Preview: Falkenberg before summer break

The Swedish Touring Car Championship makes it’s next stop at Falkenberg which is situated on the west coast of Sweden not far from the previous race at Gothenburg. Falkenberg is the last race before the summer break of STCC. Falkenberg hosted an eventful race in 2007 after an horrific accident involving Fredrik Lestrup and Viktor Huggare.

Previously at Falkenberg
The then reigning champion Thed Björk took his first win of 2007 at Falkenberg finishing ahead of Fredrik Ekblom and Richard Göransson. The race was red flagged with only 4 laps remaining when Fredrik Lestrup had a huge accident on the start/finish line whilst passing the lapped car of Viktor Huggare. Lestrup’s BMW was destroyed in the accident.

The season so far
Richard Göransson currently leads a very tight championship, 3 points ahead of second placed Thed Björk. Richard Göransson took over the lead when he won the last round at Sturup Raceway where Thed Björk scored 6 points with a third place. Fredrik Ekblom is currently 3rd with 34 points after finishing fifth at Sturup – Ekblom is only 1 point behind Thed Björk. The championship is very close with Ekblom’s teammate Robin Rudholm fourth, only six points behind leading Göransson.

At the last race Peugeotdriver Johan Stureson took a much needed podium place when he finished second in the race and scored eight points. A huge step forward for the small family team that entered this season with a brand new Peugeot 307.

Robert Dahlgren in the new Volvo C30 continues to prove the new car is among the fastest over a lap when he took pole position at Sturup. But the team continues to fight with excessive tyre wear in the race and Dahlgren fell back in the later stages of the race. A few laps from the finish he was in second place, but under heavy pressure from Mattias Andersson in the Alfa. Andersson finally managed to get up alongside Dahlgren who then turned into Anderssons Alfa Romeo and the two of them had a huge crash. That incident earned Dahlgren a 10-place grid penalty for this round at Falkenberg while Anderssons Alfa Romeo was so badly damaged it’s unsure if they can make the race at Falkenberg.

Drivers quotes before the race
Richard Göransson – BMW 320si
“I have the worst possible conditions for this race with the heaviest car of the field. But that is only on paper. My primary goal for this weekend is to continue leading the championship, but I am most certainly going to fight for the win of the race.”

Thed Björk – Honda Accord
“I won here last year and I want to do it again. I am looking forward to the race very much, Falkenberg is one of my favorite tracks.”

Fredrik Ekblom – BMW 320si
“Right now things feel really good, I have been longing for this race ever since we crossed the finish line at Sturup. I want to get back on top and Falkenberg suits us really well, it is time to take back the championship lead.”

Robin Rudholm – BMW 320si
“It is going to be nice to drive this weekend even if I haven’t done that good results here before. This year I want to finish and it would be really nice to have a win before the summer break.”

Schedule
09.00 – Pro Superbike Pro Superbike
09.30 – STCC Test
10.30 – Superkart Race
11.00 – Carrera Cup Race
11.30 – Gridshow/Lunch Gridshow
12.25 – STCC Qualifying
12.50 – STCC Super pole
13.20 – JTCC Race
14.00 – Pro Superbike
15.00 – STCC Race
15.40 – STCC Awards Ceremony
16.00 – Camaro Cup Race