The SBF Rallycross commision together with Xtreme Events Scandinavia AB and the leading Rallycross teams organize a pressconference in the city of Stockholm.
Time: 13.00
Date: wednesday 16-04-2008
Place: Kungsträdgården at the large podium
Program:
from www.sbf.se
From carsguide.news.com.au
Sliding sideways on a sheet of ice at 120km/h isn't something you do every day in Australia.
Actually, it's something I've never done in our wide, brown land.
Neither is sitting beside a 60- something crazy man; as he flings a Saab 9-3 Turbo X along a snow-covered forest track at close to 200km/h with nothing but a wall of snow between us and a disastrous trip into the trees.
Yet this is all everyday stuff for one-time rally champion Per Eklund and the team from Saab Ice Experience.
Every year, they take small groups of journalists for a deep-frozen dip into the history of Saab, the engineering of its cars, and what makes Sweden different from the rest of the world.
It's all done deep inside the Arctic Circle, in a white wonderland that's as far from Australia as you can possibly imagine.
It's beautiful in a desolate way that contrasts with the hot, dusty plains of the outback, but a huge shock when you land at minus 20 after taking off from Australia at plus 30.
There's a special hook for the Saab Ice Experience this year, as the company is about to bring its first all-wheel-drive cars into showrooms.
If that sounds a little unusual, given the ultra-slippery winter conditions in Sweden — and most of Europe — it has taken Saab a while to gather the money and enthusiasm to upgrade from its traditional front-wheel drive.
But it's about to feed more than 200kW to the road with the limited-edition 9-3 Aero X and Turbo X models, which are close to local showrooms.
These are family vehicles, not Lancer Evo-style road rockets, so Saab felt it was essential to upgrade to all-paw grip.
“If it works here, it works anywhere,” Saab engineering chief Anders Tysk says.
“We do it the Saab way, with the latest Haldex drive system. It's always on, always all-wheel drive."
“We want to eventually have it on all our models, because of the safety.”
Saab calls its system cross-wheel drive, written XWD, and there's no doubt it has put a lot of work into the task, from the gearbox hook-up to the electronic brain that controls the active rear differential fitted to the Aero X.
The technical talk is nice, and the Saab people — who now operate as part of the GM Premium Brands team in Australia, where the family includes Hummer and Cadillac — are warm and welcoming. But we want to drive.
Soon enough, we're standing on a frozen Swedish lake alongside a line-up of pristine silver Turbo X automatic wagons.
Per Eklund, a one-time World Rally Championship firebrand who still wins in rallycross with a very special Saab 9-3, introduces us to the event.
The idea is that we will run through some safety demonstrations and exercises before a bit of fun against the clock on a twisting course; that has been carved through the 60cm-deep snow covering the ice.
“We start a little bit slowly, to get a good feeling; later, we maybe have some fun,” Eklund says. “Here, you have a chance to try all the things in these new Saabs, like the cross-wheel drive and the turbo engine.”
Eklund points to the 100 steel studs in each tyre, their to give some grip, but also points to the waiting bulldozer — with a tow rope that gets plenty of action each day — as he gets to the warning about driving technique.
“A lot of people close their eyes when something goes wrong. This is not a good solution,” he says, with typically deadpan Swedish humour.
“You have to drive the cars. Eventually, computers will do it for you, but not today."
“Always do something. Do not stop driving. Otherwise, there will be some problems — and you have the chance to take some nice pictures while the tractor comes to tow you out.”
So we get down to action and quickly learn that a simple braking exercise is much, much tougher on sheet ice than it is on dry bitumen.
Try turning the wheel as well, to steer away from a make-believe moose (a man in a snow suit with antlers on his head), and it's easy to trigger a potential disaster.
When we head to the twisty forest track for some fun, and to see what cross-wheel drive can really do, things hot up. A lot.
It seems impossible that any car can go so quickly with so much control, although it's easy to slide over the limit and into the powdery snow banks. The tractor gets some work, including one tow for us.
