Strong rallycross debut by Veiby
Ole Christian Veiby’s rallycross career got off to a flying start with a fourth place in the first round of RallyX at Ring Knutstorp in Sweden on Saturday.
May 15, 2014
Ole Christian Veiby’s rallycross career got off to a flying start with a fourth place in the first round of RallyX at Ring Knutstorp in Sweden on Saturday.
“Before the race, I said that I was hoping to be the best Norwegian and would you believe I did it.”
Many well-known Norwegian and Swedish rally drivers have opted to compete in the Supercar class, where the cars are 600 horsepower, all-wheel drive. Ole is driving for the ambitious Volkswagen Dealer Team KMS.
The young motor racing talent had to admit that he had a few butterflies in his stomach when getting ready to start the first heat. Perhaps not surprising with Henning Solberg and Tommy Rustad beside him in the start line-up.
“I soon managed to shake of my nerves and had great fun,” he says, referring to the tough duals he had with Solberg and Rustad during the weekend. In the semi-final, Ole had problems with his power-steering, but still managed to reach the final with a third place in the heat. Henning Solberg also had problems and did not quality for the final.
In the exciting final heat, the battle was between Ole and the much more experienced Tommy Rustad. It was practically a door-against-door battle, where the cars nudged each other. Ole refused to allow his countryman to overtake, no matter how hard Rustad tried. Rustad finally had to thrown in the towel after damaging his car when he collied with Ole’s car door. Veiby took an impressive fourth place and with that was also the best Norwegian.
“I am very pleased with the final heat. I only had the chance to drive around 10 circuits of the track with the car I drove at the weekend. Competing car against car is a whole new ball game. But I couldn’t have asked for a better debut. Now I have an even better idea of what is involved and I am really looking forward to the next round in Arvika on 29 May. Arvika is the team’s home ground and I am also hoping that people from Kongsvinger will come to experience how entertaining and fun rallycross is,” Ole says.
Tommy Kristoffersson, Team Manager in Volkswagen Dealer Team KMS was full of praise about the young Norwegian’s debut.
“Ole Christian is only 17 years old and only drove around 10 circuits in preparation for the race, but still managed a fourth place. It’s absolutely amazing,” Kristoffersson says.
Veiby’s teammate, Johan Kristoffersson drove into third place and ensured that Volkswagen Dealer Team KMS won a place on the podium in the opening event of the season.