Fredrik Ekblom claims Knutstorp race two victory
Fredrik Ekblom claimed victory in the second race of the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship premiere weekend at Knutstorp. The Volvo Polestar Racing driver won the race seven tenths of a second ahead of BMW Dealer Team WestCoast Racing driver Fredrik Larsson.
”I am very happy. My team has put together a great car for me and I have been in the top more or less all weekend. It feels great,” said Ekblom.
Ekblom started from pole and out-dragged Larsson into the first corner and pulled up a lead of just over two seconds at most. Larsson gained towards the end of the race, but was never close enough to challenge Ekblom.
Richard Göransson started third and finished third. The Saab driver closed in on Larsson at mid-point of the race, but dropped back towards the end of the race and complained about worn rear tyres after the race.
The race was interrupted once after a three-car incident on the first lap, just as in race one. Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte clashed with Emma Kimiläinen, a collision resulting in a spin for Kimiläinen, Andreas Wernersson and Erik Jonsson. Wernersson had to pit for repairs while Jonsson retired due to front suspension damage.
Reigning champion Thed Björk fought his way to fourth position but was unable to catch up with the leading trio.
There was a three-car fight for seventh position towards the end of the race between Philip Forsman, race one winner Mattias Lindberg and Kimiläinen. While the cars were close, the positions remained unchanged during the last couple of laps with Forsman finishing seventh behind Linus Ohlsson, Lindberg eighth and Kimiläinen ninth.
Larsson heads the championship on 55 points with Ekblom second on 51 points and Göransson third on 32 points.
STCC continues on June 7th at Gothenburg City Arena.
