Welcome to Part Two of my Interview with Rich Millener.
Warren
Let’s talk about Esapekka. Have you just signed him up on a one-year contract?
Rich
Yes, just one year at the moment, with the potential for further if we both agree, but it was a bit of a tough decision for him and tough decision to come with us, but a tough time for him. He found himself in Australia, finding he could be out of a job and it came to fruition. You’ve got to have four, five years of WRC at the top level to get your experience, and he’d just done that, had a tough season at Citroen and then it looked like it was all over, so luckily he found a way to come with us which is great and we really wanted him to have him on board and as I said we can prove a point and we can help him show his best and that’s the goal, we only chose him because we think he’s capable. If we didn’t think he was capable, we’d have stuck with Teemu and Gus, but he was there and we both agreed that we wanted to get him in the car and that’s happened, so yeah, we’re looking forward to it.
Warren
Teemu as well, a second consecutive year for him.
Rich
Yes, he did some really good performances last year, especially on tarmac, some really quite promising stage times, when you keep reminding yourself of his experience level, a couple of silly mistakes which he would be the first to admit to, which we want to try to get rid of. That really made his season, you know the history books say one thing, but we know the pace was good for the rest of it, and then a couple of problems from our side, and it was a bit of a mixed year. We want to try and take that away and go from there really.
Warren
Gus is doing a lot more rounds. He did Portugal, and then did a couple more because of Elfyn Evans’ situation.
Rich
Yes, going from three to nine is a big step, no R5 this year, so concentrating fully on WRC which is great, but it’s the biggest step he’ll make and it’s the top level and you’re in the limelight, and got all the pressure on you. He’ll want to prove himself, doesn’t want to be seen as someone who’s not capable of results. At the same time, it’s tough competing with those guys and he’ll have some good times and bad times. Our goal is to help him through it, he’s taking it incredibly seriously, to be fair to him. We mentioned to him in the middle of last year we thought he ought to get a bit more serious on a couple of issues, we said his personal fitness needs a bit of a look at and he’s dropped 21 kilos since Germany last year, which is incredible and that is dedication and for us to mention something like that and to go away and do what we’ve asked is great and shows his commitment to the project. It’s not just that, he’s upped all sorts in the background as well, and he’s really doing everything he can and it’s our responsibility and our job to do everything we can, and so we’re excited to see what he can achieve.
Warren
Finally, sum up Elfyn’s year. Came close to that win, had the problem in Estonia, missed three rounds.
Rich
He had a strong year, considering how many events he did, and he finished equal fourth in the championship and missed five rallies effectively. Two through retirement and three because of the injury, so if you think he hasn’t scored on five rallies and still fourth he’s done right in between and we knew that kind of performance would eventually get him a drive somewhere else. As much as we’re all disappointed, that he’s gone, we’re also happy that he got the opportunity to go show that he’s got the speed with another manufacturer, because you run the risk that people think he’s only ever going to stay at M-Sport and now he’s got his opportunity to show what he can do. It’s going to be hard for him, he’s got to prove it now over the next two years, but he’s capable, so we wish him the best of luck.
Rich Millener had a lot to say about the new season at Autosport International.
Here is part one of my interview with M-Sport’s Team Principle.
Warren
Your feelings after the win that got away?
Rich
It was a bit of a baptism of fire for me in some ways. Doing the job in the background for the last three or four years. I approached Malcolm at the end of 2018 when Seb Ogier left and asked if I could do the team principle role, to which he agreed- this was surprising- if you don’t ask, you don’t get. It was a nice opportunity to be given. I think last year was a bit of a learning curve in some ways. It wasn’t hugely different from what I’ve done before- there were elements we knew – More involved in areas that I’ve not been involved with before, and then we had the Corsica issue. It was a very easy job at the start. Three rallies in and three good results. Fourth rally in and on for a win. I think people thought M-Sport were going to be in the way and pretty competitive, but unfortunately it unravelled. Then we had a tough mid-season and then we came back stronger at the end of the season.
I think overall not bad but there are a few things I’d like to change this year. There was nothing I wanted to change this past year, because you’re still learning. You don’t come in and try to change everything as you don’t have the experience to do it. Overall, I think we were very happy – the whole team is aware of the structure and how it’s working. We’ve tried to improve communication with mechanics and engineers, every part of the team really, just to work together as best we can, and just try to continue to improve. The drivers are all capable of winning, so we just want to perform as best we can, to give them everything we can to do well.
Warren
What do you think Lappi has brought to the team so far in terms of his experience with the previous cars he has driven?
Rich
Ah, difficult to say at the moment, as he’s done so little. He’s done two and a half days in the car so far, but the experience he has as he’s been with two manufacturer teams already, and we’re the third, all the current generation cars, which is great. He’s got experience and knowledge of the two rivals. He has been through the highs and lows himself and has won a rally and then had a tough season last year, so the kind of pressure of being in the top level of WRC, he’s been there which is great.
To promote a younger person into leading a team, you run the risk of that being difficult for them to get their head around and be prepared, but he’s kind of ready and nothing seems to stress him out which is great and like Malcolm said, the team and environment is very good, we’re a younger team with all the same goals, we’re all hungry to improve and win and so is he. If we can make him feel comfortable, then we know he can perform well. That’s our main goal at the minute. He seems to understand British humour, which is helpful so he can see a joke and be serious at the same time, and I think if he feels comfortable, then he should be on the pace right away.
