While both Norwegians Petter Solberg and Tommy Rustad each claimed a fastest time in the qualifying runs it is Frenchman Davy Jeanney who tops the following order after Day 1 at Höljes in Sweden.
Petter Solberg: It took the 2003 World Rally Champion quite a while to get his engine right, but once that was sorted he also found himself the victim of some suspension failures, often caused by arguments with his opponents. For this weekend “Hollywood” was hoping for a clean run at Höljes in the Värmland province of Sweden, the home region of his wife Pernilla, the daughter of 1980 European Rallycross Champion Per-Inge Walfridsson.
“The team has been working very hard since the round in Hell and I’m very grateful to all them. They’ve been concentrating on making the car much stronger and have done a lot of work on front-end geometry. We did a half-day test to check differentials, dampers and that I’m happy with the weight. The car is now better prepared for bigger impacts but I still need to be careful, as Rallycross is very close contact. We will be fighting all the time, but everything is still so new so I have had to accept that a win wasn’t going to happen straightaway. I think it will be a close fight this weekend. We’re taking 400 guests and sponsors so the pressure is on once again for me to be at the top,” stated the Citroën campaigner prior to the event.
However, the so-called “Magic Weekend” started very well for Petter Solberg who shortly before the end of the 120 minutes free practice session went out once more to make the fastest practice time his. The Hansen Motorsport trio Timmy Hansen, Timur Timerzyanov and Alexander Hvaal claimed the places two to four, Global RallyCross Championship regular Patrik Sandell finished in fifth place. In the first heat Solberg showed supremacy again, he set the best time ahead of Davy Jeanney and Timmy Hansen here. But Saturday was not to end trouble free for the Rallycross returnee, Heat 2 had only a poor tenth place for him. “Engine failure at the end after leading big time,” was “Hollywoods” short comment. Later it turned out that an engine change was needed for Day 2.
Tommy Rustad: The Norwegian had been eight fastest in free practice, the first heat had him in 29th place after spinning the ex-Ludvig Hunsbedt Volvo C30/4 SuperCar not just once. In the second heat the former protégé of “Mister Rallycross” Martin Schanche proved that he still has the skills to set a Rallycross track on fire, printing the fastest time on the time-keeper sheet. In the overnight standings Rustad is tenth overall.
Davy Jeanney: The Frenchman is happy. While having a lot of problems with the Swedish mosquitos Jeanney on track had no troubles. He won both his races and is leading the intermediate results with just 5 points from a second and a third fastest time. “Now, as I’m on my own on top of the ranking, I like to thank my partners for their backing. This is a business with 100% French technology and we at JSA [his team] have a wonderful long day here, where the sun is not willing to go down,” said the Citroën C4 driver later in the evening.
Hansen Motorsport: With Timmy Hansen, Timur Timerzyanov and Alexander Hvaal on top of the free practice, till Solberg changed the order, Saturday started promising for the Swedish team. But while the Norwegian and the Swede are currently fourth and fifth in the overnight standings the reigning European champion from Russia is deep down in 20th position. In Heat 1 Hansen Jr. scored the third time and Hvaal reached the chequered flag with the fifth fastest time, while “TT” had to give up with a broken wheel to find himself in 36th place. In the second runs the man from Tatarstan made it to the best result of the trio, driving to the fifth fastest time, despite a 360° spin in his Joker Lap. With Hvaal being seventh and Hansen ninth here their overnight ranking is all but bad.
Others: Andreas Bakkerud has a lot of supporters with him to cheer him forward to more good times. With an eighth and a second fastest time and 10 points on his tally the Norwegian lies currently on second place behind Jeanney. Henning Solberg did well in the Eklund Motorsport Saab 9-3 SuperCar, driving two almost identical times. But while in the first runs the time resulted in tenth place, in the second heat it produced a fifth place for the older of the Solberg siblings. Former WRC ace and current GRC regular Patrik Sandell claimed the fourth fastest time in Heat 1, but in Heat 2 got struck by bad luck and a flat tyre. Nevertheless, the OMSE driver limped his ST Fiesta to the chequered flag to avoid some additional “bad points”. Similar situation with DTM star Mattias Ekström, after the seventh time in Heat 1 a puncture in Heat 2, but the Audi factory driver reached the finish in 27th place only. Rally star in the making Pontus Tidemand was excluded from the first heat for driving with all four wheels off the track, but fought back in the second runs by powering the Jochen Coox Scirocco from Belgium to the fourth fastest time.
Super1600s & TouringCars: Dane Ulrik Linnemann and Latvian Reinis Nitišs are both on top of the Day 1 Super1600 point standings, each having claimed a win and a second place today, while in TouringCars Czech Roman Častoral is alone in the lead. The Opel campaigner drove the fastest time in Heat 2, in Heat 1 Norwegian Ford driver Lars Øivind Enerberg was the best.
More Höljes pictures to be found here in our Gallery.
Situation in SuperCars after Day 1 here.
Situation in Super1600s after Day 1 here.
Situation in TouringCars after Day 1 here.
The highlights of Day 1.
