Robert Dahlgren rues tyre strategy despite race three pole at Anderstorp

Robert Dahlgren was left ruing an alternative tyre-warming strategy to PWR Racing team-mate Daniel Haglöf in qualifying for the penultimate STCC round at Anderstorp, despite claiming pole for Sunday’s final race.

Points leader Dahlgren had earlier topped the times in the second test by nearly half a second, but struggled to match Haglöf and the Kristoffersson Motorsport Volkswagen Golfs of Fredrik Blomstedt and Fredrik Ekblom.

A last-gasp effort in Q3 enabled Dahlgren to snatch the fastest time from Blomstedt and ensure a double-pole for the PWR Racing SEATs.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes, Dahlgren said: “Overall I can be pretty happy with the pole for race three, but I know there was a lot left in the car in Q1 and Q2.

“I’m disappointed with that, especially as we showed a lot of pace in the second test.”

Despite running the same tyre compound as Haglöf throughout the session, Dahlgren’s method of warming his rubber up over the first two segments differed to his team-mate.

Dahlgren believes this is what cost him a shot at pole position.

“The practice pace was really good,” Dahlgren said. “But I took a different tyre strategy to Daniel and it didn’t pay off for me. The way I was doing it, I thought was right, but when I saw my lap-times, I knew there was something wrong.”

With chief title challenger Ekblom alongside him for the first two races, Dahlgren believes a repeat of the Karlskoga weekend – where he claimed two out of three victories – is necessary to boost his championship aspirations.

“I’m really happy that I got pole for the third race as it gives me a bit of distance between myself and Fredrik,” Dahlgren said.

“You never know what KMS are going to be like in the race but we know they are a strong team. So if we can perform like we did at Gelleråsen, then that would be perfect,” he added.