Polestar Cyan Racing drivers Thed Björk and Fredrik Ekblom shared the top spots in the two qualifying sessions of the 2015 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship season finale at Knutstorp.
Björk was fastest in Q1, securing 25 points to the championship, with team mate Ekblom just 0.024 seconds behind in second place.
”This was no doubt my best and most vital qualifying result for a very long time. I am very much pleased to extend my points lead, but there are still two races left and anything can happen,” said Björk.
The Q1 pole for Björk means that the points gap to Ekblom has been extended to 30 points with 50 points left to be fought for in the final two races tomorrow. BMW driver Fredrik Larsson meanwhile has been eliminated from the title fight as he only managed fourth position.
Triple STCC champion Ekblom came back in Q2, beating team mate Björk to pole position for the first race with a margin of 0.223 seconds.
”The margins were just not on my side and I am obviously not pleased to lose points on Björk. We are going to analyse this overnight and try to get back tomorrow,” said Ekblom.
Prince Carl Philip continued to improves his lap times from testing, setting a personal best in Q1 to claim sixth fastest time and seventh fastest time in Q2.
”I am really pleased to claim my second Q2 session. We have been able to improve the car steadily during the day and I look forward to the races tomorrow,” said Prince Carl Philip.
Ekblom needs to take 15 points on team mate Björk in both races in order to claim the title. The first race of the 2015 STCC season finale starts at 12:30 CET tomorrow.
STCC Knutstorp
Circuit: Knutstorp
Length: 2079 m
Lap record (STCC): 0:58.364, Fredrik Ekblom (2014)
Results
Q1 – Top 5
1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 57.936
2 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 +0.024
3 Emma Kimiläinen Saab 9-3 +0.123
4 Fredrik Larsson BMW SR +0.246
5 Richard Göransson Saab 9-3 +0.488
...
6 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 +0.746
Q2 – Top 5
1 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 58.113
2 Thed Björk Volvo S60 +0.223
3 Richard Göransson Saab 9-3 +0.551
4 Emma Kimiläinen Saab 9-3 +0.844
5 Mattias Andersson Dacia SE +1.102
...
7 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 +1.401
Schedule
Friday 25/9
10:20–10:50 Test 1
13:10–13:40 Test 2
16:00–16:15 Q1
16:20–16:40 Q2
Saturday 26/9
12:30–12:55 Race 1
15:20–15:45 Race 2
Championship standings – Top 5
1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 336 points
2 Fredrik Ekblom Volvo S60 306 (-30)
3 Fredrik Larsson BMW SR 267 (-69)
4 Richard Göransson Saab 9-3 219 (-117)
5 Mattias Andersson Dacia SE 190 (-146)
…
9 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 61 (-275)
TV Schedule
Online/Live: www.svtplay.se
TV: SVT2 27/9 18:00
2015 STCC Calendar
08-09/05 Skövde Airport
29-30/05 Anderstorp
25/06 Mantorp Park
10-11/07 Falkenberg
14-15/08 Karlskoga
11-12/09 Solvalla
25-26/09 Knutstorp
Penalty weights for Knutstorp
+30 kg – Thed Björk
+30 kg – Fredrik Larsson
+30 kg – Daniel Haglöf
+20 kg – Fredrik Ekblom
+10 kg – Richard Göransson
Celebrating 20 years in Swedish Motorsport
1996 – 2015
7 Driver Titles – 1996, 1997, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014
8 Team Titles – 2002, 2003, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015
Driver titles
1996 STCC – Jan ”Flash” Nilsson
1997 STCC – Jan ”Flash” Nilsson
2009 STCC – Tommy Rustad
2010 STC Cup – Robert Dahlgren
2012 TTA – Fredrik Ekblom
2013 STCC – Thed Björk
2014 STCC – Thed Björk
Team titles
2002 STCC – Nilsson/Sandström
2003 STCC – Nilsson/Krokström
2009 STCC – Rustad/Dahlgren
2010 STCC – Rustad/Dahlgren
2012 TTA – Ekblom/Björk
2013 STCC – Ekblom/Björk
2014 STCC – Ekblom/Björk/Bernadotte
2015 STCC – Ekblom/Björk/Bernadotte