WTCC pays a visit to Sweden - Ekblom on the starting grid for BMW.Set to take place in Anderstorp, the next two races of the FIA World Touring Car Championship will see the BMW national teams reinforced by the addition of Frederik Ekblom (SWE). Sweden's local hero will be driving alongside defending champion Andy Priaulx (GBR) for BMW Team UK in a BMW 320si WTCC sporting the Swedish national flag.
As a newcomer to the WTCC, Ekblom will carry just 10 kilograms of ballast in his BMW. Most of his fellow BMW drivers, however, will be heavyweights, having notched up a total of six wins so far this season: current world championship leader on 58 points is BMW Team Germany's Jörg Müller (GER), who will race with 60 kilos extra weight. Just two points behind him, team-mate Augusto Farfus (BRA) and Priaulx lie in joint second place and are also set to carry maximum ballast. BMW Team Italy-Spain's Félix Porteiro (ESP) will take an additional 20 kilos on board, while team-mate Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) will contest two relatively lightweight races with a 5 kilogram handicap. At this stage of the season, BMW has a comfortable lead in the manufacturers' championship with 167 points to its name.
The "Scandinavian Raceway" in Anderstorp is at the heart of northern European motorsport. In the 1970s the 4.025-kilometre circuit hosted a total of six Grands Prix and to date it remains the only Formula 1 venue in Scandinavia. Müller and Priaulx first raced there in 2002 and 2003, achieving victory and second place respectively in the FIA European Touring Car Championship.
Ekblom last raced at Anderstorp just over month ago, on 17th June 2007, when he finished fourth in the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) race at the wheel of his BMW 320si. He currently leads the hotly contested STCC with 41 points. Like Müller, Ekblom too drove at Anderstorp in 2002, finishing third for BMW Team Belgium in the ETCC. He joins the battle for points once again for Bart Mampaey's RBM Team.
Fredrik Ekblom (BMW Team UK):"It is fantastic to be able to join the World Touring Car Championship - and especially in front of my home crowd. Anderstorp is not exactly the circuit I have driven most in Sweden, but I like it. It is not particularly tricky, but it is still challenging and not really comparable with many other tracks. I have been in this business for quite a while now, but I am still looking forward to picking up one or two tricks from Andy Priaulx, who is the king of touring car racing. Back in 2002 things didn't go too badly at all in the European Championship for RBM and me - I made it onto the podium in Anderstorp. This year I want to achieve another good result for BMW and the team, so I have to get used to the high standards of the WTCC quickly."
History and background:
Since opening in 1968, the "Scandinavian Raceway" at Anderstorp has hosted six Swedish Formula 1 Grands Prix races, from 1973 to 1978. Highly celebrated in the world of motor racing at the time was Ronnie Peterson (SWE). His 1973 race victory was Sweden's first since Jo Bonnier in 1959. Peterson was able to celebrate nine further triumphs before his fatal accident on 11th September 1978. Although a home victory at Anderstorp was never to be, Peterson was able to lead the circuit's maiden Formula 1 GP in 1973 until a tyre defect forced him to concede first place to Denny Hulme (NZL) five laps before the end. In the years that followed Jody Scheckter (RSA) and Niki Lauda (AUT) each made it onto the Anderstorp winners' list twice, with France's Jacques Laffite on top of the podium at the Swedish Grand Prix in 1977.
Another regular fixture at the "Scandinavian Raceway" were the 17 World Motorcycle Championship events held there until 1990. However, since the departure of Formula 1 and the World Motorcycle Championship from Anderstorp, the venue's events calendar has been dominated by touring car racing: 1997 saw the historical province of Småland host its first Swedish Touring Car Championship round. Five years later the FIA European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) followed, with BMW Team Germany already winning with Jörg Müller at the wheel.
The 2002 FIA ETCC also saw Fredrik Ekblom battle it out for points on behalf of the RBM and BMW Team Belgium. In the second race of the day at his home circuit in Anderstorp, Ekblom crossed the finish line third in his BMW 320i. One year later Antonio Garcia (ESP) and Dirk Müller (GER) finished the first race of the day with further podium appearances for BMW. In the same year Andy Priaulx was BMW's most successful driver when he finished the second race in second place.
In spring 2006 parts of the "Scandinavian Raceway" were updated. The circuit organisation focused particular attention on the pits and paddock area.
Anderstorp is part of the municipality of Gisvaled, which has consisted of the towns of Burseryd, Reftele, Villstad, Södra Mo, Anderstorp and Gisvaled since the municipal reform in 1974. Home to almost 30,000 people, the area is only sparsely populated, with just 26 inhabitants per square kilometre.Gisvaled is famous for its 380 or so lakes which make for an impressive landscape. The River Nissan also crosses the area to enter the sea at Halmstad.
On Friday, the drivers of the BMW national teams will have a 30-minute private testing to get used to the track. The first race on Sunday starts at 12:05hrs. The red lights go off for race at 14:35hrs. Eurosport International provides live coverage from both rounds.