We learn about the need to be gentle, smooth and elegant to drive well in these conditions — lessons that should flow back to everyday driving without the white, icy edge.
Then Eklund and another rally champion, Kenneth Backlund, show us how it's really done when they jump into a pair of black Aero X weapons equipped with narrow snow tyres and giant rally studs for extra grip.
Whereas we struggled to get through the icy corners at 60km/h, Eklund and Backlund are sliding sideways at well over 100km/h on the ice lake, before uncorking the Saabs on a mock-up rally stage through deep snow in the forest.
They are silly fast, with the speedo needle twisting around past 190km/h, yet the cars feel safe, secure, comfortable and toasty warm.
So, what is different? Apart from the drivers and the studs, absolutely nothing. These are showroom-stock Saabs, exactly the same as the cars that are coming to Australia. And that is massively impressive.
So, what did we learn? Probably not a huge amount, beyond the quality of the new cross-wheel-drive Saabs and the potential for a significant Saab sales boost in Australia once the Aero X and Turbo X hit our shores.
But the ice-driving experience was a reminder of the need to learn to drive well — really well — to get the best from your car and to avoid the sort of nasty incidents that are so common on Australian roads.
Make a mistake on the ice track, and you get an embarrassing tow out of the white stuff for another go, but there's no second chance on the road in the real world.
- The Sunday Telegraph
From Saab Sweden I received two nice things.
First, the new Fan Card 2008 from Eklund motorsport.
During the Rallycross races, this card will be available at the trailer of Eklund.
Also a larger picture is available at the fansite under pictures/cards.
I made also a wallpaper under pictures/wallpaper.
Second, an article from "Motorsport News" in PDF is available at this link (1.54 MB).
In this article, Eklund gives an interview about his history as rallydriver, his friends in motorsport and ofcource rallycross.
Swedish rally legend Per Eklund, 61 years old, who's now driving the safety car that drives first and examins the state of the tracks (and the state of the spectators) during the Swedish Rally. Eklund, who won the rally in 1976 in a SAAB 96, isn't that impressed by all the whining by the WRC drivers.
"They have both driver's licence and a rally licence. Some are pretty well paid too. Some gravel on the road isn't anything to whine about. They've never driven the Safari Rally. Back then we couldn't just call our mommies when it got difficult. Just back of five or ten percent when it gets tricky and you're ok. What are they expecting when they're running with eight millimeter studs? There's no ice in the world that can cope with that."
from www.nwt.se
Ett bakhjulslager skar på motorvägen i Holland. I övrigt gick trippen till England som på räls för Per Eklund - som vann helgens historiska rallycrosstävling i centrala London.
"Nåt straff ska en ha!" utropar Per Eklund just som han rullat ombord på färjan i Kiel. För så länge det var tävling gick allt Per Eklunds väg, men sedan var de tvungna att ta landvägen hem.
- Någonstans i Holland började andra bilister blinka åt oss, berättar Per.Han stannade och då gav bakhjulslagret upp till ena hjulet på kärran. Uppe på släpet stod Pers Saab 9-3 Aerosport Sedan som gick som en klocka i London Masters Rallycross. Det tog en stund att fixa släpet innan de kunde ta sig vidare till Kiel, glada över att hinna med onsdagskvällens färja till Göteborg.
I England kom som väntat det hårdaste motståndet från engelsmannen Ollie O'Donovan.
- Men vi vann nästan allt, säger Per glädjestrålande.
- Jag missade honom i ett kvalheat, men det var mitt eget fel för jag var inte riktigt med i starten.Och starten visade sig bli väldigt viktigt.
- Det var regnigt hela tiden och den nygjorda banan blev gropig och lerig. Låg du efter såg du ingenting...
