- I am incredibly happy! says Thed after the hard race at Gellerasen.
Thed thought he made a misstake in qualifying, but in spite of that, he got the third best time, only beaten by the volvo drivers Robert Dahlgren and Tommy Rustad who was exceptionally fast in both qualifying and Superpole.
- But the Volvo team must have had some problems with their settings in the race, while we made well, keeping our settings in the race as in the qualifying.
Direct overtaking
Directly in the race start Thed over took Rustad and was behind Dahlgren.
- I could feel that I had much more power in my Honda than Dahlgren in his Volvo, but I know it sometimes means problems in over taking Dahlgren, and that’s why I awaited the pit stop, says Thed, who followed like a shadow behind Dahlgren until pit stop window opened on 12th lap.
- The both of us went in at the same time, I almost pushed him into the pit.
Team Honda Racing made a tremendously fast stop, the tactics was a success and Thed was on track again ahead of Dahlgren.
- After that it became kind of dramatic when Richard Göransson, BMW, came out in front of me after his pit stop. But I passed him after one lap.
Two laps later it was Fredrik Ekblom’s turn to get out from his stop just in front of Thed. But Thed managed to over take him immediately and the second half of the race Ekblom tried to catch up with Thed. But Thed didn’t have any plans on letting him or anybody else pass.
- I just concentrated on my own driving and made no mistakes. I am incredibly happy and content with this victory! says Thed.
Tomas bad luck
Tomas Engström started from 10th place, made a great start and was up on 4th. Unfortunately he later had to stop with a broken wheel bearing.
- I had felt vibrations during a couple of laps and finally the wheel was twisted loose, says Tomas.
This was Thed Björk’s third victory of the year in the Swedish Touring Car Championship and, with three races remaining, his now also on a total third place.
/Stina Larsson
Result Karlskoga, 17 of August
1 Thed Björk, Honda
2 Fredrik Ekblom, BMW
3 Richard Göransson, BMW
4 Mattias Andersson, Alfa Romeo
5 Robert Dahlgren, Volvo
6 Tommy Rustad, Volvo
7 Johan Sturesson, Peugeot
8 Janne Flash Nilsson, BMW
9 Robin Rudholm, BMW
10Tommy Kristofferson, Audi