First WRC podium since 2002Daniel Carlsson got the chance - and he delivered. At the end of the final stage of the Uddeholm Swedish Rally 2006 yesterday afternoon he had to think a few seconds before he realized what he had done. He had won an impressive battle about tenths of seconds and scored a podium finish in his home World Rally Championship round.
The last time a Swede was on the podium in a WRC round was in 2002 and it was a true Swedish rallying dream that came true Sunday.
Less than two weeks ago Carlsson got the offer to drive the Mitsubishi and one week ago he still did not know fore sure if he was allowed to start the rally.
There was no time to test the car on snow before the rally and the co-driver, Bosse Holmstrand, was completely new beside him. Many factors talked against Carlsson - but in the two day fight against Galli the Swede proved strong.
In fact the time difference between him and Galli was never more than 2.4 seconds during the last 24 hours before coming to the finish of the last stage. At the finish, Daniel had increased his lead over the Italian to seven seconds.
"It is fantastic! Incredible! During all the fight we did not know, I never got rid of him and could never relax," said Carlsson. "It was fun and exciting, but I would have wanted to conclude it faster."
Holmstrand, the new co-driver, was exactly as happy as Carlsson. The pair got a huge success debut, and the 28 year old co-driver was touched when he reached the finish. "This really is a dream that has come true," said Bosse.
The performance in Uddeholm Swedish Rally 2006 is not only a show of strong driving, it is also a strong team effort. Carlsson was satisfied from the very beginning and praises his team.
"Everything has worked really well," stated Carlsson. "The team, the car, the mechanics, the engineers, the co-operation with Bosse - we had barely met before the rally. In the end the car went on three cylinders and still we managed to seal the third place."
"Before the rally I did not know, but after the positive response in shakedown, which we won, I realised that we should be able to get far if everything went our way. Now I will enjoy this for a while and just feel good! Everybody has made a good job and the feeling is impossible to describe... I am so happy!"
Soon Carlsson will face the next challenge, the WRC-candidate round Rally Norway, in which he will compete with the same Mitsubishi Lancer WR05 as in the Swedish Rally. On Tuesday the recce starts in the competition that hopefully may be another Swedish triumph.
Tags:
rally,