Efter tre omgångar gick de sex bästa i varje klass vidare till en speciell cup som körde i strålkastarsken på lördagskvällen. Per hade förstås en fight med O'Donovan, men det blev svensk seger i denna historiska tävling, utanför mässan London Motorsport Show.På söndagen kördes sedan en fjärde omgången i huvudtävlingen. När det var dags för final räknades samtliga omgångar och det var två favoriter längst fram: Per Eklund och Ollie O'Donovan.
- Jag sa till honom att "vi syns i första sväng", säger Per.
Så blev det. Ingen släppte och det bar iväg in i en snabbsväng utan större gassläpp.
- Vi åkte dörr i dörr, hoppa och flög!Sedan hamnade engelsmannens Peugeot lite för långt ut i bankanten och han drog av, snett in i avbalkningen.
- Sedan var det en lätt resa. Jag kunde åka de sex varven och vinka till publiken, hälsar Per.
Ytterligare en historisk rallycrosseger av Per Eklund - som vann den svenska premiären i grenen 1971. Nu fick han som sagt problem för när de skulle hem med tävlingsbilen på släp.
Artikeln publicerad 2007-12-11 av Annemo Friberg
Eklund won the London masters today!
After qualifying 2nd despite not having the ideal tyre (Avon cross-ply heavy wet pattern) Per made a fantastic start with London-based Irishman Ollie O`Donovan the pole-sitter also getting off the line with a good start, the two cars alongside eachother into the first left-hand kink.
Both cars were launched skyward and contact was made in mid-air, fortunately Pers Saab 9-3 4x4t landed better than O`Donovan who`s Tony Bardy prepared Peugeot 306 4x4T16 ended up hitting the barriers and sustaining damage to front and rear right-hand suspension and stranded just off the racing line.
The race continued with Tony Proctor (Yorkshire) in his Harry Hockley prepared Ford Puma 4x4t taking up the chase to catch Per Eklund with Dublin Based Irishman Dermot Carnegie Fiesta ST4x4T and Steve Hill Mitsubishi Evo 9 also in hot persuit.
Proctors chase ended a few laps later after spinning-out and stalling, leaving Carnegie to pick up 2nd place and Hill to complete the honours with 3rd.
Jeremy Roberts Photographs @ fotopic.net
After the race Per picked-up hitch-hiker Ollie O`Donovan, who then drove Pers Saab with the 61 year old Eklund standing proud out of the side of the drivers door to enjoy the cheers of the crowd, whilst the other drivers enjoyed a feast of donuts, Carnegie in particular who managed to treat Tommy Grahams Escort to a sand-blasting.
by: John Foley
***Update***
A video from the final:
A video from the finish:
Race and show organiser Philip Bunn said: "We are thrilled that Per will be competing at the London Masters. His involvement, along with drivers such as Ollie Donovan and 'Mad' Mark
Superprix Result (6 Laps)
21 October 2007
Croft Circuit - Croft on Tees - England
British Rallycross Drivers Association Rallycross Championship 2007- Round 8
Results Supercar:
Round 7 of the British Rallycross Rallycross Championship Mondello Park, Ireland
Results Supercar:
23 September 2007
Results round 10 at Sosnová, Czech Republic
16 September 2007
Results EC round 9, Słomczyn, Poland.
Today, Saturday 8th September, was the final round of the Swedish championship rallycross division 1 season 2007 at the kinnekulle racetrack at Götene.
Heat 1:
Time practice:
1. Michael Jernberg, Ford, 00:38:19
2. Kenneth Hansen, Citroën, 00:38:81
3. Ludvig Hunsbedt, Volvo, 00:38:85
4. Morten Bermingrud, Citroën, 00:39:09
5. Lars Larsson, Skoda, 00:39:26
6. Guttorm Lindefjell, Ford, 00:39:28
7. Sverre Isachsen, Ford, 00:39:65
8. Jos Kuypers, Ford, 00:39:72
9. Christopher Evans, Opel, 00:39:80
10. Per Eklund, Saab, 00:39:83
22. Andrew Nesbitt, Saab, 00:40:96
Heat 1:
1. Kenneth Hansen, Citroën, 02:37:07
2. Sverre Isachsen, Ford, 02:38:80
3. Michael Jernberg, Ford, 02:39:16
4. Andreas Eriksson, Ford, 02:39:44
5. Guttorm Lindefjell, Ford, 02:39:48
6. Ludvig Hunsbedt, Volvo, 02:39:92
12. Per Eklund, Saab, 02:43:23 2
7. Andrew Nesbitt, Saab, 02:51:20
Heat 2:
Eklund starts with Nottveit, Pauwels Carnegie and Wicik (no start).It is Nottweit who has the best start and goes first into the first corner. Eklund and Pauwels are next to each other, but in the second corner it is Pauwels who takes the second place, followed by Eklund and Carnigie.
