ALMS
Harold Primat impresses on competitive rally debut
PRIMAT IMPRESSES ON COMPETITIVE RALLY DEBUT Sports car racer Harold Primat enjoyed an impressive competitive rally debut on the Z-Trofen event in Northern Sweden at the weekend. The Aston Martin works driver, who finished fourth in the Le Mans ...
Published: Feb 2, 2010, 11:02 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
PRIMAT IMPRESSES ON COMPETITIVE RALLY DEBUT
Sports car racer Harold Primat enjoyed an impressive competitive rally debut on the Z-Trofen event in Northern Sweden at the weekend.
The Aston Martin works driver, who finished fourth in the Le Mans Series and was a race winner in the Asian Le Mans Series last season, drove a Group N Subaru Impreza in the snow and ice rally. He was co-driven by Staffan Parmander, who scored numerous WRC victories alongside Kenneth Eriksson in the 1990s, and produced a strong performance in the single-day event, including a second-in-class finish on the final stage.
Primat used the rally, which forms part of the Swedish SuperCup series, to prepare for a 2010 season that will see him competing in races in the Le Mans Series and American Le Mans Series as well as at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
"It was a great experience for me and I learned a lot," said the Geneva-based Primat. "I've always had an interest in rallying and the event was good for my fitness and to keep me race sharp.
"When you drive 160km/h in the snow, with a snow bank on either side, it is an amazing experience and great for your reflexes. You have to put a lot of faith in your co-driver and, as the stages are so long, it helps with your endurance, as you have to keep your concentration non-stop. It is also a real skill to focus on your driving while listening to the pace notes."
Parmander admitted that he was impressed by Primat's performance, particularly considering his lack of rallying experience and the difficulty of the event.
"The biggest challenge was to get to the finish because conditions were very difficult and it was Harold's first experience of this type of event," he said. "I thought he did a great job and he should be proud of what is a major achievement. He did exactly what I wanted him to do, which was to start sensibly and then get quicker and quicker as he went along."
Parmander worked with Harold last season during a pre-season training camp in Scandinavia, and he believes Primat's experience on the Z-Trofen will stand him in good stead for the new season.
"The objective of training in Sweden is to improve car control and concentration," Parmander said. Ice training is a very good way to improve driving skills."
Harold will return to the more familiar surroundings of circuit racing next month, when he lines up for Aston Martin Racing in the team's LMP1 prototype at the 12 Hours of Sebring in Florida.
-source: harold primat
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Series news on Fernandez, Aston Martin
Next article Adrian Fernandez - Series interview
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Harold Primat
HTP successful in second 24-hour race with Bentley
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
GT World Challenge Europe Endurance
24 Hours of Spa
HTP successful in second 24-hour race with Bentley
Bentley Team HTP takes on Nürburgring 24-Hour challenge
Endurance
Endurance
24 Hours of Nürburgring
Bentley Team HTP takes on Nürburgring 24-Hour challenge
Primat and HTP battle back for VLN top-10
NLS
NLS
Round 2
Primat and HTP battle back for VLN top-10
More from
Aston Martin Racing
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
WEC
WEC
Barcelona
The six drivers doing double duty in Portimao GTWCE and Barcelona WEC this weekend
“Even faster than Ferrari” – Fernando Alonso grabs Aston Martin’s best result of F1 2026
Formula 1
Formula 1
Bahrain GP in Malaysia
“Even faster than Ferrari” – Fernando Alonso grabs Aston Martin’s best result of F1 2026
Latest news
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Phoenix II
3 h
NASCAR explains why they penalized Zane Smith after latest clash with Carson Hocevar
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
IMSA
IMSA IMSA 3 h
Porsche boss Laudenbach says he is "not happy" with how things were handled by IMSA in 2026
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
Five things to watch out for at the F1 United States GP
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP 4 h
KTM sees MotoGP 2027 as a fresh start: “We never had the chance to build a new bike”
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe