Race Six - TTA - Racing Elite League 2012 - Anderstorp
Uploaded by TTASweden on 03.09.2012
Transcript:
Welcome to the sixth race of the TTA - Racing Elite League, this weekend present at the classical Anderstorp Raceway.
It is time for race, buckle up, the season is nearing its end with a lot of points still to be won.
Fredrik Ekblom is the hunted driver in front with his championship lead, but there are a lot of drivers that are in for a shot on the championship lead.
I am currently second in the championship and I am really pleased with that. I did not expect that at the start of the season. It is awesome to fight with the drivers that I looked up to as a young kid.
Linus Ohlsson is completely new for me, I know that he has driven Carrera Cup and been strong there. But he has really made a strong impression, as evident in the points.
What speaks in his favor in the title race against you?
Youthful enthusiasm, perhaps? He is a breath of fresh air and anything can happen in racing.
He has got an advantage in the points, but I am young, hungry and dumb, perhaps. I am going to do my very best to catch him. He has got the experience, but I have got faster reflexes than him.
When you are in your twenties, you don't really care about anything, it is all about getting to drive. And you can tell that with Linus, when he gets behind the wheel, he does it really well.
Fredrik is a real championship driver, that is his greatest strength, he has got a very high lowest level. I think his so far worst position this year is fifth, that makes it difficult to catch up. I have to improve my lowest level, something that can prove to be difficult as a newcomer.
I do of course believe that I can win if I can keep that pace that we have had so far during the season.
What are you going to do now?
Win.
Fredrik Larsson in pole position.
More or less a perfect qualifying session, it was wonderful. There was a lot of pressure, but nice to prove to your self as well that you are quick and that we had all details in place.
Fredrik Ekblom is going to start second.
It was a nice qualifying session, we got a good lap and the car was good. I just couldn't match the times Fredrik had today, it wasn't possible for us today.
Thed Björk in third ahead of Martin Öhlin who once again delivers in fourth position.
It was a solid qualifying session, but we lack some pace compared to Larsson who made a demon lap. Nice to start third, it can be a good race from here.
Really nice. No drama, I went out straight away and secured a good lap time. There was no need for a second lap, really great.
Fifth for Robert Dahlgren, sixth for Alx Danielsson.
I had a so-and-so qualifying session. We missed on our peak, so I am not that pleased. We have returned to the settings we had in testing and I think that is going to work better.
We had an interesting qualifying session, we decided to go for the race setup and get the last bit out of testing. That is where we have struggled before. I think we have a setup now that will make the tyres last.
Seventh for Linus Ohlsson and eight for Robin Rudholm.
I didn't get the perfect lap, but at least we have got the setup right and I felt that I had the speed. But I was a bit too eager and made some mistakes.
Ninth for Stefan Söderberg, tenth for Tommy Rustad, Jocke Mangs in eleventh and 12th for Daniel Haglöf in his Saab.
Another Saab in 13th with Mattias Andersson, 14th for Viktor Hallrup, 15th for Andreas Ebbesson and 16th for Richard Göransson.
A sensor for the gearbox broke unfortunately, already on my out lap. So I didn't get a lap time in the qualifying session. I am going to do my best to climb and we'll see when the flag drops. Either I'll be in the gravel or things will have gone well.
The first light is lit, the second, third, fourth and the fifth. The field is away!
A good start by Larsson and a good start by Björk as well. Ekblom lights his tyres, but manages to get ahead of Björk. Öhlin is in fourth.
Göransson is on the move and has claimed two positions. And there is trouble for Andreas Ebbesson at the far end of the field unfortunately.
Larsson is on top, followed by Ekblom and Björk.
Dahlgren is up alongside... and a very late attack from one of the Saab drivers, it is Rudholm who gains a position.
Tommy Rustad tries to follow and gets past Rudholm as well.
He makes it stick and just calmly stays on the inside line.
