Photo: STCC

Johan Kristoffersson planned to help Fredrik Ekblom in the title fight

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Johan Kristoffersson admitted to backing off in the closing stages of his race three STCC victory at Falkenberg, after a puncture ended the race of Kristoffersson Motorsport team-mate Fredrik Ekblom.

Kristoffersson had a pact to stay behind long-time race-leader Ekblom in an attempt to take championship points away from series leader Robert Dahlgren in the PWR Racing SEAT.

But that plan went out the window when Ekblom slid off the track at the sweeping Esses at the back of the circuit with a front-left puncture.

And having seen the third KMS Volkswagen Golf GTI of Fredrik Blomstedt sail off the road with a front-left blow-out in race two, Kristoffersson was nervous the same fate would strike him late on in the final race.

“Fredrik and I had quite a straight-forward plan that, if he had a good start, I would try to keep Robert [Dahlgren] behind and steal some points off him,” Kristoffersson told TouringCarTimes.

“He was trying to take care of his tyres early on, but he was the one who got the puncture in the end.”

Wary of the characteristics of the Falkenberg circuit – a predominantly right-hand corner track with heavy loads on the left-front – KMS altered the set-ups on both Kristoffersson and Ekblom’s cars to try to mitigate against potential punctures.

Kristoffersson’s concerns were particularly justified thanks to running 45kg of success ballast throughout the weekend. Still the World Rallycross regular was overjoyed with an unexpected win.

He said: “Firstly, when Blomstedt had a puncture, we made a set-up change to try to prevent any more. Then when Ekblom had one I was worried because I was carrying a lot more weight in the car.

“It would have been nice if the safety car had stayed out for a few more laps because I started to smell the rubber in my car as well. So we decided to slow down a lot in the last laps, as did Robert to make it to the finish.”

He concluded: “Coming into the weekend with so much weight in the car, I definitely did not expect this sort of result at all.”

Kristoffersson currently trails Dahlgren by 12 points in the championship ahead of the fifth round of the series at Gelleråsen next month.