Photo: Polestar

Fast Falkenberg marks mid-point of 2015 STCC season

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Falkenberg, the fastest circuit in Sweden, is next up for the 2015 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, marking mid-point of the season. With just four race weekends remaining, the drivers chasing championship leader Thed Björk needs to get their act together.

The driver closest to Björk is his Volvo Polestar Racing team mate Fredrik Ekblom who reduced the gap slightly in the previous race at Mantorp Park, making it 25 points.

”I closed in on the championship lead in the last race and I intend to do the same this weekend. It will of course not be an easy job, but I won here last year and my goal is to repeat it this year,” said Ekblom, who celebrates his 200th STCC race this weekend.

15 points further behind Ekblom is BMW driver Fredrik Larsson who lives close to the Falkenberg track and has promised to go ”all in” this weekend.

”I am going all in this weekend! I don’t think there is anyone wanting to win in Falkenberg more than me. If we can get everything right, the possibility is there to gain the 40 points to Björk but if he extends his lead further, things will look grim for the rest of the season,” said Larsson.

The gap to fourth placed Mattias Andersson is even bigger with 94 points for the Dacia Dealer Team driver up to Björk in the lead. While being far from the title battle, Andersson is keen to get in the top three mix this weekend.

”Fourth in the championship is a fair position for me. The drivers ahead of me have been better than everyone else so far, although I would have hoped to be closer to them in the points. Nonetheless, I have driven many strong races in Falkenberg and I am aiming for the podium this year as well,” said Andersson.

Other drivers that could get involved in the top fight this weekend is Richard Göransson who has had a dreadful run of results so far this season and has not scored a victory since the penultimate race in 2013.

Team Kia are back with three cars this weekend for drivers Erik Johansson, Kevin Aabol and Emelie Liljeström. Johansson looked set for a podium finish until five laps from the end at Mantorp and is keen to get back up.

”The start to the season has been tough. We have had a good car with a strong base setup and my cooperation with our engineer works well. We just haven’t been able to secure a strong result yet,” said Johansson.

Another driver to keep an eye on is PWR Racing’s Emma Kimiläinen who has had a strong recent run of results with two podium finishes in the last three races.

”I was second in Falkenberg last year and now I’ve gotten two podiums in a row from the last two races so I’m for sure aiming for the victory this time! I love the track so I’m exited to race there again,” said Kimiläinen.

Mixed weather is expected this weekend with modest temperatures and rain showers, further adding to the potential drama this weekend.

Falkenberg Entry List

No – Driver – Team Name – Car
#1 – Thed Björk – Volvo Polestar Racing – Volvo S60
#3 – Richard Göransson – Team Tidö – Saab 9-3
#4 – Fredrik Larsson – WestCoast Racing – BMW SR
#6 – Erik Jonsson – Sportpromotion – BMW SR
#8 – Roger Samuelsson – Team Tidö – Saab 9-3
#9 – Kevin Aabol – Team Kia – Kia Optima
#10 – Erik Johansson – Team Kia – Kia Optima
#11 – Fredrik Ekblom – Volvo Polestar Racing – Volvo S60
#13 – Carl Philip Bernadotte – Volvo Polestar Racing – Volvo S60
#20 – Mattias Andersson – Dacia Dealer Team – Dacia SE
#37 – Daniel Haglöf – PWR Racing – Saab 9-3
#93 – Emma Kimiläinen – PWR Racing – Saab 9-3
#95 – Emelie Liljeström – Team Kia – Kia Optima

Falkenberg Timetable

Friday 10th July
10:25–10:45 Test 1
13:05–13:35 Test 2
16:35–16:45 Q1
16:55–17:15 Q2

Saturday 11th July
12:40–13:05 Race 1
15:30–15:55 Race 2

All times are in CET.