Rally Sweden is one of the most magical events on the World Rally Championship calendar, but why? Find out below.
Unique Event Conditions
Rally Sweden is the most unique event on the World Rally Championship schedule. Sure every event is unique in its own way. However, Rally Sweden is the only event to take place on full snow and ice-covered roads. This provides the drivers with a unique challenge. Snow and ice is already a difficult and different challenge. The roads themselves make it even more of a challenge. As the roads are often fast and flowing like Rally Finland. However, these roads don’t feature nearly as many jumps.
Different Challenges
Every World Rally Championship has different challenges. Monte has jagged rock faces, Finland has fast-flowing jumps, and Rally Sweden is no different. Sweden’s unique challenge comes mainly in the form of snowbanks. Snowbanks are extremely unforgiving. As it’s pretty easy to get the car beached on them. Just ask Andreas Mikkelsen, he lost an event after getting his car beached on a snowbank on the final stage some years ago. Drivers use tire studs to help with traction on the slick roads. However, at times the roads are still extremely slick. This can cause a driver to go straight into the previously mentioned snowbanks. The more experienced drivers can use the banks to their advantage. As some have used the banks to help braking when needed. However, that’s only on rare occasions as it is a massive risk.
Night Stages
Rally Sweden is also one of the only events on the calendar to feature night stages outside of the SuperSpecial. This provides drivers with yet another unique challenge. This pushes almost every driver to their limit. Some more experienced drivers find this easier, while others don’t. For some, this will be the only nighttime rallying they do in their career. While some grew up doing nighttime rallying.
Earlier this week the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team unveiled a new livery for the 2024 season.
Another One
Hyundai are changing their livery after just one event, but why? The team wants the livery used for Rallye Monte-Carlo to maintain its 100% win rate. With Hyundai team principal Cyril Abitaboul stating “Starting the 2024 season with a win at one of the most iconic events in WRC history was an incredible moment, ten years after our first-ever Rallye Monte-Carlo, and it is fitting that Thierry and Martijn’s Monte-Carlo colours are memorialised in the history books.” This isn’t the only reason Hyundai changed their livery, however, as the team was going to regardless if Neuville won Rallye Monte-Carlo.
The Other Reason Hyundai Changed Liveries
The 2024 season marks 10 years since the team re-entered the WRC. With Abitaboul stating the main reasons for the livery change were as follows “As some of our colleagues celebrate the Lunar New Year, we are also marking a fresh beginning with an all-new livery for the remainder of the FIA WRC season,” said Hyundai Motorsport president and team principal Cyril Abiteboul. “The design was created to pay tribute to our close working relationship with Hyundai N and Hyundai Motor Company and complements their celebrations of ten years in the pinnacle of rallying.”
Livery For The Rest Of The Season
Hyundai has confirmed they will use this new livery for the remainder of the 2024 campaign. Hyundai will look to add more wins this season. As the team chases not only the manufacturers’ championship but also the drivers’ championship. With Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak both being favorites alongside Elfyn Evans to win the championship this season. Andreas Mikkelsen, Esapekka Lappi and Dani Sordo will look to help achieve these goals in a part-time manner. However, achieving these goals won’t be easy for the Korean team.
The second round of the 2024 World Rally Championship takes place this weekend with Rally Sweden. Find out more below.
Championship Rundown
Thierry Neuville tops the championship after winning Rallye Monte-Carlo last month. Neuville holds a six-point lead over Sebastien Ogier. However, Ogier won’t be competing at Rally Sweden. 2023 vice-champion Elfyn Evans is third in the championship, three points behind Ogier and nine behind Neuville. 2023 Rally Sweden winner Ott Tänak heads into the snowy event fourth in the championship, six points behind Evans and 15 behind Neuville. Adrien Forumaux rounds out the top five in the championship, sitting four points behind Tänak and 19 behind Neuville.
Return Of The Champ
Kalle Rovanperä will suit up for his first WRC action since Rally Japan. Rovanperä has elected to contest a part-time schedule this year. As the now two-time champion wants a bit of a break to explore other motorsport disciplines. As well as just some time off as he’s been competing in rallies since he was eight. Rovanperä contested the Arctic Rally Lapland in Finland last week. He finished second behind Elfyn Evans.
