Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky claims last-gasp pole position for season opener
Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky has claimed her first pole position in touring cars in a dramatic qualifying session at Knutstorp, setting the best lap at the final moment to deprive Andreas Ahlberg of what could have been a shock pole for Micke Kågered Racing.
Both PWR Racing drivers Robert Dahlgren and Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky were fastest in the first segment of qualifying, with Dahlgren setting a 59.963, three-tenths clear of his PWR Racing Cupra team-mate, while it was the Audi of Andre Kiil, the Volkswagen of Tomas Engström, the Alfa Romeo of Louise Frost and Peter Wallenberg’s Cupras which didn’t make the top eight cut-off.
Between Q1 and Q2, there was a sudden hail shower, which quickly gave way and the sun returned, but the track was now slightly more slippery than before.
As in the morning practice, it was Micke Kågered Racing’s Andreas Ahlberg who was fastest in the conditions, although his first laps were ten seconds off the dry pace of Q1.
Ahlberg’s time of 1:09.414 looked set to keep him on pole, until Åhlin-Kottulinsky’s final flyer, which saw her claim her first pole by one-tenth of a second.
Ahlberg would have to settle for second, with Tobias Brink qualifying third in his Audi RS 3 LMS.
Robert Dahlgren made a last-minute improvement to put his PWR Racing Cupra fourth, ahead of Andreas Wernersson’s Brink Motorsport Audi, with team-mate Hannes Morin sixth, meaning the Brink Audis have locked out the front row for Race 2.
Race 1 is scheduled for 13:10 CEST tomorrow, with Race 2 at 15:25.
