STCC confirms new “midnight sun” race in northern Sweden from 2019
The Scandinavian Touring Car Championship will introduce a new racing spectacle from 2019, after a ten-year contract was signed with the Skellefteå Drive Centre in Norrland in the north of Sweden, where the sun is still up at midnight.
The Skellefteå Drive Centre, a former military airfield, will host Sweden’s first “midnight sun” race in 50 years, with construction of a new permanent circuit underway at the venue.
“We are finally back in Norrland, Sweden’s largest landscape, with the re-introduction of the Midnight Sun race,” said STCC chairman Hans Bååth. “This is an important part of the long-term strategy of the STCC and in working toward a calendar that have set dates that people can plan toward many years in advance.”
The circuit has been designed by TTI GmbH, headed by former Formula 1 driver Alexander Wurz, who raced for Benetton, McLaren and Williams during his ten-year F1 career. Current champion Robert Dahlgren has also simulator tested the new track design.
“This will undoubtedly be one of the best circuits in Scandinavia,” said Dahlgren. “I have competed on many circuits around the world and this has all the ingredients needed. It’s fast, challenging, has great overtaking possibilities and will have an incredible atmosphere when we drive in the dusk just before midsummer next year.”
The event is scheduled to take place on June 15th-16th 2019, with the 2019 season opener already confirmed to take place, as it will this year, at the Knutstorp circuit on 4th-5th May 2019.
