Now or never for Richard Göransson at Tierp Arena

The penultimate race of the 2013 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship awaits this weekend and it is now or never for Richard Göransson to make a dent in Thed Björk’s championship lead.
“My main focus is on doing a really good weekend. If we succeed with that we could at least have a theoretical shot at winning in the finale at Mantorp,” said Göransson.

The BMW Dealer Team driver is 69 points behind the Volvo Polestar Racing driver with 84 points left to be fought for. While the gap is big, Björk is not taking it easy.
“I need to score 16 points to secure the title and that is not impossible. But to drive tactically is not on the map, I know that Göransson is going to fight to the last drop of blood and I am going to give my all this weekend,” said Björk.

If Göransson wins the race at Tierp, it is enough for Björk to secure one point in qualifying and third in the race to secure the title. If Björk retires and Göransson wins, the points gap would be reduced to 41 points ahead of the Mantorp Park finale.

While the spectators might hope for a title battle, the battle for second place is more likely to heat up. Göransson is only seven points ahead of Volvo driver Robert Dahlgren in third and 21 points ahead of reigning champion Fredrik Ekblom in fourth.
“The fight for second overall is close. We made progress in the second race at Karlskoga and we are taking that with us to Tierp. A good weekend at Tierp would give me a better grip of second place and to secure that is tough enough,” said Göransson.

Last year’s winner at Tierp Arena, the first ever race held at the circuit, was won by 22-year-old Linus Ohlsson, then driving a Saab for Team Tidö. This year norwegian Roar Lindland has driven for Team Tidö, but information to TouringCarTimes suggests that he is not going to drive this weekend and that he will be replaced by another driver.

Last year’s pole sitter was Jocke Mangs, who unfortunately got disqualified for missing a drive through penalty as the team had not lowered his car in time on the grid. Both Citroën drivers, Mangs and Alx Danielsson, are out for revenge this year.
“It is time for a podium finish. The results from the previous race does not show our actual pace. I had a really good car, especially in the second race, but then I only got a half lap and I was hit by Göransson in the first race. But I think we are on for something good this weekend,” said Mangs.

Team mate Danielsson crashed in a spectacular way last year after a rear wing failure and the Brovallen Design driver is hoping to bounce back this weekend on his home track.
“I was fourth fastest in qualifying last year despite that I crashed after four laps. It isn’t possible to have a better setup on this track than the one I had last year. I hope to be on top together with Mangs,” said Danielsson.

Dacia driver Mattias Andersson matched his best result of this year at Karlskoga two weeks ago with fifth position and he is hoping to stir things up in the top at Tierp Arena.
“Our goal is to fight against BMW and hopefully Volvo, and to defend our position as best of the rest in the standings. We are heading to Tierp with a strong confidence and I am hoping for something good,” said Andersson.

The STCC race weekend at Tierp Arena features one race of 40 minutes, starting at 15.05 CET on Saturday.

Tierp Arena Entry List

Driver – Team – Car
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
Alx Danielsson – Brovallen Design – Citroën C5
Tomas Engström – Engström Motorsport – Honda Civic
Mattias Andersson – Dacia Dealer Team – Dacia SE
TBA – Team Tidö – Saab 9-3
Daniel Haglöf – PWR Racing – Saab 9-3
Alexander Graff – Picko Troberg Racing – Saab 9-3

Schedule

Friday 6/9
13.40 – Test 1
16.30 – Test 2

Saturday 7/9
12.25 – Q1
12.45 – Q2
13.00 – Q3
15:15 – Race

All times are CET.