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Andreas Bäckman has joined Lestrup Racing Team for the 2022 STCC TCR Scandinavia season, setting the goal as high as possible.

”It feels awesome to join Lestrup Racing Team, a young and progressive team, and my ambition is to win the championship together with them this year,” said Andreas Bäckman.

Bäckman returns for his first full STCC season since 2018 after spending three years abroad in TCR Europe and most recently the FIA World Touring Car Cup.

”I think the entire STCC paddock was impressed by Andreas’ performance at Mantorp Park last year and we are delighted to have him onboard in our goal to reclaim the STCC titles this year,” said Fredrik Lestrup, co-owner of Lestrup Racing Team.

”We’ve had our eyes on Andreas for a while now and he has taken big steps forwards over the last couple of seasons. We have plenty of work ahead of us to get ready for what is to come and I have no doubt that he can deliver.”

The 26-year-old made a one-off appearance last year in the STCC races at Mantorp Park where he stunned the field by claiming pole position.

”That race weekend left me with a taste for more and we found a really good setup with Lestrup Racing Team where I feel that I have the conditions to fight for the very top,” said Andreas Bäckman.

”We have set the goal high, but I know that I have the speed and I know that the team can deliver. It is going to be tough as we will face a lot of experienced drivers, but I do feel confident and can’t wait to get going.”

Lestrup Racing Team is going to field two cars this year, switching to a new manufacturer for the 2022 STCC season.

”Andreas is our first piece of the puzzle for the 2022 season and we are going to reveal further details over the coming weeks,” said Fredrik Lestrup.

”I can say as much, we are going to have a thoroughly competitive package for this season and our goal is firmly set on bringing the STCC titles back to where they belong at Lestrup Racing Team.”

The 2022 STCC TCR Scandinavia season starts on June 3-4 at Ljungbyhed in Sweden.

Lestrup Racing Team has moved into new facilities in Stockholm as part of its strengthened title assault for the 2022 STCC TCR Scandinavia season.

”Our goal for 2022 is firmly set on bringing the STCC titles back to where they belong at Lestrup Racing Team and a key part to this is our new facilities in Stockholm,” said Fredrik Lestrup, co-owner of Lestrup Racing Team.

”We plan to run a minimum of two cars in the 2022 STCC season.”

The team has moved into new 400m2 facilities in the Swedish capital that are dedicated to its STCC programme.

”The new facilities are like night and day for us regarding efficiency, performance and development of our STCC cars and everything connected to it,” said Fredrik Lestrup.

”We have space to maintain up to four cars and this is a vital part in our expansion for the future.”

Lestrup Racing Team finished second overall in the 2021 STCC teams’ standings, with Oliver Söderström clinching the junior title as well as fourth overall in the standings.

Team-mates Mikael Karlsson and Robin Knutsson claimed a victory each during the season, finishing seventh and ninth overall respectively.

”While we did not achieve our main target of defending our drivers’ and teams’ titles, we had a good year with competitive pace and the focus for 2022 is to put all pieces together,” said Fredrik Lestrup.

”We have absolutely no doubt on that we have what it takes to challenge for the 2022 titles and we will reveal more information about our drivers for the coming season in due course.”

Mikael Karlsson ended the 2021 STCC TCR Scandinavia season in the best possible way for Lestrup Racing Team by winning the third and final race at Knutstorp.
Team-mate Oliver Söderström drove three consistent races to secure the junior title, with Lestrup Racing Team securing the runner-up spot of the teams’ championship.

”We have had a season of a lot of ups and downs. We are obviously never happy until we are on top of the standings. But we had a great last race weekend of the season with Mikael’s win and Oliver’s junior title as the highlights. A massive thanks to all of our partners and to everyone in the team who has worked so hard this year,” said Fredrik Lestrup, team co-owner.

Mikael Karlsson was able to get the jump on pole sitter Magnus Gustavsen in the third race and held the lead from lights to flag.

”We’ve had a lot of bad luck this year and haven’t been able to get things together, despite showing promising speed. So it was great to finish the season in this way. The team has done a super job all season, so it feels awesome to secure second place in the teams’ championship with them,” said Mikael Karlsson.

Oliver Söderström secured fourth place in the first race and a pair of sixth place finishes in the final two races was enough for him to claim the junior title with a margin of 30 points over title rival Hugo Nerman.

”To secure the junior title feels great. I had hoped for a better overall result but we have shown that the speed is there and a huge thanks to Lestrup Racing Team for a great season,” said Oliver Söderström, who finished fourth in the drivers’ championship.

