Features
How to jump (and land) in a WRC car
Ford WRC driver Toni Gardemeister issues the advice in the first of our Top Gear Survival Guide series
"Cars are not made for flying. But they can be made to jump. There is a big difference. If you drive hard at a jump - as fast as you can - the car will go higher rather than longer.
"And the more time you spend high in the air, the more time you will lose and the bigger risk there is of damaging the car. I know. I broke a wheel on landing because I took off too fast and landed too hard.
"The jump on Urria is the most difficult. It is best taken at 80kph (50mph), because at 90 the landing is so much harder that it can bend the body or rip out the suspension.
"I prefer the big jump at Ouninpohja. It's longer and faster, but smoother. The jump comes on a fast straight. Top speed there is over 200kph (125mph).
"About the same time as Jakke [co-driver, Honkanen] calls the jump, about 50 metres before, I dab the brake to scrub the speed down to about 180kph. Then, just as I see the top, it's full gas, maximum attack.
'I keep my foot on the gas because on landing, if the wheels are not moving, it could break the driveshafts'
"The idea is simple. You don't want to take off with the nose pointing down. It can be dangerous if the car lands on its nose. The Ford Focus flies really nicely. It is balanced and you don't feel as if it is about to tip forwards or back when you are in the air.
"We are airborne for about three seconds. Maybe four. All the time I have my foot on the gas and with the whistling of the air you can hear the barp, barp, barp of the engine revving. I keep my foot on the gas because on landing, if the wheels are not moving, it could break the driveshafts.
"The trick is to try and match the speed through the air with the speed of the wheels.
"On Finnish TV they used 'Virtual Spectator' [superimposing one car on another in a video game-style graphic] to show Marcus [Grönholm] and me jumping Ouninpohja.
"I jumped normally, but he stayed on the ground. It was a good example of jumping versus driving. I was 180kph on the crest, he was 160. I landed at 156 and he had to slow so much that he was only doing 130 when I landed. So jumping was the better option.
"I love the buzz of flying, but I sometimes hate the landings. This year in Finland, a lot of co-drivers got hurt because of hard landings. I hear Marcus nearly had to retire because his co-driver was hurt."
Bookmark with:
What are these?