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Tag: MRF Tyres
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Deepak leads Momentum 1-2; Defending champ Arjun Balu on pole
Chennai, 25 Sept 2021: Shahan Ali Mohsin, the 17-year old from Agra and a multiple National Karting champion, snatched the pole position in the MRF F1600 category just ahead of Chirag Ghorpade of Bengaluru while K Suriya Varathan from Coimbatore and Bengaluru’s Rishon Rajiv occupied the second row. Meanwhile, Deepak Ravikumar from Chennai led a brilliant 1-2 finish for Momentum Motorsport along with Ghorpade in the Formula LGB 1300 race in the first round of the MRF MMSC fmsci Indian National Car Racing Championship 2021 at the MMRT here on Saturday.
Two other X30 karting talent, Ruhaan Alva, the reigning Senior champion and Delhi school boy Jaden R Pariat, originally from Guwahati, the vice-champion in the Junior section, posted competitive times making their debut in the National Racing championship at the Madras Motor Sports Track (MMRT). More than half a dozen newcomers made their debut in the National Championship taking part in the Formula LGB1300, the entry class on Saturday as the sounds of the single-seater Formula cars reverberated at Madras Motor Sports Club.
Deepak Ravikumar celebrates his victory in the Formula LGB 1300 race (Sept 25) at MMRT. Photos By Anand Philar Behind him, Ghorpade covered a lot of ground starting from P8 to finish a deserving second ahead of Kotagiri’s 10th standard student Amir Sayed (M Sport) who too cut through the field from P7.
In the popular Saloon car category, Coimbatore veteran and defending champion Arjun Balu (Race Concepts), expectedly took the pole position followed by the Rayo Racing pair from Hyderabad Anindith Reddy and Jeet Jhabakh.
Another Bengalurean, Aditya Sawaminathan, qualified for pole position in the Volkswagen Polo category with Bangladesh’s Aiman Sadat in second position and Kolkata’s Arya Singh third.
The results (Provisional):
Arjun Balu, who took pole position in the Saloon cars category (Sept 25) at MMRT. Formula LGB 1300 (Race-1, 8 laps): 1. Deepak Ravikumar (Momentum Motorsport, Chennai) (20mins, 04.575secs); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Momentum Motorsport, Bengaluru) (20:10.045); 3. Amir Sayed (MSport, Kotagiri) (20:12.571).
Qualifying – MRF F1600: 1. Shahan Ali Mohsin (Agra) (Best lap – 01:40.148); 2. Chirag Ghorpade (Bengaluru) (01:40.741); 3. K Suriya Varadhan (Coimbatore) (01:40.977).
All Saloons – Indian Touring Cars: 1. Arjun Balu (Race Concepts, Coimbatore) (01:50.927); 2. Anindith Reddy (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (01:52.329); 3. Jeet Jhabakh (Rayo Racing, Hyderabad) (01:52.592).
Super Stock: 1. Rithvik Thomas (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (01:58.645); 2. Deepak Ravikumar (Performance Racing, Chennai) (01;58.841); 3. RP Raja Rajan (Performance Racing, Chennai) (01:59.433).
Indian Junior Touring Cars: 1. Varun Anekar (Race Concepts, Bengaluru) (01:58.911); 2. K Srinivas Teja (Performance Racing, Chennai) (02:03.402); 3. Hatim Shabbir Jamnagarwala (Performance Racing, Chennai) (02:05.029).
Volkswagen Polo: 1. Aditya Swaminathan (Bengaluru) (1:56.609); 2. Aiman Sadat (Bangladesh) (1:56.747); 3. Arya Singh (Kolkata) (1:56.993).
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Double delight for Team MRF Tyres: Italian Gravel Rally
Chennai, 12 Sept 2021: Team MRF Tyres secured second and third places on the podium as MRF Tyres also won the Female Championship in the Italian Gravel Rally Championship (CIRT).
Team MRF Tyres continued its podium winning form in the Italian Gravel Rally Championship (CIRT) and the Rally dei Nuraghi e del Vermentino. The fifth round of the CIRT saw seven stages and 68.08km of competitive action with Paolo Andreucci/Rudy Briani in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, Simone Campedelli/Gianfrancesco Rappa in their VW Polo GTi R5 and Tamara Molinaro/Piercarlo Capolongo in their Citroën C3 Rally2 propelling Team MRF Tyres to podium finishes.
