Martin Öhlin scored two points by finishing ninth in the second race of the day at Mantorp Park. He started in 14th place and quickly moved himself into the points. Once there he had a race-long fight with Patrik Olssons turbocharged Volkswagen and was unable to pass on the long straights.
”Extremely frustrating to be behind their turbocharged cars. As soon as we are close to the tiniest of straights he just got a gap, then I caught him in the corners and it all started over again. It felt very frustrating,” Martin said.

He scored two points after the dissapointment in the first race where he got pushed off track at the start.
”Not the weekend we expected but this is how it went after what happened in the first race. At least we got a few points, much less than we expected and thought we would get but that’s how it goes. I’ll come back for Gothenburg,” Martin concludes.

Team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth felt WestCoast Racing had a tough weekend at Mantorp despite showing they continue to have the pace and be the pace setters among the BMW’s.
”Once again we qualified as the best BMW and we expected a lot of points from the races. We are of course not satisfied with two points. But Martin showed that Knutstorp wasn’t a one time thing, he is strong and there’s no doubt we have the speed. That will pay off sooner or later this season,” Dick says.

Next race in STCC is Gothenburg City Race in three weeks time.

Result, race 2 Mantorp Park:
1: Jan Nilsson, BMW 14 laps
2: Tommy Rustad, Volvo + 1,137
3: Tomas Engström, Honda + 9,188
4: Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet + 9,598
5: James Thompson, Volvo + 10,218
6: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen 10,948
7: Roger Eriksson, SEAT + 12,182
8: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 13,149
9: Martin Öhlin, BMW + 13,545
10: Colin Turkington, BMW + 13,802
11: Johan Sturesson, BMW + 13,968
12: Mattias Andersson, Alfa Romeo + 20,174
13: Tobias Johansson, SEAT + 23,508
14: Tomas Faraas, SEAT + 23,696
15: Joakim Ahlberg, BMW + 24,289
16: Viktor Hallrup, Chevrolet + 1 lap
17: Robin Appelqvist, Alfa Romeo + 1 lap

DNF:
Alx Danielsson, Andreas Ebbesson

Martin Öhlin had a tough start in the race as he was pushed off track at the start and rejoined last in the field. A drive through penalty shortly after meant he lost even more ground and he finished a distant 14th.
”A shitty race to be honest. It was over already at the start when Mattias Andersson pushed me off and I went out in the grass. There you are a passenger and I couldn’t do anything to prevent rejoining in the middle of the field. For some strange reason I also got a penalty and then my race was over”. Martin said.

He will now line up 14th for the next heat and will recharge for a tough challenge.
”I will have a long way to go in the next race but the goal is to score some points. I just hope I won’t be pushed off again.”

Team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth feels the team was worth more and agrees with Martin that the race basically ended in the first corner.
”There was nothing Martin could do, he got pushed off in the start and our race was over. I have no idea why we also got a penalty but there’s nothing we can do about that anyway. We hope for a better second race, we have great race pace but we must start getting some points out of it now,” Dick summarizes.

Mantorp Park, race 1:
1: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen 14 laps
2: Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet + 0,742
3: Tomas Engström, Honda + 4,376
4: Jan Nilsson, BMW + 6,324
5: Roger Eriksson, SEAT + 9,009
6: James Thompson, Volvo + 9,306
7: Tommy Rustad, Volvo + 12,039
8: Alx Danielsson, SEAT + 14,943
9: Viktor Hallrup, Chevrolet + 16,025
10: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 16,230
11: Tobias Johansson, SEAT + 16,383
12: Thomas Faraas, SEAT + 16,721
13: Andreas Ebbesson, BMW + 27,276
14: Martin Öhlin, BMW + 36,112
15: Johan Sturesson, BMW + 2 varv
16: Joakim Ahlberg, BMW + 2 varv

DNF:
Robin Appelqvist, Mattias Andersson, Colin Turkington

Martin Öhlin once again performed strongly in qualifying, placing himself seventh overall and best of the BMW as action kicks off at Mantorp. Martin had the fifth best time in the first qualifying segment, easily going through to the second round where he finished with the seventh best time.
”A good qualifying, we are best of the BMW’s and it’s looking good for qualifyin,” Martin says.

