Recce for Rally Portugal is particularly challenging, the stages are tight and twisty but also rough. Today we did 6 incredible stages, which will form the route for Friday and Sunday. A lot of KM covered and in the hot and dusty conditions you really have to focus.
I get a few funny looks around the world when I turn up to Recce with a pillow ‘borrowed’ from the hotel. But on rough roads it makes all the difference to lean on as a shock absorber. Along with a lot of practice it means I can usually get all my notes down tidily on the first pass, with little touch up work later. It’s actually quite interesting to see which countries make the best Recce pillows. Keep an eye on my Twitter as I usually post the best ones.
Recce day Two (Wednesday 16th of May)
Similar to day 1, another challenging day of recce awaited us. Today we covered the Lousada super special as well as the monster that is Amarante. The surface in Portugal changes a lot so it is important to make sure your pacenotes take this into account.
Calm. Serene. Picturesque. Beautiful scenes during @rallydeportugal recce. But nothing like the dusty, sandy, rocky and rough barrage of stages that lie ahead over the next few days.#ReadyForItpic.twitter.com/7JF18G04Xk
Shakedown is a spectacular, if short, stage finishing in a huge arena full to the brim with fans. We had a good run, getting a good feeling for the car and the surface.
After a long drive to the ceremonial start, a great opportunity to meet the incredibly passionate Portuguese fans, we headed to the Super Special at Lousada. The sheer volume of rally fans crammed into this venue was a sight to behold.
Friday: (18th of May)
The rough northern stages bring their own challenges, we tried to keep it clean and were running comfortably inside the top ten despite a puncture. For a co-driver here in the heat and dust it is very important to keep focused. the tight twisty stages require a lot of information to be delivered often whilst the road is very rough.
Saturday: (19th of May)
A new day and a new surface, and the iconic Amarante test. At 37km this is a big test for crews, and for us unfortunately where it all unravelled. Amarante hasn’t been kind to me, I rolled out of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy event on this stage in 2016, and again today we had a small roll that put us into Rally 2.
Sunday: (20th of May)
Another tough day, and the attrition rate was high. A few stages were cancelled because of incidents and we focused on just being clean and getting to the finish. despite a couple of near misses, we did just that and got to the end. In fact, we managed to hold on to our top ten position, with 7th overall in the JWRC.
Things to take away about Rally Portugal:
– The Fans are incredible!
– The stages are a true test of physical and mental stamina
– Dust!
-Truly iconic roads
Many thanks again to Phil Hall for this great diary! Why not give him a follow on Twitter? @PhilHallRally
Snetterton in Norfolk plays host to rounds four and five of the 2018 British GT series as its near three-mile “300” layout welcomes over 65 drivers across 33 cars.
Snetterton will be the last of the hour long sprint races split between Pro and Am drivers.
Yelmer Buurman and Lee Mowle surprised everyone when taking their ERC Sport Mercedes to GT3 glory to claim their first British GT win last time out at Rockingham.
Despite starting last after an accident in qualifying, Mowle looked solid during his run in a low-key Am stint while Buurman performed multiple overtakes during the second stint as others fell by the wayside.
History favours the #33 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini, with Lamborghini having won three of the last four races at Snetterton, while Aston Martin have also performed well in Norfolk in recent times with Jonny Adam won there in 2015.
The other Aston Martin squad – TMF – have also shown pace this season despite only one podium apiece for Mark Farmer/Nicki Thiim and Derek Johnstone and Marco Sorenson. TMF finished 1-3 at Snetterton last year.
In GT4, the #55 Ginetta of Callum Pointon and Patrik Matthiesen won easily in the dry race at Rockingham having fell away during wet qualifying. Matthiesen had hounded the #4 Tolman McLaren of Charlie Fagg throughout the first hour of the race.
The McLarens quick fell behind after a strong Saturday but remain second in the standings, and crucially do not have the 10s success penalty that the Ginetta will have as a result of its leading of the GT4 standings.
Another team to watch for are the UltraTek Racing Team RJN Nissans, which took their best ever result with second and fourth for Stephen Johansen and Jesse Anttila, and Kelvin Fletcher and Martin Plowman.
Matt Nicoll-Jones and Will Moore were third last time out at Rockingham in their Academy Motorsport #62 Aston Martin, and the team will be sure to be a threat once again.
We found out this afternoon that Kris and Paul have been dropped by Citroen. In their statement they say;
“Due to an excessively high number of crashes, some of which were particularly heavy and could have had serious consequences with regard to the crew’s safety and given that the risks involved were unjustified by the sporting stakes at play, Citroën Racing WRT has decided to terminate the participation of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle in the 2018 WRC.
The decision becomes effective from the 2018 Rally Italia Sardegna and we will shortly be announcing the team’s line-up of crews for the remainder of the 2018 season. The entries of C3 WRCs for Craig Breen / Scott Martin and Mads Ostberg/Torstein Eriksen still stand for Sardinia.
Pierre Budar: “This wasn’t an easy decision to make because it effects a driver and a co-driver, but it is largely founded on safety issues which come under my preoccupations as Team Principal. We have consequently chosen to make this decision as a preventive measure.”
Already there has been a big reaction to this decision online, especially as it seems that Kris and Paul were not aware of it.
It’s certainly true that the C3 has been a tricky car to drive, and the team, including Kris had done a lot of work to make it friendlier to drive. When I spoke to the pairing at the start of the year, they talked about the change to the suspension and the latest change was the new rear axle that was brought to the car for Rally Argentina.
There have been a number of incidents which have led to this situation, but is it the correct decision? Kris took his first victory in Rally Argentina during the 2015 season. He then, during the part season that followed in 2016 won in Portugal and followed that up with an amazing win in Finland, the first ever British driver to do so.
In 2017 with the new C3, he took wins in Mexico and Spain, but missed Poland mid-season after the team rested him for that event, but he did lead in Corsica before the engine cried enough.
He’s definitely a driver that takes the car to the edge, like Colin. The crash that put Kris and Paul out on Saturday came after a puncture on Friday that led to the car running second on the road on the very loose gravel. Yet, earlier on Friday he’d taken some great stage victories and was running near the front.
In my exclusive interview last week, Thierry said that he didn’t think he’d be able to win and was hoping instead for a podium finish. Here the story of an unlikely win on the roads of Portugal, which has lifted him into the championship lead. Elfyn and Teemu also had great events to round off the podium.
Ott Tanak took the early lead in the stage that kicked off this event on Thursday evening. Less than two seconds covered the top ten.
Friday morning dawned a beautiful day and the cars would go into the days eight stages in championship order – Ogier, Neuville, Tänak, Mikkelsen, Sordo, Meeke, Lappi, Latvala, Evans, Breen, Paddon, Ostberg, Suninen.
The first stage of the day – Viana Do Castelo, was won by Hayden, making his first start for Hyundai since February’s Rally Sweden. Evans and Meeke were second and third as well, whilst Seb could only manage eighth, 12 seconds slower. Thierry was ninth at this point. Sadly, for Toyota, Ott stopped in the stage after hitting some rocks. So far, Thierry’s predictions were so far true.
The next stage – Caminha, Kris won and this was enough to move him into the lead with Hayden dropping to second. Seb set a great time considering his road position and with those ahead not so fast jumped to positions into sixth, whilst Thierry also moved up to into eighth. Toyota also saw a second retirement, with Jari-Matti also stopping in the stage! Big drama for Tommi’s team.
The third stage of the day – Ponte De Lima, and the last before midday service saw another change in the lead, with Dani Sordo now winning the stage from his teammate Andreas and moving ahead of Kris by almost 5 seconds. Ogier also showed great pace again, setting the third fastest time and moving up to fourth, but Thierry was keeping close to the French champion in fifth overall.
The midday break was welcome for a few drivers, in particular, Mads Ostberg who was shown a few things by the Citroen team. He put these things to good use in the first afternoon stage.
Stage 5 – Viana Do Castelo 2, was won by Kris with Mads going second fastest, just eight tenths slower. There was drama in the M-Sport camp though with Seb going off and retiring from the rally! A big shock, but he was pushing very hard and when you’re first on the road, things can catch you out. With his stage victory, Kris had moved back into the lead, with Dani slipping back just one place to second. Further back, Elfyn had moved up to seventh. Andreas and Craig were also both on the move, passing Thierry who was now sixth.
Stage 6 – Caminha 2, and Kris got a puncture about 3km into the 18km stage, despite running the hard tyres. He lost 18 seconds and dropped to fifth but was still just 11 seconds from the leader who was once again Hayden. Craig and Thierry were both now ahead of Kris in third and fourth.
