After Rally Sweden’s first day Pontus Tidemand is in a strong position for a podium finish, currently sitting in third place in the WRC2 class after the first four stages.
When Rally Sweden finally got started on the full-speed stages included in this year’s abbreviated edition, Tidemand and the co-driver Patrik Barth made a steady contribution from the start.
Although it has not been 100 percent problem-free they remain in the top-three, 9.9 seconds from second place and 18.3 seconds from first place.
“The first stage this morning was really good, but we made some small mistakes towards the end and were a bit down in the ditch. We probably lost 4-5 seconds just for that. On the next atage we did a bit of understeer on the car, but the third stage worked out well.” Tidemand said.
“It’s just to speed up and take what is offered. Some tires work better on looser surfaces, others on harder ones, but we do what we can with what we have and we end the day with a positive feeling. We are not too far behind so there is every chance to climb up the standings tomorrow.”
Saturday’s program is identical as it was today. The same stages are repeated with the same starting times and the fight is expected to be fierce when the rally enters its second day.
Results Rally Sweden WRC2 Day 1
- Mads Østberg 32: 34.1
- Ole Christian Veiby +8.4
- Pontus Tidemand +18.3
- Adrien Fourmaux +49.1
- Nikolay Gryazin +53.0
- Rhys Yates +1: 38.1
