[STCC] 2010 News and Rumours

[Pettersson]

Forget my speculations, Rudholm signs with Xlander Racing in Carrera Cup Scandinavia.

[FIRE]

Originally Posted by Pettersson

It looks like Engström is aiming for STCC 2011.

Sturesson and IPS request of building a new car from the 308 RCZ has been turned down by the STCC organisation after they made a trip to France to take measures etc. Good stuff, since a car like that is as far away you can get from a touring car. But it was Peugeot Swedens wish to race that model, and now IPS can't count on any backing according to themselves. They are working hard to get the fundings needed, then they will go for either their 308 again, or even a BMW as it's easy to buy and maintain with the BMW Motorsport support. This was said in an interview with STCC.se.

West Coast Racings website is down and their temporary page says they will announce their 2010 plans in the near future. Rudholms page is also down (hmm, coincidence?)... I would like to see him at West Coast again, and hopefully not at Chevrolet (I have strong doubts about that teams ability and how it's being run...).

And speaking of Chevrolet, their Lacetti pretty has a new owner (or being rented) according to Chevrolet Motorsport Sweden. An announcement from CMS is also expected here within the upcoming weeks.

Are there any comments from Peugeot Sweden about rejection of 308 RCZ? Or did IPS used the official Peugeot backing story to put STCC under pressure? Maybe I am to cynical but I am not really convinced IPS would get factory backing.


BTW I agree with STCC to reject this car. Don't have a problem with hatchback coupes like the Volvo C30 or VW Scirocco but this Peugeot is to far away from a touring car.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

Heh, I figured Kristoffersson Jr would have been a done deal with KMS taking over. Have to feel very sorry for Tobias Johansson though, hope he gets something togeather.

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Are there any comments from Peugeot Sweden about rejection of 308 RCZ? Or did IPS used the official Peugeot backing story to put STCC under pressure? Maybe I am to cynical but I am not really convinced IPS would get factory backing.

Well, they already have a pretty recent 308. Building 1 more, just for the fun of it, is not very likely. Besides the STCC technical director (according to STCC.se) himself visited Peugeot in France to make the measurements if it could be allowed. According to him it's the inside compartment size that is just not big enough to fill the FIA requrements of a "four door car".

In short, too much direct STCC + Peugeot France involvement to just be a fabrication by IPS. But still, the car clearly doesn't belong in the TC category since it's more of a Miata category car.

So I'm sad for IPS, but happy STCC is strict enough to turn down a manufacturer when it's the right thing to do.

[PorscheFanNo1]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Are there any comments from Peugeot Sweden about rejection of 308 RCZ? Or did IPS used the official Peugeot backing story to put STCC under pressure? Maybe I am to cynical but I am not really convinced IPS would get factory backing.

IPS have got support from Peugeot Sweden for many years, but lost it ahead of the 2009 season, why wouldnt they get backing?


I'm quite surprised about Rudholms move to Carrera Cup Scandinavia, but he has won that serie in the past. Guess this means WCR are surely down to 1 car, unless they find a pay driver for the 2nd car with a good sponsor.

I also guess the Chevy are being rented by Linus Ohlsson, as reported earlier. Also, Appelqvist seem to have found a 156 that he will buy next week, sounds promesing and good to have one more 156 on the grid!


BTW, in my opinion IPS should go back to running Volvos!

[Pettersson]

Originally Posted by PorscheFanNo1

BTW, in my opinion IPS should go back to running Volvos!

Nice I'm not the only one dreaming of that.

So Appelqvist's Alfa seems to be this one:
http://www.racecarsdirect.com/listin...6_DTCWTCC.html

I know this one came to Sweden some years ago, can't remember who bought it though. But surely they should have bought a better car... If he has to go with an Alfa, why just don't buy e.g. Hoffstens real Super 2000 156?

[PorscheFanNo1]

It's a cheap car atleast. And why wouldnt it be any good? Has it been crap when it ran in Denmark?
I think this is the good thing with the Semcon Cup, you can buy a really cheap car and you can run it very cheap with all the help you get from running in the Cup, that Alfa cost 20k€, that not more then a JTCC car, and probably not much more expensive to run then a JTCC car either. A good way to learn and build sponsors for next year.
Its been very quiet about Hoffsten, their site is not updated at all but would be nice if they returned. They are not the fastest but like Ronnie Brandt its always nice to se them on the track.

