Photo: STCC/Anders Helgesson

Can anyone beat Robert Dahlgren in the Skellefteå twilight?

The STCC TCR Scandinavia field heads to Skellefteå Drivecenter Arena for the second round of 2021 in the twilight of the “Midnight Sun Race” in northern Sweden. And all eyes are on championship leader Robert Dahlgren and whether anyone can beat him on his home track.

The PWR Racing driver started the season in style at Ljungbyhed with two poles, two wins and a podium finish to lead the championship by 17 points over main rivals Oliver Söderström and Tobias Brink.

“The conditions are there for us to have a strong weekend again, but I know that our competitors will be stronger this weekend compared to Ljungbyhed,” said Dahlgren.

“The Skellefteå circuit is completely different to Ljungbyhed despite both being airport circuits. I’m heading there with a lot of confidence and I know that it suits our car well.”

While Dahlgren will carry maximum success ballast for the first race, Söderström and Brink are just 5 kilos lighter. And there seemed to be no stopping the Cupra driver last year at Skellefteå when he was also carrying a lot of weight.

Audi driver Brink had a strong weekend at Skellefteå last year as well and is keen for revenge this weekend after a trying season opener where he showed promising speed but failed to get into the top three in two of the three races.

Söderström has declared ahead of the race weekend that the Skellefteå circuit does not suit the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR but that there could be more to come despite that.

“We know that Skellefteå isn’t the best circuit for our Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs, but we have analysed the data from last year and know that there is a lot of room for improvement – this motivates me strongly,” said Söderström.

“If we can put all of this together, I’m confident our chances are much better this year. This is one of the best circuits on the calendar and I’m really pumped ahead of the weekend.”

STCC veteran Mattias Andersson claimed his first win with the Lynk & Co 03 TCR in the third, reversed grid race at Ljungbyhed. The MA:GP driver will run his car on 35kg of success ballast for the first race, 15kg less than Dahlgren, and cannot be disregarded from the top fight.

Dahlgren’s team-mate Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky looked set to challenge Andersson for the win in the third race at Ljungbyhed until she was eliminated by Andreas Ahlberg.

“I am for sure looking for a comeback this weekend after the crash in Ljungbyhed,” said Åhlin-Kottulinsky.

“The Skellefteå circuit is one of the very best circuits in Sweden and I know that we have the speed to challenge for the top three this weekend.”

The STCC weekend in Skellefteå starts with testing and qualifying on Friday, followed by three races on Saturday.

Schedule – Skellefteå
Times in CEST
Friday 18/6
11:40 – Test 1
15:00 – Test 2
20:20 – Q1
20:50 – Q2

Saturday 19/6
14:50 – Race 1
16:40 – Race 2
20:40 – Race 3