Jensen retakes the lead in TCR Denmark at Padborg Park

Kasper H. Jensen has retaken the lead of the TCR Denmark’s championship after claiming two wins during the night race event at Padborg Park, while many of his championship rivals faltered.

Race 1 - Jensen had secured pole position ahead of Michael Markussen and Nicolai Sylvest, and then dominated the fairly processional first race, while Sylvest was able to get the jump on Markussen for second at the start but couldn’t close down on Jensen. The safety car was almost called on lap one after Christian Skaar’s Audi took heavy damage as it went into the barriers after spinning across the nose of the Audi of Anton Bergström; but Skaar was able to bring the broken car back into the pits.

Jensen won ahead of Sylvest and Markussen, while Magnussen lost his championship lead after finishing fifth; Mike Halder strategically dropped to tenth in order to secure pole for the reversed grid Race 2.

Race 2 - Halder led into Turn 1, while Martin Andersen and Philip Lindberg battled side-by-side behind him, with Andersen staying ahead. Magnussen was fighting to keep back Sylvest for sixth place. Sylvest was then in a battle with Markussen, and the two came together on lap 3, with Markussen out in the gravel and Sylvest retired into the pits. Markussen’s damage would also rule him out of Race 3, almost certainly ending his championship challenge. After the restart, Jensen quickly passed Magnussen for sixth, but would go no further forward. Andersen had to work hard to keep Lindberg behind as they finished second and third behind Halder who claimed his third win of the year.

Race 3 – Under the floodlight, Jensen led from pole, while Halder was forced to slot behind Andersen into Turn 1, but the German was able to retake the position by the end of the first lap. Behind the top three, Kevin Engman defended his fourth place against Sylvest, who had made up four places at the start. Magnussen’s race came to an end on lap two as he pitted and retired with gearbox problems. The bulk of the race mainly focussed on the fight for fourth between Engman, Sylvest, and Gustav Birch, who were later joined by Silas Rytter and Lindberg. The battle came to a head on lap 11, with Sylvest making a lunge on Engman but being unable to get through, meanwhile Rytter was run wide by Lindberg and lost ground. During the final laps, Halder began to close on Jensen, recovering from a two second gap to be right behind him at the finish, but one last-minute lunge wasn’t able to prevent the reigning champion from claiming his seventh win of the season.

Jensen now leads on 307 points, 39 clear of Halder, with Sylvest and Magnussen dropping to 48 and 49 points back ahead of the season finale at Jyllandsringen on September 30/October 1.

Padborg Park – Race 1

1. Kasper H. Jensen (GMB Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 15 laps
2. Nicolai Sylvest (Green Development, CUPRA Leon Competición), 1.442
3. Michael Markussen (Markussen Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 6.473

Padborg Park – Race 2

1. Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 14 laps
2. Martin Andersen (Outzen Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 2.408
3. Philip Lindberg (PL Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 2.850

Padborg Park – Race 3

1. Kasper H. Jensen (GMB Motorsport, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 15 laps
2. Mike Halder (TPR Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS II), 0.520
3. Martin Andersen (Outzen Motorsport, Hyundai i30 N), 3.563

Championship points

1. KH. Jensen, 307 pts; 2. M. Halder, 268; 3. N. Sylvest, 259

Picture: TCR Denmark/Stump Photo