Fifteen became three, and three has been whittled down to two. But after Sunday, there is only room for one.
Claire Schönborn and Lyssia Baudet stand on the brink of a career-changing chance in the World Rally Championship.
Applying for the Beyond Rally Women’s Driver Development Program, both have already made it through a training camp at M-Sport Poland’s headquarters in Kraków, where only one of them was meant to progress from the succeeding Central European Rally and take the start this week in Sweden.
But the German and the Belgian were so evenly matched that a decision was deferred and will now be made this Sunday on-stage at the Red Barn Arena in Umeå.
Whichever driver the judges feel is the most impressive will then continue for the remainder of the Junior WRC season in Portugal, Greece, Finland and Central Europe.
So how are they feeling ahead of the most important weekend of their careers so far? DirtFish spoke to them both independently to find out.
How have they prepared?
Driving on snow and ice is an all-new experience for both contenders
Both Schönborn and Baudet are in the deep-end this week as they take on their very first competitive event on snow and ice.
The majority of their careers have been spent driving on Tarmac. Baudet is the younger and more experienced of the pair in a rally car having won the Lady Cup in her native Belgium last year driving a Renault Clio Rally5. Schönborn meanwhile has started just three rallies before, after transitioning from hillclimb racing.
But since they learned of this second chance to impress back in October, both have been giving it their all to be ready.
“Yeah, we did a lot of preparation,” Schönborn told DirtFish. “For example, in the beginning of November, I started training on the simulator to get a feeling of the old stages from last year. And we also did some recce training to get better pacenotes, especially for the snow.
“In January, I drove for the first time with studded tires. It was at Gassner Motorsport, and they did some winter training in Austria for normal people, so it was not a race track, not a race event. Normal people can go there and have winter training with studded tires and I was also participating there.
“The last big preparation for us was last week, where we were allowed to drive the 00 car at the Arctic Lapland Rally. That was the biggest preparation and yeah we’re really thankful that Capital Box and the Arctic Rally supported us that good to allow us to drive there.”
She also received some tuition with two-time World Rally champion Marcus Grönholm.
“It was a great honor to be able to learn from such a person,” she smiled. “He gave me many good and valuable tips that I am now trying to implement.”
Baudet has been similarly rigorous in her preparations.
“I did a lot of things,” she told DirtFish. “I worked with my pacenotes with my co-driver, Léa [Sam-Cow-Freve], and I also had physical training, mental training, visual training.
“I also had two days at the winter rally school of John Haugland with a Mitsubishi and it was very interesting. It was just the best way to start on the snow and on the ice. I had one day on the lake, frozen lake, and one day on the special stage. And yes, I learned a lot.
“And now last week we drove the Fiesta Rally3 at the same place, so in Norway, the Winter Rally School of John Haugland. So it’s very interesting to apply all the advice that he gave me, and yes, it’s completely different than driving on Tarmac! You have a lot to learn, but it’s very, very fun.
“I think that I don’t want to return on the Tarmac!” she laughed. “I really, really love sliding.”
Schönborn was also present for that training in the Fiesta Rally3 last week, as it was organized by WRC Promoter.
What is their planned approach?
Baudet wants to build her pace throughout the event
Naturally, both Schönborn and Baudet will be focused on what the other is doing – but finishing ahead of one another is not necessarily the only way to be chosen as the recipient of the full Junior WRC season.
Judging the competition in that way would not account for any potential mechanical dramas, and so instead the judges are looking for the best all-round performance over the best result.
But the pair haven’t been told specifically what they need to do to impress – they must work that out on their own. So what’s their plan?
“To make no mistakes, I think that’s the main key,” Schönborn said. “So not being stuck in the snow wall because then we lose so much time. And I think that’s the main key to not crash or not get stuck anywhere. And yeah, the rest will come.
“We are basically free to do what we can do and I think it’s also a point that the WRC Promoter is looking for so that they don’t say ‘do it like this or this’, so they can have look at how we are doing it.”
It appears both drivers have the same idea – although Baudet seems slightly more focused on beating her rival.
“I think that I have to be clever,” she said, “so I have to finish the rally without damage, without going on snowbanks. I will start very, not slow, not pushing 100% on the first stage and we will see how [our] level [is] compared to the others.
Finishing as the first female is important this week, but not necessarily decisive
“I just want to finish the rally and give my best, but also be the first female driver. We have to be ahead of Claire.”
On the Central European Rally, Schönborn had been ahead of Baudet before their performances diverged via a mechanical problem for Claire – but she’d only been ahead by 1.5s.
It’ll therefore be fascinating to see how closely matched they are this week.
What this chance means for them
With this week counting for so much, neither driver has really sat and thought about what might happen next.
But it’s obvious to say that coming out on top would be utterly transformational for their careers.
“We want this so hard, I cannot describe it in words,” Schönborn said. “So since the Central European Rally we worked nearly every day for it, trained that hard for it on the simulator on the pacenotes and yeah, that’s the only chance we can get to become a part of the Junior WRC.
“That’s why we want it so much.”
Whoever comes out on top this week will have realized a dream
“It’s an opportunity that you have just once in a lifetime and I take it very seriously,” Baudet added.
“I worked a lot with Léa, with my coach, so if I win at the end of the rally I think that it’s a dream that will have come true. I think that I have to enjoy every moment and to prove that I deserve this place.
“After being part of this process it’s sure that I’m a different person with all the preparation we did and I’m feeling different. I’m feeling more relaxed, maybe, less stressed because I know where I go.
“I just want to thank the program, the Beyond Rally program, and M-Sport Poland. It’s just incredible to be here, and I’m very happy.”
Schönborn’s co-driver, Jara Hain, summarizes the gravity of what’s at stake for everyone.
“One of the main things is to enjoy the chance, because it’s a unique chance,” she said. “This is one thing in a life which is never going to happen again. And we would like to take the chance now, but we are also really enjoying time together and working with the coaches. And it’s something really special in a lifetime, I guess. And I think we should not forget this in this whole story.
“We had the best preparation which we could get, and we are a strong team together, we have strong pacenotes, and I think if everything is working with the car fine, we can do our best and prove that we can do this.
“And in case it doesn’t happen, then we can say we have done our best.”
May the best woman win!