Warren
Are you looking at any events for victories?
Rich
I think Monte Carlo will be difficult. I’m not sure tarmac would be EP’s favourite subject, but on the other side, Teemu’s tarmac pace has been really good the last few rallies. We didn’t do any testing before Christmas, we didn’t have the budget to do that, so we did that this year instead, a really good test, but unfortunately no snow but, we know how much that rally can change, so Monte will be hard. Sweden, we expect to be strong, like last year with Teemu, again it will depend on the road conditions and how much snow there is. Now really the rest after that, we should be strong in all of them and there’s no reason we can’t challenge in all of them. So, we’re not focusing on anything in particular, just be the best for all the events.
Warren
Now, three new rounds and this is a question that I asked Esapekka and Teemu. How do you go about preparing for Rally Safari?
Rich
I think Safari realistically is going to be quite different from what people expect. I think a lot more of the European style event is likely. It won’t be horrendously rough, it won’t be huge great deep-water splashes, cars will look pretty much look as they are. If people are expecting snorkels and everything that goes with it, which is great but we have the reality of the costs of designing a one-off car and it’s not feasible for anybody. However, having said that all new stages, very different from what we’ve seen, it’s quite sandy in places which is a different skill, fast and actually narrow in some places and if you go offline, there’s big rocks and everything.
The temptation to cut will be there, but the reality of cutting might not be so ideal and there is the wildlife, you know that you can’t get away from wildlife, there’s still going to be that gone are the days of the star helicopters and everything that went along with that because going to that level again would be like doing two rallies for the price of one. We can’t really afford. It will be very interesting, we sent some people out to the candidate rally to try and understand what it’s about, the same with Japan, New Zealand we know a little bit more, but all these new rallies are good for the drivers, because everyone’s in the same boat, new stages and new pace notes. I don’t think any of the drivers this year have been to any of these places, so that will be interesting. We’ll just prepare in the normal way, testing is most difficult because we don’t know the exact conditions you’re going to get in Safari, so you don’t know where you’re going to test. We’ve got a few options in mind, and I think that will be a key part of doing well.
Warren
Do you know if Rally Chile is going ahead?
Rich
It looks like it will be cancelled, and I don’t think there will be a replacement to be honest, I think it’s too late in the day to be able to find a solution to the logistics, to change everything around. We’re all planned around the thirteen rallies. Fourteen was always a push to be honest. It’s hard on the guys, yes less rallies than say Formula One, but you’re away for a longer time, over a week and last year with Argentina and Chile we were away for over three weeks and it was hard to keep morale up in the team because a lot of people have families and kids and it’s a long time for fifty people that you work with day in and day out. Thirteen is not a big drama for me. I appreciate that we need to go to new places, and it’s a shame that we’ve lost them, but we can still have a good championship.
Warren
I’m of the opinion that Formula One has too many races.
Rich
Yes, you become a casual fan, because you switch it on and it’s always there, which is great because it’s in your mind at the time, you don’t build up to the weekend, ah F1’s on at the weekend, I’ll watch that, but then it’s on every other weekend and WRC isn’t strong enough to warrant that many events, so got to be careful. I think thirteen or fourteen is acceptable.
The 2020 British Touring Car Championship puzzle is slowly coming together, after a flurry of announcements at the Autosport International show in Birmingham at the weekend.
No less than seven drivers were announced over the course of the weekend, with some big names catching the attention.
The big news of the weekend was Tom Chilton making the switch from Motorbase to BTC Racing for 2020. The veteran replaces Chris Smiley in the team and joins Josh Cook, forming a formidable partnership in the FK8 Honda Civics. BTC are also taking on a third Civic for this season, and racing in it will be new fans favourite Michael Crees, creating a strong team.
Excelr8 Motorsport announced their first driver for 2020 with Senna Proctor joining the team from BMR Racing. Proctor will be behind the wheel of the brand new Hyundai i30 with three years of BTCC experience behind him. His team mate is yet to be announced.
Elsewhere Ciceley Motorsport have decided to retain their lineup of Adam Morgan and Daniel Rowbottom, with both having had strong 2019 seasons, but knowing there is more to come from the Mercedes A Class.
Trade Price Racing announced former British GT champion James Gornall will be joining the team racing the Audi S3 Saloon, joining Bobby Thompson. While Sam Osborne was announced as the team mate for Jake Hill in the AMD team Honda Civic FK2’s.
Teemu Suninen starts his second full season with M-Sport Ford. Photo credit, M-Sport
Warren Nel
Let’s talk about your stats from last season. It was really interesting to note that you took more stage wins last year than Esapekka last year. Anyway, give us an idea of your hopes for this new season.
Teemu Suninen
It would be the same before the new season, because we are having new rallies that we haven’t seen so I don’t have any expectations for the new rallies, as we have seen the pace can change quite a lot between rallies, which we saw last year like Sweden, and Germany I was able to set top three times all the time, Citroen were struggling in Germany, yet the rally after they improved and took the top two spots and then Toyota took the top three positions in Germany, and then in Turkey they were nowhere, so it’s difficult to say what the expectations are for the new events.
Warren
What are your hopes though?
Teemu
My hopes are to have more podiums and it would be great to finish the season in the top five or six and try to be close with the second group of drivers.
M-Sport Ford’s new livery. Photo credit Warren Nel
Warren
Are you hoping to be closer to the top three drivers?
Teemu
Yes, basically to be more consistent, everyone can challenge them on some rallies but not in all rallies.
Warren
There’s three new rounds, Safari, New Zealand and Japan finishing the season. In terms of those events you can’t test outside Europe, so how are you going to prepare for those events?
Teemu
That’s a good question, because it’s not easy to find the same kind of roads, they are quite different to the roads in Africa, so I think we need to be quite open minded about with the roads and testing places for Kenya, yeah and we doing the recce in Japan and we saw what kind of roads there is and everyone is wondering where can we find these kinds of roads, because it’s so different. They are in a deep forest, there is no sunshine in the daytime, as they’re so deep in the forest, and a lot of leaves on the tarmac, so it’s never clean and it is also quite slow. It going to be quite challenging with the daylight lights and not losing too much power from the alternator.
Warren
You scored one podium last year. Are there any events that you’re looking to get a podium this year apart from Italy? Score a few more and perhaps your first win?
Teemu
Proper rallies like Portugal and Sardinia, also Turkey. In those rallies I try to get a good pace and set good times.
Gus Greensmith at last season’s Rally de Portugal. Photo credit, M-Sport Ford
Warren Nel
Well, Gus last time I spoke to you was twelve months ago when you were looking forward to Portugal. How do you feel that event went for you?
Gus Greensmith.
It was a learning event. Clearly, it’s gone pretty well, because now I’m here in a WRC car, but it was great. It was great to beat Seb Ogier and Seb Loeb, the first stage I’d done in a world car, so that was an eye-opener for some, and then it went from there. The pace was pretty good, obviously you’ve got the three guys at the front, Seb, Thierry and Ott are steps ahead at the moment, but then if you look at those I was fighting with, Teemu, Elfyn, Esapekka we were separated by tenths, so it went well.
Then there was the call up for Finland, which was less than a week away from the rally, not prepared and again we were doing good times there, and Germany as well. Yes, it was a pretty narrow window to get prepared for a world rally car, it all went well, now we’re here. Pretty much straight after Finland that I got the offer for this year, so I’d known about it for a very long time.
Since then there’s been a big weight loss, 21 kilos just to get the weight to be perfect, so it been very busy behind the scenes since then and worth every second.
Warren Nel
Looking ahead to the season ahead, just take me through which events you’ll be taking part in.
Gus Greensmith
Monaco, Mexico, Argentina, Portugal, Sardinia, Finland, Turkey, Germany and depending on results maybe we can see one or two more, but results will have to be strong for that, so we’ll have to see. I have my rounds that I kind of picked, where I want to push, where I want to show my worth, aside from that it’s all about be flat out on every rally, that’s the benefit of only having nine, the fact that we don’t have to be prepping for every event, I’ve got a little bit longer to prepare myself for some of the rallies, which for me is extremely important. At the end of the day, you’d always prefer the full calendar, it’s also a good thing to have that extra time week or two to prepare will make a difference, and I proved that in Portugal, I proved that in every rally I’ve done, for me the nine rallies seems quite a bit perfect, and if we can get one or two more with some good results then all the better.
Warren Nel
If we go back to Portugal, you picked that event, but you hadn’t intended doing the other events, take us to that moment when you found out you were doing more events.
Gus Greensmith
I was always going to be doing more events, we just didn’t know which and it just coincided that they needed a driver. I literally landed from holiday, I was jet lagged and it was about eight pm and I got a phone call from Rich and he said, you don’t share this to anyone, but you’ll be driving the world rally car in Finland, so I was like what the f***, er right fine, no problem, I’m up for any challenge, and yeah, it was grand!
Warren Nel
What did you learn in that weekend, as it’s a pretty spectacular event?
Gus Greensmith
It was, for sure, the toughest rally of my career, for many reasons. One, not the prep I wanted to put in, two, it’s such an abstract rally compared to the calendar- You have to be flat out, fully committed and be confident with the car and unless you are then things just don’t click, so to be fighting with Teemu and beating him on the first day was incredible, alright but the pace as a package for the Ford team wasn’t good enough, we were cleaning the roads, so from that point in it was really tricky to find the speed, but comparatively against the team, those behind, our times were quite strong.
Warren Nel
This season you’ve got nine rounds, which event are you most looking forward to?
Gus Greensmith
Portugal I’m doing again, that’s the one that I’m going to go for it, see how far we can get up the leaderboard, I think we can be really strong there. Obviously, we won in Monaco last year, pretty dominant, I’d like to do the same this year, but to put a strong performance this year, then you’ve got to look at Turkey, it’s a rally that I suit well, got to do well there. The thing is I’ve got to deliver on every rally, if I want to earn my place in this sport full time, which is my ambition.
Warren Nel
In terms of scoring points for the team, have you got a set amount to be scoring?
Gus Greensmith
No, for me I’ve got the good job, I’ve got the third car, so they can just send me off as a loose cannon, and I just go and drive and try not to crash. Still, at some point in the year I’ll have to play the team game and score some points, but for now that’s Teemu and Esapekka’s job. For me, it’s about getting the best results in each individual rally.
Warren Nel
In terms of your preparations and testing, has it been good?
Gus Greensmith
Yeah, I got back from two days testing in Monaco, it was really good, went really well, really positive by the end of the day, I think all the footage looked really sideways, but for me, Monaco it’s quite important to be confident with the car, rather than finding the ultimate setup and time, you’ve just got to be confident in changing conditions, so that day was about throwing it in, I did it last year, so I don’t see why it shouldn’t work again.
Warren Nel
I said that fans had been watching the testing videos which had been posted online and were saying how the car looks quite lairy and sideways.
Gus Greensmith
Yeah, people love it and it’s not the fastest way, but unfortunately when you’re driving in Monaco you’ve just got to be prepared to throw it into a corner that’s going to have no grip in it what-so-ever, so we have to send it in, and I want to be the fastest person transitioning from tarmac to the ice, and that’s why in the test you saw me throwing the car around from corner to corner, I want to when I get here I know exactly what’s it going to be like before anyone else.
Warren Nel
Who are your safety crew for the tarmac rounds?
Gus Greensmith
I’ll have a Canadian called Anthoine L’Estage an eight time Canadian champion, an incredible understanding of how snow changes and develops and hugely important for my success on tarmac rallies, and then on the passenger side I’ll have Steve Lancaster, a very experienced co-driver working with him, and it’s worked really well before, so I see no reason to change something that isn’t broken.
2020 FIA World Rally Championship Ford Fiesta WRC 2020 Livery January 2020 Photo: Drew Gibson
There will be a new car in the British Touring Car Championship for 2020 as Hyundai enter the sport for next season.
The brand have a rich Motorsport heritage in recent years, especially in the World Rally Championship, having won this season’s constructors championship. They also have touring car experience having ran in TCR and WTCR.
They link up with Excelr8 Motorsport for the new season, replacing the old MG6’s that were used in their debut season. Excelr8 picked up four points with Rob Smith and Sam Osborne behind the wheel grabbing two points apiece.
The drivers are yet to be announced but Excelr8 will be aiming for consistent points finishes in the i30 Fastback N Performance. Thankfully for the team, the Hyundai is a similar shape to the MG and so this should help Excelr8 who are now well aware of the inner intricacies of an NGTC car.
The end of the MG 6GT? Image Credit: BTCC Media.
Though this also means the likely end of the MG6 GT, which has been in the series since 2012. Driven by some of the finest drivers of this generation, including Jason Plato, Andrew Jordan, Sam Tordoff, Ash Sutton and Josh Cook.
It won 24 races over its time in the BTCC with Plato finishing runner up in the championship to Colin Turkington in 2014. The 6 GT also won the manufacturer’s crown in 2014, remaining a manufacturer entry until 2018. AMD Tuning and Excelr8 have used the car in recent years with no luck.
While it is still early, and many teams are yet to announce their cars for next season, the MG has most likely driven its final race.
With just four stages totaling 74km, the startlist looked like this- Meeke, Katsuta, Ogier, Suninen, Evans, Latvala, Loeb, Tänak, Sordo, Neuville.
First up then was SS 14 – Riudecanyes 1 (16,35 km), and Ott Tänak had one goal. To pass Dani Sordo. The Spaniard was on it though, and whilst Thierry won the stage, Dani took the second fastest stage time and with the Estonian just a few tenths behind i20 pilot, the gap opened up a little. Elfyn was finding some pace as well, going fourth fastest and reducing the gap to Jari-Matti.
The first run through SS 15 – La Mussara 1 (20,72 km) was won by Dani, whilst Ott Tänak took the second fastest time and young Finn Teemu was third. Seb Ogier was eighth, complaining of wheelspin at the rear.
Into SS 16 – Riudecanyes 2 (16,35 km) and the Dani and Ott battle continued. The Hyundai pilot won the stage, and had increased the gap to Ott, whilst Seb Ogier’s changes to his car improved things, but made other things worse. Elfyn was finding some pace, and had reduced the gap to Latvala to fifteen seconds.
The final stage then, SS 17 – La Mussara 2 Power Stage (20,72 km) and there were some surprises. Elfyn had set the early benchmark time. Dani and then Thierry tried their best to beat it, and then Ott Tänak flew through, like he has on so many occasions this year and took the fastest time, and as a bonus, beat Dani Sordo’s time as well by six seconds, thus clinching second place overall. We have a new world champion crew, and the first from Estonia as well! What a drive from Ott Tänak and Martin Jarveoja in their Yaris WRC.
“What a weekend! We have been consistently quick on all three days, and we did absolutely everything we could. It wasn’t enough to keep the drivers’ championship alive until Australia but my congratulations go to Ott for securing the title. Our focus now moves fully onto the manufacturers’ battle. We have taken good points this weekend, and increased our lead but there’s now a crucial rally to come in Australia to get the job done. The car has proven itself to be quick on all terrains in recent rallies, and we can head to the season finale in a positive frame of mind.”
2019 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13, Rally de España 24-27 October 2019 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Dani Sordo (3rd)
“I am happy to finish on the podium in my home rally but of course we would have preferred to keep hold of second place. Ott was on a mission today, and we missed out by 0.4 seconds. A podium is always special but it’s even better with the support of the Spanish fans. We’ve had a competitive rally and for the team this has been an important result. Thank you to the team for giving us a car that has worked so well all weekend. These sorts of results don’t come just from the crews, it is a full team effort and they’ve all done a great job.”
