Veiby second at Rally Italia Sardegna

Ole Christian Veiby continues to impress in his rally car. At the WRC round Rally Italia Sardegna, the youngster finished second in the WRC2.

June 11, 2017

Ole Christian Veiby continues to impress in his rally car. At the WRC round Rally Italia Sardegna, the youngster finished second in the WRC2.

The Norwegian has performed well this season and during the weekend he once again showed why Skoda Motorsport has secured a deal with him. To finish second in the WRC2 at his Rally Italia Sardegna debut is an exceptionally strong result.

“I said in advance that if we reached the finish without major problems, we would get a good result. And we succeeded. I am really pleased with second place” said Ole, who turns 21 on Saturday.

Only the experienced Czech Jan Kopecky was quicker than Ole and his co-driver Stig Rune Skjærmoen.

“We started a little cautiously on Friday and took it from there. I’ve never competed in conditions like the ones in Sardinia. We constantly improved and also got a stage win. Unfortunately we got a puncture that made us lose time, and Kopecky had a small gap after the first day” said Ole.

Saturday was about keeping the speed up and be ready to take the chance if the Czech made a mistake or got a puncture. Instead it was Ole that suffered a puncture.

“Luckily it happened towards the end of a stage and we didn’t lose more than 20-25 seconds. After that, we focused on staying on the road without taking any big risks.”

Still Ole took a couple of stage wins, just to prove his pace.

“The only thing we cared about going into Sunday’s four last stages was to complete the rally. I think we did a very good job getting second place. Everything went according to plan” he said.

Rally Italia Sardegna is not just demanding for the cars on the rough roads – it is a brutal challenge also for the crew in the car. In hot temperatures, both driver and co-driver need to stay cool.

“Skoda Motorsport measured 68 degrees in the car. We had to make sure we got enough to drink and eat. I think we managed that challenge well because we stayed in good shape throughout the event” said Ole, who now is looking forward to the WRC round in Poland the first weekend of July.