Martin Öhlin – WestCoast’s next STCC-star

This season WestCoast Racing will enter two cars in STCC again after having competed with only one BMW in last year’s championship. Choosing the driver for the second BMW was easy, after a year together in Carrera Cup Scandinavia WestCoast Racing promotes Martin Öhlin to STCC. A big challenge but not a challenge Martin fears.
- Everything new is fun, whether it’s a new racing car, rock climbing, surfing or something else. New stuff is the same as fun stuff, Martin says.

He enters STCC with five seasons of racing behind him, two seasons in the junior touringcar championship followed by three seasons in Carrera Cup Scandinavia. It’s a lot less experience than his competitors but Martin is not prepared to use that as an excuse.
- I have high demands on myself so it doesn’t matter. Of course I will face tougher competition this year with more drivers capable of winning but that will just mean I will push myself harder. It will be a battle just to qualify in top eight but I look forward to that competition.

Martin will enter his rookie season in STCC with the most successful team in the championship and with the most successful driver in the championship as his team mate. WestCoast Racing has accumulated two team titles and five drivers’ titles over the years so the demands are high.
- I could not enter STCC in a better way, Martin says. WestCoast Racing is a pure racing team, they know exactly what they are doing and they are working efficient and with the right priorities. You can’t get much better conditions than that, it’s no coincidence they are always fighting for race wins and titles.

The comparison with team mate and reigning champion and four time STCC-champion Richard Göransson is another challenge Martin relishes. He sees an advantage in being measured against the most successful driver in the championship.
- I can only seen benefits with that even though Richard is extremely hard to beat for anyone. He knows what’s needed to win, he knows the team and the BMW inside out and I will get a good base to start from. Richard is also an easy person to work with and we get along really well. He will help me and we will work well together. I only see positives from this, WestCoast Racing will have two fast drivers in two fast cars this year.

There are also new challenges driving wise for Martin Öhlin. He describes the BMW 320 Si as a car demanding a more precise driving style than his previous cars. He was left wanting more after a test with the team last year and thinks the fact that the touring car is more technically advanced is something that is a benefit.
- You can change much more on this car, the demand more both in the way you drive them and the way you set them up and I think that will suit me well. I am a test driver and working on finding solutions and fine tuning and being able to change a lot is something I’m good at. I think I get a decent knowledge quite quickly, especially considering how experienced and knowledgeable the team is with working with these cars.

You can’t help but notice how calm Martin seems ahead of his biggest challenge yet. You can’t tell he is facing a big challenge this season.
- I’m just looking forward to it all starting. It feels I have everything I can control myself under control and I’m not stressed at all, just calm and collected.

He doesn’t want to give away a specific goal for the season but his reply to this question reveals WestCoast Racing has found just the right guy for the second car.
- I’m just very competitive, once I’m in the car I just want to win. We’ll see how the season develops, it’s a great and fun challenge ahead of me and I’m working hard of making sure I do everything I can for WestCoast Racing to have two fast drivers this year.

The season starts in just four weeks. Martin Öhlins is ready!