There was more drama in stage 7- Ponte De Lima 2, with Craig and Kris both getting punctures, Andreas retiring and Hayden going off and damaging his car too much to complete the stage. Thierry was now in the lead with Elfyn up to second.
The final two stages of the day were won by Thierry, with Dani and Craig also second and third in both.
Thierry had driven brilliantly and very consistently throughout the day letting the others make mistakes. Citroen had reasons to smile, but fortune was not smiling on them with punctures spoiling their efforts. Hayden also was showing pace and had led, only to suffer misfortune. Things were definitely looking better for Elfyn though! The welsh wizard had driven very well!
Classification after Day One
1
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
1:37:30.7
2
E. Evans
D. Barritt
Ford Fiesta WRC
+17.7
3
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+24.3
4
T. Suninen
M. Markkula
Ford Fiesta WRC
+34.4
5
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+45.8
6
M. Østberg
T. Eriksen
Citroën C3 WRC
+48.3
7
K. Meeke
P. Nagle
Citroën C3 WRC
+1:18.7
8
C. Breen
S. Martin
Citroën C3 WRC
+2:27.3
Anyway, lets here from all the drivers after Friday’s stages.
Thierry Neuville
“All in all, I am pretty happy with my day. We have made improvements to the car from one stage to the next, and we have been able to stay out of trouble. The afternoon loop proved decisive with a complicated tyre selection. We opted for six soft tyres, which – in hindsight – was perhaps not the best choice, but we were clever and made it work quite well in the end. Despite incredibly rough conditions, we felt comfortable and pushed as hard as possible. We took four stage wins in a row, and the performances in the Street Stage allowed us to build a decent lead. However, it’s still very early days in this rally, and we’ve seen today that we absolutely cannot be complacent.”
Elfyn Evans
“It’s good to be in this position at the end of the day. I felt that our driving was pretty good on the whole, but there are still some things we can improve and we’ll be working on that tomorrow. We’ve just got to keep going and fight for the best result possible.”
Dani Sordo
“It has been a very tough day, so I am pleased to be inside the top-three overall and still in the close podium hunt. There is still a long way to go, but it has already been a rally with many incidents. We started the morning loop carefully but built up confidence in the first run through Ponte de Lima to win the stage. For the afternoon, we opted to run soft tyres, which in the end was not the ideal choice. The stages were rougher than expected and we had high wear which prevented us from pushing. We managed the situation reasonably well and had two good runs during the Porto Street Stage to end the day positively. I hope for a smoother Saturday!”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Teemu Suninen (4th)
“I was happy with my pace – especially on the second loop when I did some really good stage times. I was just a bit disappointed with SS4 where I was a bit too careful and lost a lot of time. That tells me that I need to go flat-out all the time, and that’s what we plan to do tomorrow.”
Sébastien Ogier (Rally 2)
“I went just a couple of centimetres too deep into a right-hand corner. There was a bank and I thought it would be okay to touch it a little, but unfortunately there was something there – a small root [or tree stump].
“It was a small, short impact on the suspension, but it was enough to break it. In the next corner nothing happened when I braked – I couldn’t turn and went straight into the trees. It was my mistake and I shouldn’t have touched the bank – those two or three centimetres have cost us a lot this weekend.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Kris Meeke (6th)
“It was a difficult day for us. It had all started so well, I felt so good in the car and we were leading the rally. But in the afternoon, I picked up two separate punctures – I’ve no idea where – and suddenly things were a lot more complicated. In order not to break the rules, which say that you can’t drive on the wheel rims during the road sections, we had to manage the two flat tyres as best we could. In running second on the road tomorrow on the stages that will clean the most this weekend, I’m going to suffer for sure, but you can count on me to fight all the way and give it everything.”
Craig Breen (7th)
“Obviously, it’s been a frustrating day for us. We had really got back into our stride again this afternoon. Without the puncture, we could potentially have been leading the rally tonight. I’ll be first on the road tomorrow, but I’ll be doing my utmost to limit the damage.”
Mads Østberg (8th)
“After an up and down morning where I made a few set-up mistakes, I really enjoyed it this afternoon. The car was really perfect to drive, after the team made changes in service. We stopped on the road where Paddon had his accident to see if we could help, so we didn’t contest the longest stage of the day, but that wasn’t the most important thing at the time. The conditions remind me of the Acropolis Rally, in Greece. It was so rough out there today, but we made it to the end of the leg and we’re going to try and do even better in the rest of the rally.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Esapekka Lappi (5th)
“The morning wasn’t the best for me as I struggled a bit with the confidence. The car itself was fine but I didn’t feel like we had much lateral grip, so I just couldn’t push as much as I wanted to. This afternoon the conditions were some of the roughest I have seen in my career, with so many rocks on the road. We changed a lot of things on the car during the mid-day service and that helped. The first stage this afternoon was immediately better. Then we had a small issue with the damper and we had to manage that until the end of the day, but the times were still not too bad. I think we are in a fighting position for tomorrow.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Rally 2)
“On the first stage I was a bit too cautious, but on the second stage I started to push more. Then about five kilometres into the stage, in a left-right corner combination, there was a rock in the line, which was in my pace-notes. I went over the rock as intended but immediately the front-right suspension was damaged, and I had to stop. The team has worked hard to fix the car and we will be able to carry on tomorrow. I’m very motivated to continue. I really want to drive now, because I have a very good feeling with the car and I am enjoying driving it.”
Ott Tänak (DNF)
“It was very, very unfortunate what happened to us this morning. Quite early in the first stage we came across a place where the road was full of rocks: there were not just one or two rocks but four or five. We could not avoid them and they caused damage to our radiator. We had to stop soon afterwards with an engine issue, which it was not possible to repair here. We were in a strong position coming into this rally, and like the previous rally I had a really good feeling in the car. It’s a hit for our championship bid but it’s never over before it’s over, so I will still keep fighting. We will aim for a big fight-back in Sardinia: we know we have the performance.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (Rally2)
“A day of two halves for us, unfortunately. The morning went reasonably and I felt like we were getting more comfortable with each stage. The car felt good and I was encouraged for the afternoon loop. In SS6, the second run through Caminha, we lost the power steering midway through and had to battle hard to make it to the end of the stage. We tried to fix the problem with the remote support of the team. Although we couldn’t manage to find a solution, we were still able to start SS7. Towards the end of the stage, the engine started to feel strange and I noticed oil on the windscreen, so we had no choice but to stop the car. The team will now assess the car to see if we are able to rejoin under Rally 2 on Saturday. I am very disappointed as we were going well and the car was perfect.”
Hayden Paddon (DNF)
“The day was going well, we were driving within ourselves and to our plan. It was a difficult day for everyone and hard to get the tyre choice right but it was, of course, good to be back on the pace right away. Near the start of SS7 there was a big rock on the inside of the corner, which was concealed. I had to steer out a little for the corner to avoid it, but then the speed was too great and the car ran wide. The problem then was a big culvert on the exit of the corner, which stopped the car instantly. I’m gutted for the team as a good result was possible but for a third year in a row, this stage bites us.”
Day two, Saturday would see the crews tackle six stages. Hayden and Seb wouldn’t restart the rally after the Kiwi was kept in hospital overnight. Seb and Jari-Matti would however be back out, looking to get some points come the end of Sunday’s stages. Kris Meeke’s car was also rebuilt on one side by the amazing Citroen team.
Jari-Matti made a great start to day two winning Vieira Do Minho from Neuville and Lappi who was holding fourth overall. Elfyn and Dan lost a little ground to Thierry but were holding their own near the top of the leaderboard.
Into stage 11 – Cabeceiras De Basto, and it was Elfyn’s turn to win a stage and with that he closed on Thierry by a few seconds. Dani and Jari-Matti were second and third fastest, and this showed just how competitive the WRC is at the moment with three different cars setting times that are very evenly matched.
The first run through the longest stage of the day, stage 12 -Amarante sadly saw Kris and Paul crash out. The car was wrecked and there would be no return sadly. At the front, Thierry took another stage win and with Elfyn 17.2 seconds slower the Belgian now had a lead of almost 30 seconds! Just behind him the remaining Toyota duo were showing the great pace of the Yaris with Lappi closing on Suninen for fourth place.
After the midday service break stage 13 – Vieira Do Minho 2 was won by Elfyn, with Seb second fastest and Teemu with the third fastest time – a M-Sport triple, and with Thierry only fifth fastest, the gap had reduced to a little over 23 seconds. Also, Teemu had now opened up the gap to Lappi. He was being allowed to push as he wanted, and that pace really showed.
The second run of Cabeceiras De Basto 2, stage 14 saw some surprising rain! Latvala, Thierry and Ogier were the top three, whilst further back Mads went off the road after sliding off in the rain! He still held onto sixth place though, as Craig was two minutes behind the Norwegian.
