Lindholm won the WRC2 championship in 2022. Midway through the 2023 season, he stepped away from Skoda’s Rally2 car after signing a deal with Hyundai’s WRC2 team.
The Hyundai deal was enticing, especially since the team also competes in the WRC’s top class. Last season, Thierry Neuville delivered Hyundai its first drivers’ championship title.
However, the move to Hyundai had one drawback for Lindholm: Hyundai’s Rally2 car hasn’t been the most competitive in WRC2. In the 2023 season, Lindholm reached the podium once in the Hyundai i20 N Rally2, but neither he nor teammate Teemu Suninen managed a podium finish last year.
Lindholm’s last rally was in August when he competed alongside co-driver Reeta Hämäläinen in Rally Finland. The Finnish driver had to retire once during the event and finished far down the standings.
Since then, Lindholm hasn’t competed but has remained active with Hyundai, performing roll-out tests for the team’s Rally1 cars in Germany ahead of WRC events.
Now the question is: what are Lindholm’s plans for the 2025 WRC season, which kicks off next week? According to Lindholm, the most likely scenario is continuing with Hyundai’s Rally2 car in the WRC2 category.
“Difficult to say what exactly what the program will be, but that’s the target. And I hope for some Rally1 drives as well,” Lindholm told DirtFish.
For Lindholm, the key is delivering strong performances in the WRC2 class. Last year’s disappointing results were largely due to Hyundai’s equipment, but there were also some personal errors.
The harsh reality is that results are essential if Lindholm wants to reignite his career.
“For sure I’m hopeful. I’m for sure pushing for a better season this year and to be back, to be able to compete for good positions is my number one priority,” Lindholm emphasised.
Lindholm has gained inspiration from the examples set by Sami Pajari and Martins Sesks. Both drivers made a strong impression in Rally1 cars last year after moving up from Rally2. This year, Pajari is competing in a full WRC season with Toyota, while Sesks will race select events with M-Sport’s Ford Puma.
“That’s what I keep saying is that I think both Martiņs Sesks and Sami proved that coming from Rally2, you are still able to do a good job in Rally1. It doesn’t mean that you need to be there for five years before you can deliver,” Lindholm noted.
“So I think it proves the level of Rally2, because I think a few years ago there was still discussion that WRC1 is so much more competitive than WRC2, but I think the gap has closed,” Lindholm pointed out.