Honoring Craig Breen
The organizers of Rally Sweden have elected to honor Craig Breen in at least one way this weekend. As they have added Breen’s number 42 to the stage Breen loved, Brattby. Breen won the stage both times it ran last season on his way to finishing second behind Ott Tänak. At what would ultimately be his final event, as he passed during testing for the Croatia Rally. Whether or not anything else will be done to honor the fallen Irish star is unknown.
Rally Sweden Event Rundown
Over the course of the four-day event drivers will contest 300.1 km across 18 stages. Day one will see drivers contest the events shakedown and a SuperSpecial stage to kick off the event. The second day of Rally Sweden will have drivers contest 107.9 km across seven stages. The third and longest day of the event will see drivers contest 125.96 km across seven stages. The fourth and final day of Rally Sweden sees drivers contest 61.08 km across three stages.
The 1999 Rallye Monte-Carlo is one of the more notable additions in recent history. Let’s travel back in time to the event.
The Event
The 1999 running of Rallye Monte-Carlo saw drivers contest 424.69 km of snowy tarmac roads across 14 stages in the French Alps. The shortest stage was the fifth stage of the event, St Clement – St Saveur. Spanning just 20.35 km in length. The longest test was the first stage of the event, Plan De Vitrolles – Faye. Which spanned a total of 48.28 km.
Day One, A Shocking Start
Privateer Gillies Panizzi topped the timesheet after the first day’s five stages. Despite only winning a single stage. Panizzi sat first overall, with a 5.9-second gap over Tommi Makinen. Juha Kankkunen was third to end the day, a minute and 13.7 seconds behind Makinen. Colin McRae won two stages on the day. Despite this, he sat sixth overall after the day, 1 minute and 59.9 seconds behind Panizzi. The first day also caught out a couple of favourites to win the event. As both Carlos Sainz, Freddy Loix and Armin Schwarz retired on just the first stage. Sainz and Loix both crashed out, while Schwarz had a clutch issue.
Day Two, Makinen Takes Lead
Reigning World Rally Champion Tommi Makinen topped the event after the second day. Winning two of the day’s five stages to take a minute and 14.4-second lead over standout Giles Panizzi. Juha Kankkunen ended the day in third, 20.2 seconds behind Panizzi. There were no notable moments on the day. Panizzi continued to be a standout on the day behind the wheel of his Subaru 22B. Colin McRae pushed up to fourth, while François Delecour ended the day in fifth.
Day Three, Makinen Wins
The third and final day of the 1999 Rallye Monte Carlo saw Tommi Makinen hold on to his lead to win the event for the first time in his career. Makinen ended the event with a minute and 44.7-second lead over Juha Kankkunen. Didier Auriol finished the event third overall behind the wheel of his Toyota. Auriol finished a whopping two minutes and 8.1 seconds behind Kankkunen. Unfortunately, the final day did see a couple of notable drivers retire. On the first stage of the day, Giles Panizzi retired due to an accident. While Colin McRae was excluded from the event due to a water pump.
First Of Four Consecutive Wins
Tommi Makinen took his first Rallye Monte-Carlo win in 1999. However, the Finnish star would go on to win the next three editions of the event. Makinen to this day is tied for the third most wins at the event. Being tied with Walter Röhrl, Sandro Munari and Jean Trévoux. Makinen would be the only non-French winner of the event until fellow Finnish driver Mikko Hirvonen won the event in 2010. Makinen seemed to like to do things in four. As 1999 would be the last year Makinen won the World Rally Championship. Having won it the three seasons prior.
The fourth and final day of Rallye Monte-Carlo has come to an end. Thierry Neuville held on to take the win.
SS15, La Bréole – Selonnet 3
Thierry Neuville kicked off the final day the same way he kicked off the last two, with a stage win. As the Belgian set a time 4.7 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to top the stage. Ott Tänak finished third fastest on the stage, 0.4 seconds slower than Ogier. Elfyn Evans posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.8 seconds slower than Tänak. Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 9.5 seconds slower than Evans.
