Press release -
Tough weekend at Red Bull Ring for the Bäckman’s
TCR Europe entered the well-known Formula 1 track Red Bull Ring for the fourth round of the championship last weekend. The Swedish siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman competed with their Hyundai i30 N TCR cars with their team Target Competition, with everything from points-scoring races to crashes as a result.
The 4,318 km long track Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, Austria has a lot of hills, as well as quick and slow corners. Formula 1 recently hosted the Austrian Grand Prix at the track and last weekend at July 12-14 it was time for Europe’s top 29 elite drivers to enter TCR Europe’s fourth round at the Austrian track.
It was the siblings first race at the well-known track – which turned out to be a challenge both for the teams and drivers. The track layout gave rise to a very tight starting field and therefore also a very decisive qualifying. In the qualifying, the Andreas and Jessica was unlucky with the timing and couldn’t complete their fastest laps due to red flags. So, after the promising practice sessions, they had to start further back in the races.
Unlucky weekend for Jessica
Jessica left the weekend at Red Bull Ring with bad luck, crashes and two race retirements.
- It was not my weekend – the bad luck in qualifying made the races even tougher. Then in the races – incidents with other drivers resulted in a non-point scoring weekend for me. It was a shame, as it was a track where I felt the speed was there to score points in both races. Big thanks to our team Target Competition for repairing my car after the incidents, says Jessica Bäckman.
More points for Andreas
Andreas managed to advance in both races and extended his points in the driver’s championship, and therefore keeps his 8th place with the three rounds to go.
- The races were tough – the track was quite good for overtaking’s and I could move up in both races, but a lot of laps behind the safety car prevented me from being able to advance more. Even though, I feel satisfied with the weekend as we scored more important points in the championship. Big thanks to the team and to Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing, says Andreas Bäckman.
Next up is the fifth round of TCR Europe 2019, August 2-4, held at Oschersleben, Germany.
Andreas' results
FP1 (Free Practice 1): 19th place
FP2 (Free Practice 2): 8th place
Q1 (Qualifying 1): 15th place
R1 (Race 1): 12th place
R2 (Race 2): 9th place
Jessica's results
FP1 (Free Practice 1): 12th place
FP2 (Free Practice 2): 15th place
Q1 (Qualifying 1): 23rd place
R1 (Race 1): Retired
R2 (Race 2): Retired
Free rights to use the images.
Related links
Topics
Categories
Racingsyskonen Andreas och Jessica Bäckman inledde sina respektive racingkarriärer som blott 9 och 7 år gamla. De har genom åren tävlat i stora förarmästerskap som STCC, Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, och den brittiska motsvarigheten TCR UK, med fantastiska framgångar som resultat. Under 2019 tävlar syskonen i prestigefyllda TCR Europe tillsammans med det flerfaldigt prisbelönta, italienska teamet Target Competition. Syskonens tävlingsbilar är varsin Hyundai i30 N TCR.
The racing siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman started their racing careers as 9 and 7 years old. They have during the years been competing in big championships like STCC, Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, and the British counterpart TCR UK, with fantastic success as results. During 2019 the sibilings are competing in the prestigious TCR Europe together with the multiple award winning Italian team Target Competition. The siblings race cars are Hyundai i30 N TCR.
