Castrol / Daily Telegraph team battle the elements at the Swedish round of the World Rally Championship Spectators have turned out in force to watch the second round of the World Rally Championship (WRC) – The Uddeholm Swedish Rally – in which the Castrol / Daily Telegraph team are competing this weekend.
The team, supported by ProSpeed Motorsport, had a successful start to the rally finishing 47th overall and 2nd in class after the first eight stages of leg one. Finishing leg two on Saturday the team are now 46th overall and have maintained their class position.
This is the first time that driver Jardine has entered the Swedish rally; it is also co-driver Davenport’s first WRC event. To prepare for the harsh Scandinavian conditions the media duo attended John Haugland’s Winter Rally School in the snow of Norway prior to the main event. However mild weather in Sweden for the rally itself resulted in a lack of snow creating an extra challenge for the Kumho backed team. With temperatures rising as high as 6ºC in central Karlstad the snow that was present on the special stages was quickly worn away by the lead cars.
Jardine said, “Even though the snow has melted we will face a massive challenge as the conditions are a mix of mud, gravel, snow and ice. With the fog mixed in for good measure it means we have to have our wits about us as the surfaces are changing the whole time. “Franca worked very hard at writing up detailed pace notes and WRC regulations in the hotel every night after the recce. Her meticulous detail and timely calls have saved us from two big icy slides which could have taken us out of the event on Friday.”
Davenport, commenting on her first impressions of competing at WRC level, said, “This has been so much harder than the national rallies that I have done before. Tony has been great – helping me to compete at a much higher standard. It has been really exhilarating, especially to be competing against the top rally drivers in the world.” Conditions at the Swedish Rally have caused several crews to retire including WRC contender Sébastien Loeb. Loeb went out after stage 11 when his crew were unable to repair damage to his car caused by a crash on stage four on Friday
