Tobias Brink wins wet final race at Skellefteå

Tobias Brink has taken his first win of the 2021 TCR Scandinavia championship season in the final race of the day at the Skellefteå Drivecenter Arena, while Robert Dahlgren is happy with second, significantly extending his lead in the standings this weekend.
The track conditions had changed significantly since Race 2, with rain now falling heavily on the circuit ahead of and during the ten-lap encounter.
Andreas Ahlberg started from pole position for the partially reversed grid race in his Kågered Racing Volkswagen ahead of the rival Volkswagen of Mikael Karlsson.
Karlsson was sluggish at the start and was quickly passed by Brink’s Audi, with Brink’s teammate Hannes Morin passing him for third a few corners later.
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky was now next behind Karlsson, after the PWR Racing CUPRA driver had made a great start from seventh, but she was shoved aside with contact from Oliver Söderström’s Lestrup Racing Team Volkswagen on lap two at Turn 5, which allowed Race 1 and 2 winner Dahlgren’s CUPRA past the pair of them and up to fifth - while Söderström was soon handed a warning.
Dahlgren then passed Karlsson’s Golf for fourth at Turn 1 at the start of lap three, and set about chasing the top trio.
Karlsson soon began to lose ground, struggling in the wet conditions, allowing his Volkswagen teammate Söderström through a few corners later, as well as Åhlin-Kottulinsky’s Leon, and continued to drop down the order.
Up front, Ahlberg was caught and passed by both the Brink Motorsport Audi cars, and soon fell back towards Dahlgren, who made his move at the first corner again on lap six. Dahlgren had time for one more quarry, passing Morin at the hairpin on lap seven distracting him by flashing as he approached, with Morin running wide at the turn.
Brink’s gap was now six seconds, which was halved by the finish, but still allowed the 32-year-old to grab his first win since Mantorp Park last October, with Dahlgren and Morin completing the podium.
Brink’s win, coupled with a poor run for MA:GP’s Mattias Andersson, who struggled in the conditions on his way to ninth, means Brink is now up to second in the standings ahead of the Lynk & Co driver, though now 39 points adrift of Dahlgren in the drivers’ championship.
The next round takes place at the Gelleråsen Arena on August 21-22.

Skellefteå – Race 3
1. Tobias Brink (Brink Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 10 laps
2. Robert Dahlgren (PWR Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 2.878
3. Hannes Morin (Brink Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 8.660
4. Andreas Ahlberg (Micke Kågered Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 11.843
5. Oliver Söderström (Lestrup Racing Team, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 13.134
 

Championship points
1. R. Dahlgren 123 pts; 2. T. Brink 83; 3. M. Andersson 81

Picture: TCR Scandinavia