17-year-old Malte Ebdrup claims maiden win in TCR Denmark
The second event of TCR Denmark at Jyllandsringen launched the young rookie Malte Ebdrup amongst the top stars of the championship. After having claimed his maiden podium finish in Race 1, behind the series dominators, his own teammate Kasper H. Jensen and Mike Halder, Mascot Motorsport’s 17-year-old scored an authoritative victory in Race 3, resisting the pressure from Halder.
With two second places, a dominant win in Race 2 and six additional points for setting the fastest lap in every race, Halder has taken the lead in the standings, seven points clear of Jensen.
Race 1 – Just like in the previous event at Padborg Park, Jensen had taken the pole beating Halder by 19 thousandths, with Ebdrup third fastest. Jensen launched into the lead at the start, with Halder briefly challenging him around the first two corners before settling into second place. The race then fell into a rhythm, with Jensen going on to win after building a small gap. Ebdrup took his first TCR podium with third, while Silas Rytter was the best of the non-Honda drivers, finishing fourth in his Insight Racing Hyundai i30 N.
Race 2 – With the top eight reversed, Jacob Wunderov was on pole ahead of Philip Lindberg. From P2 and P4 on the grid, Lindberg and René Povlsen got away slowly, while Ebdrup sprinted from sixth and drove around the outside and past Wunderov to take the lead into T1. Lindberg managed to get ahead of Wunderov for second, while Rytter and Halder were making progress, with both of them passing Wunderov on lap 2, before Halder was able to get ahead of Rytter for third place. Rytter was then pushed wide by Gustav Birch, falling behind both Birch and Jensen.
On lap 4, Ebdrup was given a drive-through for false start; he fell behind Lindberg and Halder, while the latter overtook Lindberg for the lead on lap 5 and began building a gap. Later on, both Ebdrup and Birch served drive-through penalties, Ebdrup again for the jump-start and Birch for his contact with Rytter. Lindberg was then overtaken by both Jensen and Rytter in lap 7, but by now Halder had built a six-second lead and went on to win comfortably ahead of Jensen and Rytter.
Race 3 – Jensen and Halder shared the front row and at the start Jensen made good use of the pole to lead into T1, while Ebdrup from P3 pipped Halder for second. However, during the first lap Halder overtook Ebdrup and closed in on Jensen. In lap 3, Halder muscled his way past the leader who went wide and dropped behind to third Ebdrup. In lap 7, Halder was given a drive-through for pushing Jensen and rejoined behind Ebdrup. The German driver pushed to the limits in the attempt to catch Ebdrup, but the young rookie did not give up, winning by eight tenths, with Jensen finishing third ahead of Rytter.
For the next event the series will travel to Norway, where it will race at Rudskogen, on June 8/9.
Jyllandsringen – Race 1
- Kasper H. Jensen (Mascot Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 14 laps
- Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 1.610
- Malte Ebdrup (Mascot Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 6.105
Jyllandsringen – Race 2
- Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 14 laps
- Kasper H. Jensen (Mascot Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 5.639
- Silas Rytter (Insight Racing, Hyundai i30 N), 7.894
Jyllandsringen – Race 3
- Malte Ebdrup (Mascot Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 14 laps
- Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 0.849
- Kasper H. Jensen (Mascot Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 4.646
Championship points
- M. Halder, 174 pts; 2. KH. Jensen, 167; 3. S. Rytter, 120
Picture: TCR Denmark/Stumpphoto
