STCC heads to Knutstorp for penultimate round of 2012
The teams of the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship return to Knutstorp this weekend for the second-to-last round of the Championship. Team Biogas.se’s Johan Kristoffersson leads by just eight points over Chevrolet’s Rickard Rydell, with Rydell’s team-mate Michel Nykjaer hot on his tail.
Back in May, Knutstorp was kindest to the two Chevrolet drivers, with both Rickard Rydell and Michel Nykjaer taking wins at the two-kilometre circuit at the southern tip of Sweden.
With 100 points still available, in theory all of the top seven are still in contention for the title, but realistically it’s between the top three of Team Biogas.se’s Johan Krisfoffersson and the two Chevrolet drivers Rickard Rydell and Michel Nykjaer, with the Dane just 20 points behind Kristoffersson in the standings and 12 behind his team-mate.
“If you have been in the lead of the standings since the start of the championship, you do of course want to keep it until the end,” said Kristoffersson. “I have been under pressure during all races this season, I am used to it and I am going to do what I have done so far – try to drive the car as quickly as possible.”
After a double-DNF at the last round at Jyllandsringen, Tomas Engström’s charge in the Honda Team Sweden Civic has taken a massive dent, as he is now 57 points behind Kristoffersson and needs the top three to have a disastrous weekend to stand any chance of making up significant ground.
Although the overall drivers’ championship is unlikely to be wrapped up at Knutstorp, there’s a high probability that the Semcon Cup for privateers will be decided this weekend. NP Racing’s Niclas Olsson leads by 54 points over Andreas Ahlberg, so the 21-year-old only needs to maintain the gap to be assured of securing the title one race meeting early.
Scandinavian Touring Car Championship – Ring Knutstorp Entry List
No – Driver – Team – Car
1 – Rickard Rydell – Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
2 – Jordi Gené – Team Biogas.se – Volkswagen Scirocco CNG
3 – Johan Kristoffersson – Team Biogas.se – Volkwsagen Scirocco CNG
4 – Michel Nykjaer – Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden – Chevrolet Cruze 1.6T
15 – Patrik Olsson – IPS Team Biogas – Volkswagen Scirocco CNG
17 – Tomas Engström – Honda Racing Sweden – Honda Civic
21 – Johan Stureson – IPS Team Biogas – Volkswagen Scirocco CNG
22 – Robin Appelqvist – SEAT Team Sweden – SEAT León (NGTC-turbo)
23 – Santosh Berggren – SEAT Team Sweden – SEAT León (NGTC-turbo)
90* – Niclas Olsson – NP Racing – SEAT León (NA)
91* – Tony Johansson – G-Rex – Mercedes C200
92* – André Andersson – Memphis Racing – BMW 320i E46
97* – Joakim Ahlberg – BMS Racing – Audi A4
98* – Andreas Ahlberg – BMS Racing – Audi A4
* Eligible for Semcon Cup for privateers
STCC Ring Knutstorp Timetable
Friday 7th September
14:15 – 15:00 – Testing
16:25 – 16:45 – Qualifying 1
16:50 – 17:00 – Qualifying 2
Saturday 8th September
09:20 – 09:35 – Warm Up
12:20 – Race One (20 Laps)
15:15 – Race Two (20 Laps)
* All times local time CET (BST -1hr)
