Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky finds the Cupra more to her liking after double points finish

Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky claimed her first points of the season at Anderstorp after two measured drives at the Anderstorp Raceway, working her way up from 13th on the grid in both races to ninth and eighth in her PWR Racing Cupra TCR, which she’s named “Britt-Marie”.

The 25-year-old just missed out in making the second part of qualifying by 0.078 seconds from Nicklas Oscarsson’s KMS Volkswagen, which relegated her to the midfield for the start of the day’s two races.

“I didn’t get the whole lap together in qualifying, otherwise I would have been in Q2,” she said to TouringCarTimes. “Of course, I was really disappointed, but I knew my starts were good so I thought let’s just have a good start, we have some good pace and then we’ll see.

“It was really nice to score points in both races, and in Race 2 I also had really good pace. I was struggling a little bit in Race 1 to keep my position, but I was more calm in the beginning to take care of the tyres. back down and let Ahlberg back past.

After a year in the Audi RS 3 LMS, Ahlin-Kottulinsky has switched to the Cupra TCR this year, which is more suited to the circuits on the STCC calendar, and herself.

“The Cupra definitely suits me better,” she said. “Now, two races with points finishes from P13, with good race speed, we’re having fun. My Cupra also has a name, it’s Britt-Marie, it’s very Swedish. I didn’t come up with it, we did it together in my little crew.

“I’m really happy, it was a perfect car. I’m really proud of my pace and I’m super-happy to be here this year.”