Mantorp podium a great boost for 2018 says Andreas Ahlberg

Andreas Ahlberg believes his maiden Scandinavian Touring Car Championship podium in the first race at Mantorp Park can kick-start further success into 2018.

The Micke Kågered Racing driver finished third behind Lestrup Racing’s Andreas Wernersson and race winner Fredrik Ekblom (Kristoffersson Motorsport) to secure his first top three finish of the season, in the team’s home race.

Speaking to TouringCarTimes, an elated Ahlberg said: “Absolutely amazing, we had been struggling so hard all year to reach this moment, especially at our team’s home race.

“If there is one race you need to be strong in, it’s your home race, in front of friends, family and sponsors. To do it at the final round is also nice as this helps going into next year. It’s been 20 years of hard work to get to this point, a trophy in the STCC and it feels great.”

Ahlberg’s progress to the final step on the podium came towards the end of a stop-start encounter – red flagged on the first lap due to a start-line crash.

He was then able to make ground at the restart, despite suffering damage to his Volkswagen Golf GTI following contact with Ekblom’s KMS team-mate Fredrik Blomstedt. Once in third, he managed to keep Daniel Haglöf’s PWR Racing SEAT León behind in a nail-biting final lap.

Ahlberg said: “Haglöf was quite aggressive on the final lap, so I knew I just had to keep it clean and stay ahead of him. I also had some damage to the front of the car after my contact with Blomstedt at the restart. The car was making strange noises and was shaking like hell under braking.”

He added: “I was really lucky there was a yellow flag at the end of the long straight. We didn’t have many racing laps after the restart. The cars in front were quick and I tried to keep my head cool and take my chance when it came.”