[PorscheFanNo1]

http://www.hombre-motorsport.de/3.html
Halfway down the page is a Opel Astra OPC for sale for 59k€. Is that Huggares Opel or is it the other car Opel Team Sweden build but never raced?

[Pettersson]

Hmm, I don't know? The pics show Huggare's car, but it could be the other one (which is similar). Or wasn't that stripped when they built the SAAB 9-3?

About the Alfa. It was never a good car in DTC, and now the years have gone by and I'm not sure how it will face the opposition in Semcon Cup. I think their biggest obstacle right now is to pass the scrutineering as it's built by a small private team, and not N-technology. When that Alfa ran in DTC it was not 100% Super 2000, but everything can be updated of course. I wish him the best of luck. And I also hope we will see Ronnie Brandt again, he's a fantastic character that always makes me happy .

There's also a rather wild rumour in the paddock about Tobias Johansson. His friend, some bloke called Mattias Ekström or something , are looking at doing something fun. SEAT's has been mentioned, and Rydell and Edward Sandström are some of the names beeing mentioned. We know Alx Danielsson have been working since last year to run SEAT Leons with him as a driver. I hope to get more info on this rumour to find out how valid the information is.

Rydell at Flash and Alx and Johansson or Sandström in SEATs, that would be something

[PorscheFanNo1]

It should be this car: http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=3149

Would be very interesting to know what Brovallen are working on, as well as DMS and G-Rex!! Those teams should start talking!

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by Pettersson

Hmm, I don't know? The pics show Huggare's car, but it could be the other one (which is similar). Or wasn't that stripped when they built the SAAB 9-3?

There for sure was rumors about it. Have no further info in the matter though. So my guess would have been the same, likely the car that did run, but could be the other.

There's also a rather wild rumour in the paddock about Tobias Johansson. His friend, some bloke called Mattias Ekström or something , are looking at doing something fun.

*Goes to check the DTM and NEZ-Cup overlapping just in case it could mean more than sponsoring*

Rydell at Flash and Alx and Johansson or Sandström in SEATs, that would be something

Indeed, certainly adds some interesting names at the top end.

[Pettersson]

Originally Posted by PorscheFanNo1

It should be this car: http://www.touringcartimes.com/news.php?id=3149

Would be very interesting to know what Brovallen are working on, as well as DMS and G-Rex!! Those teams should start talking!

Yes, you're right, almost forgot about that car. I remember that they used a lot of the running gear from the Astra when they built the 9-3. Even the engine was the same (all SAAB engines are turbocharged, and the 4-cyl. ones are pretty much the same as Opels NA Ecotec engines or whatever they're called). Please correct me if I'm wrong.

If the Ekström-Johansson rumour has any substance at all, we can forget Ekström as a driver. He's helping with the other stuff, just as he did when Johansson got the VW deal. BTW, is Ekström under contract with Audi this year? It's one year left on his contract, right?

Agree on DMS and G-Rex. DMS has a lot of nice equipment and facilities for STCC, but we'll have to wait and see. It's also been very quite from Roger Eriksson/NFA, I do like to see him this year with a bigger budget so he can show us what he really can do.

[Pettersson]

Sorry for the double-post, but I'm very interested to know what West Coast Racing is up to. Rumour says they have bought a GT4 BMW (still not sure if it's an M3 E92 or newest Z4). Would suit Göranssons drives at Nordschleife, for sure. Maybe they will also compete in the new GT-series or German VLN-series (where they can get paying drivers to help financially). They should be ready with an announcement soon, as well as Flash Engineering with their new livery:
http://www.flashengineering.se/2010/...gs-nya-design/

[Pettersson]

Sorry for double-posting (or triple post ), but what's going on at Brovallen Motorsport?



Hmm, some kind of endurance racing or what? Could this be an indication of an involvement of Mattias Ekström?

And no more Viktor Hallrup in STCC/Semcon Cup (a shame!), Camaro Cup looks to be his option this year:

http://www.hallrup.com/news.php?id=31

[PorscheFanNo1]

What a shame about Hallrup! I'm sure he would've been able to fight for podiums in STCC this year if he'd got a E90. Hope he'll be back in STCC soon tho!

And yeah, what Audi's are those?!? I'm guessing a pair of KMS Audis? Surely they cant run those in STCC? He got a good sponsor atleast

[Pettersson]

Yes, a little dream would have been to see Hallrup and Ebbesson in two E90's. That couldn't have been other than a success.

It looks like the Audis are S4's, or maybe an A4 with S-line package? But only one of the cars have a rollcage fitted. There's also a decal with the Swedish Audi dealers, and together with Red Bull it should be a good project. But in STCC?

