Fredrik Lestrup and Lars Stugemo advanced 14 positions in the GT Masters race at Nürburgring and finished 19th from 33rd on the grid. As expected GT there was another tight and tough GT Masters race and the WestCoast drivers stayed out from trouble and steadily climbed during the race. Lars Stugemo drove the first stint and could gain a few places before handing over to Fredrik Lestrup.
“It was hard but I wanted to give Fredrik an intact car,” Lars said. “We could take advantage of others mistakes and climb and finish with a car without any scratches. Fredrik did a great job and could gain a lot of positions for us during his stint.”

Fredrik Lestrup drove the last stint and could climb fron 30th to 19th at the finish. He was among the fastest of the race during his stint and was pleased afterwards.
“It was completely crazy and a lot of fun. I was cautious in my stint and didn’t take any risks. Despite that I could overtake quite a few cars and to gain 14 positions and finish 19th is pretty ok. The important thing today was to finish and get experience and that we did. The car felt good during the whole race and it’s in perfect order for tomorrow which is more to be said for some of the others. We will try and push a bit more tomorrow,” Fredrik says.

They will start 16th tomorrow and Fredrik Lestrup will drive the first stint. Team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth is pleased with the teams first GT Masters race.
“Now we’ve gotten this out of the way. We finished the race with an intact car and has learned a lot which was the goal today. We have a lot to look through but it feels good to have finished our first GT Masters race without any problems,” he said.

The second race starts 12:00 tomorrow Sunday.

Result, download file GT Masters Nürburgring race 1.

As expected the qualifying at Nürburgring was challenging and exciting. WestCoast Racing drove its first qualifying in GT Masters. The 50 minute long qualifying session is divided into two parts of 20 minutes with a 10 minute break in between. The first qualifying determines the grid for the Saturday race and the second qualifying determines the grid for the Sunday race. As no driver is allowed to participate in both sessions Lars Stugemo drove the first session and Fredrik Lestrup drove the second session. WestCoast Racing will line up 33rd for the first race and 16th for the second race.
“An exciting day at work. We knew it would be tough and we have worked hard on setting the car up. There’s more time to gain but I think we did a solid job. Especially Fredrik’s time shows we are capable to to challenge here,” team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth says.

Fredrik Lestrup qualifie 16th, one second from pole i yet another tight qualifying in GT Masters. WestCoast Racing therefore lines up 16th on the grid on Sunday.
“This is a lot of fun. I’m not entirely happy with qualifying, it feels there was more time to gain. Despite that we have a decent starting position for tomorrow and it’s great to work with WestCoast Racing. You really get a chance to develop as a driver and it’s also fun to see how much my team mate Lars improves all the time. Tomorrow it’s race day!” Fredrik says.

Lars Stugemo improved a lot in qualifying and set his best time for the weekend. He qualified 3,3 seconds from pole position which in this tight field means 33th starting position on the grid.
“It’s my best time for the weekend and a great improvement so I’m happy with that. We start some way back in the field and of course we are not happy with that but the competition is tough here. Now we have to set the car up for the race and find a good strategy for tomorrow and Sunday,” Lars said.

Result, Q1
Result, Q2

WestCoast Racing will make its debut race in the German GT-series GT Masters. The round is held at the Nürburgring GP-track and team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth expects a tough weekend from which the team can learn a lot.
“Firstly we are here to learn for the future. We know the competition in GT Masters is the hardest possible and that’s why we want to be here. For us this is above anything else a test race but we’ve had two good test days at Hockenheim so it’s exciting to see how we will measure up in this tough competition,” he says.

WestCoast Racing will be the first team that will participate in the German series with the new BMW Z4 GT3 this season. During the week the team has tested at Hockenheim where Fredrik Lestrup and Lars Stugemo, the drivers for the weekend, were joined by WestCoast Racing’s multiple touring car champion Richard Göransson. Fredrik Lestrup looks forward to the weekend.
“We had two very good test days and made a lot of progress,” Fredrik says. “It’s good prep work for the weekend, both for us as drivers and the whole team. We’ve found a stable set-up as a base and it’s been a good measurement to have Richard Göransson with us to provide feedback and competitive times.”

Fredrik expects to meet tough competition this weekend and keep his expectations low.
“Hopefully we can qualify well but the other teams have a lot of experience of not only the races in GT Masters but also the important pit stops. We must see this as a test race and evaluation for the future. We will face the a lot of hard competitors and we have a lot to learn. It’s not realistic to expect us to be at the front in our first race here but of course we always strive and aim high. It will be a lot of fun!”

