Robert Dahlgren doubles up at Knutstorp for 50th STCC win
Robert Dahlgren made it two wins from two at Knutstorp with another comfortable win in the second STCC TCR Scandinavia race, which was once again held in wet conditions, claiming his 50th career STCC win.
The Cupra driver once again led the field into turn one when the lights went out, with team-mate Axel Bengtsson slotting into second after jumping the Audi of Andreas Bäckman off the line.
Bäckman would then lose third, with Tobias Brink fighting his way ahead whilst a forceful move from Oliver Söderström saw him force Hugo Nerman off across the grass.
Nerman’s race would then go from bad to worse when he clashed with newcomer Johan Lund having dropped down the order.
At the front, Dahlgren was able to take full advantage of the squabble between Bengtsson and Brink to establish a handy lead at the front, with the second of the PWR Cupras coming under huge pressure from the Audi behind.
Brink would eventually manage to find a space up the inside on the exit of turn one to grab second spot shortly before the safety car was deployed to recover Nerman’s Audi, which had ground to a halt on the circuit on the run through the final corner.
Dahlgren retained the lead on the restart ahead of Brink, with the man looking to make up ground once again being Mattias Andersson, who swept ahead of Söderström going into turn one to take fifth spot.
However, he undid his work the following lap, going too deep into turn one and taking a trip through the gravel to slip down outside the top ten.
Dahlgren duly ticked off the final laps to secure the win with a buffer of little over three seconds by the time the flag dropped ahead of Brink and Bengtsson, with Bäckman having to settle for fourth.
Söderström took fifth ahead of Marius Solberg Hansen, with Isac Aronsson crossing the line in seventh. However, a time penalty for unfair driving dropped the Exion Racing Audi back behind Andersson’s Lynk & Co, which had emerged from a heated battle with Calle Bergman and Didrik Esbjug in the closing stages.
Bergman would eventually cross the line in ninth after a moment for Esbjug on the penultimate lap cost the Honda driver momentum in the fight for position.
Aside from Nerman, Christian Skaar’s race would also end early when he put his Audi off into the gravel with Dennis Strandberg’s Volkswagen also pulling off to retire.
