Jimmy Eriksson wins dramatic first Knutstorp race as Tobias Brink spins

Jimmy Eriksson headed the first STCC race of the weekend at Ring Knutstorp from lights to flag, a dramatic race where championship leader Tobias Brink made an uncharacteristic mistake to spin while challenging for the podium.

Eriksson got a jump as the rolling start got underway while Brink Motorsport team-mate Brink was left to dry on the outside, with Volkswagen driver Alexander Graff snatching second place.

Brink tried to pass Graff on the outside into Turn 1 on lap four but braked too late and spun off into the gravel, rejoining last.

Exion Racing driver Graff defended second place sternly as a fast-starting Mikael Karlsson was right on the tail of him after Brink disappeared.

As the field headed out onto the last lap, Tesla driver Karlsson made a late move on Graff for second place. The two made contact, resulting in a spin for Karlsson and a damaged Volkswagen for Graff who was able to keep second place.

The main beneficiary of the incidents was reigning champion Robert Dahlgren, who had a tough qualifying, and the Cupra driver snatched third.

There was further drama on the last lap as Cupra driver Anton Marklund spun in a spectacular fashion at the “NGK crest”, making contact with the barriers.

Marklund was able to limp back over the finishing line, but dropped from seventh to eleventh.

Eriksson won the race in style, eight seconds ahead of Graff who claimed his maiden STCC podium.

Dahlgren came home in third, with Calle Bergman claiming his best STCC result with fourth for Exion Racing.

Viktor Gustavsson drove a smart race to finish fifth from the back row of the grid ahead of the BMW duo of Månz Thalin and Micke Bern.

Brink was able to gain three places after his spin to finish ninth ahead of team-mate Karlsson in ninth.

The second race of the weekend starts at 14:00 CEST.