Having failed to make an impact on the previous round at Tierp, with an engine failure that put an end to his weekend in the very first race of the event, Simon Tiger approaches the Kouvola competition with a deep sense of determination.
“I’ve had an intense three weeks,” stresses Simon.
“We spent every night in the workshop so that we could be ready for Kouvola. We don’t really know what happened, but what is certain is that a spark plug electrode was responsible for the engine failure.”
The engine failure contributed to him losing first place in the overall standings to 2022 champion Viktor Johansson. Simon Tiger is now second in the championship, but 16 points behind Viktor Johansson.
Not enough to impress the BMW driver. After all, with four fastest times in qualifying heats this year and no fewer than three intermediate classification wins in four races contested, the Swede knows he has all the cards in hand to turn things around.
“I’m under no pressure. My only strategy this weekend is to go for victory. Nothing is lost as far as the championship is concerned, since RallyX allows us to count down our worst weekend ever. In fact, I’m not that far from first place in the championship if you take that count into account. What’s certain this weekend, however, is that the top step of the podium is all I’m interested in”.
Despite the tough opposition of some twenty drivers lining up in the Open 2WD category, Simon Tiger has no intention of easing up against the Finnish horde that dominated the debates last season in Kouvola.
“I’m not too concerned about my opponents. I’m not coming here with the feeling that I have a revenge to take. The only thing I need is victory, and even though we’re going to see some good resistance from the Finnish drivers over these two days, I’m above all focused on what I have to do. Even though I know I’ll be up against some very strong rivals, I’m ready to fight”.