Seb Loeb (4th)
“It has been a positive rally for the entire Hyundai Motorsport team. While our own performance has been a bit frustrating since Saturday, we took reassurance from Thierry and Dani’s pace. The Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC is a fantastic car on all terrains, as we have seen this weekend. We pushed as hard as we could today, but we just could not set the sort of times we’d have wanted. However, this is a team effort and we leave Spain with a lot of valuable points for the manufacturers’ championship, which sets things up as nicely as possible for the final round.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak (2nd)
“It’s hard to know what to say in this moment. The pressure this weekend has been on another level. This has been the target of my life. I knew I couldn’t make any mistakes, but still I had to do a good result to make it happen. So, it was massive pressure and it was difficult to get used to it at the beginning. But in the end, I was somehow able to relax and do my normal driving. This morning I had a good feeling in the car and could drive with a good rhythm, but Dani [Sordo] was always a bit faster, so I knew it would be hard in the Power Stage to get the points we needed. I pushed hard and, in the end, it paid off. I’ve had to overcome a lot in my career, so it’s nice to finally achieve this. Thank you to the team; they have done a great job.”
FIA World Rally Championship / Round 13 / Rally RACC Catalunya/Rally de Espana / Oct 24-27, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Jari-Matti Latvala (5th)
“I’m happy with my weekend. I think we had a consistent run and we didn’t really make any mistakes during the weekend, and the performance was overall at a good level. I was lacking some confidence at the start of this rally so I must be happy with the result and that we could score some good points for the team. Maybe we could have got fourth place today if I had pushed hard, but it would not have benefited us in the manufacturers’ championship and this was the most important thing, to keep it open going to the final round in Australia.”
Kris Meeke (29th)
“I enjoyed the rhythm back in the car today. We know that the Yaris WRC is really strong on asphalt, and I had a good feeling again this morning. We had to back off in the Power Stage because there was no way in which we could have helped Ott wrap up the championship, and it was important not to get in the mix and potentially take points away from him. We’ll go to Australia with something to fight for still in the manufacturers’ championship and we’ll give it our best.”
M-Sport WRT
Elfyn Evans (6th)
“Sixth place isn’t the result we wanted this weekend. At times we were able to show the speed we were capable of, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that all the time and I was struggling with the general feeling. But we made a small change for the Power Stage and I was able to really push. We secured a good result there, and moved up again in the championship which is a positive.”
Elfyn and Scott had a mixed weekend, but we did see more pace on the final day. Photo credit, M-Sport
Teemu Suninen (7th)
“I was really pleased with my pace and consistency on Tarmac this weekend, and now we can focus on the next step which is to be even faster with that same consistency. On the Power Stage I knew I could be fast but I braked too late, touched the rock face, and lost a lot of time. Without that, I know I could have scored some really good points there. Still I am really pleased with my performance, and looking forward to the last rally in Australia.
Citroën Total WRT
Sébastien Ogier (8th)
“Clearly, this wasn’t the result that we were hoping for coming into this round. We were determined to fight right to the end but unfortunately, it was all over for us early in the weekend. After the issue on Friday, inevitably our adrenaline and motivation levels were never quite the same, but we did what we could to be as professional as possible, to work on the car’s tarmac set-up and still try to push hard. Congratulations to Ott and Martin for deservedly winning the titles. They have done it in style.”
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia used the rest of the weekend to test new ideas on the C3 WRC. Photo credit Citroën Racing
Esapekka Lappi (DNF)
“I’m disappointed that my rally came to a premature end, especially as I had enjoyed a pretty solid and consistent opening leg up to that point, in terms of pace. The gaps were small and we were up for the fight, because I felt comfortable in my C3 WRC. I was looking forward to seeing how much progress we made on tarmac and the times set by Sébastien and Julien suggest that we have definitely moved in the right direction. I will now look forward to Australia and finishing the season on a high with the best possible result.”
DRIVERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Ott Tänak – 263 points
Thierry Neuville – 227 points
Sébastien Ogier – 217 points
Andreas Mikkelsen & Elfyn Evans – 102 points
Kris Meeke – 98 points
Jari-Matti Latvala – 94 points
Teemu Suninen & Dani Sordo – 89 points
Esapekka Lappi – 83 points
MANUFACTURERS’ WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP
Hyundai WRT – 380 points
Toyota Gazoo Racing – 362 points
Citroën Total WRT – 284 points
M-Sport Ford WRT – 218 points
Summary
Well, it’s happened at last! We have a new world rally champion crew. Ott Tänak and Martin Jarveoja have secured their first world crown, and finally broken the run of fifteen consecutive French world champions. It’s the first drivers’ world championship for Toyota as well since Didier Auriol won in 1994.
FIA World Rally Championship / Round 13 / Rally RACC Catalunya/Rally de Espana / Oct 24-27, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Thierry and Nicolas did their best to hold them off, with a great drive in Spain to their third win of the year. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia started well on Friday, but after their problems, they really weren’t in the running. They will be back next year, even stronger to gain the title back before they retire.
Elsewhere in the service park, Dani Sordo and Seb Loeb put together some very good drives that have helped Hyundai in their fight for the manufacturer’s championship. Their lead over Toyota is eighteen points heading to Rally Australia.
