WestCoast Racing’s penultimate STCC race turned out to be an unexciting affair. Martin Öhlin was pushed off at the start and Richard Göransson crossed the finish line in 9th place after having lost ground on the long straight at Mantorp Park fighting for 8th with Mattias Andersson. He was disappointed not to have held on to 8th and secured pole position for the last STCC race.
”This was my most boring STCC race ever,” Richard complained. ”I was very fast across the lap, but that means nothing when you lose four to six car lengths on every straight. There was nothing I could do, we’re fighting against turbo cars and very light cars, and it easily becomes frustrating. However, it is what it is, and what will be will be in the last STCC race.”

Martin Öhlin’s race was over almost as quickly as it began. Heading into the second corner he was hit by Tomas Engström who had gone off and upon re-entering the track ran straight into Martin.
”I made a mistake at the start which I have to take the blame for. I thought I saw a red light and eased up on the accelerator and so I lost a couple of positions. After that I saw Engström going off at the first corner and then he just went straight into me on his way back onto the track. There was nothing to do about it, the tie rod broke and I had no choice but to park the car.”

Richard Göransson will be 9th and Martin Öhlin next to last at the start of the last STCC race which begins at 3.35 pm.

Results, finale race 1 Mantorp Park:

1: Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet 14 laps
2: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen + 3,147
3: Johan Kristoffersson, Volkswagen + 4,776
4: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 5,776
5: Michel Nykjær, Chevrolet + 6,503
6: Robert Dahlgren, Volvo + 7,089
7: Thed Björk, Volkswagen + 7,470
8: Mattias Andersson, Alfa Romeo + 8,012
9: Richard Göransson, BMW + 9,770
10: Jan Nilsson, BMW + 11,315
11: Viktor Hallrup, Chevrolet + 11,315
12: Colin Turkington, BMW + 12,831
13: Johan Stureson, BMW + 18,071
14: Tomas Engström, Honda +19,182
15: Alx Danielsson, SEAT+ 19,995
16: Tobias Johansson, SEAT +21,238
17: Daniel Roos, BMW +21,461
18: Joakim Ahlberg, BMW +22,641
19: Andreas Ebbesson, BMW +24,086
20: Robin Appelqvist, SEAT +30,113
21: Claes Hoffsten, Alfa Romeo +1:09,657
22: Roger Eriksson, SEAT + 1 lap

DNF:
Martin Öhlin

DNS:
Tommy Rustad

Richard Göransson and Martin Öhlin qualified 8th and 9th respectively in the last STCC qualifying at Mantorp Park. Both made two very good qualifying runs and were happy with their laps afterwards.
”A job well done, I think,” said Richard Göransson. ”There wasn’t much more to give, maybe a tenth or so but nothing that could have changed our position. We knew it would be hard to challenge the cars in front of us during qualifying, but we have a good car for the race. My goal is still to finish my career in STCC with a victory and there are different possible scenarios.”

Martin Öhlin missed Q2 by a tiny margin, only half a tenth from the important 8th position. He will now start the race from the 9th spot on the grid and is gearing up for the race.
”It was close, but I’m happy with my lap,” said Martin. ”I couldn’t have done much better and it’s a very tight margin, but of course it’s annoying to miss out on Q2 by so little. The good thing is that I will be starting on the inside tomorrow and that we have a good car for the race. We’ll be pushing the others!”

Tomorrow there will be a warm-up at 9.20 am followed by the first race at 1.05 pm.

Results, qualifying Mantorp Park top nine:
1: Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet 1:20.778
2: Johan Kristofersson, Volkswagen + 0,384
3: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen + 0,540
4: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 0,573
5: Michael Nykjaer, Chevrolet + 0,613
6: Robert Dahlgren, Volvo + 0,650
7: Thed Björk, Volkswagen + 0,764
8: Richard Göransson, BMW + 0,896
9: Martin Öhlin, BMW

It’s time for the final weekend in STCC held at Mantorp Park and WestCoast Racing goes there looking for victories. Team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth wants to finish a season that has been tough for the team with injuries and unplanned events by scoring top results in their final STCC-weekend. WestCoast Racing is despite all this joint first in number of race victories this season.
”Despite the fact Richard Göransson got injured at the first race and we were forced to race with just one car for several races we have managed to win three races this year. We want to increase that at Mantorp and finish the season in style. There’s no doubt we have had the speed to yet again challenge for the championship this year but nothing has gone our way and that’s the way it is. Mantorp might not be the best track for us trying to compete with the more powerful cars on the long straight but it’s the final weekend which always has surprises for all of us. Our target is to win races.”

Martin Öhlin has had a tough rookie season in STCC but he has shown the speed is there. He’s been the fastest BMW both in qualifying and races several times. He qualified sixth at Mantorp in May but got pushed off at the start. He is seeking revenge.
”There’s no reason to think about that now, I will go all in for this weekend. I have no reason to go safe so the target is to finish in style. A godo qualifying and two good races is the only thing I have planned.”

