After Louise Frost's stunning debut in TCR Denmark at the Copenhagen GP, the Danish driver saw her progression in the series halted by a gearbox issue at Jyllandsringen. Here's what she told us and what to expect from the next round at Aarhus.
TCR Denmark headed to Jyllandsringen for its fourth round of the season - and a clash with the 24 Hours of Le Mans meant that former point leader Jan Magnussen had to miss the races due to his commitments with Team High Class Racing in the famous endurance race. But he wasn't the only driver to sit out the Danish TCR races, as TPR Motorsport's and only female driver on the grid Louise Frost was also forced to stay in the pits with technical issues after the two free practice sessions.
"In practice 1 I could feel the car was not how it should be, but we could not find any technical problem." - Louise told us.
"In the second training we tried a new set-up, but I drove out and the car would not drive when I pushed the throttle. So I had to drive back to the pits where the mechanics could hear some loud bang sounds when the wheels turned, in all the gears", she explained.
"We find out that something in the gearbox was broken and since this weekend we ran all the races on the same day, we could not change the gearbox because of the time constraints."
After Frost had missed the first two weekends because of health reasons - followed by a remarkable debut at the Copenhagen Grand Prix street circuit - she now sat out the fourth round as well. Bad luck continued for talented Louise Frost.
Here's what happened at Jyllandsringen.
Nicolai Sylvest was fastest in qualifying and demoted reigning champion Kasper Jensen to second place by half a second, ahead of Jacob Mathiassen.
Sylvest made the best out of his pole position and took victory close to six seconds clear of Jensen - who had some troubles to stay ahead of Mathiassen at the start, but then cleared his rival to finish second with Mathiassen in third.
Michael Carlsen started the second race from pole and led the first part of the race. He was then given a penalty for jumping the start and dropped back. Kristian Sætheren moved into the lead, but he lost it as Casper Elgaard made a move at Turn 1 and claimed the win ahead of Sætheren and Jensen.
In Race 3, Elgaard started from pole, but was hunted down by Sylvest who had started third. Sylvest made his way past Jensen and overtook Elgaard for the lead, winning with a six second gap over Elgaard and Jensen.
Jan Magnussen dropped back to 5th in the championship standings, while Jensen now leads the rankings with a 3 point advantage over Elgaard. Louise Frost is sitting in 15th position, with just one race weekend under her belt so far.
"It is of course really annoying when I just want to go out and run a lot of races after my absence", Louise said. She will be back at Aarhus, on 18th to 19th September.
"I look forward to the next race which is on the city track in Aarhus. I never been driving there before but I have heard that the CPH city track is much more tricky, so I hope I can do as good as last time, and just drive with the head all weekend" - she reveals.
The Classic race in Aarhus is Northern Europe biggest race festival, surrounded by the scenic Marselisborg Castle on one side and the Aarhus Bay on the other, as cars will race on a 2,6 km long racetrack around Mindeparken.
TCR will be for the second time part of the Classic Race Aarhus, which will feature a field of historic Formula 1 cars from the 70s, 80s and 90s with iconic brands such as BRM, Lotus and Benetton. It represents the start of a new traditional event, able to provide the audience a unique look at the past and history of motorsport - a tradition that continues to this day, with a show that includes unique racing cars and indeed contemporary racing.
In 2021, the event will be associated again with TCR Denmark, Youngtimers, Historic 76, 81 and 90, OK Mobil1 Legends Car Cup and many more opportunities for racing fans.
But it will also be an event for the whole family: alongside motorsport, there will be activities for kids of all ages, a street-food festival, music, LEGO and much more.
From its start in 2010, Classic Race Aarhus was organized as a charity fund with the aim of supporting children's road safety and the many volunteers and partners in the organization all work rowards this goal.
Stay tuned for the upcoming racing weekend in Aarhus, Denmark, from 18th to 19th September and follow us through our social media profiles for updates.