Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen, who celebrated the Finnish Rally Championship victory in the SM1-class a week ago, continued their winning strike in the WRC Secto Automotive Rally Finland in Jyväskylä, where they drove to the top of the WRC3-class. The duo, driving TGS Worldwide’s Škoda Fabia R5 Evo, dominated their home rally driving on the top spot of the WRC3-class from the start to finish.

 

“Great weekend from us. We had a good rhythm on the whole time. There was no need to take bigger risks after Saturday morning. Sure, it would have been nice to really drive fast against (Teemu) Suninen and (Mads) Östberg but when I was able to gain difference to others in the WRC3-class on Saturday afternoon, and the roads were in a bad condition, I felt the risk to lose the leading spot in WRC3-class was too big of a sacrifice for us just trying to climb higher in the overall standings. WRC3-class first place was a big thing for us but we hope that next year we will be able to compete for the WRC2-class wins”, Lindholm says.

 

After the opening day of the rally Lindholm led the WRC3-class by 17.1 seconds and after the second day by just over a minute. On Sunday Lindholm decided to take it easy and secure his lead to the finish line. The difference to Mikko Heikkilä, who finished second, was 1:01,3 minutes.

 

“There was no racing of any kind on Sunday. Of course we had to focus because the special stages of the day were surprisingly slippery even on the second run. We didn’t take any risks because we only had something to lose. The result was more important to us than the extra points”, Lindholm reminds.

 

After his victory Lindholm drives in a third place in the WRC3-class World Championship points but in terms of the overall World Championship points his season is done: for the remaining rounds Lindholm will no longer be eligible for World Championship points.

 

“We are waiting to see whether someone will rise from behind us during the rest of the season and go past us. We’ve had a good and instructive season so far. The Finnish championship and class victory in the WRC Finland warm my heart. A big thank you to all of my supporters, partners and sympathizers, as well as to the TGS Wordwide’s team for a great, fast and reliable car”, Lindholm smiles.

 

“We succeeded and achieved two important milestones in two weeks. A great feeling to continue moving forward”, Lindholm ends.

 

Results: WRC Secto Automotive Rally Finland WRC3-class:

1. Emil Lindholm – Reeta Hämäläinen (FIN) Škoda Fabia R5 Evo 2:30:06,

2. Mikko Heikkilä – Topi Luhtinen (FIN) Škoda Fabia R5 Evo + 1:01,3

3. Lauri Joona – Mikael Korhonen (FIN) Škoda Fabia R5 + 4:56,5

4. Pepe López – Borja Odriozola (ESP) Škoda Fabia R5 Evo + 5:40,6

5. Riku Tahko – Markus Soininen (FIN) Hyundai i20 R5 + 7:40,9