SS16, Digne-les-Bains – Chaudon-Norante
Thierry Neuville also took the stage win on the penultimate stage of Rally Monte-Carlo. Posting a time 0.2 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans to top the stage. Ott Tänak finished third fastest on the stage, 2.5 seconds slower than Evans. Sebastien Ogier set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 2.8 seconds slower than Tänak. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 9 seconds slower than Ogier.
SS17, La Bollène-Vésubie – Col De Turini
Thierry Neuville topped the final stage of the event to go three for three on the final day. Neuville set a time 2.5 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to top the stage. Takamoto Katsuta finished third fastest on the stage, 0.1 seconds slower than Ogier. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five on the stage, posting a time 0.4 seconds slower than Katsuta. Ott Tänak rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 1.8 seconds slower than Evans.
Final Rallye Monte-Carlo Overall
Thierry Neuville ended the event with a 16.1-second lead over Sebastien Ogier. Elfyn Evans finished third overall, 29.1 seconds behind Ogier and 45.2 seconds behind Neuville. Ott Tänak ended the event fourth overall, a minute and 14.6 seconds behind Evans. Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top five at this home event, finishing one minute and 37.1 seconds behind Tänak.
The third day of Rallye Monte-Carlo has come to an end. Thierry Neuville took the rally lead on the day.
SS9, Esparron – Oze 1
Thierry Neuville kicked off the penultimate day of Rallye Monte-Carlo with a stage win. As the 2020 event winner posted a time 9.6 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans to top the stage. Grégoire Munster finished third fastest on the stage, 4.6 seconds slower than Evans for the first top three time of his career. Takamoto Katsuta set a time 3.9 seconds slower than Munster on the stage. Sebastien Ogier rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.7 seconds slower than Katsuta.
SS10, Les Nonières – Chichilianne 1
Sebastien Ogier topped the second stage of the day. As the 9-time event winner set a time 2.1 seconds faster than now rally leader Thierry Neuville. Takamoto Katsuta finished third fastest on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Neuville. Ott Tänak posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.8 seconds slower than Katsuta. Grégoire Munster rounded out the top five on the stage, 3.1 seconds slower than Tänak.
SS11, Pellafol – Agnières-en-Dévoluy 1
Hyundai drivers Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak tied for the fastest time on the final stage of the morning loop. As both drivers posted a time 1.2 seconds faster than Takamoto Katsuta. Sebastien Ogier finished with the third fastest on the stage, 1.4 seconds slower than Katsuta. Elfyn Evans set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.6 seconds slower than Ogier. Grégoire Munster rounded out the top five times on the final stage of Rallye Monte-Carlo day three’s morning loop. Finishing with a time 5.6 seconds slower than Evans.
SS12, Esparron – Oze 2
Sebastien Ogier opened the afternoon loop with a stage win. Setting a time 5.5 seconds faster than leader Thierry Neuville to close the gap between himself and Neuville to just 2.2 seconds. Ott Tänak and Takamoto Katsuta tied for the third fastest time on the stage, with both drivers finishing 8.4 seconds slower than Ogier. Andreas Mikkelsen posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Tänak and Katsuta. Elfyn Evans rounded out the top five times on the stage, finishing 1.7 seconds slower than Mikkelsen.
SS13, Les Nonières – Chichilianne 2
Sebastien Ogier also took the stage win on the penultimate stage of the penultimate day of Rallye Monte-Carlo. Posting a time 3 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage and take the rally lead. Elfyn Evans finished third fastest for the first time today, finishing 4.6 seconds faster than Neuville on the stage. Ott Tänak set the fourth fastest on the stage, 5.2 seconds slower than Evans. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 4.2 seconds slower than Tänak.
SS14, Pellafol – Agnières-en-Dévoluy 2
Thierry Neuville topped the final stage of the day. Posting a time 4.1 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to take back the rally lead. Ott Tänak finished third fastest on the stage, 6 seconds slower than Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.8 seconds slower than Tänak. Andreas Mikkelsen rounded out the top five on the stage, 1.4 seconds slower than Katsuta.
