INDIA in F1

Category: WRC, Rally

  • Ott Tanak shines on Rally Sardinia’s opening leg

    Ott Tanak shines on Rally Sardinia’s opening leg

    Sardenga, 4 June 2021: Ott Tänak delivered a near-perfect performance to lead Hyundai Motorsport team-mate Dani Sordo after Friday’s punishing opening leg at Rally Italia Sardegna.

    Tänak won five of the eight sun-kissed and rocky speed tests in his i20 World Rally Car to build a handy 19.0sec advantage over his Spanish colleague in this fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.

    After dominating the previous round in Portugal only to retire from the lead, the Estonian was fastest out of the blocks on the Mediterranean holiday island. He won all four morning speed tests to lead by 16.9sec.

    A fifth straight win was followed by a brace of second fastest times. His only blot on the day was a delaminated front left tyre in the closing test, which cost a handful of seconds.

    Sordo, chasing a third consecutive Sardinia success, was hampered by minor problems this morning but hit top form later. He traded places with championship leader Sébastien Ogier before reeling off three fastest times to end the day 16.8sec clear of the Frenchman’s Toyota Yaris.

    Ogier was delighted with his drive. Expecting a day of damage limitation after starting first on sandy roads where grip was at its lowest, he briefly held second but was unable to match the Hyundais and ended 36.2sec off the lead.

    Elfyn Evans ended a frustrating day in fourth in his Yaris. The Welshman was out of sorts this morning and languished in sixth, but better pace this afternoon enabled the winner of the previous round in Portugal to recover. He ended more than a minute adrift of Tänak.

    Thierry Neuville was another to struggle this morning. Set-up changes had a positive effect and the Belgian ended on a high, sharing fastest time in the final stage with team-mate Sordo. Two punctures didn’t help his efforts, but he was only 1.2sec behind Evans.

    Sixth went the way of Takamoto Katsuta. The Japanese driver stalled his Yaris’ engine three times but held a comfortable advantage over FIA WRC2 leader Mads Østberg in his TRT World Rally Team-run Citroën C3. Class rival Jari Huttunen was eighth in his Hyundai NG i20, ahead of FIA WRC3 leader Yohan Rossel in his Citroën C3 and WRC2 contender Marco Bulacia (Toksport Škoda Fabia Evo).

    Kalle Rovanperä was initially Tänak’s closest challenger but the Finn retired his Yaris with broken front right suspension in this morning’s final stage.

    It was a disappointing day for M-Sport Ford. Teemu Suninen retired in the opening stage after tipping his Fiesta onto its side, while Gus Greensmith retired from seventh in the last stage with transmission troubles. Brake problems cost Pierre-Louis Loubet more than three minutes and he was 11th in an i20.

    Saturday is the longest leg with 129.62km of competition. The morning features a double pass of two stages in the Monte Lerno area, including the breathtaking Micky’s Jump. After service, two afternoon tests, which are also driven twice, include one not used since 2005.

    2021 Rally Italia Sardegna – Provisional Results after Section 5:

    1. Ott Tänak (EST) / Martin Järveoja (EST)Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC1 hr 26min 58.0sec
    2. Dani Sordo (ESP) / Borja Rozada (ESP)Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC1 hr 27min 17.4sec
    3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA)Toyota Yaris WRC1 hr 27min 34.2sec
    4. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR)Toyota Yaris WRC1 hr 28min 00.0sec
    5. Thierry Neuville (BEL) / Martin Wydaeghe (BEL) Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC1 hr 28min 01.2sec
    6. Takamoto Katsuta (JAP) / Daniel Barritt (GBR)Toyota Yaris WRC1 hr 28min 24.1sec
    7. Mads Ostberg (NOR) / Torsten Eriksen (NOR) – WRC2Citroën C31 hr 30min 39.7sec
    8. Jari Huttunen (FIN) / Mikko Lukka (FIN) – WRC2Hyundai NG i201 hr 31min 06.7sec
    9. Yohan Rossel (FRA) / Alexandre Coria (FRA) – WRC3Citroën C31 hr 31min 33.8sec
    10. P. Lopez (ESP) / D. Vallejo (ESP) – WRC3Škoda Fabia Evo1 hr 31min 50.1sec
  • Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin win Rally of Portugal: WRC

    Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin win Rally of Portugal: WRC

    Porto (Portugal), 23 May 2021: Welshman Elfyn Evans and co-driver Scott Martin delivered a devastating performance on the final morning of the 54th Vodafone Rally of Portugal to seal a comfortable victory in their Toyota Yaris WRC and give their World Championship aspirations a major boost.
     
    The feat marked Evans’s fourth WRC triumph after a debut win in his native Wales in 2017 and two victories in Sweden and Turkey last season. It went a long way to erasing the disappointment of missing out on victory on the last stage in Croatia recently and moves him to within two points of team-mate Sébastien Ogier at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings.
     
    Evans stunned rival Dani Sordo on the first stage of the final morning by almost doubling their overnight advantage and it was one-way traffic from then on as the Welshman eased to victory over the Spaniard by 28.3 seconds. His success marked the sixth different winner in Portugal in as many years.

    Runner-up Sordo and new co-driver Borja Rozada were a shining light for the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team on an event that offered so much and ultimately delivered little.
     
    Dramatic second-day retirements for long-time leader Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville threatened to derail the team’s push for the Manufacturers’ title, but both drivers bounced back to claim five and four bonus points for their respective performances on the final Power Stage.
     
