Flodin wants to show Tarmac pace in Germany

Patrik Flodin wants to prove that he can be a force on asphalt when he contests ADAC Rallye Deutschland next week in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

The Swede is better known for his exploits on snow and gravel but is putting his reputation on the line by making his debut in the Prodrive-developed MINI World Rally Car on his least favoured surface.

“I want to show people that I am willing and want to learn to be a Tarmac driver,” Flodin told Wrc.com. “I have no big goals for this rally, I just want to do some improvements for the future by being faster at the finish than I was at the start.”

Flodin, who turns 27 on the opening day of the Trier-based contest, round nine of the 13-event World Rally Championship season, is preparing for the event with a two-day test near Sanremo in northern Italy. He hopes to have covered a total of 150 kilometres when the test finishes later today (Friday).

“So far it has been going well,” said Flodin when he spoke to Wrc.com on Thursday evening. “I have Nicolas Bernardi, the French driver, with me in the car. He is trying to teach me and to help me improve my driving style and my car control on Tarmac. He is also looking at what the car is doing, which is very helpful.”

Flodin drove the Super 2000-version of the MINI on Rally Italia Sardegna back in May and says the WRC equivalent has been easy to adapt to.

“The rear wing and front bumper are different and there are some other small things but it’s quite similar,” he said.

Flodin, who is taking a break from his Production Car World Rally Championship schedule to compete in Germany, says he has no plans to tackle further WRC events this season in the Grifone-run MINI.

“It’s just for this rally - we don’t have a possibility to do anything else because we have two more PWRC events with the Uspenskiy Subaru team to think about,” said Flodin. “But it’s very good to be doing this rally in the MINI. I remember the rally a bit from last year and the team has lots of nice guys in it. They all seem to be called Luca or Andrea so remembering their names is easy. They are doing a good job.”