April 20th 2008 at Ring Knutstorp. Believe it or not but that was the last time Richard Göransson took pole position in STCC. Today he did it again, he defeated the odds and the front wheel cars when he stole pole position at Gelleråsen.
”It was such a long time since I last took pole I can’t rememeber when,” Richard says. ”This is unbelivable. I felt something would happen, I was so relaxed I even fell asleep in the car between Q1 and Q2.”

After the injury in Denmark this was the first race he was expected to return to. Despite that he could return earlier than planned and won already in his comeback in Gothenburg. But he feels this pole position is evidence he is back where he left. He looks forward to tomorrows race which he expect will be a tough affair.
”The injury I got in Denmark has been a boost for me during the summer break. Gothenburg and Falkenberg were bonus races for me, now we have really proved we are back again. It’s not going to be easy tomorrow but we are starting from the best possible position!”

Martin Öhlin failed making it into Q2 by a mere five hundreths of a second. He will line up tenth on the grid tomorrow and feels confident for the race after a solid qualifying given the problems in yesterdays test.
”I’m actually very pleased considering how much time we lost to repairs yesterday. It’s very close and I was just outside Q2. We have a really good race car and I’m looking forward to the race tomorrow,” Martin says.

Result, qualifying STCC Karlskoga:
1: Richard Göransson, BMW 1:07.704
2: Tommy Rustad, Volvo + 0,023
3: Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen + 0,080
4: Johan Kristofersson, Volkswagen + 0,134
5: Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet + 0,159
6: Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen + 0,329

10: Martin Öhlin, BMW 1:08.003

WestCoast Racing left the testday at Gelleråsen in Karlskoga with a mixed result. Richard Göransson were as expected among the fastest all day and ended up with sixth fastet time after having spent the afternoon session working on the set-up for the weekend.
”We are pleased with today,” Richard says. ”We didn’t quite nail the fial qualifying run but we are on the pace. As usual we have a strong race pace and it feels like we’ve found the settings for the weekend. The goal remains, we are going for victory.”

For Martin Öhlin however, the testday were more problem filled. He were left standing in the pits during the afternoon when the engine in his car kept misfiring and he lost vital track time when the track were faster after the lunch break.
”A bad day. The engine misfired the whole afternoon and we were forced to remain in the garage instead. It was a shame, it would have been useful to run in the afternon as well but better this happens now than in the weekend. We will fix this and come back strong tomorrow,” he says.

Result, STCC-test Karlskoga:
1 Fredrik Ekblom, Volkswagen 1:07.756
2 Tommy Rustad, Volvo +0.130
3 Patrik Olsson, Volkswagen +0.202
4 Rickard Rydell, Chevrolet +0.268
5 Jan ”Flash” Nilsson, BMW +0.326
6 Richard Göransson, BMW +0.330

15 Martin Öhlin, BMW +1.442

WestCoast Racing drivers Richard Göransson and Martin Öhlin are feeling relaxed and ready after the summer break and are hungry for success in the last eight races of the season in STCC. Coming up first is Gelleråsen outside Karlskoga this weekend and Richard Göransson looks forward to return to his home track.
”It’s my home track coming up next and I’ve won there many times. I always enjoy driving there and there are a lot of friends, fans and partners there to give me some extra support.”

Richard has had a very different season after his serious injury in Denmark and a long break before he returned to STCC in a victorious fashion at Gothenburg and claimed another podium two weeks later at Falkenberg. It took a lot out of him and he now feels recharged for the second half of the sason.
”It’s been very different for me and I also returned earlier than planned after my injury. The races in Gothenburg and Falkenberg were very eexhausting both mentally and physically and the break has been good to me after those two weekends. I’ve had a nice and relaxed vacation together with my daugther and my family.”

The weekend in Karlskoga starts with an official STCC-test on Thursday followed by practice and qualifying in Friday and the two races on Saturday. Richard heads to Karlskoga with a clear goal in his mind.
”Of course I go there to win, my goal is to win at least one race and advance in my own championship table which started in Gothenburg,” Richard finishes. He’s scored 55 points in the last four races.

Martin Öhlin also looks forward to return to the cockpit of his BMW after a long summer break. Although based in Stockholm the Gelleråsen track 250 kilometres away is in many respects his home track as well and he is feeling recharged a motivated for the weekend.
”I’ve managed to use the break for not thinking about racing at all and I have relaxed by doing a lot of other sports instead. I feel I will come to my own favourite track with a lot of new energy. I usually go well there and I look forward to see what I can manage to do there in the STCC-car,” Martin says.

He’s had a tough rookie season in STCC so far which hasn’t really turned out as planned. There’s been no question about his speed bu so far he has not managed to turn that into any results he is happy with. He plans to change that now.
”My start has definetly been kind of mixed. I have the speed but I would like to get some results now as well. We will use the Thursday test to get up to speed and I know that if I can just get qualifying right I will managed to drive good races. My expectations this weekend is to get  paid in results for the speed we’ve had all year.”

