ALM Motorsport’s guest starter Mikael Karlsson enjoyed a strong return to the TCR Europe series at Hockenheim, with the Swedish driver securing both victories in the Diamond Best Trophy category, with 11th and 10th place overall finishes in his Honda Civic Type R.

Karlsson was one of the majority of the field that started with rear wet tyres, and front slicks in the mixed condition race, but soon realised the error and was among the first to change tyres during the race.

“On the formation lap I was calling for the change of tyres to full wets, but unfortunately they weren’t ready so I had to start on the slicks,” said Karlsson. “If we had made that call, I think we could probably have had a podium as we were really quick at the end on the wet tyres.”

Karlsson was happy with his pace in the new Honda during the weekend, despite a pair of mixed races, after an incident in Race 1 forced him to fight his way back through the field, as well as losing time in Race 2 changing tyres after the start of the race.

“We saw the data, and I’m really pleased with our performance this weekend, and I hope to come back later in the season.”