Johan Kristoffersson in strongest position yet after Rudskogen rain display

KMS Volkswagen’s Johan Kristoffersson heads to the season finale at Mantorp Park in two weeks’ time in command of the STCC standings after a double-victory at Rudskogen, ruling in the wet as the PWR Racing Cupras struggled in the conditions.

Kristoffersson launched from sixth to second at the start in Race 1 and took five laps to finally pass reigning champion Robert Dahlgren’s Cupra TCR, which was unable to keep up with the World Rallycross champion, who romped to victory over 11 seconds clear.

In Race 2, it took a bit longer to work his way forwards from fifth due to the strong pace of Lestrup Racing Team’s Andreas Wernersson, but after a tight battle on lap 11, Kristoffersson emerged in the lead through the first sequence and then went on to win by nearly three seconds, his third win of the season.

As a result, the championship has quickly turned around in the second half of the season after Robert Dahlgren was strongest throughout the first half of the season.

A pair of podiums for the 2017 champion means he’s still in tight contention heading to the finale, 14 points behind.

Championship underdog Andreas Wernersson goes to the season finale also in a strong position, 34 points back with 55 points available at the season finale, while Daniel Haglöf is the last driver in technical contention, 50 points behind.

All points however are based on PWR Racing’s exclusion from the Karlskoga round still standing, which is currently subject to appeal.

“It is really difficult to start with these cars in the wet, and I got a really good start (in Race 1), claiming second place straight away,” said Kristoffersson.

“I had good pace in the race, so a big thanks in the team that gave me a really good car. It was a fun fight during the race, much better than in the dry conditions.

“(In Race 2) I started fifth instead of sixth compared to the previous race. I had a good start but so did many others so I didn’t gain that many places. After that, I saw Robert (Dahlgren) coming up from behind and I thought that I had to gain positions. I chased Andreas for quite a while and he had a strong pace, and I was quite pleased with second and didn’t want to risk anything. I made an attempt into Turn 1 and it worked. The car worked really well, once again a big thanks to the team. It was great to have the speed today.

“Anything can happen at the finale weekend. I gained 14 points on Robert this weekend, and there is nothing saying that he can’t gain 15 points on me next weekend. I will just have to hope for rain at Mantorp.”