In October 2022, Ola Nilsson became the loser in history's smoothest and most dramatic title duel in Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia. Now Skåne is reloading and the goal for this year's season is a given. Nilsson wants to win the title and keep it for more than an hour this time.

You probably remember the completely unlikely resolution of Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia 2022. Before the final race at Mantorp Park, Lukas Sundahl and Ola Nilsson shared first place in the table with exactly the same number of points.

The final heat of the season would decide. First in goal of the two would win the championship. As if that wasn't enough, Nilsson and Sundahl also shared other starting ranks.
In front of a large crowd, the two top drivers offered fantastic and exciting racing for 26 minutes. Then what became the big talk of the finals weekend happened. With four minutes left, Nilsson tried to overtake Sundahl in the goal curve. Contact ensued whereupon the reigning champion skidded out into the grass and fell far behind. Five laps later, Nilsson crossed the finish line as heat third and as champion "under investigation".

Just over an hour later, the message came from the competition management: Five places relegation for Nilsson in the results list.
Nilsson eight, Sundahl seventh. Thus, Sundahl was the champion for the fifth year in a row. By a single point margin!

Motivated to fight at the top

Surt of course, but Nilsson made the race management's decision as a good loser and sportsman. "You can turn and twist that in a hundred different ways and think about it a lot, but... We were so happy with what we accomplished overall. Me and the team did everything we could to be involved in challenging and fighting for it and giving it a chance when the opportunity was in the final and in the last race. I'm very happy about that.

"Of course you were disappointed then, because the situation could have been different, but I respected the ruling. If it is decided, it is and then you have to move on from it, says Nilsson, who has long since put the final weekend at Mantorp Park behind him.

The sales manager at Porsche Center Malmö looks ahead instead and when asked if he feels hungry for revenge considering what happened last autumn, he answers:
"Hungry for revenge? No, not in that way. However, motivated to fight at the top and try to take race victories. Considering I was second by a one-point margin, there's obviously nothing but going to win the championship this year. But that goal only follows our original plan when the idea of a comeback was born in 2021. We would build up the venture in 2022 and aim for the title in 2023. That's what we're going to try to do now that we know we can fight for it.

There was little to work on
After a four-year hiatus, Ola Nilsson from Löddeköpinge in Skåne made a racing comeback last season. For Mtech Competition and in a venture backed by Porsche Center Malmö, Porsche Center Helsingborg and Bilia, Nilsson took a place in one of the team's new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup (992). After a somewhat tentative, yet stable start, things really loosened up for Nilsson at Rudskogen Motorsenter just days after his 35th birthday. In Norway, he won all three races from pole position and suddenly stood as the main challenger to reigning champion Lukas Sundahl for the title.

"When we started testing in the spring, I felt, which was completely expected, that there was a bit to work on to get going again and make the best of it. I needed to find the interaction with the engineer and the team, but above all it was my driving – to get into a good pace, rhythm, security and calm and find my way back to the driving that I know I can perform," says Nilsson and continues:

"It was a bit tentative initially but I still think we got into it pretty quickly. Apart from the qualifiers in both races in Anderstorp, I think we worked our way into it in a good way and got good pace in it, which showed not least at the end of the season. Then I felt a greater sense of security and the feeling was the one I want when I drive a race car.

Challenge from the start. All that has Ola Nilsson and Mtech Competition with them into this year's season, which means that the team starts from a completely different level.
"We take the experience from last year with us and build on this year. Therefore, I have no thoughts of a new, tentative start or that we should not be able to participate and challenge directly. I feel very excited. All the parameters are there for us to be able to participate from the beginning this year.

" With that said, it is also the case that the championship in 2023 looks to be at least as tough as 2022. I still see that the top seven, top eight will be able to compete for race victories and definitely podiums. You might as well be number one in the premiere in Anderstorp, and that will probably be the case for much of the season. A Swedish championship that looks like that is fantastic. Crazy good and very fun.

"So even though we had a fantastic finish last year, it's not a given that we will pick up race victories the first weekend just because the pace was there in the final races in 2022. It's going to be really tough, but I definitely feel like we have a completely different foundation to stand on. I feel more confident coming into this season knowing that we have the capacity to compete for the title. And it feels good, of course.

Increased demands. But it also means that expectations of Ola Nilsson are growing. The demands are increasing. - That may be the case, but I've never minded that kind of outside expectation. The highest goal and level of ambition I usually set on myself. I don't mind people seeing me as a title candidate. Then it may well be so in such cases.

With his background and experience, many people believed in Ola Nilsson as a safe and stable point picker in his comeback season. That's exactly how it turned out. Along with bronze man Emil Persson, Nilsson was the only one of the top drivers who did not break a single race.

"It's probably a strength I've had throughout my career. Take the car to the finish, score points, do the job wisely and well, take the chances when they appear. I like that approach and think it's worked. So too in 2022 – even if it wasn't quite enough all the way. The mistakes were few, but there are details to file on this year.

"The qualifiers, they were undoubtedly the ones I had the hardest time getting the maximum out of last year, which is quite common after an extended break. I think it was harder to find the stick with the 992 compared to previous generations of the 911 GT3 Cup I've competed in.

Ola Nilsson is looking forward to this year's season, to which he and Mtech Competition slightly change the pre-season structure compared to last year.

"The difference is that we will start the season and get a bit of a sense of speed by making a little trip to Spain in March. After that, it will be much like last year, the official test days and then some.