Rickard Rydell expects tough battle for title at Solvalla

Rickard Rydell heads to the season finale at Solvalla at the head of the drivers’ standings for the first time this year, but with team-mate Michel Nykjaer close behind and Volkswagen’s Johan Kristoffersson still in contention, the reigning champion knows he needs to dig deep at the finale.

In the first race at Knutstorp this weekend, Rydell had qualified third and was trapped behind IPS Team Biogas’s Patrik Olsson for the entire race whilst his Chevrolet team-mate Michel Nykjaer romped away to his fifth win of the season. A last lap lunge at the first corner was Rydell’s only chance to try and get past Olsson, but he knowingly backed out of what would have been certain contact.

In race two, Rydell led from pole position and took a vital victory, holding a safe distance to title rival Johan Kristoffersson until the Volkswagen driver’s suspension failed on lap 13, which then brought out the safety car and put Rydell’s other title rival Michel Nykjaer right behind him for the last three lap dash to the finish line, but Rydell held on to take his second win of 2012 and take a nine point lead over Michel Nykjaer in the standings.

“It was a good weekend, a good collection of points,” said Rydell to TouringCarTimes. “I was a little bit frustrated in race one when I was behind Olsson, and I was not really fast enough to make a clean overtake.”

On his final lap attempt, Rydell explained : “It was just to see if he made a mistake or not, but I was really too far behind for braking and I think we would have touched…so I settled for third.”

Rydell’s lead in the championship is just a slender nine points over Nykjaer, and 20 over Kristoffersson, with the three drivers now the only ones in contention for the drivers’ title. Going into Knutstorp, Rydell was eight behind Kristoffersson, and the 2011 champion knows how quickly things can change.

“Michel is close, he’s just nine points behind, so if he has a really good qualifying at Solvalla and I don’t then it’s going to be really difficult, so it’s still very open. Also Johan has a good chance still if any one of us has a problem.”

“Last year I went into the last race not leading, being a few points behind (Fredrik) Ekblom, so I know what can happen, so I need to do a really good job at Solvalla to be able to win.”

STCC Drivers’ Championship after Knutstorp