Söderström leads the TCR Scandinavia standings

Lestrup Racing driver Oliver Söderström leads the TCR Scandinavia championship standings after winning Race 1 at the Gelleråsen Arena, and then picking up a third and a fourth in the remaining two races, which were won by PWR Racing’s Robert Dahlgren and Kågered Racing’s Andreas Ahlberg.
Söderström started Race 1 from pole position alongside his teammate Rob Huff, but Huff dropped three spots at the start, while Tobias Brink in his Audi RS 3 quickly moved ahead of Söderström’s Golf to lead in the early stages. A mistake on lap nine allowed Söderström the opportunity to retake the lead, meanwhile Huff was recovering, passing Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky, Emil Persson and then eventually Brink to finish the race with a Lestrup 1-2 – only to be handed a five-second penalty post-race for contact with Brink, which dropped him to fourth in the final order. Åhlin-Kottulinsky’s race ended with broken suspension after contact with Ahlberg, and her car was repaired with parts from Peter ‘Poker’ Wallenberg’s CUPRA, which ruled the 61-year-old out of the rest of the day.
In Race 2, Brink led the way from pole ahead of Dahlgren and Huff, in what was a more laid-back race. Unfortunately for Brink, the Audi driver was deemed to have jumped the start, which meant he would have 20 seconds added to his time, which ruled out any chance of victory. Behind him, Dahlgren was keeping Huff a safe distance behind until the final two laps, when the Briton closed in, but ultimately ran out of time to make a pass, leaving the reigning champion to score his first win with the new Leon Competición, with Huff second and Söderström completing the podium after having worked his way past Åhlin-Kottulinsky and Mattias Andersson.
The top eight were reversed for Race 3, which gave Ahlberg pole position, and he made the most of it, pulling away from the pack as Andersson made one of his typical fast starts from fourth on the grid and was up to second. From there, Andersson kept the field behind him, with Persson harrying the Honda lap after lap to no avail. The Lestrup Racing pair of Huff and Söderström were working together to make their way forwards, both passing Åhlin-Kottulinsky into Turn 1 on lap eight for fourth and fifth, and then were able to pass Persson on the penultimate lap, with Huff securing third and Söderström fourth.
Söderström’s strong weekend sees the 22-year-old lead the championship standings by four points over 2012 world champion Huff, with last year’s champion Dahlgren just three points further behind.
TCR Scandinavia will resume at Skellefteå on August 28/29.

Race 1
1. Oliver Söderström (Lestrup Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 17 laps
2. Tobias Brink (Brink Motorsport, Audi RS 3 LMS), 7.235
3. Emil Persson (Kågered Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 7.525
4. Rob Huff (Lestrup Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 10.031
5. Robert Dahlgren (PWR Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 12.677

Race 2
1. Robert Dahlgren (PWR Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 17 laps
2. Rob Huff (Lestrup Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 0.249
3. Oliver Söderström (Lestrup Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 5.890
4. Mikaela Åhlin-Kottulinsky (PWR Racing, CUPRA Leon Competición), 10.616
5. Mattias Andersson (MA GP, Honda Civic Type R FK2), 13.374

Race 3
1. Andreas Ahlberg (Kågered Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 17 laps
2. Mattias Andersson (MA GP, Honda Civic Type R FK2), 2.894
3. Rob Huff (Lestrup Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 3.154
4. Oliver Söderström (Lestrup Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 3.337
5. Emil Persson (Kågered Racing, Volkswagen Golf GTI), 3.959

Championship points
1. Oliver Söderström 52 pts; 2. Rob Huff 48; 3. Robert Dahlgren 45

Picture: TCR Scandinavia