Björk wins eventful TTA race at Gothenburg City Arena

Thed Björk secured his first victory of the year at Volvo’s home track at the Gothenburg City Arena. The Polestar Racing driver managed to take the lead from pole-man Alx Danielsson in the second corner after a strong start.
“It was hot and challenging during the race, but we finally got it, this is great! The car was perfect and a big thanks to everyone in the team,” said Björk.

Danielsson went on to finish second, securing his and Citroën’s best TTA result so far. Robert Dahlgren made it two Volvos in the top three, crossing the line in third, just two seconds from Björk.

Daniel Haglöf was the best Saab driver in fourth ahead of championship leader Fredrik Ekblom. The two were involved in an incident earlier in the race when Haglöf tried to dive up the inside of Ekblom’s Volvo in the final corner of the track, resulting in a spin for Ekblom.

Ekblom rejoined the field last and started a furious fight back up through the field. Ekblom climbed from 16th to fifth position in the end, setting the fastest lap of the race on the way, and claiming an extra point.
“I don’t think Daniel did it on purpose, he apologised for it straight away after the race. The racing is tough but fair, just as it is supposed to be. I had a really good race after that and the safety car sessions did of course help me. I am still in the championship lead and that is the important thing,” said Ekblom.

The safety car was brought out three times during the race. The first was as Jan Brunstedt crashed his Citroën into the barriers and pulled a tyre barrier out on to the track. Richard Göransson was unable to avoid the tyres, damaging his car and had to retire from the race.

The second safety car period was brought about by Viktor Hallrup, who came to a halt in the second corner on the track due to a technical problem with his Citroën C5. Just as the safety car was released, Martin Öhlin spun in the first corner after contact with Ekblom, resulting in a third and short safety car period.

Another retirement was Fredrik Larsson who brushed the wall, damaging the suspension of his WestCoast Racing BMW SR. Andreas Ebbesson was the sole BMW driver to finish the race, crossing the line in seventh behind Tommy Rustad. Mattias Andersson, Linus Ohlsson and Stefan Söderberg rounded out the top ten.

Ekblom keeps the lead of the championship on 60 points with Björk now second in the championship on 39 points and Dahlgren third. The next round of the TTA is in three weeks at Falkenberg.