Henrik Krogstad secured all-new Swedish Supercar Lites outfit #YellowSquad a second place on their first outting at the All-Star ‘Magic Weekend’.
#YellowSquad, a brand-new team managed by Swedish rallycross duo Kevin and Timmy Hansen with assistance by RX2 team manager Eric Färén saw both of their drivers reach the final.
Norwegian RX2 International Series veteran Krogstad took the runners up spot with the new team after taking his joker early in the final, allowing him to go on to overtake both Linus Östlund and Jimmie Walfridson but couldn’t get the better of class winner Simon Olofsson.
“Today was a great start to my racing career with #YellowSquad! In the final it took me a lap or two to find my rhythm but after that I was starting to find so much speed.” explained the delighted Krogstad.
“I was chasing down Olofsson for the win and really believed it was going to happen but being behind Walfridson for a lap and a half meant I didn’t gain quite enough time on Olofsson to win the race – if I had been luckier with his joker strategy, I think it would have been different!”
He continued: “We had a failure on the car in Q2 and there was still a lot of vibration in the car in Q3, but the mechanics worked on my car non-stop between qualifying and the semi final. After that it was running perfectly, so a big thank you to the team for their fantastic work.
“The target for the future is always to do better, so that means the next target for round two this weekend has to be a win. It is forecast to rain but that’s not a bad thing: if the setup is good, I’m happy, as I have enjoyed racing in the rain in the past.”
Dan Skocdopole meanwhile made his Supercar Lites debut for the team at the Magic Weekend also made a great start to the season, finishing fourth on the road but received a three seconds penalty after hitting the track markers that dropped him to sixth in the final.
“I’m really happy with how today went. We were fast throughout the whole day and it worked out pretty good for us in the end. There was still some small mistakes I need to fix for the next race at the weekend but overall it was really good. I was fast since Q1 and we worked out a really good startegy with the team, and worked really well with Henrik in the races we were in together.” Skocdopole said.
“In the end we were able to get a semi final victory, which I feel was a great result for my Supercar Lites debut. In the end, we just fell short of a podium – which is unfortunate – but we still finished fourth before a time penalty. But that’s racing, it happens. Hopefully I can get a podium or even a victory on Sunday. That’s why we’re here, to win!”
“And a big thank you to everyone in #YellowSquad: Eric [Färén], Kevin, my mechanics, my sponsors, my father and everyone who has supported me to this point. Hopefully we can continue like this and get good results.”
“It’s a great result for our first ever meeting as a Supercar Lites team. To see all the months of work we did putting this team together materialise into a podium in the first race is super satisfying.” World Rallycross racer Kevin Hansen said.
“Everyone in the team performed well today: the drivers, with Henrik getting second place and Dan winning his semifinal – on his debut in a Lites car as well! – and the mechanics, who worked hard and showed their professionalism, doing a great job to fix Henrik’s car when we had a problem in the qualifiers.
“Immediately we showed our potential, but now the challenge is to perform to a consistently high level for the rest of the year. But now we know for sure what we are capable of!”
