Ice cold Fredricsson fastest in Porsche ROC Snow + Ice Challenge

It was Pontus Fredricsson who won when the Porsche Race Of Champions Snow + Ice Challenge was decided at Pite Havsbad. In a dramatic final duel, he defeated Carrera Cup colleague and new team-mate of Fragus Motorsport, Edvin Hellsten. It's nice to start the year this way. This triumph will be good to have in your luggage when the Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia starts this spring, says Fredricsson.

There were seven Carrera Cup drivers and German Marc Lieb who started the Race Of Champions festival in Piteå over the final weekend in Januray. They did so with the Porsche ROC Snow + Ice Challenge, the race in which the double European rallycross champion, Anton Marklund, was one of the challenge pre-favourites. But the only Norwegian in the field was knocked out already in the first round where he was defeated by Pontus Fredricsson after his own mistake in the opening heat. Marklund stopped and lost a lot of time. Then it didn't help that he won the second heat with the fastest lap of the race. When you combined the two drivers' time in total, Fredricsson was clearly the fastest.

In the semi-final, Fredricsson was pitted against four-time Porsche Carrera Cup champion Lukas Sundahl, who in his quarterfinal knocked out Emil Persson. Sundahl barely won the opening heat, but Fredricsson countered, prevailed in the second and advanced to the final, again in the best overall time.

In the second half, Edvin Hellsten advanced to the final. The Gothenburger did it after two straight 2-0 wins. First he knocked out Marc Lieb and then Hampus Ericsson, who in his quarterfinal defeated Dane Jan Magnussen.

The final, which was decided over three heats, started Fredricsson best. He won the first heat and looked to decide the race already in the second when Hellsten bet everything in the final and managed to squeeze himself ahead by 35 thousandths of a margin! In the third and absolutely decisive final heat, Fredricsson, despite a small visit to a snow embankment, was once again fastest and could thus be declared the winner of the Porsche Race Of Champions Snow + Ice Challenge.

That's nice. I'm really happy with this victory," said Fredricsson, whose victory melody on sea ice in the Gulf of Bothnia was to keep a cool head and minimize mistakes.

This weekend, 5-6 February, the motorsport festival at Pite Havsbad continues with classic Race Of Champions, which for the first time is decided on snow and ice. In fact, the star-studded starting field includes two more drivers with experience from Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia, rallycross world champions Johan Kristoffersson and Timmy Hansen. Kristoffersson has three Carrera Cup titles and Hansen has a podium from a guest appearance in Östersund in 2012.
Also in the Race Of Champions, participants will drive the Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport.