Prince Carl Philip and Thed Björk wins the Swedish GT premiere

2017-05-05

Prince Carl Philip and Thed Björk started the Swedish GT season in the best possible way by claiming pole position and victory, beating the field of Audi, Ferrari, McLaren and Porsche drivers at Knutstorp in Sweden with their Volvo S60 Polestar race car.

Thed Björk claimed pole position for the first race despite rain hitting the track just minutes before qualifying. He then headed the field in his first race stint, pulling up a strong gap before handing it over to team-mate Prince Carl Philip.

“I am very happy to follow up my WTCC victory at Monza last weekend with this victory together with Prince Carl Philip. The car worked really well in the wet and I could hand over the car while leading, exactly as we planned. Prince Carl Philip drove really well and we have an exciting day ahead of us tomorrow,” said Thed Björk.

The Polestar Cyan Racing team called in Thed Björk for the driver change just as the safety car went out on track, handing Prince Carl Philip a big lead over the closest GTA class competitor.

Prince Carl Philip maintained the lead, winning the race by more than 16 seconds over the McLaren pair of Erik Behrens and Daniel Roos and 45 seconds over Audi driver Jan Brunstedt.

“The season could not have started in a better way. We managed to claim pole and win the race despite difficult conditions. The team did a really good job with the car and Thed proved that he is a four-time STCC champion. I am looking forward to the second race tomorrow, driving alone will of course mean a different strategy,” said Prince Carl Philip.

The victory has the par in the championship lead ahead of the second race tomorrow in which Prince Carl Philip will drive alone, starting second, with Thed Björk acting as advisor from the pits.

“A season opener victory is always great. Not only for the points, but also as a morale boost for the entire team to hit the ground running. Prince Carl Philip, Thed and the entire team did a really good job today,” said Alexander Murdzevski Schedvin, Head of Motorsport at Polestar.

Follow the team during the second race at Knutstorp live timing, live commentary and more on our new Swedish GT site: http://swegt.polestar.com

STCC Knutstorp

Circuit: Ring Knutstorp

Length: 2079 m

Lap record (STCC): 0:58.184 (Kristoffersson)

Results

Race 1 – Top 5

1 Bernadotte/Björk Volvo S60 29 laps

2 Behrens/Roos McLaren 570S +16.457

3 Larsen/Rosén Ginetta G55 +30.186

4 Brunstedt Audi R8 LMS Ultra +44.965

5 Mäkinen/Krüger Ferrari 458 +1 lap

Qualifying 1 – Top 5

1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 1:05.709

2 Oscar Krüger Ferrari 458 +1.101

3 Philip Morin Porsche Cayman +1.910

4 Daniel Roos McLaren 570S +2.541

5 Fredrik Larsson Ferrari 488 +2.570

Qualifying 2 – Top 5

1 Jan Brunstedt Audi R8 LMS Ultra 1:05.282

2 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 +1.885

3 Kari Mäkinen Ferrari 458 +2.634

4 Erik Behrens McLaren 570S +3.359

5 Linus Pröjtz Porsche Cayman +4.057

Championship standings

GTA – Top 5

1 Thed Björk Volvo S60 26 points

2 Carl Philip Bernadotte Volvo S60 25 (-1)

3 Jan Brunstedt Audi R8 LMS Ultra 20 (-6)

4 Kari Mäkinen Ferrari 458 15 (-11)

4 Oscar Krüger Ferrari 458 15 (-11)

5 Ingvar Mattsson Ferrari 488 12 (-14)

5 Fredrik Larsson Ferrari 488 12 (-14)

Schedule

(Times in CET)

Thursday 4/5

16:00 Test (60 min)

Friday 5/5

11:00 Qualifying (30 min)

16:20 Race 1 (35 min + 1 lap)

Saturday 6/5

15:15 Race 2 (28 min + 1 lap)

TV Schedule

SVT 1 – Live 15:15 CET (Race 2)

https://www.svtplay.se

2017 Swedish GT Entry List

No – Driver – Team – Car

GTA Class

7 – Kari Mäkinen – Euroracing – Ferrari 458

7 – Oscar Krüger – Euroracing – Ferrari 458

11 – Toni Persic – TPR Motorsport – Chevrolet Camaro

13 – Carl Philip Bernadotte – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60

13 – Thed Björk – Polestar Cyan Racing – Volvo S60

98 – Jan Brunstedt – JB Motorsport – Audi R8 LMS Ultra

99 – Ingvar Mattsson – Mattsson Motorsport – Ferrari 488

99 – Fredrik Larsson – Mattsson Motorsport – Ferrari 488

GTB Class

20 – Philip Morin – Mtech Competition – Porsche Cayman GT4

20 – Linus Pröjtz – Mtech Competition – Porsche Cayman GT4

21 – Håkan Ricknäs – Ricknäs Motorsport – Porsche Cayman GT4

21 – Thomas Martinson – Ricknäs Motorsport – Porsche Cayman GT4

31 – Hans Söderholm – Ricknäs Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT4

31 – Marcus Söderholm – Ricknäs Motorsport – Porsche 911 GT4

45 – Krister Andero – TBA – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

50 – Thomas Belfrage – Euroracing – Ferrari 360

51 – Peter Larsen – Primus Racing – Ginetta G55

51 – Johan Rosén – Primus Racing – Ginetta G55

60 – Franck Århage – Århage Racing – Porsche 911 GT3 Cup

65 – Bror Ellfolk – TBA – Ginetta G55

65 – Niclas Lindström – TBA – Ginetta G55

88 – Erik Behrens – Alfab Racing – McLaren 570S

88 – Daniel Roos – Alfab Racing – McLaren 570S

2017 Swedish GT Calendar

Date Circuit Country

04-06 May Knutstorp Sweden

07-09 July Falkenberg Sweden

11-13 August Karlskoga Sweden

01-03 September Anderstorp Sweden

14-16 September Mantorp Park Sweden

Contact Details

Johan Meissner, Press Manager

johan.meissner@polestar.com

+46(0)70 241 3234

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 was founded as a motorsport team in 1996 and has been successful in numerous championships. The company is owned by Christian Dahl and handles all motorsport operations of Polestar. Cyan Racing, formerly named Polestar Racing, has claimed seven STCC drivers’ titles and eight STCC teams’ titles with the Volvo 850, S40, C30 and S60.