Fredrik Lestrup will share the car with Lars Stugemo and they won the last race in the Swedish GT-series about a month ago. Lars Stugemo has previously driven selected VLN-rounds and the 24-hour race at Nordschleife and looks forward to drive his first race on the GP-track in GT Masters.
“I’ve had a lot of fun during our tests this weekend and this is a real adventure. WestCoast Racing is a great team and it’s been very helpful for me to test together with both Fredrik and Richard Göransson. Thanks to them I’ve improved and it’s great to see how fast Fredrik is. I need a good team mate and this weekend I will have that as well as a good car and a great team. I’m looking forward to this. I expect it to be very tough as there are no easy races at Nürburgring. The others have a lot of experience from this so it will be exciting,” Lars says.

Time schedule, GT Masters Nürburgring:

Friday July 8th:
08:30: Free practice, 1 hour
12:15: Free practice, 1 hour
15:10: Qualifying, 50 minutes

Saturday July 9th:
12:00: Race 1, one hour

Sunday July 9th:
12:00: Race 2, one hour

ADAC GT Masters official site

The second race in Falkenberg gave fewer points than the first race for WestCoast Racing. Richard Göransson finished sixth and Martin Öhlin retired after gearbox problems.
“What a boring race to be honest. I got caught behind Rydell’s Chevrolet and we have not chance on the straights behind that car and the Volkswagens. We are much quicker but can pass when they get away from us on the straights and you can’t do anything but just tag along,” Richard says.

The high temperatures in the cockpit got even worse for Richard when he was hit from behind which cracked the exhaust.
“It got a bit too hot and I burnt both my hands and my feet so the final laps were a struggle. Even so we had a decent weekend, we got another podium here and collected a lot of points again. My goal for the rest of the season is to win my own championship. It started in Gothenburg last race weekend and ends at the final race at Mantorp. We’ve had two good point weekends so far,” he finishes.

Martin Öhlin got a great start from 12th position and was up to ninth, just two spots behind Richard Göransson. After having had the second best lap time in the first race he showed that was no coincidence as he was fast yet again in this race. His race ended however when he no longer had fifth gear.
“Apparently you need that to be fast here. I got a great start and felt we yet again had strong race pace. Unfortunately it ended much too soon. I’m very happy with our race pace but I really must start qualifying better,” Martin says.

STCC now take a break for the summer before the action returns at Karlskoga August 12th and 13th.

Result top eight, heat 2 Falkenberg:
1: Jan Nilsson, BMW 25 laps
2: Johan Sturesson, BMW + 0,455
3: Colin Turkington, BMW + 1,972
4: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 4,154
5: Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet + 4,486
6: Richard Göransson, BMW 4,923
7: Tommy Rustad, Volvo + 5,393
8: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen + 7,654

Martin Öhlin DNF

The podiums keeps coming in Falkenberg. Richard Göransson drove a champions race from sixth place and finished second in the race at Falkenberg, after chasing winner Fredrik Ekblom hard in the second half of the race.
“The car was amazing, we had the best car of everyone. Finishing second from sixth place is pretty ok I think. It was a somewhat messy race in the beginning and oil on the track surprised all of us. It was a bit exciting but I got through it,” Richard says.

He was challenging Fredrik Ekblom for the victory but had to settle for second place as the turbo charged Volkswagen proved to be too quick on the straights.
“It was impossible to overtake him, he got several car lengths on me out on the straights. I put my headlights on and gave him a few friendly bumps but he is too experienced to fall for that so I had to settle for second. We have the car to win here though and we are always string here so we will go for another podium in the next race.” Richard will start in seventh place in the next race.

Martin Öhlin also proved the BMW is strong in race trim as he charged through the field from 17th place. He was up on 11th place, looking to overtake Viktor Hallrup for 10th place and set after eight place and pole for the second race. The plans changed however when Hallrup turned in on him and Martin spun off on the oil. He eventually charged back again, finishing 12th.
“It’s a shame, that eight place and pole för the second heat keeps getting away from me. I’m very pleased with the speed in me and the car in this race. Now we are where we really should have been yesterday. The pace was quick and it’s crap it sort of stopped when I tried to overtake Hallrup. With the speed we have in the car now it’s absolutely possible to salvage several points from this weekend in the next race,” Martin summarizes.

Next heat starts 3,35 pm.

Result, top eight  Falkenberg:

1: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen 25 laps
2: R. Göransson, BMW + 0,570
3: R. Rydell, Chevrolet + 4,010
4: C. Turkington, BMW + 4,431
5: P. Olsson, Volkswagen + 11,763
6: T. Johansson, SEAT + 12,312
7: J. Sturesson, BMW + 12,732
8: J. Nilsson, BMW + 14,388

12: M. Öhlin, BMW + 30,101