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Mattias Andersson scores first pole since 2010 as Robert Dahlgren goes off

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Mattias Andersson scored his first STCC TCR Scandinavia pole position since the 2010 season finale, beating Andreas Bäckman by three tenths of a second.

Reigning champion and points leader Robert Dahlgren meanwhile went off during Q1 and could only manage sixth position. Things went from bad to worse in Q2 where he had his best time deleted for exceeding track limits and finished sixth.

This marks the first time since 2020 that Dahlgren has failed to score at least one pole during a STCC race weekend.

The first Q1 session saw Lestrup Racing Team driver Bäckman claiming pole for the first race ahead of Audi rival Hugo Nerman of Brink Motorsport.

Andersson was just two thousands of a second behind Nerman in Q1, with Tobias Brink in fourth and Oliver Söderström fifth.

Norwegian Volkswagen driver Marius Solberg Hansen had a tough Q1 session, having his best lap times deleted for crossing the white line at the final corner and will start 13th in the first two races tomorrow.

Andersson claimed pole in Q2 and five points to the drivers’ championship after setting a best lap time of 1:52.251, 0.317 seconds ahead of Bäckman.

16-year-old STCC newcomer Calle Bergman scored a sensational third place finish for Exion Racing, four tenths from pole position.

Söderström and Brink occupied positions four and five, 0.529 and 0.561 seconds behind respectively.

The first race of the weekend starts at 12:55 CEST tomorrow.