Overall After Day Three Of Rallye Monte-Carlo
Thierry Neuville leads the rally and took home maximum points on Saturday under the new points system. Sebastien Ogier sits second overall, 3.3 seconds behind Neuville. Elfyn Evans lost a lot of time on the penultimate due to a hybrid issue. Now Evans sits 31.6 seconds behind Ogier and 34.9 seconds behind Neuville in third. Ott Tänak still sits far back from the front runners. As the Estonian is a minute and 12 seconds behind Evans and a minute and 46.9 seconds behind Neuville. Adrien Fourmaux sits another minute and 7.1 seconds behind Tänak and two minutes and 54 seconds behind Neuville.
The second day of Rallye Monte-Carlo has come to an end. Elfyn Evans retained his lead after the days stages.
SS3, St-Léger-Les-Mélèzes – La Bâtie-Neuve 1
Thierry Neuville kicked off the second day with a stage win. As the Belgian posted a time 5.3 seconds faster than rally leader Elfyn Evans to top the stage. Sebastien Ogier finished third fastest on the stage, 1.3 seconds slower than Evans. Adrien Forumaux set the fourth fastest time, 15.9 seconds slower than Ogier. Andreas Mikkelsen rounded out the top five for the first time this weekend, as the Norwegian set a time 4.8 seconds slower than Fourmaux.
SS4, Champcella – Saint-Clément 1
Sebastien Ogier topped the stage for the first time this weekend on SS4. As the 9-time Rallye Monte-Carlo winner set a time 1 second faster than Evans to win the stage. Ott Tänak finished third fastest on the stage, 0.8 seconds slower than Evans. Adrien Fourmaux posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 6.7 seconds slower than Tänak. Thierry Neuville rounded out the top five on the stage, 1.5 seconds slower than Fourmaux.
SS5, La Bréole – Selonnet 1
Sebastien Ogier ended the morning loop with his second stage win of the weekend. Setting a time 11.2 seconds faster than Elfyn Evans to win the stage. Adrien Fourmaux finished third fastest on the stage, 0.6 seconds slower than Evans. Ott Tänak posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 0.2 seconds slower than Fourmaux. Thierry Neuville rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 4.9 seconds slower than Tänak.
SS6, St-Léger-Les-Mélèzes – La Bâtie-Neuve 2
Thierry Neuville kicked off the afternoon loop of Rallye Monte-Carlo day two with a stage win. As Neuville posted a time 1.6 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to win his second stage of the day. Elfyn Evans finished third fastest on the stage, 1 second slower than Ogier. Ott Tänak set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 3 seconds slower than Evans. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, 5.2 seconds slower than Tänak.
SS7, Champcella – Saint-Clément 2
Thierry Neuville also took the stage win on SS7. Setting a time 3.5 seconds faster than Sebastien Ogier to top the stage. Elfyn Evans finished third fastest on the stage, 1.1 seconds slower than Ogier. Ott Tänak posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.9 seconds slower than Evans. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, 8.2 seconds slower than Tänak.
SS8, La Bréole – Selonnet 2
Sebastien Ogier ended the second day of Rallye Monte-Carlo with a stage win. Posting a time 2.9 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage. Elfyn Evans finished third fastest on the stage, 1.2 seconds slower than Neuville. Ott Tänak set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 7.7 seconds slower than Evans. Adrien Fourmaux rounded out the top five on the stage, finishing 3.4 seconds slower than Tänak.
Overall After Rallye Monte-Carlo Day Two
Elfyn Evans retained his lead after the days six stages. Despite not taking a single-stage win on the day. Evans takes a 4.5-second lead over Sebastien Ogier heading into the third day of the event. Thierry Neuville sits just 11.6 seconds behind Ogier, and 16.1 seconds behind Evans after the day. Ott Tänak is far behind in fourth. As the Estonian sits 57.5 seconds behind Neuville at the end of the day. Adrien Fourmaux rounds out the top five to end the second day of Rallye Monte-Carlo. With the Frenchman sitting 24.4 seconds behind Tänak.
