Cupra on full weight, Audi on zero for season start

PWR Racing will have a challenge ahead this weekend as they start their teams’ title defence, as the Cupra-equipped squad have been allocated to carry 60kg of compensation weight this weekend, while their expected chief rivals, Brink Motorsport, will run ballast-free Audis.

The TCR Scandinavia Touring Car Championship is continuing to use the STCC system compensation weight system, which uses a rolling calculation, and unlike other series which sets the weight at 60kg for all cars the first two rounds of the season, given the championship’s short calendar, it opts to include the cars’ performance from the previous season for the first round.

This means the Cupras will carry 60kg of weight, while the Volkswagen Golf GTI TCRs will carry 50kg this weekend at Ring Knutstorp based on the performances of the three leading Volkswagen teams late last year, which have now left the championship. Although the compensation weight maybe subject to recalculation during the weekend.

The three Audis of Brink Motorsport, and the Brovellen Design entry of Andre Kiil, will all run with no weight this weekend, which could give the squad the upper hand – combined with the signing of Andreas Wernersson, formerly a driver with Lestrup Racing, and Johan Kristoffersson’s former engineer Ronnie Bergström to work with him.

The Honda Civic TCR of Mattias Andersson and the Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCR of Louise Frost are also running at 0kg along with the Audis.

Free Practice 1 provided no insight into the relative pace of the cars due to the weather disruption, with Andreas Ahlberg nearly three seconds faster than the field in his Volkswagen.