INDIA in F1

Category: WRC, Rally

  • FIA makes breakthrough in Rally Safety with crash-simulation technology

    FIA makes breakthrough in Rally Safety with crash-simulation technology

    Paris, 29 Sept 2020: The FIA has made a breakthrough in safety through the use of computer simulation to study accident cases known to cause spinal injuries that are commonly reported in Cross Country competition.
     
    Following a number of cases of spinal injury reported by Cross Country competitors during a heavy impact or landing, the FIA Safety Department conducted extensive research to identify the most significant factors that contribute to the risk of this type of injury. The research project was supported by funding from the FIA Foundation.
     
    Using a virtual model of the cockpit environment and the Total Human Model for Safety (THUMS) to represent the driver and co-driver, FIA research engineers could simulate hundreds of crash cases to examine how the position and restraint of the competitors translated into loading of the spine. The THUMS model, which was developed by Toyota Motor Company, who work in partnership with the FIA, offers a virtual representation of the human body. This is made up of almost two million elements, which accurately reproduce the human form, from rigid bone structures to soft tissues and organs.
     
    To validate the results of the simulation, the research relied on correlation with real-world cases where the injuries were documented, including an accident during a Cross Country rally in Qatar in 2018 in which the co-driver suffered vertebra fractures from T3 through to T8. Significantly, the driver of that car suffered no injuries, which demonstrated to researchers that if the key differences between the driver and co-driver can be quantified, this knowledge could be applied by all competitors to prevent injuries in similar cases.
     
    The results provided by the THUMS model highlighted that rotating the competitor’s seat to a more upright position equated to a 22 per cent reduction in the forces that translate into a fracture of the spine during a heavy landing.
     
    The FIA’s research concluded that the installation of the safety harness is a key factor in mitigating spinal injury during a heavy landing or impact. Changing the angle of the lap strap on the safety harness between the anchorage point behind the seat and the buckle resulted in an eight per cent reduction in the potential for a spinal fracture in the event of a heavy landing.
     
    The study also found that a heavy landing with a tight safety harness reduced the load on the spine by around six per cent, meaning that it is important competitors always make sure their safety harness is properly tightened during the entire event.
     
    The research also considered the weight of the competitor, concluding that a 10kg lower mass of the driver or co-driver led to an eight percent reduction in the load on the spine.  
     
    Adam Baker, FIA Safety Director, said: “Simulation using the THUMS model has enabled us to study a wide range of Cross Country accident cases in fine detail, improving our understanding of the key factors that contribute to spinal fractures in Cross Country competition. We would like all competitors and teams to benefit from the results of this research, as even minor changes in the cockpit can prevent injury.”

    Click here to download the study “Cross Country Competitor Installation Best Practices”

  • Flash: Elfyn Evans & Scott Martin win tricky Rally Turkey

    Flash: Elfyn Evans & Scott Martin win tricky Rally Turkey

    Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin have claimed their second win of the season for Toyota after a dramatic final day of Rally Turkey, a result that moves Evans into the lead of the drivers’ championship.

    Two Hyundai crews completed the podium with Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul in second position and Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena coming third. With Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen finishing fourth, Toyota increases its manufacturers’ championship lead even though Sébastien Ogier had to retire on the penultimate stage of the rally.

    Neuville took top points in the Power Stage ahead of Tänak, Rovanperä, Evans and Loeb.

    Pontus Tidemand took the win in FIA WRC2 in eighth overall, one place behind the FIA WRC3 victor Kajetan Kajetanowicz.

  • Ogier and Neuville locked in battle after five stages: WRC

    Ogier and Neuville locked in battle after five stages: WRC

    Six-time World Champion Sébastien Ogier and arch rival Thierry Neuville set up the prospect of a fascinating afternoon loop of stages at Rally Turkey on Saturday.

    Two stage wins for Ogier and one for Neuville meant that the Toyota and Hyundai drivers were separated by just 1.6 seconds after three demanding morning specials. Overnight leader Sébastien Loeb slipped to fourth place and found himself embroiled in his own battle with Elfyn Evans and young Kalle Rovanperä for the final podium slot.

    The shock news from the morning was the sudden retirement of defending World Champion Ott Tänak after a steering issue on the first stage of the loop on his Hyundai i20 WRC. The Estonian had been pushing hard to catch his rivals after losing vital seconds in hanging dust on Friday evening.

    The M-Sport Ford trio of Teemu Suninen, Esapekka Lappi and Gus Greensmith were handily placed in sixth, seventh and eighth places while Pierre Louis Loubet was ninth in his second outing with the Hyundai i20 WRC.

    Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz overhauled Bolivia’s Marco Bulacia during the morning to lead FIA WRC3 and his pace had been sufficient to displace the FIA WRC2 leading Frenchman Adrien Fourmaux as well. The respective category leaders were 10th and 11th in the overall rankings. 

    Drivers plunged straight into the perils of the 31.79km Yeşilbelde stage and road-sweeping duties fell to Pierre-Louis Loubet and Gus Greensmith.

    The FIA field had been whittled down to 22 overnight following the retirement of American Sean Johnston. The FIA WRC3 contender sustained accident damage after incident in the second stage on Friday afternoon.

    Tänak was the quickest of the early runners and was on course to post an impressive stage time until he veered off the track 25.9km into the stage and collided with the banking. The crew managed to move the stricken Hyundai into a safe position further down the track and tried in vain to repair the damage, only to retire with hefty time penalties to follow.

