16 cars set for STCC TCR Scandinavia opener at Ljungbyhed
The 2022 season of the STCC TCR Scandinavia championship starts this weekend at Ljungbyhed with a field of 16 cars, an increase of three cars compared to last year.
All eyes are on reigning champion Robert Dahlgren who obliterated the opposition last year, winning 11 of 18 races and missed the podium just three times.
“We are going to face tougher opposition this year with a lot of new drivers, cars and teams, just as the STCC should be,” said Dahlgren.
“But I feel strong and we’ve had a solid pre-season. My goal for the season opener is just the same as last year, to qualify on pole and win the race, there is nothing else for me.”
The Cupra driver is back with a new team-mate as Axel Bengtsson, coming straight from karting, replaces Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky who was unable to drive full season for PWR Racing due to her clashing Extreme E commitments.
The main opposition to the Cupra team will most likely be Brink Motorsport and Lestrup Racing Team, both fielding the new generation Audi RS 3 LMS.
Tobias Brink, who topped the Thursday test, has set his sights on the title, boosted by the new Audi machinery. The Audi driver has finished second or third overall for the past three seasons.
“We’re going for the gold and if Robert think he’s got an easy season ahead, he needs to think again,” said Brink.
“There is still plenty for us to learn about our new cars and that will be a challenge as our competitors have raced several seasons with their cars. But judging from the lap times during testing, we feel really strong.”
Another driver with his sights set on the top three overall is STCC stalwart Mattias Andersson who will start his 21st STCC season this year.
While he is a veteran to the championship, it’s only his second season in the Lynk & Co 03 TCR, a car that he finished fifth overall with last year.
“My life has of course changed since my first STCC season in 2001, but I’m just as eager to succeed now as then,” said Mattias Andersson.
“We know the car better than when we headed to the 2021 Ljungbyhed opener and we’ve strengthened our staff with an engineer who works with the cars in the WTCR. It’s going to be a tough year, but the conditions are there to clinch our first top three finish overall.”
There are several new teams and drivers in the championship this year.
Exion Racing has launched a strong two-car Audi programme for drivers Calle Bergman and Isac Aronsson.
Two Norwegian teams make their entrance to the championship this year with MSH Motorsport entering Rob Huff’s 2020 champion car for Marius Solberg-Hansen while Esbjug Motorsport returns the Honda brand with Didrik Esbjug.
The first race of the season is going to feature a new format of a single-lap super pole qualifying session, followed by one race of 18 laps.
The remaining race weekends will feature the format of last year with three races.
2022 STCC TCR Scandinavia entry list
2 – Robert Dahlgren – CUPRA Dealer Team – PWR Racing – CUPRA León Competición
7 – Oliver Söderström – Lestrup Racing Team – Audi RS 3 LMS II
13 – Christian Skaar – Team Auto Lounge Racing – Audi RS 3 LMS
14 – Dennis Strandberg – Team Strandberg – Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
16 – Calle Bergman – Exion Racing – Audi RS 3 LMS II
19 – Andreas Bäckman – Lestrup Racing Team – Audi RS 3 LMS II
20 – Mattias Andersson – MA:GP – Lynk & Co 03 TCR
23 – Didrik Esbjug – Esbjug Motorsport – Honda Civic Type R TCR
24 – Marius Solberg Hansen – MSH Motorsport – Volkswagen Golf GTI TCR
31 – Johan Lund – Team Auto Lounge Racing – Audi RS 3 LMS
33 – Rasmus Hedberg – FH Racing – CUPRA TCR
55 – Axel Bengtsson – CUPRA Dealer Team – PWR Racing – CUPRA León Competición
69 – Hugo Nerman – Brink Motorsport – Audi RS 3 LMS II
70 – Isac Aronsson – Exion Racing – Audi RS 3 LMS II
71 – Tobias Brink – Brink Motorsport – Audi RS 3 LMS II
77 – Dejan Dragicevic – Lights2Flag – Audi RS LMS
Ljungbyhed schedule
Times in CEST
Friday June 3rd
14:10 – Test 2
16:30 – Test 3
Saturday June 4th
11:00 – Shoot out qualifying
14:30 – Race (18 laps)
