Lukas Stiefelhagen lands sensational NXT Gen Cup pole in chaotic Knutstorp qualifying
NXT Gen Cup newcomer Lukas Stiefelhagen landed a sensational pole position in a chaotic Knutstorp qualifying session which was red flagged four times as heavy rain hit the Swedish circuit.
“Awesome! It was hard out there with a lot of red flags and heavy rain, we basically got two laps. I tried to not push too hard, stay safe and it worked. Tomorrow will likely be very different with a dry track, and I have limited experience compared to my competitors, so we will see how it goes,” said Lukas Stiefelhagen.
The first red flag was brought out as Victor Nielsen came to a halt on track due to an issue, while the following three all came as Katie Turner, Filip Bartoš and Siri Hökfelt braked too late at Turn 1 – beaching their LRT NXT1 race cars in the gravel.
Title contender Elias Adestam was second fastest when the chequered flag fell, close to six tenths behind in the difficult conditions.
“It was a very weird session; I’ve never experienced so many red flags in a qualifying session. But we got a decent lap in the end and overall, a good session, I’m looking forward to tomorrow,” said Elias Adestam.
Theo Jernberg impressed with the third fastest time, just 14 thousand of a second behind Elias Adestam.
“A crazy qualifying session! I managed to set a good lap at the end and I’m happy with third. I will start on the inside line tomorrow and can hopefully challenge those ahead of me into Turn 1,” said Theo Jernberg.
There was controversy between title contenders Linus Granfors, who heads the standings, and Ellis Spiezia, who is just three points behind in second.
The American racer was fourth in the result list right after the end of the session, only to have his fastest lap deleted as it was set when yellow flags were out on track. This dropped him to seventh place, elevating Linus Granfors to fourth instead.
“It was a tough session, but fourth place is okay. I think it will be dry tomorrow, so we need to reset and just focus on doing a good start and collect solid points,” said Linus Granfors.
Alex Gustafsson was fifth ahead of Louise Larsson who impressed with her so far best qualifying result in NXT Gen Cup with sixth position, starting right ahead of Ellis Spiezia in Race 1 tomorrow.
Sebastian Kinnmark, Enzo Hallman and Alexzander Kristiansson rounded off the top ten.
The first race of the Knutstorp event starts at 10:00 CEST tomorrow, followed by Race 2 at 15:00. Both races are broadcast LIVE on the NXT Gen Cup YouTube channel.
Schedule
Friday September 1st
10:00 – Race 1
15:00 – Race 2
Times in CEST
Points and results
Standings
Results
2023 NXT Gen Cup entry list
Start no. – Name – Nationality
2 – Greaham Hofmans - Netherlands
3 – Linus Granfors – Sweden
4 – Theo Jernberg – Sweden
5 – Sebastian Kinnmark – Sweden
6 – Mikkel Njor – Denmark
7 – Enzo Hallman – Sweden
8 – Elias Adestam – Sweden
9 – Lukas Stiefelhagen – Netherlands
11 – Ellis Spiezia – USA
12 – Filip Bartoš – Czechia
14 – Katie Turner – United Kingdom
16 – Månz Thalin – Sweden
19 – Alexander Gustafsson – Sweden
21 – Siri Hökfelt – Sweden
27 – Alexzander Kristiansson – Sweden
47 – Jonathan Engström – Sweden
50 – Victor Nielsen – Denmark
51 – Louse Larsson – Sweden
Regulations – Quick overview
The driver with the most points at the end of the season will be crowned the official Swedish Junior Champion by the Swedish Motorsport Federation.
A total of six race weekends are held in Sweden and Germany.
Each race weekend consists of one practice session, one qualifying session and two races of approx. 15 minutes each with standing start.
The grid for the first race is determined by the result of qualifying.
The grid for the second race is determined by the result of Race 1 with the top eight drivers in reversed order.
Qualifying points are awarded to the top 3 drivers through the following scale: 4, 2, 1
Race points are awarded to the top 16 drivers through the following scale: 30, 25, 21, 17, 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. The fastest lap of each race awards 1 point.
All drivers can utilise the push-to-pass functionality during the races which provides them with a burst of extra power. There is a delay of 5 seconds when activating it, so that drivers can’t use it in a defensive capacity.
Key links
