Jahnsen believes in Andersen

Petter Jahnsen, the man who was in the lead in Kirkenes and had to quit because of a severe inflammation in his arm, believes that Bjørnar Andersen will win the Finnmarksløpet Race. - Bjørnar currently has the fastest team. If the temperatures drop and the trails get faster I can't see who can beat him, says Petter Jahnsen.

Andersen has trained a lot together with Kjetil Backen and Robert Sørlie this winter. The three mushers have joined forces and have one common dog pool with three full dog teams in training. While Backen has gone to Alaska to try to win the Iditarod, Bjørnar Andersen tries to win the Finnmarksløpet Race. Currently Kjetil Backen is number six in Iditarod. Team Sørlie is now competing for victory in the two most prestigeous long distance sled dog races in the world.

Bjørnar Andersen mushes with Team Sørlie's B-team in the Finnmarksløpet Race, while Kjetil Backen runs the experienced team in Iditarod. This is not an ordinary B-team, however, but a team with young dogs who are doing the Finnmarksløpet Race for the first time. In spite of difficult conditions with mild weather, wet and soft trails, Andersen and his young dogs have so far kept the highest speed and seem to handle weather and trail conditions well.

Efficient and focused

According to reports from the Polmak checkpoint, the dogs wagged their tails and played in the straw when they came in to checkpoint. Bjørnar himself was in a hurry. He worked fast and concentrated bringing out food and water to his dogs before they went to rest. He has put out straw, but only himself knows how long he will stay in Polmak. We are talking tacktics at a high level. Bjørnar rested longer than his competitors at the Neiden checkpoint. If he decided to leave the Polmak checkpoint after a short rest, he will put a great pressure on his rivals.

Believes in Andersen

Petter Jahnsen, Andersen's perhaps toughest competitor and the man who was in the lead of the Finnmark Race, had to quit the race in Kirkenes due to a severe inflammation in his arm. Now he believes that Bjørnar Andersen will win the Finnmarksløpet Race. - As I see it, Andersen has managed his resources best. Frankly I believe that Frode Holten started out too aggressively early on and rested too little, but I might be mistaken, says Petter Jahnsen.

Mild weather makes it difficult for the dogs. They go through the surface and use a lot of energy. The ones with fast teams have the most to lose. - Bjørnar Andersen has currenly the fastest team. If temperatures drop and the trails get harder, he will get an even faster team. I can't see who will be able to beat him then, Jahnsen says.

Bjørnar Andersen is the nephew of last year's Iditarod champion Robert Sørlie. Twelve years old, he got his first sled dog, and he tells that his uncle taught him a lot. In short, this was: Never think negatively, and there is only one way, which is forward. Andersen loves to compete and will do everything he can to be first over the finish line in Alta some time on Friday. - I'm going for the ATV, Andersen said ahead of the race. Now, the cold-storage engineer seems difficult to beat, even though 300 km still are left across the mountain plateau towards Alta. Bjørnar Andersen was unknown in the mushing world when he finished in an impressive second place in the 2000 Finnmark Race. It shows that the Oslo boy has the guts needed to win the longest and most challenging sled dog race in Europe.