Photo: STCC

Fredrik Ekblom wins chaotic final twilight race at Mantorp

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Fredrik Ekblom claimed his first victory of 2015 in a chaotic final STCC race of the twilight event at Mantorp Park as the leading duo of Daniel Haglöf and Erik Johansson crashed five laps from the end.

BMW driver Erik Jonsson started from the reversed grid pole for the third straight time this year but was passed by Dacia driver Mattias Andersson into the first corner.

But the joy was short lived for the local driver who was penalised for jumping the start and dropped back through the field. Jonsson dropped back as well and was passed early on by Haglöf and Jonsson.

The fight for the lead was left between Kia driver Johansson and Saab driver Haglöf until five laps from the end. Haglöf got alongside Johansson in the final corner and the two went side-by-side into the first corner. But the pair didn’t manage to go through the corner successfully, but clashed and spun out from the race lead.

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The clash meant that the Volvo Polestar Racing duo of Ekblom and Thed Björk inherited first and second. Ekblom fought his way from tenth on the grid to third in the race before the incident ahead of him, with Björk fighting his way from eighth to fourth.

Emma Kimiläinen ran an anonymous race, staying out of trouble to secure third place and her second podium finish of the year behind the Volvo duo.

BMW driver Fredrik Larsson had a tough race where he spun off early in the race and dropped to last position. He managed to get back up on track and climbed to fourth position ahead Andersson who recovered to fifth from his penalty earlier in the race.

Another driver to receive a penalty was Richard Göransson whose dreadful season continues. The Team Tidö driver turned Jonsson into a spin in the fight for third position, resulting in a drive through penalty for the four-time champion. Göransson finished sixth ahead of Haglöf in seventh who managed to get out of the gravel trap after the incident with Johansson.

Björk continues to lead the championship but with Ekblom climbing to second place, 25 points behind while Larsson is third, 40 points behind.

The STCC continues in two weeks at Falkenberg on July 10-11th.