Going into the rally, the team was in a strong position after winning the previous round and had high expectations of a good result and gathering important tyre data.
The rally started well for Team MRF Tyres with the first two stages, Telti being run twice on Friday night. Campedelli/Rappa had won SS2, while Andreucci/Briani were equal leaders of the rally at the end of the day. Saturday had the bulk of the competitive action and the fight was intense.
Podium for Andreucci Paolo, left, and Briani Rudi, of Team MRF Tyres. Photo: INDIAinF1.com Andreucci/Briani pushed hard, winning SS4 Oschiri 1 and SS7 Monte Olia 3. Throughout the rally, they were inside the top three on every stage, ensuring they were in the mix. Campedelli/Rappa were also putting in a strong performance winning SS3 Monte Olia 1 and finishing second on the rest of the day’s stages.
These performances ensured that the gaps at the top of the timesheets were tight. Going into the final stage, the top three were separated by less than 10 seconds with Team MRF Tyres drivers fighting hard with Umberto Scandola/Danilo Fappani.
By the end of SS7, the final stage of the rally, Team MRF Tyres drivers fought to within 3.5 seconds of the win, with the top three being separated by incredibly small margins.
A technical problem for Campedelli/Rappa after the final stage saw them check-in to a time control late, taking a 20-second penalty in the process. However, the podium success for Team MRF Tyres could not be denied with Andreucci/Briani taking second and Campedelli/Rappa finishing third.
Paolo Andreucci, Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, “It was a great rally and I am happy to be able to take a podium position with Team MRF Tyres. The car worked well throughout the rally and we were always at the front. “We were able to take another podium position and get more data for the tyres. Thanks to the team for the weekend and I am looking forward to the final round of the season.”
Meanwhile, Molinaro/Capolongo ran a strong rally in their Citroën, maintaining their 100 percent winning form in the Female category. The result allowed the pair to take home the Female Championship, one round before the end of the season. Bringing the car home on every stage with consistent pace, they were able to finish inside the top 10 in the CIRT and, in addition, took fourth position in the Under 25 category. Tamara Molinaro, Driver, Citroën C3 Rally2, said “We had some technical issues during the rally so we lost time with that. It was a challenging rally but we gained a lot of experience and won the Female Championship with one rally to spare so that is fantastic. A big thanks must go to MRF Tyres this year as well! The tyres worked well through the rally and allowed us to get this result.”
One round remains in the CIRT with the 12th Liburna Terra Rally taking place on 5-6 November. Team MRF Tyres will be in action again this week with the fifth round of the 2021 FIA European Rally Championship as Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera join Team MRF Tyres to drive the Hyundai i20 R5 in the Azores Rallye.
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WRC star Dani Sordo teams up with MRF Tyres
Sao Miguel (Portugal), 7 Sept 2021: Team MRF Tyres will continue the aggressive development push at next round of the FIA European Rally Championship at the Azores Rallye that takes place on the Portuguese archipelago.
For the Azores Rallye, Spanish ace and multiple World Rally Championship winner, Dani Sordo joins the team to drive the MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5.
Sordo is the third driver to compete in the Team MRF Tyres Hyundai i29 R5 in 2021 after Craig Breen started the year, taking a podium in Rally Liepaja, and Jari Huttunen competed in the Barum Czech Rally Zlin.
The development program now has a rotational roster of drivers, with the cooperation of Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing.
After two rallies in a row on tarmac, the FIA European Rally Championships starts the second half of the season on gravel with the 55th Azores Rallye.
Sordo and Team MRF Tyres will compete over 13 stages and 201.94km of competitive action.
For many rally fans, Sordo needs no introduction. A WRC veteran with 174 starts to his name, he has taken three overall wins, two with the Hyundai World Rally Team. Additionally, he has won the Junior World Rally Championship and the Spanish Rally Championship in 2005.
He has made just one appearance in the European Rally Championship. In 2018 he started the Barum Czech Rally Zlin a Hyundai i20 R5, taking third place.
His mission for MRF Tyres will follow the strategy that the team has been following for the past two seasons – that is data gathering and tyre development for the next generation of MRF rally tyres.
MRF Tyres is taking advantage of its unique position to access multiple drivers from the Hyundai stable to help provide additional experiences to its development program.
