Turbulent World Championship round in Mexico for LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler

The last race weekend was an emotional rollercoaster ride for Germany’s Team Engstler. While the first free practice sessions of the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) ran smoothly for Franz Engstler and his team-mate Kristian Poulsen, qualifying had a few challenges in store. Engstler had misfiring problems to deal with and ended up back in the pits after the first lap. Poulsen pulled off his best performance in the WTCC so far, taking fourth place. Engstler was due to start off from fifth place on the grid in the Independents’ class. But after qualifying, the stewards announced a penalty: Poulsen had ignored the order to have his car weighed and was penalised by being demoted to last place. “I didn’t see the summons,” protests LIQUI MOLY driver Poulsen. However, this had no effect on the FIA’s decision. In the end, Engstler started from fourth place among the Independents; Poulsen had to line up at the very back of the grid. “Luckily my team found the fault in my car so I was able to start the first race with it in top condition,” says Engstler, praising his team. Poulsen’s unlucky streak, on the other hand, wasn’t over yet. Right at the start of the first race, the Danish driver was rammed by two other drivers, leaving him with a broken rear left wheel rim and a damaged drive shaft and differential: This meant the end of the first race and plenty of work for the LIQUI MOLY team during the two-hour break to get the BMW back up to scratch for the second race. Meanwhile, Engstler was facing a tough battle on the track. Just before the chequered flag, he managed the impossible: He moved up a place and came third in the Independents’ class. “As the German Eurosport commentators always say: Franz can do it! And that’s exactly what he proved once again in his impressive style,” says team manager Kurt Treml, summing up the race.

The second race saw both LIQUI MOLY BMWs lining up on the grid again. The crew from Germany’s Allgäu region got Poulsen’s car ready to race so the Danish driver could rejoin the battle for points. But the second race didn’t go according to plan either: Poulsen was rammed by yet another driver and forced to retire from this race as well. The fates were against the World Championship newcomer in Mexico.

Engstler, on the other hand, put up a fantastic performance from the first to the last lap. After initially holding on to his third place, he dropped down to fourth for a brief moment before putting his foot down again in the true sense of the word. He used his skill to take every little opportunity of overtaking and fought his way up to second place in the Independents’ Trophy. This meant eleventh place overall – the German driver even left some of the works drivers behind.

Franz Engstler collected 14 points in Mexico while Poulsen went away empty-handed. The next race will take place on 3 May in Marrakech – the city circuit is a new event in the WTCC racing calendar.

For more information, please contact:
LIQUI MOLY GmbH
Tobias Göbbel
Head of Media Relations National
Jerg-Wieland-Str. 4
89081 Ulm-Lehr
Fon: +49 (0)731/1420-890
Fax: +49 (0)731/1420-82
Tobias.Goebbel@liqui-moly.de

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