Ole Christian Veiby wrote motorsport history with victory in Wales

Ole Christian Veiby (19) wrote motorsport history when he crossed the finish line on the last stage at Wales Rally GB. He won the rally, secured second place in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship and was also the first one ever to finish among the top three in both the Junior WRC and the…

November 16, 2015

“This feels incredibly amazing and it is a great relief” said a happy Ole Christian Veiby, who together with his co-driver Anders Jæger drives a Citröen DS3 R3T, run by the Finnish team Printsport.

They came to the last JWRC round of the year with a good portion confidence after winning seven special stages at Rally Spain and the Norwegian youngster followed it up right from the start in Wales. He dominated Friday’s stages and after the first day, he had a lead of several minutes. Only an off or technical problems could deprive him of his first victory at a WRC event.

“It was a new challenge for me to manage two days with a lead that big. I could not afford to make any mistakes and drove in the middle of the road without taking any risks at all. The conditions were really bad on the very last stage and I listened to the car to see if something was wrong. I was terrified that something would happen” said Ole, relieved to have second place in the JWRC in his hands.

This year’s season has been long and demanding. Ole has participated in two championships – at the same time as he has been senior in high school. In the Euro RX, he took the third place in the championship and that combined with the second place in the JWRC, makes Ole a part of motorsport history with two trophies from two championships during the same season.

“The objective for the season was to take two medals. I knew it would be tough, but still very possible. That is why it feels so fantastic to succeed and reach that goal” he explained.

The 19-year-old has taken major steps forward this season. Already in his debut season in the JWRC, he has made a name for himself. Battling far more experienced drivers, he still got into the top fight already from the first round in Monte Carlo, where he finished third. Throughout the whole season, Ole has had a great progression and wrapped it all up by scoring his first victory at Wales Rally GB.

“Ahead of the event, I said that we would not think about the possibilities of taking a medal and I think we managed that very well on Friday. When we found ourselves with an advantage that big, it was obvious that we had to start thinking about securing our position in the championship. It has rained like crazy all weekend and it has also been extremely windy. Those factors made it all even more exciting” he said.

In addition to his second place in the JWRC, Ole also finished second in the WRC 3, which is the championship for two-wheel-drive cars. Well established drivers like Sébastien Ogier, Sébastien Loeb, Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo all began their careers in similar cars in the championship.

“When I look back at what I have achieved this season, there is no doubt that I bring a lot of confidence and experience with me into the next season. To have won this many stages at the two last events, is wonderful to take with me. Now I know much more about what I’m facing and aiming for in 2016” he said.

Rally GB 2015, JWRC:

O. VEIBY 3:35:38.0
F. ANDOLFI 3:40:02.2
Q. GILBERT 3:41:21.8
T. FOLB 3:53:12.5
P. LOUBET 3:54:53.4
W. WAGNER 4:15:47.3

Overall JWRC 2015:

Quentin Gilbert 131 points
OLE CHRISTIAN VEIBY 83
Terry Folb 66
Simone Tempestini 62
Henri Haapamaki 48
Pierre-Louis Loubet 43
Jean-René Perry 32
Federico Della Casa and Mohammed Al-Mutawaa 28
Yohan Rossel 25
Christian Riedemann and Osian Pryce 18
Matthieu Margaillan and William Wagner 12
Alessandro Re and Kornel Lukacs 8
Jari Huttunen 6
Charlotte Dalmasso 5
Daniel McKenna 4