    Rovanperä carded the target of 25min 14,8sec but Evans shaved 11.8 seconds off the Finn’s effort to remain in fourth place. Attention then focused on the tussle between Ogier, Neuville and Loeb for the stage win. Loeb struggled with grip, ceded a handful of seconds as the stage progressed and slipped to fourth overall, but Ogier snatched the win and a 1.7-second outright lead with a time of 24min 54.2sec.

    Eyvind Brynildsen dropped time to FIA WRC2 rivals Fourmaux and Pontus Tidemand before stopping near the stage finish and Kajetanowicz moved in front of Bulacia in FIA WRC3, as the front-runners headed to the faster and softer Datça stage (8.75km).

    Rovanperä found himself locked in a tussle for fourth with Loeb and the Finn pushed hard to card a time of 6min 56.1sec. It gave him the fourth fastest time and he headed to Kizlan trailing the nine-time World Champion by 3.5 seconds.

    The stage win fell to Ogier and the Frenchman extended his lead over Neuville to three seconds, his rival complaining that tyre choice had made the difference.

    After a 14-minute delay in SS5 for safety reasons, action resumed with four World Rally Cars already en route to service and a regroup in Asparan after completing the stage. Neuville snatched the win and headed to the midday break trailing Ogier by just 1.6 seconds.

    It set up the prospect of an fascinating repeat loop of the three stages on Saturday afternoon.

  • Martins Sesks, first Latvian to win a Junior WRC rally

    Martins Sesks, first Latvian to win a Junior WRC rally

    Estonia, 6 Sept 2020: Martins Sesks becomes the first ever Latvian to win a FIA Junior WRC rally following a dramatic event on Estonia’s inaugural WRC event. 
     
    Sami Pajari was able to claim a well-earned second place after running into difficulty early on in the rally.
     
    Robert Virves, the crowdfunded local hero, finished third after leading for much of the rally until a puncture dropped him out of contention in the closing stages of Sunday. 
     
    Friday evening’s opening short blast was won by Sami Pajari with a clear second over Tom Kristensson. The Swede struck back the following morning taking the first stage win of the day, his rally ended on the next stage with a crankshaft failure following a heavy landing. 
     
    The story of Saturday was the crowdfunded hometown hero, Robert Virves, consistently posting top-three stage times from stage four until stage 14. 
     
    Romanian Raul Badiu would join Kristensson in retiring for the day in the first loop, damaging his radiator on stage three punting a hay bale across the stage. Pontus Lonnstrom’s early stage times indicated he would be in contention for a podium however his day was cut short, stopping in stage four due after a technical issue. Italian driver, Fabio Andolfi, also retired after stage three.
     
    Ken Torn established himself as a contender for victory, closing down on Virves’ lead on Saturday with a hat-trick of stage wins following a puncture in the opening loop. Torn’s luck would run out on stage eight, after two punctures while only carrying one spare, forcing him to retire for the day. He returned to action on Sunday morning which was short-lived after mechanical problem on stage 13.
     
    The drama continued in Junior WRC on Sunday following an action packed day on Saturday.
     
    Home favourite Robert Virves headed into the closing day with an 11-second lead over Martins Sesks with Finnish youngster Sami Pajari trailing by 27 seconds in third. Virves would ultimately relinquish his lead following a puncture on stage 14, losing 45 seconds in the process of being relegated to third. The Estonian would not give up, collecting his maiden Junior WRC stage win point on the penultimate stage to hold third by the end of the rally.
     
    Sami Pajari collected the most stage wins of any Junior WRC driver on Rally Estonia, totalling eight stage wins by the conclusion of the rally and more importantly, seven valuable championship points. Pajari now sits second in the championship with 39 points.
     
    Following a run of successful preparation events Martins Sesks was on form throughout Rally Estonia, not putting a foot wrong, running no lower than third for the duration of the rally. Applying the pressure on Virves all Saturday and Sunday, and following the Estonian’s puncture, Sesks inherited the lead with three speed tests to run.
     
    He becomes the first ever Latvian driver to take a Junior WRC rally win and with it has picked up the championship lead with 47 points.
     
    Elsewhere in Junior WRC, Briton Ruairi Bell claimed his best finish so far with a well-earned fourth position after delivering a faultless drive with consistent stage times. 
     
    Teenager Fabrizio Zaldivar was set to match his best ever finish with a fifth place after a respectable drive throughout the rally. The Paraguayan’s hard work would come undone on the penultimate stage, losing his brakes and dropping to sixth. He would enter the Wolf Power Stage without brakes in an effort to finish the rally and collect valuable championship points.
     
    Italian Marco Pollara who, like Zaldivar, kept his head down and avoided trouble eventually took fifth position, his best finish in FIA Junior WRC.
     
    Maciej Woda, Junior WRC Team Director: “Rally Estonia has been epic and a fantastic return to rallying! We all owe so much thanks to the organisers of Rally Estonia, FIA and WRC Promoter for providing a smooth and safe way for us finally get back rallying, I cannot wait to see what Sardinia brings for us. Massive congratulations to Martins taking the victory, it’s great to see a Baltic driver doing so well and Latvia finally having a FIA Junior WRC winner. Robert gave a hard fight throughout the entire rally and should be very proud of what he has achieved for his first ever WRC event, it was an incredible performance and he has done Estonia proud. Sami Pajari is proving what so many people have said in terms of how talented he is after taking the most stage wins on this rally. I would also like to say a special well done to Ruairi Bell who faced exceptional circumstances heading into this rally so to finish fourth is a really good job.”
     

