Photo: STCC

Andreas Wernersson takes shock pole in storm-hit Mantorp qualifying

By

Andreas Wernersson has claimed pole position for the Lestrup Racing Team at Mantorp Park in a remarkable qualifying session, which was hit halfway through by storm “Knud” and abandoned, handing the 23-year-old his first career pole.

There was limited opportunity to set a fast lap during the first ten minutes after Andreas Bäckman in the WestCoast Racing Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR went off in the first sector, with the green flags waved again with 12 minutes remaining.

Wernersson was the first driver under 1:21, quickly pipped by championship leader Robert Dahlgren in the PWR Racing Cupra TCR, before Wernersson snatched it back, setting the new lap record in the process with a time of 1:20.411.

The dark clouds were closing fast however and the drivers rushed to try to break into the top 12, with PWR Racing’s Åhlin-Kottulinsky missing the cut on her final run by 0.025 seconds and came back into the pits for fresh tyres for a final attempt with four minutes remaining.

At that point, the storm hit the track hard, with stands, tents and awnings all being blown over in the seriously fast winds.

All cars were back in the pits and Q1 timed out, with the race director taking the decision to red flag the session and abandon Q2, with the grid set based on Q1’s result, but with no championship points awarded.

Wernersson therefore claims his first pole, and will start on the front row ahead of JTCC title contender Hugo Nerman in the KMS Volkswagen Golf, with Robert Dahlgren third in the PWR Racing Cupra TCR.

Daniel Haglöf will start fourth in his Cupra TCR, with Fredrik Ekblom fifth fastest for WestCoast Racing.

Mattias Andersson qualified the sole Honda in sixth ahead of championship contender Johan Kristoffersson’s Volkswagen, with PWR Racing’s Philip Morin eighth, Lestrup Racing Team’s Oliver Söderström ninth and with Brink Motorsport Audi driver Tobias Brink tenth and securing pole position for Race 2.

The first race of the weekend is scheduled for 12:50 CEST on Saturday.