PWR Racing unhappy with “unfair” last minute weight penalty

The PWR Racing SEAT Dealer team were hit with a 30kg penalty, along with the Ford Mondeo of Brovallen Design for the Skövde race weekend, due to complaints that the new cars had not been sufficiently tested to ensure they would not have a competitive edge, a move which team owner-driver Daniel Haglöf declared was an “unfair move.”

The team’s three cars of race winner Haglöf, Emma Kimiläinen and 2012 champion and World Rallycross star Johan Kristoffersson all carried an additional 30kg throughout the weekend which was also soon after the team’s new SEAT León coupe had been unveiled, with limited time to test ahead of the season’s start, while the rival cars of Volvo, Saab and Dacia have been competing for more than three years.

“I’m disappointed about the organisers decision,” said Haglöf to TouringCarTimes. “They cleared us to do a test on the airfield, and then they asked for us to do (a wind tunnel test), but then we came here and without any warning we got 30kg extra, which I think was quite an unfair move. I think it was because of pressure from the rest of the teams because they’re afraid of our potential.”

The decision was made due to pressure from Polestar Cyan Racing, but is set to apply only to the Skövde race weekend, with Volvo making their wind tunnel available to Brovallen and PWR Racing ahead of the next round to confirm the aerodynamic package of the Ford and SEAT meets the regulations.

“The SEAT and the Ford (are carrying 30kg) as they haven’t been in the wind tunnel. It’s not that big a deal, but we had to do it anyway, then they’ll do their wind tunnel tests before Mantorp (Park),” explained STCC CEO Jonas Lundin to TouringCarTimes.

“Volvo got a little bit edgy. Though they weren’t too worried at first until they heard about (Johan) Kristoffersson and (Bjorn) Wirdheim,” he added.

“All the cars are the same, it’s just the bodywork that’s different. They have a regulation to build it from so you can’t really make a big difference in aerodynamics, so it won’t be anything like half a second.”

Although the weight was a distraction for PWR Racing, handling and braking issues plagued all three drivers throughout the weekend, with Kristoffersson making the best of a bad hand with fourth and fifth on Sunday, leaving Skövde fifth in the championship standings.

“We have a lot of work to do concerning the structure,” added Haglöf. “It’s been put together in a very short amount of time so we need to take it to the next level. We’ll see if we’re able to do it in the short amount we have. At least we can do some testing and sort the cars out. I think the cars look good, the livery is nice and the set-up is good, but the thing that’s important is the speed in the car, and we’re not there.

“We have some of the best drivers in the championship and strong engineers, but we’re unable to get maximum potential. The 30kg that the organisers gave us because we haven’t done any wind tunnel testing is not helping for sure, but we can’t blame it all on that.”