    Sébastien Ogier was always going to struggle after running the first car on the road during the first leg. But the Frenchman persevered and began a gradual climb up the leader board as the event progressed to seal the final podium position, the seven-time World Champion holding off his talented young Toyota team-mate Takamoto Katsuta in the process.
     
    The fourth-placed Japanese was rewarded with a best WRC finish to date, while Ogier maintained his World Championship lead.
     
    The M-Sport World Rally Team has good reason to be optimistic about the rest of the season after impressive performances by both Gus Greensmith and Adrien Fourmaux. The Briton equalled his best ever finish in the WRC (Turkey 2020) with fifth place and Fourmaux was sixth on his first appearance in Portugal with the World Rally Car.
     
    Both drivers suffered a puncture and throttle-related issues and may well have been challenging for the podium under different circumstances.
     
    FIA WRC2 cars completed the top 10. Esapekka Lappi was the class of the field to seal victory and seventh overall in his Movisport Volkswagen Polo GTi. Second-placed Teemu Suninen pushed him hard on day two, but spun his M-Sport Ford Fiesta at the start of the final morning and drifted out of contention for the win.
     
    TRT Citroën C3 driver Mads Østberg was a little disappointed not to be challenging the Finns for victory but the defending champion rounded off the podium places after getting the better of early rally pace-setter Nikolay Gryazin. Turbo and tyre issues on his Movisport Volkswagen Polo GTI ruined the Russian’s chances of claiming a podium finish and he was fourth, with young Oliver Solberg in fifth.
     
    Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz reeled in Citroën driver Yohan Rossel during the course of the final morning to claim victory by 5.6 seconds in FIA WRC3. The Škoda driver and his French rival had been evenly matched for much of the rally. Chris Ingram and Nicolas Ciamin finished third and fourth.
     
    Latvia’s Martin Sesks emerged as a comfortable of the FIA Junior WRC category. Finland’s Sami Pajari was second and Czech driver Martin Koči rounded off the podium places. Jon Armstrong arrived in Portugal as the series leader but was not able to start the final morning after issues on Saturday afternoon.
     
    Three-time Rally of Portugal winner Armindo Araújo fulfilled his goal of being the leading Portuguese driver to reach the finish. He guided his Škoda to 19th overall. International soccer manager André Villas-Boas also completed his first ever Rally of Portugal in a respectable 33rd position.
     
    The conclusion of the final Power Stage was neutralised for the back-markers after a crash involving Austrian driver Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof. Notional times were awarded.

    2021 Rally Portugal – Unofficial results

    1. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR)   Toyota Yaris WRC3hr 38min 26.2sec
    2. Dani Sordo (ESP) / Borja Rozada (ESP)          Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC3hr 38min 54.5sec 
    3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA)                         Toyota Yaris WRC 3hr 39min 49.8sec
    4. Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) / Daniel Barritt (GBR)Toyota Yaris WRC3hr 40min 54.6sec
    5. Gus Greensmith (GBR) / Chris Patterson (GBR)                  Ford Fiesta WRC3hr 43min 18.9sec
    6. Adrien Fourmaux (FRA) / Renaud Jamoul (FRA)Ford Fiesta WRC3hr 43min 29.6sec 
    7. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN) – WRC2Volkswagen Polo GTi3hr 48min 03.4sec
    8. Teemu Suninen (FIN) / Mikko Markkula (FIN) – WRC2          Ford Fiesta MkII  3hr 49min 46.2sec
    9. Mads Østberg (NOR) / T. Eriksen (NOR) – WRC2Citroën C3   3hr 50min 27.7sec
    10. Nikolay Gryazin (RAF) / K. Alexsandrov (RAF) – WRC2Volkswagen Polo GTi3hr 51min 02.0sec
    11. Oliver Solberg (SWE) / A. Johnston (IRL) – WRC2           Hyundai NG i203hr 51min 16.9sec
  • Martins Sesks takes his second Junior WRC victory

    Martins Sesks takes his second Junior WRC victory

    Porto (Portugal), 23 May 2021: Martins Sesks took his second FIA Junior WRC event win of his career on Rally de Portugal after a long and hard-fought rally.
     
    Sesks, together with co-driver Renars Francis, cruised to victory on Sunday’s stages, starting the day with over three minutes in hand to Sami Pajari who finished the rally in second, claiming his first podium of the 2021 season.
     
    Finishing the rally in third place and rounding out the podium were Robert Virves and Sander Pruul, collecting their first silverware since their explosive Junior WRC debut on Rally Estonia in 2020.
     
    The rally was by no means easy for any of the 2021 Junior WRC crews, seeing multiple changes for the lead and a total of five different stage winners spread across 19 special stages.
     
    Pajari took the first Wolf Stage Win Point of the rally and with it the lead, but it was Jon Armstrong who led for a large part of Friday’s stages.
     
    The Northern Irishman took four Wolf Stage Wins in a row between stages two and five to build up a 36.4 second lead heading into stage six. His lead collapsed on stage six after suffering a puncture, losing over four minutes and falling back to fourth, handing the lead back to Pajari who was taking much more conservative approach to the rally. 
     
    Martin Koci claimed his first Wolf Stage Win Point of the rally on SS6 while sitting third in the classification as Armstrong bounced back on Mortagua, grabbing another Wolf Stage Win Point.
     
    Friday concluded with Pajari winning the Lousada Super Special Stage leading Koci by 25.7 seconds with Martins Sesks lying third after a tough day of all-out gravel action. William Creighton impressed many onlookers by consistently posting second placed stage times on Friday, but an untimely driveshaft failure put a stop to his impressive pace on stage five. Lauri Joona was on the hunt for stage wins on Friday but ultimately suffered a similar fate on the stage four.
     
