Mattias Ekström’s STCC predictions

STCC, Swedish Touring Car Championship, has for a long time been considered one of the toughest and largest touringcar championships in the world. Mattias won it in an Audi A4 Quattro 1999 before he in 2001 joined Audi in DTM. Mattias took some time to sit down and look at this years field in STCC. These are his thoughts on this years drivers and teams.

It’s his own ranking in his own words. Mattias graded the drivers from 1 to 5 in 6 different categories to get a total score for each and everyone of the. Below you will also find a Swedish version. Enjoy the reading, it’s all in good fun!

Categories:

Speed = S
Consistency = J
Avoiding mistakes = F
Racecraft = R
Team = T
Car = B

Group 1 = The title candidates

Fredrik Ekblom, Westcoast Racing, BMW 320 Si
S4, J5, F5, R5, T4, B5 = 28
The calmest driver in STCC! The driving is always controlled and he is very quick. I’d like to see him attack more like in the old days. Keep practice pit stops with the team and it will guarantee a medal. Fredrik is my favourite to win this year.

Thed Björk, KMS Audi, Audi A4
S5, J5, F4, R3, T5, B5 = totalscore 27
The reigning champion. He had a really good car, a lot of help from his team mates and the luck in 2006! Will it stay this year with a new team mate? A driver always fighting for victories.

Richard Göransson, Flash Engineering, BMW 320 Si
S5, J4, F4, R4, T4, B5 = 26
The fastest driver in STCC! Very quick but maybe there is a bit too much speed sometimes? The weakness is the team mate who doesn’t match up when it comes to data and support on the track and too many small mistakes from both of them. If everything is right he is a hard driver to beat.

Robin Rudholm, Westcoast Racing, BMW 320 Si
S4, J3, F5, R4, T4, B5 = 25
The “nearly there” driver of 2006. Robin is always quick and reliable. If he could be more consistent, and if the team could make less mistakes there will be a lot of victory Pommac! If they practice pit stops, pit stops, pit stops and a little bit more of pit stops, 2007 will be your best year ever Robin!

Robert Dahlgren, Polestar Racing, Volvo S60
S5, J3, F4, R4, T4, B2 = 22
One of the best drivers, but has the wrong car for a championship win. It’s a good team but they seem to have forgotten the races are longer now. Bio-Ethanol is good for the environment but don’t forget that the tyres should last a whole race. Robert is a guaranteed race winner this season.

Group 2 = Victory hunters!

Tomas Engström, Engström Motorsport, Honda Accord
S5, J3, F3, S3, T2, B5 = 21
Incredibly quick when it all comes together. But not consistent enough to be a title candidate as I see it.

Frank Stippler, KMS Audi, Audi A4
S4, J3, F2, R2, T5, B5 = 21
Frank has been a DTM-driver for Audi the past two seasons. Very quick but can get nervous. Frank doesn’t get much attention when he walks in the pits. You might understand why when you see his girlfriend.

Johan Sturesson, IPS Motorsport, Peugeot 407
S3, J3, F3,R3,T3, B4 = 19
A very good driver who is hardly noticed. He could be one of the surprises this year with more consistency.

Tommy Rustad, Opel Team Sweden, Opel Astra GTC
S4, J3, F3, R3, T4, B2 = 19
An STCC-champion is always a champion. Tommy is really quick but sometimes he has problems controlling his temper. Could get a podium if the car works.

Group 3 = Smoke’em!

Alexander Storckenfeldt, Polestar Racing, Volvo S60
S3, J2, F3, R3, T5, B2 = 18
Choosed STCC to build his brand! There’s a difference between touring cars and single seaters. It’s even bigger if you drive a Volvo with a preference for qualifying laps and a dislike for slow turns. Learn from Dahlgren and keep fighting.

Jan Nilsson, Flash Engineering, BMW 320 Si Bio-Ethanol
S2, J2, F2, R3, T4, B5 = 18
If results could be based on explanations and ‘what if’s’ “Flash” would have won everything! No one would have had a chance if the racing could match the PR. Always better trained than ever and always in the best form of his life. Can surprise and get a few podiums with a bit of luck. Doesn’t figure in the top 10 in the ranking on his website, is he humble these days?

Tommy Kristoffersson, KMS Audi, Audi A4
S2, J1, F2, R3, T5, B5 = 18
Tommy is a classy team mate. Always puts his team mates first but should perhaps do more for himself? He can drive some incredibly fast laps but everyone gets just as surprised every time it happens, maybe even Tommy himself. On a good sunny day Tommy is a winner, but that would have to be a very good day …

Mattias Andersson, MA-GP, Alfa Romeo 156
S3, J2, F2, R2, T2, B3 = 14
Always fighting but that just isn’t enough in STCC. Everything has to be perfect if you want to fight at the top of STCC!

Niklas Karlsson, Nika Racing, Chevrolet Lacetti
Fredrik Lestrup, PickoTroberg, BMW 320i (ex. WCR-bil)
Roger Eriksson, Picko Troberg, BMW 320i (ex. WCR)
Tobias Johansson, MB Sport, Mercedes C200
Hans Simonsson, PWR Motorsport, Mercedes C200

It’s hard to rank these guys and know what they are capable of this year. They could be some of the surprises but they can also be fighting hard without any results. Surprise us

The teams:

KMS Audi
The most successful team in STCC. Team manager Tommy Kristoffersson has a large racing heart driven by success on the track. A slightly larger budget and better control would make this the best team! The same old question is always there though, should the team manager also be one of the drivers?

Flash Engineering
The coolest and most professional STCC-team with exclusive facilities, cool trailers and nice sunglasses reflects Jan “Flash” Nilsson’s own team Flash Engineering. Always with a good design, well-managed financials and PR. I just wonder if more resources should be put into tyres and testdays instead of sunglasses and boats?

WestCoastRacing
A team with “Eye of the Tiger”. Dick Jönsson is a tough team manager who is a racer without a racecar. With a larger budget and two top drivers they are back in the title fight this season.

Polestar Racing
An extremely pedantic team but is that enough to win STCC? Christian Dahl and his team leaves nothing to chance but is the focus on development right? The car is quick over one lap but in the races on tracks with slow turns it has to watch out for the safety car.

The other teams
Most have realised that you need to check every little detail but the knowledge doesn’t match that of the top teams when it comes to racingcars, strategy and PR. The budgets are smaller but they all know have to use whatever they got as effective as possible. Let’s hope that some of these teams can raise their level so we have more teams fighting for the championship.