Veiby on the podium at Rallye Monte Carlo

Along with co-driver Anders Jaeger, the talented young driver from Kongsvinger surprised many as he battled with more experienced drivers on one of the most famous round of the WRC. Nobody had expected that a debutant would manage to get on the podium in a rally that is considered the most difficult in the world.

“It was a very special experience, and a rally that I can not compare with anything else I’ve driven,” said Ole. “It was at times extremely slippery. I am very pleased that I managed to keep my concentration up and my nerves under control. I did not let me stress of either the environment or that I fought for a place on the podium.”

Driving a Citroën DS3 R3T, run by the Finnish team Printsports, Ole set out his intentions from the start. After Thursday’s opening two stages at night, he lay in fifth place. Friday began with second fastest stage time in class, and later in the day he set a fastest stage time.

“We found a nice rhythm which we were comfortable with in the difficult conditions,” explained Ole. “On SS6 we were the fastest car in the class, and it tasted obviously good to win my first special stage in JWRC.”

The Norwegian boys ran well all day, and before Saturday’s stages they had climbed to second place – with a gap of just over half a minute down to third.

“Rallye Monte Carlo is something very special. A minute can be eaten on a single stage. When the stages consist of dry asphalt, wet asphalt, snow and ice – and in some cases altogether – things can turn around quickly. But I knew that if I managed to keep on the road, it would eventually be a good result,” continued Ole.

There was a close moment on SS10, however.

“We had a little nerve-wracking experience on SS10,” admits Ole. “We met a patch of black ice, and we had slick racing tyres on, so there was no grip whatsoever. I had to throw the car into the snow, but that managed to save me. After that episode, we took it a little quieter.”

Before Sunday’s three final stages, Ole was still second in class, but the gap down to third place had shrunk to a little over ten seconds.

“We were not so keen to defend second place, but rather we wanted to finish the rally. Could we do without a mishap, and reach the finish in Monaco in a good position.”

Ole did his job well, driving sensibly in the closing stages to finish a controlled third – with a gap of almost two minutes between him and fourth place.

“To get on the podium on the Monte Carlo Rally can hardly be described,” added Ole. “This was only my second Tarmac ever, and in competition with several asphalt experts, I am proud to be number three. Had someone said to me a few months ago that I would make it, I would not have believed it. But after the good recce here and a good run on the Jännerrallye in Austria a couple of weeks ago, I knew there were opportunities for a good finish if I kept it on the road. But I basically still cannot believe that I could fight among the top three.”

For Norwegian rallying, this year’s Rallye Monte Carlo was an historic event. Andreas Mikkelsen and co-driver Ola Fløene are, like Ole Christian and Anders Jaeger, part of Even Management. Andreas ended third overall in the rally, and it is only Petter Solberg who has managed this before (third in 2012). In that Solberg had British navigator (Phil Mills), the first time in history that a Norwegian co-driver is on the podium – and the first time Norway is represented on the podium in both WRC and JWRC in the world’s most famous rally.