In addition, MRF Tyres have engaged the services of Paolo Andreucci, Simone Campedelli, Tamara Molinaro and Emil Lindholm in testing and competition to help gather data for the development of the tyres.
Round five of the FIA European Rally Championship, the Azores Rallye will take place from 16-18 September and you can follow the progress of Team MRF Tyres on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.Quotes
Dani Sordo, Driver, Hyundai i20 R5
“I am really excited to do the Azores Rallye with Team MRF Tyres and the Hyundai i20 R5. The Azores Rallye is an amazing rally to drive. I will give a lot of information for the tyres. We will use this rally as a test for the development of MRF Tyres.”“We will be there to get more information, to get a good result and to work with the MRF Tyres.”
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Team MRF Tyres wins in Finnish rally
(Finland), 19 June 2021: Team MRF Tyres has taken victory in the Ralli SM – the Finnish Rally Championship with Emil Lindholm and Reeta Hämäläinen winning the Pohjanmaa Ralli in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo. This was against strong competition from the global leaders Pirelli and Michelin.
The Pohjanmaa Ralli is the fourth round of the Finnish Championship and this win is the first for MRF Tyres in the Finnish Rally Championship and comes on the back of multiple podium finishes for Lindholm and Hämäläinen.
The Pohjanmaa Ralli challenged the crews to eight stages and 121.78km of fast gravel stages.
Over the first leg Lindhoom and Hämäläinen lay in fifth position. With 30km of stages completed, it was evident that the rally would be tight and fast.
The second leg would see three stages and over 48km of competitive action. These three stages were repeated in the third loop.
Lindholm and Hämäläinen were immediately on the pace for Team MRF Tyres.
They took the stage win on SS3 and SS5 and second on SS4 to rise through the ranks to second place.
A titanic battle would emerge between the MRF Tyres crew and Mikko Heikkilä / Topi Luhtinen.
On SS6, the 19.32km Hirvijärvi test, Lindholm set a time of 10:05.4, to take the stage win and move into the lead of the rally – by just 2.3 seconds.
He built on his lead in SS7, taking the second fastest stage time and increasing his lead by 1.1 seconds.
The pressure was on in the final stage. With no room for error, he took the stage win. On the 7.64 km Haasoja stage, he set a time of 4:14.9 to take the stage win and seal the victory.
MRF Tyres’ first win in the ultra-competitive Finnish Championship comes on the back of MRF Tyres first win in the Italian Gravel Championship.
It demonstrates the dedication and commitment of MRF Tyres to developing the next generation of tyres for top-line rally.
For Lindholm, it is his second year with MRF Tyres and has played a vital role in the development of the tyres.
The team will not rest and the development of the tyres will continue.
With two podiums and a victory in the Finnish Rally Championship this year, Team MRF Tyres are in the fight and has proven fast and reliable on different surfaces in tough competition.
For Team MRF Tyres, the team will be out in Italy next weekend for the San Marino Rally, the third round of the Italian Rally Championship – Gravel.
Next for Lindholm and Hämäläinen is the Oulu Ralli which takes place in September.
Quotes
Emil Lindholm, winner, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo
“It is amazing to win here in Pohjanmaa Ralli. This result shows the pace of development from the entire team at Team MRF Tyres and we should all be proud of our work.
“Coming into the weekend, I was aiming for a good result but never dreamt of a victory. But the car and the tyres felt great all weekend. This rally is very fast, with some stages having an average speed of more than 120km/h. Today, we took four stage wins and two-second places. It is a great result.”
“We have shown that the tyre is competitive in Finland and I am proud to take MRF Tyres first win here, in what is such a competitive championship. Though we will continue to push the development of the tyres to make sure we can win again in the future. Now we, and the whole team will celebrate this achievement.”
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Breen and Campedelli ready for ERC challenge for Team MRF Tyres
Mikolajki (Poland), 18 June 2021: Team MRF Tyres is in Mikolajki for the opening round of the 2021 FIA European Rally Championship that will be held from 18-20 June.
Two cars will fly the Team MRF Tyres colours with Irish ace Craig Breen being joined by Paul Nagle in a Hyundai i20 Rally2 and Italian Simone Campedelli joined by Tania Canton in a Volkswagen Polo R5.
The crews will face fast and narrow gravel roads for this special version of Rally Poland. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first time the event was held, with six cars starting the original test in 1921.