    Raul Badiu’s rally didn’t start as the Romanian intended to, breaking a steering arm on stage four, when the Romanian’s car returned to service, additional engine damage was detected resulting in Baidu having to retire from the rally entirely.
     
    Saturday presented a brutal rate attrition with it as Junior WRC embarked on some of the roughest stages in the championship this year. 
     
    Joona had regrouped following a disappointing day on Friday by winning the opening stage of the day to open his account of Wolf Stage Win Points while Koci closed to within 11 seconds of Pajari’s lead.
     
    Sesks claimed his first stage win of the rally to mark five different stage winners on SS10 while also taking the lead as a steering issue hampered young Pajari.
     
    Armstrong bagged another stage win on the longest stage of the rally through Amarante, just 1.7 seconds ahead of Sesks after 37.92-kilometre duel. This would be the highlight of Armstrong’s day who ultimately retired from the rally owing to terminal engine damage. 
     
    Joona claimed another Wolf Stage Win Point on SS13 with Sesks taking top honours on the second pass of Amarante to compound his impressive lead as more bad luck hit Joona with a driveshaft failure. 
     
    The drama saw Robert Virves promoted to third position after a difficult Friday seeing the Estonian sustain two punctures as he endeavoured to put together a clean rally on Saturday.
     
    Sesks would round out the day on the Porto Super Special Stage with another Wolf Stage Point to give him a total of three stage with Sunday’s stages left to run.
     
    Sunday was a much less dramatic affair on Rally de Portugal but the competition for Wolf Stage Win Points was still tense as Koci headed into the day with the aim of maximising every opportunity for stage wins. The Slovakian claimed the first speed test of the day with Joona responding on the one and only pass of the Montim stage. 
     
    Koci bagged the next stage win on the first pass of the legendary Fafe stage denying Joona by exactly two seconds as Sesks had settled into a comfortable rhythm to bring his Fiesta Rally4 home for victory. Koci made it two top stage times in a row by the penultimate stage again, marginally ahead of Joona as the pair were leagues ahead of the rest of the Junior WRC field.
     
    Virves also did everything he needed to do to make sure he could take the final step on the podium in a similar way to Pajari, with both drivers having an uneventful finish to the rally.
     
    Ultimately the final stage of the rally and second pass of Fafe was cancelled, crowning Sesks the winner of Rally de Portugal with Pajari second and Virves third. 
     
    Maciej Woda, FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager: “Congratulations to Martins and Renars for their second Junior WRC victory. This rally has been incredibly tough for all competitors and the level of competition did not disappoint at all with five different stage winners. I think we are going to see this year’s Wolf Stage Win Points make a huge difference to the championship as they really help give crews a fighting chance for more points when they faced tough challenges this weekend. Sami Pajari did exactly what he needed to after Croatia with a good clean rally and a strong podium position while also collecting some stage wins. I have also been quite impressed with Robert Virves here in Portugal, he had a difficult day on Friday but has worked very hard since then and shown great maturity to arrive at this podium position. William Creighton has proved this weekend that he is all round competitive rally driver with some great times this weekend on gravel, I am really looking forward to seeing what he”
     
    1. Martins Sesks / Renars Francis
    “It feels good and it’s a big relief after a rough and tough weekend. Basically it was really tough and long all week so it’s nice to be here, especially in first place. I cannot compare this to Estonia, in Estonia there was a fight between the others whereas here it was a fight with the stage and trying to survive.”
     
    2. Sami Pajari / Marko Salminen +03:11.8
    “I really should be happy, it was such a difficult rally for all of us so we need to be happy. I think we did well, we tried to look at the condition of the stages to see where we could go fast and catch the points. There were also some difficult sections where we lost a lot of times, it was all about being clever in the difficult places.”
     
    3. Robert Virves / Sander Pruul +11:48.8
    “If I saw the speed of the other guys, it was quite obvious that not all of them can last that long with their speed on these roads. I think it’s been the most difficult rally for me so far. Mostly because of the road conditions where you can’t drive fast as it is so hard on the car but at the same time we have stage points to fight for so you have to find a compromise.”
     
    4. Martin Koci / Petr Tesisnky +38:44.8
    “The only chance to make the mood better after restarting the rally was to make some stage points. We have three from today, one stage was cancelled, we enjoyed it today for sure. I think everyone here is super competitive, it’s all about the tactics and staying on the road. This time we didn’t have good a luck with the car, hopefully next time will be more about the speed itself.”
     
    5. William Creighton / Liam Regan +40:44.9 
    “It’s been a really tricky rally for everybody and unfortunately we had an issue with the driveshaft yesterday but we were able to manage things today. I think the encouraging think was that we were able to set some good stage times. It’s been a good weekend. It’s definitely an encouraging weekend and plenty to build on and work on for Estonia.”
     
    6. Lauri Joona / Ari Koponen +01:11:09.1
    “We have a good fight with Martin Koci today, we only got one stage point but more is always better. We are happy to finish. I think this rally is the toughest rally in Junior WRC this season, we will see what happens in Estonia where I think we are strongest.”

  • Elfyn Evans leads WRC field after Saturday: Rally Portugal

    Elfyn Evans leads WRC field after Saturday: Rally Portugal

    Porto (Portugal), 22 May 2021: Welshman Elfyn Evans was the somewhat surprising leader of the 54th Vodafone Rally of Portugal after a further seven thrilling special stages on Saturday.
     