In the M-Sport camp, Elfyn found some pace and came close to a stage victory, only being eclipsed by Ott Tänak right at the end. This result, plus the points that he scored for sixth position have lifted him back into fourth overall in the championship standings, equal with Andreas Mikkelsen. This battle to finish best of the rest in the standings will be decided at the final round next month down under.
We have one round left then, Rally Australia from the 14th to 17th of November. Pop back then for my preview.
With seven full tarmac stages today, the battle for the rally win and championship continued. The startlist looked like this – Ogier, Katsuta, Suninen, Evans, Latvala, Tänak, Meeke, Sordo, Neuville, Loeb.
We started with SS 7 – Savallà 1 (14,08 km) and straight away, Thierry who’d set the fastest time, moved into the lead, setting a time almost five seconds faster than overnight leader Loeb, who could only get the sixth best time. Meeke and Ogier were second and third in the stage with the result that the Toyota pilot now moved ahead of Dani and into third overall. Elfyn had the goal of getting ahead of Latvala, and was over two seconds quicker than the Finn.
The longer SS 8 – Querol 1 (21,26 km) saw the demise of Kris sadly, after hitting some Armco with the right-hand-side of his car. This put the Brit out for the day, and now we had a Hyundai 1-2-3 again, with everyone gaining a place. Latvala gapped Evans again, after going second fastest, and thus increased to thirteen or so seconds. Ogier was now in eighth place. Meaning he was in the points scoring positions.
Into SS 9 – El Montmell 1 (24,40 km) and there wasn’t much to separate the top three of Tänak, Ogier and Sordo covered by just 1.7 seconds, and the gap between the Estonian and Spaniard reduced to a little under ten seconds.
After lunchtime service the rerun of SS 10 – Savallà 2 (14,08 km) saw Ott top the times again, as he and Martin found their rhythm, and now the gap to Dani was a little over seven seconds. How would the Hyundai pilot react in the next one? Meantime Thierry was pulling away at the front from his illustrious teammate, the gap now more than fifteen seconds. In the battle between Elfyn and Jari-Matti, the Finn was winning, with the gap now almost twenty seconds.
Next up, SS 11 – Querol 2 (21,26 km) and the top three, Tänak, Latvala and Neuville were separated by just six tenths of a second. Super close! The gap was coming down bit by bit between Dani and Ott, as the Estonian looked for another podium.
The last big stage of the day, SS 12 – El Montmell 2 (24,40 km) and we had a change in the podium positions, but not who you might have expected! Dani passed Loeb, as the Frenchman could only manage the eighth fastest time, almost eight seconds slower than Ott. Further down the gap between Elfyn and Latvala remained around twenty seconds, despite the Welshman being a little faster than Jari-Matti.
Now it was time for the final stage of the day, SS 13 – Salou (2,24 km) and Thierry set the best time from Dani and Ott, and the Estonian was now ahead of Loeb and in third place, and just a few seconds behind second place as well.
“We have been fully motivated and confident with the car on these tarmac stages today. We had the perfect start to the day with two more stage wins and moving into the rally lead. From there, we were able to gradually increase our advantage stage by stage, adopting a clever approach to keep things smooth and clean. We took things a bit easier once we saw Kris (Meeke) have his issue this morning, especially in the big cuts to avoid punctures. Overall, we’re in the position we want – and need – to be. Nothing’s over until it’s over so we will keep pushing with our sights set firmly on securing victory tomorrow, and a good team result for the manufacturers’ championship.”
2019 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13 Rally de España 24-27 October 2019 Day 2, Action, Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Dani Sordo (2nd)
“We have done our best to continue the 1-2-3 formation that we achieved yesterday but it’s been a more challenging day. We have pushed as hard as we could, even if we’ve been missing some time here and there. It has also been important to stay cautious at times, particularly in the cuts, as it is so easy to run into trouble. Tänak has been driving well, as we expected, so our job today has been trying to defend our position. There’s not a lot of time between three crews battling for second place, so tomorrow will be a critical day. We will keep fighting as hard as we can.”
Seb Loeb (4th)
“We started this morning’s loop almost like a completely new rally, swapping the gravel stages for tarmac. It doesn’t matter what surface we have, the stages in Spain are great and the atmosphere is incredible. We have had to adopt some caution at times today to avoid making mistakes. The feeling with the car and the balance has been nice but for some reason the times just haven’t been there. In the final stage, I stalled the engine which cost us some time and lost us third place. But overall, I don’t think we could have done much more. We will check this evening to understand where we’re losing out. Thierry has been going very fast and the team is still in a strong position overall, which is the positive we take into Sunday’s stages.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak (3rd)
“I’m really happy with how today turned out. This morning, I was really struggling and I couldn’t find any rhythm. The car was feeling good but I was a long way from being close to the limit. It was difficult to get used to the pressure of the situation. But I managed to reset for the afternoon and I could improve the rhythm. Tomorrow is another long day with some demanding stages, so there is still a big job to do.”