Fast forward 100 years and the event offers a hugely competitive field with more than 40 Rally2 cars competing for the outright win.
There are 14 special stages that wait for the drivers, offering 202.76km of competitive action.
The first stage gets underway on Friday night, with a short 2.5km blast through the Mikołajki Arena. The bulk of the rally takes place on Saturday with 133.12km of action across seven stages.
The first look sees the 18.20km of Świętajno, 17.16km of Olecko and 28.70km of Wieliczki. This loop is repeated again in the afternoon but with the Mikołajki Arena ending the day. With such long stages between services, the drivers will have to balance speed with maintaining their car.
Sunday’s action gets underway early with 07:25 Mikołajki MAX stage of 9.34km getting underway at 7:50am. It is followed by the 15.55km gm. Mrągowo stage before the crews head back to service.
The afternoon loop sees these stages repeated before the crews take the long drive to Warsaw. On the way they will complete a 17.9km stage of Przasnysz before the rally takes a special ending.
For the 100th anniversary, a 1.96km stage will take place in Warsaw before the ceremonial finish is held in the Polish capital.
MRF Tyres will also be represented with eight crews from the Polish Championship who will be rallying in the national section of the rally..
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, this rally will be held behind closed doors. For those following at home, the FIA ERC will free live radio of all the stages which can be found on their website at www.fiaerc.com and will live stream selected stages on their Facebook page.
You can follow Team MRF Tyres throughout the rally on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Quotes
Craig Breen, Hyundai i20 Rally2
“It has been a while since the European Rally Championship competed on gravel and I am looking forward to driving the MRF Tyres on gravel again.”“This rally will be very fast and the road conditions in some places will be quite rutted. We had a successful test day, where we were able to see how the car performed in the ruts and on a good surface. It will make for an exciting rally!”
Simone Campedelli, VW Polo R5
“I am excited to be starting in the ERC with MRF Tyres. I have been in the Italian Championship for many years but coming to Rally Poland, I will have to learn the roads. I am looking forward to the challenge.”“Team MRF Tyres have done a great job in developing the tyres and I am looking forward to continuing the development work with them. The aim is to get more tyre data so stage miles are important. Though I am looking forward to pushing on these fast Polish roads!”
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Team MRF Tyres on the podium at Länsirannikon Ralli
Lindholm/ Hämäläinen finish third in the Finnish Rally Championship round. Grönholm and Linnaketo retire after showing good pace
Avanti (Finland), 30 May 2021: The Länisrannikon Ralli saw the Finnish Championship move from winter to summer conditions. It was the first time that Team MRF Tyres has competed on Finnish gravel after achieving podium finishes in the winter conditions.
The rally consisted of a planned 101.61km of competitive action spread over 13 stages.
Lindholm and Hämäläinen got the event underway in the best possible style on Friday, taking the stage win on the 7.5km Halisoja test. Grönholm and Linnaketo came home third.
The good times from SS1 were backed up on SS2 with Lindholm and Hämäläinen taking the stage win on the 9.49km Ohensaari test. Grönholm and Linnaketo were in the top 10 too, coming home in seventh on stage.
The final stage of the day was the 6.29km Hujala test and it was a third stage win from three for Lindholm and Hämäläinen. They lead the rally by 3.7 seconds ahead of Mikko Heikkilä and Topi Luhtinen.
Meanwhile, Grönholm and Linnaketo sat in fourth, just 23.4 seconds off the lead after the first day.The Friday stages were held on tarmac and the rally moved to gravel on Saturday for 75km of action.
The first loop consisted of the 6.42km Vintala test before moving to the 8.13km and 14.21km tests of Mahlio and Saukonoja. These stages are used just once.It was an ultra-competitive morning on the fast gravel stages with Lindholm and Hämäläinen demonstrating that the MRF Tyre could compete at the front and that a top result was going to be possible.
Even though this was the first rally that Team MRF Tyres has competed on Finnish gravel, the duo strengthened their grip on the podium in what was a very competitive field.
However, the team would be down to one car after a crash for Grönholm and Linnaketo. After showing great pace, they carried a little too much speed into a corner late on the third stage of the day. The crew was uninjured, but their rally was over.
The remaining stages see two runs through the 5.15km Vanha Karuna stage, 13.40km test of Pöylä, and the 5.27km test of Juntola. The final stage is a short 1.93km shootout at Avanti.
