WRC2 CHAMPION 2022

Emil Lindholm Emil Lindholm

WRC2 CHAMPION 2022

Emil Lindholm Emil Lindholm

WRC2 CHAMPION 2022

Emil Lindholm Emil Lindholm

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Emil Lindholm: "A challenging and strategic rally ahead of us"

25 October 2023

The Central European World Rally Championship, starting on Thursday, is the second new rally in a row for Hyundai Motorsport N-team's Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen. "You have to be exceptionally careful with the adjustments to our car because the weather in October may offer surprises. In the tests our car felt good, so we are aiming for a podium place", says Lindholm.

The penultimate round of the World Rally Championship, the Central European Rally, is a new round for the series, which is exceptionally run in three different countries: the Czech Republic, Austria and Germany. It is an asphalt round, which is the first asphalt rally for Hyundai Motorsport N team's Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen in the cockpit of the Hyundai i20 N Rally2.

- There is a challenging rally coming up in terms of conditions. Especially the special stages run in the Czech Republic are technical and slippery. They remind me of the most difficult sections of the World Rally Championship in Croatia. On the other hand, Croatia has always been a good competition for us. I'm already looking forward to entering the challenging roads here, Lindholm reminds.

The Finnish duo drove the preparatory tests for the rally on Sunday, and everything is ready for the upcoming weekend.

- The car felt good and familiar. Hyundai has quite extensive options for adjusting the car to asphalt settings, and the car reacts well to changes. Of course, it also requires the driver to understand when to find the right time for adjustments which will work for the car.

- In this rally, the biggest challenge is the different natureof the roads: on Thursday and Friday, the roads in Czech Republic are different than in Germany, where the roads are well-surfaced and clearly faster. On Thursday and Friday, we drive a completely different rally than on Saturday and Sunday. In between, you have to know how to modify the car's settings so that its suspension works as desired on all roads and driving conditions.

Rain has been predicted for the rest of the week in the area of the three countries. In the WRC2 class, front car crews are prohibited, so it creates its own character for the upcoming rally.

- Challenging rally in all aspects when a lot of different conditions can be expected. I believe that we have more of a strategic rally ahead of us than a rally that could be won with a daring driving style with the gas pedal on the floor the whole time.

- I'm looking forward to what's to come. I've always liked driving on asphalt, so we'll go after the podium this weekend, says Lindholm.

The WRC Central European Rally starts from Prague, Czech Republic on Thursday, when the program already includes two (at 3:05 p.m. and 7:05 p.m.) special stages in the Czech Republic. Friday starts from Germany, from where the route heads back to the Czech side of the border. During the day, six special tests (133.27 km) will be run in the Czech Republic, after which cars will return to Germany.

On Saturday and Sunday, the cars will compete back and forth in Germany and Austria. Six special stages (109.50 km) on Saturday and four (67.24 km) on Sunday. The rally ends on Sunday at 13:15 at the Passaur Land 2 Power Stage (16.37 km), which is run on the German side of the border. The route has 18 special tests, with a total length of 310.01 km.

WRC2-class World Championship points:
1. Andreas Mikkelsen (N) Škoda 108
2. Yohan Rossel (F) Citroën 104
3. Gus Greensmith (GB) Škoda 99
4. Oliver Solberg (SWE) Škoda 91
5. Sami Pajari (FIN) Škoda 86
6. Adrien Fourmaux (F) Ford 67
…
9. Emil Lindholm (FIN) Hyundai 62