FIA World Rally Championship / Round 13 / Rally RACC Catalunya/Rally de Espana / Oct 24-27, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Jari-Matti Latvala (5th)
“Overall, I must say that today has been good. At first this morning, I struggled with the brakes a bit after the change from gravel, but in the second stage already I had a very good feeling with the car. The afternoon started pretty well too. On El Montmell I ran wide, hit something and damaged the steering arm so we lost a bit of time there. But otherwise, it has been a positive day. Tomorrow I’m going to try to keep the pressure on and see what happens, as we need as many points as we can get.”
Kris Meeke (39th)
“When you transition from gravel to asphalt on this event, you’re always wondering what the car is going to feel like. The rhythm was really nice this morning and the car felt incredible. Not far into the second stage, I went to brake for a fast left that tightened. I knew the corner very well, but immediately I locked the rear wheels and I didn’t make the corner. I touched the barrier at the rear of the car and that was it. I’m really frustrated. I had to put it on the line today to try and get among our rivals for the manufacturers’ championship. I think we could have had the speed to do it but unfortunately that small mistake cost us.”
M-Sport WRT
Elfyn Evans (6th)
“We’ve been trying hard all day but just weren’t able to find the pace as the day wore on. In terms of the balance of the car, the feeling was improving all the time but it just didn’t seem to affect the times at the end of the stage. It was always two or three seconds here and there, and that’s what makes the difference. Unfortunately, we just haven’t had an answer to the guys at the front today.”
Teemu Suninen (7th)
“I think it’s been a pretty good day for us and I had a good feeling with the car in the afternoon. I was able to really focus on my driving and I think we set some good times. But no matter what we did, or how long the stage was, we were always three seconds behind Sébastien [Ogier]! I don’t think that’s a bad thing, but hopefully one day we will be three seconds ahead! We know where the level is, and we’re not too far away so that it definitely a good thing.”
Teemu and Jarmo continued to learn together. Photo credit, M-Sport
Citroën Total WRT
Sébastien Ogier (8th)
“Although it wasn’t easy to find motivation today, I did my best to remain very focused and push hard. We ended up setting some decent times. I’m pleased that my good feeling in testing has been confirmed here in the rally. The balance of the C3 WRC is better and I have more confidence in the front axle. We’re not quite there, however, there’s still a little something missing. We’re going to keep working hard to find the last few tenths, which are always difficult to get.”
Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia did their best, despite lacking big motivation, given how things had turned out. Photo credit, Citroën Racing
Summary
Well, what an interesting day. Thierry had done everything right, moving into the lead at the start of the day and then pulling away, and keeping his title hopes alive. It had also been a very good day for Ott, who’d moved up the leaderboard and into the podium positions and is now just a few seconds from second place. Who’d bet against him getting past Dani Sordo tomorrow?
It was a shame that Kris and Seb ended their challenge in the second stage of the day, as they were going really well, having passed Dani Sordo in the stage before. A small mistake, that had big consequences for his hopes.
It was a surprise to see Elfyn and Scott not setting quick times. They just couldn’t set some quick times and drifted further back from the leading drivers, despite feeling that he was setting good times.
Sébastien and Julien drove well, setting good times and climbing the standings into eighth position. It’s hard to see them gaining anymore places though, unless one of the crews ahead suffer a problem.
Thinking ahead to Sunday’s stages, there is a total of 74km over four tests. Talking about the final stage, La Mussara, Miikka Anttila says “This is probably the one stage this weekend that none of the crews have much experience on. The first six kilometres were driven in 2016; the rest not for a long time in this direction. In the beginning, the road turns a lot, and once on top of the hill it’s very fast and flat-out in places. Then it’s back to a slower road down to the finish.”
Perhaps, we’ll know then if Ott Tänak will have won the crown.
It was good day for Hyundai, but not so good for Citroën, who suffered two separate technical failures on their cars.
With six stages all on gravel today, the start list looked like this – Tänak, Ogier, Neuville, Meeke, Evans, Latvala, Lappi, Suninen, Sordo, Loeb.
It was a good start by Seb Ogier, who won SS 1 – Gandesa 1 (7,00 km) from Dani Sordo and Thierry Neuville was right there as well. The short stage didn’t affect Ott Tanak too much either, with the championship leader only losing 1.8 seconds to the reigning champion.
With the longer SS 2 – Horta-Bot 1 (19,00 km), it started to unravel for Ogier. He started to lose time very early in the and the problem got worse and worse. By the end, he and Julien had lost 44 seconds and had fallen to fifteenth position. Is this the moment when the championship slipped away from the Citroën pilot? Thierry moved into the lead after winning the stage, with his Spanish teammate just a few tenths behind. Kris now held third, as the top Toyota at this point. Elfyn suffered a part spin, losing a few seconds and falling behind his Finnish teammate, but not by a big margin. Meantime, Ott had made his way up to fourth place.
The next stage, SS 3 – La Fatarella – Vilalba 1 (38,85 km), a really long and proper stage. Seb Ogier lost even more time on this long stage, losing almost three minutes, and was now three and a half minutes from the lead. His fellow multiple world champion Seb Loeb won the stage and moved up to sixth place. Meantime, Dani Sordo took the lead with championship hopeful Thierry now falling to second place. Elfyn had a better stage, setting the fourth fastest time and moving up the leaderboard to into fourth place. The drivers to fall behind were Kris, who was just a few tenths behind the Welshman and in fifth, whilst Esapekka was now in seventh place. The gaps were really quite small though, with only twelve seconds covering first and seventh.
