Photo: STCC Media

Tobias Brink takes Audi’s first win in the STCC in 11 years

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Tobias Brink won the second race of the day at Anderstorp, leading reigning champion Robert Dahlgren’s PWR Cupra and the Volkswagen of Fredrik Ekblom to secure the first win for an Audi in the STCC since Thed Björk at Falkenberg in 2007.

Mattias Andersson led the race from pole position in his MA:GP Honda Civic TCR ahead of Brink, who got the jump on his team-mate Micke Ohlsson into Turn 1.

The race was soon suspended behind the safety car as a number of cars went wide at Norra, including Race 1 winner Philip Morin, whose PWR Cupra was stranded in the gravel trap.

When the race restarted, Dahlgren quickly passed Ekblom’s Volkswagen for fourth down the back straight, with the Cupra of Daniel Haglöf and the Lestrup Volkswagen of Andreas Wernersson also following the #1 Cupra through.

A lap later and Andersson’s challenged ended as the Honda driver went wide at the final corner with a front-right puncture, handing Brink the lead.

On lap eight, Wernersson made a lunge at Haglöf around the outside of Turn 1, which left the door open on the inside for Ekblom who was able to pass the Lestrup Racing driver – while championship leader Haglöf then went straight off into the gravel at turn end of the back straight with a puncture, and returned his Cupra into the pits for new tyres.

With two laps to go, Micke Ohlsson dropped out of second place with a loss of pace in the Audi, allowing Dahlgren, Ekblom, Wernersson and Kristoffersson through.

Ohlsson had to fight to keep the PWR Cupra of Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky behind, while team-mate Brink went on to win the race by two seconds.

Andreas Bäckman followed up his first points in Race 1 with another points finish in Race 2, and also was the top classified JTCC driver, with KMS’s Hugo Nerman and Lestrup’s Oliver Söderstrom completing the top ten.

Dahlgren now leaps into the lead of the drivers’ standings on 73 points, 12 points clear of team-mate Daniel Haglöf heading to the next round of the STCC at Falkenberg in three weeks’ time.