The final stage of the day -Amarante 2, and it was won by Seb with Thierry and Jari-Matti second and third. The lead that Thierry held now was almost 40 seconds over Elfyn with Dani in third. However, the battle for the final podium position was not over with just four seconds between Dani and Teemu.
Classification after Day Two
1
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
3:16:30.0
2
E. Evans
D. Barritt
Ford Fiesta WRC
+39.8
3
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+57.2
4
T. Suninen
M. Markkula
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:01.9
5
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+1:13.0
6
M. Østberg
T. Eriksen
Citroën C3 WRC
+3:14.1
7
C. Breen
S. Martin
Citroën C3 WRC
+4:53.1
Let’s hear then from the crews!
Thierry Neuville
“We have had a very positive day and can be extremely satisfied with our position. That’s not to say we can relax because we have some tricky stages on Sunday, including the two runs through Fafe. Our focus today was to extend our lead overall but we knew we had to be clever with our strategy on both loops. We had to save the tyres in some places to maximise the performance on the longer Amarante stages. We knew we could make the difference here; it’s a stage I really enjoy and we could give it a really big push. There were a few wet patches at the end of the afternoon, but we made it through and could increase our margin. We will need to remain concentrated because there are still five stages to go – and we’ve seen just what can happen here.”
Elfyn Evans
“On the whole I think we can be pretty happy with our day. It’s not been perfect by all means and I was a bit disappointed with both runs through the Amarante stage (SS12 and SS15). But overall we can be pretty satisfied and we’re in a good position going into tomorrow.”
Dani Sordo
“In general, I am pleased with our day and to be in the battle for the podium. The gap to the guys behind is close so we need to keep pushing. The only downside to today’s running was the final stage, the repeat of Amarante, which started with a half-spin. I don’t know what happened; something felt a bit strange and I lost the rear, but we kept our focus. We quickly built up our confidence again and worked on reducing the time loss. The crowds at this rally have been incredible and it really gives us the motivation to fight for the podium on Sunday morning. That’s our target!”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Teemu Suninen (4th)
“It’s been a good day for us and I was really pleased to see that we were able to improve through the slower sections which is what we wanted to work on today. Now there are just five stages left and it looks like we have a chance of challenging for the podium too. I’m really happy to be in this battle, and tomorrow I want to continue like this – to show what I can do.”
Sébastien Ogier (Rally 2) said:
“It wasn’t a very exciting day for us, but I wanted to make use of it – doing some work on the car and trying to find some little things to improve the set-up. I’m pleased with that and we were quickest over the second loop – closing the day with a fastest time. Power Stage points is the only thing we can try to push for tomorrow. We’ll be running pretty early on the road so it won’t be easy, but at least we have nothing to lose.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Esapekka Lappi (5th)
“It has been a pretty good day. The feeling has been nice with the car and I have been pushing really hard. I don’t think I’ve ever pushed as hard for a whole day, especially this afternoon. I gave it everything, and it was really enjoyable. The guys in front of me have been doing a really good job and it has been hard to take any time out of them, but I’m really happy with my driving and that I could stay on the limit for so long. It was a risky tyre choice this afternoon to go with the hard tyres and it didn’t pay off, but we didn’t lose anything to our rivals either. The gap is quite big going into the final day but I want to keep the pressure on.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (Rally 2)
“I’m really, really happy about today. We had two stage wins, so we know the speed is there. I still have a little bit of margin: particularly this afternoon when it was quite rough in places I was a bit more careful not to break the car, as it has been important for me to have a clean day. The car is fast and I have started to find in myself the speed and confidence. All the elements are now there so we just need to bring it to the end. Tomorrow my approach will be to try and carry on in the same way. I want to be competitive and to do another clean day, and then of course in the Power Stage, I will try to attack and try to get some points. The idea is try to and keep building the confidence ready for Sardinia.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Mads Østberg (6th)
“The morning went well for us. I felt full of confidence in my C3 WRC and the times were pretty decent given our position in the running order. Since we weren’t in a close fight for position with anyone, we decided to do some set-up tests this afternoon to try and keep improving with the car. We probably pushed things a bit too far, but that’s part and parcel of the learning process.”
Craig Breen (7th)
“It was a difficult day for us, with a huge amount of cleaning with the dry and sandy ground. It hasn’t rained properly here for a while! But it’s the kind of experience that you have to get in order to fight with the very best one day and I prefer to focus on the very good feeling that I had driving my C3 WRC.”
Kris Meeke (DNF)
“I turned into a fast-left-hand corner a little bit late, missed my line and got onto the loose gravel on the outside of the corner and lost control of the car. Obviously, I’m sorry for the whole team, who clearly deserved better. I’m really very grateful that they built such a strong car. It was my mistake, of course, so I’ll take it on the chin. But the feeling in my C3 WRC was so good here in Portugal that I can’t help but take the positives away from this weekend.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (Rally 2)
“First of all, I am very grateful to the team for their efforts in getting us back into the rally after the problems we experienced on Friday. We had to make some adjustments to the engine settings for today to help us make it through. As a result, we didn’t have access to full power, which limited what we could do. We simply had to do our best with what we had at our disposal and I think in that regard it has been a pretty good day. It is important for us to finish the rally cleanly in order to secure manufacturer points for the team, even if we are not at the level we know we could be. We always want to compete at the front and I hope we can fight for some Power Stage points tomorrow.”
The final day then and with five stages to go, it wouldn’t be easy.
The first stage then saw Dani lose third overall with Teemu and Esapekka moving ahead of the Spaniard. Thierry’s lead was really strong, whilst Elfyn was looking good for his best result of the year.
The first run of the famous Fafe stage, with its jump just before the finish line saw Ogier set the best time – a sign of things to come, whilst the battle between Dani and Esapekka continued over fourth, this time the Spaniard getting back ahead!
Stage 18 – Luilhas, saw them swap again and Esapekka was back into fourth! Meantime, Teemu was looking really good in third and likely to score his first WRC podium. Thierry and Elfyn were just stroking their cars to the finish, ticking off the km’s.
Teemu won stage 19 – Montim 2, beating Lappi by 1.7 seconds whilst Dani was third. The overall positions were really set now, with Thierry looking likely to win his second rally of the year, but in the M-Sport camp all eyes were on their young drivers. Elfyn was set for his best result since last October’s Wales Rally GB and Teemu was set for his first ever podium finish!
Time then for the final stage, the re-run of Fafe, with its famous jump. Of course, there were as usual points up for grabs for the quickest five drivers! The winner of the stage was Lappi, and Thierry was second. Dani, Teemu and Elfyn rounded out the top five. Seb had rejoined under rally 2 regs, and had come very close to scoring some points, ending up just 8 tenths away from fifth place.
Thierry had taken a unexpected but very welcome victory, and we also had Elfyn in second place, with teammate, Teemu Suninen taking his first ever podium. Thierry had also taken the lead of the world championship after Seb’s mistake took him out of the points. He’ll want to bounce back at the next round- no doubt!
Final Overall Classification – Rally de Portugal
1
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
3:49:46.6
2
E. Evans
D. Barritt
Ford Fiesta WRC
+40.0
3
T. Suninen
M. Markkula
Ford Fiesta WRC
+47.3
4
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+54.7
5
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+1:00.9
6
M. Østberg
T. Eriksen
Citroën C3 WRC
+3:33.5
7
C. Breen
S. Martin
Citroën C3 WRC
+5:23.0
8
P. Tidemand
J. Andersson
Škoda Fabia R5
+14:10.8
9
L. Pieniazek
P. Mazur
Škoda Fabia R5
+16:17.3
10
S. Lefebvre
G. Moreau
Citroën C3 R5
+16:34.3
Let’s hear from the drivers!
Thierry Neuville
“What a weekend and what a result! We have taken a clever approach to this event, pushing when we could and controlling the pace when we needed. The car has been fabulous all weekend long, and the team has been behind us every stage of the way. I have felt completely comfortable and at ease despite some challenging conditions. My teammates have also been on the pace but were unlucky not to be on the podium. We tried to give it a bit of a push in the Power Stage, to take as many points as we could, but also taking care not to make any mistakes. We have a lot of Portuguese people in the team, so it’s going to be a nice celebration. A fantastic weekend for our team.”
Elfyn Evans
“I’m happy with this result, and a bit relieved too if I’m honest! Everyone knows that our season didn’t get off to the best of starts. Monte started well with the exception of the puncture, but one thing led to another and it quickly snowballed into what was becoming a pretty dismal season.