A year ago Richard Göransson took his fourth STCC-title in style at Mantorp Park thus becoming historic. This year he’s made more history as he is now the most winning driver in the history of the championship. He is out of contention for the title but he wants to increase his tally of victories.
“It’s quite funny Chevrolet feels they need three cars to win this championship and the Volkswagenteam needs four cars. We did fine last year with just one car when we took the championship. I’m not able to defend my title this year after my injury in the first race this year but I will give it my all to fight about the victories this final weekend. Anyone wanting to win this on Saturday will have to count with me and be prepared to work hard for it.”

Time schedule – Mantorp Park

Friday
14.15 – Test
16.20 – Qualifying

Saturday
09.20 – Warm up
11.55 – Gridshow
13.05 – Race 1
15.35 – Race 2

Weights – Mantorp

1225 kilo – BMW 320si E90 [6 speed SQ-box] 1210 kilo – BMW 320si E90 [5 speed H-box] 1210 kilo – Volkswagen Scirocco
1210 kilo – Volkswagen Scirocco [Kristoffersson, Björk] 1210 kilo – Chevrolet Cruze
1199 kilo – Volvo C30
1150 kilo – Alfa Romeo 156
1140 kilo – Honda Accord
1130 kilo – SEAT León TFSi
1120 kilo – BMW 320i E46

Quadruple and reigning STCC-champion Richard Göransson have decided to leave STCC and join the new TTA-championship next year. After four STCC-titles, 37 race victories and 61 podiums in 119 starts he now looks forward to new challenges.
”I’m very proud over what I’ve acomplished in STCC and most of all that I’ve won more STCC-titles than anyone else. I aim to finish my STCC-career on a high this weekend,” Richard says.

He will now face new challenges. Before this season he signed a three year deal with BMW-team WestCoast Racing where he will continue as they are one of the teams behind the new championship.
”I believe TTA offers a good platform for drivers with long term ambitions and targets. It’s been possible to be a professional racing driver in Sweden for quite some years now and I now look forward to even better possibilities for that. TTA has an interesting concept with faster cars, better possibilities for teams, drivers and organizers and an exciting set up for the fans and the sponsors. Next year will present a new challenge for me as a driver which I’m looking forward to.”

Teammanager Dick Jönsson Wigroth has worked with Richard Göransson in six years and is happy to see their cooperation continue as the team switches to TTA. Together they have scored three STCC-championships and one ETCC-title and WestCoast Racing is the most succesful STCC-team since the championship started in 1996.
”I am of course thrilled and proud Richard Göransson and WestCoast Racing will continue our succesful cooperation. Richard is a vital part of this team and he further strengthens TTA. WestCoast Racing will participate in TTA next year and it’s a sign of strength we will have Richard with us on this new journey.”

Richard Göransson now aims to finish his STCC-career in style. He is unussaly not involved in the fight for the title this year after he was injured at the start of the season. But he will fight for the victories in the final two STCC-races which sees an expaned field.
”It’s quite funny Chevrolet feels they need three cars to win this championship and the Volkswagenteam needs four cars. We did fine last year with just one car when we took the championship. I’m not able to defend my title this year after my injury in the first race this year but I will give it my all to fight about the victories this final weekend. Anyone wanting to win this on Saturday will have to count with me and be prepared to work hard for it.”

TTA was created in 2010 by four of the most succesful teams in Sweden. Together these teams have won six out of the last seven STCC-titles. TTA is an organization for teams competing at the highest level and for race organizers, where teams and organizers are share holders in the championship.

The GT Masters race at Assen was yet another evaluationrace for WestCoast Racing as the team is coming to grips with the BMW Z4 GT3. Richard Göransson and Fredrik Larsson were the drivers this time and they qualified 19th and 22nd in the two qualifying rounds as they were down on grip and top speed. The finished ninth in the first race and was forced to retire from the second race as Richard Göransson were in the middle of start chaos in the last corner of the formation lap. He tried to avoid the cars around him as several cars slowed down causing a chain reaxction but was forced to retire with a broken front and suspension.
”The second race ended all too quickly for us”, Richard said. ”It was chaos on the formationlap when several cars started braking causing a chain reaction through the field. A Mercedes in front of me hit an Audi and I tried to avoid both of them but I touched the Mercedes and had to retired. I just tried to say out of it but to no avail. This was an evaluation weekend for us and we would have needed the second race to gain more data and information. There’s still a lot of work to do with the car.  The first race was pretty ok with a ninth position after having started from 19th position. It shows we have the race pace but we need a lot more, we are lacking top speed for instance. Anyway it was fun to drive, Assen was an awesome circuit to race on.”

Fredrik Larsson qualified 22nd for the first race after struggling with traffic on his qualifying round. He took the start and drove the first stint before handing over to Richard Göransson. He shares Richards impressions of the weekend.
”We are working very hard right now and we are trying everything and we are treating these races as test sessions. Of course we want to score results and it’s a shame we have not been able to do that although ninth place isn’t too bad. We know there is a lot of work still to be done and we need to use these races to continue the development with BMW. You have to remember though that we are putting ourselves up against the toughest possible competition on tracks where this car belongs,” Fredrik said.

WestCoast Racing has a final GT-race planned, the GT Masters season finale at Hockenheim next weekend where Richard Göransson and Fredrik Larsson will team up again.