    1. Martins Sesks / Renars Francis 2:21:20.5
    “This weekend was quite an incredible rally for everyone because the stages were really, really rough. Even the guys in R5s were saying it is rough so imagine how rough it is in the Rally4 car. You had to be really technical all the time to see where you could drive fast and where you needed to take it easy to save your car and make it to the finish. I am really happy, we started on the safe side yesterday and started to gain speed and everything. We had a good battle with Ken who was flat out from the first stage. He was really fast I would say he was even faster than me as it was a rally of experience and he has it here. Overall I still can’t put it into words the feeling I have right now, but all the hard work I have put in, and after the struggles of last year, it is finally paying off for me.”
     
    2. Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen +14.7
    “We had the most stage wins, second place is not too bad and at the moment I am feeling like ‘oh damn it was just 15 seconds’, but overall I need to be really happy.”
     
    3. Robert Virves / Sander Pruul +37.8
    “Not the result we were hoping for but that’s rally and there’s nothing we can do. I have to be happy but it isn’t a win.”
     
    4. Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards +5:12.7
    “It’s been a fantastic weekend with only four or five notice before today, Matt jumped in the car, being here now with fourth place in the juniors is fantastic and I am more than happy. Sadly I lost a bit of time but didn’t lose a position so I can’t complain.”
     
    5. Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina +7:03.9
    “I am very happy for this result, the stages were fantastic and very beautiful. I am in love with these special stages, I hope to return here next year but until then, see you in Sardinia.”
    6. Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano +9:29.8
    “It was quite a tough rally for us, from the beginning we knew it would be difficult but still we made it to the end which is a good thing. We still need to work more on the pacenotes over the kilometres, today we had some brake problems so that’s why we lost fifth place but it was quite nice to finish the rally.”
     
    7. Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio +10:44.7
    “I’m not really happy but we got a lot of experience and that’s the most important thing. Ok now, we look forward to Rally Sardinia, which is my home rally and we will see how we go there.”
     
    8. Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar +1:24:46.0
     “I am disappointed, the result isn’t what we were wanting and the worst part is that on these lovely stages we would have liked to go and really take the experience and learn but we had very few kilometres without problems. The good side is that we finally started back rallying after these really difficult times.”
     
    RETIRED:
    Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas
    Pontus Lonnstrom / Stefan Gustavsson
    Tom Kristensson / Joakim Sjöberg
    Fabio Andolfi / Stefano Savoia

  • Ott Tanak wins in Estonia to open up title race

    Ott Tanak wins in Estonia to open up title race

    Estonia, 6 Sept 2020: Ott Tänak claimed his first World Rally Championship victory on the series’ return in Estonia. The Hyundai driver survived a late fright to deliver a popular home win on Sunday afternoon and climbed from fifth to third in the overall classification.

    Tänak led most of the way to win the three-day gravel road Rally Estonia by 22.2 seconds in a Hyundai i20. Team-mate Craig Breen completed a 1-2 for Hyundai and matched his career-best result.

    Estonia was the 600th WRC round since the championship began in 1973 and marked the championship’s return after a six-month pause due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

    Tänak was the pre-event favourite and after taking the lead early in Saturday’s opening leg, the Estonian was never headed. But his bid for a maiden victory with the Korean manufacturer almost came unstuck in the penultimate speed test.

    He swiped a bank with the rear of his i20, but the damage proved cosmetic only and he eased through the final special stage to secure his first victory for the team.

    Tänak is now 13 points behind championship leader Sébastien Ogier. Second for an emotional Breen enabled the squad to close the gap to manufacturers’ series leaders Toyota Gazoo Racing to five points.

    Breen finished only 4.7s clear of Ogier, admitting his attempt to measure his pace in the final stage allowed the Frenchman to come closer than intended. It was, however, a hugely impressive performance from the Irishman who is not a regular WRC starter.

    Ogier headed a trio of Yaris finishers, satisfied that a podium keeps his hopes of a seventh world title on track, but disappointed he did not have the grip to match Tänak’s pace on Saturday afternoon.

    Elfyn Evans and Kalle Rovanperä were fourth and fifth, both losing time with tyre troubles. Rovanperä incurred a 60s penalty last night for working on his car in a prohibited zone, but the 19-year-old earlier became the youngest driver to lead a WRC rally at just 19.

    Takamoto Katsuta rolled out of what would have been a career-best fifth place. His error promoted the Ford Fiestas of Teemu Suninen and Esapekka Lappi to sixth and seventh, the Finns swapping places after Lappi lost time with a big spin.
    Gus Greensmith was eighth after World Rally Car debutant Pierre-Louis Loubet retired with broken steering after hitting a tree stump. FIA WRC3 support category winner Oliver Solberg was ninth with FIA WRC2 victor Mads Østberg completing the leaderboard.

    Østberg recovered from a puncture on his PH Sport prepared Citroën C3 on Saturday morning before blasting away from rivals and claiming a resounding victory in the FIA WRC2 category. Behind him, Adrien Fourmaux finished second – a better result than he had anticipated – when a painful last-minute puncture for Hyundai’s Nikolay Gryazin gifted him the position. Pontus Tidemand drove a consistent rally in his Škoda Fabia Rally2 and was rewarded third as Gryazin hit trouble, 1min 21.7sec behind.

