Neuville smashes Colin’s Crest record

Thierry Neuville’s stage-winning drive on Saturday’s Vargasen test not only earned him the lead of Rally Sweden, it also set a new record for the longest jump at Colin’s Crest.

Every year thousands of spectators gather to watch cars speed over the snow-covered crest, with an award named in honour of 1995 world champion Colin McRae going to the driver who flies the furthest.

This afternoon the crowds watched Neuville make history with a monster 44 metre jump in his Hyundai i20 World Rally Car.

The flight smashed the previous record of 37metres, set by Ken Block in 2011, and eclipsed Andreas Mikkelsen’s 41metre effort on the first pass through Vargåsen today.

“When I arrived there on the first pass this morning I lifted a little, but this afternoon I kept it flat,” said Neuville, who also lifted the trophy in 2013 for a jump of 35 metres.

“The landing was actually quite nice, but I had some trouble in the corner afterwards, where I was maybe a little too fast. But yeah, I think it was a great show and people seemed to love it.”

Event organisers have presented the award annually since 2008. This year they changed the rules to make jumps on both passes through Vargåsen eligible, rather than nominating just one.

Previous winners of the Colin’s Crest Award