Robin Knutsson fought hard to three top ten finishes, finishing ninth overall in his first ever STCC season.

”It was a tough end to the season, we didn’t really get the results we wanted. We had the speed, but a lot was down to my inexperience as a rookie. But I feel that I have taken big steps forward and with more kilometres comes consistency which I think will make it possible for me to be in the top moving forward. I am really happy with the season and the team that has helped me to develop greatly,” said Robin Knutsson.

Results Ring Knutstorp
Race 1
Race 2
Race 3
Championship standings

Oliver Söderström headed the Lestrup Racing Team trio in the final STCC TCR Scandinavia qualifying session of 2021 at Knutstorp with a pair of fourth place finishes.

”I’m a bit frustrated, we only had a couple of hundredths up to second place. I just didn’t get it right. We will have to fight back tomorrow,” said Oliver Söderström.

The 23-year-old heads the junior championship ahead of the final three races tomorrow, 33 points ahead of Hugo Nerman and 38 points ahead of team-mate Robin Knutsson.

Mikael Karlsson qualified sixth and seventh while Robin Knutsson was eliminated after Q1 with a margin of just five thousands of a second. The 19-year-old will start ninth in both races.

”I’m really pleased to get it together and it felt like I got much more out of the car than what I’ve been able to before. That Oliver was faster on his home track was something I expected and it will be interesting to see what we can do in the races tomorrow,” said Mikael Karlsson.

”I’m disappointed, we didn’t really have the speed and that’s tough as I had rather high expectations. My goal is second place in the junior championship and I still feel that it’s within reach, I will go all in tomorrow,” said Robin Knutsson.

The STCC finale at Knutstorp is broadcast LIVE on: plus.stcc.se

Results Ring Knutstorp
Qualifying 1
Qualifying 2

Schedule Ring Knutstorp
Saturday 9/10
10:35 – Race 1
13:25 – Race 2
15:35 – Race 3

Lestrup Racing Team has spent less than 48 hours in the Stockholm workshop after the STCC TCR Scandinavia races at Mantorp Park last weekend, now heading to Knutstorp for the season finale.

”Everyone has really pulled together and secured that everything is ready for the finale. Knutstorp should be a track that suits us a lot better than Mantorp and we’ve got really fond memories from last year when we secured the titles there,” said Fredrik Lestrup, co-owner of Lestrup Racing Team.

”Our goal is set on the top three positions in all races this weekend and to secure the runner-up spot in the teams’ championship.”

Oliver Söderström, who claimed a podium finish at Mantorp Park, heads to the season finale in fourth position in the drivers’ championship and in the lead of the junior championship.

”I’m heading to Knutstorp aiming for the junior title, as well as climbing into the top three of the overall standings. I definitely think we can challenge for the race wins at Knutstorp, a circuit that I really like,” said Oliver Söderström.

Team-mates Robin Knutsson and Mikael Karlsson had a mixed weekend at Mantorp Park, aiming for a strong turnaround at Ring Knutstorp.

”I wasn’t happy with the results last weekend. But my confidence is still there and I think we will be in a much better position at Knutstorp where I hope to push into the top five again,” said Robin Knutsson.

”We found an issue with my car that has been fixed ahead of this weekend. I just want to end the season in the best possible way and I think we are in a good position for that,” said Mikael Karlsson.

The STCC finale at Knutstorp is broadcast LIVE on: plus.stcc.se

Schedule Ring Knutstorp
Friday 8/10
10:45 – Test 1
13:55 – Test 2
16:05 – Q1
16:35 – Q2

Saturday 9/10
10:35 – Race 1
13:25 – Race 2
15:35 – Race 3

Lestrup Racing Team driver Oliver Söderström netted a podium finish in the penultimate STCC TCR Scandinavia round of 2021 at Mantorp Park, finishing second in the second race.

”I had a good weekend that I am really pleased with. We knew that Mantorp was going to be tough for us compared to the Cupras and Audis and I think we maximised our results. I still need to improve my pace in the wet, but to be able to give the STCC champion a run for his money in the second race feels like a small victory,” said Oliver Söderström.

Mikael Karlsson was close to the podium with a fourth place finish in the first race while he had to fight hard in the remaining two.

”The first race was okay and I was involved in plenty of fights at the top. There were a lot of incidents in the final two races and we didn’t get the results we wanted. We were unfortunately lacking some straight line speed and I had some vibration issues,” said Mikael Karlsson.