All drivers are very close to each other and driving there laps.
But in the last lap, Nottveit goes wide and Pauwels and Eklund can overtake him.Pauwels is first over the finish line, followed by Eklund, Nottveit and Carnegie.
Ekund drives a 13th time overall.
1. Kenneth Hansen, Citroën, 02:39:75
2. Michael Jernberg, Ford, 02:41:45
3. Sverre Isachsen, Ford, 02:41:53
4. Guttorm Lindefjell, Ford, 02:41:97
5. Christopher Evans, Opel, 02:44:41
6. Stig-Olov Walfridsson, Renault, 02:44:51
13. Per Eklund, Saab, 02:46:98
18. Andrew Nesbitt, Saab, 02:49:72
Heat 3:
Eklund starts with Nottveit, Pauwels, Doran and Walfridsson.
All drives take a good start and 5 cars drive next to each other to the first corner. It is Nottveit, Doran and Walfridsson onthe outside hitting eachother. Doran drives next to the track and lands on his top in the sandbank. Walfridsson brakes his rear wheel.
Eklund is in front of Pauwels and drives first into the corner, followed by Pauwels. But the officials give a red flag.
At the second start it is Pauwels who went first into the first corner followed by Ekluns and Notweit.Eklund follows Pauwels in short distance. In the second lap, Pauwels is driving wide into the "Per Eklund" corner and Eklund canput his Saab 9-3 on the inside and overtakes Pauwels.
Eklund wins this heat, Pauwels 2nd and Nottveit 3rd.
With this time, he has a 8th time overall.
1. Michael Jernberg, Ford, 02:37:65
2. Lars Larsson, Skoda, 02:38:68
3. Pavel Koutný, Ford, 02:39:27
4. Morten Bermingrud, Citroën, 02:39:96
5. Ludvig Hunsbedt, Volvo, 02:40:86
6. Morten Jespersen, Peugeot, 02:41:76
7. Jos Kuypers, Ford, 02:41:83
8. Per Eklund, Saab, 02:42:63
18. Andrew Nesbitt, Saab, 02:46:63
With a 12th, 13th, and a 8th time, Per Eklund starts on a 4th place in the c-final, a 14th time overall.
C-final:
It is Kuypers on pole, followed by Anne, Walfridsson, Eklund, Pauwels and Jespersen.
It takes 3 starts before the C-final is really underway.
The first jumpstart is for Kuypers, the second for Pauwels.The third start is good and it is Kuypers who is first into the "Eklund corner", followed by Eklund, Anne, Walfridsson, Pauwels and Jespersen. But after the first corner, Anne is bumping very hard into Eklund's Saab. Eklund is pushed to the ouside and loses 2 places.
Pauwels is out in the first round. Kuypers can hold his first place to the finish line and the rest is just following.
1. Kenneth Hansen, Citroën, 20
2. Sverre Isachsen, Ford, 17
3. Lars Larsson, Skoda,15
4. Michael Jernberg, Ford, 13
5. Ludvig Hunsbedt, Volvo, 12
6. Guttorm Lindefjell, Ford, 11
14. Per Eklund, Saab, 3
23. Andrew Nesbitt, Saab, -
After the race, Eklund says: "It's very hard to get a good result. There is so much competition, a lot of good drivers with good cars. We are going back to Sweden and prepair ourselves and the car for the next race at Kinnekulle".