    Ott Tänak had been the dominant force for much of the day, the Estonian pedalling his Hyundai i20 Coupé to a string of four victories on five gravel stages. But the 2019 World Champion damaged his rear suspension on the second run through Amarante and was forced to throw in the towel several kilometres from the stage finish.
     
    Evans had been applying pressure on his rival all day and followed up a fastest time on the 12th stage with a second success on the special where Tänak was sidelined to open up a cushion of 10.7 seconds over  Dani Sordo at the night halt. It could have been even more had the Spaniard not delivered a stunning performance in the Porto super special to claw back 5.7 seconds.
     
    What promised to be such a terrific weekend for the Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team after their performances on Friday quickly evaporated as Saturday progressed. Thierry Neuville withdrew before the afternoon loop to enable team technicians to repair his car for a full assault at Sunday’s Power Stage and then Tänak’s retirement stunned team management.
     
    Hyundai’s consolation was Sordo’s firm grip on second position at the night halt, although seven-time World Champion Sébastien Ogier had managed to climb on to the podium at the end of the leg and was ominously placed to make a late challenge with soft compound tyres at his disposal on the final day. Ogier trailed Sordo by 53.5 seconds. Takamoto Katsuta had pushed the Frenchman hard during the afternoon and was a very close fourth in his Toyota Yaris.
     
    The M-Sport Ford Fiestas of Adrien Fourmaux and Gus Greensmith moved up to fifth and sixth when Kalle Rovanperä was sidelined with technical issues on the road section to SS14, the Blue Oval pair swapping positions on the final stage when Greensmith was delayed with ongoing throttle issues.
     
    Esapekka Lappi was the class leader of the FIA WRC2 field throughout the day in his Movisport Volkswagen Polo GTI and will take a 40.4-second cushion into the final leg over fellow Finn, M-Sport Ford Teemu Suninen. Turbo issues for Lappi’s teammate Nikolay Gryazin and a costly spin for Hyundai Motorsport N’s Oliver Solberg moved Mads Østberg in his TRT World Rally Team’s Citroën C3 up to third, the Norwegian even setting the second quickest time overall in SS15.
     
    Citroën driver Yohan Rossel from France overhauled Poland’s Kajetan Kajetanowicz in FIA WRC3 after the second Amarante stage where the Škoda driver dropped 25 seconds. The duo were separated by just 2.1 seconds after SS14, with Brit Chris Ingram (Škoda) and Frenchman Nicolas Ciamin (Citroën) holding third and fourth.
     
    Latvia’s Martin Sesks was a clear leader in FIA Junior WRC heading to the final spectator stage in Porto. Sami Pajari was second after Czech driver Martin Koči lost out on second place in SS12 and Jon Armstrong stopped in SS14.


    Provisional results after Section 7

    1. Elfyn Evans (GBR) / Scott Martin (GBR)                                 Toyota Yaris WRC     3hr 07min 09.1sec
    2. Dani Sordo (ESP) / Borja Rozada (ESP)               Hyundai i20 Coupé WRC      3hr 07min 19.8sec
    3. Sébastien Ogier (FRA) / Julien Ingrassia (FRA)Toyota Yaris WRC   3hr 08min 13.3sec
    4. Takamoto Katsuta (JPN) / Daniel Barritt (GBR)Toyota Yaris WRC                    3hr 08min 14.8sec
    5. Adrien Fourmaux (FRA) / Renaud Jamoul (FRA)Ford Fiesta WRC 3hr 11min 30.9sec
    6. Gus Greensmith (GBR) / Chris Patterson (GBR)Ford Fiesta WRC3hr 11min 37.3sec 
    7. Esapekka Lappi (FIN) / Janne Ferm (FIN)- WRC2Volkswagen Polo Gti3hr 15min 30.3sec
    8. Teemu Suninen (FIN) / Mikko Markkula (FIN)Ford Fiesta MkII 3hr 16min 10.7sec
    9. Mads Østberg (NOR) / Torstein Eriksen (NO) – WRC2Citroën C33hr 17min 55.7sec
    10. Nikolay Gryazin (RAF) / Konstantin Alexsandrov (RAF)Volkswagen Polo GTI3hr 18min 10.2sec
    11. Oliver Solberg (SWE) / Aaron Johnston (IRL)Hyundai NG i203hr 18min 13.3se
  • Martins Sesks tops Juniors on Saturday: Rally Portugal Junior WRC

    Martins Sesks tops Juniors on Saturday: Rally Portugal Junior WRC

    Porto (Portugal), 22 May 2021: Martins Sesks leads the FIA Junior WRC field heading into the final day of Rally de Portugal which has seen five different stage winners and three different leaders.
     
    Saturday opened with stage nine and a new stage winner by way of Lauri Joona as Martin Koci closed within 11 seconds of Sami Pajari in the fight for the lead.
     
    The following stage saw Sesks claim his first Wolf Stage Win Point of the rally to make it five different Wolf Stage winners on Rally de Portugal so far. On the very same stage, Sesks moved into the lead as Pajari was hampered by a loss of power steering, losing over three minutes, but he was able to finish the stage and return to service.
     
    The first pass of the arduous Amarante stage followed, seeing Jon Armstrong add another point to his championship tally by going fastest on the stage, just 1.7 seconds ahead of Sesks.
     
    The second loop of Rally de Portugal proved to be Junior WRC’s most treacherous yet, with the rough stages now filled with deep rock-laden ruts. Koci would be the first to fall victim of the vicious conditions, retiring for the day with a broken driveshaft, promoting Armstrong to third.
     
