Rydell secures STCC title in dramatic final

Rickard Rydell secured the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship title with two points over Fredrik Ekblom after a dramatic final race of the year at Mantorp Park.

Mattias Andersson held pole position and took the start with Thed Björk, starting second, right behind.

Björk used the turbo power of the Volkswagen down the long straight and dove on Andersson in to the “Mjölby” corner, claiming the lead.

Rydell started eighth with Ekblom in seventh and Rydell got in to trouble in the second corner. The Chevrolet driver clashed with the now former STCC champion Richard Göransson, resulting in a big slide for Göransson who just barely managed to stay on track.

The safety car was called out on lap two to recover the car of DMS’s Robin Appelqvist who lost control in to the second corner and struck the Volvo of Tommy Rustad.

As the field got the green flag again, Rydell took what became the vital step for the title. Team-mate Michel Nykjaer was ahead of Patrik Olsson with Rydell right behind; Olsson tried to pass Nykjaer and the Dane took a defensive line, pushing Olsson wide while letting Rydell past them both.

This maneuver made Volkswagen to issue team orders for Björk to drop from the lead and let Mattias Andersson, Robert Dahlgren and most importantly Ekblom past.

The standings at this point would have seen Rydell and Ekblom tie on points, but with Ekblom set to claim the drivers championship on countback of having the most second place finishes this season.

Rydell was now right behind Björk and the controversy hit a new high as Björk kept Rydell behind him. The two made contact and Björk managed to stay ahead as Rydell was on the outside for the final corner.

The safety car was then again brought out to recover a stack of tyres that had come loose and rolled out on track. Nykjaer was at the same time penalized with one round of the penalty lane for his move on Olsson.

As the safety car left the track for the final time with two laps remaining, Volvo’s Robert Dahlgren saw his chance at the end of the long straight and threw his car to the inside of Andersson, claiming the lead and ultimately the victory for the final STCC race of 2011.

Ekblom was third on the final lap, with Rydell behind him in fourth, and had to climb at least one position in order to secure the title. The Volkswagen driver tried to get past Andersson, but could not get close enough and had to settle for third, seeing the title slip away.

Olsson secured fifth, Colin Turkington sixth from 12th on the grid, Björk seventh, Stureson eighth, Kristoffersson ninth and Alx Danielsson tenth.

Tommy Rustad, who crashed on the warm up lap of the first race, started from the back of the grid to finish 11th.