Tag: Martin Jarveoja

Thierry Neuville and Nicolas Gilsoul scored victory at the Rally of Spain for Hyundai, snatching the lead in Saturday’s first stage and maintaining their position at the top until the finish line. But it was not enough to stop the championship points leaders Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja in their mission: the Estonian pair dominated the Power Stage, claiming maximum score and taking away second place from Dani Sordo and Carlos del Barrio to claim a maiden World Rally Championship title*.

Conditions were dry and typical of the Spanish round, with air temperatures just over 20 degrees celsius, ensuring the drivers had plenty of grip on the asphalt for Sunday’s two loops of two stages.

Neuville controlled the lead of the rally in first position from Saturday’s first morning speed test, but his teammate Sordo, in second overnight, had the pressure of Tänak on his heels. Sordo managed to keep Tänak at bay for most of the final day, taking two additional stage wins on Sunday morning, but the Estonian set a scorching time in the Power Stage, gaining six seconds on the Spaniard, which promoted him to second place and enabled him to secure the 2019 WRC title*.

Sébastien Ogier had also started the Rally of Spain with a relative chance to stay in the title race for the season finale in Australia, but his hopes were dashed at the start of Friday when an hydraulic issue caused his power steering and paddle-shift gear selector to fail. The defending champion finished eighth overall after losing over four minutes.

Hyundai showed dominant pace across the rally, occupying the top 3 spots of the timesheets at one point during five stages in a row on Saturday. Sébastien Loeb, who was the rally leader on Friday evening following a day on gravel, did not manage to find the right feeling in his car on tarmac. The 2018 event winner dropped back behind both his teammates Neuville and Sordo on Saturday and then fell behind Tänak after the evening’s street stage in Salou into fourth place, where he finished the rally.

Jari-Matti Latvala scored solid points for Toyota in fifth, the Finn ending 6.3s behind Loeb. The M-Sport Ford pair of Elfyn Evans and Teemu Suninen finished sixth and seventh respectively. Evans had been fighting Latvala for a top five finish earlier on the event but the Welshman suffered technical issues on Friday. Teemu Suninen finished seventh, despite a spin in the rally-ending Power Stage.

Ogier, in the only remaining Citroën, recovered to eighth after his power steering problems on the opening day but was unable to prevent his former M-Sport teammate to claim the 2019 title. The second Citroën driver, Esapekka Lappi, was forced to retire on Friday’s final stage with an engine related issue and could not start again.

Behind Ogier, FIA WRC 2 Pro winner Mads Østberg and FIA WRC 2 winner Eric Camilli, both driving Citroën R5s, completed the leaderboard in ninth and tenth respectively.

Kris Meeke was fighting the Hyundai trio for a podium place but crashed on Saturday morning’s second stage. The Ulsterman restarted on Sunday to finish in 30th position overall. Takamoto in the last WRC car – a privately entered Toyota Yaris – had set his sights on a Top 10 finish he dropped to 40th overall as a gearbox problem cost him over 30 minutes.

* subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA.

2019 Rally of Spain – Final official results:

Wales, 5 Oct 2019: Estonian ace Ott Tänak extended his lead of Wales Rally GB to 11 seconds on the toughest leg of the event.

The Toyota Yaris WRC driver battled through the day’s classic fast and flowing stages in the forests of mid-Wales to head into the final leg with his fellow FIA World Rally Championship title protagonists in hot pursuit.

Tänak adapted well to the inclement conditions to ensure the fight for the lead would swing in his favour, doubling his slender overnight advantage over title rival Thierry Neuville. The hard-charging Hyundai i20 WRC driver threw his hat into the ring from the opening stage of the day, first overhauling Toyota driver Kris Meeke and then six-time FIA World Rally champion Sébastien Ogier.

The Citroën C3 WRC driver admitted he was ‘right on the limit’ and ‘couldn’t do any more’ as he dropped from the second spot he held overnight, whilst in contrast, Neuville bolstered his chances of remaining in the three-way battle for the WRC title.

With the trio of title adversaries now locked in a titanic battle in the podium positions, tomorrow’s finale is likely to play a major role in the destination of this year’s WRC crown.