He will line up seventh on the grid and after the testdays on Thursday and Friday he looks forward to the races tomorrow.
”It’s important that we are the best rear wheel drive car. The car feels really strong, we know we have a good car for the races and found some new things during the test days that makes me look forward to the races. It’s a good start to the weekend”
Qualifying, top eight:
1: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen 1:21.664
2: Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet + 0,015
3: Tommy Rustad, Volvo + 0,081
4: Tomas Engström, Honda + 0,236
5: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 0,267
6: Mattias Andersson, Alfa Romeo + 0,396
7: Martin Öhlin, BMW + 0,579
8: Colin Turkington, BMW + 0,714

After a good weekend at Ring Knutstorp where Martin Öhlin were the fastest BMW-driver both in qualifying and race it’s now time to get a grip of the third race weekend in STCC. This time Mantorp Park awaits and this is the third consecutive race weekend for Martin.
“There’s a lot of racing right now which is fun,” he says. “I’m looking forward to Mantorp, it’s another track where I’ve tested before the season with the BMW and it will be a lot of fun to drive the STCC-car again.”

Martin got a lot of attention at Knutstorp where he was the only driver in the team and impressed both in qualifying and in the races. But for Martin this makes little differenc for this weekend.
“We will just build on what we have started. I don’t feel any added pressure, the team gives me fantastic support and the only thing I care about right now is to follow the plan we did for the year and have fun at the race weekends”

WestCoast Racing team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth is also looking forward to the weekend and aims for the team to have another effective race weekend.
“Martin exceeded all our expectations at Knutstorp but that doesn’t change anything for Mantorp”, he says. “We will continue to work in the same way and direction which is something we can see leads to results. We know we have a very good car but Mantorp with its´ long straight is tough for us. We will have to get everything right but I’m sure we will give the other a run for their money again.”

The weekend starts with an official testday for the STCC teams on Thursday followed by free practice and qualifying on Friday and with the two races on Saturday.

Time schedule Mantorp Park:

Thursday 19/5
09.00 Test
12.00 Lunch
13.00 Test

Friday 20/5
14.15 Test
16.20 Qualifying, Q1
16.45 Qualifying, Q2

Saturday 21/5
09.20 Warm up
12.00 Gridshow
13.05 Race 1
15.35 Race 2

Television schedule – STCC

Viasat Motor
Saturday 21/5
12.30 STCC-studio show
13.05 Race 1, STCC
15.25 Race 2, STCC

SVT
Sunday 22/5
17.00 SVT1. Weekend recap

Weight list – Mantorp Park
1225 kilo BMW 320si E90 [6 speed SQ-box] 1210 kilo BMW 320si E90 [5 speed H-box]
1210 kilo Volkswagen Scirocco
1205 kilo Chevrolet Cruze
1199 kilo Volvo C30
1190 kilo Alfa Romeo 156
1180 kilo SEAT León TFSi
1160 kilo SEAT León TFSi [Jason Watt] 1130 kilo Honda Accord
1120 kilo BMW 320i E46

It’s been three weeks since Richard Göransson arrived back home Sweden after his violent crash in the season opener of STCC at Jyllandsringen in Denmark. After three weeks of rest Richard has gone through the first extensive medical exam including x-rays and the reigning champion is recovering well.
”It’s looking good and heals well according to the doctors”, Richard says. ”This is a nice thing to hear after three weeks of resting.”

Doctors have estimated the time for revocery to three months and there’s still over two months to go before a possible comeback according to the doctors. Richard Göransson is in constant contact with the team and was assisting them over the phone during the STCC-weekend at Knutstorp. But the reigning champion is starting to feel restless.
”Martin did an awesome job at Knutstorp, I was present over the phone during the weekend but it was no fun at all having to follow the action from the couch at home instead of being there myself. I know I need to rest right now to continue to heal and recover but it’s very passive and I’m starting to get restless. I’m not ready at all for retirement and will work hard to come back. It was a nice message from the doctors but it’s still literally a long way to go.”

WestCoast Racing team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth is happy there are continued positive news about Richards recovery.
”We are supporting Richard as much as we can but the most important thing is for him to rest right now and recover at his own pace”, Dick says. It’s very encouraging that the healing is looking good, I’m conviced it’s a huge advantage that Richard is as physically fit as he is for the recovery. We are looking forward for him to get back in shape and return to the team.”