Race Report: Round 4 – Ring Knutstorp

Aquila Formula 1000 offered new winners and exciting races during the Swedish Sports Car Meeting at Ring Knutstorp

Aquila Formula 1000 visited Ring Knutstorp in Skåne for the fourth round of the season, which was run in conjunction with the classic Swedish Sports Car Meeting. The weekend offered 16 cars in the starting field, cool weather and two new winners in the championship.

Qualifying was conducted in wet weather and junior leader Linus Stjernelund showed his class by securing pole position with a full 0.661 second margin, the largest so far this year. In the opening race, he managed his starting position and took his fourth victory of the season, ahead of senior Andreas Skatteboe and Leonel Skaar.

After taking his first podium in Race 1 Skaar on the chosen path. With a strong start, he took the lead and held it all the way to the finish, thus securing his first victory in Aquila Formula 1000. Behind him, Albin Gustafsson and Oscar Mellstig followed on the podium.

Sunday ended with yet another new winner. Oscar Mellstig, who has been chasing his first win for a long time, was able to step onto the top of the podium in the third race. Linus Stjernelund came in second and Andreas Skatteboe came in third.

The best points scorer at Ring Knutstorp was Leonel Skaar, who thus consolidated his third place in the junior championship. Oscar Mellstig is second behind Linus Stjernelund, who leads both the rookie and junior championships.

Albin Gustavsson still holds second place in the rookie standings, but Enzo Cohllin came close after a good weekend on the rain-soaked track in Skåne.

Stjernelund also moved up to the lead of the overall championship – but the margin to senior leader Andreas Skatteboe is a single point. Leonel Skaar advances to fourth place overall after his strongest weekend of the year, while Fredrik Lindholm has climbed to sixth place.

“Knutstorp was always going to be a challenge, a new track and the first time I’ve driven in the rain. But I was able to find speed straight away in the rain and after a really good start to the weekend everything looked perfect. Then came Sunday where I made a very costly mistake that caused me to lose a lot of points. But I still managed to come back and finish the weekend strong. A really positive weekend where I unfortunately made a mistake that ruined the whole thing. One thing to take away and improve,” says Linus Stjernelund.

“The weekend offered a lot of action and varying weather. Qualifying was tough with rain and oil on the track, but we managed to secure a good starting position. In Race 1 we struggled with the settings but still held on to a podium place. Race 2 was intense – we defended the lead from start to finish, which was a challenge. In Race 3 I lost the lead after an incident in turn 1 on lap two, but climbed back to fifth place, which was enough to win the weekend overall. An exciting and educational weekend,” said Leonel Skaar

“Qualifying in the rain was really tough with a lot of water and yellow flags, so I only started eleventh. But I worked my way up throughout the weekend with a sixth place in race 1, third place in race 2 – and in race 3 I got past both Andreas and Linus to take my first victory. An incredible feeling to be the first to cross the finish line after such a hard fight,” explained Oscar Melletig.

The next round of the Aquila Formula 1000 will be held at Kinnekulle Ring on July 25–27.

Links:

Results
Championship tables

Press photos from the competition weekend at Ring Knutstorp. Photo: Bengt-Åce Gustavsson