New car, new track: Jessica Bäckman scores P2 and P3 in TCR Germany qualifying

Having changed team just before the start of the sixth round of TCR Germany, Jessica Bäckman had some impressive runs in qualifying at Sachsenring, as she got up to speed with the Comtoyou Racing's Audi RS3 LMS TCR and set the second and third fastest laps in today's qualifying.

The sixth race meeting of the 2022 ADAC TCR Germany season started on a sunny and not that cold Sachsenring, Germany, with two practice sessions and two qualifying sessions on Friday.

The day was off to an interesting start, as Jessica Bäckman switched team and car brand just before the weekend.

Traditionally a Hyundai driver, Bäckman will now pilot the Audi RS 3 LMS TCR gen 2 car, operated by Belgian team Comtoyou Racing - a squad well known from series like TCR Europe. Together, they will tackle the last two rounds of the season at Sachsenring and Hockenheimring, at the end of October.

"I’m looking forward to racing again, it will be exciting to try out an Audi and drive for the experienced team Comtoyou Racing for the first time, as well as learn a completely new track. It will be an exciting weekend." said Jessica Bäckman ahead of the weekend.

Jessica started the TCR Germany season with ROJA Motorsport before they decided to part ways after the round at Lausitzring. In Hyundai machinery, Bäckman had raced in both TCR Europe and WTCR.

"After the Lausitzring round, we chose to go our separate ways with ROJA Motorsport.", Jessica explained. "We have achieved great results together but now I am looking forward to new challenges."

"I’m very happy to announce that I will be driving for Comtoyou Racing for the remaining two race weekends in the series", she continued. "It will be very exciting but at the same time a real challenge considering the limited preparations, but a challenge I’m looking forward to." - Bäckman commented.

In a one-off in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship in 2021, Bäckman claimed a podium at the wheel of an Audi RS3 LMS TCR.

And, on Friday, the Swede showed once again that she was up for the task, finishing both practice sessions in fourth place. Her main championship rival Martin Andersen (LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler) was fastest in both sessions and could seal the title this weekend.

In the evening, as the sun slowly went down over the German track, both qualifying sessions went underway: Andersen kept momentum and scored both pole positions for the upcoming races. Jessica Bäckman was on the charge but had to settle for P2 and P3 at the end of Friday, on an all-new track for the driver.

The second qualifying ended with a red flag but, with only a few seconds left on the clock, the session wasn't restarted and the rankings were already settled, with no big disadvantages for any of the drivers.

In race 2 Karklys (NordPass) will start from P3, behind Jessica - while René Kircher (ROJA Motorsport by ASL Lichtblau) could get between Andersen and Bäckman on the front row. While Andersen added a few more points to his championship tally, Bäckman will try to fight back in race 1 tomorrow, at 16:25 CEST.