There are some guys at svartamasken.com saying it will be a two-car team, not still sure if it will be diesel or petrol (or maybe biogas?). They are also rumoured to have a deal with SEAT going, and the thought is to run Rydell in one car.

My guess? I think they are making these Audis into a SEAT Exeo and run as a SEAT team. A wild guess, anyone wanna bet?

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by Pettersson

My guess? I think they are making these Audis into a SEAT Exeo and run as a SEAT team. A wild guess, anyone wanna bet?

I wouldn't dare to bet against that. It would answer so many questions about Tobias suddenly leaving the VW project and KMS taking it over and SEAT dropping out of TC in general. After all who better to run an "exeo" development project then one of the guys that was involved in building the Audis that has been so successful in the past STCCs.

However with those RB colors, I'm rather guessing for it to be a ETCC+ NezCup effort than purely STCC. Rydell rumors doesnt exactly make that less likely either.

[PorscheFanNo1]

But why start a S2000 Exeo project now? And why would that have anything to do with SEAT dropping out of WTCC?
If it was the KMS Audis (which it probably isnt) and they just drop in some SEAT diesel engines in them I could understand that, a good chassie getting 2 more years of racing with a new engine. But if they are to develope a compleatly new chassie and engine that surely wont be a S2000 car seing as S1600 is on the way in, and S2000 only have 2 more years in STCC (as we know it).
Will be interesting to see what this turns into!

[FIRE]

Interesting photo. Were did you get it?

The cars have the same livery as the JTCC A3's of Mattias Ekström Junior Team.



Like someone already said the left car has no roll cage. Maybe these cars are used by Mattias Ekström Junior Team to drive sponsors at the track during STCC/JTCC events? Or these A4's replace the A3's in JTCC? Or Semcon Cup?

STCC or ETCC would be great.

[Bramzel]

Originally Posted by FIRE

Like someone already said the left car has no roll cage. Maybe these cars are used by Mattias Ekström Junior Team to drive sponsors at the track during STCC/JTCC events?

That would be my bet.

[Jimmy Magnusson]

They lack the wheel arch extensions of the STCC cars, too.

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by PorscheFanNo1

But why start a S2000 Exeo project now? And why would that have anything to do with SEAT dropping out of WTCC?

Develop the chassis in 2010 and drop in a S1600T in 2011 if things go well?

Originally Posted by FIRE

Maybe these cars are used by Mattias Ekström Junior Team to drive sponsors at the track during STCC/JTCC events? Or these A4's replace the A3's in JTCC? Or Semcon Cup?

Semcon cars needs to be 2-3 years old. New cars always start in the main STCC category.
JTCC has S1600 engines and smaller car models, instinctively I think the A4s extra size & weight compared to A3 wont make an A3 -> A4 switch that good of a choice in that class.
Driving around sponsors, possibly, but why the rollcage then?

[Pettersson]

If you look closely, the seat is on the right side on the car to the right. And I agree that it looks strange to have a car with livery at this point.

Unfortunately I didn't have to opportunity to visit a race in 2009, so I can't say whether these cars were used for VIP driving or something similar. But the photographer from the garage have been told to keep it quiet for a little while, so we have to wait and see.

[stedevil]

Originally Posted by Pettersson

If you look closely, the seat is on the right side on the car to the right.

Indeed, but more interesting I would say is the Swedish flag on the front left corner on both cars. That is why I don't think it's STCC cars, especially not only for STCC hospitality. Only in minimum NezCup & ETCC does it make sense to put national flags on the car livery.

And yes, putting on the livery before even putting in the rollcage is a bit weird, but maybe that just worked better for their time schedule. In any case, the car without a rollcage also have all doors removed at the hinges, which I guess is a what you would do right before you put in a rollcage.

[PorscheFanNo1]

Either way, looking forward to any kind of announcement!


STCC.se now also confirmes Appelqvist in the Alfa, which we already knew. Interestingly they say the car ran a time at Gelleråsen that would have out it 3rd in the Semcon Cup start grid which would have put him just behind Hallrup but ahead of Huggare, not a bad time if its true. So maybe not a slow car afterall?


Also, Sturenssons 308 is for sale here: http://www.racingsport.se/item/389
No price mentioned tho. I'm guessing if anyone buys Ã*t they will switch to a E90, if not they will run it one more year, cant really see anyone buying it tho. Dont they also have two 407s in they garage, or did they manage to sell those?