Warren Nel

Motorsport nut. First motorsport event I watched was the 1989 Lombard RAC Rally.
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Rally Croatia – Day Three Report – Sunday

The final day then and with 54.78km’s over four stages would we see a straightforward drive to the finish, or perhaps we would have some drama instead!? Gregoire would open the road throughout the day.

First up was SS17 Trakošćan – Vrbno 1 – 13.15 km and Takamoto started really well, winning the stage from Adrien and Elfyn. Thierry was fifth fastest and this meant that Elfyn had closed the gap to the Belgian to just 2.6 seconds. It was game on for the win. In WRC2, the top three remained Nikolay, Yohan and Pepe both in the stage and on course for the WRC2 podium.

The following stage, SS18 Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec 1 – 14.24 km, though had huge drama though and being the first run of what would be the power stage this would be significant! First of all, Adrien clipped a anti-cut device and broke his steering arm. He drove across the bridge and pulled off at the side of the road. Once the steering arm was replaced he completed the stage. There was fifteen minutes lost which is quite amazing really. Then Elfyn also had a spin, collecting a tree branch on the way and lost 19.6 seconds. Then Thierry came through and also went off the road, quite badly damaging his car. He lost 23.3 seconds and fell to third behind Seb and Elfyn. Ott won the stage though from Takamoto and Seb. In WRC2 Yohan was fastest from Nikolay and Nicolas.

Time then for the penultimate stage and Takamoto was fastest from Elfyn and Ott. Seemed the drama was not over as Seb understeered off the road and went up a bank. The Frenchman completed the stage with the fourth fastest time, his lead now from Elfyn just 6.4 seconds.

Onto the final stage then SS20 Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec 2[Power Stage] – 14.24 km and Adrien was super committed through the stage and his time was not overcome. The closest driver was Ott, who was 3.8 behind the Frenchman, Seb was third fastest, Takamoto fourth and Elfyn fifth.

Seb had won the rally from Elfyn and Thierry was third. In WRC2, Nikolay won the category from Yohan and Pepe.

Let’s take a look at the final standings and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Croatia Rally

1 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 2:40:23.6
2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +9.7
3 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +45.8
4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +58.6
5 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:55.5
6 A. Mikkelsen T. Eriksen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +4:01.0
7 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +5:11.0
8 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Citroën C3 +9:21.3
9 Y. Rossel A. Dunand Citroën C3 +9:59.5
10 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Toyota GR Yaris +10:22.7

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m very happy to take this victory. It’s been a tough weekend: we knew that coming here with our start position, but we pushed the whole weekend, we never gave up, and put the pressure on as much as we could. I think I never had so many moments in one rally, pushing the limits like this, but most importantly we brought it home with a win. One hundred podiums is a nice number and it’s great to reach it with a victory. I enjoy every opportunity I have to drive these cars and it’s nice to see we still have some speed. I’m super happy for the team, even if we can’t make so much difference in the points. It’s been a great team performance and let’s keep pushing like this.”

Elfyn Evans

“There’s a feeling of disappointment today. It started off pretty well in the first stage this morning, but we were too optimistic with our tyre choice and with the hard tyre it was a struggle in the second stage: this corner was quite full of mud and the rear came around. You’ve got to be in it to win it and it didn’t work out today. Still, the weekend was generally pretty good with a big fight the whole way through and second place at the end. It’s a great team result and nice to battle with Seb. It doesn’t feel like the team has been fully rewarded for that one-two in terms of points, but that’s how it is.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a good weekend for me as I was gaining more and more confidence throughout. Already on Saturday, some stages felt good, and I just tried to continue in the same way and I had an even better feeling in the car. I was a bit disappointed with the Power Stage where I was a bit too careful, but everything else went well today. We were fastest on Super Sunday and scored some good points for the team, which makes me very happy, and it was a good result for the team overall. Next time I want to be better from the start of the rally and then the result can be much better, but it’s been a good weekend overall.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“While we didn’t finish how we would have wanted; we have been well rewarded for our great drive on Friday and Saturday. Those are important points and despite not scoring many today, we were still the third-best performers – equal with Elfyn – and we only lost one point to Ott. SS18 was really tricky, and I tried my best to avoid an impact immediately hitting the brakes but there was nothing I could do. I am happy to still be in the lead and to retain the advantage, however Portugal is going to be tough for us from our road position.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 4,
Croatia Rally 2024, 18-21 April 2024
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 3 of WRC Croatia Rally 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“It’s incredible to finish as the second highest-scoring crew. Our weekend was tough once again; we started from a very bad place, and I gave away some time in the beginning. We recovered a bit on Friday afternoon, and then on Saturday we tried to experiment a bit ahead of today to try and help us maximise our road position, which was also tricky. We were always just a bit too far behind to get enough dirty road, so it was a constant challenge, but we managed to collect some good points. I’m hoping to have a better feeling on gravel from Portugal and be more competitive, as the target will be to start taking back some points.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“I was expecting to be a bit closer to the front during this event, even though I knew I was going to struggle here. I haven’t done the rally in the last few years, so it was a struggle, especially as there is so much pace note information to take on. When I don’t know the stage by heart, it is hard to have the commitment you need to fight at the front, and the speed here is very high. I was missing confidence in the driving, but we were going in the right direction, but I was hoping for more.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Grégoire Munster

“I’m just happy we had a trouble-free event! This can now launch our season, which didn’t start exactly how we wanted. It was a very demanding event, with difficult stages where you need full commitment. So, to finish the rally, we are really happy, and with the improvement in the gaps to the other crews from 1.5s/km on Friday to around 0.5s/km at the end of the weekend, it’s all heading in a good direction.”

Adrien Fourmaux

“It’s been a good weekend for us. We’ve been fighting with Ott for the first two days, we were missing a bit of performance sometimes, and were trying things with the set-up. But we found something really good on Friday’s last stages. Then the rain was supposed to come so we had to change things, we had to make a guess based on the conditions, but once we went back to the set-up we had on Friday the car felt really good.

“We’ve been able to push a lot. We made one mistake, a small mistake with big consequences, which is a shame. But it’s like that, you have to be perfect everywhere here. We stayed on the road, but we hit a concrete pole [on SS18] so we just decided to fix it and push really hard on the Power Stage to score the points. We got the maximum points, which is great, my first Power Stage win, and this is really positive.”

William Creighton (WRC2)

“Overall, a tricky weekend with some drama on Friday night and today, but I guess that’s rally Croatia. The positive is that we showed good pace at points throughout the weekend and whilst we still have a lot of work to do, it’s promising with not so much experience in the Fiesta Rally2. A big thanks to everyone at M-Sport for looking after Liam and myself during a busy few weeks, and of course the support from the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy who have supported me all the way.”

Summary

Well, what an astonishing rally! Seb and Vincent came through the drama of the final day to take victory. His teammate came in second place and with Thierry third and the Belgian was not allowed to increase his championship lead over Elfyn.

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 4

1 T. Neuville 86
2 E. Evans 80
3 A. Fourmaux 59
4 O. Tänak 53
5 S. Ogier 45
6 T. Katsuta 45
7 K. Rovanpera 31
8 E. Lappi 23
9 A. Mikkelsen 14
10 O. Solberg 12

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 4

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 176
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 169
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 96

 

 

The championship moves onto Portugal next month to be held from the 9th to the 12th of May.

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Rally Croatia – Day Two Report – Saturday

The second day of this event and the crews had 108km’s over eight stages to tackle. The start list would be reversed with Thierry last into the stages throughout the day. Opening the road would be Gregoire Munster. Of course, Thierry and Elfyn would start the day on the same overall time after Friday’s stages.

First up was SS9 Smerovišće – Grdanjci 1 – 15.72 km and Adrien took his position as starting fourth on the road to win the stage from Thierry and Seb. Elfyn was fifth fastest and just eight tenths of a second from Thierry. In WRC2 Yohan was fastest from Nikolay and Pepe, the trio picking up where they left off at the end on Friday.

Onto SS10 Stojdraga – Gornja Vas 1 – 20.77 km and it was the turn of Seb to go fastest from Thierry and Elfyn who had set the same time, just three tenths behind the eight-time champion. The gap between the top two remained the same of course. There was a moment for Ott in the stage when he went wide, although at the time he went fastest before ultimately taking fifth fastest in the stage. In WRC2 Yohan was fastest, taking 7.1 seconds from Nikolay’s lead, whilst Eyvind was third. The Norwegian was having a good rally after two years away.

Next up was SS11 Vinski Vrh – Duga Resa 1 – 8.78 km and Thierry returned to the top of the stage times, winning the stage from Elfyn and Seb, the gap was now 1.7 seconds between the top two. Yohan took another WRC2 category stage win from Nikolay and Nicolas was third in the category.

The final stage before service and lunch, SS12 Pećurkovo Brdo – Mrežnički Novaki 1 – 9.11 km and Thierry was fastest from Seb and Ott. Meanwhile Elfyn found the stage very slippery and set the same time as Ott, three seconds behind Thierry’s stage winning time. The gap was now 4.1 seconds between the top two. There was some drama for Yohan in WRC2 as he suffered a puncture and lost 38.7 seconds to Nikolay. The Frenchman remained second in the category with a minute and 21 second lead over Pepe.

