Thed Björk

Thed Björk Bang-Melchior (born 14 December 1980) is a Swedish racing driver, and 2017 World Touring Car Champion. Other notable titles include the 2006 Swedish Touring Car Championship and the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship. He also finished second in 2005 and 2009, and third in the 2008 STCC and the 2012 TTA – Racing Elite League.

Career Early career Björk competing in the 2010 Swedish Touring Car Championship. After graduating from Karting in 1997, Björk raced in the Swedish and Nordic Formula 3 series, taking both titles in 1999. For 2000, he went to the United States to race in the Barber Dodge Pro Series. Björk took one pole position, lap record at Mid-Ohio and two fastest race laps. His best race finish was a fourth place and had he had one fifth and three sixth places. Björk finished tenth overall.

2001 saw Björk race in several different series; concentrating on the FIA Sportscar Championship SR2 class for Sportscar Racing Team Sweden, taking the title together with American Larry Oberto. Björk finished third in the Swedish GT series, and was on the podium in eleven out of twelve races, and he also made his debut in STCC, filling in for Kristoffersson Motorsport's Roberto Colciago for one weekend. There he showed pace from the start, finishing second in one of the weekend's two races. He also raced in the 24 Hours of Daytona, taking the class pole position and fastest lap but had to retire after gearbox failure while in the lead.

In 2002, Björk raced in the Formula 3000 series for team Nordic but did not score any points and finished 15th overall and 12th in the LMP900 class in the 2002 24 Hours of Le Mans racing for Courage Compétition.

Björk returned to Sweden in 2003 for another stint at GTR, this time taking the title in a Chrysler Viper GTS-R, winning all of the races he started in – only a single non-start prevented him from winning every single event. GTR however was disbanded by the end of the year, leaving Björk without a seat for 2004.

When Niklas Lovén and the works STCC BMW team WestCoast Racing parted ways midway through the 2004 season, Björk was called in to replace him. He took two podium finishes and ended up 11th overall. He stayed with the team for 2005, winning two races, was on the podium in six out of eight races and finished second overall.

In 2006, Björk signed for the Kristoffersson Motorsport Audi team, the same team that he raced for in 2001. The move proved to be a successful one; Björk took the championship lead with a win in the first race and kept it for the rest of the season, taking the title ahead of his former teammate Richard Göransson. During the season he took three race wins and finished on the podium on six occasions. Björk competing in the 2015 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship.

DTM When the Futurecom TME Audi DTM driver Nicolas Kiesa injured his leg in a motocross accident with two races remaining, Björk was called in as a replacement. In an outdated 2004 car, he was third on the first free practice – his first run in the car – but then returned to where the older cars were usually seen, further down the field. He was rumored to drive for Audi for the 2007 season, but missed out on a drive.

Racing record American Open-Wheel racing results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest race lap)

Barber Dodge Pro Series Year 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rank Points 2000 SEB MIA NAZ LRP DET CLE MOH ROA VAN LAG RAT HMS 10th 83

24 Hours of Le Mans results Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps 2002 Courage Compétition Didier Cottaz Boris Derichebourg Courage C60-Judd LMP900 322 15th 11th

Complete International Formula 3000 results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 DC Points 2002 Coca-Cola Nordic Racing INT IMO CAT A1R MON NUR SIL MAG HOC HUN SPA MNZ 16th 0

Complete Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters results (key) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Pos Points 2006 Futurecom TME Audi A4 DTM 2004 HOC LAU OSC BRH NOR NÜR ZAN CAT BUG HOC 22nd 0 † Driver did not finish, but completed 90% of race distance.

Complete Swedish Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 DC Points 2001 Kristoffersson Motorsport Audi A4 Quattro FAL1 FAL2 MAN1 MAN2 KAR1 KAR2 JYL1 JYL2 FAL1 FAL2 KNU1 KNU2 MOI1 MOI2 18th 12 Euroracing Alfa Romeo 156 KAR1 KAR2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 2004 West Coast Racing BMW 320i KNU1 KNU2 FAL1 FAL2 KAR1 KAR2 MAN1 MAN2 FAL1 FAL2 KNU1 KNU2 ARC1 ARC2 KAR1 KAR2 MAN1 MAN2 11th 48 2005 West Coast Racing BMW 320i KNU KAR AND FAL KNU KAR VAL MAN 2nd 141 2006 Kristoffersson Motorsport Audi A4 KNU KAR MAN FAL VAL AND KAR KNU MAN 1st 59 2007 Kristoffersson Motorsport Audi A4 STU KNU MAN KAR AND VAL FAL KAR KNU STU MAN 4th 41 2008 Honda Racing Honda Accord Euro R KNU STU MAN KAR GÖT STU FAL KAR KNU VAL MAN 3rd 57 2009 Flash Engineering BMW 320si E90 MAN1 MAN2 KAR1 KAR2 GÖT1 GÖT2 KNU1 KNU2 FAL1 FAL2 KAR1 KAR2 VAL1 VAL2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 2nd 94 2010 Flash Engineering BMW 320si E90 JYL1 JYL2 KNU1 KNU2 KAR1 KAR2 GÖT1 GÖT2 FAL1 FAL2 KAR1 KAR2 JYL1 JYL2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 5th 179 † Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed over 90% of the race distance.