“We knew coming here that we needed to get some strong points on the board – for the team and for us as well. So, to come away with second place was good. It wasn’t perfect, and there are some areas where we can still improve. I wasn’t entirely happy with my driving through all of the stages, but it’s certainly alleviated the pressure and we can go to Sardinia in a positive frame of mind.”
Teemu Suninen
“It’s really great to get my first podium here in Portugal – the first one is always special and I think it will be a big step for my career. I was really happy with my driving all weekend. We struggled a bit to find the limit on Friday morning as I had to get used to driving this car on these stages, but after that I was able to push and set some really good times.
“I want to thank the team for their trust in me and for the good support that they gave me all weekend. I’m really happy that I could pay them back with these good points for the championship.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo (4th)
“I am disappointed not to finish on the podium after what had been a very promising and competitive weekend for us. We showed our pace in many stages and were definitely in the fight. The time penalty was frustrating but we put that out of our mind and concentrated on doing the best job we could on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, we had an issue during the penultimate stage when a stone went through our front splitter and smashed the windscreen. This made some corners difficult to see in the Power Stage but we gave it absolutely everything. There are so many fans here and lots of people supporting me, so I was happy to put on a good performance through Fafe. Congratulations to Thierry and Nicolas on a great win, and thanks to the team.”
Andreas Mikkelsen (16th)
“That was not the weekend we had hoped to have but it’s been a positive final morning. The car was working much better in the Power Stage, which allowed us to really give it a push. I’d like to send big thanks to the team who put in a huge effort to adapt the car to get it better suited to my style. I have enjoyed driving this weekend and without our issues on Friday, and the knock-on effects of that, I am sure we could have had a much more representative result. Congratulations to Thierry and Nicolas on their victory, which is thoroughly deserved for them and the entire team. I am looking forward to Sardinia.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Esapekka Lappi (5th)
“Today we just continued like we ended yesterday: flat out all the time. In the end, we just couldn’t catch Suninen. It was a tough, tough fight. He did a good job and deserved the podium. However, I have to be pleased to take five points from the Power Stage as well. I have now won half of the Power Stages this year, and this is important, because I now have 15 points just from these three stages alone. I’m pretty satisfied with the weekend: we didn’t make any mistakes, and that is what we were looking for.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (24th)
“Today was another good day, with another stage win. Of course, I tried to go for points on the Power Stage and give everything I could. It was a very good run; I don’t think I could have driven much better, but there was a very big cleaning effect on the Fafe stage today and I was the first World Rally Car on the road. I am happy though because the confidence is improving a lot. We had the problem on Friday but at least I could then drive two clean days without any mistakes. We could also learn something on today’s stages, which were more technical than before, about the setup that we need for Sardinia. I feel very positive going there.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Mads Østberg (6th)
“This first rally on gravel was informative for us because we learned a lot about the C3 WRC. Although we struggled a bit to find the right set-up on Friday morning, the team quickly worked it out and the car worked very well in the afternoon for the second loop. It’s just that we then had a tough time of it due to our road position. If you don’t have as good a first day as you were hoping for, then your whole rally ends up being affected, but I’m pleased to see that the speed was there whenever we pushed and we had the right conditions.”
Craig Breen (7th)
“Our puncture on Friday afternoon, when we were running third, meant we had to open the road on the next two days and from that point on, it was difficult to hope for a better outcome. But I’m now looking forward to Sardinia to turn the good feeling we had this weekend into a significantly better result.”
Well, after yet another twist in this year’s championship we head to Rally Italia Sardegna held from the 7th to the 10th of June!
2018 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 6
1
T. Neuville
119
2
S. Ogier
100
3
O. Tanak
72
4
D. Sordo
58
5
E. Lappi
57
6
A. Mikkelsen
54
7
E. Evans
45
8
K. Meeke
43
9
J.M Latvala
31
10
C. Breen
26
11
T. Suninen
23
12
M. Østberg
16
13
S. Loeb
15
14
P. Tidemand
11
15
H. Paddon
10
2018 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 6
It’s time for round six of this year’s championship and the teams are headed for the classic Portuguese roads that make this event. With twenty stages totaling 358.19km of competitive action it’s sure to have lots of drama.
Twelve months ago, Seb took his second victory for M-Sport with Thierry and Dani taking second and third.
Final Overall Classification Rally de Portugal 2017
1
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
3:42:55.7
2
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+15.6
3
D. Sordo
M. Martí
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+1:01.7
4
O. Tanak
M. Jarveoja
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:30.2
5
C. Breen
S. Martin
Citroën C3 WRC
+1:57.4
6
E. Evans
D. Barritt
Ford Fiesta WRC
+3:10.6
7
J. Hänninen
K. Lindstrom
Toyota Yaris WRC
+3:48.9
8
M. Østberg
O. Floene
Ford Fiesta WRC
+5:29.7
9
J.M Latvala
M. Anttila
Toyota Yaris WRC
+5:43.6
10
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+8:13.3
Here’s the full run down of this year’s stages then.
RALLY PORTUGAL SCHEDULE (GMT+1)
THURSDAY 17 MAY
7.30am: Shakedown (Paredes)
6.10pm: Start(Guimaraes)
7.03pm: SS 1 – Lousada (3,36 km)
8.00pm: Parc fermé (Exponor)
FRIDAY 18 MAY
7.45am: Service A (Exponor – 19 min)
9.15am: SS 2 – Viana Do Castelo 1 (26,73 km)
10.20am: SS 3 – Caminha 1 (18,11 km)
10.53am: SS 4 – Ponte De Lima 1 (27,54 km)
1.40pm: Service B (Exponor – 34 min)
3.25pm: SS 5 – Viana Do Castelo 2 (26,73 km)
4.30pm: SS 6 – Caminha 2 (18,11 km)
5.03pm: SS 7 – Ponte De Lima 2 (27,54 km)
7.03pm: SS 8 – Porto Street Stage 1 (1,95 km)
7.28pm: SS 9 – Porto Street Stage 2 (1,95 km)
8.10pm: Flexi service C (Exponor – 49 min)
SATURDAY 19 MAY
7.15am: Service D (Exponor – 19 min)
9.08am: SS 10 – Vieira Do Minho 1 (17,50 km)
9.46am: SS 11 – Cabeceiras De Basto 1 (22,22 km)
11.05am: SS 12 – Amarante 1 (37,60 km)
1.00pm: Service E (Exponor – 34 min)
3.08pm: SS 13 – Vieira Do Minho 2 (17,50 km)
3.46pm: SS 14 – Cabeceiras De Basto 2 (22,22 km)
5.05pm: SS 15 – Amarante 2 (37,60 km)
7.00pm: Flexi service F (Exponor – 49 min)
SUNDAY 20 MAY
7.00am: Service G (Exponor – 19 min)
8.35am: SS 16 – Montim 1 (8,64 km)
9.08am: SS 17 – Fafe 1 (11,18 km)
9.36am: SS 18 – Luilhas (11,89 km)
10.35am: SS 19 – Montim 2 (8,64 km)
12.18pm: SS 20 – Fafe 2 Power Stage (11,18 km)
1.50pm: Service H (Exponor – 14 min)
2.20pm: Finish (Matosinhos)
Here’s the views of the drivers.
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Kris Meeke
“After two fairly specific rallies on gravel in Mexico and then Argentina, Rally de Portugal will be the first real test in terms of out-and-out performance. As the stages are unchanged from last year, everyone has the pace notes and the same knowledge of the roads. I’m going to try and take advantage of my sixth position on the road on day one. It’s a rally that I really like and I have high hopes that, like in Argentina, I can show the progress that our C3 WRC has made on this surface.”
Craig Breen
“I have some good memories from 2017. We were fast, especially on the Friday, so much so that we weren’t far off ending the opening leg in the lead. The stages are fantastic, the fans are very passionate and there are lots of them too! I would love to fight for a podium place. We went pretty close in Argentina, despite our lack of experience, but this time I want to produce that level from start to finish, avoid making any mistakes and turn all of that into a good result.”
Mads Østberg
“I’m delighted to be back in the team after my last race at Rally Sweden, which already seems like it was light years ago! With this long break, I might need a bit of time to get my bearings again. But I had a good day testing with the C3 WRC before Argentina. The feeling in the car was very good and I felt confident fairly quickly. Rally de Portugal is obviously a bit special for me, as it’s the only one I’ve won in the WRC, but at the time it was held in the Algarve. However, this year my approach will perhaps be slightly more cautious, so I can get my bearings back and make it to the end without any problems. Then I’ll be ready to go for a big push in Sardinia!”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“This rally will be a big weekend for all of us at Hyundai Motorsport. Not only are we entering four cars, but we are also determined to continue the form we showed in Argentina. Portugal is a great event with a lot of supportive fans and some nice stages. It offers us some unique challenges with varying grip levels on the stages. We saw at the last rally that our rivals are very strong but this gives us added motivation to improve ourselves and do all we can to fight at the front.”
