"Big, big relief" as Marklund claims podium finish for GC Kompetition.

PHOTO CREDIT: FIA World RX Media.

Anton Marklund is relieved after claiming a podium finish for GC Kompetition in the 2019 World Rallycross Championship in Silverstone.

The Swede started on the second row of the grid and made it through turn one unscattered slotting into fourth. Opting for an early joker lap strategy, he would emerge in fifth place, but his strategy would pay off after gaining time on his rivals who opted for a later joker lap strategy. 

On the penultimate lap, Marklund merged just ahead of Timo Scheider and crossed the line in third to claim a spot on the podium.

"I would say it’s a big, big relief for everybody in the team because I think since Abu Dhabi we’ve been showing great pace," said Marklund. "Spa especially we were running the top lap time in the rain and we were really top three in the dry as well but we have always been struggling a bit with the starts and running in traffic."

“It was just really nice to actually get the starts working perfectly fine in the semi-final and finals, take early jokers so we had clear air in front of us, and then just trying to hunt these guys [Hansen and Bakkerud] down but obviously they were just a bit too far ahead.”

“I’m very satisfied with a P3, and very happy for the team and happy for Bilstein because all of these guys have been working very hard.”

Marklund thinks that with improved starts the GCK squad could be a race-winning contender. 

“I think if we keep doing the starts like we did in the semi-finals and finals we should be very, very quick," he said.

The Swede feels that his long-wheelbase GC Kompetition Megane R.S.RX Supercar should suit the Hell track in Norway.

"I actually told Andreas [Bakkerud] that I’ve been dreaming about Norway for the last couple of rounds because I feel the with hairpins that we had in Spa and what we have here (at Silverstone) obviously is not an advantage to have a long wheelbase, we come to Norway with the fast sweeping corners and hard braking (zones), for sure the car will suit perfectly fine.”

“But it’s not all about the wheelbase, which suits fine, you also need a good setup, you need to have a good driver," he adds. "I’m coming there with a lot of self-confidence and hopefully we can do a great event there as well.”

TEXT - Junaid Samodien