STCC-organisers send top team

The Swedish Touring Car Championship-organisers have decided to send the drivers title winning team Flash Engineering to the FIA European Touring Car Cup at Salzburgring, Austria, this weekend.
“We believe that the STCC is holding a high international standard, now we want proof of it,” said STCC MD Bob Huzell.

Flash Engineering-driver Richard Göransson won the STCC title this year and won the first edition of the FIA ETC Cup in 2005.

“My aim is to win again! But the field is very strong this year and I have no doubt that there will be a hard fight for the title,” said Göransson.

Göransson will be joined by his team mate and double STCC-champion Janne “Flash” Nilsson who will take part in the ETC Cup for the first time ever.

“We are going to do our very best and represent STCC in the best way possible! We are of course aiming for the top, but it will not be easy and there are a lot of new things to take in,” said “Flash”.

The main differences between FIA ETC Cup (which runs the same regulations as WTCC) and STCC are Yokohama tyres instead of Michelin, standing start in one of the races and two races instead of one.

“Standing start suits me perfectly! But the main challenge is to learn the Yokohama-tyres, how they perform, to get maximum out of them during qualifying and to make them last during the race,” said Göransson.

The STCC-organisers will send the team winning the drivers title and the team winning the team title next year as well. Team champions this year, WestCoast Racing, were offered assistance to take part this year, but denied the offer.

“Our ambition is to have this as a competition each year for the winner of the drivers and teams championship in STCC every year. The ETC Cup is like the Champions Leauge of racing and we are going to start discussions with the ETC Cup organisers to make the race even stronger in 2009,” said Huzell.