Photo: Mediaempire.se/DTC Media

Will the entry list grow for STCC in 2009?

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The Swedish Touring Car Championship heads on to its 13th year of running in 2009. Is the championship thriving despite the financial situation or will we see a decreasing number of drivers and teams? The official entry list has not been released yet. Instead, TouringCarTimes have put together a list of confirmed entires and the expected ones, giving you a exclusive preview of the STCC 2009!

A lot of racing series are suffering from the current economical situation, with declining number of entries. But the Swedish Touring Car Championship is seemingly on a rise.

The number of entered cars has steadily been, with the exception of 2005, between 23 and 25 cars since 2004.

The STCC season 2008 saw 23 cars on the entry list, of which around 15 cars were full season entries.

The STCC started in 1996 and immediately became a success. The record year came only two years after the premiere, 1998 which saw 26 cars entered under the Super Touring rules.

Looking at the graph of entries in STCC, the curve is on the right way. But which way will 2009 turn the direction of the curve? Lets start with the so far confirmed entries:

Confirmed Entries


WestCoast Racing
BMW 320si
#1 Richard Göransson
#4 Robin Rudholm
WestCoast Racing fields a strong line up with returnee and tripple STCC-champion Richard Göransson and Robin Rudholm. Göransson caused quite a stir in the championship as he left rival team Flash Engineering for his old team WestCoast Racing.


Flash Engineering
BMW 320si
#3 Thed Björk
#6 Jan Nilsson
Double STCC-champion Thed Björk left Honda Racing and took over the seat from Göransson to team up with double STCC-champion Jan “Flash” Nilsson.


Polestar Volvo
Volvo C30
#5 Robert Dahlgren
#10 Tommy Rustad
The Polestar-team heads on to their second year of three in their programme appointed by Volvo. The team keeps the same drivers as last year, 2008 runner up Robert Dahlgren and Norwegian Tommy Rustad.


Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden
Chevrolet Lacetti
#7 Thomas Schie
Chevrolet Motorsport were early to confirm their participation in the 2009 season. Norwegian Thomas Schie continues as driver for the single Chevrolet Lacetti. The team stated earlier that the ambition was to run two Lacetti’s for 2009, but those plans seems to have been canned.


E-ON Volkswagen
Volkswagen Scirocco
#2 Fredrik Ekblom
Patrik Olsson
The biggest news for the STCC 2009 is the brand new E-ON Volkswagen team. Tripple STCC champion Fredrik Ekblom and STCC newcomer Patrik Olsson drive a pair of bio-gas powered Scirocco prepared by Tobias Johansson’s squad Brovallen Motorsport.


Opel Astra
#18 Viktor Huggare
Privateer Viktor Huggare has bought the Opel Astra that Tommy Rustad ran in the STCC 2007 for a crack at the privateers title of 2009. First and so far only privateer to confirm participation.

Likely Entries


MA:GP
Alfa Romeo 156
#11 Mattias Andersson
Mattias Andersson is more than likely to be on the grid with his Alfa Romeo 156 but has yet to confirm the entry officially.


IPS Motorsport
Peugeot 308
#9 Johan Stureson
Though not yet confirmed, the team has stated that they are working on continuing in the championship with Johan Stureson behind the wheel of a newly build Peugeot 308.


Nordic Fine Art
SEAT Léon
#12 Roger Eriksson
Roger Eriksson has not yet confirmed his participation in the championship. But the team has reported that they are working on getting on the grid, most likely as for many other teams it is down to getting the required funds.


Honda Racing
Honda Accord
#8 Tomas Engström
Despite running two cars last season, the Honda team is according to recent reports facing difficult times for 2009. At first strong rumors indicated that Italian Roberto Colciago would make his STCC return with the team. But recent reports indicate that team owner Engström could have difficulties getting one car on the grid for him self.

Rumored Entries


Dealer Sport
Saab 93
Jens Edman?
The newly build S2000 Saab 93 was shown in big style at the STCC 2008 final. Edman drove the car during the first shakedowns and tests. But Saab has given the project a cold hand and with the current financial situation the chances of seeing the car on the grid are looking grim.


Kristoffersson Motorsport
Audi A4
Johan Kristoffersson
Tommy Kristoffersson recently announced his retirement from STCC. The team has stated that they had plans of running Tommy Kristoffersson’s son, Johan. The team still has got at least one of the Audi A4’s in their possession, but Tommy Kristoffersson recently stated that the chances of getting a car on the grid for his son are small.


Mercedes C-Class
The indications that we will see a new Mercedes-team on the grid for the STCC 2009 have grown stronger. Roland Gingtorp is still pointed out as the main character for the building of the car. According to our information the Mercedes could be fitted with either a diesel engine or a bio-gas powered engine. However, the closer we get to the season start without any official word from the team, the more unlikely it is that this project materializes.

Privateers


A number of privateer drivers are expected for the Semcon Cup. The STCC organisation has developed a package where the drivers get 500 € in starting fee reduction per race, two free tyres from Yokohama per race, 75 liters of fuel from Aspen and 5.000 € in prize money.

A number of BMW’s should be on the grid. Rumors indicate that WestCoast Racing are preparing a pair of BMW 320i E46 for interested privateer drivers. Other than that the rumors have been rather quiet for the Semcon Cup.

Summary

Number of confirmed entries: 10
Number of likely entries excluding privateers: 14
Number of confirmed privateers: 1
Number of likely privateer entries: 3-6

Predicted number of entries: 15-20

It seems that the STCC is heading for fewer entries in 2009. But while the quantity of the field is decreasing, the quality at the top of the field is increasing.

WestCoast Racing, Flash Engineering, Polestar Racing all have two drivers each capable of fighting for the title. Chevrolet, Volkswagen and the Alfa Romeo of Andersson will fight for victories.

The season premiere is at the moment of writing this article 77 days away. Follow the build up for the season at TouringCarTimes!