    Winner of the FIA European Rally Championship’s Rally Liepaja last month in Latvia, Oliver Solberg was unstoppable in neighbouring Estonia, clinching his first ever FIA WRC3 win and first WRC points finish with ninth place overall. His closest rivals this weekend, local hero Egon Kaur and triple FIA ERC champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz, both encountered problems on Sunday. Kaur slipped from second to fourth behind Rally Sweden WRC3 category winner Jari Huttunen, but those positions became third and second when Kajetanowicz rolled his Škoda Fabia Rally2 evo on the final stage.

    In FIA Junior WRC, Latvia’s Martins Sesks scored his first victory following late misfortune for long-time leader Robert Virves. The Estonian had seen his overnight lead cut to just 5.3s by Sesks, but worse was to follow when a puncture four stages from the finish cost 45sec and demoted him to third. Sesks however never put a foot wrong throughout the three-day event. Sami Pajari from Finland finished second, 14.7s behind him.

    2020 Rally Estonia – Final Official Results

    1. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST)          Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC1hr 59min 53.6sec
    2. Craig Breen (IRL) / Paul Nagle (IRL)Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC2h 00min 15.8sec
    3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA)Toyota Yaris WRC     2hr 00min 20.5sec
    4. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR)     Toyota Yaris WRC          2hr 00min 35.5sec
    5. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN) / Jonne Halttunen (FIN)Toyota Yaris WRC2hr 01min 12.3sec
    6. Teemu Suninen (FIN) / Jarmo Lehtinen (FIN)                  Ford Fiesta WRC2hr 02min 33.2sec
    7. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN)Ford Fiesta WRC2hr 02min 45.6sec
    8.  Gus Greensmith (GBR) / Elliott Edmondson (GBR)      Ford Fiesta WRC     2hr 04min 47.4sec
    9. Oliver Solberg (NOR) / A. Johnston (IRL) – FIA WRC3Volkswagen Polo Gti2h 07min 32.2sec
    10. Mads Østberg / T. Eriksen (NOR) – FIA WRC 2Citroën C32h 08min 10.9sec
  • Ott Tanak unstoppable on home soil, drama for Neuville: Saturday

    Ott Tanak unstoppable on home soil, drama for Neuville: Saturday

    Estonia, 5 Sept 2020: Ott Tänak dominated the field on Rally Estonia’s first full day of action to end Saturday at the top of the leaderboard. The fight for the final podium is intense with Breen in second and Ogier converging over third as Neuville retired for the day.

    Driving on home roads, Tänak shrugged aside the series’ six-month COVID-19 lay-off to head Estonia’s first World Rally by 11.7 seconds. On a superb day for his Hyundai squad, team-mate Craig Breen held second in an identical i20 World Rally Car.

    Estonia became the 33rd country to stage a championship round as the competition reached a landmark 600th event since it began in 1973. Tänak celebrated by taking an iron grip on the blisteringly fast sandy roads on which he developed his career.

    19 year-old youngster Kalle Rovanperä grabbed the lead in this morning’s opening speed test. Tänak was only fourth after being hampered by a soft tyre, but charged to the front on the next stage and built a 6.8s mid-leg margin over Breen.

    The repeated roads were rougher this afternoon, but Tänak doubled his lead before throttling back, content to have won three of today’s 10 stages.

    Breen’s part-time programme brings less chance to impress, but the Irishman laid claim to being driver of the day. He won two stages and was second on three more.

    Hyundai was on course for a clean sweep of the top three as Thierry Neuville was on Breen’s heels. But his i20 bounced out of a rut, swiped a bank and smashed the rear right suspension, leaving the Belgian stranded.

    Championship leader Sébastien Ogier replaced Neuville in third. The Frenchman, driving a Toyota Yaris, won two stages but was hindered by two tyres delaminating and a final test stall.

    Ogier trailed Breen by 17.0s and headed team-mate Rovanperä by 6.2s. The young Finn’s early lead vanished with a puncture, which relegated him to eighth but he recovered to snatch fourth from fellow Yaris driver Elfyn Evans in the final stage. Sadly, the crew received a one-minute penalty for removing their radiator blanking plate in the control area before the start of SS10, which made them drop to 6th place.

    Evans was third initially but struggled to retain his rhythm and tyre troubles saw him slide back to fifth. The Welshman had 25.1s in hand over team-mate Takamoto Katsuta, the Japanese youngster belying his lack of experience to stay on course for a career-best sixth. With Rovanperä’s misfortune, they respectively climb up to fourth and fifth.

    Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen struggled for grip in their Ford Fiestas in seventh and eighth, with World Rally Car debutant Pierre-Louis Loubet and Gus Greensmith completing the leaderboard.

    In FIA WRC2, PH Sport’s Mads Østberg recovered from early drama to open a comfortable lead in category thanks to eight impressive stage wins with his Citroën C3 Rally2. He eventually rounded out a long day of action with a 37.8sec advantage over Hyundai’s Nikolay Gryazin with his NG i20 car. M-Sport’s Adrien Fourmaux, is third in a Ford Fiesta MkII.

    In FIA WRC3, Norway’s Olivier Solberg and local hero Egon Kaur traded stage times throughout the afternoon, but Volkswagen Polo GTI R5 pilot Solberg did enough to extend his lead to 17.8s at the close of play. Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz is third, 14.6s ahead of Jari Huttunen, with Marco Bulacia in fifth.

