Earlier today Team GRX’s Emil Lindholm and Mikael Korhonen placed second in WRC Rally Sweden’s WRC2. Competing with Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 the Finnish twosome was 12th in the overall competition.
Lindholm clocked in the top four on every forest special stage while avoiding mistakes. Rally Sweden rookie was very happy with the outcome.
“Premeditated driving, that’s what we were after this year. In some points we could have driven a lot faster but we are happy how things turned out. Next year we know what to expect. We have our notes checked and experience of a long rally with ruts filled with slush”.
“On the second last special stage we drove one turn too long. I could have turned the car with the handbrake but decided to play it safe and drove the turn straight. Our car was working great the whole competition, no worries at all”.
Rally Sweden was driven this year in challenging conditions. There was snow, ice, slush and gravel on the roads. Lindholm says that Michelin manufactured a tire for hard driving circumstances that brought stability and trust to their driving.
“Michelin has produced good and lasting product that brought stability to my driving. Even with rough circumstances the tire’s performance and lasting was top notch”.
Next Lindholm and Korhonen will be in action in two weeks in the third Finnish Rally Championship competition, Itäralli Joensuu, which is the last winter rally of the season.
“In Joensuu there are nice and fast roads waiting for us. If we work as efficient as we did in Sweden the result is going to be ok”, says Lindholm.
Final Results, WRC Rally Sweden, WRC2 overall competition:
1. Ole Christian Veiby – Jonas Andersson (NOR/S) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 2:54:04,0
2. Emil Lindholm – Mikael Korhonen (FIN) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 + 2:03,5
3. Johan Kristoffersson – Stig Skjaermoen (S/NOR) Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 + 2:19,6
4. Emil Bergkvist – Patrik Barth (SWE) Ford Fiesta R5 + 2:28,8
5. Nikolai Gryazin – Jaroslav Fedorov (RUS) Skoda Fabia R5 + 2:47,1
Photo: Timo Anis