Complete Scandinavian Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 DC Points 2011 Biogas.se Volkswagen Scirocco JYL1 JYL2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 GÖT1 GÖT2 FAL1 FAL2 KAR1 KAR2 JYL1 JYL2 KNU1 KNU2 MAN1 MAN2 20th 12 2013 Volvo Polestar Racing Volvo S60 TTA KNU1 KNU2 SOL1 GÖT1 FAL1 FAL214† ÖST1 KAR1 KAR2 TIE1 MAN1 MAN2 1st 258 2014 Volvo Polestar Racing Volvo S60 TTA KNU1 KNU2 GÖT1 GÖT2 FAL1 FAL2 KNU1 KNU2 SOL1 SOL2 MAN1 MAN2 1st 279 2015 Volvo Polestar Racing Volvo S60 TTA VRS1 VRS2 AND1 AND2 MAN1 MAN2 FAL1 FAL2 KAR1 KAR2 1st 366 Volvo Cyan Racing SOL1 SOL2 KNU1 KNU2 † Driver did not finish, but completed 90% of race distance.

Complete TTA – Racing Elite League results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 DC Points 2012 Volvo Polestar Racing Volvo S60 TTA KAR1 AND1 GÖT1 FAL1 KAR1 AND1 STO1 GÖT1 3rd 121

Complete World Touring Car Championship results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 Pos Pts 2013 Volvo Polestar Racing Volvo C30 DRIVe ITA1 ITA2 MAR1 MAR2 SVK1 SVK2 HUN1 HUN2 AUT1 AUT2 RUS1 RUS2 POR1 POR2 ARG1 ARG2 USA1 USA2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 MAC1 MAC2 NC 0 2016 Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 Polestar TC1 FRA1 FRA2 SVK1 SVK2 HUN1 HUN2 MAR1 MAR2 GER1 GER2 RUS1 RUS2 POR1 POR2 ARG1 ARG2 JPN1 JPN2 CHN1 CHN2 QAT1 QAT2 10th 117 2017 Polestar Cyan Racing Volvo S60 Polestar TC1 MAR1 MAR2 ITA1 ITA2 HUN1 HUN2 GER1 GER2 POR1 POR2 ARG1 ARG2 CHN1 CHN22‡ JPN1 JPN2 MAC1 MAC2 QAT1 QAT2 1st 283.5 ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed.

Complete World Touring Car Cup results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 DC Points 2018 M Racing – YMR Hyundai i30 N TCR MAR1 MAR2 MAR3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 GER1 GER2 GER3 NED1 NED2 NED3 POR1 POR2 POR3 SVK1 SVK2 SVK3 CHN1 CHN2 CHN3 WUH1 WUH2 WUH3 JPN1 JPN2 JPN3 MAC1 MAC2 MAC3 7th 242 2019 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR MAR1 MAR2 MAR3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 SVK1 SVK2 SVK3 NED1 NED2 NED3 GER1 GER2 GER3 POR1 POR2 POR3 CHN1 CHN2 CHN3 JPN1 JPN2 JPN3 MAC1 MAC2 MAC3 MAL1 MAL2 MAL3 4th 297 2020 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR BEL1 BEL2 GER1 GER2 SVK1 SVK2 SVK3 HUN1 HUN2 HUN3 ESP1 ESP2 ESP3 ARA1 ARA2 ARA3 9th 142 2021 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR GER1 GER2 POR1 POR2 ESP1 ESP2 HUN1 HUN2 CZE1 CZE2 FRA1 FRA2 ITA1 ITA2 RUS1 RUS2 9th 141 2022 Cyan Performance Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 TCR FRA1 FRA2 GER1 GER2 HUN1 HUN2 ESP1 ESP2 POR1 POR2 ITA1 ITA2 ALS1 ALS2 BHR1 BHR2 SAU1 SAU2 17th 35

Complete TCR World Tour results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 DC Points 2023 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR ALG1 ALG2 SPA1 SPA2 VAL1 VAL2 HUN1 HUN2 ELP1 ELP2 VIL1 VIL2 SYD1 SYD2 SYD3 BAT1 BAT2 BAT3 MAC1 MAC2 7th 320 2024 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR VAL1 VAL2 MRK1 MRK2 MOH1 MOH2 SAP1 SAP2 ELP1 ELP2 ZHZ1 ZHZ2 MAC1 MAC2 2nd 312 2025 Lynk & Co Cyan Racing Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR AHR1 AHR2 AHR3 CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 MNZ1 MNZ2 CVR1 CVR2 BEN1 BEN2 BEN3 INJ1 INJ2 INJ3 ZHZ1 ZHZ2 ZHZ3 MAC1 MAC2 2nd 460 2026 Geely Cyan Racing Geely Preface TCR MIS1 MIS2 CRT1 CRT2 CRT3 LEC1 LEC2 CVR1 CVR2 INJ1 INJ2 INJ3 CHE1 CHE2 CHE3 ZHZ1 ZHZ2 ZHZ3 MAC1 MAC2 6th* 161* Season still in progress.

Complete TCR Europe Touring Car Series results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Team Car 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 DC Points 2023 Cyan Racing Lynk & Co Lynk & Co 03 FL TCR ALG1 ALG2 PAU1 PAU2 SPA1 SPA2 HUN1 HUN2 LEC1 LEC2 MNZ1 MNZ2 CAT1 CAT2 NC‡ 0‡ ‡ Driver was a World Tour full-time entry and was ineligible for points.