Hayden Paddon
“I have spent the time since our last WRC event doing some rallies in New Zealand and training hard. It will be challenging having not driven the WRC car for three months but Seb and myself are ready to give it our best shot. The Portuguese stages require a lot of commitment and the grip levels can be quite changeable, depending on the weather. As everyone knows the rally quite well, only with perfect preparation and pace notes will we be competitive.”
Dani Sordo
“Rally de Portugal is a special event for me, being situated so close to Spain. Many supporters make the short trip to show their support, and it makes for a fantastic atmosphere. Of course, the Fafe jump is a highlight of the weekend but there are many other enjoyable stages to tackle over the weekend. We have four cars for this event, which will make our service area very busy, but it will be fun to drive alongside the other crews.”
Andreas Mikkelsen
“We head back to Europe following a pretty positive weekend for the team in Argentina. I have good experience at Rally de Portugal with a best result of second place a couple of years ago. I didn’t take part last season so I am looking forward to putting my i20 Coupe WRC through its paces on the gravel stages. It can be quite rough with high grip in places. It’s an event I enjoy and we’ll be looking to put our recent gravel experiences to good use.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala
“Even though my rally ended early, there were positives to take from Argentina: the car felt really, really good and the speed was also good for me before my retirement. This gives me great confidence going to Rally Portugal. I believe our car will be strong again in Portugal. It is quite a similar rally to Argentina, with the main differences being that the surface is smoother and the roads are a bit more flowing. Therefore, I see no reason why the car shouldn’t work well in Portugal. We had two days of pre-event testing there last week and I am really happy with how that went. I had our test driver Juho Hänninen with me during the test: we were working together to fine-tune the car and I am really pleased with how the car feels.”
Ott Tänak
“We certainly go to Portugal with a good feeling. We obviously know just how well the car can perform. Everything felt good too in our pre-event test last week, where we were just trying to find some more improvements and even better performance. Portugal has always been one of my favourite events. It’s always really nice to go there: there is a great atmosphere. It is also the place where everything started for me in the WRC in 2009. Our aim is to perform as well as in Argentina, but let’s see how it goes. I think Friday will be critical with our road position: we have two cars in front of us so we will have some lines to follow, but normally the cleaning has more of an effect in Portugal. It is important to get another strong result for the championship: we closed the gap a bit in Argentina and now we aim to do the same in Portugal.”
Esapekka Lappi
“Portugal is where I started to compete in a World Rally Car last year, so I think that everything should be a little bit easier from this point onwards. In the first part of the season there were ups and downs, but I was pretty surprised with how good the speed was on some events. There were many positives and we just need to try to learn from the negative moments and be better in the second half of the year. It is going to help to have already done the upcoming rallies with this car. That is especially true for Portugal as it will be basically the same roads as last year. Argentina was already good from a car setup point of view, but I think we still made a small step forward on the pre-event test. I am pretty confident this time to start to push from the first stage: the approach will be different to Argentina.”
Well, we are set for another great battle in this event, and we can only guess at this point who will stand on the podium.
Thierry gives his thoughts after five rounds of this year’s world rally championship. After three podium finishes including a win in round two in the snow-covered stages of Sweden, he’s now just ten points away from championship leader Seb Ogier with Rally Portugal next week.
Warren Nel
Thinking about Day one of Rally Argentina, how hard is it the judge the pace to drive at when you’re second on the road?
Thierry Neuville
Its not more hard than before, but you know that due to the road cleaning you are losing time, but that’s part of the game so you try your best you have to take some times a bit more risk, but the Friday is the most important day because it influences your road position for the upcoming days so you have to give it everything.
WN – Day two of Rally Argentina saw some foggy stages. Can you give an idea how hard it is to drive fast when faced with this?
TN – Really tricky, especially when there were no trees- was really really tricky, but had to say I had good pace notes, I was confident, I was decided to make a difference in that stage, to try to make a gap with Kris Meeke, and I was able to do it, kept Dani Sordo behind, Ott Tanak was on the same speed as us, but we have done pretty well.
WN – Sunday saw you win the power stage and score another podium this year. When we spoke at the Autosport Show in January you said you were aiming for a consistent approach to the results throughout the year. Would you say that was working so far?
TN – Of course, it’s working so far, no real big mistake, good points couple of podiums, a win so I’m satisfied, there were only some issues we had in Mexico which made us lose some points, but other that this we are really consistent, we never gave up, even in difficult conditions and scenarios like in Mexico with the powersteering and the fuel problem, but we kept it going and were still able to score important points.
WN – Leading the championship heading into Rally Mexico meant that you opened the road on day one. How did you approach the creation of the stage notes taking this into account?
TN – No different approach, you just need to be mentally prepared, you won’t be the fastest, it’s not possible, but still we were driving well, obviously we got some issues, but yeah, my approach is the same, try to do your best, make no mistakes, and obviously so far always try to keep Ogier behind.
WN – With eight rounds of this year’s championship left you’re ten points behind Seb and Ott is now third. Do you think the championship fight will just be between you three, or will someone else join the fight?
TN – Ah yes, I think so. We are three drivers, we are clearly always fighting for podium positions. Yep, it’s going to be between us. Maybe Mikkelsen can join at some point as well. But for sure the wins in upcoming events that won’t be us, we have Hayden joining with a very good road position, Kris Meeke, Jari-Matti Latvala, who are quite far in the standings as well, Lappi a bit behind, so all those guys going to fight for wins on the next events so we going to try to survive with our road position and try to make podium out of it.
A big thank you to Thierry for answering my questions. Also, a big thank you to the PR of Hyundai Motorsport, Nicolette Russo for sending these to Thierry, and finally our own PR, Julia for setting up the interview.
Young Estonian Ott took his third WRC victory and first for Toyota on his fifth outing for the Finnish based Toyota squad! Here’s the story of how they did it. In the championship fight, Thierry closed the gap on his rival Seb in their fight for the title and Ott Tanak has brought himself into this fight with his brilliant drive to victory.
After the short stage on Thursday evening, Thierry Neuville held a lead over Ott with Seb in third.
Friday would see the crews tackle seven stages, totaling 154.2km. This was the start list – Ogier, Neuville, Tänak, Mikkelsen, Meeke, Lappi, Latvala, Sordo, Breen, Evans, Suninen, Al Qassimi.
Despite being the first car into the stage, Seb won the stage and was eight seconds faster than Thierry who was fourth fastest. Ott was not fast in this one, over twenty seconds slower than the leader and tenth.
It all turned around on the next stage. Ott took the stage and Seb dropped 17.8 seconds. Andreas Mikkelsen moved into the lead with Ott now just nine and a half seconds off the lead. Sadly, this stage saw the exit of Jari-Matti.
Stage four saw Ott close the gap to Andreas to just one second, whilst Kris got past Seb into third overall. Thierry was also moving up on place to fifth overall.
The lead changed again in stage five in the short 6km super special with Ott moving ahead of Andreas. Thierry also dropped a place to Dani.
After the service break, the second run of Las Bajadas – Villa Del Dique saw Ott take another stage victory and increase his lead after Andreas drop right down to eight overall. Kris was now the closest to the young Estonian.
Stage seven saw the lead increase again with Ott now almost 17 seconds ahead of Kris. Dani was second fastest in the stage and this moved him ahead of Seb and Thierry into third overall.
The final stage of the day was won again by Ott with Thierry just a little over one second slower than him in second, meaning that he’d moved ahead also of Dani and into third overall. Kris remained the closest driver to Ott, ending the day 22 seconds away, and wary of the foggy stages that sometimes show up during the morning of day two.
Ott had driven a superbly all day, whilst Kris had done a clever drive. He’d picked up a puncture in the last stage of the day though, leading to the little time loss.