Also Andrew Nebitt said: "I hope to race also in Poland and Czechia with a Saab, I liked it so far, great fun!".
(C) 2007 by Mike Jager
The weekend didn't start well, Eklunds mobile home bus broke down near Hamburg. "A hydrolic problem", he said. But they made it right on time with an emergency reparation.
Time practice:
01. M. Jernberg, Ford Focus, 0.39.71
02. L. Larsson, Skoda Fabia, 0.39.95
03. S. Isachsen, Ford Focus, 0.40.05
04. A. Eriksson, Ford Fiësta, 0.40.25
05. L. Hunsbedt, Volvo S40, 0.40.37
06. P. Koutný, Ford Focus, 0.40.40
12. Per Eklund, Saab 9-3, 0.40.87
27. A. Nesbitt, Saab 9-3, 0.42.75
2 Saabs on a row for Eklund Motorsport
Heat 1:
After the division 1A, the organiser watered the track. The drivers of Division 1 wait 20 minutes for the track to be dry again. The track didn't dry up totally, so Nesbitt cold not set a perfect time, also for Eklund.
01. M. Jernberg, Ford Focus, 2.46.29
02. L. Larsson, Skoda Fabia, 2.47.04
03. S. Isachsen, Ford Focus, 2.47.31
04. A. Eriksson, Ford Fiësta, 2.47.75
05. P. Koutný, Ford Focus, 2.48.83
06. K. Hansen, Citroën C4, 2.49.41
12. Per Eklund, Saab 9-3, 2.53.23
27. A. Nesbitt, Saab 9-3, 3.02.03
Eklund at the start of heat 2.
Heat 2:
At the warm-up, the car of nesbitt didn't start at ones. The mechanics had to change the ignition system. Eklunds car runs very well, no changes to the car, just some set-up changes.
Eklund had to start with Kuypers, v. Mechelen, Bermingrud and Lindefjell.
The start was good, on the outside in 3th position, after the first corner, Eklund moves to second.
But in the last lap, Eklund got a puncture left front and was forced to drive more carefull. He had to let pass v. Mechelen and Kuypers, but could made it over the finish in 4th position. He had a 14th time overall.
01. A. Eriksson, Ford Fiësta, 2.44.40
02. M. Jernberg, Ford Focus, 2.45.45
03. G. Lindefjell, Ford Focus, 2.46.83
04. S. Isachsen, Ford Focus, 2.46.97
05. K. Hansen, Citroën C4, 2.47.57
06. P. Koutný, Ford Focus, 2.47.62
14. Per Eklund, Saab 9-3, 2.52.69
23. A. Nesbitt, Saab 9-3, 2.57.17
Andrew Nesbitt behind the steering wheel
Heat 3:
Eklund had to start with Kuypers, Bermingrud Nottvet and Doran.
Eklund had a very good start and came second behind Kuypers.
But then Doran was pushed and got sideways and cause a red flag situation.
At the second start, it was Kuypers and bermingrud who took the lead in front of Eklund.
It was a very close race to the finish line, Nottvet and Doran went out.
With these results, Eklund has a 15th place overall, the 5th start position in the c-final.
Andrew Nesbitt has a 27th, 23th and 20th time, a 25th place overall. He is going faster every heat. Perhaps he is also coming to Valkenswaard.
