Rudskogen and Mantorp, season recap!

Its common in my Swedish language to say something like “it said swosh and then it was all over” Rudskogen, Mantorp, honestly the whole season said swosh and suddenly it was all over. However, I´ve never enjoyed a season as much as I have this year. I´ve loved driving my Britt-Marie, only a few practices/races that I haven´t fully enjoyed but they´re definitely not many. Rudskogen started off well, 2 good free practices and my best qualifying in 2018. For the races the rain came, and we we´re not where we were supposed to be. Mantorp also started off well, P2 in the finishing practice before quali that was then lead by a very chaotic quali.

Q1 ended early, and then also no Q2. Not were we wanted to start. I managed to get up to a P9 in race one, happy with my pace and my overtakings. In race 2 I had contact and my tie rod was badly damaged.

Overall I finished 10 in STCC, one point from P9. But all in all, I´m happy with the progress I’ve made this season. I mean, just a few weeks before I wasn’t even sure if I was gonna race at all. We had a clear path throughout the season.

To improve, and shrink the gap between me and the other guys in my team. We started off being somewhere around 8 tenths, up to one second behind. Each weekend we improved, stayed on the steady course to focus on me being comfortable with the car. It wasn´t maybe always the fastest car, but it made me feel safe and then we became faster and faster together. We worked together strongly as a team. Shared information, talked after each race to improve our work around the car. We made our mistakes, on both sides, but we always knew that we were a team. Loose together, and win together. I know all this sounds like a love story, but I truly felt that I got an “old friend” back. I got back to basics regarding my racing. I got back to basics with the people I worked with. I got back to being just a normal person, trying to enjoy what I did. Realizing that seriously the most important thing is to have fun, keep the passion for my sport. And friends, that´s easier said than done. I´ve gotten into old tracks sometimes this season. I felt terribly bad when I did, but then I had to remind myself, we all do fall back sometimes. And we all do our mistakes. Most important is to confess to yourself that you fell back, made a mistake, and then try to fix it. Start over, try again. Being honest to yourself is one of the toughest things, cause it hurts. But it’s also one of the most important things, for growth. I’m happy to have the right support around me, the right help, to being able to be honest to myself, and that along with the right support keep moving forward. In the end I believe we showed, that we have the pace to be in the top. I doubted that I had that speed, but my team and our partners never did. I’m extremely grateful for that. To then give them, the first female win in STCC’s history, and overall in TCR, is something I’m so happy for.

Last year I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue racing. Now there’s no doubt. I love what I do, I wanna keep doing what I do.

For sure the journey will continue to keep the basics, keep the passion, keep the right work. But that’s my goal, and that’s what I’ll be working for.

Here are some pics from the season, but for an even greater recap, click on the link and see “best of” from Daniel Ahlgren and PWR Racing Team. http://www.southsideagency.se/best-of-2018-pwr-racing/

All love and happiness,

Mikaela :-)