Elias Adestam closes in on title fight after eventful wet/dry Knutstorp races
Elias Adestam has emerged as the main title contender to Linus Granfors after two eventful races at Knutstorp - mixed with torrential rain and scorching sunshine - as main title rival Ellis Spiezia fell behind.
Elias Adestam scored the most points of all this weekend, finishing second in the first race and won the second – his fourth win of the season, as many as his title rival.
“This victory was the sweetest one so far. I had to fight for every position and there was some scrubbing, but that’s racing. I will try to continue this momentum for the Mantorp final and have shot at the title,” said Elias Adestam.
Linus Granfors fought his way from fourth to victory in the first race and was just 0.149 seconds behind Race 2 winner Elias Adestam in secon dplace, only to be dropped down to eighth following a post-race penalty for unfair driving.
“The victory in the first race was amazing from fourth on the grid, I just tried to drive as fast as I could. I was really close to Elias in the last race, but it wasn’t enough and congrats to him. The penalty was obviously not ideal, but I’m still looking forward to the season final. The gap in the points is close, so I can’t relax in any way, we need to keep pushing hard,” said Linus Granfors.
Ellis Spiezia, who headed the championship until mid-point of the season, had a tough Knutstorp weekend. He fought his way to fourth in the first race after a penalty for contact with another driver. The second race saw the American driver fighting for the top positions before a puncture dropped him to finish 16th.
“Clearly this is not the weekend I was looking for. After my puncture and loss of points at Gelleråsen, I was ready for a strong weekend here at Knutstorp. Unfortunately, the results now pretty much put me out of contention for the championship which is hugely disappointing considering my ambitions coming in. But I’ll continue to prove myself on track and fight in the final weekend at Mantorp. I think I’ve shown that I’m a top contender and a smart driver, no single result can change that,” said Ellis Spiezia.
Danish racer Mikkel Njor impressed in the first race by securing his first podium in only his second NXT Gen Cup race weekend - finishing third.
“Third is awesome! I started in eleventh, got a really good start and went on the outside at Turn 1. This got me up to fifth on the first lap. I had good pace and kept on fighting, it’s a great feeling,” said Mikkel Njor.
The second race saw Alexzander Kristiansson starting from the reversed grid pole and held a strong lead until lap seven when the safety car came out on track as Siri Hökfelt had crashed at Turn 6.
As the field was released again, Alexzander Kristiansson was unable to withstand pressure from Elias Adestam and Linus Granfors, crossing the finish line in third. He was then elevated to second thanks to Linus Granfors’ penalty.
“I had a good gap before the safety car to the cars behind and I felt confident. When I saw the safety car come out, I was pretty angry and knew it was going to be pretty tough. But it still feels good to be on the podium again,” said Alexzander Kristiansson.
Linus Granfors carries a 16-point lead over Elias Adestam ahead of Grande Finale at Mantorp Park, while Ellis Spiezia has dropped to third, 24 points adrift.
Enzo Hallman inherited third place in Race 2 after the post-race penalties, keeping him in contention for the title, 50 points from the lead with 66 points remaining to be fought for.
“That was a really hard-fought race throughout the field - there was plenty of rubbing going on with a few penalties applied afterwards. The pace was a lot better now in the dry - I was lacking a bit experience in the wet earlier - and I'm happy to leave Knutstorp with a P3 result and some good points in the bag,” said Enzo Hallman.
Jonathan Engström inherited fourth place in race two and he is the final driver in mathematical title contention, 61 points from championship leader Linus Granfors.
The NXT Gen Cup season finale will be held at Mantorp Park in Sweden on September 22-23, watch the races of this weekend at the NXT Gen Cup YouTube channel.
Points and 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
