Volvo Polestar's Bjork excluded from WTCC Paul Ricard qualifying
Polestar's Thed Bjork has been excluded from World Touring Car Championship qualifying at Paul Ricard for failing a ride-height test
Bjork had been on the cusp of making the Q3 pole position shootout in his Volvo S60 Polestar on the marque's return to the championship, before being knocked back into sixth by Tiago Monteiro.
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But the Swede had all of his qualifying efforts - including those set in the first part of qualifying - removed after failing to clear the minimum ride height in parc ferme.
As a result, Bjork has been cleared to race but will start each of Sunday's races from the rear of the field.
A statement from Stewards said: "As the competitor asked to take part in the races due to the cancellation of all lap times, the Stewards decided to allow the competitor to start both races at the back of the grid."
Bjork's exclusion means that Lada's Hugo Valente, who had qualified 11th, will start Sunday's first race of the season from the reverse-grid pole, with Honda's Rob Huff now on the outside of the front row.
Bjork's team-mate Fredrik Ekblom did pass his ride height test.
He will now start Sunday's opening race from third, and is promoted to eighth on the grid for the main race.
REVISED RACE ONE STARTING GRID
Pos | Driver | Team | Car |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Hugo Valente | LADA Sport | Lada |
2 | Rob Huff | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda |
3 | Fredrik Ekblom | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo |
4 | Mehdi Bennani | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen |
5 | Norbert Michelisz | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda |
6 | Nicky Catsburg | LADA Sport | Lada |
7 | Tom Coronel | ROAL Motorsport | Chevrolet |
8 | Yvan Muller | Citroen Racing | Citroen |
9 | Tiago Monteiro | Honda Racing Team JAS | Honda |
10 | Jose Maria Lopez | Citroen Racing | Citroen |
11 | Gabriele Tarquini | LADA Sport | Lada |
12 | Tom Chilton | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen |
13 | Gregoire Demoustier | Sebastien Loeb Racing | Citroen |
14 | John Filippi | Campos Racing | Chevrolet |
15 | Rene Munnich | Munnich Motorsport | Chevrolet |
16 | Thed Bjork | Polestar Cyan Racing | Volvo |
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