    Local driver Robert Virves continues to lead FIA Junior WRC on his category debut, holding a 11.2s advantage over Mārtiņš Sesks.

    Ken Torn had been in the thick of the battle but was eliminated from the contest on SS9 when his Ford Fiesta Rally4 picked up a double puncture. With an insufficient number of spares, Torn called it quits and retired for the day. As a result, it’s Sami Pajari who holds third, 37.1s adrift of Virves.

  • Ott Tanak takes lead on home soil: Rally Estonia

    Ott Tanak takes lead on home soil: Rally Estonia

    Estonia, 5 Sept 2020: Ott Tänak leads on home soil a Hyundai 1-2-3 as the FIA World Rally Championship roared back into action on Rally Estonia with five stages on Saturday morning.

    Tänak came into the event as the favourite for victory but it was Toyota’s 19-year Kalle Rovanperä who was quickest in SS2 to take the lead of a WRC round for the first time. But the Finn then lost around half a minute to Tänak in SS3 when he finished the stage with a damaged tyre, which also caused him to lose some of the aerodynamic bodywork on his car.

    Tänak was quickest in stages three and four to open up a lead over his team-mate Craig Breen, while Thierry Neuville also moved up into the top three. Neuville won SS6 and finished the morning 4.3 seconds behind Breen and 11.1 seconds away from Tänak.

    Jointly leading the rally after SS1 on Friday following a colourful opening ceremony at Raadi airfield in Tartu, Sébastien Ogier dropped to fifth opening the road on the morning’s first stage, but improved his pace as the loop wore on and claimed a fastest time on SS6 to jump ahead of Toyota team-mate Elfyn Evans for fourth overall. The recovering Rovanperä was second fastest in the final two stages of the loop and sits sixth just ahead of fellow Toyota youngster Takamoto Katsuta.

    M-Sport Ford drivers Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen sit eighth and ninth, with Lappi losing time when he overshot a junction in SS6. Pierre-Louis Loubet made a similar error in the very same place but sits 10th on his top-class debut in a Hyundai, ahead of M-Sport’s Gus Greensmith.

    Mads Østberg leads FIA WRC2 in his Citroën following an eventful morning in the category, which included a puncture for the Norwegian driver. He is 16.5 seconds ahead of his nearest rival Nikolay Gryazin, who escaped a high-speed spin in SS2 in his Hyundai. Ahead of Østberg overall are the top three drivers in FIA WRC3, where Oliver Solberg is on top in front of local ace Egon Kaur and Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz.

    It is an Estonian one-two in FIA Junior WRC, with category debutant Robert Virves leading Ken Torn by 1.3s. Championship leader Tom Kristensson was on top after SS2, only to retire following a heavy landing on the following stage.

  • FIA Junior WRC Returns to Action on Rally Estonia

    FIA Junior WRC Returns to Action on Rally Estonia

    Estonia, 1 Sept 2020: The 2020 FIA Junior WRC Championship will resume service along with the FIA World Rally Championship on Rally Estonia for the first time in the history of both FIA Junior WRC and WRC.

    The championship that nurtures the future stars of WRC will use the M-Sport Poland built Fiesta Rally4 which was released earlier in the year. The EcoBoost-powered Fiesta Rally4 is an evolution of the Fiesta R2T19 and represents M-Sport’s commitment to its ladder of opportunity, providing opportunities to young talent on every step of the rallying ladder. The Rally4 also aligns with the FIA’s new rally pyramid structure, underlining M-Sport Poland’s dedication to ensuring the world’s top-flight junior rally championship uses the best two-wheel-drive machinery on offer.

    This year marks ten years since the first Rally Estonia was held and in the decade following the event has built up an impeccable reputation with drivers, teams and fans alike. It is evidenced by its meteoric rise in popularity in recent years, culminating in the Baltic event being added to the WRC calendar. The rally recently served as an unofficial preparation event for Rally Finland thanks to its smooth but treacherously fast gravel roads, some of which were built specifically for the rally. 
     
    Compared to a typical WRC event, Rally Estonia will be a shorter affair, with 233.40 competitive kilometres spread over three days. FIA Junior WRC sees its first competitive action in almost six months with a 1.28km super special stage on Friday evening allowing 12 hungry junior crews to push from the get-go in order to grab every stage win point possible – a unique characteristic of the championship. Saturday will see this year’s juniors take on two loops across five speed tests with an additional six stages across two three-stage loops on Sunday finishing with a total of 17 stages, with each one offering a valuable stage win point. In total, a maximum of 42 points could be taken home by one driver should they win all 17 stages and the event. All 12 Fiesta Rally4 cars will be equipped with Pirelli Scorpion K6 tyres and have a total of 14 tyres available for use across the rally including shakedown. 
     
    Using his own M-Sport-built Fiesta Rally2 and recently signed to Red Bull, the 2019 FIA Junior WRC Champion, Jan Solans, will start Rally Estonia with the 2019 FIA Junior WRC co-drivers champion, Mauro Barreiro. Solans has recently completed a series of intense tests to get us up to speed as possible with Rally2 machinery after a small taste of the action on Rally Spain last year where he made his WRC3 debut.
     