Classification after Day One
1
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Toyota Yaris WRC
1:30:38.6
2
K. Meeke
P. Nagle
Citroën C3 WRC
+22.7
3
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+28.6
4
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+29.5
5
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
+36.4
6
C. Breen
S. Martin
Citroën C3 WRC
+41.2
7
A. Mikkelsen
A. Jæger
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+58.5
8
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+1:07.9
9
E. Evans
D. Barritt
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:10.3
10
T. Suninen
M. Markkula
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:33.7
Let’s hear then from the drivers-
Ott Tanak
“I am definitely happy with today. We have been pushing really hard and I couldn’t have done that if it wasn’t for the perfect feeling that I have with the car. It has been performing really well and it’s giving me confidence. It’s good that we have been able to make some improvements and they seem to be paying off, although I think there is still more to come. It’s a shame that we lost some time on the first stage this morning: I’m not sure how it happened but we had a spin in a very narrow place and it took a long time to get back in the right direction. Then we started to push hard to get the time back, and this afternoon we had three perfect stages. I feel quite confident about our position: Tomorrow the stages are even faster and we know that fast roads suit this car really well, and I was able to do some really good times on these stages last year, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Kris Meeke
“Although our day got off to a difficult start, with some visibility issues on the first stage and some problems finding the right pace on the next one, we worked things out after that. This was a daunting leg so we’re pleased to have been both smart and consistent. I felt confident behind the wheel, which just goes to show that the changes made to the car are going the right way and that we have to keep it up. If there is fog tomorrow, then that blows the whole thing wide open again because the gaps will end up being minutes rather than seconds. So it’ll be up to us to perform!”
Thierry Neuville
“I am quite pleased with the day overall. We have had a good feeling inside the car and felt that we could really push for competitive stage times despite starting second on the road. At the same time, we have had to avoid trouble and effectively save the car, as the stages were pretty rough in places. The strategy has really been to take it easy and keep in touch with the leaders. I am sure we have more pace in us for tomorrow, which will be a very different challenge.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo (4th)
“It has been a positive start to the rally for us, and I am thoroughly enjoying driving in front of these crowds. The stages themselves, as we know from the past, are very rough and it is very easy to have some problems. To be fighting for the podium is where we would hope to be at the end of the first day – and it is very close. I have to thank the team for the job they have done to prepare our car. I have hit a few big rocks this afternoon, and the car has done its job perfectly, very solid and competitive. Let’s see if we can keep up the fight tomorrow!”
Andreas Mikkelsen (7th)
“We had a great morning and led the rally for a few stages, which was very promising. Ott has been incredibly fast today so we knew we had to push hard, which is easier said than done on such rough stages. It was going well until the start of the afternoon loop when the tyre came loose from the rim and lost us a lot of time. We then had to be extra careful because we knew one more issue might be game over, so we focused on getting the car home. We’ll be ready for another push on Saturday.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Sébastien Ogier (5th)
“It was an excellent day for us and I couldn’t do much more in terms of driving. We didn’t make any mistakes and I really tried to push as much as I could. Ott [Tänak] is flying and did a great job, but other than that we’re still in the fight for second place – despite opening the road.”
Elfyn Evans (9th)
“For sure it has been a difficult day for us. On the whole I felt that the driving wasn’t particularly bad, but the times just haven’t been there. We need to understand why that is and do better tomorrow.”
Teemu Suninen (10th)
“It hasn’t been the easiest day in the car, but we have learnt a lot. We were able to improve the driving a bit today, but we need to improve more to be faster and challenge for the podium. The main things we need to look at are the braking style and corner entries. Hopefully if we can improve one, it will be like a domino effect and the other will improve too. So, let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Esapekka Lappi (8th)
“This morning started surprisingly well on the first two stages. On the third one we lost a lot of time, as it was a bit more slippery and I didn’t want to make any mistakes. This afternoon it was a lot rougher on the second pass, and to have three punctures today is obviously not good. I’m not really sure why it kept happening, and to be honest I think it was just bad luck: the tyres themselves were fine but they kept coming off the rim. Tomorrow the weather might be different and this could be an opportunity for me to get some time back.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (DNF)
“I had a perfect feeling with the car this morning. The Yaris WRC is going so well here, and it was so easy to drive. I was really enjoying it. The second stage of the day was going really well and actually getting better and better as it went on. Then we came to a long right-hand corner and at the exit of the corner I hit a rock which I didn’t see hidden in the shadows. Immediately the front-right suspension was broken and one of the oil pipes was damaged, so I had to stop. On this rally there are so many rocks: sometimes you are lucky with them and sometimes you are unlucky, and I think I was unlucky. It is very frustrating because we were in such a good rhythm. My co-driver Miikka was really frustrated too, because he knew that I was not attacking too hard. I just need to put this behind me, and hope that I can get that good feeling again on the next rally. One thing is for sure: the car is really fast.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Craig Breen (6th)
“It was a pretty good leg for us, given our lack of knowledge of the stages. I think I made a real breakthrough in the afternoon, in trying to adapt my driving style to the handling of the C3 WRC. My time on the final stage shows this and that augurs well for the rest of the rally.”
Khalid Al Qassimi (15th)
“With the fog we experienced in recce, my pace notes weren’t perfect but we made it to the end of this leg whilst making steady progress. Although the first loop was difficult, I felt more confident on the afternoon loop thanks to the adjustments to my C3 WRC’ set-up by the technical team.”
Day Two – Saturday!
The crews had seven stages and 146.88km of action! The top cars would run in opposite order – Al Qassimi, Suninen, Evans, Lappi, Mikkelsen, Breen, Ogier, Sordo, Neuville, Meeke, Tänak.
Ott started the day where he left off, winning from Kris and extending his lead over the Citroen driver. Seb was doing his best to stay with the leaders but lost more time.
Stage ten saw the crews face the fog and Al Qassimi really struggled with this, using the brakes a lot just to be sure he’d complete the stage. Thierry and Dani were the closest challengers to Ott who won the stage, but Kris fell back a little and now the gap between them was over 30 seconds. Thierry was now closer to Kris as a result.
Stage eleven saw more fog and a longer stage at 40km’s! Craig rolled out after losing control over a jump and his teammate Kris fell behind Thierry. We saw a welcome return to the front of Elfyn Evans who set the third fastest time and moved up one place to seventh. Ott’s lead was now a pretty comfortable 43 seconds.
The short 6km super special saw Thierry take a stage victory, his measured approach paying dividends, now ten seconds ahead of Kris. Dani was also driving well, his gap over Seb growing and hoping to take points away from Seb to benefit Hyundai’s best hope for the drivers’ championship (Thierry).
Ott continued to set the pace at the front in the first afternoon stage, number thirteen, and continued to open the gap over Thierry and Kris and was looking pretty comfortable.
The fog had now gone from the next stage, but Kris reported that it was very low grip after wearing his tyres more in the previous stage. He was now almost a minute behind the leader. The Hyundai twins of Thierry and Dani set exactly the same time, just 2.1 seconds slower than Ott.
The second running of the 40km stage saw disaster for Kris who ran over a stone and got a puncture immediately. He and Paul changed the tyre as fast as they could, but still lost two and a half minutes meaning that they dropped to eighth overall. The top three was now Ott followed by Thierry and Dani.
The Spaniard won the stage, ending Ott’s run of fastest times today. Esapekka also moved ahead of Elfyn into sixth after setting the second fastest time.
After all the drama, the top ten at the end of Saturday looked like this-
Classification after Day Two
1
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Toyota Yaris WRC
2:58:33.9
2
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+46.5
3
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+1:08.2
4
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:59.0
5
A. Mikkelsen
A. Jæger
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+2:13.8
6
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+2:42.9
7
E. Evans
D. Barritt
Ford Fiesta WRC
+2:49.1
8
K. Meeke
P. Nagle
Citroën C3 WRC
+3:20.4
9
T. Suninen
M. Markkula
Ford Fiesta WRC
+4:17.6
Here’s the views then, starting with the top three.
Ott Tänak
“Everything has been working really well. I have a very good feeling with the car, and especially so on today’s roads, which were fast and flowing and suit our car very well. I was not pushing as hard as yesterday, when I was really on the limit. Today there was maybe a bit more control, but still the times were clearly quite good. This morning we had some really tricky conditions with really thick fog, but we managed it well and this afternoon was very enjoyable. I need to show respect for tomorrow’s stages, because El Condor and Mina Clavero are very tough pieces of road and very different compared to today, but I am feeling confident.”
Thierry Neuville
“I am pleased to have moved up into second place in the overall classification. We have had to stay really focused today. We lost a bit of time early on as we tackled the foggy morning stages but pushed as hard as we could. In the afternoon, with soft tyres, we had to take things carefully to avoid risking a puncture. We could have done a bit more but it wasn’t necessary. Ott has a commanding lead of this rally so our target tomorrow is to secure second place and maximise points for both championships.”
Dani Sordo
“The opening loop was really difficult in the fog, and it was impossible not to lose some time getting through in those conditions. Things improved at the end of the long stage but it offered a tough start to the day. The fight for the podium places has been quite open. The final stage went really well – although I was a bit scared of the tyres because we were on the limit. We couldn’t afford a single mistake so we drove clean and just enjoyed it. In the end, the time was good and we moved back up to third. We will do all we can to keep this position on Sunday.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Sébastien Ogier (4th) said:
“I wasn’t committed enough to go for it in the fog this morning. I was a bit too careful and maybe also a bit distracted when I got the message that Craig [Breen] and Esapekka [Lappi] were stopped – thinking something worse would be coming. At least we are here now – finishing the day in the points which isn’t too bad for the championship.
