Thierry talks Rally Sweden

February 14, 2019 0 Comments

Rally Sweden starts tonight with the now traditional opening blast around a trotting track in Karlstad.

After that, it’s three days of flat-out action in the frozen forests of Sweden and Norway, before the winner of Round 2 of the 2019 FIA World Rally Championship is revealed.

Thierry Neuville won Rally Sweden last year and, together with co-driver Nicolas Gilsoul, was fastest on today’s Shakedown stage – the Hyundai i20 WRC crew setting a time 2.2 seconds quicker than Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC), with Sébastien OgierJulien Ingrassia, winners of last month’s opening WRC round in Monte Carlo, a further tenth behind in their Citroën C3 WRC.

Having finished second last month in Monte Carlo, Neuville appears on fine form as he spoke to the media earlier today:

How was the recce for this year’s Rally Sweden? “The conditions were quite nice. From our view, it was nice. Being first on the road, we are looking for proper ice and not much snow – this was the case. We have seen the temperatures increasing, so we don’t know what to expect now. It should be OK on the first pass, but the second pass could be rutted with some gravel.

You had a good start to the season in Monte Carlos and last year you reigned supreme on Rally Sweden. Do you have a good feeling going into the event? “We’ve always been strong here in Sweden. We won last year and we need to bring everything together this year – that’s the management of the tyres, the strategy, everything. We are second on the road tomorrow, so the priority is to get a good position on Friday evening for Saturday. It’s easy to make small mistakes here, if you go to the snowbank, even for 20 seconds or something then it can make it bad enough for the position on Saturday. This rally will be as challenging as always.”

You came close to the title last year, what do you have to do differently this year? “I’m quite happy with the way we performed. There are many things which didn’t go as well as they should have but this year, we tried to optimise everything with a very reliable car and no stupid mistakes. It will be a tough battle with Ott, Sébastien and maybe there could be some other drivers by the end of the year.”

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul wear Stilo WRC DES Zero 8860 helmets.