What To Expect From Rallye Monte-Carlo Day Three
The penultimate day of Rallye Monte-Carlo is set to be a good one. As Evans, Ogier and Neuville will battle for the event lead, and maximum points to end Saturday. Tänak will look to fend off Fourmaux, who has been on a heater. Tänak will have to rely on Sunday’s new points system to regain points lost. Day three will see drivers contest 120.40 km across 6 stages. Leaving lots of room for time to be gained and lost for the drivers.
The first day of Rallye Monte-Carlo has come to an end. Elfyn Evans leads the event after the first day.
SS1, Thoard – Saint-Geniez
Elfyn Evans kicked off the first stage of the 2024 season with a stage win. As the 2023 WRC Vice-Champion posted a time 5.2 seconds faster than Ott Tänak to top the stage. Thierry Neuville finished third fastest on the stage, 3.1 seconds slower than Tänak. Reigning Rallye Monte-Carlo winner Sebastien Ogier set the fourth fastest time on the stage, 1.5 seconds slower than Neuville. Adrien Fourmuax rounded out the top five, finishing 6.4 seconds slower than Ogier on the stage.
SS2, Bayons – Bréziers
Elfyn Evans also took the stage win on the second and final stage of Rallye Monte-Carlo day one. With the Welshmen setting a time 6.8 seconds faster than Thierry Neuville to top the stage. Sebastien Ogier finished third fastest on the stage, 5 seconds slower than Neuville. Ott Tänak posted the fourth fastest time on the stage, 5.8 seconds slower than Ogier. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the stage, 4.4 seconds slower than Tänak.
Overall After Rallye Monte-Carlo Day One
Elfyn Evans takes a 15.1-second lead over Thierry Neuville into the second day of competition. Sebastien Ogier sits third overall, 6.5 seconds back from Neuville. Ott Tänak ends the day in fourth, 1.2 seconds behind Ogier. Adrien Fourmuax rounds out the top five after the first day, 16.2 seconds behind Tänak.
What To Expect From Rallye Monte-Carlo Day Two
In about 11 hours the second day of Rallye Monte-Carlo will kick off. Drivers will contest 105.72 km across six stages. Drivers will face varying conditions throughout the day, including another night stage to cap off the day. Day two could end with a driver clear in the lead, or a driver leading by a handful of seconds. Anything can happen throughout the days stages.
The Rallye Monte-Carlo shakedown stage has come to an end. Ott Tänak and Nikolay Gryazin topped the stage in their respective classes.
Rally1
Ott Tänak set the fastest time on the first shakedown of the season. Tänak would set a time 0.1 seconds faster than championship rival Elfyn Evans to top the Rallye Monte-Carlo shakedown. Thierry Neuville finished third fastest, 0.7 seconds slower than Evans. 2023 Rallye Monte-Carlo winner Sebastien Ogier posted the fourth fastest time, 0.2 seconds slower than Neuville. Takamoto Katsuta rounded out the top five on the shakedown stage, finishing 2.2 seconds slower than Ogier.
WRC2
Nikolay Gryazin topped the Rallye Monte-Carlo shakedown for the WRC2 class. Gryazin would post a time 0.5 seconds faster than last year’s winner Yohan Rossel. Oliver Solberg finished third fastest on the shakedown stage, 1 second slower than Rossel. Pepe Lopez set the fourth fastest time, 2.4 seconds slower than Solberg. Sami Pajari rounded out the top five in the WRC2 class on the shakedown stage, finishing 1.3 seconds slower than Lopez.
What To Expect From Rallye Monte-Carlo Day One
In about 12 hours the first real day of the 2024 World Rally Championship season will kick off. Day one of Rallye Monte-Carlo will see drivers contest two-night stages. These stages total 46.20 km in length. Elfyn Evans will be first on the road tomorrow. As he finished second in the championship last season. Since Kalle Rovanperä won’t be competing this weekend, Evans moves up in the start order. As the reigning champion is supposed to start. At the end of day one’s stages we should get a slight idea of how the event will go. As there’s a lot of time to be gained and lost in 46 km. However, anything can happen as there are still lots of kilometers to race after day one.
