TCR Scandinavia – Kristoffersson’s drivers win all
The fourth race meeting of the TCR Scandinavia took place at Falkenberg, where the Volkswagen Golf cars run by Kristoffersson Motorsport dominated the field as their three drivers – Fredrik Blomstedt, Fredrik Ekblom and Johan Kristoffersson – took one win apiece.
The first race was a frustrating affair, with a start-line incident that involved five cars and brought out the red flags. Of the drivers involved, only Ahlberg was able to limp back into the pits, while the cars of Andersson, Wärnelöv, Strandberg and Laaksonen were recovered by the marshals.
After a couple of laps behind the Safety Car, the race restarted with less than four minutes remaining. It was then a processional affair, with Blomstedt holding off Kristofferson to win, with Ekblom making it a Volkswagen 1-2-3. Series leader Robert Dahlgren finished fourth.
At the start of Race 2 Blomstedt and Kristoffersson began again to fight for the lead. The safety car was deployed when Ahlberg crashed at Turn 6 and at the restart Blomstedt and Kristoffersson cut the chicane to avoid contact. This enabled Ekblom to take the lead, while Dahlgren and Haglöf also moved up to second and third.
The leading quartet remained nose-to-tail for the whole race, with Ekblom successfully defending the lead from Dahlgren and Haglöf managing to keep Blomsted at bay for third.
Heat 3 saw the day’s third different race winner. Kristoffersson returned to his winning ways, taking victory by less than half a second over the series leader Dahlgren in a race that was dominated by punctures.
It was one of those punctures that denied Ekblom his second win of the day. After leading for much of the race, a deflated front-left tyre sent him into the barriers with only six laps remaining. Damage sustained during the second race - also caused by a front left puncture - had earlier meant Blomstedt was unable to take up his pole position for Heat 3.
The result means Dahlgren now leads the series by 12 points from Kristoffersson, with Ekblom a further 20 points adrift. The next event will be at Karlskoga on August 13th.