Öhlin is in fourth, Dahlgren, then Alx Danielsson who is followed by Linus Ohlsson.
Seventh for Ohlsson, that is a guy who needs those desperate overtaking maneuvers and the possibility to somehow get close to Ekblom.
He needs to catch Ekblom in order gain some points in the championship.
They are on the very limit of the edge and small mistakes prove to be fatal when it is this close.
Down the long straight where Fredrk Larsson is out of sight. The gap he has built in two laps is hard to describe.
He has managed to get a temperature in those tyres that no one is close to and his pace is deeply impressive.
I hope he does not burn them up too soon and that he can keep the pace.
Unfortunately problems for Ebbesson, it has not been his weekend, he is in the pits. Göransson is on the way up through the field, from 16th to 11th on the grid and he is right behind Stefan Söderberg for 10th in just two laps.
Problems for Rustad, he makes a mistake in the carousel.
He lost the car just slightly in the entry of the corner and he loses his line immediately and Rudholm gets past.
Ekblom and Björk in second and third, Öhlin is right there in fourth. Danielsson is having a look at Dahlgren.
These cars are really evenly matched and you really need to get close to the car in front to get in to the slip stream and reduce the gap.
Göransson has made his way past Söderberg and is in touch with Tommy Rustad and he tries to close that gap.
It would have been perfect for Göransson with a safety car session right now, but lets not hope on that as someone would have to suffer for that.
Göransson goes for the inside of Rustad in the Opel corner, he gets up along side and gets past. He gains another position as we can see furthest down in the picture, he gets up to ninth position.
He has got a gap up to Rudholm who is the next in line and this is when we'll see if he has got the speed in his car. He hasn't got that many laps left if he is to get in to the top fight.
The most interesting thing in the data is that currently fastest around Anderstorp is number eight, Richard Göransson and he has almost caught Robin Rudholm.
It feels good, he has got a strong pace. And that was the disappointment in qualifying as we knew he had a strong pace. He gains a lot on Rudholm right now, he is in a striking position.
There is an attack from Göransson, he gets past Rudholm to eighth position. Göransson has made his way through half of the field, from 16th to 8th position in just nine laps. Completely amazing.
We are at the mid-point of the race where we so far have seen Larsson lead from the start and pull up a comfortable gap.
Larsson got a good start and got away cleanly, as we have seen before. But there are many laps left and it has to stick until the end.
Göransson has made his way from 16th to eighth.
Lets compare lap times as they pass the line. Göransson 1:35.0, Ohlsson 1:35.7, that is almost six tenths.
The gap is shrinking consistently to Ohlsson.
The gap isn't that big and if he gets in touch with Ohlsson, then the gap is considerably closer to Martin Öhlin who is in fourth.
And Öhlin gets in to a really big slide.
When he got his first slide, it was the first time that Dahlgren lit his lights and gave him a couple of flashes. He just told him that, I am coming!
He is telling Öhlin that, I know what is about to happen with you.
He can take advantage of the situation as they are starting to get close. Dahlgren is attacking, Danielsson hasn't got the same speed and then Ohlsson is starting to wake up.
Danielsson is in trouble, he get out of line in to the corner and Ohlsson gets past up in to sixth. Danielsson has to let Göransson past as well.
Lets see what happened, right in the braking point, he gets too wide. Perhaps he was looking in the rear view mirror.
Two positions lost for Danielsson and Ohlsson is up in to sixth, Göransson seventh. The question is if Ohlsson got a taste for more.
Danielsson tries to re-take the position on Göransson and he gets it rather easily. Is Göransson starting to struggle after his charge?
And Dahlgren spins! Robert Dahlgren loses is black Volvo and spins out from fifth position.
Ohlsson launches an attack on Öhlin and he has got a really strong pace in his Saab. Perhaps it was like you said before Jimmy, that he has been intelligent and saving his tyres. Because he is in fourth, past Öhlin.