After the break the rain had arrived in places on SS13 Smerovišće – Grdanjci 2 – 15.72 km and Elfyn was fastest from Seb and Thierry. The Welshman took four soft tyres, and this gave him an advantage through the stage which was wet in places over the mix tyred Hyundai of Thierry. The Belgian was 6.7 seconds slower than Elfyn and fell from the lead, now two seconds from new leader Elfyn. Yohan returned to the top spot in WRC2 with the fastest time from Pepe and Nicolas. Nikolay continued to lead but after being almost 21 seconds slower than his French teammate, had a reduced lead of 39.1 seconds.

Next up was SS14 Stojdraga – Gornja Vas 2 – 20.77 km and Thierry was fastest again from Seb and Elfyn. This pace took Thierry back into the lead by 2.3 seconds as the tyre strategy by the Hyundai team gave them the advantage over the Toyota team’s. In WRC2 there was no change in the top three as Nikolay continued to lead the category from Yohan and Pepe was still third.

Just two stages remained then to decide the Saturday points for the top ten positions and first up was SS15 Vinski Vrh – Duga Resa 2 – 8.78 km. Thierry was fastest again from Seb and Elfyn and now the lead over the Welshman was four seconds. There was still no change in WRC2 as Nikolay remained in the lead from Yohan and Pepe.

The final stage then of the day, SS16 Pećurkovo Brdo – Mrežnički Novaki 2 – 9.11 km and Thierry was again from Seb and Elfyn, with the gap widening to 4.9 seconds at the end of Saturday’s stages. Quite amazing.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 2:09:46
2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +4.9
3 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +11.6
4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +1:15.5
5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:35.4
6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:14.2
7 A. Mikkelsen T. Eriksen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +4:00.8
8 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +4:56.3
9 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +7:41.4
10 Y. Rossel A. Dunand Citroën C3 +8:20.9

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“This afternoon was trickier due to very challenging weather. We feared that we made the wrong choice, but the rain didn’t continue, and we were able to set good times by mixing the tyre choice based on the stages we were tackling. It’s not easy to know what is the best mix, but I followed my gut feeling. Even if you know the stages here well, they are still really difficult. They are challenging and narrow, with lots of crests and blind corners. Anything can happen on tomorrow’s final run, so we need to keep focused. We want to bring home the victory, but more importantly some extra points.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 04, Croatia Rally
18 – 21 March 2024
Thierry Neuville
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“I felt definitely less comfortable in the car this afternoon and we couldn’t find any good rhythm to finish the day. I think to maximise our potential tomorrow we will try to go back to where we were yesterday afternoon – something we know was working a lot better for us. If we start from there, we will then need to work hard tomorrow to bring back as many points as possible from Super Sunday and the Power Stage.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“I think we are taking small steps; we would like to be making bigger ones, of course, but we are still learning. For sure there’s the potential for more, but I’m still having some moments in the car. I think we are at a point where the car now is working fairly well for me, and it is more the features and my familiarity of the stages that I’m missing. I haven’t done this rally since 2021 and many stages are new, so where the other crews are fine-tuning their pace notes to be absolutely perfect, I am still digesting so much information.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a good day and good fun behind the wheel. The margins have been very tight here and we just couldn’t quite match Thierry, who was very fast all day. We had a good start to the afternoon to take the lead – we had the right tyre choice for that stage especially. After that, I think it’s hard to say what the best choice was, as the feeling was pretty good in the car. We just unfortunately fell short at the end of the day. There will be another difficult tyre choice to make to cover the whole final day, but we’ll try to make good decisions and give it our best.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Overall, it’s been a good day for me in the car. Everyone was expecting rain today and we made some changes to the car anticipating that, and I didn’t quite feel as comfortable as yesterday. We had a few drops of rain to start the afternoon and we had a tyre choice that suited these conditions, so we managed to get back a little bit of time. Unfortunately, it kind of balanced out over the rest of the loop. Still, it’s been a positive day, we were just missing something to make the difference in this close fight. It’s not over yet, and we will keep pushing until the end – also to help the team score the maximum points.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“For sure, today was much better than yesterday, so I’m feeling happier tonight. I felt good in the car and it’s getting better and better all the time. I was more competitive in some stages and just missing a bit of commitment in others. It’s easier to see now where I’m losing time compared to the top three and why, but I wasn’t taking huge risks. I think the team did a very good job with the tyre choices because it was difficult to get it right for every stage. Tomorrow I’ll try to push myself and to take some extra points for myself and the team.”

 

Sunday

We have 54.78km’s to decide this rally’s final standings and the points to be awarded for the top seven positions at the end of Sunday’s stages.

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Rally Croatia 2024 – Day One Report – Friday

The first full day of competition saw the crews face 119km’s over eight stages. There was the added addition of the fact there would be no mid-day service. Getting through the longest day without any problems would be tricky. Thierry would open the road due to being the championship leader.

First up was SS1 Krašić – Sošice 1 – 23.63 km and the Belgian pairing would take advantage of their road position and win the first stage from Elfyn and Scott by 6.6 seconds. Starting further back down the starting list was Seb and Vincent, and the Toyota crew were third fastest. In WRC2 Nikolay held the lead from Yohan and Pepe.

Onto SS2 Jaškovo – Mali Modruš Potok 1 – 9.48 km and Elfyn was fastest from Thierry and Ott. The Welshman took 1.7 seconds from the rally leader, the gap now just 4.9 between them. In the M-Sport team, Adrien had a good run that was just 1.8 seconds slower than Ott. In WRC2, Nicolay made two from two, again faster than Yohan and Lauri was third.

The penultimate stage then of the morning loop, SS3 Ravna Gora – Skrad 1 – 10.13 km saw Thierry hit back again from Elfyn, the gap now stretched to 8.4 seconds, whilst Seb was third again. Yohan was quickest in WRC2 from Nikolay and Pepe, with the Frenchman taking 1.7 seconds from Nikolay.

The last stage then before the tyre fitting zone, SS4 Platak 1 – 16.63 km was won by Thierry from Elfyn and Seb. In WRC2 there was no change with the same top three and in the same order, with Nikolay pulling away a little from his French teammate.

Following the break for the tyre fitting zone, the crews returned to SS5 Platak 2 – 16.63 km, with the same stages being run from the morning but in the opposite order. Once again, Thierry was fastest from Elfyn and Seb. The battle continued in WRC2 with Nikolay again fastest from Yohan but only by eight tenths of a second whilst William Creighton in his Fiesta Rally2 was third fastest and this pace moved him up two positions on the leaderboard to eighth in the category.

Into SS6 Ravna Gora – Skrad 2 – 10.13 km Elfyn was fastest from Seb and Ott. There was drama for Thierry who got a puncture in the stage and although he was sixth fastest his lead was now just one tenth of a second! Nikolay continued to lead WRC2 from Yohan and Pepe.

Next up was SS7 Jaškovo – Mali Modruš Potok 2 – 9.48 km and Seb was fastest from Elfyn by just three tenths of a second and Ott third. Thierry lost more time, dropping two seconds to Seb and a little less to Elfyn and this mean we had a change in the leader, with the Welshman now leading from Thierry and Seb now 17.6 from his teammate and in third. In WRC2 Nikolay was again fastest from Yohan whilst Eyvind Brynildsen third in his Skoda.

The final stage then of the day, SS8 Krašić – Sošice 2 – 23.63 km and Seb was fastest from Adrien and Thierry. That was not the most remarkable thing of this though. With Elfyn going sixth fastest with a time of 13:00.8 and Thierry third with a time of 12:59.2 the two championship rivals ended the first full day of the rally with an identical overall time of 1:05:15. 3. They were tied for the lead. Thierry would hold first place courtesy of his four fastest stage times compared to Elfyn’s two. The other amazing result of this stage would be that Seb reduced the lead to just 6.6 seconds putting him right back in the fight for the lead. There was no change at the top of WRC2, but Emil set a good time in this one, going third fastest and he moved up one position to eighth in the category.

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 4,
Croatia Rally 2024, 18-21 April 2024
Emil Lindholm, Reeta Hamalainen, i20 N Rally2, Action during Day 1 of WRC 2 Croatia Rally 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the top positions.

