Photo: STCC

Airport track Östersund next up for STCC

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The airport track Östersund in the north of Sweden is next up for the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship field as the first of the final four race weekends.

As predicted, the title fight has come to stand between Volvo and BMW with Thed Björk in the championship lead for Volvo and Richard Göransson as closest competitor in second place.
“I am in a flow and I have no other ambition but to keep the lead. Östersund is just the right type of track for me where you have to look for grip all the time,” said Björk.

Björk leads with 22 points over Göransson who is determined to reduce the gap this weekend.
“The last race weekend was really bad, the positive thing was that we didn’t lose that much in the championship. I am in top gear for the final part of the season, the others, Björk included, have to try hard to keep up,” said Göransson.

Volvo driver Robert Dahlgren considers the Östersund track as his home track and he is closest to the leading duo, 16 points behind Göransson.
“It is going to be incredibly fun to drive on home grounds for the first time in a very long time. I have to close in on the leaders and that is my ambition for the weekend. I am going for the victory,” said Dahlgren.

Daniel Haglöf has emerged as best non Volvo or BMW driver but is far behind in seventh position, a full 81 points behind championship leader Björk. But the Saab driver is full of confidence after his first STCC podium finish in the last race at Falkenberg.
“The base goal is to score points, but if we get things right, we can challenge the guys in the top,” said Haglöf.

Holding the flag high for Citroën is Jocke Mangs, who for this weekend has got a new team mate in the form of local driver Fredric Magnusson. Mangs is going all in this weekend.
“It is time. This is one of the tracks where we as outsider team have the best chance and for this weekend focus is firmly set on a result high up,” said Mangs.

The race weekend in Östersund starts unusually late with testing at 18.20 CET on Friday, but with the Saturday schedule set as usual with the race starting at 15.20.

Entry list Östersund

Fredrik Ekblom – Volvo Polestar Racing – Volvo S60
Thed Björk – Volvo Polestar Racing – Volvo S60
Robert Dahlgren – Volvo Polestar Performance – Volvo S60
Linus Ohlsson – Volvo Polestar Performance – Volvo S60
Carl Philip Bernadotte – Volvo Polestar – Volvo S60
Richard Göransson – BMW Dealer Team – BMW SR
Fredrik Larsson – BMW Dealer Team – BMW SR
Robin Rudholm – WestCoast Racing – BMW SR
Jocke Mangs – Brovallen Design – Citroën C5
Fredric Magnusson – Brovallen Design – Citroën C5
Tomas Engström – Engström Motorsport – Honda Civic
Mattias Andersson – Dacia Dealer Team – Dacia SE
Roar Lindland – Team Tidö – Saab 9-3
Daniel Haglöf – PWR Racing – Saab 9-3
Alexander Graff – Picko Troberg Racing – Saab 9-3

Schedule Östersund

Friday 9/8
18.20 – STCC Test 1
21.00 – STCC Test 2

Saturday 10/8
12.10 – STCC Q1
12.30 – STCC Q2
12.45 – STCC Q3
15.20 – STCC Race