Photo: STCC

Victory number five for Thed Björk in Östersund

By

Thed Björk seems unstoppable in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship as the Volvo Polestar Racing driver scored his fifth victory of the season at Östersund today.
“I just pulled away, the car was perfect. I am in the form of my life and I can’t wait for the next race,” said Björk.

Björk started from pole and pulled up a lead of over 3 seconds in less than two laps. Things were tougher behind as Robert Dahlgren snatched second from Richard Göransson in to the first corner. But Göransson fought back and retook second place not long after.

Göransson’s team mate Fredrik Larsson followed past Dahlgren, demoting the Volvo driver to fourth. But as Dahlgren got the temperature up in his tyres, he went past both Larsson and Göransson.
“I hadn’t warmed my tyres enough ahead of the start, so I wasn’t able to defend from Göransson and Larsson. After that, my car was great and I gained on Björk in the lead, setting the fastest lap on the way. I am pleased with the weekend,” said Dahlgren.

Both BMW drivers started to drop back as the race progressed. Both Linus Ohlsson and Fredrik Ekblom managed to get past the BMW duo, making it a Volvo 1-2-3-4.

While Göransson crossed the line in fifth, things went from bad to worse for Larsson. Alexander Graff, who has been the top non Volvo or BMW driver during the weekend, tried to get past Larsson in the corner leading out to the airfield straight. The move resulted in a spin and retirement for Larsson as Mattias Andersson collected the spinning BMW, with a retirement also for Andersson. Graff was handed a drive through penalty for the incident, dropping the Saab driver from from sixth to ninth.

Jocke Mangs closed in on Göransson towards the end of the race, but had to settle for sixth ahead of Daniel Haglöf and Roar Lindland. STCC newcomer Fredrik Magnusson rounded off the top ten and secured the final point of the race.

Björk continues on top in the championship, now 38 points ahead of Göransson. Dahlgren closes in on Göransson for second place in the championship, nine points separates the both. STCC continues in two weeks at Karlskoga.