The 2024 World Rally Championship season kicks off this weekend with the Rallye Monte-Carlo.
A New Season
Rallye Monte-Carlo will kick off the new World Rally Championship season. Due to this being the first round, there aren’t any championship standings to go over. This means this will be a slightly different preview than the other 12 rounds of the championship. Below I will go over what to expect from the historic event as well as all the teams participating in the event.
Team Rundowns
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
The Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team enters the 2024 WRC season as manufacturer champions. They have also won two of the last three Rallye Monte-Carlo’s. With Sebastien Ogier winning both events for the team. Ogier is the favourite to win the event for the 10th time in his career this weekend. However, drivers such as Elfyn Evans, Thierry Neuville and Ott Tänak will look to stop him. Nevertheless, Ogier’s experience at the tricky event will likely be what leads him to victory at his home event. Takamoto Katsuta will join Elfyn Evans and Sebastien Ogier this weekend.
Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT
Realistically speaking, Hyundai has the only drivers that can challenge Ogier for the win this weekend. As Thierry Neuville won the event in 2020. Ending the domination from Sebastien Ogier and Loeb at the event. Rallye Monte-Carlo will also be Ott Tänak’s first event back in a Hyundai. This comes after the Estonian spent last season with M-Sport Ford. Another driver returning to Hyundai will make their debut this weekend. As reigning WRC2 champion Andreas Mikkelsen will suit up for his first event back with Hyundai this weekend. With a team of Neuville, Tänak and Mikkelsen, Hyundai have a strong contender to Toyota’s trio of drivers.
M-Sport Ford WRT
With all due respect to Adrien Fourmaux and Grégoire Munster, don’t expect much out of M-Sport Ford this weekend. Realistically speaking this is Fourmaux’s first event in a Rally1 car since 2022. Sure he contested Forum8 Rally Japan in a Rally1 car last season. However, he had very few stage kilometres in the car before he went off the road and ended his event. As for Munster, this will be his first time in the car competitively since the Central European Rally. Fourmaux and Munster will likely use this weekend’s event to get used to the car. Rather than pushing for a high finish.
Driver Quotes
Jari-Matti Latvala, Team Principal, Toyota
“We have enjoyed some fantastic success over the last few seasons and we naturally hope to continue this in 2024. We expect an even greater challenge and it will be even tougher to claim all the titles. To win the manufacturers’ championship once again will be our primary target, and if we can achieve the drivers’ and co-drivers’ titles too, that would be a really great bonus. Our team is working hard all the time to develop the car through the season and make it an ever-better car. With Rallye Monte-Carlo, we start with one of the most demanding rallies, and I think a good weekend there can really give you a confidence boost. So Elfyn and Taka will be trying to make the best possible starts to their seasons, and it’s always exciting to have Seb driving with us on his home roads where he has been so strong before. We’re also really excited to see the GR Yaris Rally2 in action: after testing we’re feeling confident in the car, but it’s only now in competition that we can really see the level it’s at and gather more feedback for future development.”
Sebastien Ogier, Car 17, Toyota
“I’m happy to be at the start of another season after all these years, and I take this opportunity with both hands. The last couple of years have been good fun with the team and we managed to secure some good results. I think we want to keep going this way as long as we can and that’s the plan for 2024, starting with Rallye Monte-Carlo of course. For me this is a must-do event and there’s a lot of hopes for this first rally. I think it’s the rally that you need to respect more than any other as the conditions can be so challenging, which means that nothing is guaranteed. Numbers are never my main motivation, but if I could get a 10th win on this event it would be something very special.”
Cyril Abiteboul, Team Principal, Hyundai
“Our goal is to have a clean weekend and maximise the opportunity of the fresh start. It will also be everyone’s first time competing with the updated points-scoring system, which will add a new dynamic to the event.”
Ott Tänak, Car 8, Hyundai
“At the test, the feeling in the car was good and we found a nice rhythm. Our target at the rally is to achieve a podium finish, but of course we will push for the best result possible.”