    Stage 13 saw another Wolf Stage Win Point for Joona as Junior WRC headed for its second pass of the 37.92-kilometre Amarante stage. 
     
    The longest stage of the rally was a real test of endurance, following in the rock littered tracks of the wider more powerful cars ahead. Sesks claimed the Wolf Stage Win Point as Joona suffered a driveshaft failure. Armstrong also stopped on the same stage, and when the car was recovered to service it emerged the Northern Irishman had suffered terminal engine damage and would not be able to restart on Sunday. 
     
    The drama saw Robert Virves promoted to third position and, following a clean run of stages on Sunday, is set for his second FIA Junior WRC podium while Koci will restart the rally on Sunday in fourth.
     
    Sesks would round out the day on the Porto Super Special Stage with another Wolf Stage Point to give him a total of three stage win points so far on Rally de Portugal.
     
    Maciej Woda, FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager: “Today has been a very difficult and testing day for the FIA Junior WRC crews on what has been one of toughest loop of stages I have seen. We have had five different stage winners so far on this rally which shows the level this year’s crews are pushing at and every driver has had to fight numerous battles to hold their positions. It’s a huge shame to see the issues out on the stages today, but rallying is a hard and demanding sport and as we have seen at the sharp end of the WRC, these stages are testing for all cars. I must commend the crews today, they have all showed admirable determination and maturity with the situations they have all faced. Lauri Joona was able to demonstrate his speed by grabbing two stage wins and William Creighton has been right up there. Robert Virves found some bad luck on Friday with two punctures but is now looking at a podium position if he holds firm on Sunday.”
     
    Martins Sesks, FIA Junior WRC Leader: “It didn’t look realistic to be leading today and I thought it would be really hard. I suppose it couldn’t have been done in a clean fight if all the cars were going so it was just about surviving and being tactical with the pace. The first loop was quite good, I was surprised that the roads were in such good condition but the road on the second pass was so bad with rocks the size of heads.”

  • Ott Tanak leads as Dani Sordo slips: Rally Portugal

    Ott Tanak leads as Dani Sordo slips: Rally Portugal

    Lousada (Portugal), 21 May 2021: Hyundai driver Ott Tänak maintained his composure and erred on the side of caution when necessary to hold a lead of six seconds after eight special stages of the 54th Vodafone Rally of Portugal on Friday.
     
    The three Hyundai i20 Coupés looked set to dominate the first leg. Dani Sordo led the rally from the end of stage two to the start of the seventh special, but tyre wear and a costly stall were expensive for the Spaniard and he slipped behind Tänak and Toyota’s Elfyn Evans before the final stage at Lousada.
     
    Sordo erred on the side of caution on the final special as well and finished the leg nine seconds off the lead in third place.
     
    The i20s had been the class of the field during the first loop, but Thierry Neuville was over ambitious with a pace-note in stage seven, slid wide, clouted a tree stump and lost over three and a half minutes coaxing the car to the stage finish. The crew worked in vain on the car on the road section, but had already plummeted from third to ninth when they were forced to retire from the day’s action. 
     
    Evans, Kalle Rovanperä and Takamoto Katsuta were locked in their own mini battle for fourth, fifth and sixth places for much of the day in a trio of Toyotas. They traded times until Evans made his move and Katsuta staked his climb on fourth place at the night halt. Rovanperä finished the day in sixth.
     
    Starting first on the road was a distinct disadvantage for defending FIA World Champion Sébastien Ogier and he ceded time to his rivals throughout the day, despite winning the seventh stage. The Frenchman did manage to pass Adrien Fourmaux on the second loop of stages and moved up to sixth after Neuville’s issues and he displaced Rovanperä in SS7. But the fifth-placed Toyota Yaris driver still has his work cut out to make this trip to northern Portugal a fruitful one for his title aspirations.
     
    Gus Greensmith showed impressive pace on three stages in particular in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta, but a time-consuming rear puncture ruined the Briton’s progress and he reached the night halt in seventh after passing Fourmaux when the Frenchman also collected a flat tyre.
     
    A puncture ruined Mads Østberg’s ambitions in FIA WRC2 as well and the driver of the TRT World Rally Team-run Citroën C3 could only watch frustratingly as the flying Finns, Esapekka Lappi and Teemu Suninen, battled it out with Nikolay Gryazin for supremacy. The latter was the revelation on the opening day but his Movisport team-mate Lappi held on to take a 2.2-second lead into the night halt in his Volkswagen Polo GTi and held ninth overall. Suninen finished the day a further 7.6 seconds behind in his M-Sport Ford Fiesta Mk II.
     
    Yohan Rossel (Citroën) held a slender 3.5-second advantage over Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Škoda) in FIA WRC3 after eight stages. Nicolas Ciamin (Citroën) and Chris Ingram (Škoda) were third and fourth.
     
    Finland’s Sami Pajari held a lead of 22.3 seconds over Czech driver Martin Koči  in the FIA Junior WRC category after seven stages. Latvia’s Martin Sesks was third, but the Ford Fiesta series-leading Jon Armstrong dropped over four minutes and lost his early advantage in stage six.

  • Ogier, Ingrassia win Rally Croatia: WRC Round 3

    Ogier, Ingrassia win Rally Croatia: WRC Round 3

    Zagreb (Croatia), 25 April 2021: Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia made history this afternoon by winning the first Rally Croatia to count for the FIA World Rally Championship.

    In a dramatic finish to the Wolf Power Stage, the Toyota duo beat their team-mates Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin by 0.6s with Hyundai-powered Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe just 8.1s behind the winners after three days of spectacular action on stunning countryside roads close to the Croatian capital Zagreb.