Happy faces at Team Tidö. Just look at his braking point, there, Ohlsson is at least two to three meters later on the brakes than Öhlin.
He is up to fourth, Öhlin is fifth, Danielsson sixth, seventh for Rudholm who has made his way past Göransson who in his turn is in trouble with Rustad right behind him.
Here is a replay of when Rustad gets past Göransson really easy.
It is just the long right-hander for BMW Dealer Team WestCoast Racing driver Fredrik Larsson who claims his first but most likely not last victory in the TTA - Racing Elite League. He crosses the line and there are a lot of happy faces in the team!
Fredrik Ekblom is second and Thed Björk third.
It felt almost a bit too good at the start of the race, so I thought I was going to have problems with my tyres in the end. But I didn't have any bigger problems than the others, I made it stick until the end and that is really good.
A perfect race from start to finish, he had the pace in qualifying and it is great fun. This is why we are here, to win races and it is just wonderful.
I must say that I am really pleased because the car was really nice, good balance and that is a bit troublesome when you get outpaced. A solid day for the championship, but I would have wanted to fight for the win, we have to go faster.
It was of course nice to pull away again in the championship. It is looking nice for Ekblom, lets hope that we can secure a Grand Slam at our home race in Gothenburg in the final race of the year and claim all three titles for Volvo. We'll see if we can make it.
Third, nice work. Damn that he is so quick, Fredrik, but what is there to do? That is what we had in us today.
Ekblom has got a really big gap, he needs to more or less retire a race for us to catch up. Too bad for the championship that Ekblom was ahead.
The car wasn't good and I drive like a witch, a bad mix. That is the way it is, next race please...
Göransson had a tough qualifying session and a great session for Larsson, I think the BMW team has got the edge on us. Then they weren't able to show that at Karlskoga, but they were really fast in Falkenberg and they made a really good race here. We'll have to see...
I felt already from lap one that something was wrong with the engine and it just got worse and worse as the race progressed. At the end, I couldn't even reach sixth gear at the end of the straight.
I am glad that his engine broke, otherwise he would have passed me as well. So I think it is great!
It is time for race, buckle up, the season is nearing its end with a lot of points still to be won.
Fredrik Ekblom is the hunted driver in front with his championship lead, but there are a lot of drivers that are in for a shot on the championship lead.
I am currently second in the championship and I am really pleased with that. I did not expect that at the start of the season. It is awesome to fight with the drivers that I looked up to as a young kid.
Linus Ohlsson is completely new for me, I know that he has driven Carrera Cup and been strong there. But he has really made a strong impression, as evident in the points.
What speaks in his favor in the title race against you?
Youthful enthusiasm, perhaps? He is a breath of fresh air and anything can happen in racing.
He has got an advantage in the points, but I am young, hungry and dumb, perhaps. I am going to do my very best to catch him. He has got the experience, but I have got faster reflexes than him.
When you are in your twenties, you don't really care about anything, it is all about getting to drive. And you can tell that with Linus, when he gets behind the wheel, he does it really well.
Fredrik is a real championship driver, that is his greatest strength, he has got a very high lowest level. I think his so far worst position this year is fifth, that makes it difficult to catch up. I have to improve my lowest level, something that can prove to be difficult as a newcomer.
I do of course believe that I can win if I can keep that pace that we have had so far during the season.
What are you going to do now?
Win.
Fredrik Larsson in pole position.
More or less a perfect qualifying session, it was wonderful. There was a lot of pressure, but nice to prove to your self as well that you are quick and that we had all details in place.
Fredrik Ekblom is going to start second.
It was a nice qualifying session, we got a good lap and the car was good. I just couldn't match the times Fredrik had today, it wasn't possible for us today.
Thed Björk in third ahead of Martin Öhlin who once again delivers in fourth position.
It was a solid qualifying session, but we lack some pace compared to Larsson who made a demon lap. Nice to start third, it can be a good race from here.
