Tommie Eliasson became the early leader for the 2025 V8 Thunder Cars championship with his victories at the historic Anderstorp Raceway.
After narrowly missing out on the championship in 2024, it’s safe to say that Tommie Eliasson wants to finish one position better in the overall 2025 V8 Thunder Cars championship standings.
Tommie’s ambition bore fruits very early on with his dominant performance in the season opener at Anderstorp Raceway. Two wins and a runner-up finish gives Tommie a healthy advantage to Christoffer Bergström, who brought home a victory on his own.
Tommie’s victory was particularly emotional for his team, Team Brorsson. One of their team members, Rufus Everljung, tragically passed away on the Wednesday before the race weekend. The team would dedicate Tommie’s victories to Everljung.
The 2025 season itself marked a new dawn for V8TC, who lost two of their 2024 protagonists in the build-up to the new year. Reigning champion Andreas Nilsson and Stein Frederic Akre both left the series for differing reasons.
For Nilsson, the champion went on a sabbatical after securing his three-peat in 2024. As for Frederic Akre, he’s currently trying his luck in the United States with his participation in the Trans Am championship.
The departures meant that there’s a void to be filled at the top. Naturally, the early dominance at Anderstorp establishes Tommie as the early favorite for the title.
What is certain is that Tommie will not be the only contender for the title. One of Tommie’s fiercest rivals is going to be Bergström, who already has a breakthrough year in 2024.
The 54-year old driver was the leader for most of the 2024 championship and showed incredible speed despite his age. Bergström’s victory in Anderstorp serves as a reminder that the old fox has not lost his speed. Bergström will also be there to capitalize on any mistake that Tommie commits in 2025.
Tommie’s team boss Conny Brorsson sits third, having rejuvenated himself during the off-season. After spending his 2024 as the clear “best of the rest”, Conny stepped up his game by taking home two podium finishes.
Two podium finishes is also the tally secured by Charbel Jomha in Anderstorp. Jomha was denied from a possible triple podium after a puncture took him out on Race 1. Jomha is now racing a Ford Mustang for Nyman Racing, having run an AMG in 2024.
Fifth went to Linus Holgersson, who became the early leader in the Junior Trophy. Fittingly, it was a trio of fifth place finishes that secured Holgersson’s current championship position.
Good consistency is also shown by Remi Mannent, V8TC’s latest Young Driver Programme graduate. Triple seven(th)’s for Mannent gave him a two-point advantage over Julia Eliasson, who had quite the journey in Anderstorp this year.
In Race 1, Julia took advantage of her rival’s problems to secure a career-best fourth place in her No. 12 Camaro. Race 2 and 3 was tougher with only two ninth place finishes to show. However, the Race 1 result showed that there’s plenty of speed to be unlocked from V8TC’s only female driver.
Two sixth place finishes for Dennis Byqvist puts him in eighth place. Byqvist is also the top Mercedes driver, as the only other Mercedes driver in Viktor Karlsson failed to score a point. American rookie Matthew Butson and Isac Aronsson rounded out the top-10 positions.
Robert Möller and Daniel Wigren completed the standings in eleventh and twelfth respectively. Möller also exited the round as the leader of the Super Star Trophy.
Non-scorers Karlsson, Filipe Skagerfält, Johan Sommevie and the Jurlestam’s – Dennis and Kenneth – will have their work cut out for the next round at Falkenbergs Arena.
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