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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Lindholm takes the updated Hyundai to Croatia

16 April 2024

Hyundai Motorsport N team's Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen are heading to the asphalt roads of Croatia with a newly updated engine. The duo will compete for WRC2 class World Championship points in the fourth round of the season.

Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen of the Hyundai Motorsport N team are approaching the fourth round of the World Rally Championship, and first asphalt rally of the season, with confidence. The pair will compete in Croatia with French team CHL Sport Auto’s Hyundai i20 N Rally2 car.

Lindholm gained some experience on asphalt last weekend at the Rallye Festival Hoznayo event in Spain. The event was a demonstration rally consisting of nine special stages and 130 km of special stages without timing.

Lindholm conducted preparatory tests for the upcoming WRC rally on Monday in Croatia.

- The Spanish event was an interesting experience to shake off the rust from our wrists. Of course, the roads in Spain are different compared to Croatia. The weather favored us a bit too much. There is rain predicted for the upcoming weekend, and we did all the tests on dry asphalt in 30-degree sunshine. But the car feels good, Lindholm smiles.

Hyundai has classified Lindholm's i20 N Rally2 car with a new engine update.

- There was a small update to our car's engine. I hope that it will assist us in achieving a good result in Croatia. In any case, the update is a positive step forward, Lindholm summarizes.

The Croatian WRC rally is known and recognized as a challenging rally, where Lindholm has always performed well.

- Croatia is a very different asphalt rally, somewhat reminiscent of the Central European WRC rally driven last fall. There are many cuts on the special stages, so a lot of dirt comes onto the road. You have to constantly assess grip and stay alert. Grip usually varies in each corner.

- In addition, the Croatian stages are narrow, technical and challenging but that makes this rally interesting. We are heading into the rally with pretty much the same settings as in the Central European WRC rally, Lindholm explains.

The first competition day on Friday is also the longest day of the weekend. An additional challenge on the opening day is that there is no service opportunity during the eight special stages.

- While this doesn't change much, but if something happens with the car, then there is nothing to be done afterwards. A long and decisive competition day right from the start and you just have to deal with it. I hope that everything works. Our goal is to drive our best, enjoy the rally with Reeta, and on Sunday, we will see where it got us, Lindholm concludes.

The WRC Croatia rally begins with shakedown on Thursday morning, followed by the ceremonial start in front of the Zagreb National and University Library in the evening. The Finnish duo will start the weekend rally in the WRC2 class with starting number #27 and road position 16.

Friday's program includes eight special stages with a total length of 119.74 km. The rally continues on Saturday with eight special stages (108.76 km) and concludes on Sunday with the final four special stages of the competition (54.78 km), with the last Power Stage, Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec 2, starting at 14:15 Finnish time.