Lindholm and Hämäläinen continued to set top times through the day, achieving a top-five result on each of the remaining stages.
MRF Tyres is competing in Finland to test ourselves against the fastest rally drivers in the world and this was evident with the tough fight for the podium positions.
By the final loop, Lindholm and Hämäläinen were in a three-way battle for third with Aleksi Röyhkiö/ Ville Mannisenmäki and Juha Salo/ Mikko Markkula. It was a tight finish and coming into the final loop, the final 1.93km stage was cancelled.
This meant that SS12 would host the last stage of the rally and Team MRF Tyres was able to achieve a podium, 0.6seconds ahead of Röyhkiö/ Mannisenmäki and 8.3 seconds ahead of Salo/Markkula.
Team MRF Tyres has now achieved two third-place finishes and a fourth-place finish in the Finnish Rally Championship in 2021 with Emil Lindholm.The next round of the Finnish Rally Championship takes place at Seinäjoki with the SM Pohjanmaa Ralli on 18-19 June.
Team MRF Tyres will be rallying next weekend in the Italian Rally Championship – Gravel (CIRT) with a three-car effort for Paolo Andreucci/ Francesco Pinelli, Simone Campedelli/ Gianfrancesco Maria Rappa, and Tamara Molinaro/ Piercarlo Capolongo.
Emil Lindholm – Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, 3rd
“Team MRF Tyres and I did well on the asphalt. I think driving gravel rally tires on the asphalt is what it should be like to drive a rally on asphalt: fun. Gravel tyres prefer asphalt than on a hard-coated gravel road, and still, you get to drive a lot and skate a car in curves. A fun experience!”“We aimed for the podium and we got there. This morning’s special stages were challenging when the ground was a bit damp. The setup worked better for us in the warmer afternoon stages.
“The development from MRF Tyres is impressive. In just over a year, we have reached a situation where we can compete to win the rally, and once again we took stage wins and a podium. It’s a great achievement and the development will continue!”
Niclas Gronholm – Driver, Skoda Fabia R5, DNF
“It was really difficult today, I really didn’t have the confidence and couldn’t maximize the potential of the car and the MRF Tyres. In the end, I heard a pace note wrong and went a bit too fast into the corner and ended up on some loose gravel and drifted into a tree. But at least it was fun and we had good pace while it lasted!” -
Ken Torn and Kauri Pannas claim well-earned victory: ERC
Having built a four-minute lead in ERC3/ERC Junior starting the final stage, the last thing Rallye Team Spain’s Pep Bassas needed was for an overheating issue to hit his Pirelli-equipped Peugeot 208 Rally4, which he had damaged in a hefty off on SS11.
Meanwhile, Indian Tyre giant, MRF Tyres’ team finished fifth in teams with 79 points with their goal being testing of tyres and collecting data for future development as their driver Craig Breen and Paul Nagle finished 10th in the final round were 15th overall at the end of the ERC.
With the car refusing to fire up after he finished the final stage, Bassas feared his hopes of winning were over. Although he made it back to service at the Estadio de Gran Canaria, he was adjudged to have received outside assistance and was promptly excluded from the results, leaving Ken Torn to take an ERC3/ERC3 Junior victory double in his Ford Fiesta Rally4 alongside co-driver Kauri Pannas.
The change of result meant Torn, part of the Estonian Autosport Junior Team, completed a memorable season with the ERC3/ERC3 Junior titles his prior to the event getting underway**. However, RFEDA-supported Rallye Team Spain still secured the FIA European Rally Championship for Teams.
MSport release adds:
Ken Torn and Kauri Pannas claimed a well-earned victory in their EcoBoost-powered Fiesta Rally4 on Rally Islas Canarias, the final round of the 2020 FIA European Rally Championship.
The Fiesta Rally4 claimed 41 ERC3 stage wins and is the only car to finish on every ERC3 and ERC3 Junior podium in 2020.
The 2020 ERC3 and ERC3 Junior Champions took to the testing and technical roads of Gran Canaria in difficult conditions on very unfamiliar territory. Regardless of Torn and Pannas’ lack of experience, the pair were competitive from the outset, putting pressure on the fight for victory with a stage win coming on SS3. The crew fought on throughout Friday to take another stage win and keep themselves and their Pirelli shod Fiesta Rally4 in the hunt for victory.
