While Joni-Pekka Rajala largely dominated proceedings in the Open 2WD category by posting two fastest times during qualifying, Simon Tiger undoubtedly produced one of the standout performances of the opening race weekend by keeping Lucas Gabrielsson behind him, while Viktor Johansson could do no better than fifth place behind Tuomas Venalainen.

After the engine problems encountered at the previous round in Tierp, Simon Tiger certainly did not have an easy time during qualifying. Dropped to eighth in the intermediate standings, the Swedish driver had to dig deep to fight his way back through the order and secure a second-place finish that moves him back into the RallyX North top five.

Given the technical difficulties surrounding his weekend, that second place understandably carried special significance for the Swedish driver.

“Honestly, this second place almost feels like a victory considering everything we’ve been through today. After what happened in Sweden last weekend, it’s above all a huge relief.”

From the very beginning of the day, Simon Tiger and his team were already dealing with a series of issues that prevented the Swede from fully exploiting the potential of his car.

“Since this morning, we’ve had a huge number of problems with the car. We were clearly lacking power and the overall behaviour of the car just wasn’t good at all.”

A situation that would become even more complicated as the final stages of the event unfolded.

“During the semi-final, I started to feel a problem from the second lap onwards. I could hear what sounded like an exhaust leak and the car was losing more and more power every lap. Eventually, we discovered a hole in the turbo, directly in the rear section of the exhaust housing.”

Despite those difficulties, the Swedish driver and his crew still managed to secure their place on the final grid.

“Even so, we managed to qualify for the final. The team worked on the car right up until the very last seconds before the start and we were finally able to take our place on the grid.”

Beyond the result itself, Tiger was especially eager to praise the work carried out by his team under intense pressure to keep the car competitive.

“Now I finally feel like the car is starting to work properly again. We changed a huge number of things with the setup, replaced the rear axle and changed the springs as well. We practically rebuilt the entire car.”

Even so, the Swedish driver knew several concerns still remained heading into the rest of the Finnish weekend.

“The problem is that the hole in the turbo is still there at the moment. So we’re going to take everything apart tonight and try to properly fix the issue before tomorrow.”

Used to improvising solutions in difficult situations, Simon Tiger’s team nevertheless managed to keep the weekend alive with a number of temporary repairs.

“Here, you always find temporary solutions to get back out on track. We built a custom-made part ourselves for the turbo wastegate and that’s exactly the part that couldn’t cope with the heat.”

Technical problems ultimately followed the Swede throughout the opening day of competition.

“During free practice, we thought we simply had an exhaust leak, but in reality we discovered another issue in the same area. Honestly, I’ve never had full power all week and I probably still don’t have it this Saturday. Hopefully tomorrow will finally be different.”

Under those circumstances, the possible arrival of rain could paradoxically work in the Swedish driver’s favour.

“If the rain comes, it could actually help us a little because we’re slightly down on power. But honestly, nobody really enjoys driving in the rain. Personally, I’ll always prefer sunshine.”

Ahead of him, however, Simon Tiger knows he will still have to contend with a particularly formidable rival on home soil.

“Joni-Pekka Rajala is extremely difficult to beat here. It’s his circuit, he has a very good car and he knows this track perfectly. He’s also an extremely talented driver, so we’ll need to find something extra if we want to beat him.”

Fully aware of the scale of the challenge awaiting him for the remainder of the weekend, the Swedish driver nevertheless ended on a lighter note.

“I’ve beaten him a few times in the past, but on his home circuit it’s obviously much more difficult. Someone here told me that when he first got the car, he practically spent all his time at this track doing lap after lap after lap. That shows just how well he knows every section of the circuit. Now, if the Finns decide to come race at my place in Piteå, then maybe I’ll have the chance to return the favour.”