Really nice. No drama, I went out straight away and secured a good lap time. There was no need for a second lap, really great.
Fifth for Robert Dahlgren, sixth for Alx Danielsson.
I had a so-and-so qualifying session. We missed on our peak, so I am not that pleased. We have returned to the settings we had in testing and I think that is going to work better.
We had an interesting qualifying session, we decided to go for the race setup and get the last bit out of testing. That is where we have struggled before. I think we have a setup now that will make the tyres last.
Seventh for Linus Ohlsson and eight for Robin Rudholm.
I didn't get the perfect lap, but at least we have got the setup right and I felt that I had the speed. But I was a bit too eager and made some mistakes.
Ninth for Stefan Söderberg, tenth for Tommy Rustad, Jocke Mangs in eleventh and 12th for Daniel Haglöf in his Saab.
Another Saab in 13th with Mattias Andersson, 14th for Viktor Hallrup, 15th for Andreas Ebbesson and 16th for Richard Göransson.
A sensor for the gearbox broke unfortunately, already on my out lap. So I didn't get a lap time in the qualifying session. I am going to do my best to climb and we'll see when the flag drops. Either I'll be in the gravel or things will have gone well.
The first light is lit, the second, third, fourth and the fifth. The field is away!
A good start by Larsson and a good start by Björk as well. Ekblom lights his tyres, but manages to get ahead of Björk. Öhlin is in fourth.
Göransson is on the move and has claimed two positions. And there is trouble for Andreas Ebbesson at the far end of the field unfortunately.
Larsson is on top, followed by Ekblom and Björk.
Dahlgren is up alongside... and a very late attack from one of the Saab drivers, it is Rudholm who gains a position.
Tommy Rustad tries to follow and gets past Rudholm as well.
He makes it stick and just calmly stays on the inside line.
Öhlin is in fourth, Dahlgren, then Alx Danielsson who is followed by Linus Ohlsson.
Seventh for Ohlsson, that is a guy who needs those desperate overtaking maneuvers and the possibility to somehow get close to Ekblom.
He needs to catch Ekblom in order gain some points in the championship.
They are on the very limit of the edge and small mistakes prove to be fatal when it is this close.
Down the long straight where Fredrk Larsson is out of sight. The gap he has built in two laps is hard to describe.
He has managed to get a temperature in those tyres that no one is close to and his pace is deeply impressive.
I hope he does not burn them up too soon and that he can keep the pace.
Unfortunately problems for Ebbesson, it has not been his weekend, he is in the pits. Göransson is on the way up through the field, from 16th to 11th on the grid and he is right behind Stefan Söderberg for 10th in just two laps.
Problems for Rustad, he makes a mistake in the carousel.
He lost the car just slightly in the entry of the corner and he loses his line immediately and Rudholm gets past.
Ekblom and Björk in second and third, Öhlin is right there in fourth. Danielsson is having a look at Dahlgren.
These cars are really evenly matched and you really need to get close to the car in front to get in to the slip stream and reduce the gap.
Göransson has made his way past Söderberg and is in touch with Tommy Rustad and he tries to close that gap.
It would have been perfect for Göransson with a safety car session right now, but lets not hope on that as someone would have to suffer for that.
Göransson goes for the inside of Rustad in the Opel corner, he gets up along side and gets past. He gains another position as we can see furthest down in the picture, he gets up to ninth position.
He has got a gap up to Rudholm who is the next in line and this is when we'll see if he has got the speed in his car. He hasn't got that many laps left if he is to get in to the top fight.
The most interesting thing in the data is that currently fastest around Anderstorp is number eight, Richard Göransson and he has almost caught Robin Rudholm.
It feels good, he has got a strong pace. And that was the disappointment in qualifying as we knew he had a strong pace. He gains a lot on Rudholm right now, he is in a striking position.
There is an attack from Göransson, he gets past Rudholm to eighth position. Göransson has made his way through half of the field, from 16th to 8th position in just nine laps. Completely amazing.
