Tidemand in the lead after the first day of South Swedish Rally

After the first day of South Swedish Rally and seven driven stages, Pontus Tidemand is in the lead of his two wheel drive class in Team Tätab’s Ford Fiesta R2. It’s been a tough and close fight throughout the day, but Pontus is happy and is looking forward to day two.

Pontus, together with co-driver Ola Fløene, started carefully on the first stage on Friday afternoon but already on the second stage, he shared fastest time with Fredrik Åhlin. On the third stage came another stage win and on following stage, Pontus took the lead in his two wheel drive class.

“We’re having great fun and I think we’ve had an okay start. It’s important training and I obviously think about how it can help me in the upcoming JWRC rallies”, said Pontus after the first loop of stages.

The rest of the day mainly focused on the battle between Pontus and Fredrik Åhlin. The seconds were tossed between them, but Pontus managed to stay in the lead until the seventh and final stage – a spectator stage on tarmac. The stage was originally set to run two times, but due to lack of time before the sun set, the organizers decided to cancel the second run. Pontus set a fifth fastest time, but nevertheless kept the lead.

“It was a bit tricky to drive on tarmac with gravel tyres on the last stage, but we stay in the lead and are happy with the day”, says Pontus. “We’re really looking forward to tomorrow, it will be an exciting fight for sure!”

Tomorrow awaits another eight stages and the first one starts at 09:08 am CET.

Standings in the class overall after the first day:
1. Tidemand / 2. Åhlin +1,2 / 3. Bergkvist +4,9 / 4. Kjaer +17,8 / 5. Olsson +33,6 / 6. Alkberg +51,8 / 7. Adielsson +54,0 / 8. Jansson +1.29,2 / 9. Pinomäki +2.01,6 / 10. Larsen +2.22,9