Saturday’s action saw Torn return to the stages with clear determination and speed, closing in on the lead by SS11. A mistake on SS12 meant Torn had a difficult task on his hands to win the rally with five stages to go. Using this as pure motivation, Torn put on an absolute masterclass, winning four of the following five stages to claim his fourth ERC3 and ERC3J victory of the season while his rival for the lead faltered, failing to finish the rally due to reliability problems.
The M-Sport Poland built Fiesta Rally4 is the only Rally4 car to finish on every single ERC3 and ERC3J podium in 2020. The all-Estonian crew of Ken Torn and Kauri Pannas are the only crew to taste champagne on every rally, reaching the top step on four occasions. Experiencing supreme reliability and consistent performance has been key to Torn and Pannas delivering jaw-dropping performances throughout the 2020 ERC3 Championship.
The success of the Fiesta Rally4, which was introduced in March 2020 and made its competitive debut in June, was underlined by winning more than half of the stages contested in the 2020 ERC 3 championship. In total the Fiesta Rally4 claimed a total of 41 stage wins from 79 stages in ERC3 with Torn delivering a staggering 36 stage wins. Honourable mentions must also be given to Martins Sesks, Dennis Radstrom and Martin Laszlo who each contributed to this incredible achievement.
Maciej Woda, M-Sport Poland team director: “What an amazing ERC season we have had! I speak for everybody back at base in Krakow and on site in Gran Canaria when I say this is the icing on the cake for what has been an incredible year for our Fiesta Rally4. Ken and Kauri have gone from strength to strength on every rally and have really put the Fiesta Rally4 through its paces and it has just continued to perform. I think the win on Rally Islas Canarias only adds more weight to the claim the Fiesta Rally4 is the car to have for any driver looking to win in their national or regional Rally4 championship. Congratulations to everybody involved, in the face of adversity the entire team has proved that anything can be possible. I would like to also say a huge thank you to ERC, Eurosport and FIA for delivering a championship in such difficult circumstances, they are a credit to this sport and we are so grateful for the hard work and effort they put in to make this season happen.”
Ken Torn, 2020 ERC3/3J Champion: “This is like a dream come true for me, I cannot think of a better way to finish the championship. We have fought hard for this championship as a team, it has been difficult but we didn’t let that stop us. We learned some good lessons for the future on the rally though, which tested us a lot. M-Sport Poland have given us such a strong and reliable car and it has definitely proven itself this season. To deliver the results we have had needs more than just good driving, you need a good co-driver, good car and a great team which we had all year. Thank you to everybody for the support, I suppose we need to start looking at our plans for 2021 now.” -
Craig Breen takes on new challenge to test MRF tyres: Rally Islas Canarias to ERC
It is the final round of the 2020 FIA European Rally Championship with the Rally Islas Canarias. The event is on tarmac but the roads are very different to what we saw last time out in Hungary. It is the final round of Team MRF Tyres’ inaugural season in the FIA ERC and we talked to our driver, Craig Breen on what to expect this weekend.
Team MRF Tyres: Craig, you have completed the pre event test for Rally Islas Canarias. First of all, how did it go? And what have you aimed to learn from this test?
Craig Breen: This is the first time we’ve really tested in conditions quite like this. Really, it is probably the most abrasive tarmac we’ve had and at this time of year it is strangely warm still. So, it’s been interesting and we’ve tried a lot of different things. We’ve obviously been doing a bit more development on the tyre side. We have also been trying to develop the car to make it a bit more agile, a bit more racy for these roads, compared to the roads we found a lot earlier this year.
Team MRF Tyres: We have tarmac again this weekend but, a very different tarmac to what we saw last time out and in Hungary. What are some of the differences in how you make time on this on these roads?
Craig Breen: Honestly, it’s very difficult to make any time on these roads. In Hungary, Fafe, and other rallies like that you can, you can stick your neck out in some narrow places, some tricky, some tricky parts where the grip is changing a little bit and there you can make a difference. But here, it’s just like a racetrack. And the grip is very consistent from start to end. You just have to try and be as smooth and efficient as possible. Try not to overheat the tyre. It’s a difficult rally in that respect. I am looking forward to it.
Team MRF Tyres: What are your expectations, this is still the first year for MRF and the development of the tyre?