    Maciej Woda, FIA Junior WRC Team Director, said:
    “We are finally going back rallying! We have 12 incredibly talented and exciting Junior WRC crews heading to Estonia with WRC for the first time. I expect there to be very close competition at the sharp end of the field on this rally as our Baltic and Scandinavian crews know these kinds of roads very well. Even looking at the onboards, I can tell this is a driver’s rally and guarantee there will be a smile underneath every single helmet come Friday. I am really pleased that the hard-working team at M-Sport Poland’s Kraków facility has been able to deliver 12 Fiesta Rally4s for this event, it’s a huge undertaking to do so. This is a Junior championship, but it is on the world stage so there is no question, these guys need the most competitive Rally4 machinery on offer, and that’s what they’ve got. That’s all I can guarantee though, I have no idea who will win this one! We are all back with renewed enthusiasm and energy, some will be a bit rustier behind the wheel than others but, I’m sure everyone will be back in their rhythm once the first loop is done with.”   

    Jan Solans, 2019 Junior WRC Champion: “We’re really happy to be back, it has been 10 months without competing since Rally Spain last year. I am so happy to carry out this new programme which is by no means easy. I really would like to thank Ford Spain, Red Bull, the Spanish federation, Pirelli and M-Sport Poland. It’s a difficult rally for us with all the jumps you have in Estonia. We need to show that we want to learn and get on the pace as soon as possible. We did two days of testing on two different stages in Poland, we tried a lot of things on the car and I am now happy with the setup of the car, there are still things we need to improve but we are in a good position. The difference is huge in the Rally2 in terms of establishing a good car set up, in Junior WRC you could not change much on the car. With the Fiesta Rally2, I have so many different setup combinations when you consider I can adjust springs, roll bars, diffs, gearbox and car balance, so there is much more to work on. In a Rally4 car it is possible to still get a good result even if you don’t have the best setup, in a Rally2 car, there are so many factors that need to work together and establishing a good setup is really key to getting a good result.”

    52 Tom Kristensson / Joakim Sjoberg
    Kristensson claimed victory on Rally Finland in 2019 with supreme performance, targeting stages he was confident on to exploit a margin over his competitors while playing it safe on the stages that posed greater rally ending risks. It turned out to be a masterstroke, with every single one of his competitors having some kind of incident or ‘moment’ while the Swede emerged scot-free with the championship lead. He currently sits atop the 2020 FIA Junior WRC championship after claiming victory on the opening round of the season on Rally Sweden but has only competed on one rally since the snow and ice rally:
     
    “I am so happy to be back behind the wheel of the M-Sport Poland Ford Fiesta Rally4. I enjoy the rallies with this kind of character, speed and flow. It will be demanding and tough with this fast and shortened rally and no chance for mistakes. We will give it a slow start to come into the car again and then go for it! We’re looking forward!”
     
    53 Martins Sesks / Renars Francis
    Sesks enjoyed his best Junior WRC result to date with second on Rally Sweden in February, opting for strong points finish rather than targeting stage win points – something he would often chase in 2019 and falter in the process of. When rallying action resumed this year he was hot out of the blocks taking a pair of victories in his Fiesta Rally4 before heading to Rally Liepaja where he duelled for the lead with Junior WRC rival Ken Torn but ultimately ended up retiring due to damaging his radiator after spectacularly over-jumping on the last day of action. His recent experience puts him in good stead to perform well on Rally Estonia:
     
    “I’m really excited to be in Estonia, especially Tartu and Rally Estonia! I have very nice memories here from my 2017 Estonian Junior Championship title fight with Ken Torn, we won this rally that year, but this year I’m not taking any pressure, I want to do my own rally and enjoy the amazing Estonian roads!”
     
    54 Ken Torn / Kauri Pannas
    Hailing from Saaremaa, the same Estonian island as Ott Tänak, Junior WRC veteran Torn claimed a well-respected third on Rally Sweden with a similar focus to Sesks: gain a decent haul of points with no mistakes. In his third season of FIA Junior WRC, he is the only driver on the entry list aside from Kristensson that has stood on the top step of the Junior category podium on none other than Rally Finland. Torn is no stranger to the Estonian roads and knows them well. His recent form on Rally Liepaja, where he won in his Fiesta Rally4 means the Estonian will be one to watch out for from the offset on Friday evening:

    “I really enjoy South-Estonia roads – they are always tricky and challenging but very enjoyable at the same time. Hopefully, the rally will be nice and competitive throughout the whole weekend. I also hope to have lots of fun not only for me and Kauri but also for our main competitors. It is still our home rally!”

    55 Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen
    Nineteen-year-old Sami Pajari, the AKK Flying Finn Future Star award winner, has been busy preparing for his return to Junior WRC action recently, with some impressive performances in a Fiesta R2T19, trading blows with Martins Sesks on Rally Rokiskis and proving he has the pace to challenge the Latvian on fast gravel roads. The Finn made his FIA Junior WRC debut on Rally Finland in 2019 where he impressed a lot of people, taking two stage wins before going off the road and retiring. He claimed fourth on Rally Sweden, picking up a stage win point to underlining he is no one-hit-wonder when it comes to surface-type:

    “I’m really looking forward to going against the best in the world after such a long break. It will be also interesting to see, who are really fighting up front for the win because I think there will be quite a few contenders. I will try my best also, but first of all let’s hope we can have a safe rally for everyone.”

