Andreas Bäckman third in STCC in 2022

The STCC season finale was held last weekend, September 30^th-October 1^st, at Mantorp Park in Sweden. Andreas Bäckman had a tough start to the weekend but despite this managed to secure third place in the drivers' championship.
– It was really a rollercoaster weekend with both ups and downs, but nice to end the season with a good race Andreas Bäckman says.

Last weekend, September 30^th-October 1^st, it was time for this year's sixth and final round of the STCC championship at Mantorp Park in Sweden and Sweden National Team driver Andreas Bäckman was on the starting line, competing for the Lestrup Racing Team in an Audi RS 3 LMS TCR car. Mantorp Park is located near Linköping, Sweden and is one of Sweden's top motorsport facilities and a large number of motor events are arranged here every year, some of which are among the largest in Sweden and Europe.

Tough qualifying, a race retirement, and a strong finish of the season
The weekend started with practice sessions and the timed qualifying on Friday. In practice sessions, the speed in the car was good and Andreas was at the top in practice and had a good feeling heading into the qualifying on Friday afternoon.

In qualifying it was more difficult, as the balance in the car during the qualifying laps was not quite there to set the lap times he wanted. The qualifying result was finally a 7^th place in Q1 and an 8^thplace in Q2. That meant a 7^th starting position for Saturday's first race and an 8^th starting position for Saturday's second race.

- It was a shame that we couldn't really show the speed we had during the qualifying, but there are small margins in racing. I felt we had the speed, so I was looking forward to race day and giving it my all to advance forward in the three races, Andreas Bäckman says.

In the first race, Race 1, on Saturday morning, Andreas made a good start and picked up positions already in the first corner. Once they got into turn 2, he had a big hit from behind that broke the rear suspension and the race was done immediately.

- It was shame that we got hit from behind like that at the start and for the race to be over immediately, especially in the final race of the championship when every point counts. That changed a lot in the championship as well as I dropped from second place down to third place. But I didn't give up and was determined to get my revenge for Race 2, Andreas Bäckman says.

In Race 2, Andreas started in 8^th starting position and was out in 8^th place at the start. He then worked his way up to a final 6^th place finish and had a good feeling in the car.

- Race 2 went very well, I had good speed and especially at the end of the race I started to feel that I had better speed and could pick up positions, Andreas Bäckman says.

Before the final race of the day, Race 3, the results of the top eight drivers in Race 2 are reversed, which meant that Andreas started in 3^rd place in Race 3. There he got a good start and was already up to second place into the first corner. After that it was about chasing the leader and at the same time taking care of the tires to be able to attack at the end of the race. Andreas had good speed and also set the fastest lap in the race. About halfway through the race, the safety car came out on the track, which meant the race was neutralized and everyone had to go slowly around the track as there had been an incident that required the recovery vehicles on the track. The restart of the race then took place with approximately two laps remaining of the race and Andreas tried to challenge for the victory but had to settle for second place, which also meant that he could secure third place in the drivers' championship.

- I am happy with the third race and happy to be able to end the weekend with a good result. My aim in Race 3 was to prioritize securing third place in the championship and then try to challenge for the win if the opportunity arose, I felt like I was about to start challenging for the lead just before the safety car came out, so I think we had the opportunities to be able to win the race if that had not happened, Andreas Bäckman says.

- It was a tough weekend, but it was nice to end the season with a third place in the drivers' championship despite all the circumstances. The season has been a rollercoaster with high peaks of wins, pole positions, podiums and fastest laps, and some setbacks that have resulted in race retirements. But if you sum up the season, I am satisfied. Many thanks to my team Lestrup Racing Team for a fun year and to everyone who has supported me during this year's season, Andreas Bäckman says.

Andreas’ results:
Official Test (Test 1): 3^rd place
Free Practice 1 (Test 2): 3^rd place
Free Practice 2 (Test 3): 5^th place
Qualifying (Q1): 7^th place
Qualifying (Q2): 8^th place
Race 1: DNF (Retired)
Race 2: 6^th place
Race 3: 2^nd place

STCC Championship Standings

STCC – TCR Scandinavia – Drivers’ Championship Standings – Overall (Top 3)
STCC 2022 (After 6 of 6 race weekends)

1: Robert Dahlgren (SWE), 286 p.
2: Tobias Brink (SWE), 226 p.
3: Andreas Bäckman (SWE), 219 p.

See the full standings here

STCC – TCR Scandinavia – Teams’ Championship Standings – Overall (Top 3)
STCC 2022 (After 6 of 6 race weekends)

1: CUPRA Dealer Team - PWR Racing, 478 p.
2: Lestrup Racing Team, 421 p.
3: Brink Motorsport, 413 p.

See the full standings here

Did you miss this weekend’s STCC race?
Click here to see the replay from Race 1 at STCC+
Click here to see the replay from Race 2 at STCC+
Click here to see the replay from Race 3 at STCC+

Follow the STCC season at:
Live-stream: plus.stcc.se
Other information: stcc.se
Facebook: facebook.com/STCCOfficial/
Twitter: twitter.com/stcc_official
Instagram: instagram.com/stcc_official/
YouTube: youtube.com/c/STCCTV

Free rights to use the images.

Download press-photos here:
http://bit.ly/jabaeckman-photos
https://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/ja-backman/images