Craig Breen: I think this honestly is going to be one of the more difficult rallies, given the specifics of what we’ve seen in the past and how a lot of other tyre manufacturers have struggled here in the past to get the package right. Even with years and years of experience, it’s been difficult. So coming for the first time it’s going to be hard to get it right out of the box. But it’s definitely going to be a learning experience. I think what we’re seeing in testing, we’ve got a tyre that definitely works. It definitely gives us a starting point to work on these types of roads. Let’s hope that we improve with every stage that goes by and we can take a lot of data.
Team MRF Tyres: We have 17 stages, some 200 kilometers, the weather is going to be a lot warmer than we’ve seen in previous rallies. So how do you manage and maintain and plan for a rally like that?
Craig Breen: When you’re in the rally you have to try and manage the tyres. You have to be smooth and as efficient as possible. Try not to over think things too much. We have to try and set up the car to cope with the conditions as best we can. We have to be able to manage the tyres as best as we can. The surface here is very abrasive. However, once the event starts, we will push to do our best!
Team MRF Tyres: Finally, we see another spectacular lineup here in the FIA ERC. What’s it like, running here in Europe for the final time this year against such a great field?
Craig Breen: It is a great way! it’s got good entries for the end of the year. I think a lot of people have been looking forward to this event. So it’s going to be nice, looking forward to it and we will have a good weekend.
Team MRF Tyres: Thanks, Craig. Best of luck. Craig Breen: Thank-you.
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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.”
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Team MRF Tyres drivers in a tight battle at Rally Liepaja
It was a successful day of action for Team MRF Tyres on Rally Liepaja, the second round of the European Rally Championship with Craig Breen and Paul Nagle just ahead of their stablemates Emil Lindholm and Mikael Korhonen sitting in fifth and sixth.
The day saw four stages and over 88 km of competitive action near the town of Talsi in the north west of Latvia. Adding to the challenge was the fact at the crews did not return to service throughout the day, rather having a flexi-service in Talsi.
Crews faced warm conditions on faster roads. A crucial factor to the day’s running was the road cleaning. The more cars went through, the faster the roads became.
Breen and Nagle started eighth on the road while Lindholm and Korhonen were ninth.
The first stage of the day saw a 25 km test with the crews battling to take the advantage so early on.
Lindholm took fifth on the first stage, while Breen was eighth.
Stage 2 saw a further 17.45 km and Lindholm repeated his fifth position from the first stage while Breen took seventh to move into seventh the first service.
It became clear through the day that while the road would be clearing, hanging dust would be an issue.
Breen in the MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5 had to slow slightly in the third stage because of the dust, but he still ended up sixth.
Lindholm, however found his groove in his Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo, finishing second on stage, just 5.6 seconds off stage winner, Oliver Solberg.
Lindholm had a small spin on the final stage of the day, dropping more than 10 seconds. Despite this, he ends the day in sixth.
Breen consolidated his position in the final stage, taking advantage of Lindholm’s issue to leap from his Team MRF Tyres stablemate to end the day in fifth. Breen sits just 0.2 seconds off Eerik Pietarinen in fourth.
The two MRF Tyres drivers are separated by just 6.2 seconds at the end of day.
The final day of Rally Liepaja sees the crews stay closer to Liepaja, with six stages over a further 88 km. There will be just the one service throughout the day, meaning that any mistakes will be punished.
The first stage of the day gets underway at 10am local time or 12:30pm in India.
Quotes:
Craig Breen (Driver, Hyundai i20 R5) 5th
“Today was a tough day. We lost some time in the dust which was hanging in the air. We were doing as much as we could throughout the day.“The direction of development for the tyres is positive and this is the first time I have run on these tyres in the European Championship.
“Tomorrow we will push again. The road position will be important again and we will be looking to find more pace on these roads while getting the data we need.”
Emil Lindholm (Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 evo) 6th
“The roads are challenging. There are a lot of fast sections but then some narrow roads and it is quite difficult to find the entry to those parts. We had a spin on SS4 which cost us a bit of time.”
I pushed throughout the day and I am happy with my pace and the wear of the tyres. The loops and the stages were long and the wear and the grip were good. We are continuing to get data for development of these tyres so that is good.”
“Tomorrow will be interesting. The stages are a bit shorter but the legs are just as long. We will push and see!”