We are at the mid-point of the race where we so far have seen Larsson lead from the start and pull up a comfortable gap.
Larsson got a good start and got away cleanly, as we have seen before. But there are many laps left and it has to stick until the end.
Göransson has made his way from 16th to eighth.
Lets compare lap times as they pass the line. Göransson 1:35.0, Ohlsson 1:35.7, that is almost six tenths.
The gap is shrinking consistently to Ohlsson.
The gap isn't that big and if he gets in touch with Ohlsson, then the gap is considerably closer to Martin Öhlin who is in fourth.
And Öhlin gets in to a really big slide.
When he got his first slide, it was the first time that Dahlgren lit his lights and gave him a couple of flashes. He just told him that, I am coming!
He is telling Öhlin that, I know what is about to happen with you.
He can take advantage of the situation as they are starting to get close. Dahlgren is attacking, Danielsson hasn't got the same speed and then Ohlsson is starting to wake up.
Danielsson is in trouble, he get out of line in to the corner and Ohlsson gets past up in to sixth. Danielsson has to let Göransson past as well.
Lets see what happened, right in the braking point, he gets too wide. Perhaps he was looking in the rear view mirror.
Two positions lost for Danielsson and Ohlsson is up in to sixth, Göransson seventh. The question is if Ohlsson got a taste for more.
Danielsson tries to re-take the position on Göransson and he gets it rather easily. Is Göransson starting to struggle after his charge?
And Dahlgren spins! Robert Dahlgren loses is black Volvo and spins out from fifth position.
Ohlsson launches an attack on Öhlin and he has got a really strong pace in his Saab. Perhaps it was like you said before Jimmy, that he has been intelligent and saving his tyres. Because he is in fourth, past Öhlin.
Happy faces at Team Tidö. Just look at his braking point, there, Ohlsson is at least two to three meters later on the brakes than Öhlin.
He is up to fourth, Öhlin is fifth, Danielsson sixth, seventh for Rudholm who has made his way past Göransson who in his turn is in trouble with Rustad right behind him.
Here is a replay of when Rustad gets past Göransson really easy.
It is just the long right-hander for BMW Dealer Team WestCoast Racing driver Fredrik Larsson who claims his first but most likely not last victory in the TTA - Racing Elite League. He crosses the line and there are a lot of happy faces in the team!
Fredrik Ekblom is second and Thed Björk third.
It felt almost a bit too good at the start of the race, so I thought I was going to have problems with my tyres in the end. But I didn't have any bigger problems than the others, I made it stick until the end and that is really good.
A perfect race from start to finish, he had the pace in qualifying and it is great fun. This is why we are here, to win races and it is just wonderful.
I must say that I am really pleased because the car was really nice, good balance and that is a bit troublesome when you get outpaced. A solid day for the championship, but I would have wanted to fight for the win, we have to go faster.
It was of course nice to pull away again in the championship. It is looking nice for Ekblom, lets hope that we can secure a Grand Slam at our home race in Gothenburg in the final race of the year and claim all three titles for Volvo. We'll see if we can make it.
Third, nice work. Damn that he is so quick, Fredrik, but what is there to do? That is what we had in us today.
Ekblom has got a really big gap, he needs to more or less retire a race for us to catch up. Too bad for the championship that Ekblom was ahead.
The car wasn't good and I drive like a witch, a bad mix. That is the way it is, next race please...
Göransson had a tough qualifying session and a great session for Larsson, I think the BMW team has got the edge on us. Then they weren't able to show that at Karlskoga, but they were really fast in Falkenberg and they made a really good race here. We'll have to see...
I felt already from lap one that something was wrong with the engine and it just got worse and worse as the race progressed. At the end, I couldn't even reach sixth gear at the end of the straight.
I am glad that his engine broke, otherwise he would have passed me as well. So I think it is great!