Robert Dahlgren delighted to finally show true pace with Anderstorp pole

2017 champion Robert Dahlgren said he was delighted to have secured pole position at Anderstorp, validating the pace the PWR Racing showed but was ultimately unable to make use of last month at Knutstorp.

Dahlgren, who with the five points for pole position now moves from fifth to third in the championship standings ahead of team-mate Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, said

“We were strong in Knutstorp, but we didn’t get the results which we had the speed on my car,” he said to TouringCarTimes.

“Today, we wanted to do a really good job, and we had the speed from the first lap, in terms of set-up the car was there, or thereabouts.

“My Q1 lap was good; in Q2 I made a mistake on both my runs, the exact same mistake and at the exact same corner which cost me about two-tenths.

“Looking ahead to tomorrow; our car felt really good this morning in FP1, it felt really racy, so that’s what we’re going back to for tomorrow. Thinking of the race, the Honda is really good at the start and it’s a short run down to Turn 1, but I feel comfortable we’ll be strong in the races.

“My plan tomorrow is to win both races. Or at least get away from here with the most points possible. Today was a good day in terms of the speed of the car, and it’s not very often you can make a mistake and still be on pole position.”

Dahlgren will have to start behind a mixture of Volkswagens, Cupras, Audis, Hondas and the new Hyundai for tomorrow’s second race in order to secure the double-victory.

“It’s a long straight here and some of the cars I haven’t raced against before. Jessica (Bäckman) I’ve raced against, but not her car – so a few things will make it interesting tomorrow; we’re not going to walk away with it, we need to do the job.”