Photo: STCC

Fredrik Larsson wins rain-hit final Solvalla race

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Fredrik Larsson claimed a crucial victory in the final Scandinavian Touring Car Championship race at Solvalla for WestCoast Racing despite a last-lap rain shower.

Larsson started third but made a strong start to claim the lead from reversed grid pole sitter Rasmus Mårthen early on. The BMW driver then proceeded to extend his lead to win by close to 12 seconds.

Race one winner Daniel Haglöf clawed his way up through the field from tenth on the grid to finish second ahead of Team Tidö driver Richard Göransson.

But PWR Racing driver Emma Kimiläinen was ahead of them both until she made a mistake towards the end of the race, dropping from second to fourth.

Polestar Cyan Racing drivers Fredrik Ekblom and Thed Björk had a hard fight for fifth position with Björk passing Ekblom in the final half of the race, only for Ekblom to get back past as the rain made the track extremely slippery.

Kevin Aabol secured seventh position despite coming to a halt on the final lap, with team mate Rasmus Mårthen a lap down in eighth position.

Larsson’s victory keeps him, albeit only just, still in the title fight ahead of the season finale at Knutstorp in two weeks time. The BMW driver is 56 points behind championship leader Björk with 75 points left to fight for.

Björk’s closest rival in the championship is still Volvo team mate Ekblom who trails the reigning champion by 23 points.