Amidst rough weather and heavy snowfall, SK Khalid Al Qassimi arrived at Karlstad Airport in Sweden, in preparation for his first participation in the World Rally Championship 2014, which marks Al Qassimi’s 52nd World Rally. Al Qassimi is no stranger to Rally Sweden, and has previously competed in a number of Rallies, best of which was in 2008, where he achieved the longest jump and claimed the “Colin Crest” Trophy. In a quick interview, Al Qassimi admitted that “Rally Sweden has distinctive characteristics and a driving style which poses a great challenge for both man and machine”.
“The runs we made today on board the Citroën Total Abu Dhabi were pretty successful, considering it is the first time I drive the DS3 WRC since Rally Spain last year . The tryouts were successful in terms of coordination between me and my new co-driver, the renowned Chris Patterson.” Al Qassimi added: “I am pretty content with our mutual coordination, which we hope will translate into notable results throughout the stages of the rally.”
As for Chris Patterson, he commented saying: “The testing sessions were excellent and I am very proud to sit alongside SK Khalid this season; things are going as planned in terms of the car and settings. For me, the rally is my passion and I feel glad and privileged to have this opportunity with Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team as it is without doubt the best team in the world with its highly experienced crew.”
Al Qassimi asserted that the driving style at Rally Sweden is unique to all other driving styles of the World Rally Championship stages, he explained: “Firstly, all the special stages of the rally are covered with snow, and this requires equipping the cars with spiked tyres (384 Spiked Nails) in order to attain maximum grip during all the rally stages, coupled with extreme thoughtfulness to curving, braking, and maneuvering tricky flat-outs, where even the slightest error from either driver or co-driver could result in dire consequences and the loss of precious seconds, or even minutes.”
Extreme subzero temperatures reaching -10 degrees Celsius during the 24 stages pose a great challenge for man and machine, as explained by Al Qassimi: “Adding to the pinnacle of the iceberg we’re out to conquer with each stage of the rally and it’s unique driving method, we – Drivers, Co-Drivers, and Crew- face an enormous sum of grueling hardships due to the extremely low temperatures, where a driver’s focus can dwindle due to the cold, and so could the co-driver’s, but we have Citroën engineers to thank for providing heat in the cabin without sacrificing the power and performance of the engine.” He added: “We extend our appreciation to the technical team at Citroën whose role don’t fall short of that of driver and co-driver, and often times the challenge of the maintenance tasks they perform on our cars in extreme cold is much more than just words can ever do them.”
Rally Sweden kicks off with SSS1 (Super Special Stage 1) in Karlstad on 5th February at 8:00pm (Sweden Time).