Marcus Annervi accepts race one penalty but set for pit lane start in second race

Marcus Annervi has admitted that he has “no complaints” with his five-second penalty for avoidable contact during the first Scandinavian Touring Car Championship race at Solvalla.

The Rent-a-Wreck Racing driver was involved in several mid-field incidents during a hectic opening race of the weekend, and was penalised by the stewards for displaying “unfair driving”.

Annervi, who started tenth, engaged in a fierce battle with the fast-starting Audi RS 3 of Tobias Brink heading into turn one. But the pair made contact under braking, sending Brink spinning round as they exited the corner.

Brink eventually made an impressive recovery to claim a point in tenth, while Annervi finished 14th after a stop-and-go penalty in the pits.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes, Annervi said: “The penalty is what it is. The first incident with Brink was avoidable, I just locked my brakes and we made contact. There wasn’t much I could do but I take the penalty”

Annervi also damaged the radiator of his Honda Civic when he hit the rear of the Micke Kågered Volkswagen of Andreas Ahlberg at the same corner, as well as the Audi of Joonas Lappalainen.

“He [Ahlberg] overtook me on the long back straight and I was about to cut back to the inside, but he braked so much earlier than I thought he would and I hit the rear of his car,” Annervi said.

He added: “We broke the cooler at the front after that, so we are trying to get it fixed for race two, which I hope we can.”

Despite having finished sixth in the Team LMS Audi, Joonas Lappalainen was unimpressed with Annervi’s driving thorughoutthe race.

“He [Annervi] was a bit crazy in that race. He came up to the back of me and hit me in the rear and then in the side. Then he got the penalty when he hit the Audi off the track,” Lappalainen told TouringCarTimes.

For Brink, the relief of scoring a point after his early spin was evident.

He said: “We are just happy to get something from the weekend. It was a tough race, but I was lapping only two-tenths off Dahlgren and was catching the guys in front.

“I had a great start but then just heard a ‘boom’ in the rear and I spun. I’m pretty satisfied with the comeback to tenth though,” he added.

Annervi’s team were ultimately unable to get his Honda Civic repaired with enough time to spare and will start the second race of the day from the pit lane.