CONVINCING VICTORY FOR PONTUS TIDEMAND IN VÄSTRALLYT.

bild3_vastrallyt_tidemand_skjaermoen_tidemand_rampPontus Tidemand along with co-driver Stig-Rune Skjaermoen took a convincing victory in the fourth round of the 2012 Swedish Rally Championship. At the finish on Saturday night Pontus went first over the finish before Jimmy Joge and secured his third overall win of the four possible in this year’s Swedish Rally Championship.

Västrallyt that was running in the area around Trollhättan the city of SAAB started on Friday with two short stages on a rallycross. Pontus went out hard and was fastest on the first stage, but it turned out that Pontus had been a little too fast in the start and got a penalty for a jump start.

– I released the clutch a bit early, but the run did go good anyway. The second time we drove the stage i did a really bad start and was second on the stage, says Pontus

After Friday’s two short stages, Pontus was on a twenty-first place overall, after receiving a 10 second penalty for jump start.

bild2_vastrallyt_tidemand_fredagOn Saturday morning the rain was falling down and with a late start position so did Pontus the “impossible” by being fastest on the first stage of the day with the Skoda Fabia S2000 which Pontus run in Swedish Championship through talent development company EVEN rally.

– Normally it is best to start as early as possible when it is raining, but we did put up a good tyre strategy with Michelin so we had the softest rubber compound to the first stages, and it paid off, says Pontus.

Saturday continued with stage-wins on all morning-stages and at lunch service Pontus had an overall lead with about 21 seconds, which shrank to about 10 seconds when stage six had been cancelled due to an accident.

– I thought it worked well but it was very slippery in places, so i couldn’t go with the attack I usually do, says Pontus

bild1_vastrallyt_tidemandBefore the final four stages Pontus had a clear strategy to drive in 90-95 percent and not make any mistakes, something that tends to be very difficult when you pull down the tempo to drive safely.

– You need to really focus when you drop the pace, usually mistakes come then but I thought we had a good flow the last stages and we actually managed to extend the overall lead, says Pontus

At the finish of the rally, it differed 17.6 seconds to overall number two, Jimmy Joge and 1 minute and 31 seconds to class-second Jerker Axelsson and there could Pontus Tidemand secure his third overall win in the Sweden Rally Championship 2012.

– It was really great, first the second place in the WRC Academy in Finland a few weeks ago and now this win Now the self-confidence are coming back before the WRC Academy in Germany next weekend after the heavy period we had over the summer with retired events, ends Pontus

Overall standings Västrallyt 2012:

1. Pontus Tidemand, SMK Eda, Skoda Fabia S2000, 51.59,3
2. Jimmy Joge, SMK Motala, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, +17,6
3. Patrik Johansson, Wäxjö MS, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX, +19, 8

Class “Trimmat” (WRC/S2000):

1. Pontus Tidemand, SMK Eda, Skoda Fabia S2000, 51.59,3
2. Jerker Axelsson, SMK Trollhättan, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo WRC, +1.31,2
3. Mats Jonsson, Forshaga MC,Ford Escort WRC +1,38,5

Here you can read the press release from the organization behind the Rally Championship.

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=sv&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=sv&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fadmin.getanewsletter.com%2Ft%2Fv%2F1_MTM4ODU1Mzg2Mw%3D%3D%2F&act=url “Unequalled Tidemand won Västrallyt”