“Dani [Sordo] did a great job today and it would have been difficult to catch him anyway. It looks as though we’re not as fast here as we have been at the previous events. Like last year we struggled with the pace and we’re not exactly sure why – so at the end of the day fourth position is not too bad.
“Tomorrow we will of course try to hold on to this position, and it would be good to grab some extra points in the power stage. The three stages tomorrow are the toughest challenge of the weekend. We’ll have to see what the weather does and – if it turns out to be foggy as it so often does on El Condor – it will be a challenge for sure.”
Elfyn Evans (7th) said:
“It’s been another tough day to be honest, and we were still struggling in all the clean stages. We were able to make a difference in the fog – pushing very hard and setting a pretty decent time – but we’re still not where we would like to be and need to find the answer.”
Teemu Suninen (9th) said:
“We’ve been the second car on the road today so we had a lot of cleaning to do. I was a bit disappointed with the time in last stage, but it’s all a learning curve and all okay. Tomorrow we will experience another completely different type of stage where the roads are a lot slower and a lot narrower. I’ve still got some homework to do, but hopefully next time we will be better.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (5th)
“We have used today to try and make up some places after our issue on Friday. The fact we are back into the top-five is a positive result considering where we were at the start of the day. We have made some changes to the car during the day in a bid to find more rear stability and there was a definite improvement. We are not a million miles behind Seb in fourth place but we are just trying to drive neat and tidy, and we’ll see where we end up tomorrow. As we’ve seen again today, this is a particularly tough and unpredictable rally.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Esapekka Lappi
“This morning started well: the car was working well and the setup felt good. Then on the long stage, I got a wrong pace-note, and in the fog, I couldn’t see anything and we went a long way off the road.
Luckily, we didn’t hit anything. This can happen, we are only human. The afternoon was really promising.
We all know the potential is there in the car, as Ott has been showing since yesterday, and I’m getting there step by step. I had some strong times and the road was getting cleaner for the drivers behind me, so, I’m pretty pleased with the speed. Every day is different here on Rally Argentina, and tomorrow’s stages are the slowest, very technical and narrow with a lot of rocks. Therefore, I don’t know if I can have the same confidence tomorrow, but I will certainly try for sure.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Kris Meeke (8th)
“There was a stone in the middle of the road and I couldn’t avoid it, given the width of the road. Unfortunately, I got a puncture straight away on the right rear tyre. It’s a shame because I was both quick and consistent, and I clearly felt capable of securing third place.”
Khalid Al Qassimi (14th)
“It wasn’t an easy day for us, mainly due to the fact we opened the road all day, which meant we spent the morning especially cleaning the road for those behind. I enjoyed the afternoon driving a C3 WRC that was more precise, despite making a minor mistake, which fortunately had no serious consequences.”
Craig Breen (DNF)
“Unfortunately, I turned in a bit too soon on a right-hander over a crest. I realised that I was going to hit a ditch so I tried to steer to avoid it but it was too little, too late and when we landed, we were thrown into a roll. Obviously, I’m sorry for the team, who deserved a better result, and am frustrated not to have been able to complete any more miles at this event, where I’m already short on experience. But I have to focus on the speed we showed at certain points and will aim to come back stronger in Portugal.”
Day Three – Sunday!
The last day then and with 55km’s spread between three stages and the narrowest stages including a double run of the iconic El Condor stage, with the added twist of running in the opposite direction this event could still throw up a surprise. The start list looked like this- Al Qassimi, Suninen, Meeke, Evans, Lappi, Mikkelsen, Ogier, Sordo, Neuville, Tänak.
Kris and Citroen were using the final day to test some changes and settings for Portugal and clearly it worked after setting the fourth fastest time and climbing one place to seventh. Esapekka lost a chunk of time dropping from sixth to eighth. Andreas won the stage with Seb just half a second slower and Ott third fastest with his lead now at 49 seconds, only disaster would stop him winning!
The penultimate stage, the longest of the final day at 22km. Tanak was taking a measured approach, whilst Thierry won the stage from Andreas and Dani. Despite being the third car on the road, Kris set a good time, just twelve seconds slower than Thierry for sixth fastest, the settings for Portugal proving their worth.
So, to the final stage and Thierry blazed through the stage and beat Seb to the power stage victory, taking all five points with Andreas third, Ott fourth and Kris fifth despite having to avoid a dog which he blamed for losing him half a second.
However, it was Ott Tanak’s weekend. He’d won his third rally and his first for Toyota. It was also their first victory of the year! He’d set the pace all weekend and brought himself into a championship battle with Seb and Thierry.
Final Overall Classification – Rally Argentina
1
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Toyota Yaris WRC
3:43:28.9
2
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+37.7
3
D. Sordo
C. del Barrio
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+1:15.7
4
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:58.6
5
A. Mikkelsen
A. Jæger
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+2:02.6
6
E. Evans
D. Barritt
Ford Fiesta WRC
+3:06.3
7
K. Meeke
P. Nagle
Citroën C3 WRC
+3:25.7
8
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+4:32.6
9
T. Suninen
M. Markkula
Ford Fiesta WRC
+5:38.6
10
P. Tidemand
J. Andersson
Škoda Fabia R5
+12:15.8
Let’s hear what he had to say.
Ott Tänak
“It is very special to take my first win with the team. We have been improving the car very quickly, and it is now pretty much how I like it. It has been giving me great confidence. It is also great to see how much the team has been supporting me. To dominate a rally like this for the first time is very nice, but it has definitely not been easy. Earlier in the weekend I was pushing a lot. As the gap was growing it was possible for us to control it more and more, and today we were more on the safe side. The direction is good and we are closing up in the championship. It is still fairly early in the season, so now we just need to keep going in the same way in the coming rallies.”
Thierry Neuville
“I am thrilled to finish on the podium in Argentina and to have taken the Power Stage win. It has been something of a relief after the difficulties we had in Corsica, as we have been on the pace all weekend and felt completely comfortable with our Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. The team has really done a great job for this rally and I am hugely thankful for everyone’s contribution. We knew we had to push on the Power Stage to take as many points as we could off Séb, and we were able to do that. I’m happy with what we take away from Argentina and look forward to Portugal.”
Dani Sordo
“What a fantastic rally this has been for the whole team. I am really happy to take my second podium of the season alongside Carlos, and to continue to show a competitive pace. The stage times have been very close all weekend long with lots of fighting for positions each day. Above all it has been a positive event for the team with a double podium that scores good manufacturer points. We didn’t take too many risks on this final day, concentrating on finishing third. Thankfully we had a decent buffer so could complete our mission to take the podium. We have had a huge support from the fans – we hope they enjoyed the show!”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Sébastien Ogier (4th)
“There was an amazing atmosphere this weekend and I’ve never seen so many fans out on the stages. It wasn’t an easy rally for us and we need to work on some areas to improve. But when you come away from a difficult event with 16 points, it’s not so bad.
“As expected, the stages were challenging again today. They were rough and slow with very low grip – and we weren’t super-fast in those conditions. We had to push hard to try and make a good time in the Power Stage, and we managed to grab four points which was important.”
Elfyn Evans (6th)
“All things considered, sixth place isn’t a bad result and it was good to get some solid points on the board. But the pace just wasn’t there this weekend. It was disappointing and not what we came here to do. We need to do some analysis to try and understand why that was. The engineers will study the data, I’ll study the onboards, and hopefully we can get back on it in Portugal.”
Teemu Suninen (9th)
“It’s been a challenging weekend, but I have to say that the car has been amazing. It’s really nice to drive and really easy to drive. From that side I really enjoyed the rally – even though I would have liked to have been a bit faster.
“On Friday we weren’t able to set the fast times and that gave us the worst starting position for the next two days. It’s like that for everyone, but we need to work on having a better Friday so that we have a better starting position for the weekend.