Kris Meeke, who led for virtually all of Friday, started 3.6sec off the lead but could not reproduce the same speed on faster and wider roads in his Yaris. He ended 26.5sec behind team-mate Tänak, but in a vital points-paying position for Toyota’s manufacturers’ title challenge.

Andreas Mikkelsen won a stage en route to retaining fifth in his i20. The Norwegian came under fierce pressure from Elfyn Evans, who won all three morning stages in his Ford Fiesta. The Welshman was less dominant this afternoon but was only 4.5sec adrift tonight.

Team-mate Teemu Suninen was more than two minutes further back after losing time when he crashed off the road and punctured a tyre. Losing his Fiesta’s front splitter later cost aerodynamic downforce and more time.

Pontus Tidemand, Craig Breen and FIA WRC 2 Pro leader Kalle Rovanperä completed the leaderboard.

In the FIA WRC 2 class, rally legend Petter Solberg leads the field on his farewell tour, ahead of Frenchmen Pierre-Louis Loubet – only 12.5 seconds behind – and Adrien Fourmaux.

Jan Solans is the leader of FIA Junior WRC, over three minutes ahead of his closest rival Kristensson, who sustained a puncture. The Spaniard was never headed during Saturday’s challenging stages in Britain and is now within reach of the championship’s title.

Breen dropped five minutes after a spectacular roll this morning, the Irishman blaming an over optimistic pace note. He struggled through the rest of the day with a cracked windscreen hampering visibility.

Sunday’s finale returns to north Wales. Two loops of two forest stages sandwich an asphalt test around the rocky Great Orme headland on the edge of host town Llandudno. It totals 38.42km and the final Power Stage offers bonus points to the fastest five drivers.

2019 Wales Rally GB – Unofficial Results after Section 6:

Villa Carlos Paz, 29 April 2018: Ott Tänak will take a 46.5 second advantage into the closing stages of Rally Argentina having once again dominated proceedings on Saturday. The Estonian won five of the day’s seven stages and only missed out on a clean sweep of victories in the mountains with a couple of technical problems in the final stage of the day. Thierry Neuville remains second overnight but when Kris Meeke was forced to stop and change a puncture, Dani Sordo climbed into the final podium position.

On 27th April, Tanak won his 100th Stage in WRC at Rally Argentina and tweeted: It’s my 100th @OfficialWRC stage win in World Rally Car! What a journey it has been so far! #RallyArgentina #WRC #GoOtt

This afternoon saw the crews head back out into the Punilla Valley for three stages, two of which were shrouded in fog this morning. Clear conditions were a welcome sight and Tänak was again immediately setting the pace, instantly claiming another two stage wins. However, in the final stage of the day, he briefly lost the power steering and then the oil from one of the dampers and could only manage fourth fastest. Even so, the Estonian’s 46.5 second advantage leaves him well-placed to take his first victory with Toyota tomorrow afternoon.

Tyre preservation was the name of the game for Neuville this afternoon and he now heads team-mate Sordo by 21.7 seconds. The Spaniard has been flying again and set the fastest time in the final 40 Kms stage.

Sébastien Ogier has had a trouble-free run and is now up to fourth with Andreas Mikkelsen nearly 15 seconds adrift, the Norwegian with a better feeling having made changes to the i20 Coupe WRC before the final stage.

Esapekka Lappi passed Elfyn Evans for sixth and the rivals will head into the final day split by 6.2 seconds. Kris Meeke’s puncture dropped him to eighth, yet more disappointment for Citroën after Craig Breen retired during the mid-leg service with roll cage damage.

Teemu Suninen is ninth, comfortably ahead of FIA WRC 2 Championship category leader Kalle Rovanperä. The 17-year-old Finn won six of the day’s stages and has 23.6 seconds in hand to Škoda team-mate and reigning FIA WRC 2 Champion Pontus Tidemand.

The final day of Rally Argentina takes in three stages in the rock-strewn Traslasierra Mountains: El Condor and Mina Clavero, the second run through El Condor counting as the Power Stage.

Rally Argentina – Unofficial results after Section 8