    56 Raul Badiu / Gabriel Lazar
    The rapid Romanian will be seeking redemption on fast and smooth gravel roads after a colossal accident on Rally Finland in 2019 where he and co-driver Lazar were sent somersaulting in the air after a high-speed corner. Badiu was on stage-winning pace on that rally, missing out at each stop line by mere tenths and challenging for a podium position. He returned to rallying action on Sweden, netting a pair of stage wins on his way to fifth. Since the opening round of the Junior season he has competed on three different Romanian rallies in front-wheel-drive machinery with some strong results:

    “I’ve missed so much rallying so I think there is no better place to restart the championship than Rally Estonia, a Finland with jumps on steroids. It will definitely be very tricky with such high speeds being no margin for error, but for sure there will be a great pleasure behind the steering wheel driving very fast smooth roads and jumping in all the possible positions”

    57 Fabrizio Zaldivar / Fernando Mussano
    Making the trip to Estonia from South America via Spain, Zaldivar has squeezed in an intense period of testing on a variety of surfaces while entering an asphalt rally in Spain finishing fourth in his class. He finished sixth on Rally Sweden this year, three spots higher than where he finished on Rally Sweden in 2019 but one position shy of equalling his best result which came on Wales Rally GB in 2019 where he braved the mud and the rain to take fifth and secure eight in the FIA Junior WRC Championship:

    “We were inactive for five months, however, the last three weeks have been very intense. Based in Catalunya, we did several days of tests on gravel and asphalt. Thinking about that surface in which we have less experience, we went to compete at the Ferrol International Rally in ‘La Crouña’ – with good feelings and satisfactory results. Now in Estonia, we did 70kms in the south of Tartu looking for the best set-up for the weekend. After five months it’s hard to try to ‘catch up’ in three weeks, but I think it will be the same challenge for everyone.”

    58 Ruairi Bell / Matt Edwards
    Unlike most British youngsters, the 2019 British Rally Championship M-Sport prize winner has experienced Estonian roads and thanks to his exploits in Latvia is also well accustomed to the flat out flowing gravel on offer on Rally Estonia. Bell has previously called upon former Junior WRC driver Roland Poom to call the pace notes for him on a handful of Latvian rounds. He collected seventh on Rally Sweden, on a surface which he will gladly admit is not his favourite. Bell heads to Estonia following a scary incident in Portugal last weekend, he has had to make a last-minute co-driver change due to his longtime co-driver, Darren Garrod, injuring his arm. Garrod’s replacement is two-time British Rally champion, Matt Edwards, who Garrod guided to his first national title in 2018:

    “Rally Estonia promises to be an extremely challenging event. With months out of the car, the high-speed roads and deep ruts will provide a real test of pace notes and confidence right from the get-go. Originally it was Darren and I look forward to the weekend, but we had quite a big accident in Portugal on the weekend and Darren injured his arm. Matt Edwards, who Darren also reads the notes for, will fill-in for Darren and will be the least disruptive choice for us as Matt has been a bit of a mentor for me and coached me at various points though my career.”

    59 Pontus Lönnström / Stefan Gustavsson
    The young Swedish driver made an impressive debut on Rally Sweden despite suffering a puncture on the opening stage of the rally. He continuously posted top-five times through the rally and managed to bag two stage-win points too underlining his talent and promise to be a future star of the Swedish rally scene. Lonnstrom has been able to keep himself match fit on Swedish gravel, recently taking a Swedish Junior victory on Snapphanerallyt:

    “I and Stefan are really looking forward to Rally Estonia, it will be really nice to come back to FIA Junior WRC after such a long break! The roads look very fast which is something I really enjoy, I hope it will be a good event for us and that we will be able to pick up many points before going home to Sweden.”

    60 Marco Pollara / Maurizio Messina
    Italian Junior Champion Pollara collected a single championship point on Rally Sweden thanks to his tenth place finish on a surface he had little experience on. Heading to Rally Estonia, it will be Pollara and Messina’s first gravel outing of the season after taking to the stages of Rally di Roma Capitale in July where the crew battled among the podium positions but ultimately finished fourth in the ERC3 Junior category:

    “Maurizio and I are really happy to participate in this rally and restart with the Junior WRC after so many bad months.  From the videos of the special stages we have seen that they are very fast stages, a little atypical for us Italians but at the same time fantastic and exciting. We hope to score as many points as possible for the Junior WRC classification and try to learn a lot without making mistakes.”

    61 Fabio Andolfi / Stefano Savoia
    Fabio Andolfi was one of the hotly anticipated drivers to enter Junior WRC on Rally Sweden. The Italian sensation was running in the top-five early on until a dramatic roll put an end to his outing on the opening day of the rally. He restarted the rally and returned to the stages but then damaged his radiator, ruling himself out of the rest of the rally. Since Rally Sweden, the Italian WRC3 winner has had an outing on asphalt in R5 machinery in Italy where he claimed third:

    “It’s nice to be back in Estonia after a few years since my last participation here in 2014. After the test day near Varano in Italy with Motorsport Italia, we are ready to restart our challenge in Junior WRC at Rally Estonia. Thanks to ACI Sport, ACI Team Italia, M-Sport and Pirelli.”

    62 Enrico Oldrati / Elia de Guio
    Enrico Oldrati will have a point to prove on the fast gravel roads after his performance on Rally Finland in 2019 where he rolled. During the lockdown, the Italian focussed his efforts on the family business to help produce a ventilator attachment to snorkelling masks to aid the COVID-19 effort in Italy. Since then the Italian has been preparing for Rally Estonia including testing the new Fiesta Rally4:

    “It’s our first race after the lockdown so it’s going to be important to find a proper rhythm through the very fast roads of Estonia. We had one test some months ago to get used to the new Ford Rally4: it seems very good! We can’t wait to join the battle again.”

