Thed Björk takes first win for Honda!

Thed Björk took his first win of the Swedish Touring Car Championship 2008 and his first win for Honda today at Mantorp Park. The race was very much affected by the weather as the race started wet but dried up.
“There is nothing better than winning a STCC-race! It was hard in the beginning to get grip in the rear tyres. But when the track dried up we got the temperature up and then it really worked well,” said Björk.

Björk started on slicks while most of his other competitors started on wet tyres. Tommy Rustad took his first points for Volvo and the team’s first podium finish of the year with the new Volvo C30.

“This second place really feels like a win! We have had problems during the pre-season but now it just worked perfectly. We have not driven the car a single meter in rainy conditions before, but despite that the car was like a dream to drive,” said Rustad.

Third place went to the ever-scoring Fredrik Ekblom who extended his lead in the championship over Richard Göransson. The Flash Engineering-driver had another penalty as he failed to engage the pit limiter during his pit stop. He then exceeded the allowed 50 km/h in the pitlane and got a drive through-penalty.
“I was unable to engage the pit limiter and got penalized. It’s sad, but I’m already now looking towards the next race at Gelleråsen in two weeks,” said Göransson.

Championship leader and reigning champion Ekblom is also looking forward to the coming race and extends his lead to seven points ahead of Göransson.
“I could do nothing about Björk today, he got things right with starting on slick tyres. It is hard to stand out in the results with maximum penalty weight, but I am very much pleased with the day,” said Ekblom.