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Welcome to the fifth race of the TTA - Racing Elite League, this time back at Karlskoga. Classical grounds for racing, the 60th "Kanonloppet".
It is going to be interesting, it is time for the final half of the season and there is a lot of nervousness in the pit lane and we've got a good race ahead of us.
Hi my name is Jocke Mangs, I'm racing in the TTA this weekend for Brovallen Design.
I'm also driving Camaro Cup, the Blancpain Endurance Series and Swedish GT.
Everyone is really fast in this championship, in other championship there is perhaps five or six that are fast.
I want to compete against the best and I have got proof now that I am quick enough. Now it is about details for me in order to be here in more races.
I do of course hope that there will be more races for me in the TTA, I am going to work on that with Tobias and the others that have given me the chance to race.
Lets have a look at the qualifying session which turned out to be interesting with a drying track that made teams wait in to the final minutes. The one who waited the longest time was Richard Göransson.
When it was time for him to set his qualifying lap, Alx Danielsson went off in to the gravel trap, bringing the red flags out. Not what Göransson had in mind and he is only going to start 12th.
There were more drivers getting caught out by that, Rustad, Dahlgren, Andersson and more.
Alx Danielsson became the main character of the qualifying session, perhaps not in the way he wanted. He qualified seventh, but the main subject after the session was what happened on track.
I was letting a gap open to start a new lap. While doing that, I'm driving slower and then I went off. We have found a great setup, but it only works when you go for it, otherwise you don't have any grip.
Fredrik Ekblom with start number 11 in pole position.
We timed it right and I got a good lap. It was a really good lap, it would have stood up well even if the session wasn't interrupted.
Next to him, number 66, Martin Öhlin.
It was a really good and undramatic qualifying session. It was so damn nice that is is silly. I've known that the speed has been there all season, I just haven't found it.
The second row features Linus Ohlsson and Robin Rudholm.
I wanted to get as many laps as possible when it was dry, we went out early with slicks and it proved to be a good tactic.
I think we made a good qualifying session despite technical problems in practice. The team did an amazing job, changed the gearbox and altered the setup, so I had a great car.
The third row with number 12 Thed Björk and number 37 Daniel Haglöf.
We had a strong pace in the car, but it wasn't enough to set the best time. But fifth is okay, a lot of work to do and with this weather, anything can happen.
We have improved the car bit by bit and I had a really good car in qualifying. The conditions were a bit tough but I have top five as my goal for this weekend and we are sixth, so a good shot to reach our goal.
Number 27 Alx Danielsson and number 77 Stefan Söderberg.
They are followed by Mattias Andersson, Robert Dahlgren, Tommy Rustad, Richard Göransson on a disappointing 12th.
13th for Fredrik Larsson, 14th for Jocke Mangs, with Andreas Ebbesson and Viktor Hallrup behind them. That is the entire field!
And we release the field!
A good start by Ekblom and a good start by Björk further down who tries to get past Linus Ohlsson, but gets blocked. Rudholm gets pushed on to the grass but is able to continue.
Ekblom is followed by Öhlin. A strong start by Alx Danielsson on the outside up to third, Linus Ohlsson is on the inside of him.
Alx puts his side on Linus and pushes him a bit out on to the grass.
Rudholm is on the attack as well, but Alx makes it stick and is up in third position, what a start by him!
Fredrik Larsson is parked and he is stuck on the very edge.
A lot of bad luck for Larsson, but so impressive by Alx Danielsson with that start. From seventh to third and he was so tough in to that second corner.
The safety car has been brought out after the very first lap.
And Ekblom leaves everyone behind in the restart! Were the others sleeping?
I am a bit surprised, I don't understand what happened, Öhlin wasn't at all on the ball.
And there is contact between Danielsson and Haglöf, I don't think he realized that he was on the inside.
They are three abreast in to the second corner.
He just threw his car right in there.
Thed Björk and Stefan Söderberg right with the Black R Volvo cars, Rustad and Dahlgren, it is a real fight out there now!
Rudholm and Andersson are there as well, Rudholm has dropped a lot of positions in the restart and the two Flash Engineering Saabs are far down, side-by-side.
Trouble for Richard Göransson, I think. Yes, he has got some kind of problem and loses ground in the field.
He has to park next to his team mate at BMW Dealer Team WCR, it is not a good day for those two cars.
There isn't much to do by the looks of it. I think it is over for that car as well.
Linus Ohlsson gets a drive through penalty at the same time as Alx Danielsson launches an attack on Haglöf.
They are alongside each other and then Björk joins the action and Haglöf loses two positions.
There are no margins, if you lose a slight bit of pace, then the next car is there and you lose two positions.
Here is the replay of the incident where Rudholm was on the grass.
Ohlsson closes the door on both Björk and Rudholm.
Björk came with a lot of speed and was about to go in between Ohlsson and Rudholm, but Ohlsson closed the door. And the stewards judged it to be an unfair maneuver, that he closed the gap on a line which Björk already had and he should have left room.
There was a puff of white smoke from one of the black Volvo cars, I suspect that it was Rudstad's car. Something might be damaged, because it looked like he just let Dahlgren past.
The car is damaged at the back as we can see.
Ohlsson is on his way in to the pits to get his penalty. We are onboard with Ohlsson in the pit lane, it feels like an eternity to drive that slowly. He joins the field more or less last, with just Mangs behind him that already has been in the pits for repairs.
It is frustrating to be third in the race, enter the pits with the 50 km/h speed limit.
An attack from Dahlgren on Haglöf who also has lost a bit of pace and parts of Dahlgren's front comes off.