    Despite nursing damage to the right side of their Yaris WRC following a road traffic accident on the liaison section heading to SS17, overnight leaders Ogier/Ingrassia remained in contention for victory starting the Wolf Power Stage, which they began 3.9s behind Evans/Martin.

    Although the French pair made a minor error, they went quickest through the run to lay down the gauntlet for Evans/Martin. The Britons appeared to have done just enough until they slid wide on a right-hander within sight of the charge to the finish. Starved of vital traction as they mounted an earth bank, the seconds lost meant they completed the stage 4.5s slower than Ogier/Ingrassia to lose the rally by 0.6s.

    “It looks like it really went close to the last metres,” said Ogier, who moves to the top of the WRC standings by eight points. “Maybe the last mistake from Elfyn hand us the win but over the weekend the whole team has done an amazing job. Of course, the emotion for us now is super-strong. It’s been a crazy rollercoaster for us this weekend between the puncture and the issue this morning obviously. I was glad to still be in the race honestly. Now, just to catch this is, I guess, why we do this sport: for this emotion. I said ‘sorry’ to Elfyn because he’s done an amazing job as well. He was very close to do the same this weekend. But I’m very happy for the whole team; Toyota and the car have been amazing this weekend. That’s for you guys: a lot of points. Congrats to all of you.”

    Evans said: “That last corner, I just got onto the loose and completely missed the next corner so for sure, it wasn’t all lost there. But I say one second was gone. That’s a shame but it was a big fight all weekend and hats off to Seb for that last stage. Next time.”

    After completing the Croatia Rally podium in third following his fightback through Saturday afternoon, Neuville said: “I pushed very hard but I overshoot a junction in the stage so I lost easily three seconds. But we have tried, we have tried our best. I was absolutely on the limit of the car all the time, trying to enjoy, which we obviously did. Martijn did a good job, it wasn’t easy for the co-drivers. But we are happy to be here.”

    Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja finished fourth for Hyundai, one place ahead of Adrien Fourmaux/Renaud Jamoul in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta WRC.

    It was a remarkable result for Frenchman Fourmaux, who was competing in a World Rally Car in the WRC for the first time in only his fourth season of rallying. “I’m really, really happy about our weekend, just a bit disappointed for one thing that the rally is finished now,” said Fourmaux. “It was just perfect, I can only say thank you M-Sport and Red Bull for all the opportunity and also the FFSA. They still believe in me after four years. It was an incredible weekend for us. I think we had an amazing pace in some stages… What a weekend. I don’t know [when we will be back in the car]. You will have to ask M-Sport for that.”

    Takamoto Katsuta/Daniel Barritt, who won two stages on Saturday, took sixth place for the third round of the WRC running followed by Gus Greensmith/Chris Patterson, who were slowed by a hydraulic system issue and a brake problem during the morning runs.

    Craig Breen/Paul Nagle, who finished eighth, made up for a frustrating event by going second fastest on the Wolf Power Stage. “Yesterday morning was such a disappointment, 100 metres into the day and already it was game over,” said Breen. “It was difficult to really go at 150 per cent on those tricky stages but, okay, I enjoyed it and I learned a lot. Hopefully we have a lot of food for thought. Hopefully it will not be too long [that I am back in a World Rally Car].”

    Østberg/Eriksen begin WRC2 title defence with victory

    Mads Østberg/Torstein Eriksen overcame brake issues in their Citroën C3 Rally2 to claim the FIA WRC2 win ahead of Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula in ninth overall. Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov were in the podium fight but crashed into retirement on SS19.

    “It was one of the worst days I’ve had in a rally car,” said Østberg. “To do a day like today with no brakes. I can’t believe I’m at the end. So many times I couldn’t stop the car and I just had to roll and be really careful. I have no idea why we have this issue, but we forget about that now. We have won the first rally this year and of course we are very happy with that.”

    Kajetan Kajetanowicz and Jon Armstrong took FIA WRC3 and Junior WRC honours respectively.

    Sébastien Ogier (Driver car 1)
    “It has been a real rollercoaster of emotions this weekend. The most important thing is that everyone is safe after what happened this morning on the road section; this was my main concern when it happened. I also thought my rally could be over, but the car was not too badly damaged and we could carry on. I’m not sure I believed it was possible to still win after everything that happened, but I think everybody knows that I never give up and I tried to keep fighting until the end. I feel for Elfyn who did a good job this weekend and was especially strong this morning. But we had good pace this weekend and just had some issues that slowed us down at times. It’s nice to share the podium in another one-two for the team.”

    Elfyn Evans (Driver car 33)
    “To come second is never the way you want to finish when you go into the last stage with the lead. Obviously, Seb had a very, very strong last stage and unfortunately for us we made an error on what was basically the last proper corner. It’s frustrating but at the same time it’s a solid result, and a very good result for the team. They have done a great job to give both Seb and I a fantastic car this weekend. We fought tooth and nail all the way through and it was good fun.”

