Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky has it all to do from the back at Knutstorp

PWR Racing’s Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky has had a tough start to her 2018 STCC season after an engine issue in qualifying meant she failed to set a lap, and will start from 21st and last for both of Saturday’s races.

The 25-year-old had shown pace in testing, eight-tenths behind her pace-setting team-mates in the first session in the Cupra TCR before a turbo issue saw the team forced to replace it ahead of qualifying.

The issues continued in qualifying however, with Åhlin-Kottulinsky failing to set a timed lap, returning to the pits with the team confirming she’ll have to change the engine for race day.

“It went on just two cylinders on my last outing,” said Åhlin-Kottulinsky to TouringCarTimes.

“It’s a shame. We had a good FP1, and then we had our troubles start in FP2. The guys and girls did a great job to put the car together for qualifying, and we’ve had good speed; it would have been even worse if we were starting from the back of the field and we had no speed, so we can overtake a few cars and take it from there.

“I think I would have had a good shot to be in Q2, but sometimes you have the luck with you, and sometimes not.”