Robin Knutsson, who claimed his maiden STCC win in the previous round at Anderstorp, had a tough but consistent weekend with two seventh place finished and sixth in the final race.

”It’s been somewhat of a disappointing weekend for me. I didn’t quite get the feeling in the car and it feels tough to be outside of the top five. But I haven’t lost any of my confidence and I think the speed will be a lot better at Knutstorp,” said Robin Knutsson.

Lestrup Racing Team keeps second in the teams’ standings after the Mantorp weekend and there is no rest for the team as the 2021 season finale at Knutstorp is less than a week away on October 8-9.

”It’s been a weekend of ups and down for us. But we knew that this track wasn’t going to be easy for us. We’re never happy until we are on top of the podium, but the I think we can be pleased with the results we managed to secure considering the circumstances,” said Fredrik Lestrup, team co-owner.

Mantorp Park results
Championship standings

Lestrup Racing Team drivers Oliver Söderström, Mikael Karlsson and Robin Knutsson all made it to the final qualifying round of the STCC TCR Scandinavia race weekend at Mantorp Park.

”While our goal is always set on the top, today’s result is considering the circumstances with a drying track that’s usually not favorable to our car something we can be pleased with. I’m confident that all three drivers can make good progress in the races,” said Fredrik Lestrup, team co-owner.

Oliver Söderström was quickest of the trio with third position in Q1 and fourth in Q2.

”I’m quite pleased with the result, especially with being the quickest Volkswagen driver of the qualifying session. It was a bit tricky with a drying track at the beginning, but I felt early on that it was no point in wasting tyres. So I waited until the track was dry and that paid off,” said Oliver Söderström.

Mikael Karlsson claimed fifth spot on the grid for the first race and eighth position for the second race.

Team-mate Robin Knutsson, who won the last race at Anderstorp, was seventh fastest in both sessions.

”The Q1 session was okay but I made some mistakes in Q2. It’s not that much to write home about and I’m focussing on climbing in the races tomorrow,” said Mikael Karlsson.

”I know that the speed is there, I just made some mistakes that prevented a better result. But we’ve got a good race pace so I think we can fight quite high up despite starting a bit further down,” said Robin Knutsson.

Next up is three races on Sunday, the first one starting at 10:45 CEST and all are broadcast live on: plus.stcc.se

Results – Q1
Results – Q2
Championship standings

Lestrup Racing Team heads to the penultimate STCC TCR Scandinavia round at Mantorp Park this weekend hunting victories, strengthened by a successful endurance race weekend in Germany.

The team is placed second overall in the teams’ standings, 121 points behind the leaders with 240 points left to be fought for this season.

”We head to Mantorp boosted by a return to endurance racing that went well above our expectations and the strong results of Anderstorp. As the drivers’ title is more or less out of reach for us this year, our focus is on scoring more victories and to close in on the team championship lead,” said Fredrik Lestrup, co-owner of Lestrup Racing Team.

Oliver Söderström climbed to fourth overall following two podium finishes in the previous round at Anderstorp.

”I’m excited to head for the final two rounds. I’m definitely aiming for my first win of the year and to close in on the drivers in front of me in the standings. We know that it will be tough, especially against the Cupras, but we will as always fight hard,” said Oliver Söderström.

Robin Knutsson is the most recent STCC race winner after scoring a sensational debut win in the final Anderstorp race.

”While my bar has been raised after Anderstorp, there is no concrete result target for this weekend in order to not focus on the wrong things,” said Robin Knutsson.

”That method has worked really well so far this season and I know that the speed and confidence is on top. I feel more and more comfortable in the car and other drivers start to consider me as a real threat. I think we can score well this weekend.”

Mikael Karlsson had a tough Anderstorp weekend with several incidents while showing promising speed.

”It feels like I’ve chased redemption all season, so right now it just feels like we’ll give it our best this weekend and we’ll see where that takes us,” said Mikael Karlsson.

”I like Mantorp and I had strong pace here last year, so I hope that we have taken as big of a step forward here as on other circuits.”

The STCC races at Mantorp Park are broadcast LIVE on: plus.stcc.se

Schedule Mantorp Park
Saturday 2/10
09:25 – Test 1
12:25 – Test 2
16:25 – Q1
16:50 – Q2

Sunday 3/10
10:45 – Race 1
13:20 – Race 2
15:29 – Race 3