Preview – STCC kicks off in Denmark

The Scandinavian Touring Car Championship kicks off at Jyllandsringen in Denmark this weekend. A field of 20 cars are expected to be on the grid on saturday in one of the toughest fields in the history of STCC.

The level of drivers in the top is hard to beat, even compared to the bigger touring car series in Europe, such as WTCC and BTCC.

A flock of high profile touring car drivers has joined the series for this season and reigning champion Richard Göransson, of BMW team WestCoast Racing, is going to have a tough job defending his title, despite getting backup in the form of Martin Öhlin as team mate.

Volvo Polestar Racing, the team that came closest to snatching the title from Göransson last year, this year fields double British champion James Thompson alongside 2009 champion Tommy Rustad. The Volvo C30 of the team has been a consistent front runner for the three past seasons and there should be no exception this year.

Another former BTCC champion that has joined the Scandinavian field is Colin Turkington. The Northern Irishman has joined BMW team Flash Engineering and Turkington showed strong form in the official test at Knutstorp last week by being second fastest, despite his limited knowledge of the Scandinavian tracks. Turkington is team mate to double STCC champion, Jan “Flash” Nilsson.

The third and final BTCC champion in the STCC field of this year is Rickard Rydell. The 1998 BTCC champ has joined Chevrolet Team Sweden and drives a Chevrolet Cruze alongside Viktor Hallrup in the championship this year. The team has on paper got the strongest package of the field and Rydell has made no secret of that he is aiming for nothing else but the title.

Another team and driver with the crosshair set on the title this year is Volkswagen Team Biogas.se with Fredrik Ekblom. The team continues with a refined version of the CNG powered turbo Volkswagen Scirocco. While the team did not show their full potential during the pre-season testing, both Ekblom and team mate Patrik Olsson are expected to be consistent top fighters.

There are several drivers outside the big teams that are going to be in the top fight during the season as well. The two SEAT teams Brovallen Motorsport, with Roger Eriksson and Tobias Johansson, and Danielsson Motorsport with former single seater driver Alx Danielsson, are certain to mix it up in the top.

Not to forget is hybrid BMW/Alfa Romeo-team IPS/MA:GP with Johan Stureson and Mattias Andersson. Stureson raised more than one eyebrow during the official test at Knutstorp when he lapped the track fastest of all drivers.

Jason Watt stands out as the sole Danish entry of the championship this year. The Team Bygma SEAT driver is only going to take part in selected races this year, confirming the concern on the switch from Swedish to Scandinavian status of the championship, but showed last year that he can mix it up in the absolute top.

The independents’ trophy Semcon Cup stands this year between four drivers. Reigning champion Andreas Ebbesson is going to get hard resistance from former STCC race winner Tobias Johansson, who in contrast to his team mate Roger Eriksson is classified as a privateer, thanks to an older version of the SEAT León. Joakim Ahlberg and Robin Appelqvist are entered to the independents’ trophy, but are not expected to take part in all races.

Both races of the 2010 season premiere at Jyllandsringen were won by Volvo. The second race of the year at the Danish track saw two BMW drivers winning in the form of Richard Göransson and Thed Björk. While the Volvo and BMW cars clearly work well at the track, it is certainly hard to make any predictions ahead of the season start.

Well over ten drivers are able to fight for race wins at Jyllandsringen: The ever-strong Volvos, the turbo power of the Volkswagens, the agile BMWs, the super quick Chevrolets and many more.

Official weight list for Jyllandsringen

1185 kilo – BMW 320si E90 [5 & 6 speed SQ-box]
1170 kilo – BMW 320si E90 [5 speed H-box]
1170 kilo – Volkswagen Scirocco
1165 kilo – Chevrolet Cruze
1159 kilo – Volvo C30 [bio ethanol]
1150 kilo – Honda Accord
1150 kilo – SEAT Leon TFSi
1150 kilo – Alfa Romeo 156
1140 kilo – Alfa Romeo 156 [older version]
1140 kilo – BMW 320i E46
1130 kilo – SEAT León TFSi [Jason Watt]

STCC preview video from VIASAT [in Swedish]