Johan Kristoffersson fastest again in second Solvalla test
Johan Kristoffersson emerged as the quickest driver in the second STCC practice session at Solvalla, beating his Kristoffersson Motorsport (KMS) team-mate Fredrik Blomstedt by just two-hundredths of a second.
Fredrik Ekblom completed a KMS Volkswagen lock-out with the third fastest time.
PWR’s Robert Dahlgren was again best-of-the-rest with fourth in his SEAT, while his team-mate Daniel Haglöf finished a disappointing eighth.
The KMS driver went fastest straight away, first with a 44.542 – which put him three-tenths quicker than team-mate Ekblom – and then a 44.431 to break clear of the new second-placed VW of Andreas Ahlberg.
Ahlberg slipped back to sixth by the end of the session but showed enough promise in the Micke Kågered Volkswagen to be a threat in qualifying.
Held back by the international TCR Balance of Performance (BOP) regulations, the Audi RS 3s had initially fared much better than they did in opening practice. Young Finn Joonas Lappalainen was the quickest in ninth with Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky recovering from a spin in first practice to finish 11th.
However, all other Audis were resigned to the first four places outside the top 10, leaving them in a pracarious position ahead of qualifying.
Mattias Andersson was once again the highest-placed Honda in fifth, with Marcus Annervi – who suffered a potentiometer issue in first practice – ending the session tenth.
The final turn hairpin continued to catch some drivers out, with both Olli Kangas in the LMS Racing SEAT and Fredrik Blomstedt’s KMS Volkswagen rotating into the gravel trap within the opening 20 minutes.
After breaking a driveshaft at the end of first practice, Lestrup Racing’s Albin Wärnelöv failed to take part in the second session.
Qualifying at Solvalla takes place at 18:40 CET
