Press release -
Bäckman siblings showed great overtakes and terrifying crashes at Spa Francorchamps
This weekend, the famous Formula 1 track Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps held the fifth round of the TCR Europe championship. Competing for team Target Competition, the Sweden National Team drivers Andreas and Jessica Bäckman showed everything from great overtakes to terrifying crashes.
Belgian Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, is one of the racing world's most challenging tracks. The track is 7,004 km long and is hilly with high speed corners, which also challenges the most experienced drivers, not least when Formula 1 visits the track annually. On the weekend of October 22nd-24th, the fifth round of TCR Europe was organized, and Europe's top elite drivers gathered to settle for new championship points. The Swedish racing siblings Andreas and Jessica Bäckman took place in the starting field, competing for the Italian team Target Competition. The race weekend offered mixed weather conditions and challenging races.
Challenging track
It was the siblings' second race on the Belgian track, and they knew from last year why this particular track is so popular.
- Spa-Francorchamps is a racing track that requires a lot of attack and considering that my car was one of the heaviest cars in the starting field, due to the penalty weight from the previous race, I knew it would be a tough weekend, Jessica Bäckman says.
Unstable weather - great overtakes and terrifying crash
- The weather turned out to be unstable, which meant that I had a greater chance of a good result. Got a very good start in Race 1 on Friday before I got hit straight into the wall and had to retire the race. Then in Race 2 on Saturday, we chose the wrong tire with rain tires on a drying track, which made it difficult to bring home a good result. The weekend simply did not turn out as I had hoped, but now I am recharging and looking forward to the last round of TCR Europe, Jessica Bäckman says.
Andreas had a positive weekend at Circuit Spa-Francorchamps, with everything from great overtakes to good tire strategies.
- I think I had a positive weekend at the Spa. It turned out that the weather and the choice of tires for both the Qualifying and the two Race's would be decisive, and I think we as a team made the right decision's for me throughout the weekend. We qualified 4th and had a good Race 1 and finished 4th, despite a bad start. Then in Race 2, we were the only ones who chose to run with slicks and I think we could have challenged for the win if it were not for an incident during the first lap that made me spin. It meant that I had to recover and race my way up from 20th place to 7th place in the end, but it shows that the speed is there to challenge for the top positions. Throughout the weekend, I was always in the top in all conditions, so it feels promising heading into the season finale next weekend in Spain, Andreas Bäckman says.
Next race is the last round of TCR Europe 2020, which is held, November 7-8 at the Jarama track in Spain, where Andreas theoretically has a chance to win the championship.
Andreas' results
FP1 (Free Practice 1): 2nd place
FP2 (Free Practice 2): 6th place
Q1 (Qualifying 1): 8th place
Q2 (Qualifying 2): 4th place
R1 (Race 1): 4th place
R2 (Race 2): 7th place
Jessica's results
FP1 (Free Practice 1): 18th place
FP2 (Free Practice 2): 16th place
Q1 (Qualifying 1): 11th place
Q2 (Qualifying 2): 12th place
R1 (Race 1): DNF
R2 (Race 2): 14th place
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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 2020 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 2020 the sibilings are competing in the prestigious TCR Europe together with the multiple award winning Italian team Target Competition. The siblings racecars are Hyundai i30 N TCR.
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