Veiby: Maybe next time I’ll get him...

Ole Christian Veiby came within less than a tenth-of-a-second of causing an upset in the FIA World Rallycross Championship at Höljes in Sweden earlier this month. At Lydden Hill next weekend (22-23 July), he is focussed on seeing the job through...

Veiby’s second full season at rallycross’ highest level did not get off to the start he would have liked in the early rounds of the campaign in Portugal – where he missed the podium by less than half-a-second – and on home soil in Norway, where he was involved in an ill-tempered clash with Timmy Hansen.

At Höljes last time out, however, the Volkswagen Dealerteam BAUHAUS ace belatedly reached the rostrum for the first time this year – even if an error on the opening lap of the final arguably cost him the runner-up spoils to Hell nemesis Hansen.

“Our speed was good in the first two rounds, and I think we deserved a little bit more than we got from them,” he reflected. “It was really nice to finish on the podium in front of friends and family at Höljes.

“It was super tricky and very slippery in the changing conditions on the Sunday – and I haven’t really done a lot of rallycross in the wet. I’m still learning in situations like that, but it’s good to have Johan [Kristoffersson – team-mate] in the team as he has some very good tips and tricks. I had a really good start in the final but unfortunately, I just made a tiny mistake which gave Timmy the chance to get past. I guess that makes us even from Hell!”

Another area in which Veiby made progress at Höljes was in the single-lap SuperPole session, where he fell just 0.073s short of ending Kristoffersson’s unbeaten run.

“That was a fun battle!” the 27-year-old acknowledged. “I did an ok lap, although I made a small mistake in the last sector. Johan made a small mistake too so I knew it was going to be tight. I’m reducing the gap at each round – maybe next time I’ll get him...”