    FINAL CLASSIFICATION, CROATIA RALLY
    1 Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2h51m22.9s
    2 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota Yaris WRC) +0.6s
    3 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +8.1s
    4 Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +1m25.1s
    5 Adrien Fourmaux/Renaud Jamoul (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3m09.7s
    6 Takamoto Katsuta/Dan Barritt (Toyota Yaris WRC) +3m31.8s
    7 Gus Greensmith/Chris Patterson (Ford Fiesta WRC) +3m58.8s
    8 Craig Breen/Paul Nagle (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +4m28.2s
    9 Mads Østberg/Torstein Eriksen (Citroën C3 Rally2) +10m00.8s
    10 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +10m29.3s
    Retired Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota Yaris WRC)

  • Armstrong leads after Juniors deliver more excitement: Junior WRC

    Armstrong leads after Juniors deliver more excitement: Junior WRC

    Zagreb, 24 April 2021: Saturday took off from where Friday finished with two Juniors departing the classification early, on the first stage of the day.
     
    Romanian Raul Baidu, after two stage wins on Friday, ended his Saturday prematurely by damaging a wheel, forcing him to retire for the day.
     
    Robert Virves joined Badiu, after finding some pace in his Fiesta Rally4 a series of mistakes followed, resulting in the young Estonian depositing a wheel on the stage. He returned his three-wheeled car to service to be repaired for Sunday’s action.
     
    Lauri Joona came close to joining the pair of retirees on stage nine too but held it together after turning in too early on a hairpin, pitching his car and almost rolling. The Finn was able to regroup and became a strong contender in the fight for the lead later that day.
     
    Martin Koci took the SS9 stage win by the narrowest of margins, beating Martins Sesks by just 1.4s, extending his lead over Joona.
     
    Northern Irishman Jon Armstrong responded on the following stage to take his maiden Junior WRC stage win, narrowly denying Koci of top stage honours by three-tenths of a second. 
     
    Armstrong and Joona began fighting over the runner up position in the Junior WRC classification from SS11 but also began to gradually chip away at Koci’s lead while Sami Pajari bagged a pair of stage wins following a brake issue to conclude the morning loop.
     
    Stage 13 saw another stage point for Pajari, but Koci came away with the biggest loss as both Joona and Armstrong had slashed their deficit down by 10 seconds with Joona swapping places with Armstrong to take second.
     
    Stage 14 saw a monumental shift in the focus on the fight for victory as Koci hit a rock, damaging his wheel, losing a costly 2 and a half minutes. Joona delivered a sub-par stage time while Armstrong capitalised, taking the stage win while seizing the lead.
     
    Martins Sesks improved pace throughout the day, eventually fighting for stage wins towards the conclusion of Saturday’s stages, with the Latvian finding himself third by the time he returned to service in Zagreb.
     
    At the end of Saturday Armstrong lead the Junior field by 22.5 seconds over Lauri Joona, with Sesks third, Koci fourth and William Creighton Fifth.
     
    Pajari has stormed ahead leading the wolf stage win points with eight to his name so far, Badiu, Koci, and Armstrong are all tied for second with two and Joona fifth with one.
     
    Maciek Woda, FIA Junior WRC Championship Manager: “Another exciting and unpredictable day in Junior WRC, what more can I say? Days like today, with such competitive stage action in identical machinery is what makes this Championship so exciting and unique. It’s unfortunate that Martin had a puncture as I believe we were set for a close battle between the top three tomorrow. I’m really interested and excited to see what Jon and Lauri do tomorrow. Jon hasn’t been in this position for a long time and Lauri is out of his comfort zone on asphalt so let’s see how it plays out tomorrow!”
     
    Jon Armstrong, FIA Junior WRC Rally Leader: “Pretty good day for us in the morning the first stage was tricky, we had overheating brake issues but the second stage in the morning and the afternoon seemed really good for us. We had a big gap on the afternoon pass of that stage which propelled us into a really good position overall. We had no major issues apart from brake fade, we had a good day just doing our own thing getting faster and faster. We’re not too far away from anyone on every stage so we just need to keep doing what we’re doing and hope everything will go well.” 

  • Sebastian Ogier leads Rally Croatia set for a dramatic climax: WRC Ro3

    Sebastian Ogier leads Rally Croatia set for a dramatic climax: WRC Ro3

    The outcome of the first Rally Croatia to count for the FIA World Rally Championship is tightly poised with four stages remaining on Sunday, April 25 and 10.4s separating the fastest three crews.

    Defending World Champions Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia hold top spot in their Toyota Yaris WRC, 6.9s ahead of their team-mates Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin. Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe, who began Saturday’s leg with a 7.7s advantage, are 3.5s down on Evans/Martin and 10.4s adrift of Ogier/Ingrassia after they experienced a morning of frustration on the spectacular Croatian stages.

    Under bright blue skies and in ambient temperatures approaching 20 degrees centigrade, Croatia has delivered a thrilling WRC spectacle.

    Four drivers have taken their turn to record a fastest stage time while Ogier/Ingrassia and Neuville/Wydaeghe have both been hit by issues. For the flying French pair, a slow puncture on SS13 cost vital time, while a broken brake disc on SS12 made for a “really tricky” run for their Belgian rivals.

    They lost their overnight lead on SS9 after the decision was taken to select a combination of hard and soft-compound Pirelli tyres on their Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC for the morning loop, when the all-hard option favoured by the rival Toyota squad proved much better suited to the dry conditions and rising temperatures. 

    It left Neuville/Wydaeghe trailing Ogier/Ingrassia by 19.6s at the Zagreb Fair midday service, although Ogier/Ingrassia’s delay on SS13 gave Neuville/Wydaeghe hope, which increased when they went quickest on the stage and also matched Ogier/Ingrassia for time on SS15.
     
    By winning SS11 and shadowing Ogier on the day-closing SS16, Evans is firmly in the fight for his first victory of 2021.

    Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja hold fourth overnight with Adrien Fourmaux/Renaud Jamoul fifth and Gus Greensmith/Chris Patterson in sixth. Greensmith/Patterson began SS14 in seventh but climbed one position when Pierre-Louis Loubet/Vincent Landais crashed into a ditch, albeit without injury to either driver or co-driver.

    After claiming two outright stage wins during an impressive comeback from their Friday delays, Takamoto Katsuta/Daniel Barritt are in seventh place after 16 stages in their Toyota Yaris WRC.
     
    Craig Breen/Paul Nagle headed into Saturday’s leg in a strong fifth place but a puncture within the first 100 metres of SS9 wrecked their hopes. They are eighth overnight and more than one minute behind Katsuta/Barritt. “I think it’s quite clear I’m far away from where I should be,” a frustrated Breen said at the end of SS16.

    Adrien Fourmaux has spent leg two making the most of the opportunity handed to him by the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team to step up to the WRC’s top class for the first time. The Frenchman, who gave up a medical career to become a rally driver four years ago, set a brace of top-two stage times alongside Belgian co-driver Renaud Jamoul.

    Mads Østberg/Torstein Eriksen are on course to begin the defence of their FIA WRC2 title with a class win aboard their TRT-run Citroën C3 Rally2. With four stages remaining, the Norwegians are more than one minute clear of Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula after Nikolay Gryazin/Konstantin Aleksandrov – who took the lead on SS11 – dropped back with a powersteering issue on SS13.

    Kajetan Kajetanowicz leads FIA WRC3 after long-term leader Yohan Rossel rolled but continued on SS11. Jon Armstrong, a former esports champion, tops the FIA Junior WRC division ahead of scholarship winner Lauri Joona.

    Rally Croatia concludes on Sunday with four more spectacular sealed-surface stages. Up first, at 07:20 local time, is the 25.20-kilometre Bliznec – Pila stage. The event-deciding Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec test, the points-paying Wolf Power Stage, is due to get underway at 13:18.

  • Thierry Neuville leads Rally Croatia after first 4 Stages: WRC

    Thierry Neuville leads Rally Croatia after first 4 Stages: WRC

    Zagreb (Croatia), 23 April 2021: Thierry Neuville and Martijn Wydaeghe lead Rally Croatia following the first four stages after they made a near-perfect start to round three of the 2021 FIA World Rally Championship this morning.

    Powered by a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, the Belgians were fastest on stages one, two and four to return to Zagreb Fair for the midday service with an advantage of 7.3 seconds over Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin, last year’s world championship runners-up, in a Toyota Yaris WRC.

    Defending World Champions Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia are third, 5.0s behind their team-mates Evans/Martin with Hyundai crews Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja and Craig Breen/Paul Nagle fourth and fifth respectively.

    In rising ambient temperatures under clear blue skies, the stunning Croatian landscape provided a spectacular backdrop as the country’s first WRC event began in earnest following Thursday’s shakedown and Ceremonial Start. And there was drama within a handful of kilometeres of the opening stage when points leaders Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen crashed down a bank. The Finns were uninjured, but their Toyota Yaris WRC suffered extensive damage, although it is hoped it can be repaired for Saturday’s second leg.

    Ogier/Ingrassia completed the 6.94-kilometre Rude – Plešivica stage down in fifth place and with the left-rear tyre off the rim following a close call at the same right-hander where Rovanperä/Halttunen hit trouble.

    After going fastest on SS1 by 2.1s, Neuville/Wydaeghe were quickest again on SS2, this time by a margin of 4.9s. Toyota team-mates Ogier/Ingrassia and Evans/Martin set the identical fastest time on SS3 before Neuville/Wydaeghe restored status quo with the quickest run through SS4.

    The top three all selected a combination of Pirelli’s soft and hard-compound tyres for the morning loop, while Ott Tänak/Martin Järveoja opted for hard compound tyres only with just one spare on board their Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. The Estonians are fourth overall, 17.8s off the lead.

    Co-driven by Renaud Jamoul, Adrien Fourmaux is taking full advantage of his first outing on a WRC event in a World Rally Car. The Frenchman is sixth overall for the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team followed by team-mates Gus Greensmith/Chris Patterson.

    Pierre-Louis Loubet/Vincent Landais are in eighth place with Takamoto Katsuta/Daniel Barrritt slipping to ninth after the slid wide on a right-hand turn on SS4 and nudged a bank. The Japanese Toyota driver complete the stage with the left-rear tyre off the rim.

    Defending champions Mads Østberg/Torstein Eriksen (Citroën C3 Rally2) took the lead of WRC2 on SS3 after erstwhile pacesetters Nikolay Gryazin/Konstanin Aleksandrov (Volkswagen Polo GTI R5) were delayed after a heavy landing knocked the front-left tyre off the rim.

    Gryazin/Aleksandrov lost further time when they nearly went off into a ditch nearing the finish off SS4. But they regained second in class when Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula slid off the road at the same corner and lost more than 30s in their Ford Fiesta Rally2.

    Andreas Mikkelsen/Ola Fløene, who were third in WRC2 after the opening stage, stopped on SS2 with a damaged right-rear suspension arm on their Škoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. Yohan Rossel (Citroën C3 Rally2) leads WRC3 by 9.5s over Kajetan Kajetanowicz. Martin Koči heads the Junior WRC order in a Ford Fiesta Rally4.

    This afternoon’s loop begins with a repeat of the 6.94-kilometre Rude – Plešivica stage from 15:01 local time with crews due to return to the Zagreb Fair service park for the end-of-day service at 18:20.

    Photo credit: Uros Modlic & Marijan Radovic / Rally Croatia