Francisco
04-15-2011, 08:51 AM
Q&A: Toni Gardemeister - IRC Canarias 2011
Toni Gardemeister is planning an expanded programme of Intercontinental Rally Challenge events this year. Not only will the Finn be driving his Škoda Fabia S2000, he has also set up his own team, TGS Worldwide, to run the car.
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS5PvsWf_RocdC-FncLxg2rUsI0VmDSiH_tlMKXNzHK6LrRcMik
How much experience do you have at the wheel of your new Škoda Fabia Super 2000?
“I saw the car on Sunday for the first time and on Monday we make a small test. We had a lot of things to do so we could not start so early. There were things to check. We did 20 kilometres during the test and five runs in the shakedown. We have changed quite a lot already in the car because a lot of the set-up was very much for a customer and the car was very high and still too soft. We will get some help from Škoda with this.”
What’s it like to be driving for Škoda again – your first time in the Fabia S2000?
“Once I sit in the car but not looking closely. I am happy to drive this car because it’s very easy to drive. I was making one small tyre test in Italy with a Peugeot and the engine was good on that car but this is easy to handle even though it’s not the full set-up yet. I am very happy the guys from Škoda are helping. We had a problem with the diffs being too hard so they said we could bring the gearbox and the diffs and they helped us make changes.”
How are you coping running the team and driving?
“I don’t feel like a team boss. It’s different. It has been really, really busy the last month and especially the last week. We had a very tight time schedule to get the car here and there was a small problem with the customs. I have a very high blood pressure on some days. Now it feels good when everything is working. It’s good to see there is the commitment.”
Have you done Rally Islas Canarias before?
“Actually I have been here once but it was 1998 and I don’t remember nothing from that. And the stages are different. The recce was good, some stages were difficult, not to drive but to make notes. All the corners feel the same in speed but they were all feeling different so it was difficult to make the notes to describe those corners, especially the stages we do at night.”
What do you think of the competition in the IRC?
“It’s very good, a very high level actually. There are manufacturer cars and big teams and it’s good because people are interested about it, which is very good for the publicity and also for us. It was even easier to get a sponsor for the IRC events than some other rallies.”
And your target for this weekend?
“The target is to drive through the rally without problems. The main thing is to treat this like rally like a test. For sure we will drive fast but we will learn as much about the cars and the Hankook tyres.”
END
Source: IRC Series
Toni Gardemeister is planning an expanded programme of Intercontinental Rally Challenge events this year. Not only will the Finn be driving his Škoda Fabia S2000, he has also set up his own team, TGS Worldwide, to run the car.
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS5PvsWf_RocdC-FncLxg2rUsI0VmDSiH_tlMKXNzHK6LrRcMik
How much experience do you have at the wheel of your new Škoda Fabia Super 2000?
“I saw the car on Sunday for the first time and on Monday we make a small test. We had a lot of things to do so we could not start so early. There were things to check. We did 20 kilometres during the test and five runs in the shakedown. We have changed quite a lot already in the car because a lot of the set-up was very much for a customer and the car was very high and still too soft. We will get some help from Škoda with this.”
What’s it like to be driving for Škoda again – your first time in the Fabia S2000?
“Once I sit in the car but not looking closely. I am happy to drive this car because it’s very easy to drive. I was making one small tyre test in Italy with a Peugeot and the engine was good on that car but this is easy to handle even though it’s not the full set-up yet. I am very happy the guys from Škoda are helping. We had a problem with the diffs being too hard so they said we could bring the gearbox and the diffs and they helped us make changes.”
How are you coping running the team and driving?
“I don’t feel like a team boss. It’s different. It has been really, really busy the last month and especially the last week. We had a very tight time schedule to get the car here and there was a small problem with the customs. I have a very high blood pressure on some days. Now it feels good when everything is working. It’s good to see there is the commitment.”
Have you done Rally Islas Canarias before?
“Actually I have been here once but it was 1998 and I don’t remember nothing from that. And the stages are different. The recce was good, some stages were difficult, not to drive but to make notes. All the corners feel the same in speed but they were all feeling different so it was difficult to make the notes to describe those corners, especially the stages we do at night.”
What do you think of the competition in the IRC?
“It’s very good, a very high level actually. There are manufacturer cars and big teams and it’s good because people are interested about it, which is very good for the publicity and also for us. It was even easier to get a sponsor for the IRC events than some other rallies.”
And your target for this weekend?
“The target is to drive through the rally without problems. The main thing is to treat this like rally like a test. For sure we will drive fast but we will learn as much about the cars and the Hankook tyres.”
END
Source: IRC Series