01. M. Jernberg, Ford Focus, 2.44.49
02. L. Larsson, Skoda Fabia, 2.45.98
03. K. Hansen, Citroën C4, 2.46.29
04. P. Koutný, Ford Focus, 2.46.36
05. S. Isachsen, Ford Focus, 2.47.05
06. L. Husbedt, Volv S40, 2.47.56
16. Per Eklund, Saab 9-3, 2.50.95
20. A. Nesbitt, Saab 9-3, 2.53.89
Eklund at the Duivelsberg
Results:
01. M. Jernberg, Ford Focus, 20
02. S. Isachsen, Ford Focus, 17
03. G. Lindefjell, Ford Focus, 15
04. K. Hansen, Citroën C4, 13
05. L. Larsson Škoda Fabia, 12
06. A. Eriksson, Ford Fiesta, 11
14. Per Eklund, SAAB 9-3, 3
25. A. Nesbitt, SAAB 9-3, -
Ulsterman Nesbitt has raced in Rallycross twice before, driving Pat Doran’s Escort WRC at Brands Hatch in 2004 and racing George Tracey’s MG Metro 6R4 at Mondello Park last winter. It is Tracey who has encouraged Nesbitt to try his hand in the ERC.Det var ihopkörningen som slutade med rena hoten.
Efter rallycross-SM i Strängnäs gick Thomas Rådström till full attack mot Per Eklund.
- Han skulle ta livet av mig, säger Eklund.
B-finalen i torsdagens SM-tävling tog en dramatisk vändning. I en kurva körde Eklund och Rådström ihop.
Enligt Arvikaföraren gick det till så här:
- Jag hade innerspåret. Han var kanske en meter framför mig och försökte vika in, men jag släpper aldrig till Rådström så han åkte in i mig och jag blev svartflaggad, säger Eklund.
Thomas Rådström snuvades på chansen att ta sig till A-final och i Västerbottens Folkblad går han till hård attack mot Per Eklund.
- Han har inte alla jävla får hemma i sin hjärna. Dom skulle knyckt hans licens.
- Han körde på mig bakifrån och vände runt mig. Man skulle inte få tävla om man är över 60 år, han är bara i vägen och det blir värre och värre, rasar Rådström till tidningen.
Per Eklund tar det hela med ro.
- Efter tävlingen i Knutstorp sa han att han skulle döda mig. Nu sa han igen att han skulle ta livet av mig. Den där Rådström håller alltid på, det är alltid han. Det är heta känslor, men det är så det är.
I stället för munhuggande med Thomas Rådström vill Per Eklund se en standardhöjning av domarkåren.
- De måste få bättre utbildning så de förstår vad de håller på med. Domarna är ungefär lika jobbiga som poliserna. Nu blev jag svartflaggad och har inte längre någon chans på SM.
Härnäst väntar helgens EM i Belgien för Eklund.
SOFIE GUSTAFSSON
sofie.gustafsson@vf.se 054-7 55 32
http://www.vf.se/
Today, the 5th race for the Swedisch championship rallycross at the Strängnäs Motorstadion, ended in the B-final.
Per Eklund drove at the time practice a second time.
1 Lars Larsson Skoda Fabia ( 0.33,93 ) 0.33,80
2 Per Eklund Saab 9-3 0.33,99 ( 0.34,28 )
3 Michael Jernberg Ford Focus ( 0.34,35 ) 0.34,04
4 Andreas Eriksson Ford Fiesta ( 0.34,48 ) 0.34,06
5 Stig-Olov Walfridsson Renault Clio ( 0.34,13 ) 0.34,11
At the qualification heats, Eklund drives a 5th, 5th and a 7th time overall. This results in a second place at the startgrid in the B-final. Walfridsson and Jokinen are going to the A-final.
In the A-final, it is again Larsson who wins, in front of Walfridsson and Eriksson.
Results:
1. L. Larsson, 20+3
2. Walfridsson, 17
3. Eriksson, 15+2
4. M. Jernberg, 13
5. M. Jokinen, 12
6. I. Gunnarsson, 11+1
7. M. Nilsson, 10
8. T. Radström, 9
9. I. Bjöörn, 8
10. P. Eklund, 7
At the 4th race for the Swedish championship at Kalix, Eklund drove a 5th, 7th and a 4th time.
He started at the second place in the B-final, but he won this final.
In the A-final, the went second over the finish line. Rådström and Eriksson did ot finish, Hunsbedt got a black flag.
Results:
