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 defensive win from Power Stage - the WRC2 class championship will be decided in Japan

23 October 2022

Toksport WRT’s Škoda driving Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen finished fourth in RallyRACC - Rally de España. With the Power Stage victory the duo moved up to a second place in the World Championship points of the class - tied with Poland's Kajetan Kajetanowicz. The WRC2 class' championship will be decided in the last round of the season in Japan.

Team GRX's Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen drove three fastest times out of four special stages of the last day of Spanish WRC and took the fourth place of the rally. Lindholm's pace in Catalonia was slowed down by two flat tires.

On Friday, Lindholm lost a minute of extra time due to a puncture on a tire that was followed by a spin on the second special stage of the rally. The second puncture occurred on Sunday's first special stage, where 25 seconds were lost.

As a result of the situation Jari Huttunen passed Lindholm to a fourth place, but Lindholm fought his place back with thefastest times in the next three special stages.

- The first stage of the morning went fine until then. The tire hit the edge of the asphalt, which punctured it. Here the edges are somewhat sharp and we got one in front of us and the tire caught it hard.

- We had to pick up the pace for the following stages. We gave our all on Power Stage (3.3 second fastest) and it paid off. From there we got three very important extra points - especially when Kajetan (Kajetanowicz) didn't get a single one. Allgood, everything good in the end, Lindholm reminded.

Apart from the second special stage of the competition, the rally went according to plan for Lindholm.

- On Friday first the fastest time and then a flat tire, which dropped us from the top to 18th place. There was a lot of work to do but we can be happy with the climb after Friday morning and the performance on the Power Stage, Lindholm summed up.

The WRC2 class championship will be decided in Japan. Driving on the top of the class, Andreas Mikkelsen has already driven all of his rounds. Lindholm and Kajetanowicz are tied, but Lindholm is ahead because of his wins. To reach Mikkelsen, Lindholm needs a fifth place from Japan, while Kajetanowicz needs to finish at least fifth so that he can add more points to his final score.

- The goal is now in Japan, which is a new rally for all of us. In Japan the goal is to score enough points to take us to the championship. At this point, a big thank you to all of my supporters for being involved in making it possible for us to drive in Japan for the WRC2 championship. Thank you very much!, Lindholm says.

The final World Rally Championship round of the season, which is decisive for the WRC2 class championship, will be driven in three weeks from 10th to 13th of November in Japan.

Final Results RallyRACC - Rally de España, Spain, WRC2:
1. Teemu Suninen–Mikko Markkula (FIN) Hyundai i20 N Rally 2:54:29.6
2. Yohan Rossel–Dunand Arnaud (FRA) Citroën C3 Rally2 + 32.5
3. Nikolai Gryazin–Konstantin Aleksandrov (ANA) Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo + 53.3
4. Emil Lindholm–Reeta Hämäläinen (FIN) Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo + 1:32.6
5. Jari Huttunen–Mikko Lukka (FIN) Ford Fiesta Rally2 + 1:57.1

WRC2-class World Championship points:
1. Andreas Mikkelsen (N) Škoda 109
2. Emil Lindholm (FIN) Škoda 104
3. Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL) Škoda 104
4. Yohan Rossel (F) Citroën 98
5. Nikolai Gryazin (ANA) Škoda 85