Exclusive interview with Fredrik Ekblom

Fredrik Ekblom became historic this season as the first driver with three STCC-titles. After several years with Audi he returned to BMW and WestCoast Racing where he won his first STCC-title back in 1998. He quickly got up to speed with the new car and in a season where he also got a contract for three races with BMW Team UK in WTCC, he managed to secure the title in the penultimate round. We asked Fredrik to compare this title with the two previous STCC-title.

“I think it’s difficult because they are all unique, he says. But I definetly rank this title very high. It’s been very tough this year with a lot of hard competition. The level in STCC this year is very high – everything from drivers to teams, manufacturers involved and sponsors, it’s all on a very high level. This has by far been the toughest season I’ve driven in STCC since 2000.”

Last year Fredrik found himself playing a supporting role to teammate Thed Björk in Audi, but the change to WestCoast Racing and BMW seemed to give him a new spark. But Fredrik belives it has more to do with having the margins on the right side.

“I do belive so. I actually talked to Robin [Rudholm, teammate] about this. His season has been a bit like mine was last year. This year everything has gone my way, so I belive it’s more a matter of having the margins with you. I can’t put my finger on something I’ve done different this year compared to last year. I just tried to worked on anything to make sure I could deliver on the trust they gave me with this contract. I slightly changed they way I approached racing weekends, I changed my planning, I made sure I was in great shape but I can’t put my finger on something that is so different compared to last year. It’s just a lot of small things that adds up. “

Fredrik felt right from the start he had a great chance to a third title when he rejoined the team.
“Yes, I knew from the beginning there was a big chance to win. I know WestCoast Racing from before and know what they can do and with the new BMW and with a new major sponsor in Tools I knew all the ingredients was there. As the season went on I got more and more comfortable with the team and driving a rear-wheel drive car again so it just built up step by step. But it was at the race in Karlskoga before the summer where I took the pole with quite a margin, won the race comfortably and took the championship lead I felt we were really on it. That was a key moment.“

The title was secured thanks to consistency, something that is sort of a trademark for Fredrik in his career. He won two races this year but there were drivers who won more but Fredrik finished all the races, scored points in all but one and was often up there on the podium. When asked he does admit it’s typical of him but also thinks it’s an effect of the weight rules.
“Sure, I’ve always been driving consistent and have always said that if you want to win a championship you need to score a lot of points at every race. But it’s also an effect of the penalty weights. When leading the championship you always carry extra weight in the car and then it is hard to challenge for victory in every race, especially against guys who are more up and down and drive some races without any penalty weights. So it is important to make sure you bring home as many points as possible each time you race. And then I also got two points from Robin at the second race in Karlskoga, and without those I wouldn’t have won the title at Sturup.“

The cooperation with teammate Robin Rudholm, in his second year with the team, and the WestCoast Racing is something Fredrik has mentioned several times this year as a important factor behind the success. He and Robin has shared set-ups which have made the work at tests and race weekends very effective.
“I don’t think I’ve ever laughed as much with a teammate as I have done with Robin this year, Fredrik says. This really is a large team effort, and we have had a lot of fun all year. Robin has also been great to work with, there have been times when I’ve been unsure about the set-up and which way to go, and where he was more sure. He has a great feeling for how the set-up affects the car, which is one of his strengths. It has been great working together and I wouldn’t hesitate for a second if I got a chance to pay him back for the two points I got from him in Karlskoga.“

As so many touringcar drivers nowadays Fredrik comes from a single-seater background. After many years in single-seaters including F3000 and a break in Indycars in USA, he went to sportscars and touringcars and choosed to drive in STCC. As a factorydriver for BMW he drove in ETCC and ALMS, and also has three races in WTCC with BMW this year. He feels STCC stands up well against other championships.

“STCC is a fantastic door-opener out to Europe. Here you get an opportunity to work with top-people from Audi and BMW as I’ve done and I know that if you do well you are recognized at the highest level within touringcars. If I would be interested in anything else it would only be WTCC. I could se myself driving a full season in WTCC but it would have to be the right circumstances. The top-drivers in STCC is definetly on the same level as the top-drivers in WTCC, it’s very competitive here. I think that’s been proven by Duncan Huisman last year and Frank Stippler this year. They have not been close to come here and dominate, so the level is very high in STCC.“

Mixing STCC with WTCC is not something Fredrik has seen as a problem this year. So far he’s done one WTCC-race, the round at Anderstorp but he’s been drafted to help Andy Priaulx at Monza and Macau and he has done several tests for the team during the summer.
“I only see it as a positive thing. I’m very happy about it and I’ve been given the chance to drive a lot of tests on a very high level. You can never get too much training behind a wheel, the more you drive the better you get and you need to keep it up. So I don’t think it’s been any kind of distraction, I think it has only helped. I have been driving a lot of kilometres in racingcars this year and you can’t complain about that, he smiles.“

Fredrik is 37 this year and has had a long career so far. He has a one-year contract with WestCoast Racing in STCC and he will not start looking at what he will be doing next year just yet.
“It’s too early to say anything now. Right now I just want to enjoy my STCC-title and start focus on the WTCC-races at Monza and Macau. Then we will start focusing on next year and what I will be doing then.“