Pietarinen to contest Rallye Sanremo in a Volkswagen Polo R5
Eerik Pietarinen, will continue his 2021 season this coming weekend on Rallye Sanremo. This time, the 27-year old Finn will not be behind the wheel of a Škoda Fabia but will contest the event in a Volkswagen Polo R5.
After finishing third in WRC3 on Arctic Rally Finland, Pietarinen is eagerly waiting for the summer season to begin with his co-driver Antti Linnaketo.
Rallye Sanremo has a legendary reputation. When the rally was part of the FIA World Rally Championship, the competitors had to tackle both tarmac stages near Turin as well as the gravel stages in Tuscany with 500 kilometres of liaison section in between. This time the rally will be held near the Rally HQ of Sanremo — on stages located north and north-east of the city.
The invitation to the rally was a pleasant surprise to Pietarinen.
“A local team is servicing us and of course we came here as they wanted us drive here. It is interesting to see how things start to evolve. So far I have no experience of Volkswagen”.
On Entry List there are many familiar names that will be testing for forthcoming WRC round of Rally Croatia. Therefore, a good result in Sanremo would give Pietarinen’s season a welcome boost.
“We’ll see what kind of pace is needed on tarmac to be competitive. At least Oliver Solberg and Craig Breen will give us a good challenge and I think some of the local drivers might set some fast times. From our part the remainder of the season is unclear. We were supposed to drive in Germany but as the rally there was cancelled, we came here instead”.
Earlier this week, Pietarinen completed a short test in the Polo.
