Volkswagen Team Sweden

Johan cannot decide, is a natural anchorman and enjoys middle-of-the-week races.

”I cannot decide whether to feel well or not about the race at Estering. Prior to the race I said I would be satsified to come home with a bunch of points for the championship and so I did. 20 points were just seven less than in Portugal where I won. On the other hand we had some ups-and-downs and due to technical problems couldn’t get the car working perfectly. Probably, we have now found the solution but I feel I wasn’t given a fair chance to fight for the victory.”

But you escaped the adventurous first turn better than some of your opponents.

”I really did. And in the semi-final it was really tight. I had really good grip from the second row, got off to a flying start and was up at the back wheel of Nitiss and Jeanney. When Nitiss turned inwards I prepared to steer away from him, but then Jeanney turned outwards at the same time so I was left with no space at all. I still managed well. For sure, my car can take a lot of punches and still be strong.”

And you advanced into the final, starting in second row beside your team mate Linnerud.

”I had a good start while Tord’s car stalled. But then I had problems with my view. They had watered the track and my windscreen washer didn’t work properly. When Petter got out of sight I saw absolutely nothing. With hindsight, having problems to see where I was and not able to find speed enough, I should have taken the joker one lap earlier. That would probably have secured third place. But I only lost one point finishing fourth instead.

But you left Buxtehude with one victory, in the tug of war.

”Yes, but that was really tough. It was some kind of midsummer games that Ekström had organized and the tug of war became a real battle. Our team was not so heavy. Alx, Timmy and Kevin aren’t that big and P-G is as thick as a shoe lace, ha-ha. We could have done with some weight but Lukas, Hedström and Larsson were all gone at that moment for some reason. There was no doubt at all who was going to be our anchorman. I was the only one with 90 kilos to push with.”

And what about the rest of the midsummer celebration?

”Very calm, but there was some kind of gathering in our tent, probably because of the people from Dalarna having noticed that we played traditional Swedish danceband music. When I went to bed Olle and Andreas were dancing bugg with each other. I don’t know if they knew which one of them were leading but it looked like they were treading grapes, ha-ha.”

A couple of days at home in the garage, but racing with the Porsche already on Thursday at Mantorp.

”Nice! I would like more races in the middle of the week, so you can get more weekends free. However, what I don’t like is that they have decided to race only the short part of the circuit. That makes overtaking difficult and the qualification will be extremely important. For some reason many drivers usually go fast at Mantorp, so I expect a really tight race. For me the championship is entering a new part. I have a quite big lead and I need to balance my performance. I need to drive a bit safe to pick up points for the championship but I also need to push to develop as a driver. Most of all I would like a good test day with this new car. We need more kilometers to find a really good set-up.”

You will probably not have time for that after Mantorp, because you will soon be heading for Höljes where you, ahead of the race, were a real success as a soccer player last year.

”I haven’t been invited this year, but my shoes and shin pads are still in the bag. I haven’t unpacked the since last year, ha-ha.”