The only Swedish competitor- Micke Andersson – ended despite inexperience to tarmac at an impressing third place when Volvo Original Nordic West Euro Cup continued this weekend in german Sulingen. The rally was won from german Holger Knöbel in a 740 with young Mattias Homuth in a 240 at second place. Micke and his codriver Erica Svensson were the only swedish team in the rally which gathered 14 Volvo originals from three countries. It was the first tarmac rally according to the new standard tire rule valid from 2006 in West Euro Cup. Micke and Erika choosed Bridgestone 195/50 15 – and were very satisfied afterwards: - ”It was really nice very good fun” says Micke and also says that he will do tarmac rallies again. - The tires had really good grip and felted more reliable all the time. The real tarmac tires looses the grip without any warning, with this one you can feel when your starting to get over the line. - Of course were we really nervous before start but it was much more fun than we expected. - Economicly it seems to work well, with a nice discount on the tires and the minimal wear on the tire I believe we can use these 6 for at least 4 rallies. The rallye in Sulingen south of Bremen is a really nice one. Totally 120 km specialstage on 7 different stages with the last one in the center of the town Saturday evening. Every stage was run two times except the final town stage. Due to new rules in Germany this year the organizer put two old stages together to one 22 km long -that was a real challenge. In total around 90 teams started in the rally,14 of them was Volvos. Favourite Rainer Keck choosed to start on Tarmac tires so he missed all points in the cup despite winning the class. But interesting was that Holger was only 28,4 seconds slower after 120 km . With two stages left Holger were in the lead and Rainer has to really fight his way to the top. Second Mattias Homuth in a Swedish built 240 is rather new in rallying but for sure a talent on tarmac. Micke and Erika finished as we said on third but had a hard fight with dutch man Pierre Brouwer,from Regal-meppel in Holland. He drives a 240 and has never driven anything but tarmac rallies. ”He was really fighting to the end but on the last stage with much gravel we were able to beat him” sums Micke. Pierre was fourth and best from the dutch guys. German veteran Andreas Leue took his 740 to fifth place. Micke was really satisfied when they turned back to Småland. Last stage was super nice, spectators screaming and waving at you all over the stage in the middle of the town”. You start four cars at a time with ten seconds in between and people screaming makes you want to slide an extra bit because they love it, but it is still competition and the seconds are ticking. -Another dimension of rallying with standard tires 195/50/15 was that the 940 felted more powerful, despite a little bit lower but you don´t have to go flatout over railroads and other known jumps……. - A bit insecure was it on the gravel sections (roads to bind stages together) i was afraid of puncture but to be honest tarmac tires on gravel are´nt so good either. In total Holger reached 28:th place among the 57 teams who finished the rally. Winner of the rally was Herman Gassner in a Mitsubishi second Dieter Depping in a VW Golf Kit Car (Dieter who drove Volvo Original in a german rally some years ago). Best foreign driver was danish Ib Kragh in a Renault Megane Maxi. Results Nordic West Euro Cup, leg 3, Rallye Sulinger Land, Sulingen, Germany: 1) Holger Knöbel, Tyskland, 740, 1.27.48,6. 2) Matthias Homuth, d:o, 240, 1.29.34,2, 3) Micke Andersson, Sverige, 940, 1.30,58,1, 4) Pierre Brouwer, Holland, 240, 1.31.15,5, 5) Andreas Leue, Tyskland. 740, 1.32.13,9, 6) Sander Pelle, d:o, d:o, 1.42,24,0, 7) Sigfried Mayr, d:o, d:o, 1.33.50,9, 8) Teun Schermerhorn, Holland, 240, 1.34.17,7, 9) Volker Clasen, Tyskland, d:o, 1.35.50,5, 10) Roy Achtenbosch, Holland, 740, 1.36.45,6, 11) Manfred Tews, Tyskland, 240, 1.39.45,4. Jan-C Henrich, Tyskland and Henk Bosscha, Holland, both 240 retired. Overall at the moment: 1) Fredrik Menck, Sverige, 940, 57 p, 2) Micke Andersson, 56, 3) Niklas Nibbe Nilsson, Sverige, 940, 52, 4) Holger Knöbel, 50, 5) Henrik Persson, Sverige, 940, 48, 6) Mathias Homuth, 37, 7) Magnus Johansson, Sverige, 940, 36, 8) Pär Pålsson, d:o, d:o, 34, 9) Tommy Sahlqvist, d:o, d:o, and Anders Svensson, d:o, d:o, both 33, 11) Andreas Leue and Bosse Hemmingsson, Sverige, 740, both 32, 13) Håkan Süld, Sverige, 740, 31, 14) Sigfrid Mayr and Staffan Skeppstedt, Sverige, 940, both 30 p.<?/smaller><?/fontfamily><?fontfamily><?param Times New Roman> <?/fontfamily>