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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The ascending rally of Lindholm produced a seventh-place finish

19 February 2024

Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen, competing with Hyundai Motorsport N team’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car, secured seventh place in their season's WRC opener in Sweden. In the overall rally standings, the Finnish duo finished in 12th place.

In the season opener in Sweden, Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen of the Hyundai Motorsport N team secured seventh place in the WRC2 class, earning them World Championship points. On the final day of the rally, Lindholm was the fifth fastest in the WRC2 class, 11.7 seconds behind the fastest car. The day included a second-place finish in the class, only 0.3 seconds behind the fastest time.

- I put the pedal to the metal to get that time. It is good that at least one special stage went well for me in this rally. Sweden was a challenging competition for us this time. It was nice to get back to rallying after a break, and we had some good moments in the competition, Lindholm reminded.

The Finnish duo's chances for a top battle faded due to an electrical issue during the start of the second-to-last stage on Friday night. As a result, Lindholm had to drive through the special stage over two minutes slower than others did.

In the Friday evening service, Lindholm and the French team CHL Sport Auto identified the fault and adjusted the car, fixing the issue. This paid off as Lindholm showed improved pace throughout Saturday, getting closer to the top of the WRC2 class. Hyundai turned into snowy corners increasingly better, and it was visible in the special stage results. Lindholm was very pleased with Saturday's performance.

-We were able to drive a few tenths of a second faster per kilometer, but the top five in the class were so tightly packed that we could not reach there just by driving. We didn't take risks because there was nothing to gain," Lindholm reminded after Saturday's stages.

On the final day of the rally, Sunday, the sun was shining and the Hyundai performed excellently.

-We had a good feeling throughout the day. On Sunday, we got close to the goals we set for ourselves before the rally. But clearly, we didn't have the desired pace in this rally," Lindholm admits.

"I want to thank our team, Reeta, and all our supporters, as well as everyone who has been with us on this journey, that we were able to start our season from Sweden. We reached the rally finish without major mistakes, leaning on the snowbanks. In terms of driving, it was a clean competition," Lindholm summed up.

The next time Lindholm and Hämäläinen will compete for WRC2 class points is from April 18th to 21st in Croatia.