Christoffer Bergström dominated the V8 Thunder Cars opener at Anderstorp with a victory and a second place finish, establishing himself as the main championship threat for 2024.
Christoffer Bergström put himself as the early favorite for the V8 Thunder Cars title in 2024 with a commanding victory in the season opening round at the legendary Anderstorp Raceway.
Aided by a technical problem for top contender Tommie Eliasson, Bergström – driving the No. 42 Ford Mustang for Team Pampas – scored the victory in Race 1 ahead of Team Trysil’s Stein Frederic Akre.
He and Tommie then enjoyed a good battle in Race 2. Tommie went on to win the race, allowing the Team Brorsson driver to minimize his disadvantage in the overall standings.
Race 1 Recap
Twenty-one drivers assembled on the grid for the first race on Saturday morning. Dennis Strandberg led the field to the green and had a clear run to the first corner because Tommie, who was due to start second, suffered a mechanical failure before the formation lap had even started.
However, Strandberg’s lead was short-lived. On lap 2, Bergström got past the former two-time champion at Sodra. Moments later, Strandberg made a mistake in the short chute that allowed Frederic Akre to get by the Snake Pit Garage driver.
From then on, no one was able to touch Bergström as he easily won the race with a margin of victory of 6.845 seconds. The 53-year old from Stockholm also took victory in the Super Star category.
Frederic Akre finished a comfortable second ahead of Tommie’s teammate Conny Brorsson. Defending champion Andreas Nilsson and rookie Charbel Jomha completed the top-5, the latter finishing as the best of the Mercedes W205 C-Class drivers.
Mathias Hansen is sixth ahead of Jonathan “Jonte” Engström, the best of the Junior drivers. Linus Holgersson, Robert Möller and Per-Olof “Pelle” Selerup rounded out the top-10 ahead of Julia Eliasson, who claimed third in the Junior standings.
Strandberg’s fight for the top position ended just shy of the finish after he stopped at Anderstorp’s old start line on the final lap. Reigning Super Star champion Anders Gustabsson also failed to finish after he spun his No. 46 Ford Mustang with just two laps to go.
Two full-time rookies did not enjoy the best opening race possible: Isac Aronsson and Gustav Bergrren both entered the pits to retire at laps 7 and 9 respectively.
Another rookie in Tommy Aker nearly stalled his Ford Mustang – the only fifth-gen S197 Mustang on the grid – at the start, but the Norwegian was able to finish 15th in the end.
Race 2 Recap
Tommie was eager to put his demons away in the second race, but things didn’t get off to a good start for 2023’s runner-up.
A poor getaway when the lights went green allowed Frederic Akre to get the holeshot, leaving Tommie with some work to do. The 35-year old driver regained his lead on lap 3, but lost it again on the following lap after a mistake at the end of the Flying Straight.
The decisive move came on lap 5 when Tommie made another pass at the Opel corner. Frederic Akre then lost another place to Bergström, but the Race 1 winner ran out of time to catch the driver of the No. 52 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1.
The Team Brorsson driver took home his first win of the 2024 season with Super Star category winner Bergström and Frederic Akre completing the podium positions.
Nilsson and Conny completed the top-5 ahead of Jomha, once again the fastest of the Mercedes drivers. Hansen, Gustavsson, Junior winner Holgersson and Selerup filled the remaining points paying positions ahead of Aronsson, Julia and Möller.
Engström finished 14th despite being forced to start the race from the pits due to clutch issues. Strandberg’s race ended in disaster on the final lap again, this time it was caused by the left-front Yokohama tire deciding to say goodbye to his No. 4 Camaro.
Berggren was also forced to retire in the pits once again. Another driver with problems is Dennis Jurlestam, who spun his No. 88 Chevrolet Camaro on lap 6. The Norrtälje driver was able to get his car going again and finish 20th, one lap down from Tommie.
Championship Standings
With a win and a second place finish, Bergström comfortably leads the 2024 V8TC championship with 44 points. The Team Pampas driver also took both wins in the Super Star trophy, leaving him with a perfect 50 points haul in the sub-championship.
Frederic Akre’s double podium finishes was enough to put him in second with 33 points ahead of Tommie, who recovered two additional points from both his Qualifying result and fastest lap point from Race 2.
Conny and Nilsson completed the top-5, both were only two and three points behind Tommie respectively. Jomha, Hansen, Holgersson, Engström and Gustavson rounded out the top-10 positions with Holgersson leading the Junior classification with 43 points.
Top-3 in the Junior classification were filled by Engström and Julia, six and thirteen points behind Holgersson respectively. Conny and Möller trailed Bergström in the Super Star standings, both with a significant deficit to overcome in the latter rounds.
Disclaimer: Credits for all photos are listed underneath each image.