Photo: STCC

Mattias Lindberg takes first ever STCC victory for Kia

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Mattias Lindberg claimed a sensational victory in his and Kia’s first ever STCC race. The 20-year-old started second but made his way past pole sitter Erik Jonsson early in the race and then kept the lead for 20 laps.
”Amazing. I am lost for words, this is just so nice and I did not expect it,” said Lindberg.

The first race of the STCC premiere weekend at Knutstorp was incident-packed and the first safety car session came after the first lap. Saab driver Richard Göransson collided with Kia driver Linus Ohlsson in the penultimate corner of the first lap and took Volvo driver Thed Björk with him in a three-car spin.

Ohlsson was forced to retire while Göransson and Björk were able to continue, albeit with a drive through penalty for Göransson.

After the safety car went back into the pits, BMW Dealer Team WestCoast Racing team mates Jonsson and Philip Forsman started a fight for second position. Forsman threw his car on the inside of Jonsson and made his way past. The two BMW drivers secured second and third position in the end, meaning a podium consisting of drivers never before having scored a top-three STCC finish.

The second safety car session came as Volvo Polestar Racing’s Prince Carl Philip Bernadotte and PWR Racing’s Emma Kimiläinen collided. Both cars were left stranded on the track and had to be recovered by the marshals before the safety car went back into the pits.

BMW driver Fredrik Larsson climbed through the field from 10th on the grid. With a few laps left, Larsson went on the inside of Dacia driver Mattias Andersson in the first corner for fourth position. The both made contact in the maneuver, but with both drivers remained on track. Larsson got close to team mate Jonsson in the end, but was not able to get past.

Volvo drivers Björk and Fredrik Ekblom found them selves in a hard fight for sixth position. Sixth was initially held by Kia driver Andreas Wernersson. But a fire in the rear bumper of his Kia meant that he had to retire with five laps left.

This left the fight for sixth position to an internal Volvo battle. Björk tried hard to get past Ekblom, going side-by-side for several corners, but had to settle for seventh.

Göransson pitted three times, including his drive through penalty, but finished ninth to secure two points. The second STCC race at Knutstorp starts at 14.05 CET.