Photo: STCC

Kia team-mates disconsolate after collision wipes out potential podium result

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Team Kia team-mates Kevin Aabol and Erik Johansson were both eliminated from the second race at Karlkoga whilst fighting over second, just after allowing the Dacia of Mattias Andersson through and into the lead of the race, with Johansson rueing the lost opportunity of a potential victory.

Aabol had started from pole position courtesy of the reverse top ten grid based on Qualifying 1’s results, with the PWR Racing Saab 9-3 of Emma Kimiläinen alongside. After a scrappy start for Kimiläinen, Aabol’s team-mate Johansson emerged in second position at the first corner and the two Kia Optimas led the way ahead of the Dacia of Mattias Andersson.

As the two team-mates battled, this allowed Andersson the chance to sneak through into the lead, while the two Kias then collided at Turn 2 with Johansson, now under attack from WestCoast Racing’s Erik Jonsson, collecing Aabol’s Optima. Both drivers were eliminated from the race, wiping out any chance of a result for the Krylbo-based team.

“I could have won the race, but things obviously didn’t turn out as planned,” said Johansson. “I am really disappointed, I had really, really good speed.”

Aabol was extremely disappointed with the events of the race.

“The only good thing with this weekend was the weather,” he said. “I’m not sure what happened, there was a bang and all of a sudden I was in the gravel. It took 10 seconds before I could see anything. The steering wheel was out of alignment after that, so I just had to retire. A sad end to the weekend.”

Team principal Tobias Johansson was pragmatic about the incident, imparting blame equally between his drivers. “It looked good for a while, but regarding the incident, well both drivers drove too hard.”

After finishing fifth in race one, Johansson is now up to sixth in the standings, just one point ahead of Emma Kimiläinen, while Aabol scored no points during the weekend and leaves Karlskoga tenth in the standings, 15 points behind Volvo driver Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte.