Photo: STCC

Fredrik Ekblom keeps title hopes alive with victory in penultimate race

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Fredrik Ekblom won the penultimate Scandinavian Touring Car Championship race of 2015 from pole position, keeping his title hopes barely alive as he closed the points gap from 30 to 20 points to Polestar Cyan Racing team mate Thed Björk.

Championship leader Björk started second but dropped back in the first corner, being passed by Richard Göransson and Mattias Andersson.

The Polestar Cyan Racing driver fought back to pass Andersson and crossed the line in third position while Team Tidö driver Göransson claimed second position, two seconds behind Ekblom.

There was drama on the first lap as BMW colleagues Fredrik Larsson and Erik Jonsson collided, sending both spinning off track. Larsson was able to continue, albeit a lap down, while Jonsson retired.

Emma Kimiläinen was right on the back of Björk in the first part of the race, but was not able to keep up with him as the Volvo driver got past Andersson. But the PWR Racing driver got past Dacia Dealer Team driver Andersson to finish fourth.

The best Kia driver was Kevin Aabol in sixth position ahead of his team mate Rasmus Mårthen in seventh while Prince Carl Philip rounded off the top eight.

Björk leads Ekblom by 20 points ahead of the final race where there are 25 points left to fight for, starting at 15:20 CET. Björk starts tenth and Ekblom ninth due to the reversed grid rule, with Norwegian Kia driver Aabol on pole position.