An authoritative victory for Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky

Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky claimed an authoritative lights-to-flag victory on a slippery track, in the opening race of TCR Scandinavia at Ring Knutstorp.
2017 champion Robert Dahlgren beat Tobias Brink in a close fight for the second position and completed a 1-2 finish for PWR Racing.
It was raining when Åhlin-Kottulinsky sprinted from pole position to take the lead from Brink, Dahlgren, Andreas Wernersson, Andreas Ahlberg and Hannes Morin. Mattias Andersson spun after a contact with Dahlgren and dropped at the back of the field. At the end of the first lap the safety car was deployed to recover Andre Kill’s Audi that had stalled on the grid.
The race resumed on lap 4; Brink and Dahlgren were fighting for the second place, while Ahlberg overtook Wernersson for fourth; Morin skidded off the track and rejoined in eighth position.
The track began to dry and on lap 6, Dahlgren overtook Brink for second, then the pair began to close in on the leader. Åhlin-Kottulinsky’s margin was reduced to eight tenths on lap 13, but Mikaela was able to respond, increased her pace and pulled out again while her teammate struggled to keep Brink at bay.
Race 2 will start at 15:25 (CET) with Morin and Wernersson filling the front row of the top-six reverse grid; live streaming at www.tcr-series.tv.

Race 1
1. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (PWR Racing, CUPRA), 19 laps
2. Robert Dahlgren (PWR Racing, CUPRA), 2.073
3. Tobias Brink (Brink Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 2.506
4. Andreas Ahlberg (Micke Kågered Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 5.767
5. Andreas Wernesson (Brink Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 6.005

Championship points
1. Åhlin-Kottulinsky 30 pts; 2. Dahlgren 20; 3. Brink 18