In Falkenberg, Edvin Hellsten and Hampus Ericsson cracked the reigning champion Lukas Sundahl's winning streak in the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia. In the classic Kanonloppet at Gelleråsen Arena 20-21 August, the duo would like to continue on the winning track. The question is whether Sundahl will allow it?

Lukas Sundahl came to the West Coast Race in Falkenberg with five straight race victories in the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia. After the masterful start, many people wondered if the Smålander would make a Johan Kristoffersson - win all races (as Kristoffersson did in 2015) on his way to a fourth title.

But the suite burst. In the initial heat in Falkenberg, Sundahl was second behind Edvin Hellsten. In the second, Hampus Ericsson won after Sundahl was forced to break after being hit.
It would have been fun to copy Kristoffersson, but it is not something I aimed for and honestly I knew it would not be possible. I had a feeling that the victory suite would sooner or later crack and now it did so in Falkenberg, says Sundahl.

He lost part of his lead but is still 44 points ahead of second-placed Emil Persson. Third is Hampus Ericsson and four Edvin Hellsten, the winners from Falkenberg.
I had, and still have, some points to spare, which means that I do not have to stress. I'm not eager to let go of more victories, but if I can come from Karlskoga on Saturday night with the same lead as we have now, I will be happy.

Superior in the qualifiers
Lukas Sundahl was extremely strong at Gelleråsen Arena last year. He won the heat and was fastest in both qualifying rounds. In Q2, he hit a fantastic time, 1.03,067, and was almost half a second ahead of the nearest competitor. Afterwards, Sundahl described that lap as his best qualifying lap so far in his career.

But it was not perfect and of course it would be fun to be able to perform something similar this time, but I know that Emil and Hampus, who are closest to me in the table, drove the track up there quite a lot. They can probably get sharp, says Sundahl.

Hoping for a fight
Kumlasonen Hampus Ericsson, who competes for Fragus Motorsport, was of course happy about the victory in Falkenberg, his first in the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia. At the same time, he admits that he was happy to conquer it in another way.

You should never complain about a victory, but it was a bit sad that Lukas was forced to break. I would have liked to have fought for the victory with him, but we may well take that fight in Karlskoga instead, says Ericsson whose season has gone up and down a bit.

There have been a lot of peaks and valleys, but we have almost always had the speed and it has been really nice. The plan for the second half of the season is that we will really put everything together and take those important points in each race to be at the top.

Aiming for the podium
Ericsson would like to be among the top three in the championship after the final at Mantorp Park. Last year he was involved in the podium fight, but dropped down to fifth place in the last competition.

It will be difficult to beat Lukas, who is an incredibly skilled driver, but defeating him has been our goal all season and will continue to be so. It's fun that the championship starts again after the summer holidays and we get another chance to beat him. He was really fast at Gelleråsen last year, but hopefully we have done our homework and will be even faster now.

Much-needed victory
It was in Karlskoga that Hampus Ericsson won his first podium place in the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia last season. In the same competition, Edvin Hellsten also made his debut on the podium, and in Falkenberg in July this year, the Gothenburger won for the first time. The victory came as a bit of a surprise. Nova Racing opened the season slowly.
Great relief and nice to win on performance. We needed that victory and hopefully it will release a bit for us now, says Hellsten, who actually felt a little given up before the competition in Falkenberg. But it turns around quickly in this extremely results-based sport, he states.

So what was the key to the turnaround?
Yes you, I actually do not know (laughs). We got all the puzzle pieces in the right place during one and the same weekend. This is hopefully where we have landed now and we aim to be able to make a good result in Karlskoga as well. We were testing at Gelleråsen this spring and then we felt quite satisfied with what we managed to achieve. I really hope we can do it again now on race weekend.

Aiming for silver
Hellsten is four in the table and has 19 points up to second place.
At present, we aim for the silver. Sure, we are a few points behind but on the other hand there are seven whole races left to run and extremely many points to pick. The gold is a little too far away maybe, but we should definitely take the silver home with us. I think we should have performance and a chance to take home more race victories and show that we have arrived at a sharp package that means that we can deliver on every track in the future, he says.

Both Viaplay and V Sport Motor
Saturday's Porsche Carrera Cup heat at Gelleråsen Arena, where the organizer allows an audience (maximum 600 people / day), will be broadcast live on both Viaplay and V Sport Motor. At 11.00 the broadcast for the initial race begins. 14.30 is the time for the second.

Just like at Västkustloppet in Falkenberg, the strong trio Janne Blomqvist, Robin Nilsson and Björn Wirdheim will be responsible for the talk from Karlskoga.

Time schedule Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, Gelleråsen Arena, Karlskoga, 20-21 August
Friday 20 August
At 10.30: Test 1 (30 min)
At 14.10: Test 2 (30 min)
At 16.40: Qualifying, Q1 (17 min)
At 17.02: Qualifying , Q2 (8 min)

Saturday 21 August
11.15: Race 1 (20 min + 1 lap)
14.50: Race 2 (30 min + 1 lap)