Even though there’s been a summer break for Göransson and Öhlins since the last race in STCC, WestCoast Racing has not taken a break. The team has continued racing in GT where WestCoast Racing now heads the drivers and the team championship in the Swedish GT league. Team manager Dick Jönsson Wigroth is happy to see the team start the STCC-programme again.
”With dual programmes this year we’ve not had a break and have contiuned racing as usual. Our STCC-season this year is very different compared to previous seasons with  Richards injury in Denmark and a tough start to the season. We could return to the winners circle in Gothenburg and we will start getting the victories and the points in the remaining races. Richard and Martin has had a chance to take a break and recharge and we are looking forward to an exciting autumn for us,” Dick concludes.

FACTS – STCC-weekend at Karlskoga

Time schedule, STCC Karlskoga August 11th – 13th

August 11th
Official STCC-test

August 12th
14:05 STCC, test
17:20 STCC, qualifying
17:45 STCC, qualifying 2

August 13th
09:40 STCC, warm up
11:50 Gridshow/lunch
13:05 STCC, heat 1
15:35 STCC, heat 2

TV-schedule, STCC Karlskoga:

Viasat Motor Saturday August 13th:
12:30 Race 1
15:15 Race 2

SVT Sunday August 14th:
16:25, SVT 1

WestCoast Racing at Gelleråsen 2010:

May 22nd:
Q1: Richard Göransson P8
Q2: Richard Göransson P8

Heat 1: Richard Göransson, P6
Heat 2: Richard Göransson, P3

August 14th:

Q1: Richard Göransson P5
Q2: Richard Göransson P4

Heat 1: Richard Göransson, P5
Heat 2: Richard Göransson, P4

Richard Göransson, STCC Gelleråsen:
7 victories & 7 podiums

Martin Öhlin, STCC Gelleråsen:
STCC-debut 2011
2 victories & 3 podiums in Carrera Cup Scandinavia

Photo: Martin Öberg
Fredrik Lestrup and Fredrik Larsson took yet another victory in the penultimate round of the Swedish GT Championship when they won the race at Anderstorp. This was their second victory together and Fredrik Lestrups and WestCoast Racings third straight victory in the championship. Lestrup is leading the championship and WestCoast Racing heads the team championship before the final round at Knutstorp in two weeks.

Fredrik Larsson put the BMW Z4 GT3 on pole in qualifying and Fredrik Lestrup then took the opening stint in the one hour long race. He initially lost a place at the start to the second placed Audi but then stayed closed behind the Audi before overtaking later in the stint and building  gap ahead of the pit stop. He went into the pits and handed the car over to Fredrik Larsson in the lead.
”Because Daniel Roos in the Audi had the inside line in the start he could take the lead in the first left hand corner. I chosed to stay behind him in the beginning and save the tyres. After a while he started going slower so I overtook him and started building a gap before the pit stop. Fredrik Larsson then had to maintain that lead in his stint and he did a great job on worn tyres. Even though I saved the tyres as much as I could in my stint they were pretty much worn out at the end of the race. Anyway, we took the victory again and we are now leading both championships ahead of the final race at Knutstorp!” Fredrik Lestrup said.

Fredrik Larsson didn’t have much grip towards the end and Andreas Simonsen in the challenging Audi R8 closed the gap after they had changed to new tyres in their pit stop. Larsson could keep them at bay and took his second straight win together with Fredrik Lestrup.
”We chosed to use the same set of tyres the whole race and een though the Audi team put new tyres on they couldn’t get ot us. We arrived at Anderstorp leading the championship and we leave Anderstorp maintaining the lead. That feels great, we now look ahead to the final round at Knutstorp. It will be a lot of fun,” Fredrik Larsson said.

It’s time for a new race weekend in Swedish GT and WestCoast Racing heads to the former F1-track Anderstorp in the lead of both championship after two straight victories. Fredrik Lestrup and Fredrik Larsson will for the second weekend pair up in the BMW Z4 GT#, the two of them won the race at Falkenberg two weeks ago and championship leader Fredrik Lestrup looks forward to this weekend.
”It’s going to be fun to drive at Anderstorp, one of the best tracks we have in Sweden and it’s especially fun to share the driving with Fredrik Larsson again. It went as expected at Falkenberg and our goal is of course to increase the championship lead this weekend and the best way to do that is by winning the race. It won’t be easy though, the Audis are fast at Anderstorp but I’m looking forward to this weekend!”, Fredrik says.

Fredrik Larsson will drive his second race in the championship and after the victory at his home track in Falkenberg he looks forward to another race weekend with WestCoast Racing and Fredrik Lestrup. Like his teammate he has a clear target for the race.
”Nothing else but a victory! The Audis are close behind us and will be fast on the long straight at Anderstorp men hopefully we will gain on them in the corners. It’s going to be real fun to continue working with WestCoast Racing and Fredrik Lestrup, we arrive at Anderstorp as championship leaders and we will leave Anderstorp as championship leaders,” he says.

Swedish GT will have three test sessions in Friday at 09:00, 11:00 and 15:00.

Qualifying will be held on Saturday at 10:30 followed by the one hour long race that starts 13:45.