Fredrik Ekblom wins chaotic second Karlskoga race

There was drama aplenty in the second STCC race at Karlskoga which saw Volvo Polestar Racing driver Fredrik Ekblom scoring a vital victory from ninth on the grid.

Kevin Aabol started from the reversed grid pole position for Team Kia and claimed the lead into the first corner. But it was not long into the race when the lead turned into disaster for the Kia team.

Team mate Erik Johansson was right behind Aabol on the first couple of laps and went on the inside of the Norwegian into turn one. The both made contact which saw Dacia driver Mattias Andersson sneaking past the both into the lead.

One corner later and it was all over for the two Kia drivers as they made contact, spinning off in a cloud of smoke, dropping far back in the field.

Things were even worse for BMW driver Fredrik Larsson who was involved in a first lap incident with championship leader Thed Björk. While Björk was able to resume the race, Larsson was forced to retire from the race and losing vital points in the championship.

Björk started a furious chase up through the field, passing seven drivers until three laps from the end when he caught up with Team Tidö driver Richard Göransson in third position. The Volvo driver tried his hardest but was not able to get past Göransson and had to settle for fourth.

Ekblom was able to stay clear of the first lap chaos and gained fast on Andersson in the lead. The three-time champion threw his car on the inside of Andersson in turn one and then extended his lead to win by 4.4 seconds. The victory was vital for Ekblom as he regained points on team mate Björk, making the gap to 10 points.

STCC newcomer Rasmus Mårthen scored a strong fifth place finish ahead of Johansson and Bernadotte.

STCC continues in four weeks with the penultimate race of the season at Solvalla in the Swedish capital Stockholm.