Classification after Day One

1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 1:05:15
2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +0.00
3 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +6.6
4 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +41.1
5 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +52.7
6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:37.8
7 A. Mikkelsen T. Eriksen Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +2:37.8
8 G. Munster L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3:07.3
9 N. Gryazin K. Aleksandrov Škoda Fabia RS +3:48.3
10 Y. Rossel A. Dunand Citroën C3 +4:19.4

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“We gave it everything in every stage and now we are equal with Elfyn overnight. Despite this, we still lost important seconds this afternoon with our puncture, and we struggled generally throughout the day with the balance of the car and road conditions. We knew this afternoon would also be tricky as we were the car that was clearing the roads, so there were no lines for us. Generally, we can be happy with the overall result, and tomorrow we will fight to improve our advantage.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 04, Croatia Rally
18 – 21 March 2024
Thierry Neuville
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“At some points we were really frustrated, and our morning was going really downhill. The first loop was quite a struggle; I was fighting with the car while trying to set better times and that caused me to have some moments. Only this afternoon did things come together a bit more and become more consistent in the car. We still didn’t have too much confidence to be committed, but tomorrow we will get back in the car for another show.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“It’s been a tough day. We were hoping to be fighting further up the field, but we are starting to get more confident and gaining the speed to compete. I am having some moments inside the car, and I feel like it’s not working as it should be, so we will analyse and sleep on it and hopefully we’ll go better tomorrow. The most important thing is to get a good feeling in the car, which I had in Alba, because today it doesn’t feel right. We will refocus and come back stronger tomorrow.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“This morning especially the roads were getting dirtier with every car so that helped us to be faster than the guys behind but not quite as fast as Thierry. The first stage was quite slippery but through the morning we got a bit more comfortable, and the pace started to come. It was a pretty good fight this afternoon after Thierry had a puncture: then the gap was very close, and it was just a matter of a few seconds either way in each stage. The car’s generally been good, and the balance has been reasonable, but tomorrow could be quite different with the weather and we’re expecting a challenging day.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a good day for me, I’m really happy. I pushed quite hard all day and I’m quite satisfied with my driving and with the car: the feeling was great, and it was really good fun to drive. We knew our road position would cost us some time and it did this morning. Then we had some bad luck with the weather at the start of the afternoon, but we managed to do this really good time on the last stage. This was very positive for us as it pushed us back into the fight. Tomorrow could be like the start of another rally with the weather forecast: on these dirty and slippery roads, the rain can make it very challenging.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“We knew that this rally can be very demanding, especially as the conditions get worse with every car because of the gravel and mud from the cuts. Still, I was struggling more than I expected this morning. It was not so easy to find the confidence and drive on the level that I wanted. During the whole day I was looking for ways to improve, and in the afternoon we made some changes to the car setup. After this I had a better feeling at the end of the day, and the last stage was much better. Tomorrow the conditions could be completely different, so it will be a new day and I will try to do my best again.”

Saturday

Day two’s action will see the crews face 108.76km’s over eight stages again. There will be a lunch time service on day two, with the stages being run in the normal format, instead of being reversed. Who will lead the rally at the end of Saturday?

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Rally Croatia 2024 Preview – Return to Tarmac!

The championship moves onto the asphalt roads of Croatia, round four of this season. Of course, this round is likely to see the drivers once again remembering their former competitor Craig Breen.

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 04, Croatia Rally
18-21 April 2024
Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Atmosphere, Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Andreas Mikkelsen,Tortstein Eriksen, Cyril Abiteboul
Photographer: Dufour Fabien
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Twelve months on from his passing during a pre-event test ahead of the 2023 edition, the cars from Hyundai have continued to carry the tribute #ForCraig.

Last year’s round was won by Elfyn and Scott for Toyota after Thierry and Martijn in their i20 went off the road when in the lead and although they returned and finished the rally under the usual rally regulations, it was a lowly finish for their pair. They will want to win this weekend and continue their good start to the season.

Second on the road for Elfyn and Scott will be a good position for the pair, with the hope that the roads do not get too dirty from the cuts of the Belgian crew ahead. They took fifth on the road last year and made it second in the standings at the end of the first day before ultimately taking a well-deserved victory.

After a fantastic start to the year, Adrien and Alex come to this round third in the championship after two podiums. It has been great to see them up there for M-Sport Ford, having not put a wheel wrong in three tricky events so far.

Elsewhere in the teams, Andreas Mikkelsen and Seb Ogier return for their part seasons in the Hyundai and Toyota squads respectively.

Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the stages as well.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Croatia is one of the most demanding tarmac rallies I have ever competed in. There are lots of blind corners, crests and jumps – something very unusual for a tarmac event. I like the challenge of Croatia; the profile of the stages and the speed combined with the wide and narrow stages creates a unique test. But the roads are very similar to Belgian roads when it’s raining, so that creates some familiarity for us. The car needs to have the perfect setup for both wet and dry conditions because of the unpredictability of the weather – if the setup is wrong, we lose confidence. I would like to finish on the podium in Croatia: finishing in the top three is crucial to maintaining the championship lead. Our biggest target is to push for a top-step finish.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 4,
Croatia Rally 2024, 18-21 April 2024
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Atmosphere during Croatia Rally 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“Croatia is a fun tarmac event. The grip is low, and the surface can get quite dirty, but at the same time there are a lot of vertical crests and jumps with blind corners. Tarmac is quite rare nowadays on our calendar, we only do a couple of events per year, so it’s special. We have already driven on tarmac in Monte-Carlo, and I would say the feeling there was not bad, and by the end of the rally we were getting quite close. We need to take that experience and get the balance right on the car to maximise the grip; if we do that we should have the package we need for Croatia. We definitely want to do well, so hopefully we get a good feeling from the start. We need a trouble-free event, and we are ultimately always fighting for the win.”

Andreas Mikkelsen

“I am feeling very positive after a solid start to the season in Monte-Carlo. It’s great to be returning to the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid for a WRC round, especially after contesting Rally Regione Piemonte. Croatia is a unique challenge, but we have many years of rallying experience that we can use to make good judgements on stage. With the grip and weather changing all the time, good pace notes are an essential to doing well there. Obviously, our road position at the start of the weekend will be a disadvantage, especially if there is rain, due to the amount of mud that gets pulled up. We are ultimately targeting a podium, but if conditions get tricky then a top-five finish is where we want to end up.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“The start of our season has been solid, and we’ve come away from each round with some decent points. We’ve had three quite unique events with very specific challenges and now we come to some more typical European asphalt and gravel rallies, we need to focus on trying to maximise these. Last year was good for us on asphalt, including Croatia, so it’s a rally we look forward to. We know this is a pretty tricky rally with the changeable grip levels and it’s very easy to make a mistake. So, we need to try and have a clean rally but, at the same time, we know that we’ll need to drive quickly to be fighting at the front.”

 

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m feeling more and more confident on asphalt after my performance on Rally Japan last year, and some stages of Monte-Carlo this year. However, Croatia is one of the trickiest rallies because of the amount of cutting and the number of surface changes. Being able to fully commit when the road is dirty is an area where I can still improve in my asphalt driving, and I want to take this event as an opportunity to continue making progress. It will not be an easy rally, especially with our starting position on Friday and even more so if it rains. So it could be important to have some patience in the beginning and then try to find the rhythm and a good balance to be able to push hard.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I’ve enjoyed my time off since Monte-Carlo and now I’m happy to get back into competition. My test last week was a good chance to get my feeling back in the car, with quite a demanding road: pretty fast with jumps and narrow sections. These are features of the rally as well, but we also know that the weather can be uncertain at this time of year. We don’t have the ideal starting position for an asphalt rally, so we’ll have to assess the conditions and see what we can do. My main motivation is always to reach the podium and fight for victory, but I’m also here to help the team, and with the new points system we can see that Sundays are also now more important than ever.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“Croatia is a really special event for me, it was my first time in a world rally car in the championship back in 2021, where I finished 5th. I really like the roads, with the really smooth Tarmac sections, but it’s also one of the most difficult Tarmac events of the season. Because the grip is so changeable, it’s not easy to know where the grip is and where it’s not, the kind of Tarmac changes so much. So we need a lot of precision because there are also a lot of cuts.

 

“It’s a big challenge for all the crews, but an enjoyable rally with all the spectators who come out to watch every year. I’m really looking forward to it, and after two podiums so far I’m hoping that we can continue in that way!”

Grégoire Munster

“I’m looking forward to Croatia and being back on Tarmac, which is the surface where I’m most comfortable. We had a very good pre-event test, where the feeling with the car was really encouraging, so we just want to be in Croatia already! The profile of the rally is a fast Tarmac event, but with a lot of crests, dips and cuts, and the roads can get a bit dirty, but I enjoy it when the conditions are tricky!”

William Creighton

“I’m looking forward to the event after gaining good experience of the Fiesta on Tarmac in the Irish and British championships. The rally is going to be a big challenge with the slippery Croatian tar and the level of competition within the WRC2 category. We will focus on having a good pre-event test and recce so that we can have an enjoyable rally and allow us to make improvements throughout the weekend.”

Summary of the stages.

This seasons Rally Croatia sees the crews tackle 283km’s over 20 stages. The longest day is Friday with 119km’s.

Croatia Rally commences on Thursday morning with Shakedown, followed by a Ceremonial Start at Zagreb’s National and University Library in the evening.

Friday is both the first and longest day of competitive action, boasting an overall stage distance of 119.74km.

Day One also contains no midday service, despite featuring two passes of the rally’s longest stage: Krašić – Sošice (23.63km).

After 108.76km of stages on Saturday, the event concludes on Sunday with four final tests, including the Power Stage of Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec 2 (14.24km).

The action starts on Thursday with shakedown on the 3.65 km Okić stage.

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Safari Rally Kenya 2024 – Day Three Report – Sunday

The final day then for this year on the amazing roads in Kenya and the crews faced 74km’s over six stages. Gregoire Munster returned to the action and would open the road throughout the final day.

