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’s Difficult Weekend in Chile Ends in Retirement

15 September 2025

Toksport WRT’s Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen were forced to retire for the second time in the Chilean WRC rally on Sunday, due to a throttle pedal malfunction. “A tough weekend and bad luck. It’s really testing us—or has been for a few years now,” Lindholm said, clearly frustrated.

The Chilean WRC round turned into a misfortune-filled event for the Finnish duo driving Toksport WRT’s Škoda Fabia RS Rally2. They had to retire twice—once on Saturday due to a radiator leak and again on Sunday because of a throttle pedal issue.

The rally started well for the Finnish pair. After Friday’s first loop, they were running second in the WRC2 class. However, a spin and throttle pedal issues during the afternoon loop dropped them to third.

On Saturday, Lindholm struggled in the morning’s rain-soaked special stages, as they had to make pace notes in thick fog. Other top drivers in the class had accurate notes from the same stages from the previous year.

At the end of Saturday’s second-to-last stage, Lindholm’s Škoda began leaking radiator. With only five minutes before the final stage of the day, there wasn’t enough time to fully seal the leak. It continued into the next stage, forcing Lindholm to preserve the engine and retire 15 km before the finish. The radiator was replaced during service, and they continued Sunday.

The difficult weekend ended on Sunday at the finish of the second-to-last stage due to a recurrence of the throttle pedal issue.

“The throttle simply didn’t return. I braked into a corner, lifted my foot off the throttle, but the car kept accelerating. The throttle stayed engaged. We drove off the road and got stuck, so we had to retire. It did the same thing on Friday and during yesterday’s afternoon stages. It wasn’t an easy trip for us,” Lindholm summarized.

“Friday’s start was good. On Saturday, I couldn’t match the pace of the leaders with notes made in thick fog that didn’t reflect reality. Before the final stage of the day, we had only five minutes to fix the radiator. That wasn’t enough to stop the leak, so we had to save the engine and retire.”

After Sunday’s retirement and returning to service, the data from Lindholm’s car was analyzed, and the cause was found.

“I braked into the corner in time, but when I eased off the brake, the car accelerated, and we ended up stuck in a ditch. The service team confirmed the issue was the same as on Friday: the throttle pedal didn’t return as intended,” Lindholm explained.