SUNDAY JUNE 15 2008
Aigner caught the lead early on Friday, but the Swedes were chasing less than a second behind when they parked their cars for the night. The battle continued for most of Saturday, until a broken drive shaft forced Patrik and Emil to slow down with three more stages to go.
The rest of the rally became a thriller, when both teams fought with some technical issues. In the end the Austrians got the upper hand and could claim the victory. But there where still big smiles in the Swedish camp.
Team Manager Gert Blomquist was convinced from the beginning: if Patrik and Emil could take their Peugeot 207 Super 2000 through all the stages without any major misadventures, they would be rewarded with a podium finish. Afterwards he sounds both relieved and proud:
Second place means eight important points and a leap in the championship standings. Patrik and Emil now shares second place with 14 points after four rounds of the championship.
SUNDAY JUNE 1 2008
It looked so well. The Peugeot felt good. Patrik and Emil where quick, but not too quick – considering Greece being the toughest event in the calendar and causing a large number of retirements. After the first day they were fourth, a great position before the last two days of driving.
But a rock, the size of a football, abruptly put an end to their greek adventure early Saturday morning.
The Swedes could have restarted Sunday according to the super rally rules. But since the incident happened on the first stage of the morning, they would have received an extra load of 30 minutes in the time table, meaning they would have no chance of collection any points.
The team decided to restart anyway, but only to make som additional test for Rally of Turkey.
Sandell claims “a wonderful second” in Turkey
It wasn’t a flawless weekend in Turkey for Peugeot Sport Sweden. But a consistent performance from Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson saw them claiming an important second place in the PWRC. Winner was Andreas Aigner, Austria, after a tough battle with the Swedes during the whole weekend.
Aigner caught the lead early on Friday, but the Swedes were chasing less than a second behind when they parked their cars for the night. The battle continued for most of Saturday, until a broken drive shaft forced Patrik and Emil to slow down with three more stages to go.
The rest of the rally became a thriller, when both teams fought with some technical issues. In the end the Austrians got the upper hand and could claim the victory. But there where still big smiles in the Swedish camp.
”It was a wonderful second place. Of course I would have preffered to win, but we’re still very satisfied” says Patrik Sandell.
”I was so relieved to cross the finish line. Everytime we hit a stone on the last stage – and there were plenty of those - my heart was jumping. Now it feels just great, after all the disappointments earlier this season” says Emil Axelsson.
Team Manager Gert Blomquist was convinced from the beginning: if Patrik and Emil could take their Peugeot 207 Super 2000 through all the stages without any major misadventures, they would be rewarded with a podium finish. Afterwards he sounds both relieved and proud:
”A great confirmation for all of us. We knew that if we could only make to the finish line we would be in the top. With a little more luck we could have gone for victory, but this is still a very good result for us” Gert says.
Second place means eight important points and a leap in the championship standings. Patrik and Emil now shares second place with 14 points after four rounds of the championship.
No points in Greece, and focus on Turkey
But a rock, the size of a football, abruptly put an end to their greek adventure early Saturday morning.
”“The stone wasn’t in our notes. It must have been pulled up by one of the WRC cars that went before us. Four cars hit it before we could detect which rock it was and take it away” says Patrik.
The Swedes could have restarted Sunday according to the super rally rules. But since the incident happened on the first stage of the morning, they would have received an extra load of 30 minutes in the time table, meaning they would have no chance of collection any points.
The team decided to restart anyway, but only to make som additional test for Rally of Turkey.
”“We raised the car a little bit, which meant that we hade to change the suspension a bit. I think we found a pretty good set-up, so now we are all focused on Turkey” say Patrik.
SUNDAY MAY 18 2008
Bad luck continues in Italy
A seventh place and two points. That was the harvest in Sardinia for Patrik and Emil. After a having been driving for a win with several stage wins on Friday, it all come to a sudden halt Saturday morning because of a broken drive shaft. Sunday just meant bringing the car back home for the Swedes.
”This means that we’re out of the title fight in the J-WRC now. But we found a good rhythm in the car and we’ll try to bring that with us to Greece” says Patrik Sandell.
Patrik and Emil are now returning to Sweden where they are getting prepared for BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally in Greece two weeks from now. Then it’s P-WRC and they will be back in their Peugeot S2000.
SATURDAY MAY 17 2008
”No J-WRC title this year”
There won’t be another J-WRC title for former champions Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson. That was the bitter conclusion after a broken drive shaft left them standing at stage 8 of Rallye d’Italia-Sardegna.
Patrik and Emil will make a restart Sunday morning according to the Super Rally rules, but with a 25 minute penalty they won’t be part of the podium fight.”We won’t have any chance to win the championship now, we just have to realize. We might be able to bring a couple of points home with us tomorrow, but then we’ll have to reload and focus on Greece and the P-WRC” says Patrik Sandell.
THUESDAY MAY 13 2008
Getting ready for Sardinia
It looked so good in Jordan two weeks ago. Patrik Sandell and Emil Axelsson had a two minute lead in the J-WRC, when a broken wheel suspension forced them to retire on the last day. This weekend they want their revenge in Rallye d’Italia-Sardegna.
”This is an island we really like. We took a win here in the JWRC in 2006, and last year we also did well until we had to retire with a broken engine with only three stages left” says Patrik Sandell.
After the retirement in Jordan the former Junior World Rally Champions are only eighth in the championship.”Of course we’re here to win. But we can’t really affect what’s happening in the championship that much. We can only take one rally at the time and try to bring as many points as possible home with us. And then we’ll see how far it’ll take us at end of the season” says Patrik Sandell.