Daniel Haglöf takes the win from Philip Morin in Karlskoga Race 1

PWR Racing Cupra driver Daniel Haglöf has taken his second win of the season in the first race at Karlskoga, leaping into second place in the standings as he finished ahead of team-mate Philip Morin, with KMS’s Johan Kristoffersson completing the podium.

Morin held the lead at the start in his Cupra TCR ahead of Haglöf, while a slow start for reigning champion Robert Dahlgren from third saw him quickly passed by a fast-starting Kristoffersson in his Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR.

The top two began to break away while Kristoffersson defended against Dahlgren, but a problem at Turn 1 for the Cupra driver saw him passed by the Lestrup Racing Volkswagen of Andreas Wernersson.

The pass for the lead happened on lap nine, as Morin ran deep into Turn 1, with Haglöf diving down his inside to take the lead.

Haglöf began to pull away while Kristoffersson and Wernersson closed up on Morin, with Kristoffersson having one opportunity to pass Morin on the penultimate lap, but was unable to complete the move at Turn 1.

Haglöf went on to win the race by two seconds over Morin, with Kristoffersson third. Wernersson finished fourth with Dahlgren fifth.

Tobias Brink was the best-placed Audi in sixth, while Mattias Andersson finished the race in tenth after losing a few spots due to an error on lap two.

The only retirement from the race was Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky. The PWR Cupra driver slowed out of ninth on lap seven and headed to the pits, with the team working under the bonnet to try and resolve a technical issue. This could spell trouble for the Cupra driver’s Race 2 pole position later this afternoon if an engine change is required.

Dahlgren continues to lead the championship on 124 points, while Haglöf is now just 18 points behind before this afternoon’s second race at 15:20 CEST.