Photo: WTCR

Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky targeting WTCR races in 2020

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Swedish touring car racer Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky is aiming to be on the grid in the 2020 season, following her third season in the Scandinavian touring car championship this year with PWR Racing.

The two-time race winner hopes to be on the grid potentially as a wild card, if not full season entry next year, but the 26-year-old says her main focus is to continue developing as a driver in Sweden this year.

“First of all, it’s great that PWR Racing are doing such a great job in WTCR,” said Åhlin-Kottulinsky in the latest edition of TCR World & Life.

“Of course, my goal is to do one of the races, and hopefully it’s something we’ll do next year.

“But at the moment, the plan is to stay here (in TCR Scandinavia) and keep on gaining experience, and building up my confidence. It’s tough here, and it’s also tough out there, so you need have the experience to be able to be consistent and competitive in a top-level championship.”

Åhlin-Kottulinsky opened her 2019 account at Knutstorp strongly, securing pole position for the first race, followed by a race victory, therefore leading the championship until a DNF in the second race.

“It’s great to be a part of the TCR Scandinavia championship, and I am so happy that they were able to put it together,” she said, reflecting on the previous organiser’s bankruptcy over the off season.

“It’s going to be tough to get good results here, as there are really very good drivers and it’s quite tight. You can see in the races there isn’t much difference in performance between the drivers, and at the Knutstorp it was a challenging weekend, but it was fantastic to take pole position and win the first race of the season.”

PWR Racing team owner and WTCR driver Daniel Haglöf, speaking earlier in the season, said:

“We always try to push women in motorsport. It’s a fantastic sport, as it’s where women and men can compete on the same basis, which is why we’re really trying to push Mikaela in TCR Scandinavia, and we hope we can see her on the WTCR grid in the future.”