requires a lot of attack in the driving and given that our cars had most weight in the starting field, both me and Jessica met a tough start. In spite of that, I finally managed to reach my first podium spot of this season and it feels absolutely fantastic, Andreas Bäckman says.
Jessica Bäckman leaves a weekend that included everything from red flags to near-crash-experiences, where the second race had a better start and she managed to climb from a 23rd place to a 16th.
– This weekend was tough for me. After a bad qualifying round, I managed to advance but not enough to score points. Although, on behalf of me and my brother, thanks to the Target Competition team and Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing for all the excellent support, Jessica Bäckman says.

Next up is the fourth event in TCR Europe 2019, July 13th–14th, held at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

Andreas' results
FP1 (Free Practice 1): 25th place
FP2 (Free Practice 2): 16th place
Q1 (Qualifying 1): 11th place
Q2 (Qualifying 2): 11th place
R1 (Race 1): 13th place
R2 (Race 2): 3rd place

Jessica's results
FP1 (Free Practice 1): 27th place
FP2 (Free Practice 2): 21st place
Q1 (Qualifying 1): 23rd place
R1 (Race 1): 23rd place
R2 (Race 2): 16th place


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