Mattias Andersson bounces back from suspension woes to top three

Mattias Andersson has claimed third position on the grid at Mantorp Park in his MA:GP Honda Civic TCR, despite missing out on the second practice session following a suspension issue.

Andersson had been second fastest to PWR Racing’s Robert Dahlgren in the first test in the morning, but just ahead of the second test the team discovered an issue with the suspension and had to dispatch a team to go back to their base for replacement parts.

It was an echo of the engine problem the team had earlier this year at Skellefteå, but this time instead of the 20-hour round trip, the MA:GP squad are based just 20 minutes down the road at Linköping.

“Our new suspension arrived 20 minutes before the session, and we just put it on, and it felt OK,” said Andersson.

“I decided to do some more laps in Q1 to get back some missing testing from Test 2, and we felt we would make it into Q2. We were quickest by a few hundredths and it felt good.

“In second qualifying, I did a very good lap on my first try, and then we went for another try, but maybe the tyre pressures weren’t perfect or I was pushing too hard, but we were a bit slower. But P3 and P4 on the grid tomorrow is good.”