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Preview – High speed Mantorp Park next up

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Mantorp Park, with the longest straight of the season, hosts the fifth and sixth Scandinavian Touring Car Championship races of the season this weekend. The power of the turbo charged CNG Volkswagen and the bio ethanol Volvo is expected to play a big role.

Volkswagen driver Fredrik Ekblom was back in style at Knutstorp two weeks ago with pole and victory after a nightmare start of the season in Denmark. The Scirocco has proven to be hard to beat down the long back straight and both Volkswagen drivers are expected to be in the top this weekend.

One thing that is different from Knutstorp is that all top cars are on maximum penalty weight, +40 kilos, except for the SEAT, which is on ten kilos less.

Mattias Andersson in the Alfa Romeo, on 1190 kilos for this weekend, took pole position with an impressive time of 1:20.766 last year at Mantorp and won the first race. Mantorp is the home track of Andersson and the Swede is expected to be on top this weekend as well.

The Volvo team has historically been successful at Mantorp Park as well, with a Volvo victory in all races at Mantorp since 2008. Tommy Rustad, who moved up to third in the championship at Knutstorp two weeks ago, has stated that he is aiming for the first victory of the season this weekend.

While the BMW teams are expecting a tough weekend at Mantorp with the long straights, Richard Göransson and Thed Björk has proved in the past that the 320si can be a force to be reckoned with despite the power disadvantage. No doubt, top duo Johan Stureson and Colin Turkington are keen to stay ahead in the points.

Not to forget is the Chevrolet Cruze of Rickard Rydell. The Swede has completed a number of test days at Mantorp and has said that the track suits the Cruze well.

The STCC teams are testing at Mantorp on thursday ahead of the weekend, stay tuned for reports from the day.

Official weight list for Mantorp

+40 kilo = 1225 kilo – BMW 320si E90 [6 speed SQ-box]
+40 kilo = 1210 kilo – BMW 320si E90 [5 speed H-box]
+40 kilo = 1210 kilo – Volkswagen Scirocco
+40 kilo = 1205 kilo – Chevrolet Cruze
+40 kilo = 1199 kilo – Volvo C30
+40 kilo = 1190 kilo – Alfa Romeo 156
+30 kilo = 1180 kilo – SEAT León TFSi
+30 kilo = 1160 kilo – SEAT León TFSi [Jason Watt]
-20 kilo = 1130 kilo – Honda Accord
-20 kilo = 1120 kilo – BMW 320i E46