INDIA in F1

Tag: Emil Lindholm

  • Team MRF Tyres wins in Finnish rally

    Team MRF Tyres wins in Finnish rally

    (Finland), 19 June 2021: Team MRF Tyres has taken victory in the Ralli SM – the Finnish Rally Championship with Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen winning the Pohjanmaa Ralli in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. This was against strong competition from the global leaders Pirelli and Michelin.

    The Pohjanmaa Ralli is the fourth round of the Finnish Championship and this win is the first for MRF Tyres in the Finnish Rally Championship and comes on the back of multiple podium finishes for Lindholm and Hämäläinen.

    The Pohjanmaa Ralli challenged the crews to eight stages and 121.78km of fast gravel stages.

    Over the first leg Lindhoom and Hämäläinen lay in fifth position. With 30km of stages completed, it was evident that the rally would be tight and fast.

    The second leg would see three stages and over 48km of competitive action. These three stages were repeated in the third loop.

    Lindholm and Hämäläinen were immediately on the pace for Team MRF Tyres.

    They took the stage win on SS3 and SS5 and second on SS4 to rise through the ranks to second place.

    A titanic battle would emerge between the MRF Tyres crew and Mikko Heikkilä / Topi Luhtinen.

    On SS6, the 19.32km Hirvijärvi test, Lindholm set a time of 10:05.4, to take the stage win and move into the lead of the rally – by just 2.3 seconds.

    He built on his lead in SS7, taking the second fastest stage time and increasing his lead by 1.1 seconds.

    The pressure was on in the final stage. With no room for error, he took the stage win. On the 7.64 km Haasoja stage, he set a time of 4:14.9 to take the stage win and seal the victory.

    MRF Tyres’ first win in the ultra-competitive Finnish Championship comes on the back of MRF Tyres first win in the Italian Gravel Championship.

    It demonstrates the dedication and commitment of MRF Tyres to developing the next generation of tyres for top-line rally.

    For Lindholm, it is his second year with MRF Tyres and has played a vital role in the development of the tyres.

    The team will not rest and the development of the tyres will continue. 

    With two podiums and a victory in the Finnish Rally Championship this year, Team MRF Tyres are in the fight and has proven fast and reliable on different surfaces in tough competition.

    For Team MRF Tyres, the team will be out in Italy next weekend for the San Marino Rally, the third round of the Italian Rally Championship – Gravel. 

    Next for Lindholm and Hämäläinen is the Oulu Ralli which takes place in September.

    Quotes

    Emil Lindholm, winner, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo

    “It is amazing to win here in Pohjanmaa Ralli. This result shows the pace of development from the entire team at Team MRF Tyres and we should all be proud of our work.

    “Coming into the weekend, I was aiming for a good result but never dreamt of a victory. But the car and the tyres felt great all weekend. This rally is very fast, with some stages having an average speed of more than 120km/h. Today, we took four stage wins and two-second places. It is a great result.”

    “We have shown that the tyre is competitive in Finland and I am proud to take MRF Tyres first win here, in what is such a competitive championship. Though we will continue to push the development of the tyres to make sure we can win again in the future. Now we, and the whole team will celebrate this achievement.” 

  • MRF’s Lindholm hoping for a Hungarian high: Jr ERC1

    MRF’s Lindholm hoping for a Hungarian high: Jr ERC1

    Nyíregyháza (Hungary), 3 Nov 2020: Emil Lindholm is a man with a plan in the FIA European Rally Championship in Hungary this week.

    Keen to make up for the lost kilometres following his early Rally Fafe Montelongo exit, the Team MRF Tyres driver is eager to go the distance on the sealed-surface showcase.

    “We’ve had a bit of a mixed season this year – our pace in Rome and Liepāja was impressive,” said the ERC1 Junior contender. “We again had a lot of speed in Portugal, taking out shakedown but the brake failure meant we couldn’t capitalise on that.

    “Data collection remains key for us as we look to develop the future of MRF Tyres’ rallying product. Before Fafe we were third in ERC1 and we have shown that there is potential in the tyre. So, it would be great to go to Rally Hungary and demonstrate the continued progress from Team MRF Tyres. It will be important for us to have a clean rally so we can maximise the kilometres on the tyres.”

