STCC delays electric debut to 2024
Organisers of the STCC have confirmed that the inaugural season of electric racing in the series has been put back to 2024 as a result of ongoing delays with the production of the 12 all-new race cars.
The series announced it was to become the first national touring car championship in the world to switch to electric power just over twelve months ago, with cars being built up by Swedish company EPWR.
A seven-event schedule had originally been due to kick off on the streets of Helsingborg in mid-June, before a series of revisions ultimately led to the calendar being condensed to just three meetings running through September.
Those revisions were largely driven by supply chain issues that had affected the build of the new cars, with battery supplier STARD having suffered problems that left it unable to deliver the required systems in time.
However, with the clock ticking down to the opening event – and teams yet to carry out any running with the new cars – the decision has been taken to push the inaugural season back to 2024, with plans being formulated to ‘showcase the new race cars during the autumn’.
“As delays in the delivery of our new electric STCC cars unfortunately continues, we have chosen to change focus to the 2024 racing season and instead showcase our new cars during the autumn of 2023,” Micke Bern, CEO of STCC, said.
“We can only apologise to all involved parties and those who follow us that we could not carry out the 2023 season as planned. It is an advanced and ground-breaking project that is unfortunately susceptible to delays in the delivery of parts.
“We are working tirelessly towards 2024 and have not lost our commitment to this ground-breaking venture, rather the opposite. We have an extremely strong concept together with EPWR, but unfortunately, we cannot make the delays disappear.
“While the construction of the new race cars has not progressed far enough, it has come a long way and it won’t be long until we will be able to showcase a whole new generation of top-level racing to our fans, partners and spectators.
“We continue to work closely with the teams, partners, drivers, organisers, and the Swedish Motor Sports Federation to find the best possible solution for both the off-season and for the 2024 season.”
The prototype PWR0002 car will appear at the upcoming events at Knutstorp and Mantorp Park as work now gets underway on finalising a schedule for 2024.
“We stand behind STCC and EPWR’s investment in climate-smart top-level racing 100% and we are working hard to support them in the best possible way during the difficult situation that the delays have caused,” Anna Nordkvist, the Swedish Motorsport Federation’s General Secretary, said.
“We have a good dialogue with the STCC regarding the setup for 2024, with the ambition of finding an attractive and long-term calendar together with a majority of other high-profile Swedish championships.
“It is more important than ever that we find a long-term and clear path forward for Swedish top-level racing and STCC is a key part of this.”
