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Performance Proven in the Depth of Winter, in a Snowy Rally!
K. Sohlberg finished 3rd, Supported by TEIN
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 2007 P-WRC (Production car World Rally Championship) started up with Swedish Rally, held around Karlstad from Feb 8 to 11th. The drivers needed highly trained techniques to survive through the stages that were covered with icy snow in an intensely freezing condition, sometimes dropping to 20 Celsius below zero. This year, various drivers from veterans to new faces from northern Europe participated in this rally, and the truly competitive machines counted up to 15 here in Sweden.
This year, there were three machines with TEIN's Gr. N Dampers, K. Sohlberg from SYMS RALLY TEAM (#38, SUBARU IMPREZA GDB-F), A. Drosinskiy from SUBARU RALLY TEAM RUSSIA(#42 SUBARU IMPREZA GDB-F), and although not nominated for P-WRC this time, A.Jereb fromSTOHL RACING (#78 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX) completed in this Rally. K. Sohlberg led the race in Leg 1; however, he suffered from hitting a snow bank in Leg 2, breaking the drive shaft in Leg 3, thus finishing 4th. J. Haninen who finished 1st (MITSUBISHI LANCER EVOLUTION IX) became disqualified in scrutineering, and Sohlberg got pushed up to 3rd place. |
Swedish Rally. Sohlberg, who had a very good feeling about suspensions during the shake down on the 8th, impressed the crowd with his stable driving. Without giving any chance to Haninnen driving 2nd place, Sohlberg finished top with 5.7 seconds in the lead. Drosinskiy, whose start up wasn't so bad, finished 11th in P-WRC. Jereb suffered a sickness from a very harsh condition in his first Swedish Rally; however, he had shown a stable driving, finishing up day 1 in 18th place.
Sohlberg was leading the race on the 10th in Leg2 until he hit a snow bank during SS14. The loss was 10 seconds, and Hanninen now took the lead. There was only 6.9 seconds between them, so Sohlberg was still aiming for the championship. Drosinskiy jumped up to 7th place after changing the setting of suspension at the service park the day before. Jereb also raced well and became 16th place with the support from medical check.
Everything was going well for TEIN supported racers until Leg 3 on the 11th, when unexpected accidents occurred. First, Drosinskiy who was marking 7th place suffered engine trouble. He stopped suddenly at a road section after service out in the morning, and ended up retiring before competing in SS.
 Sohlberg who was aiming for the championship also damaged the drive shaft in the first stage this day. Despite his tenacious attempt until the end, the machine only worked as a rear wheel drive, and he ended up 4th place due to the time loss. Jereb who changed the setting of suspension during the service in the morning, went for the spurt in the remaining stages; however, he suffered from electrical and deferential gear trouble. With his best attempt with unstable tractions, he ended up 10th place as a Gr.N user.
There was still a drama after the race. The champion-to-be, Hanninen, got disqualified in scrutineering…! Luck was still with him, and Sohlberg placed 3rd in the end. |
| Pos. |
No. |
Driver |
Car |
Time |
Diff |
Remarks |
| 1 |
59 |
Oscar SVEDLUND
Björn NILSSON |
SUBARU IMPREZA
GDB-F |
3:25:29.2 |
|
overall 16th |
| 2 |
53 |
Anton ALÉN
Timo ALANNE |
SUBARU IMPREZA
GDB-F |
3:26:07.8 |
+38.6 |
overall 17th |
| 3 |
38 |
Kristian SOHLBERG
Risto PIETILÄINEN |
SUBARU IMPREZA
GDB-F |
3:27:11.9 |
+01:42.7 |
TEIN Gr.N Damper
overall 18th |
| 9 |
43 |
Andreas AIGNER
Klaus WICHA |
MITSUBISHI LANCER
Evo IX CT9A |
3:43:45.6 |
+18:56.4 |
TEIN Gr.N Damper
overall 30th |
| R |
42 |
Alexande DOROSINSKIY
Dmitry EREMEEV |
SUBARU IMPREZA
GDB-F |
- |
- |
TEIN Gr.N Damper
Retirements (Engine TC 15D) |
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