First up was the super rough SS14 Malewa 1 – 8.33 km, a stage with not just rocks but also bedrock throughout the stage, between sandy sections. Thierry was fastest from his teammate, Ott and Esapekka. Both Takamoto and Esapekka suffered punctures in the stage though. In WRC2 Gus was fastest from Oliver and Kajetan and the three remained in the top positions in the category.

Into SS15 Oserian 1 – 18.33 km, which was not only longer, but also faster. Elfyn was quickest from Ott and Thierry. Oliver was again fastest in WRC2 from Gus and Nicolas. The Brit was feeling much better today and managing his pace on the stage.

The final morning stage then, SS16 Hell’s Gate 1 – 10.53 km a well-known stage and is super-fast as well. Elfyn was fastest in the stage from Ott and Takamoto. There was drama for Thierry as he hit a very, very large rock in the stage, breaking his right-rear suspension. Once again Oliver was fastest from Gus and Nicolas in WRC2.

After the service break it was back to SS17 Malewa 2 – 8.33 km and Thierry was again fastest from his teammates Ott and Esapekka. Elfyn lost a huge amount of time but was taking it easy over the rocky roads. In WRC2 Oliver was again fastest from Gus and Charles Munster.

The second run of SS18 Oserian 2 – 18.33 km saw Ott go fastest from Thierry and Esapekka, whilst Elfyn lost a huge amount of time which was odd given that he was fastest in the stage earlier. Oliver was again fastest from Gus and Nicolas in WRC2.

Time then for the final stage, SS19 Hell’s Gate 2[Power Stage] – 10.53 km and Thierry was fastest from Ott, Esapekka, Kalle and Elfyn. It was a surprise to see Kalle set a time that ultimately put him ahead of Elfyn in the power stage points, but of course the crews do not get the split times in the cars and have not for some time. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest from Gus and Kajetan.

Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Safari Rally Kenya

1 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 3:36.04.0
2 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:37.8
3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +2:25.1
4 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +4:20.2
5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +10:17.5
6 G. Greensmith J. Andersson Škoda Fabia RS +18:05.4
7 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +19:28.5
8 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +21:02.0
9 J. Serderidis F. Miclotte Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +26:13.3
10 K. Kajetanowicz M. Szczepaniak Škoda Fabia RS +26:34.4

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s special to be able to win the Safari for the second time. This event is so tough and it’s also a legendary one for Toyota: we have always been good here and we are still continuing that record. Like they say in Africa, the car in front is always a Toyota. A big thanks to the team, because everybody made a big effort to make the car work so well. I think we did a good job, I think you cannot do a better Safari than what we did, with no issues and clever driving. Today was difficult, having to drive the roughest stage on the calendar twice when you have a huge lead, trying to avoid everything, it’s not easy. We just needed to stick to the plan, and it worked out.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s a very nice feeling to achieve this second place and to be on the podium again in Kenya. It was a tough rally like always, so we need to say a huge thanks to the team because they prepared very well, and the car was working so well. I made some mistakes yesterday and we got the punctures, but I could always trust the car. When we needed to push, we were able to push, and the times were good. Reliability is a strong point for Toyota and I’m very proud to drive this car.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s not been an easy weekend for us. At least we could reach the end of the rally, which is a positive thing, but we wanted more from this weekend. Today we had good speed at points but there were just a few little issues, so we didn’t get as many points as we’d like. The first loop was not easy: the opening stage was extremely rough, and we were probably too conservative there compared to the others. In the Power Stage we gave it a go but already in the first half it was very difficult.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“A good weekend, but for sure we could have done better. Unfortunately, we got hit by some problems but despite this, we kept fighting. Today there was an opportunity to take loads of points – we scored 11 out of 12, so we’re satisfied to be the second-best performer today. We would have loved to get more, especially after three consecutive difficult years here in Kenya. Still room for improvement but we have managed to increase the lead in the championship and got a good road position for Croatia. On to the next one!”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 3,
Safari Rally Kenya 2024, 27-31 March 2024
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 3 of WRC Safari Rally Kenya 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“Our target was always not to push to the maximum, but to aim for the podium with a clean run, so our retirement on Friday was of course frustrating. Although we had to face a number of issues in the car and on the road our troubles had nothing to do with reliability. Our pace is definitely getting closer to the others. Croatia will be a completely different rally even to Monte-Carlo, so let’s see how we do. We want to get back on track; the championship is very young, but we need to get back into our normal rhythm.”

Esapekka Lappi

“The speed this weekend was good from the beginning, even yesterday when we were opening the road, so we need to be pleased with that. All of our cars were quite competitive in terms of pace but unfortunately reliability was not with us this weekend and that is reflected in the results. At least my team-mates were able to get a lot of points from today and it was great to get that 1-2-3 in the Power Stage. I am looking forward to my next event with the team.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“It’s been a fantastic weekend, the team have been doing a really good job the whole time, the car has been really reliable, and we had no issues at all with the car. I was really pleased with that, so congratulations to the team, the result belongs to them as well. Ok we have been sensible, but it has been really positive. For us it’s two podiums in two rallies and a really great start to the season, we are still third in the championship so now we need to continue. We have had one podium on snow, one on gravel, so we just need one on Tarmac now!”

Jourdan Serderidis

“We have finished 9th overall, so it looks like Kenya suits me quite well! M-Sport has had a very positive event for the whole team across Rally1 and Rally2, it’s been great to be a part of it.”

Grégoire Munster

“It’s not the result we expected, but I think we were driving carefully with a smart approach, and at the end it could have been a top five finish. Unfortunately, on Saturday morning we hit a rock and didn’t manage to repair the car, even though we really gave it our best. A bit disappointing but at least we were able to come back on Sunday to do the kilometres, grab the experience and take a couple of points for the championship. Even though it’s not the result we wanted, I think there’s still some positives to take home and we are already looking forward to Croatia and being back on Tarmac.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“I have to be happy with this result,” said the 22-year-old Oliver. “Of course, I am a little bit disappointed. I came here to win, but this rally is a big, big challenge and to come away with points for second and the championship lead is good.

“The chance to win was lost on the first day, when we got two punctures on two stages on Friday. But we said all of the time that this rally, the Safari Rally has some surprises and some excitement and that’s part of the appeal – it’s part of the challenge of this place.

“I absolutely love the rally; I love the people and the atmosphere around here. It’s just fantastic, every time you get out of the car you are surrounded by people smiling, wanting a selfie everybody is just happy and pleased to see you. It’s a very cool place and very cool rally and I’m already looking forward to coming back!”

“Like we said at the start of the year, we need to be strategic about the programme. I really want to win this title this season, it’s what everything is geared towards. So, that makes this event a success. We have points and the championship lead – and some fastest times which is nice.

“Once again, Elliott did a fantastic job on this event, he’s the best! And the team and everybody around me, I can’t thank them enough for the help and support in what we do. To come here and drive this car on these roads – it’s a pure pleasure.”

Summary

Kalle and Jonne have repeated their victory in this event after last winning in 2022. Takamoto took second place to repeat the feat from 2021 when the round returned to the championship. Finally, Adrien took a brilliant third place, his second ever podium as well. It was a clever and controlled drive from the Frenchman which delivered this result for him, Alex and M-Sport Ford team. Well, what an amazing rally and a very strong result for Toyota, taking another win.

Next up is Rally Croatia over the weekend of the 18th to 21 of April, when the crews get to tackle the first full asphalt rally of the season.

 

Here’s the points standings.

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round three

1 T. Neuville 67
2 E. Evans 61
3 A. Fourmaux 46
4 O. Tänak 33
5 K. Rovanperä 31
6 T. Katsuta 30
8 E. Lappi 23
9 O. Solberg 12
10 A. Mikkelsen 6

 

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round three

1 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 131
2 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 127
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 72
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Safari Rally Kenya 2024 – Day Two Report – Saturday

Saturday saw the crews face 160km’s over six stages. Esapekka and Ott both returned to the action with the Finn opening the road.

The first stage, SS8 Soysambu 1 – 29.32 km saw Takamoto set the fastest time from Esapekka and Kalle. Ott was the first to have a problem, with his bonnet clip on the right-hand side not having been fully engaged and leading to around a minute lost as the Estonian had to stop to secure it again. The crew had been doing some work in the engine bay leading to this problem. Meanwhile Elfyn also had to stop after getting a puncture in the stage, dropping down from second overall to fifth. The drivers that benefitted with this were Takamoto, Thierry and Adrien, moving into second, third and fourth respectively. Also having trouble was Gregoire who damaged his suspension In WRC2, Oliver was fastest from Gus and Diego. The young Swede was on the move in the category, now holding second overall and three minutes from category leader Gus.

Into SS9 Elmenteita 1 – 15.08 km, so named because of the lake nearby and Thierry was fastest in this one, from teammate EP and Kalle. Gregoire did not make the stage, having not been able to repair his rear suspension and would retire for the day. Kalle now held a lead of 58.3 seconds over teammate Takamoto. In WRC2 Gus was fastest from Oliver and Kajetan. The Brit was feeling a little better as well.

