KMS Racing heads to their “ERC home event” well-prepared
Finnish KMS Racing team sets out for glory with two young drivers from the first gravel event of the ERC calendar, this year, ERC Royal Rally of Scandinavia. The drivers, Vatanen and Rahill, have been preparing thoroughly scoring a 1-2 in a local rally in Finland in the process.
Finnish M-Sport Partner, KMS Racing, continues their ERC season with two full-time entries this weekend in the Royal Rally of Scandinavia. Competing with Ford Fiesta Rally3 cars in both ERC3 and M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy categories, the team sets out for success with two promising young talents: Finn Ville Vatanen and Irishman Craig Rahill.
As part of the extensive preparations for the second event of the year, both drivers competed in a local event held in Uusikaupunki, Finland, coincidentally the location for KMS Racing headquarters. The home event brought home a 1-2, a result KMS Racing Team Principal Jussi Kumpumäki hopes to be a sign of things to come.
-It’s nice to return to Sweden, which is a fourth year in a row for us. Royal Rally of Scandinavia is almost like a home event of the ERC championship to us due to its location close to Uusikaupunki. After a good weekend and the thorough preparations we should be well-equipped as a team to tackle the Swedish roads. I’m expecting both our drivers to perform at the top this weekend, Kumpumäki said.
Competing with number 37, Vatanen and co-driver Joonas Ojala took the win in the previous weekend’s event. Building upon the second place finish in ERC3 last year, 19-year-old Vatanen enjoys a return to gravel stages.
-It’s nice to return back to gravel, and it’s always a fantastic feeling when you can really push on gravel. The test event went well, I was a bit surprised about how slippery the road was and how much loose gravel there is on the stages, as I was driving with such a small starting number for the first time. Preparations and the feeling with the car is good, and there shouldn’t be any factors to hold us back, Vatanen said.
In the number 40 Fiesta Rally3, Rahill and co-driver Conor Smith kick off their ERC gravel season. The 22-year old Irishman aims for a good result point-wise, as the pair, who was on great pace in the Spanish tarmac in the season opener, had to retire due to sensor fault.
-We are happy with our progress and we are building our confidence on these high speed gravel stages that are unfamiliar to us. I’m also happy with the pace we are at, and we are looking to build on that even more now this weekend and give it a good push to get some points in the board, Rahill said.
ERC Royal Rally of Scandinavia is driven 22nd to 24th of May in Karlstad, Sweden. The event consists of 16 special stages covering a total of 185,94 special stage kilometres. The event is shown live at Rally.tv streaming service.
Photo: Marcin Rybak