And Rustad goes off! He was on the outside of Haglöf who I don't think saw him. He gets a push and goes straight off.
That must be the case, Haglöf was focused on the things happening with Dahlgren and both of them had lost pace. Rustad took a chance and took the racing line, not seen by Haglöf who turns in and then Rustad has nowhere to go.
Perhaps it is time for Rustad to change to drifting at the same time as Haglöf enters the pits for his drive through penalty.
There the two Saabs are, Rudholm has a look but settles in back behind.
Alx Danielsson goes off track a bit, Thed Björk launched an attack and Danielsson tries to answer but has to take on to the grass. And we've got Björk in third and Danielsson down to fourth. Stefan Söderberg has got a strong pace in fifth.
Rudholm gets in to a slide and turns around team mate Mattias Andersson. And there is Hallrup, spinning around as well!
Andersson's off wasn't his fault, it was Rudholm going a bit too hard. Losing control and hits Andersson and there was nothing for him to do.
The rain has started to fall, they have put their wipers on.
Hallrup has been pulled back on track and puts out a huge load of gravel on track. All down the straight, mix that with the rain and that just isn't good!
An attack from Danielsson and he gets in to a slide! It is slippery and tough with a lot of gravel on the entry of the first corner.
An amazing race by the drivers in these conditions. Rudholm attacks Dahlgren and tries to find his way past. They are side-by-side and he gets past on the outside!
A real nice bit of driving and then it is super-close, an attack from Ohlsson on Dahlgren and they are three cars abreast! Two Saabs and one Volvo.
And Linus Ohlsson sneaks past. It isn't just tough, it is super tough!
Right now every single position is worth everything.
Björk goes on the inside, Rudholm attacks on the inside of Söderberg and he gives him a push. Söderberg loses two, three, positions in one go.
Rudholm has found some kind of new energy in the restart, I am amazed by the attack he has launched.
Rudholm is up to fifth position, perhaps as some kind of a present to team mate Andersson who he pushed off earlier. And Björk locks up big time in third position.
We can see smoke pouring from the front left of Rudholm's car, we'll have to hope that he can make it if it is only some light parts that are rubbing against the wheel. But it can just as easy go through the rubber and all of a sudden you've got a puncture.
Ohlsson on the outside of Rudholm...
Rudholm has got a lot of experience, but he isn't the only one...
He tries to go on the inside, does he dare? No he does not, he has to keep Ohlsson behind him. And Ohlsson makes a quick move and attacks Rudholm, really nice driven by Ohlsson.
And Danielsson makes a mistake in to the third corner.
A small mistake by Danielsson, it is hard to judge where the wet parts of the track are but they have turned off the wipers, so there shouldn't bee too much rain coming.
Danielson is in trouble, he has got a tough time, and we've got some real panel bashing going on there again.
Rudholm sneaks back past Ohlsson.
Björk gets past and it is a Volvo 1-2 in the lead.
But there is an intense hunt by a certain black Saab who is alongside manufacturer colleague Rudholm and he manages to get past. Rudholm is unable to answer. Ohlsson is up in to fifth.
The question is if he can hunt down Danielsson who is fourth right now.
As the track is a bit wet, you have to be careful and no, Danielsson hasn't got the grip. The question is if once again is the tyres that are too worn.
Ohlsson attacks Danielsson, they are side-by-side through the "Ejes" corner. He gives him a light push and we've got Ohlsson up in to fourth position.
Ohlsson is probably the one going hardest at the moment, he is not leaving anything to chance. We must not forget that he has done a drive through penalty, for sure, he was saved by the safety car. But he is up in to fourth position, that is really great.
Alx Danielsson, it looks like he is losing another position. Rudholm, wow, he locks up his rear tyres again, just as when he hit Andersson.
He loses one, two, three, four, five positions after working his way up.
Danielsson has to take evasive action and he loses three positions as well.
It is only the long right hander left of the race and Fredrik Ekblom is about to extend his championship lead. And he gets his team mate with him in second, the Volvo Polestar Racing team is overjoyed. A double victory at Karlskoga!
Ekblom and Björk delivers and Dahlgren made an impressive maneuver in the end and, I think, took four cars and finished fifth in the end. A really great weekend!
And we've got Öhlin in third position, amazing! Really good work by him.
Yes! It is the mustache, I've told you that! It is awesome!
Completely amazing, what a guy he is! Drive through but finishes fourth, I'm not sure where we are in the tables. But just outstanding!
Was third, got a drive through, down to last, then up to fourth. Anger at first, then it was all about doing the best possible race. I cheered when the safety car got out, I thought that I had a short for some points. It felt unreal, it felt like I had a completely different car compared to the others. The car worked perfectly, the team had provided me with a super car.
Yeah, it just feels so great. We had a great start to the season, then a fourth and fifth position in the two last races, so be back with a pole and victory was the very thing I wished for and that I have trained for during the summer break.
The car was just awesome, thanks to Volvo Polestar Racing and my engineer. It was such a great race where you just gain position after position. There was some tough passes.
I was hit all the time. My onboard video is going to be a feast of crashes. There were something all the time. I have never worked so hard to finish on a poor position.
It feels like a victory to take part in this race, it was great fun. It was really worth it, Ekblom got to win this time…
The Ronnie Peterson Award is handed out at Karlskoga. Last year Richard Göransson got it, this time Fredrik Ekblom gets his name on it.
I won't bring with me that much from this weekend. My focus is on Anderstorp, we need to score extremely much points as the title is in Ekblom's hands at the moment. We'll have to do three really good remaining races.