Tobias Brink makes it a double win in restarted second Ljungbyhed race

Tobias Brink has claimed the STCC points lead after a strong double win in the second race of the weekend at Ljungbyhed, a race which was restarted after a start crash.

Tesla driver Brink claimed the lead as the lights went out and it all kicked off behind him as BMW driver Månz Thalin hit the back of Alexander Graff, sending them both off track.

PWR Racing’s Axel Bengtsson also braked too late heading into Turn 1 and hit the back of Mikael Karlsson who spun Bengtsson’s team-mate Robert Dahlgren. Bengtsson and Thalin received five-second penalties for the incidents.

The chaos continued into Turn 2 as Micke Bern hit Jimmy Eriksson, an incident which eliminated them both as well as Exion Racing driver Linus Ohlsson.

The safety car headed out on track at the end of the first lap, later stopping the field on the main straight as the track had to be cleared.

The main winner of the start chaos was STCC newcomer Jonathan Engström who emerged in third place as the dust settled behind the leading Brink Motorsport duo of Brink and Karlsson.

Title challenger Dahlgren (Cupra) had to pit due to a damaged rim, but managed to rejoin the field on the same lap, albeit at the very back of the field.

The race was restarted behind the safety car, with Brink assuming control ahead of team-mate Karlsson.

Anton Marklund of PWR Racing fought his way up to fourth place ahead of Graff and Dahlgren in the final part of the race.

But Brink held firm control of the race with team-mate Karlsson close behind and the Tesla duo claimed a commanding 1-2, close to seven seconds ahead of Engström to secured a strong third place on his STCC debut.

Brink has emerged as new championship leader, just two points ahead of Dahlgren and seven points ahead of Karlsson. Former points leader Eriksson’s dreadful weekend dropped him to fourth place in the standings, 23 points from the lead.

The next STCC race will take place on the streets of Helsingborg on August 24.