Malte Ebdrup secures the TCR Denmark title at Padborg Park

Malte Ebdrup became the first driver other than Kasper H Jensen to win the TCR Denmark title, snatching the trophy from his teammate after a controversial crash in the second race at the Padborg Park Night Race.

With title contender Mike Halder and his team, TPR Motorsport, withdrawing to focus on the TCR Spain championship, the battle for the title came down to Race Group teammates Ebdrup and Jensen who entered the final weekend tied on points.

Their battle culminated with a controversial incident in Race 2 that forced Jensen to retire and helped Ebdrup to secure the title before the last race.

Race 1 – Jensen had snatched the pole in a wet qualifying, beating his young teammate by three-thousandths of a second and building a two-point lead in the standings. At the start, Ebdrup got the jump on Jensen, seizing the lead into Turn 1 and controlling the race from there. Jan Magnussen was running in third throughout and fought off some early pressure from Mathias Dall to take his fourth podium of the season.

Race 2 – Newcomer Oliver Larsen was on pole on the reversed grid in his family-run CUPRA Leon Competición, with the two title rivals moving from row three. As the lights went out it was Jensen who made a sensational start, heading onto the grass verge on the inside towards T1 to take the lead, as Marco Dahl and Magnussen went the corner to his right making it three-wide. With no room to manoeuvre, Magnussen was tipped into a half-spin and fell to the back. Ebdrup, meanwhile, moved up to third, then passed Dahl for second and began closing on his teammate. With under five minutes left, Ebdrup was on the tail of Jensen and made a daring dive which resulted in contact, spearing Jensen into the gravel trap and into retirement. The stewards handed Ebdrup a two penalty lanes punishment, but his lead over Magnussen was so substantial that they made no difference. Ebdrup went on to win his fifth race of the season, securing the drivers' title with a race to spare. Magnussen finished second, while Mathias Dall was rewarded with his second podium of the season.

Race 3 – After sunset, Ebdrup started on pole based on points scored ahead of Magnussen and Dall. Jensen started fourth but was soon up to third and then overtook Magnussen chasing down his teammate. Despite damage to the left side of his Civic, with a door which was starting to come loose, Jensen overtook Ebdrup on lap five with a move around the outside of T1. From there, Jensen powered on to his sixth win of the season, with Ebdrup and Magnussen completing the podium.

Race 1

1. Malte Ebdrup (Race Group, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 16 laps
2. Kasper H. Jensen (Race Group, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 3.408
3. Jan Magnussen (DM Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 8.182

Race 2

1. Malte Ebdrup (Race Group, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 15 laps
2. Jan Magnussen (DM Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 15.739
3. Mathias Dall (Dall Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 21,322

Race 3

1. Kasper H. Jensen (Race Group, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 15 laps
2. Malte Ebdrup (Race Group, Honda Civic Type R FL5), 1.526
3. Jan Magnussen (DM Racing, Honda Civic Type R FK7), 2.727

Championship points

1. M. Ebdrup, 499 points; K.H. Jensen, 469; M. Halder, 385.5

Picture: TCR Denmark/Stumpphoto