    Craig Breen

    Rally Hungary is another round of the European Rally Championship I have not done before. With Team MRF Tyres, I am hoping we can have some more consistent conditions with the weather! The wet-dry-wet roads in Fafe gave us a lot of data in those conditions so I hope it can be full wet or full dry to give us chances to gain data in those situations.

    It would be great to capitalize on the pace Team MRF Tyres had in Portugal in the next rally. It showed we had the pace to fight for a podium and showed some of the progress we have made through the season. We will primarily continue focus on development and collecting data as we still looking to learn and develop the next generation of MRF Tyres.

    Credit must go to the team for being able to hold a Covid safe event and I can say that I am looking forward to the rally!

    Emil Lindholm

    Rally Hungary is a new rally for me so it will be interesting to drive the Team MRF Tyres Skoda on those roads. We’ve had a bit of a mixed season this year – our pace in Rome and Liepaja was impressive. We again had a lot of speed in Portugal, taking out Shakedown but the brake failure meant we couldn’t capitalize on that.

    Data collection remains to the key for us as we look to develop the future of MRF Tyres rallying product. Before Fafe we were third in ERC1 and we have shown that there is potential in the tyre. So, it would be great to go to Rally Hungary and demonstrate the continued progress from Team MRF Tyres. It will be important for us to have a clean rally so we can maximize the kilometres on the tyres.

    I am looking forward to Rally Hungary and congratulations to the organisers for being able to hold the event at this time.

  • Emil Lindholm, Mikeal Korhonen join Team MRF Tyres for ERC

    Emil Lindholm, Mikeal Korhonen join Team MRF Tyres for ERC

    Chennai, 5 March 2020: Team MRF Tyres is strengthening its presence in the European Rally Championship (ERC) in 2020 by announcing their support to Finnish duo Emil Lindholm and Mikeal Korhonen who will take part in ERC1 campaign.

    Lindholm will campaign on MRF Tyres in a Skoda Fabia R5 EVO in four rallies of the first six rallies as they campaign for the ERC1 title. They join alongside Craig Breen and Paul who are campaigning in the ERC outright title on MRF Tyres.

    Lindholm, son of Finnish rally legend Sebastian, has had a stellar start to his Finnish Rally Championship, winning the first two of three rounds and is an ideal driver for Team MRF Tyres.

    Emil Lindholm on way to his win in the SM Itaralli on March 1. Photo: http://emillindholm.fi

    MRF Tyres have undergone an extensive year of testing in 2019 in order to produce development tyres for the first year of full competition in the European Rally Championship. Meanwhile, Lindholm has been building his rally career and moving to the ERC1 with MRF Tyres as an ideal step.

    This season represents Team MRF Tyres continued expansion in European rallying and is committed to continuing the learning and development process. Lindholm’s addition to the team strengthens this approach.

    The ERC1 Championship sees junior drivers compete against each other in R5 cars with the top driver after the first six rounds winning 100,000 Euros to contest the 2020 season-closing events in Cyprus and Hungary with a car and team of their choosing.

    Lindholm’s first rally with team will be at the Azores Rally on the Portuguese island at the end of March, now likely to be put-off due to Carona Virus scare.

    Team MRF Tyres driver Emil Lindholm said: “It’s a great opportunity for me to expand my career to ERC-rallies with MRF Tyres, and an important step in my career to get the experience of a more international rallying scene. From what I’ve seen this weekend in Itäralli, with Breen behind the wheel, MRF is really serious and already has a great product for winter rallies. I’m in no doubt they’ll deliver on the events in ERC and keep on pushing with the development. Personally, I hope I can support MRF with knowledge especially about winter conditions, but also serve them in the development of their complete tyre range.”

    MRF Tyres Vice-Chairman & Managing Director, Arun Mammen said: “We are excited to enter the European Rally Championship in 2020 after winning nine titles in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship. We have a front runner with Craig Breen, and we are excited to support the career of another young, upcoming and fast driver in Emil Lindholm. It will be a great relationship as he will help develop and prove the pace of MRF Tyres and we look forward to helping him achieve his potential in the European Rally Championship.”