The last stage before service, SS10 Sleeping Warrior 1 – 36.08 km, called this due to the nearby mountain which looks like a sleeping Masai Warrior, and Kalle was fastest from Thierry and Elfyn. The Belgian’s pace took him ahead of Takamoto into second overall, although Kalle now held an increased lead of almost a minute and a half. Both Takamoto and Elfyn unfortunately suffered punctures in this one, but at least the Welshman did not drop anymore positions on the leaderboard. In WRC2, Oliver was fastest from Gus by a huge 41.5 seconds and cut the gap to the category leader to two minutes and twenty-two seconds. Kajetan was third fastest and remained in third position.

After the lunch and service break, which saw a very big rainstorm come over the service park and we saw the fitting of the snorkel to the Hyundai as well came SS11 Soysambu 2 – 29.32 km. Takamoto again claimed this stage from Elfyn and Kalle. The Japanese driver regained second place overall and Adrien was now third after Thierry suffered a mechanical problem with his fuel pump and having stopped a number of times in the stage and ended up losing two minutes and thirty-eight seconds. His closest competitor was Elfyn who was twenty seconds ahead now. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest again by five and a half seconds over category leader Gus, the Brit lead now reduced to two minutes and sixteen seconds. No big drama for the Brit.

At last, Elfyn was fastest in SS12 Elmenteita 2 – 15.08 km even though he had yet another puncture. Ott and Adrien were second and third. Thierry continued to suffer with problems and lost a further one minute and fifty-eight seconds, although remained in fifth overall due to the lead he held over WRC2 leader Gus. The Brit remained firmly in charge of the support category actually winning the stage from Oliver and Kajetan.

Finally, the last stage of the day, SS13 Sleeping Warrior 2 – 36.08 km and the clouds built up, but the rain did not really arrive as many had thought it would. There was drama however for some. EP had to pull over for some cars to pass him as he suffered a smashed windscreen which was on his side of the car from an early point in the stage. The reason I hear you ask? The wildlife was the reason, as two birds was hit on the stage, but not at the same time. Two drivers also suffered punctures with Elfyn (yes again) and Adrien both having problems. Quite astonishing really, but given the rocks on the road, in a way not surprising. Ott was fastest from Takamoto and Kalle.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 2:48.50.2
2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +2:08.9
3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3:13.3
4 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +5:35.6
5 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +11:48.6
6 G. Greensmith J. Andersson Škoda Fabia RS +15:02.0
7 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +16:57.0
8 K. Kajetanowicz M. Szczepaniak Škoda Fabia RS +21:15.7
9 J. Serderidis F. Miclotte Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +21:56.4
10 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +21:58.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s nice to end today with a good lead. This morning we had the plan to just take it quite carefully with a steady pace and make no mistakes. Our time on Sleeping Warrior was good: everyone had some issues and I felt I could manage the pace quite well. I was just trying to manage the risk, to not push so hard in the rough or tricky places, and you also need a bit of luck that everything goes well. It’s not always so enjoyable driving like that, just trying to go around every single rock, but it has paid off so far. Tomorrow is still a tough day, and we will try to finish the job.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today started very well with a fastest time: the car felt good, it was not a big push but still the time was good, so I was quite happy. We expected Sleeping Warrior would be tough, especially as the new section at the end was full of random rocks that you can’t see because they’re hidden in the grass. Unfortunately, we hit a big one, which felt very disappointing because I was trying to avoid problems, but almost everybody had trouble there. In the end, I’m very happy with what I have done so far. Tomorrow the main priority is to bring the car to the finish, and maybe there is a possibility to gain some points for the team as well.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s not been a good day for us. There were some good moments: I felt a bit better in the car than yesterday and the pace was OK at points. But to have three punctures during the day really set us back. The outcome was not what we wanted, and it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity. We have to try and get as many points as we can from tomorrow but it’s still a long and difficult Sunday and we need to get to the finish to get any points. We just have to focus on driving and see what we can do.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I am really disappointed with the outcome from today. It’s hard when you put a lot of effort into your preparations for the day and you don’t get the reward. Despite being competitive all weekend, the car developed some issues that we couldn’t fix ourselves, and we had to continue with them for the whole loop. We kept fighting and we will keep going tomorrow – it is going to be a challenging day and we still need to get to the finish, but we will push and see what we can do.”

Ott Tänak

“It has been such a busy day; there was always something going on and we couldn’t catch a break. In the end, this is Safari Rally Kenya, and it is no surprise that anything can happen, so we have to keep ourselves motivated. Our team has put a lot of energy to get us here today after what happened yesterday, so we have no choice but to keep going. Tomorrow is a different day again and it is difficult to say what will happen, but for sure we would like to score as many points as possible – this will be crucial.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Safari Rally Kenya
27 – 31 March 2024
Ott Tanak
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Esapekka Lappi

“When things start to go wrong, they go really wrong. Today was mainly about punctures and animals crossing that prevented us from recovering as much as we could have with the good pace we have shown when we were able to. Tomorrow we have some points available, and if the speed is similar to what we had today, then hopefully we can catch some people.”

 

Škoda Motorsport (Toksport)

Oliver Solberg

“Today has been OK, it’s difficult because we are here to race and, of course, you want to push and take the best time possible. But at the same time, we are second and that would give us good championship points.

“The gap ahead is just a little bit too big to try to make a big difference with the driving and every time you are anywhere near the limit, then you are taking the big risk. We didn’t have any issues, but it was so difficult to drive at times, so many rocks around! We had a little bit of rain in the last stage, but it could have been a lot worse.

“This is an incredible place to come to compete – when you are driving down the road sections, some of the sights, the wildlife and the scenery, it’s just amazing. And, of course, the people are fantastic, so friendly and so happy to see us. The feeling is the same from us!

“Tomorrow the plan will be the same. It’s a long day, we have 74 kilometres coming – that’s more than the usual Sunday – and we want to bring home the points. Let’s see what happens.”

 

Summary

Well, what a day two! The rain came but did not affect the stages, mainly falling in the service park. Through all the problems came two-time champions Kalle and Jonne and showed why they are double world champions.

Of course, the points for 1st to 10th positions are locked in place and Elfyn somehow outscored his championship rival Thierry by a couple of points. Now, all the crews need to make it to the end of the rally to actually gain these points.

The final day will see the crews tackle 74km’s over six stages. What will the day bring?

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Safari Rally Kenya 2024 – Day One Report – Friday

The first full day of the Safari Rally saw the crews tackle 132km’s over six stages and there was drama in all the stages. The first stage held on Thursday in Nairobi saw Thierry hold the lead over Ott, with Kalle in third.

Of course, heading into the Friday’s stages would be Thierry who would open the road throughout the day.

First up then was SS2 Loldia 1 – 19.17 km and Kalle was fastest from Esapekka and Ott. The Finns pace saw him move into the lead from Ott and fellow Finn EP who jumped two positions on the leader board and into third overall. Unfortunately, Elfyn suffered a puncture in this stage and could only manage the sixth best time. In WRC2 Gus was fastest from Oliver and Kajetan and these three held the last three positions in the overall top ten.

Next was SS3 Geothermal 1 – 13.12 km and the fast stage saw Thierry hit a bank on the outside of a left-hand corner, damaging his rear tyre and also the bodywork on the right-hand side. The Belgian dropped back just one place to fifth overall. Meanwhile Kalle was fastest in the stage from Esapekka and Ott. The two Hyundai drivers swapped positions as well, Esapekka now into second overall. Meanwhile in WRC2 Gus was fastest again from Kajetan and Nicolas, whilst Oliver suffered a puncture and lost a minute and fifty-one seconds and fell five positions to seventh in the category.

The last morning stage, SS4 Kedong 1 – 31.50 km and the longest stage of the day as well. The top positions were again filled by Kalle, Ott and Esapekka. Welshman, Elfyn was on the move, passing Thierry for fifth position. In WRC2 Oliver suffered a second puncture in the second stage in a row and the Swede lost a further one minute and forty-six seconds. Meanwhile Gus remained quickest from Charles Munster and Diego Dominguez.

After the lunch time service break, SS5 Loldia 2 – 19.17 km and Kalle continued his good run winning from Takamoto and Elfyn, a Toyota 1-2-3! Unfortunately, EP failed to finish the stage after suffering transmission failure. Ott now moved into second overall and Takamoto was third. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest from Gus and Kajetan. The Pole moved back into second place in the category, pushing Diego down to third.

Into SS6 Geothermal 2 – 13.12 km and Kalle was making this look easy, even though it certainly was not, winning the stage from his teammates Takamoto and Elfyn. It was a second stage disaster for the Hyundai team, with Ott crashing out after hitting a rock in the middle of a corner and damaging his steering on the right-hand side. Gus continued to set the pace in WRC2 winning the stage from Oliver and Nicolas. The Frenchman moved up one place as well and into third place.

The final stage then of the day, and Kalle completed a full six stage winning streak in SS7 Kedong 2 – 31.50 km going fastest again from Thierry and Elfyn. The Welshman’s pace moved him ahead of teammate Takamoto. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest again from Gus and Kajetan and the Swede moved into third place in the category.

Let’s hear from the drivers and take a look at the top positions.

