Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky looking forward after tough Anderstorp

Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky was downbeat after a difficult race day at Anderstorp, with fifth place in the first race as her best result of the day in her PWR Racing Cupra TCR.

The 26-year-old went in with full compensation weight due to both hers and Robert Dahlgren’s speed during the first round at Knutstorp, as well personally carrying another 10kg due to her points success that weekend, winning the first race of the season.

Åhlin-Kottulinsky qualified fourth overall, just under half a second behind Dahlgren, who showed lightning pace throughout the weekend, but after falling behind Tobias Brink’s Audi in Race 1, she was forced to spend the entire race defending to keep back would-be Race 2 winner Andreas Ahlberg’s Volkswagen.

In Race 2, the situation was the same, this time trying to keep back Andreas Wernersson’s Audi, but a mistake saw her drop to the back of the field, and with an unprecedented no DNFs across the whole weekend, had her work cut out for her just to get back into the points with tenth.

“We had a tough Sunday. Unfortunately, we didn’t find the right set-up, that’s how it is sometimes,” she said to TouringCarTimes.

“The speed was not there that I hoped for. Race 1 was a struggle, and Race 2 was even more a struggle, so it’s been a hard Sunday.

“We really have to work hard to get the car back to where it should be, and everything that is, I’m not perfect either.

“(Looking to the next race) Skellefteå is going to be interesting – it’s a new track for all of us, so I’m looking forward to the next weekend and will take with me what I can learn from today.”