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Dahlgren aiming for top 10s

21 Jun 2014
Swedish factory Volvo driver vows to get tough as he looks for better results.
3 mins by James Pavey
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Boosted by his first test of the season two weeks ago and yesterday's top 10 practice time at the SKYCITY Triple Crown Darwin, Robert Dahlgren says it's time race tougher and post some top 10 results.

While a V8 Supercars Championship rookie, the 34-year old Swede is a highly experienced racer and confident he can translate single lap speed into race results for Volvo Polestar Racing.

"For sure it is something I want to do and I need to do," he told v8supercars.com.au. "Now it's time for me to get a lot tougher out there. That doesn't mean I am going to run into people, but I am going to race the same as they do and hopefully stay where I qualify and hopefully push forward.

"In the future races I hope to fight for top 10s at least."

Dahlgren currently runs 25th in the Championship his S60, while his emerging superstar teammate Scotty McLaughlin has claimed four ARMOR ALL Pole Positions, one race win and sits seventh in the drivers' points table.

Dahlgren's most recent outing at the Perth 400 saw him post strong qualifying times but unable to sustain the positions in the race. But he feels he now has the familiarity with the car to push harder.

"I am used to racing hard but it has been difficult when I haven't known the car and how the car reacts," he said. "When you dive down the inside, is it going to lock up straight away?

"Now I know the car a lot better in every aspect and I know it can take a lot of beating."

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Dahlgren completed 110 laps at the Winton test, the first time he has driven at a circuit and not had to learn which way it goes.

"At the test day we made the normal changes and back-to-backed them and that helped me understand better what the car is doing and how it responds to different changes," he said.

Dahlgren's time yesterday came despite managing only 13 laps over the three sessions at the circuit he has never raced at before, as the factory Volvo team S60 suffered an electrical issue.

"It was not a major thing but it just takes time to find it. It just shows that once you have 100 per cent confidence in the car you can learn the tracks very quickly.

"The track is very slippery but it's a nice track," he added. "I don't know what it is like to race on but it looks like there should be a few spots where you can over-take."

Dahlgren says his confidence has started to build since the ITM 500 Auckland where he felt his familiarity with the S60 start to grow.

"I started to get the hang of the car and what it should feel like when it is going fast," said Dahlgren. "From there on it's been a case of slowly getting faster and faster all the time."

Back-to-back qualifying sessions begin at 11.40am local time, ahead of two 100km races this afternoon.

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