Classification after Day One

1  K. Rovanperä  J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 1:16.22.6
2  E. Evans  S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +56.9
3  T. Katsuta  A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:00.8
4  T. Neuville  M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +1:07.3
5  A. Fourmaux  A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:46.6
6  G. Munster  L. Louka Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +3:34.2
7  G. Greensmith  J. Andersson Škoda Fabia RS +6:51.3
8  J. Serderidis  F. Miclotte Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +9:11.7
9  K. Kajetanowicz  M. Szczepaniak Škoda Fabia RS +10:14.3
10  O. Solberg  E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +10:28.8

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Kalle Rovanperä

“It has been a really good day for us. Our plan was to try and make the most of our starting place today. I felt I could manage the pace quite well. I was quite happy pushing hard when the conditions were good, and then especially this afternoon taking care of the car and the tyres in the rough places and still we could have good times. It’s still a long rally ahead and even a lead of almost one minute is not a lot here because anything can happen: if some big rain comes we know that the gaps can be huge, and you can lose a lot of time. So, we’ll just try to keep on working the same way as we did today.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a tough day out there like it always is on the Safari Rally. It’s very easy to get caught out here as we’ve seen again today. We didn’t have the best morning: it was just not really flowing and working as well as I’d like, and we didn’t have the speed we wanted either. I was struggling a bit with the balance and my own rhythm and was maybe a bit too conservative in places. After making some changes in service, we made a step in the right direction this afternoon and the times were a bit better, and I enjoyed the driving a bit more. The gaps behind are still quite tight and with such a long day tomorrow with perhaps some unpredictable conditions, we can’t count too much yet.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“It’s been a pretty good day and a clean day. The stages were quite rough like we expected, but the car was working well, and I felt comfortable. I was just following my strategy to be patient and not do anything crazy. I felt good in the first two stages this afternoon, the times were good even though I was not really pushing. Then on the last one with a soft surface, you need to really push to gain the time and if you’re careful like I was, you’re easily losing time. Tomorrow is a big day where anything can happen, and I will just keep doing what I’m doing, try to stay on the road and focus on myself.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“It was a challenging and exhausting day. We were fighting with a few little issues, but it was mainly the puncture which cost us time. We had a bit of a moment this afternoon where I completely lost the steering and we ended up on two wheels, but luckily we got away with it. I think we fought hard, but we would have preferred better results, so we will keep fighting tomorrow. It’s not nice to see my team-mates retire – another bad day here in Kenya for us – which also made it hard for me to attack with full confidence in the really rough sections in case I faced the same issues.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship Round 3,
Safari Rally Kenya 2024, 27-31 March 2024
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 1 of WRC Safari Rally Kenya 2024
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Ott Tänak

“The incident that caused our retirement was nothing special, but I guess it’s typical of Safari Rally Kenya. The rock was kind of hidden and I couldn’t really react as the road was narrow with banks on the side. I had nowhere to go so I had to take the rock, but the rock was far too big, and it put us off the road. I hit the bank and that caused the damage to the car; there was nothing we could do to avoid it.”

Esapekka Lappi

“The day was going well until we had to retire due to a gearbox issue; first the car was front-wheel drive only after an acceleration, and ultimately I couldn’t move the car, so we had to roll back from the hairpin because we were stuck. There was no major impact or noise – of course there were plenty of impacts on the stages, but none of them should have caused this problem. It is a shame as the splits were good, as was this morning. We lost ground to Kalle, but I was very satisfied with the speed that I had in the car, and it was going well until that failure.”

 

Oliver Solberg

“The Safari Rally is never going to be an easy one and today we really had to work hard,” said the Monster Energy-backed Oliver. “The two punctures were frustrating and it’s quite random with this surface. It’s so rough in places, it’s hard to know where the punctures are coming. You come through some sections, and you feel a few impacts and you think there is going to be a problem and there’s nothing.

“The main thing is that we are back on the podium, and we have a very long way still to run in this rally. With some weather changes maybe, coming tomorrow, anything can happen – the priority now is to stay on the podium for WRC2 and survive whatever else the Safari is going to throw at us.”

 

Summary

What a Friday we were treated to then! Kalle was really on form throughout the day taking every stage win. He leads a Toyota 1-2-3 after the first full day. His teammates Elfyn and Takamoto both had mixed days but kept it clean to hold second and third positions.

At Hyundai all three of their crews suffered problems, with Ott crashing out, Esapekka suffering a mechanical failure and Thierry getting a puncture but at least being able to continue. The three will be back tomorrow and Thierry will hope he can gain some positions and maybe get ahead of Elfyn.

It was a solid day for the M-Sport team, with Adrien and Gregoire delivering good pace and the pair are holding fifth and sixth overall. Let’s see what Saturday’s action brings.

 

Saturday will have 160km’s over six stages. Maybe there will be some rain that will come and change the conditions in the stages?

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Safari Rally Kenya 2024 Preview

Time for the third round of the season and the championship moves to East Africa and this iconic event. The extra challenge of this round is that it is much earlier this year than previous years and held at the more traditional time of Easter.

This brings the added challenge of much more tricky weather conditions and heavy rain which has made the recce days very tricky. More rain is predicted throughout the three day’s of competition, which will make the 367km’s over the 19 stages certainly a challenge.

The longest day of the rally will be Saturday with 160km’s over six stages. Friday features 132km’s over six stages as well, with Sunday featuring 74km’s over four stages.

Let’s hear from the drivers then.

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

What are the main challenges you expect to face on the Safari Rally? “This year it should be the weather conditions. With the rally moving to March, it’s the rain period in Kenya, and it’s the conditions we are most afraid of because there could be heavy rain which could make the driving close to impossible in some places. Other than this it’s a long and demanding event, but if the rain comes it will be a bit of a lottery.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Safari Rally Kenya
27 – 31 March 2024
Thierry Neuville
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

It’s been a strong start to the 2024 season, how much confidence does this give you for Kenya? “Not more than any other year to be honest because the three times I have done this rally I have had technical issues. So, when I look back over the past results, I am not really confident. However, we have prepared as good as we can and the team has worked very hard so let’s see what is possible.”

What are the advantages and disadvantages of opening the road on leg one? “It’s hard to predict, actually. In Kenya, in normal conditions, there’s no real advantage or disadvantage because it’s not like a traditional gravel rally with its clay surface. With rainy weather, it might be a big advantage but also a disadvantage because in the case of heavy rain, if we are first on the road, we might have to empty the water puddles, especially when the rain has stopped before the stage starts. If there is continuous rain or it starts raining while the stage is running it will probably be an advantage. That’s because you might be able to get through the stage without getting hit by the rain, but the cars that run 10 or 15 minutes later might have the whole stage in full wet and we have seen that in the past. But in dry conditions it’s neither an advantage or a disadvantage.”

What do you need from your Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid to be successful on the Safari Rally? “The main thing is reliability. It doesn’t need to be the fastest car, but it needs to be strong.”

It’s a very spectacular event, where does it rank among your favourite WRC events? “I like the event, but I’ve never had any good results so it’s not my favourite for that reason. Driving-wise it’s an adventure and that’s what I like, and also because it’s different to all the other events. It can be very brutal and that’s not so nice.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“The Safari Rally is the most extreme event on the calendar so it’s always an exciting one to go to. It’s more about the adventure than the pure thrill of driving but I’m looking forward to it as always. We’ve made a decent start to the year, taking good points from the first two rounds, but the Safari can be a bit of a lottery. We have to find that balance between pushing and looking after the car and see if we can be at the finish with good points, but that’s easier said than done. We’ve seen before that when it rains it can be very difficult, and we’re potentially looking at much more difficult conditions for a greater proportion of the rally and that could make things quite challenging.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s really exciting to go back to Kenya. It’s been quite a good rally for me and also for our team: we have got some really amazing results there. The atmosphere is also great so I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be interesting to go there at this time of the year, during the rainy season. We expect that it could be much muddier, and already in the previous years we have seen a bit of rain and it is always really tricky and slippery in those conditions. The biggest challenge will be to have reliable pace for the whole week, be consistent and stay out of trouble. Rally Sweden didn’t go as planned, so I’m really hungry to get a good result in Kenya.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I’m of course really excited and looking forward to the Safari Rally: it’s a rally where Toyota has been really strong. But this time we will go to Kenya in a very different part of the year, so there could be more challenges in terms of the weather conditions. We have tried to prepare for all the conditions we could have, but you never know how it will really be until you get there. On this kind of rally it’s always important to have a reliable car, which I think is our strongest point. I was feeling disappointed after Sweden but I’ve been looking forward, preparing for this rally and to do my best to get a good result for the team. This is my next target and I’m feeling good.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“I’m really pleased to be back in Kenya! I missed it last year, but I had quite a good result in 2021. The feeling and the atmosphere of this rally, with the wildlife and the amazing people living there, is really special.

“We know it’s going to be a tough event with the rainy season, and I think we’ll see a very different Kenya than in the last few years. There are many things that can happen on this event this year, so let’s see and try to deliver a good result on this rally. We want to try to keep third in the championship, keeping close to the others, that’s the main goal for now.”

