Stureson ahead of Turkington at Knutstorp

IPS Motorsport driver Johan Stureson topped the first official Scandinavian Touring Car Championship test of the year. The BMW driver lapped Knutstorp in 1:01.011, one tenth ahead of Colin Turkington.
“I am pleased with the day. The car works really well here at Knutstorp and we have made a lot of progress with the setup. I am looking forward to Jyllandsringen now,” said Turkington to TouringCarTimes.

Chevrolet driver Rickard Rydell was third fastest, just 0.055 seconds behind Turkington. Reigning champion Richard Göransson claimed fourth but ended the session with a damaged car after crashing with Fredrik Ekblom.
“The car is good, but unfortunately Ekblom did not see me in the hairpin and went straight in to me,” said Göransson.

Ekblom, who was 15th fastest today, was able to drive back to the pits while Göransson had to limp back home on three wheels.
“I’m sorry Richard. I completely missed you,” said Ekblom to Göransson after the test.

Mattias Andersson in the Alfa Romeo 156 was fifth fastest ahead of STCC newcomer Alx Danielsson in the SEAT León. Tomas Engström was seventh with 2009 STCC champion and Volvo driver Tommy Rustad in eight.
“We had some gearbox problems today, but the balance in the car was alright,” said Rustad.

Viktor Hallrup, who is team mate to Rydell in the Chevrolet team, was ninth fastest ahead of SEAT driver Roger Eriksson in tenth.

A total of 18 cars took part in the test at Knutstorp, 16 cars were within one second. James Thompson was the last man within one second in 16th position, 0.976 seconds behind.

The STCC 2011 season starts at Jyllandsringen in eight days.