The final Scandinavian Touring Car Championship (STCC) qualifying session of 2016 at Knutstorp saw Robert Dahlgren gaining six points on team-mate and title rival Richard Göransson.
Dahlgren was second fastest in the Q1 session while Göransson only managed fourth, meaning that the championship lead was reduced from 16 to ten points.
”I will go on full attack tomorrow, but the mission is tough. I need to be aggressive and take some risks, something I wanted to avoid. We were strong in qualifying but Richard has the advantage on grid positions,” said Robert Dahlgren.
The drama begun already in the first test when the clutch failed for Göransson, meaning that he missed the entire session. The four-time champion got revenge in the second test by being fastest, only to be beaten by Dahlgren in Q1.
But things took yet another twist in the Q2 session when Göransson secured the second fastest time as Dahlgren failed to take part in the session due to a battery issue.
”I wasn’t happy with the car in qualifying, but that is the way it is. At least I am starting ahead of Robert in both races and overall I have a good feeling,” said Richard Göransson.
Prince Carl Philip qualified eighth in Q1 and sixth in Q2, equalling his best so far qualifying result in the STCC.
”It was really wet in the beginning of qualifying and changeable conditions, meaning different lines for each lap. I think we still managed to get a good setup and we’ll see how far that takes us tomorrow, it is going to be a really interesting day,” said Prince Carl Philip.
While Dahlgren gained points on Göransson in the championship, the latter has got a clear advantage for the two races tomorrow, starting P2 and P7 compared to Dahlgren’s P8 and P9.
”The STCC season finale follows its traditions of being completely unpredictable. We expect full attack from both drivers in both heats, I can’t see anything else being on their minds right now,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.
Watch the final races of 2016 live on svtplay.se and follow the team behind the scenes at: stcc.polestar.com
STCC Knutstorp
Circuit: Knutstorp
Length: 2079 m
Lap record (STCC): 0:58.364, Ekblom
Results
Q1 – Top 5
1 Johan Kristoffersson SEAT León 1:05.721
2 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 +0.324
3 Daniel Haglöf SEAT León +0.353
4 Richard Göransson Volvo S60 +1.115
5 Philip Morin SEAT León +1.290
…
8 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 +1.961
Q2 – Top 5
1 Johan Kristoffersson SEAT León 1:05.532
2 Richard Göransson Volvo S60 +1.160
3 Philip Morin SEAT León +1.234
4 Björn Wirdheim Saab 9-3 +1.320
5 Daniel Haglöf SEAT León +1.609
…
6 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 +2.084
8 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 DNS
Schedule
(Times in CET)
Saturday 24/9
12:55 Race 1
14:40 Race 2
TV Schedule
Live SVT1 12:45 24/9
Live online: http://bit.ly/29jLagV
SVT1 17:00 25/9
Championship standings
Drivers – Top 5
1 Richard Göransson Volvo S60 277 points
2 Robert Dahlgren Volvo S60 267 (-10)
3 Johan Kristoffersson SEAT León 210 (-67)
4 Björn Wirdheim Saab 9-3 193 (-84)
5 Daniel Haglöf SEAT León 180 (-97)
…
10 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 70 (-207)
Team – Top 5
1 Polestar Cyan Racing 593 points – Champions!
2 SEAT Dealer Team 459 (-134)
3 Flash Engineering 381 (-212)
4 Dacia Dealer Team 182 (-411)
5 Brovallen Design 127 (-466)
2016 Scandinavian Touring Car Championship Entry List
Driver – Team – Car
Robert Dahlgren – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60
Richard Göransson – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60
Carl Philip Bernadotte – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60
Johan Kristoffersson – PWR Racing – SEAT León
Philip Morin – PWR Racing – SEAT León
Daniel Haglöf – PWR Racing – SEAT León
Björn Wirdheim – Flash Engineering – Saab 9-3
Reuben Kressner – Flash Engineering – Saab 9-3
Linus Ohlsson – Flash Engineering – Saab 9-3
Mattias Andersson – Dacia Dealer Team – Dacia SE
Rasmus Mårthen – Brovallen Design – Ford Mondeo
Scandinavian Touring Car Championship 2016 Calendar
31-1/5 Skövde Airport Race
26/5 Mantorp Park
18-19/6 Anderstorp
09-10/7 Falkenberg
13-14/8 Karlskoga
02-03/9 Solvalla
23-24/9 Knutstorp
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.