Robert Dahlgren claims STCC pole and championship lead

”This is a start to the season that you dream of as a racing driver. I have been fastest in all sessions and we have only done some small changes to the car, I can’t wait until the races tomorrow,” said Dahlgren.

Dahlgren recorded the fastest ever lap time at the Skövde circuit with 49.479, breaking the qualifying lap record by over three tenths of a second.

Scott McLaughlin, who steps in for Prince Carl Philip this weekend, impressed by setting the second fastest time in Q1, just 0.181 seconds from Dahlgren, despite having no experience from the car or the circuit.

”My goal was to get into the top three and I’ve done that. I stuffed up my super pole lap in Q2, but overall it’s just great to get more laps in the car and I’m longing to get going in the races tomorrow, that’s why we're here!” said McLaughlin.

Four-time STCC champion Richard Göransson was third fastest in Q1 and second fastest in Q2, making it a Polestar Cyan Racing 1-2-3 in both sessions.

”We made some changes from practice to qualifying that didn’t work unfortunately. But this was nonetheless my best qualifying result in a good while and my speciality is the races, so I am confident for tomorrow,” said Göransson.

The first qualifying session, Q1, awards points to the championship, meaning that Dahlgren heads the standings on 25 points, with McLaughlin second on 18 points and Göransson third on 15 points.

”A perfect start which really is needed in such a short season as the STCC with seven race weekends. Robert did an outstanding job, further proving that he is the very best in qualifying and delivering when it matters. Scott did a great job as well coming to a completely new championship and straight away delivering for the team. I have no doubt that we will have two exciting races tomorrow and my tip is to keep an eye out for Göransson,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.

The grid for the first race is determined through the results of Q2, meaning Dahlgren on pole, Göransson second and McLaughlin fourth. The grid for the second race is determined by reversing the Q1 results, meaning Göransson starting from eighth position, McLaughlin ninth and Dahlgren tenth.

The first race starts at 12:40 CET tomorrow and is broadcasted live on SVT Play. Follow the team with behind the scenes updates through our Twitter channel: www.twitter.com/cyanracing

STCC Skövde Airport Race

Circuit: Skövde

Length: 2146 m

Lap record (STCC): 0:50.073, Björk

Results

Q1 – Top 5

1 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 49.479

2 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.181

3 Richard Göransson Volvo S60 +0.296

4 Mattias Andersson Dacia SE +0.496

5 Daniel Haglöf SEAT León +0.676

Q2 – Top 5

1 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 49.919

2 Richard Göransson Volvo S60 +0.152

3 Mattias Andersson Dacia SE +0.233

4 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.336

5 Linus Ohlsson Saab 9-3 +0.343

Test 1 – Top 5

1 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 49.870

2 Richard Göransson Volvo S60 +0.074

3 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.153

4 Mattias Andersson Dacia SE +0.439

5 Johan Kristoffersson SEAT León +0.456

Test 2 – Top 5

1 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 49.647

2 Scott McLaughlin Volvo S60 +0.039

3 Richard Göransson Volvo S60 +0.146

4 Linus Ohlsson Saab 9-3 +0.446

5 Johan Kristoffersson SEAT León +0.745

Schedule

(Times in CET)

Saturday 30/4

11:35 Test 1 (30 min)

14:35 Test 2 (30 min)

17:00 Qualifying Q1 (15 min)

17:20 Qualifying Q2 (20 min)

Sunday 1/5

12:40 Race 1 (20 min)

15:50 Race 2 (20 min)

TV Schedule

Sweden: SVT2 – 18:00 2/5

Live online: http://bit.ly/1XUFq0h

About Polestar

Polestar is the performance brand of Volvo Cars. The company was founded as a motorsport team in 1996 and has been successful in numerous championships, racing with various Volvo models. In 2009, Polestar started to offer performance related products and thereby intensified the business relations with Volvo Cars. The first performance cars, based on Volvo’s S60 and V60, were launched in 2014.

In 2015, Volvo Cars acquired the performance unit of Polestar, as a strong commitment towards a credible performance offer and with the mission to define future premium performance.

About Cyan Racing

Cyan Racing is the motorsport partner to Polestar. The company is owned by Christian Dahl and handles all motorsport operations of Polestar. Cyan Racing, formerly named Polestar Racing, has claimed five STCC drivers’ titles and seven STCC teams’ titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.