Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky thought pole lap was too slow

Knutstorp Race 1 pole-sitter Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky has said she believed her pole position lap wasn’t good enough after making a mistake on her final run, after making the switch to wet tyres.

The topsy-turvy session saw many cars out of position, with 2017 champion Robert Dahlgren struggling on slicks on his PWR Racing Cupra TCR as many teams misjudged the conditions after a short hail shower.

Åhlin-Kottulinsky had opted for a mixed set-up on her first run, and while team-mate Dahlgren copied her tyre arrangement on his run, she switched to full wets, and that proved key to her securing her first outright pole position in the championship.

“That was a crazy qualifying,” said Åhlin-Kottulinsky. “It was quite tricky. We tried with slicks on the front and rain tyres on the rear, but I just had no grip on the front. When I came in, they asked what I wanted and I said rains on the front. It was still quite slippery.

“It was really all down to the the last lap – the team told me to push a little on my out lap, but I also made a mistake on my lap, so I told them when I crossed the finish line ‘oh, it was not good, I made a mistake’ and they came back to me and told me I was P1!”

“It’s a good feeling, I’m super-happy for myself and the team.”