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Season end sprint draws near as STCC heads to Karlskoga

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The STCC season end sprint is getting closer as the championship heads to Karlskoga for the sixth race weekend of eight. Time is running thin for Richard Göransson who has got to get ahead of championship leader Thed Björk in the two races this weekend in order to have a serious shot at the title this year.
“It could go either way this weekend, from that Thed almost secures the title to that I take over the lead. I’m not giving up,” said Göransson.

Björk’s lead went up to 38 points after his fifth victory of the year at Östersund two weeks ago, but with five race heats and 140 points left to fight for, Björk is not taking it easy.
“I have competed on this level for too long to take anything for granted. I had a retirement in Falkenberg and there is still too much that can happen which would enable Göransson to catch up. I am as always going for victory and Göransson will have to try hard to keep up,” said Björk.

The two TTA races at Karlskoga last year saw an entertaining last race after a light drizzle, really bunching up the field, while the first race saw youngster Linus Ohlsson taking a shock win in his first ever TTA race. Ohlsson drove a Saab last year and was signed up by Volvo for this year.
“That race was the best of my career and I hope to repeat that this year. Things are working well now and I aim to continue the trend upwards, the ambition is to climb to top three in the championship,” said Ohlsson.

While Volvo and BMW have been more or less alone in scoring top positions, there are a couple of drivers that have mixed it up in the top from time to time. Jocke Mangs, Alexander Graff and Daniel Haglöf have all three been in the top, with Haglöf being the best placed of them in the championship.
“Our primary goal ahead of the season was to be best of the rest and to be the best one-car team. We have succeeded with that so far and at the same time it feels like we are getting closer and closer to Volvo and BMW,” said Haglöf.

There might be two cars missing from this weekend. There has been no official information on Robin Rudholm’s potential return, indications have pointed for him to miss Karlskoga as well. Brovallen Design has so far not confirmed the status of the second car alongside Jocke Mangs for Karlskoga, driven by Fredric Magnusson in Östersund. The team has been reported to work both for the return of Niclas Olsson and a continued program for Magnusson.

The race weekend in Karlskoga starts on Friday with testing at 15.15 CET.

Entry list Karlskoga

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
Jocke Mangs – Brovallen Design – Citroën C5
TBA – 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 Karlskoga

Friday 23/8
15.15 – STCC Test 1
17.30 – STCC Test 2

Saturday 24/8
09.00 – STCC Q1
09.20 – STCC Q2
09.35 – STCC Q3
12.40 – STCC Race 1
15.25 – STCC Race 2