Rally Finland can be brutal and unpredictable, something Ole Christian Veiby got to experience on the second day of the rally. After a high-speed roll they ended up in the forest with a crashed out car.
July 29, 2018
After a precautious hospital check on Saturday evening, both Ole Christian and co-driver Stig Rune Skjærmoen confirmed they were fine due to the high safety-level in the rally-car. – It was a high-speed roll and we both feel a bit battered and bruised after the hard impact, but other than that we are fine, Ole Christian explains.
– We came in to a corner that I have driven many times before and knows very well. We were in 5th gear and speed about 145-150 kph. On the inside of the corner there was rock in the ruts which knocked the car up on two wheels and we started to roll. Through the forest and some rocks. It was quite a distance and to be honest I actually had time to get scared and waiting for the car to stop rolling, Ole explains.
They both got out of the car quickly, and after taken to the hospital for precautious checks, the Norwegian duo were confirmed ok. The big roll happened on the penultimate stage on Saturday, and they guys were currently P3 in the WRC2.
– We had a really good Friday morning on the stages, and we were placed right in with the front-runners in a position for podium. But in the afternoon, we slid a bit after a jump and damaged a wheel. For the rest of the evening we only had brakes on three wheels, causing the car to react differently when braking. It was almost like using the handbrake, as the car went sideways during braking. We tried to push to limit the time loss, and I feel we managed that quite well. We started well on the Saturday and had climbed back in to a podium position when the roll happened. Very disappointing, but we are both happy to walk away uninjured.