Åhlin will call on previous Tarmac pace for ERC return

But while he’s renowned for his gravel prowess, Åhlin has also been upping his pace on Tarmac as he proved when the British championship that he was contesting in 2017 visited Belgium.

“I know my pace on gravel is up there, particularly on the quicker events like I’m used to in Sweden,” said the CA1 Sport driver. “Tarmac has been quite strong for me since I switched to the ŠKODA and we proved that last year in Belgium where we were competitive against the likes of [Thierry] Neuville and [Kevin] Abbring so I don’t see why we can’t be competitive in Rome and get a good result to build on for the rest of the season.

“The last time I was on Tarmac was on the Isle of Man [last September] so there’s going to be a lot of work on the test to set the car up and prepare it for the rally. It’s a long time since I’ve done these wide, flowing type of roads so it’s going to be a bit of an adjustment but I think we have a good chance to be up there fighting for the podium places. From what I understand the roads are medium to high grip which is something new for me so could be a learning curve.”

Since placing second in ERC Junior Under 28 on the Azores Airlines Rallye in March, Åhlin won the South Swedish Rally in his homeland and currently tops his national championship standings.

Photo:Urban Andersson

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