Photo: STCC

Johan Kristoffersson quickest in opening Solvalla test

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Johan Kristoffersson continued his excellent recent STCC form by recording the fastest time in the opening practice session at Solvalla in his KMS Volkswagen Golf.

The 2012 champion set a time of 45.227 to edge Fredrik Blomstedt in the second of three KMS VWs by four-hundredths of a second, with PWR’s Robert Dahlgren third, a further tenth behind in his SEAT León.

Kristoffersson set the early pace on a track that was still incredibly green with a time of 45.338s, nearly four tenths quicker than team-mate and championship leader Fredrik Ekblom.

Behind the leading quartet, Daniel Haglöf rounded out the top five in the second PWR SEAT, ahead of ex-V8 Thunder Car driver Andreas Ahlberg.

The best of the Hondas was Mattias Andersson in seventh, just over five-tenths off Kristoffersson’s best lap, while problems struck Marcus Annervi in the Rent-a-Wreck Civic.

The reigning Clio Cup champion stopped on the entrance to the pit lane with 15 minutes of the session gone, but eventually managed to limp it back to the pits. The Falkenberg-local spent the next 25 minutes off-track as his team attended to the car.

Annervi finally made it back out, and he posted the tenth quickest time, nine-tenths behind the pace-setting VWs.

The one-hour session certainly had its moments with notable off-track excursions for Albin Wärnelöv – whose Lestrup Racing VW Golf GTI ground to a halt on the exit of turn two late in the session – and Reuben Kressner in the Audi RS 3 LMS on the exit of the final corner.

Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky spun her Audi RS 3 at the last turn with ten minutes remaining but managed to continue, setting the 17th fastest lap-time.

Out front, Kristoffersson and Blomstedt exchanged fastest times, with Blomstedt heading to the top of the standings with 25 minutes remaining. Kristoffersson – fresh from a second World Rallycross victory of the season and as yet unbeaten in the STCC this year – responded with an even quicker time to finish the session on top.

The best of the Audis was Finnish driver Joonas Lappalainen in the Kart in Club entry in 11th. The much heavier RS 3 has been tipped to struggle in the point-and-squirt nature of Solvalla and this was reflected in the practice times, with Brink Motorsport drivers Tobias Brink and Micke Ohlsson sandwiching Kressner in 12th and 14th respectively.

The next practice session at Solvalla takes place at 16:20 CET.