Grégoire Munster

“I’m really looking forward to Kenya because it’s a rally I really appreciate, I had the chance to do it last year in the Rally2. I also competed on the classic rally with Jourdan in historic cars recently. It’s such a challenge to drive there, you can be fast in some sections but you also need to be really cautious in others, it makes the adventure so beautiful.

“The environment in which we are driving feels a bit like a dream with the wildlife and the nature. The weather changes can happen so quickly, if it rains it is often very heavy and it alters the whole profile of the stage. That makes it a big challenge and that’s why Rally Kenya is so difficult and so enjoyable for drivers at the same time.”

Jourdan Serderidis

“Kenya is definitely one of my best memories and my best result so far in WRC, so I did not see any reason why not to enjoy the event one more time! I look forward to working close to my friend Grégoire again and with our fantastic Puma Rally1.”

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“There’s definitely something very special about the Safari – and especially at this earlier time of the year. We have snow again here in Sweden, so going from here to the heat of Africa is so different and that variety of landscape and terrain is just what we need in the world championship.

“I love the Safari. It’s really a unique event in the championship – every stage can be like a different rally, the variety across the route is huge. The roads are amazing and the chance to drive through a place where the elephants are close – but not too close – is something very, very special.

“I have done some gravel testing since Sweden, so I have this surface a little bit in my mind now, but I’m not sure the roads were like the ones in Kenya. We will do the official test on Sunday, that’s when we can take a good feeling for the set-up. Last year was so enjoyable, it’s good that Elliott and I have that experience. But this year could be a little bit different with the weather. Nobody really knows what’s coming, I think it’s just before the rainy season – will it rain? I think the one thing we can say is that it will be quite hot.

“The other thing we can say is that we’re going to have a lot of competition. There’s a really good number of cars in WRC2, which is great. For me, the priority is 100% on 25 points. To achieve that, we need a good, clean rally with a big focus on every stage.”

Summary

We are set then for a spectacular rally and with all the Rally1 cars likely to be running the key piece of equipment for this rally only, the return of the snorkel to the top cars is a nod to the likely heavy rain that will be falling on the stages throughout the weekend.

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Rally Sweden 2024 – Sunday’s Report

The final day dawned then of the only snow and ice round of the world championship and could Esapekka and Janne hold on and take a very popular victory? Having been in this position at Rally Finland in 2017, they certainly knew what was needed to get their car over the line.

The other question was could Elfyn and Scott pass Adrien and Alex for second place? Of course, the points were reset to the Sunday points table and the M-Sport crew had secured second place points at the end of Saturday’s stages.

First up was SS16 Västervik 1 – 25.50 km and with the sun rising as the crews started, Kalle came through to win the stage from Elfyn and Takamoto. Adrien was sixth fastest in the stage and this meant that Elfyn passed the Frenchman for second place overall, now five seconds behind the Toyota crew. In WRC2 the top three fastest were Oliver, Roope and Sami. The young Swede continued to lead the category, now leading second placed Sami by a minute and eighteen seconds.

 

A couple of hours later the crews lined up for the second run of SS17 Västervik 2 – 25.50 km and this time it was Elfyn setting the pace from Thierry and Adrien. The Welshman jumped to the head of the standings for Sunday’s points as well, which was important to the points standings. In WRC2 Sami was fastest from Emil and Georg, whilst Oliver was still leading the category from Sami and Georg.

The final stage then, SS18 Umeå 2[Power Stage] – 10.08 km to decide the rally and Sunday’s points. Kalle set the early pace, going faster than Ott. His teammate was up on the splits as well and as Elfyn came through his Yaris bounced off one of the snowbanks and was ultimately one tenth of a second behind Kalle. Thierry was third fastest, Ott fourth and Takamoto fifth Meanwhile, EP came through finally and took his second victory. A brilliant Oliver set the fastest time in WRC2 from Georg and Roope, winning the category from Sami and Georg.

Let’s take a look at the final positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification – Rally Sweden

1 E. Lappi J. Ferm Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 2:33:04.9
2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +29.6
3 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +47.9
4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +1:46.3
5 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +5:04.2
6 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Škoda Fabia Evo +6:23.9
7 G. Linnamäe J. Morgan Toyota GR Yaris +6:26.4
8 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +6:48.1
9 M. Heikkilä K. Temonen Toyota GR Yaris +7:25.7
10 L. Bertelli S. Scattolin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +7:37.7

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“This feels so good right now. I have been hunting for this second victory for quite a while. I have to say a big thanks to Cyril for keeping me in the team after a difficult second half of my 2023 season; this moment is such a huge contrast to that. A massive thank you to the team, and to my family at home as well. We are all here to win and when you achieve it, it is the best feeling in the world. It has been a brilliant rally – it could have been more entertaining with fewer retirements, but the snowbanks can be your friend or your enemy. This week they were my friend; I paid them well.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Rally Sweden
15-18 February 2024
Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
Photographer: Dufour Fabien
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Thierry Neuville

“It is good to get another victory for the team. It’s important even if the performance wasn’t the greatest, especially on the first passes. However, two victories in three weeks is great motivation for us – we only had two wins in the 2023 season. We had to get through without any mistakes, and I think we might have been the only crew who didn’t have any. We had to accept the situation of Friday and we hoped for a better Saturday, where we managed to climb up the rankings. I’m happy to be at the end with decent points.”

Ott Tänak

“It has been tricky this weekend to have the pace we needed to be fastest. Obviously the mistake on Friday was frustrating and afterwards even more so. We felt better in the car on Friday when the roads were a bit more slippery but when the grip improved we just weren’t comfortable. From my side, definitely too many mistakes to start the season but we know we can be a lot better. We’re looking forward to having a clean rally in Kenya.”

 

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a very up-and-down weekend. It wasn’t looking so good on Friday when we had a difficult job with our road position. But we managed to get through it which I think was important and gave us the opportunity to climb back up the leaderboard. When conditions were suiting us, our pace was quite OK and today we managed get some good points in the end. I think we probably should have won the Power Stage but made a couple of mistakes at the end. Still, from where we were earlier in the weekend and to come out of it with a good haul of points, I think we can be reasonably happy.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Our only goal today was to help the team to get some points and I’m pleased that we were able to do that, and we also tried to help Elfyn where we could. Of course, I’m not satisfied with our weekend because we came here to win. Sorry and thanks to the team, because everyone did a really good job in our preparation, the car was fast enough to win, and we just couldn’t bring it all together. At least we could bring some points at the finish, and we will look forward to the next opportunity.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“Today I wanted to try and take some points, but it was not easy with our road position, and the very different lines that we had to follow in the Power Stage. It has been a difficult weekend for me. We had good performance and the car had very good potential, I was just not able to take the result from it. I need to think about how I can learn from this and do better next time so that I can take these chances when they come. The next event in Kenya has been good for me before, and I just need to reset and go with the right approach for that rally.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Adrien Fourmaux

“Really great to get my first podium at the top level in Sweden, my fourth rally on snow and the second of the 2024 season. We are now third in the championship, which is really positive and gives a lot of confidence and motivation to the whole team who have been working really hard. We can be really proud that we’re working all together, and it’s been working perfectly. We want now to just enjoy the podium, it’s been brilliant, and hopefully there are more podiums coming!”

Grégoire Munster

“We learned a lot here in Sweden and improved throughout the weekend. The gaps per kilometre were getting smaller and smaller, and that was the goal. Unfortunately, we made the small mistake on Saturday evening, but getting stuck in a snowbank is part of the experience of Rally Sweden! I think every driver who has done the rally has had that experience at some time. It was unfortunate as it makes extra work for the mechanics, but they fixed everything so it could go again on Sunday to give us even more experience, which I’m very glad to have had.”

William Creighton, 14th WRC2

“I’m happy to get all the kilometres in and to get to the finish. I’ve learned a lot and I just need to keep working on my side with the driving to try and get the most out of these cars. It’s not going to happen overnight, so I just need to keep working on it.

“It’s been great working with M-Sport, with the support of the Motorsport Ireland Academy, here at Rally Sweden and it has been so much fun with these conditions. The last two weekends have been very different and I’m really looking forward to the next event to try to keep on improving and see where we go.”

WRC2

Oliver Solberg

“What can I say? It’s been a fantastic event. For my first (first points scoring) WRC2 round of the season, to win with Škoda like this is something very special. Škoda Motorsport is building a very special car with the Fabia RS Rally2 and it was a big pleasure to drive it here.

“The conditions were not easy – on Friday the snow was really deep in places and then on Saturday we were having some gravel coming through and all the time you had to be thinking about the tyres and trying to protect them.

“I think we showed the good pace on the first day and it was really cool to finish third overall, that was a pretty amazing feeling for me and to share that with the home fans and so many of my family… I was stoked for that.

“Saturday and Sunday was more about driving with the control. We had a lot to lose if we pushed too hard. We were sitting in fifth overall and with the good lead [in WRC2], so we didn’t want to take any big risks.

“Congratulations to the organisers for making a rally with such a special atmosphere and I want to say a big thanks to Elliott and the whole team for helping me to make this an amazing event.”

