Race report, Race 1 Knutstorp:

Martin Öhlin put in a great effort at Ring Knutstorp to finish fourth, his best result in the STCC and with only one race weekend’s experience. Martin drove a flawless race and secured important points for himself and WestCoast Racing. He was also the best BMW driver in the race.
– I’m extremely pleased, I’m well and truly happy, says a satisfied Martin. Having a good race was important today. I lost a spot in the beginning but was able to dive down the outside and take it back. After that I chased Mattias and gained another spot when he spun off. Once again we proved that our speed during the races is good.

Martin will again start from fifth in the next race and he is looking forward to repeating his effort from the first race.
– Now I know how this works and I’m getting there slowly but surely. I just have to get a better start, but I’m sure we’ll work that out too. Having the inside line again in the next race feels perfect. It’s a good place to start, a happy Martin concludes.

Team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth was relieved after the race and was also very satisfied with Martin’s result.
– Martin has done a really good job today and got important points in the championship. This was the effort the team needed and Martin did it for us. We were able to show that we have two strong cars in the team and Martin finished best of the BMWs. The conditions for race two are also very good.

Results, top 8, race 1 Ring Knutstorp:
1: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen 19 varv
2: Tommy Rustad, Volvo + 0,466
3: Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet + 1,369
4: Martin Öhlin, BMW + 3,188
5: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 5,351
6: Colin Turkington, BMW + 6,524
7: Johan Sturesson, BMW + 6,767
8: Mattias Andersson, Alfa Romeo + 13,969

Race report, Race 2 Knutstorp

Martin Öhlin continued to deliver a strong effort in the second race of the weekend at Ring Knutstorp. Having made a brilliant start he was third in the race until four laps before the finish when he was pushed off and spun around by Johan Stureson in the last corner. This caused Martin to drop down to tenth.
– I’ll probably be very happy with this weekend and the speed I’ve shown tomorrow. Right now I’m incredibly disappointed and angry, that was my podium and I could have gone even higher. Losing a podium finish is never fun, but once I’ve slept on it I’ll be satisfied with our weekend.

Martin thought Stureson crossed the line in the incident, but will remember it for the future.
– I think Stureson saw a gap I didn’t know existed and which only he could see. I suppose he has his own version of events, but I’ll take this as a learning experience and remember it for the future.

Now Martin is looking forward to making more progress at the race at Mantorp in two weeks. He has already shown that he is a contender for the top spots.
– I have the speed to make it to the top. I’ve made the transition to the STCC now, I got a perfect start and saw a big gap on the inside which looked as though it were made for me. I still miss Richard a lot and hope he will be back soon, but we definitely have speed to build on. The others have seen that I’m going to be up there shaking things up now, Martin says.

Dick Jönsson Wigroth was also happy to see Martin do so well this weekend and see the speed he showed during the two days at Ring Knutstorp.
– We’re not exactly great fans of Stureson right now, but what goes around comes around, says Dick. It felt a bit tight but drivers are probably always likely to see any and all gaps no matter how small they may be. All in all this weekend still went better than expected. We’ve given Martin our full support and a fast car, and he did a flawless job with it. Things can only get better, I think. I guess everyone now understands why we don’t need another driver for a few races. Martin showed what we’ve believed all along, that he’s in it to fight for the top spots, Dick finishes.

The next race for the STCC will be at Mantorp Park in two weeks, but WestCoast Racing will be off for the premiere of the Swedish GT series as early as next weekend.

Results, race 2 Ring Knutstorp:
1: Mattias Andersson, Alfa Romeo 19 varv
2: Johan Stureson, BMW + 0,564
3: Colin Turkington, BMW + 1,145
4: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 2,381
5: Tommy Rustad, Volvo + 3,050
6: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen + 3,858
7: Jan Nilsson, BMW + 4,157
8: Andreas Ebbesson, BMW + 6,922
9: Jason Watt, SEAT + 10,723
10: Martin Öhlin, BMW + 10,824
11: James Thompson, Volvo + 11,856
12: Alx Danielsson, SEAT + 13,034
13: Joakim Ahlberg, BMW + 23,987
14: Tommy Lindroth, SEAT + 51,253
15: Viktor Hallrup, Chevrolet + 5 varv

DNF:
Tobias Johansson, Tomas Engström, Rickard Rydell, Roger Eriksson, Robin Appelqvist