Daily Telegraph journalist Franca Davenport, co-driving for
Sky Sports Tony Jardine, finished 41st overall and second in class N3 on Rally Sweden – which marked her debut event in the World Rally Championship.
The media duo experienced some hair-raising moments during the event, including a spin on stage four on Friday morning which resulted in them becoming stuck nose down in a ditch. Fortunately an army of spectators came to the rescue and the pair were quickly back on track.
On the same stage, Sebastien Loeb rolled his car causing damage which ultimately led to his retirement from the rally after stage eleven on Saturday. Jardine and Davenport passed the upturned Citroen of Loeb, setting a faster stage time despite the fact that the Frenchman continued to finish the stage.
The drama continued on stage six with Jardine hitting a snow bank, as the pair took off over a jump, causing the car to turn sideways in the air. However Jardine quickly regained control of the Ford Fiesta and the Castrol crew carried on to claim the second fastest time in his class, just one minute and 34 seconds behind the leader, Lasse Storm.
Davenport and Jardine, competing in the only Ford Fiesta in the rally, were confronted with constantly changing road surfaces from mud to ice and snow. Davenport stayed focused throughout the event, never missing a beat with the pace notes and, in the style of a seasoned navigator, provided Jardine with extra warnings of expected icy tracks under tree cover.
“Franca has done a fantastic job in her first ever World Rally Championship event,” Jardine said. “Its incredible how quickly she has been able to adapt and step-up to WRC level following her run of national events last year, as shown by her 100 per cent finishing record.
“We were expecting more snow for the rally but haven't been disappointed by the stages – it has been a real mix of conditions. We are also planning to frame the time sheet from stage four which shows us as having a quicker time than Sebastien Loeb!”
Davenport was equally thrilled with how the event had gone.
“It's been a fantastic experience competing against the world's best,” she said. “We had some scary moments on the stages but Tony has been great in helping me to achieve my goal of completing this rally. Tony drove amazingly well especially considering these unique conditions. Also it was great to meet one of the top WRC drivers Petter Solberg at the remote service in Hagfors. It was a big challenge and it is a great feeling to have finished this difficult event.”
![Tony Jardine and Franca Davenport in action on Rally Sweden [Pic credit: Jardine International]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/405610.jpg)
