The Daily Life of Johan

20/08/2015 by Morgan Carlsson

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Johan is preparing à la 2012, avoids pondering and is doing water sports.

”I have been ill in bed midweek, a sore throat, and out of sorts. This reminds me of 2012, the year I won everything, when I often was ill before race weekends but recovered in time for the competition. I have prepared mentally to wake up Saturday morning feeling great. To be able to recover I will take a flight to Trondheim instead of going with the team.”

Maybe it was due to the huge effort in Karlskoga where you secured the title in Porsche Carrera Cup Scandinavia.

”Very nice to have it done and what I predicted was just correct. Robin Hansson was really fast, especially in the qualification. Me and him were quite superior when qualifying, so for me it was a step forward, even though I wasn’t fastest. The first heat was really uneventful until the last lap. I was well in command when they told me on the radio there was gravel on the track in the S-turn. I thought I avoided it pretty well, but at the next braking spot I went too wide. Jocke made an attack and slid up on my car so I had to brake for both of us and try to avoid a spin. I saw the underside of his chassis and the head lights were level with my rear view mirror, but everything went well. In the second race Robin was really fast in the beginning, but it was obvious that he had moved in the starting moment and they tend to be very tough punishing this type of error. That’s why I didn’t want to risk anything when he passed on my inside. I expected to have a free line later on when he was to take his punishment.”

Ten victories, but never easy won…

”I have never won that many races in succession and still things have happened all the time. Just looking at the statistics it seems like a ’walk in the park’, but it has never been that easy, partly due to my bad qualifications.”

The victory was celebrated at your cousin’s wedding.

”We were in a hurry to get to the party, me and my dad, so we went straight after the race. We took our boat the last part to Blåsut where the party was. It was a nice wedding celebration. No champagne to celebrate the victory though. A pear cider was enough for me. I can’t say I got a kick of winning the championship. It is more of a relief that you don’t have to ponder about what went wrong.”

 So for a competitive the reward is not the sweet taste of victory but the absence of agony.

”That’s exactly how it is!”

But you seem to have enjoyed the late Swedish summer earlier this week.

”I have done jet ski, actually it was the first time this year. The heat has just arrived but the water is still cold. And then we had Monday dinner at my parents’ place. Nice weather, a barbecue and then you can just leave the plate and go home, he-he.”

For Hell you are expecting more points than in Canada.

”We have updated our cars, which will hopefully give us a push in the right direction. We have done some small things here and there, both on chassis and motor. Changes are always about compromises, what do you gain and what do you lose? It remains to be seen what this compromise gives us.”

The Lånke circuit is new to you.

”Both for me and for Ole Christian. But Tord has been there before and I hope he can give us some useful piece of advice before the first run.”

The same kind of positive feeling as in the Porsche Cup could be useful.

”Some flow and a bit of luck, and the feeling of advantage. But it’s a long season and all teams will have ups and downs during the year.”

Now you have been presented as one of the drivers in Even Management’s line up.

”It’s nice to be a part of that. For the close future there are no big plans but in the long run I think both parts can benefit from this co-operation. In the past they have mostly been known to produce rally drivers but they are growing all the time. Personally I hope this will mean I get the chance to do some more rallying in the winter.”

 

 

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