#Oscaro – LYNK & CO FROM GEELY GROUP PICKS CYAN RACING AND #WTCR FOR INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCE GROWTH PLAN

Lynk & Co, the new global urban mobility brand from China, will go up against established car makes, such as Audi, Honda, Hyundai and Volkswagen, when it teams up with Cyan Racing for an assault on the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO from 2019.

The hugely exciting announcement, made at the Fuji Speedway in Japan today (19 October), means eight automotive brands from Europe and Asia are due to be represented in year two of WTCR OSCARO, the all-action touring car championship from Eurosport Events and the FIA.

Alfa Romeo, Audi, Cupra, Honda, Hyundai, PEUGEOT and Volkswagen all compete in WTCR as customer racing brands, benefitting from global media exposure – including live television coverage in key markets around the world and live streaming in China, the world’s most populous country with the largest car market. Through its partnership with Cyan Racing, Lynk & Co’s product range will be showcased globally.

François Ribeiro, Head of Eurosport Events, the WTCR promoter, said: “With the first season of the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup presented by OSCARO still heading for its eagerly-awaited climax, we are thrilled to already welcome Lynk & Co as the eighth brand to be represented in the championship. And as a world title-winning team, Cyan Racing is ideally placed to chase success on track for Lynk & Co.”

Lynk & Co Cyan Racing will enter the 2019 WTCR with the all-new Lynk & Co 03 TCR developed by Geely Group Motorsport. The alliance will mean the rekindling of one of touring car racing’s most successful partnerships with 2017 FIA World Touring Car champion Thed Björk returning to the Cyan fold in WTCR OSCARO.

In addition to Lynk & Co Cyan Racing’s WTCR entry, a 500-hp concept road car based on the TCR race car has been confirmed as part of a “unique fusion in automotive performance and motorsport” between Lynk & Co and Cyan Racing.

“The fusion between Lynk & Co and Cyan Racing will form the spearhead of our automotive performance debut,” said Mr Victor Yang, Vice President of Communications at Zhejiang Geely Holding Group. “The combination of Lynk & Co’s challenge of auto industry conventions and Cyan Racing’s vast motorsport and performance experience are two key elements in this unique cooperation.”

Christian Dahl, CEO of Cyan Racing, said: “Our ambition as a race team is to reclaim our world title and explore new ways of automotive performance together with Lynk & Co. We will utilise our experience from past performance road car projects in combination with the vast data that we will gain from the racing programme through thousands and thousands of laps on racing circuits all over the world in extreme conditions.”

Thed Björk, Sweden’s first motor racing world champion and currently joint second in the WTCR standings with six races remaining, was on hand to help unveil the all-new Lynk & Co 03 TCR race car, developed by Geely Group Motorsport, during an exclusive event at Fuji Speedway in Japan today. The 37-year-old will drive one of the Lynk & Co TCR cars for Cyan Racing in 2019.

“To once again aim for the world title when starting my seventh season with Cyan Racing is a dream coming true, especially combined with this ground-breaking cooperation with Lynk & Co that will include the development of a high-performance concept road car is nothing less than amazing,” said Björk.