Last year, Greensmith secured silver in the WRC2 class and started this season strong by winning his class in Kenya in March. Since then, the Brit has competed in two points races with lacklustre results. In the Rally Portugal, the race ended in a crash, and in Poland, he finished only ninth in his class.
In Finland, the goal is the top podium. There were signs of improvement in Latvia a couple of weeks ago, where Greensmith finished fourth. To gain driving experience on Finnish gravel roads, Greensmith participated in the HYAcenter Rally in Tampere last Saturday.
“It’s very important. Obviously Poland was a disaster for many reasons and Latvia was kind of getting back into things. We wanted to really make a good preparation because we have to start winning again in Finland. We needed a good test. I’ve been very with how it’s gone,” Greensmith said to RallyJournal.com
“To win has got to be the main thing. That’s the only the real way to look at it.”
Although Greensmith is currently in 11th place in the WRC2 class standings, the championship is still possible. The Skoda driver still has four points races to compete in, and the weakest result, which is currently the retirement in Portugal, will be excluded from the final points tally.
“I think we need to score as many maximum points as we can. They’re all very strong rallies for me now. Obviously Finland was going very well last year until that rock in Päijälä. Greece and Chile are also very good rallies for me. Just have to be as close to the top of the podium as kind of every rally,” Greensmith told.
Greensmith competed in the top tier of the sport from 2020 to 2022. He still aspires to return there. However, a large number of other drivers share the same goal, so how exactly does Greensmith plan to cement his return to a Rally1 car?
“I just need as many good results as possible. That´s the main thing. Obviously we started off the year well in Kenya winning and we were leading in Portugal before I made a mistake. We’re usually always at the front,” Greensmith summarised.
“It’s just been this strange patch in Poland and Latvia. I plan to be back at the front.”
In the HYAcenter Rally, Greensmith battled against Lauri Joona for the first six special stages but had to retire before the final stage due to an engine failure. Although his speed didn’t quite match the Finn’s, Joona undeniably had a slight home advantage.
“I found out only yesterday that he lives on one of the stages, and other stages are his test roads. I think he knows the stages quite well,” Greensmith told.
“I’ve been happy with my speed today. Especially with fresh notes and no onboards to learn from. It’s been good, but unfortunately, we’ve got to retire because we’ve had an engine problem throughout the day. It was a bit of a shame because I was looking forward to do Savo stage.”