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round two

1 T. Neuville 48
2 E. Evans 45
3 A. Fourmaux 29
4 S. Ogier 24
5 O. Tänak 21
6 E. Lappi 19
7 T. Katsuta 12
8 K. Rovanperä 11
9 O. Solberg 8
10 A. Mikkelsen 6

 

2024 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round two

1 Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team 87
2 Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team 87
3 M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 47
2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Rally Sweden
15 – 19 February 2024
Esapekka Lappi
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Summary

Well, what an amazing rally we were treated to and what a popular winner as well. Esapekka and Janne completely deserve this victory in Sweden and with it have matched the teams success from last season in terms of victories. Four stage wins for the Finns showed their pace at the front of the field.

 

For Elfyn and Scott, they recovered really well after their push to the front of the field for the last two stages on Friday. There was the 360 spin that they recovered from and took two stage wins along the way.

A first ever podium for M-Sport duo Adrien and Alex showed how far they had come since they last competed in this rally two years ago. During that rally they ran in fifth overall for quite a while before getting a penalty for being late to a time control and then having to retire with a mechanical issue. This year they set some top three times and added a stage win as well. It was a great drive from the French duo.

Finally let’s discuss the points awarded following this rally. The new points system meant that Elfyn and Scott who finished in second place actually took more points than Esapekka and Janne who of course won the rally. Now surely that can’t be right?! It’s a completely bizarre situation and I do wonder if the FIA will look again at this method of awarding points. We shall see.

Next rally on the calendar is the Safari Rally Kenya to be held from the 28th to 31st of March, much earlier this year and in its more traditional time of year near Easter. It will be spectacular!

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Rally Sweden 2024 – Saturday’s Report

The second full day of competitive stages in Sweden would see the crews tackle 126km’s over seven stages. Ott Tanak and Kalle Rovanperä returned to the action and the Estonian would open the road.

First up was SS9 Vännäs 1 – 15.65 km and Ott was fastest from Elfyn, who was looking to close the gap to Oliver and Adrien who held third and fourth ahead of the Welshman before the stage. Adrien passed Oliver for third overall in this one. At the front of the field, Takamoto had a small nibble of time from EP, the gap now just nine tenths of a second between the leading pair of cars. In WRC2 Oliver was fastest from Sami and Mikko and the young Swede continued to lead Georg and Sami who held second and third place respectively in the category.

Into SS10 Sarsjöliden 1 – 14.23 km, and Kalle was fastest from Ott and Elfyn was third. The Welshman’s pace took him ahead of Oliver and into third place, whilst Adrien was also on the move up and gained second place. This was due to Takamoto sadly sliding out of second place after getting stuck in a snowbank. He and Aaron tried to dig the car out, but it was to no avail. They were out for the rest of the day. EP remained in the lead and had a huge lead of a minute and a half. In WRC2 Oliver was leading and Georg remained in second with Sami still third.

Next up, SS11 Bygdsiljum 1 – 28.06 km was won by an inspired Adrien from Thierry and Elfyn. The Frenchman increased his lead over Elfyn to 16.2 seconds. Meanwhile, Thierry gained one position and was now into fifth place overall. In WRC2 Oliver was still leading, but we had a change behind the Swede, with Georg dropping from second to fourth place after the Estonian had a spin in his Yaris Rally2. Sami was now up into second place and Roope up to third.

After the lunchtime service break, SS12 Vännäs 2 – 15.65 km Elfyn was fastest from Adrien and Esapekka, whilst Thierry was also on the move, passing Oliver for fourth place. The stage was rutting up and getting quite messy and all the crews were remarking on this at the end of the stage. In WRC2 Oliver was still leading, although managing the gap over Sami who was fastest in the stage from Roope and Georg.

The second run of SS13 Sarsjöliden 2 – 14.23 km saw an even more rutted stage and Thierry was fastest by just two tenths of a second from Elfyn and Adrien third. The gap between Adrien and Elfyn was brought down to 13.2 seconds. In WRC2, Jan was fastest from Oliver and Mikko.

Onto the penultimate stage then, SS14 Bygdsiljum 2 – 28.06 km and Thierry was again fastest from Elfyn and Thierry. Meanwhile, Georg was fastest from Sami and Oliver in WRC2, and the Estonian moved back into third place in the category and seventh overall.

The final stage then of the day, SS15 Umeå 1 – 10.08 km and Thierry was again fastest from Ott and Kalle. There was drama though for both M-Sport crews. Gregoire was near the end of the stage when his Puma went straight on at a left-hand corner and into a snowbank. He and Louis jumped out and with assistance from a marshal dug their car out. However, they lost a huge amount of time, but at least they made the finish. Adrien also had a slide at the same corner and somehow managed to keep his Puma out of the snowbank, just clipping the outer edges of it. Somehow the Frenchman still ended up faster than Elfyn, as the Welshman really struggled with his tyres on the stage surface.

Let’s take a look at the top positions and hear from the drivers.

Classification after Saturday

1 E. Lappi J. Ferm Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 2:03:52.0
2 A. Fourmaux A. Coria Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:06.3
3 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:23.0
4 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +2:22.1
5 O. Solberg E. Edmondson Škoda Fabia RS +4:01.1
6 S. Pajari E. Mälkönen Škoda Fabia Evo +5:15.1
7 G. Linnamäe J. Morgan Toyota GR Yaris +5:15.3
8 R. Korhonen A. Viinikka Toyota GR Yaris +5:35.1
9 M. Heikkilä K. Temonen Toyota GR Yaris +5:51.2
10 L. Joona J. Hussi Toyota GR Yaris +6:29.3

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“I am feeling satisfied, we are in the best position possible, but it has not been really enjoyable to drive in this situation. We were trying to manage the lead and not take any risks in a bid to save the tyres for the final stages, but we did it. Today was clearly very demanding for the tyres, especially the first and last stage of the loops which were very abrasive. We are not finished yet and I don’t want to celebrate too early. There are still three stages to go, and two long stages in particular where anything can happen. I am happy we are in this situation, but it isn’t over yet.”

2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 02, Rally Sweden
15-18 February 2024
Esapekka Lappi, Janne Ferm, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
Photographer: Dufour Fabien
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Thierry Neuville

“Things were getting better this afternoon but there was also a lot more gravel, and I felt more comfortable in the car. We have changed a lot of settings trying to find a good compromise for tomorrow, which will be an important day. I wouldn’t say I am satisfied but I at least I found a bit more traction. Hopefully that will continue to work on the first pass tomorrow. It’s always a challenge to look after the studs on our tyres, but I’ve always been good here in Sweden on the conditions in the second pass, especially if there is a lot of gravel. Hopefully we have found the necessary feeling and speed we need for tomorrow morning.”

Ott Tänak

“Not an easy day. In winter rallies it is always a bit ‘next level’ to open the road, particularly in the second loop. It is easy to get frustrated, but this is the penalty we have for what happened yesterday, so it is fair play. In these conditions you can’t really find a rhythm, you’re always fighting to keep the car on the road and it’s hard to be smooth as you need to be to protect the tyres. Hopefully the road condition tomorrow will play to our favour because we need to take as many points as possible.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“This morning was going quite well until a bit of a clumsy error on one junction in the last stage of the loop, where we took on some snow in the front of the car and lost quite a bit of power. I’m a bit disappointed with that as it cost us quite dear in the fight for second place. In the afternoon it was far more difficult to claw back time. On the second pass with a lot of gravel coming through, the tyre wear is high, and you have to try and save the studs: I had no rear grip left for the last stage. Tomorrow will be a big push for the whole day to score as many points as we can.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It was nice to restart this morning, with much nicer conditions with the sun out. It’s not always easy to come back and push again after something like what happened yesterday, but we just tried to enjoy the driving and I could have a good feeling after the first stage of the morning. Being second on the road was not optimal, especially this afternoon on the second pass. There was not much of a clean line to follow, but overall, it was quite OK. Tomorrow we will try to do our best to help the team bring some more points: that’s our goal.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“This morning we were fighting for the lead and pushing hard. We had a good first stage and got much closer to the lead, and I wanted to continue pushing to try and gain more time. Unfortunately, in one corner in SS10 I was probably carrying a bit too much speed and I lost the rear, hit the snowbank and we got stuck there. I feel very disappointed and I’m really sorry for the team, because it could have been a very good weekend. I just need to learn from this kind of thing, and we still have tomorrow to see if we can gain some points.”

Oliver Solberg

“We didn’t have the same amount of snow from yesterday, but today was still a tricky day in its own way. I’m really happy to have extended the lead in WRC2, this is the priority for me.

“It felt like the car was quite sideways at times, but that’s understandable with so much snow still around. For me, I’m in that tricky position with a good advantage and a lot to lose and not so much to gain from pushing to the maximum. Today was about driving, trying to save some tyres and making sure everything was good with the car.

“Again, it’s been amazing to see so many Swedish flags out there and so many fans at the side of the road. When the sun comes out, the place is just beautiful. The priority is to bring everything home tomorrow. Like always, me and Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] want to do that with a smile on our faces.”

Sunday

The final day of this event will see the crews tackle 61km’s over three stages. Can EP hold on and secure what will be a popular second victory? Can Elfyn overtake Adrien and secure the points for second fastest on the final day? We shall see.

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