“But overall it has been a good experience – not an easy one, but a good one. Next year it will be much easier to prepare as we’ll know what to expect and what the biggest challenges will be.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Andreas Mikkelsen (5th)
“Firstly, I extend my congratulations to Thierry, Nicolas, Dani and Carlos for their podium results here in Argentina. From the team’s point of view, this was a very competitive weekend with all three cars inside the top-five. We had a positive final day with a stage win, a second place and three points from the Power Stage. Obviously, we would have liked to fight those couple of places higher up but unfortunately our time loss on Friday prevented us from doing that. It has been a very closely fought and tough weekend, which has been a pretty good start to the run of gravel events.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Kris Meeke (7th)
“It was a good day for us: we did set-up tests for Portugal and it was informative. The feeling was very good in the car. Apart from that, and the frustration of not being able to bring home the result that we deserved, the main thing for me is that the upgrades introduced this weekend to the C3 WRC enabled us to be a lot more consistent. I felt confident throughout the weekend, even when fighting for the podium. I felt that I had the situation under control at all times and we need to keep going in this direction.”
Khalid Al Qassimi (14th)
“Obviously, I’m disappointed for the team that we didn’t manage to secure a result that would reflect our real performance level. Nevertheless, I’m pleased to see our C3 WRC make regular progress and I’m convinced that this will lead to some good results very shortly. On a more personal note, running first on the road didn’t make life easy for me today, but I was happy to be back with the team and enjoy the atmosphere of the championship again.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Esapekka Lappi (8th)
“I can take home some positives from my first Rally Argentina. My speed was actually better than I was expecting on my first time here. It helped that we seemed to have the best car here: Ott controlled the whole rally, congratulations to him. We had many issues with punctures during the weekend and we need to investigate what was causing them. Although we had many things that caused us to lose time, we managed to do all the stages and get the experience. This first part of the season was never going to be easy, with events I did not have enough experience on, but there have been positive moments and I will take this on to Portugal.”
The next round is in Portugal, held from the 17th of 20th of May. I think we are set for an amazing mid season, with just twenty-eight points between first and third places. Also Mads makes his second start of the year with Citroen and they are bringing three cars to the party!
Thierry should be very happy with his result, bringing the gap down to Seb to just ten points. Hayden Paddon is re-joining the Hyundai team in Portugal as well and will want to do well.
Finally, Elfyn and Dan will want to get a good result there as well. They’ve not had the best start to their campaign.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings After round 5
1
S. Ogier
100
2
T. Neuville
90
3
O. Tanak
72
4
A. Mikkelsen
54
5
D. Sordo
45
6
K. Meeke
43
7
E. Lappi
40
8
J.M Latvala
31
9
E. Evans
26
10
C. Breen
20
11
S. Loeb
15
12
H. Paddon
10
2018 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings After round 5
ERC Sport’s Lee Mowle admitted that he was surprised to see teammate Yelmer Buurman cross the line first after a topsy-turvy two-hour race at Rockingham.
The weekend started badly when Mowle tagged the wall at the final corner during GT3 Am qualifying on Saturday, to leave the #116 Mercedes starting at the back of the class.
However, a sensible drive from Mowle during the first hour of the race on Sunday meant Buurman was fourth when he took over in the pit stops, before he completed the turnaround as others toiled.
Speaking to the official British GT website, Mowle could not hide his shock at the #116’s unlikely win.
“I genuinely have no idea how we won that race. I picked up a few places when the McLaren and Optimum Aston went off, plus I think I passed Ian Loggie’s Bentley, but then I also gave a few away with a moment at Tarzan.”
Mowle was quick to praise his Dutch counterpart, who was bold early on through the stint before penalties dropped those around him.
“Yelmer put a fab move on Phil [Keen], as well as a brilliant one around the outside of Darren [Turner], so there were two there plus some more from drive-through penalties!”
The win was made sweeter given Mowle’s own previous struggles in Northamptonshire and a challenging weeked at the opening rounds of the season at Outlon Park.
“I’ve never gone particularly well around here, and Oulton wasn’t the best circuit for the Mercedes, so to come away with two podiums in three races and the championship lead is remarkable, really!”
Yelmer Buurman’s stunning recovery earned the #116 ERC Sport team victory in Round Three of the British GT Championship ahead of the #17 Aston Martin team piloted by Derek Johnston and Marco Sorensen and the #7 Bentley duo of Callum Macleod and Ian Loggie, although #17 team would later receive a 30s penalty to drop them back to seventh. Darren Turner and Andrew Howard in the #99 Beechdean Aston Martin inherited the podium.
Callum Pointon and Patrik Matthiesen were top of the GT4 class in the #55 Ginetta with Jesse Anttila and Stephen Johansen second in the #54 Nissan 370Z and Will Moore and Matt Nicoll-Jones’ Aston Martin Vantage #62.
John Minshaw had initially looked like building up the 20s gap that the #33 Barwell Motorsport needed, the gap as high as five seconds ahead of Flick Haigh’s #75 Aston Martin, who eventually lost out to Sam De Haan’s #69 Lamborghini before the race’s first Safety Car, triggered by Shaun Balfe’s McLaren GT3 entry hitting the wall after contact with an Invictus Jaguar in GT4.
Minshaw again stretched his lead and was again pegged back through no fault of his own as he lost a 9.5 second advantage to a second Safety Car, and was reeled in by Graham Davidson in the #47 Jetstream Aston Martin, who had quietly worked his way up as others hit strife.
Once the handovers were complete during the pit stop window, Phil Keen in the #33 was 15s behind Maxime Martin in #47 after serving the 20s success penalty, but this deficit was closed after a third Safety Car thrown to recover the stricken #22 Invictus Racing Jaguar driven by Ben Norfolk at the Deene Hairpin.
Martin was then penalised for exceeding track limits but Keen was passed by the charging Buurman before himself receiving a penalty, after the #75 Optimum Aston Martin hit gremlins in the pits while the #69 Barwell Lamborghini failed to leave the pits altogether.
Buurman had a clear run to the flag after that with Macleod and Turner quietly guiding their Bentley and Aston Martin to the GT3 podium. Adam in the #75 Aston was classified fourth, Keen recovered to sixth behind Davidson and Martin, while Rick Parfitt Jnr and Ryan Ratcliffe endured an awful race after strong early pace was hampered when Johnston spun Parfitt Jnr’s Bentley.
In GT4, Callum Pointon was able to cruise home in his #55 HHC Ginetta after teammate Patrik Matthiesen had hounded the #4 Tolman McLaren of Charlie Fagg throughout the first hour of the race.
While Fagg pitted early in the window, Matthiesen stayed out an extra ten minutes and the Ginetta leapfrogged the McLaren now driven by Michael O’Brien, who quickly fell behind.
O’Brien was to prove a mobile roadblock for much of the second hour, before succumbing to the advances of a fast charging Jesse Anttila in the #54 UltraTek Nissan – Anttila and Stephen Johansen winning the GT4 Pro-Am class in the process.
Matt Nicoll-Jones took third in the #62 Academy Motorsport Aston Martin also piloted by Will Moore after passing O’Brien and the #10 Equipe Verschuur McLaren driven by Dan McKay and Finlay Hutchison, with the #53 UltraTek Nissan of Kelvin Fletcher and Martin Plowman was fourth in GT4.
Images Courtesy of Spacesuit Media (Nic Redhead & Jamie Sheldrick)
ccPower Maxed Racing’s Josh Cook became the fourth different winner of the season with a win in round four of the British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park.
The Vauxhall Astra driver led from lights to flag as Dan Cammish of Team Dynamics came second and Laser Tools’ Aden Moffat rounding off the podium.
Cook led from the start with Chris Smiley of BTC Norlin and Grad-x’s Sam Tordoff in tow. Into Redgate Cook held his nerve and kept ahead of the pack. Cammish flew past Smiley and Tordoff into the Craner Curves to take second place and hunt down Cook.
Meanwhile further back there were tussles throughout the field, Colin Turkington was sent sideways after a coming together with Brands race winner Senna Proctor. The BMW man recovered well to finish tenth.
Proctor managed to finish eighth ahead of Ciceley Motorsports’ Tom Oliphant, but couldn’t keep up with the power of the Honda’s ahead of him. Smiley slowly fell down the order and was overtaken by the resurgent Matt Neal in the Team Dynamics Honda to finish sixth with Smiley seventh.
James Cole kept his nose clean to bring his Shredded Wheat Ford Focus RS home in fifth, picking up the only points for his team. Team mate Tom Chilton was in the wars and finished low down the order, with Tordoff unable to maintain his push as an electrical fault saw him retire.
Rookie Brett Smith came home fourth after fighting with team mate Jack Goff Smiley to take fourth place and finish just off the podium.
The Laser Tools Mercedes of Aiden Moffat came third after a great repair effort from the Laser Tools team following his crash in qualifying yesterday.
Dan Cammish kept on Cook’s tail throughout the race, and was on a charge during the middle phases, but couldn’t find his way past Matt Simpson, who tucked in between the top two.
But the first race belonged to Cook, who masterfully led from start to finish, with the Power Maxed Racing team having won two of the four races so far this season.