    63 Robert Virves / Sander Pruul 
    Robert Virves is the latest up and coming junior driver to come from Estonia having already claimed two wins in the Estonian Junior Championship this year adding his pair of victories from 2019. The Estonian is looking to join a long line of Estonians such as Egon Kaur, Ken Torn and Roland Poom to battle for podium positions in FIA Junior WRC:

    “We are really excited to make our debut in JWRC. It’s cool that we can do it here in Estonia and I’m sure it will be an interesting competition in our class since there are many very fast guys at the start line. We are ready and looking for a nice weekend in the forest!”

  • Probe by MRF Tyres shows cause of Craig Breen’s Rally Liepāja delay

    Probe by MRF Tyres shows cause of Craig Breen’s Rally Liepāja delay

    Liepaja, 19 August 2020: The Irish ace, a five-time FIA European Rally Championship event winner, had been in the fight for fourth place until he and co-driver Paul Nagle lost almost a minute on stage seven of the high-speed gravel event due to a damaged tyre.

    After reviewing footage from the camera fitted in Breen’s Hyundai i20 R5, it was discovered that a corner marker had been hit by a car running higher up the order, which had fallen into the road. The obstruction was impossible to see from behind the wheel, and Breen inadvertently ran over it, although he was able to battle back to finish fifth overall and land fourth-place ERC points.

    “It was a tough rally but we showed some good pace,” said Breen, who is leading the MRF Tyres’ development programme in the ERC along with Finnish team-mate Emil Lindholm. “It was important that we got to the end of the rally to pick up good points and get more data for the development of the tyres.

    “We are pushing the tyres to the limits and we are aggressive on the development of the tyre. The MRF Tyres are durable and it is important to learn develop the tyres. We are happy with the direction of the development of the tyres.

    “Being able to take a second on one stage was good and shows our pace. What happened to us on SS7 could have happened to anyone. I am looking forward to continuing on gravel at the next round in the Azores.”

  • Team MRF Tyres finish strongly in ERC Round 2

    Team MRF Tyres finish strongly in ERC Round 2

    Liepaja (Latvia), 16 August 2020: Team MRF Tyres have taken provisional fifth and sixth positions in Rally Liepaja, the second round of the FIA European Rally Championship.

    In the first ERC event for the Team MRF Tyres, Craig Breen & Paul Nagle in the Hyundai i20 R5 showed great pace to take fifth position.

    The duo had battled dust problems on Saturday’s stages and made changes to the car in the overnight service to find additional pace for the six Sunday stages.

    The Sunday stages saw six stages in two loops, for a total distance of 87.66 km. The weather was sunny and warm and the dusty gravel roads meant that the road sweeping effect was in full force. Meaning the more cars that ran on the road, the more grip there was.

    Breen/Nagle started the day by taking fifth on SS5 – the longest of the day at 18.11 km. This was followed by sixth on SS6. Unfortunately, an issue on SS7 meant the crew lost 56 seconds and fell down the leader board.

    They bounced back on the other side of service taking the second-best time on SS8. The time of 7:55.4 was just 1.5seconds off the stage winner, Mads Ostberg & Torstein Eriksen.

    After the short stage nine, they had consolidated their fifth place in their first gravel rally in the ERC with MRF Tyres.

    For Emil Lindholm & Mikael Korhonen, it was a tough start to the day. The duo started sixth but an awkward landing after a jump saw them take to a field. They were able to get back on stage and continue in sixth but the battle to move up the leader board had ended.

    Their rally became one of consolidation and, importantly data gathering.   

    They came home in sixth just 1.8 seconds behind their Team MRF Tyres stablemates.

    Lindholm & Korhonen are also competing in the ERC1 Junior Championship. It is a very positive result for the Finnish duo in that category, taking a second behind Solberg/Johnston.

    The final positions of fifth and sixth represent a positive finish for Team MRF Tyres. By pushing the boundaries and gaining important data against some of the best competition, the products will continue to improve. 

    The next round of the 2020 European Rally Championship takes place on the Portuguese Islands with the Azores Rallye. Craig Breen & Paul Nagle will compete on the gravel stage from 17-19 September.

    Craig Breen (Driver, Hyundai i20 R5) 5th

    “It was a tough rally but we showed some good pace. It was important that we got to the end of the rally to pick up good points and get more data for the development of the tyres.”

    “We are pushing the tyres to the limits and we are aggressive on the development of the tyre. The MRF Tyres are durable and it is important to learn develop the tyres. We are happy with the direction of the development of the tyres.”

    “Being able to take a second on one stage was good and shows our pace. What happened to us on SS7 could have happened to anyone. I am looking forward to continuing on gravel at the next round in the Azores Rallye.”

    Emil Lindholm (Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) 6th

    “We wanted to make sure we got to the end of this rally. After our moment in the morning, our focus certainly turned to consolidating our sixth place and gaining data. Saying that, we did have some good pace through the weekend.”

    “Taking a second on a stage is encouraging and like Craig, the development of the MRF Tyres is going in the right direction.”

    “It was also important to get the points in ERC1 Junior. We finished second in that class, which is quite a positive result for us and Team MRF Tyres!”