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: "Technically good performance"

05 August 2024

Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen of the Hyundai Motorsport N team finished 20th in the WRC2 class at WRC Secto Rally Finland. Despite having to retire twice during the weekend, the Finnish duo managed to set the third-fastest time in the WRC2 class on the final day of the rally.

However, the anticipated home rally for Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen did not go as planned. The rally began on Friday at Ruuhimäki 1 with an off-road incident, forcing them to retire early. The Finnish duo, who were running sixth in the WRC2 class, collided with a birch tree in a left-hand turn early in the special stage.

As a result of the impact, the right front control arm of the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 broke, leaving them unable to continue. Earlier, Toyota’s Takamoto Katsuta had also gone off the road in the same corner.

- Rallying is what it is. The name of the game is that we went out there to give it our all, and that’s exactly what we did. We knew that success would require taking some risks. Then there was this one corner, which was a bit slipperier than the others, and that’s all it took, Lindholm recalled the situation.

On Saturday, during the rally day in the Jämsä area, Lindholm had to retire again before Ouninpohja 2 due to a bearing failure. During the previous stage, the Finnish driver noticed changes in the steering, and after the stage, it was discovered that the right front wheel bearing had loosened.

- When the bearing loosens, the brake disc moves, and the brakes won’t work properly. We decided to skip the last stage of the day as a precaution. We didn’t want to risk the bearing breaking during the high-speed Ouninpohja.

Lindholm maintained good pace throughout the competition. On Friday, he was among the top six cars, and on Saturday and Sunday, despite starting from positions 34 and 30 respectively, the Finnish driver set the fourth-fastest time in the WRC2 class on Saturday and the third-fastest on Sunday.

- Even though our starting position was poor, we drove well, and in terms of results, we were in the zone, so to speak, even though we didn’t take any risks after Friday. It was a technically good performance without mistakes. Our car handled very well throughout the rally. Big thanks to CHL Sport Auto for the excellent work, Lindholm emphasized.