Oliver Eriksson is the Intermediate Classification leader after two of three qualifying races at Nysum after avoiding the drama of his main rivals to emerge on top.
Though the Swede was fastest in either Q1 or Q2, the second quickest time in both were enough to place him at the head of the standings overall with one qualifying race to come before the semi-finals.
Peter Hedstrom was quickest of all in Q1 and looked to be heading for a similar result in Q2 only for technical issues to slow him on the final lap. As such, Thomas Bryntesson – only eighth quickest in Q1 after contact – ended up top of Q2 to move up to second overall four points behind Eriksson.
Championship leader Oliver Solberg is fourth overall. The Norwegian endured a tough start to the day when a fire brought his Citroen DS3 to a smokey stop in free practice. Though he was able to get out in time for Q1, he is yet to trouble the top times.
Ola Froshaug completes the top five from Andreas Carlsson, with Danish entry Dennis Romer in eighth.
Meanwhile, there was major disappointment for home hope Ulrik Linnemann after technical issues forced him to stop at the start of Q1 and prevented him from starting Q2. Despite this, the Dane will still be eligible to start the semi-finals from the back of the grid provided he can get his VW Polo fixed in time.
In Supercar Lites, a triumphant victory in Q2 for Stein Frederic Akre has seen the Team Trysil driver power to the top of the Intermediate Classification ahead of Simon Olofsson, who won Q1 but dramatically rolled in Q2 before continuing on to tenth. Guillaume De Ridder endured a mixed start to the day to run third, from Ben-Philip Gundersen and Sondre Evjen.
The new Super Touring RXN class kicked off with some hard-fought competition in both Q1 and Q2 but it was Jan Emil Wilsberg in the Citroen DS3 that opened up an early overall lead with victory in both heats from Daniel Lundh and home hope Tobias Daarbak.
