Rydell lost three points on Ekblom at Karlskoga

Rickard Rydell lost three points on Fredrik Ekblom in the title hunt after the two STCC races at Karlskoga.
“It is very close in the championship. I am now five points behind Ekblom and Göransson scored 50 points here,” said Rydell.

Rydell qualified fifth for the first race, a position he kept in a rather uneventful race.
“The first corner is quite difficult at Karlskoga but I had no problems in race one and could keep my position. It did not happen much at the front during the race and there were no overtaking among the first five,” said Rydell.

The Chevrolet driver started fourth in the second race thanks to the reversed grid, a position he once again held through the race.

But Rydell was passed by race winner Richard Göransson during the race with some contact, a pass that the Chevrolet team filed a protest on after the race. The STCC stewards decided not to act on the protest, meaning that Göransson kept his victory and Rydell remained fourth.
“I started fourth in race two and was third for a while before Richard Göransson, the fastest man out there today, passed me. This circuit has many slow corners and while the front wheel drive cars are fast in qualifying, the BMWs are much faster in the races,” said Rydell.

Three race weekends remain of STCC 2011 and Rydell is keen to find more speed in the Chevrolet Cruze in order to get past Ekblom in the standings.
“Ahead of the coming races at Jyllandsringen and Knutstorp we have to find as much speed in the car as possible to be able to catch the leader,” said Rydell.