After lunchtime service, SS 4 – Gandesa 2 (7,00 km), and Dani was quick out of the blocks once more, winning the stage from Teemu. Loeb also went well, making it a one-three for Hyundai in the stage and moving him above Kris and Elfyn and into fourth place. Thierry put a good stage together and continued to hold second overall. Hyundai had found a good set up for their cars, and were going well indeed.
Into SS 5 – Horta-Bot 2 (19,00 km) and Loeb won from Sordo, whilst Latvala was starting to feel more comfortable, setting the same time as Dani. Loeb’s pace moved him into third overall, with Ott now falling behind the former champion. Kris was also going well, passing Elfyn. Esapekka Lappi sadly dropped out of the standings with a technical problem. We now had a Hyundai one-two-three! Seb Ogier was well out of the running and despite his complete professionalism really struggling for motivation.
The final stage of the day then, and SS 6 – La Fatarella – Vilalba 2 (38,85 km) saw a massive push from Loeb, which gave him a superb stage victory, beating Kris and Thierry and was enough to give him and Daniel the rally lead, whilst Thierry and Dani completed a one-two-three for Hyundai. On the flip side, Elfyn had a terrible stage with an engine problem and he lost 38 seconds and fell to seventh. Not how he would have wanted to end the day, but at least he’s still in the running for the points and we know how fast he is on tarmac.
Driver Quotes at the end of Day One
Hyundai Motorsport
Seb Loeb (1st)
“An incredible day for the team! It is a wonderful feeling to be leading this rally, even if at this early stage of the weekend. There was a bit of a tyre strategy in the morning, and I was only able to get the hard compounds working to their optimum performance at the end of the loop. The conditions were just too slippery and greasy in the opening stages. The afternoon was better and I had a good feeling throughout. In the final stage, the car was perfect and I was just flying. We gave it a push and it was good enough to secure a 1-2-3 for the team to end the first day. We now have two long days of tarmac ahead of us.”
2019 FIA World Rally Championship Round 13 Rally de España 24-27 October 2019 Day 1, Action, Sebastien Loeb, Daniel Elena, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville (2nd)
“We have had a great start to this rally and the car has been working very well. We had a positive opening loop this morning and continued in the same direction for the afternoon. There were some tricky sections at times but we stayed focused and tried to be efficient. The final stage was particularly tough with some visibility issues, a combination of the sun being low and some fog, so we had to remain concentrated. Aside from losing a second or two at the last hairpin, it was a strong end to an almost perfect day.”
Dani Sordo (3rd)
“All in all, we have had a good day and things are looking good for the team on the standings with the top three positions. The car has been working very well, even with changeable grip levels. The only downsides were a puncture 5km before the end of the morning loop, which lost us some time, as well as a disappointing end to our afternoon. Some places were difficult to drive but there was nothing immediately wrong. I think we can still be happy with our performances today, as we now turn our attention the tarmac stages.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kris Meeke (4th)
“This morning I struggled a bit with the setup and so I wasn’t comfortable over the bumps, especially in the long stage, SS3. But everything came together in the afternoon. The car felt a lot different and I could trust it a lot more. I said beforehand that I needed to be within 10 seconds of the lead tonight and the gap is currently 13, so it’s not bad, we’re still there. My pace has been strong on asphalt this year and I know the Yaris WRC works really well, so I’m confident and looking forward to the rest of the rally.”
Ott Tänak (5th)
“It was a really tough and demanding day today. When you’re opening the road during the first loop, it’s constantly slippery, but in a way it’s still manageable. The conditions are always more difficult in the second loop and it can be really frustrating. I pushed as hard as I could and I couldn’t do any more, so we need to be happy with that. Tomorrow is very much a new day and a very different day, and hopefully it can be a stronger day for us.”
FIA World Rally Championship / Round 13 / Rally RACC Catalunya/Rally de Espana / Oct 24-27, 2019 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Jari-Matti Latvala (6th)
“This day on gravel was not as simple as last year. After the rain earlier in the week, the grip level was much lower, and it was more difficult this morning. Then in the afternoon, the grip was pretty consistent, but there were many ruts. I wasn’t confident enough this morning, but we made some changes with the suspension in service, and I fought back in the afternoon. I feel a lot more relaxed and confident now and I’m looking forward to the next two days on asphalt.”
M-Sport WRT
Elfyn Evans (7th)
“It was shaping up to be a pretty good fight, but it didn’t go our way in the end. We had some speed at times, but then we had a pretty bad misfire on the last stage. We managed to change a few things on the road section and get it going again so it’s just one of those things – and we’ll need to make sure we’re on it from the word go when the action moves to Tarmac tomorrow.”
Elfyn and Scott suffered an up and down day, which ended with an engine problem. Photo credit, M-Sport
Teemu Suninen (8th)
“We found a good rhythm this afternoon and I had a really good feeling with the car. I tried to set some good times, and I was happy that we managed to do that. But I wasn’t so good at managing the tyres on the long stage. On the first pass I pushed too hard, and on the second I didn’t push enough. It’s something I need to improve, but I know it’s a learning curve so I will make some good notes and do some good homework.”
Citroën Total WRT
Sébastien Ogier (17th)
“I lost the power steering pretty much at the start of SS2, then the gearshift paddles went and finally the central differential. It was so hard physically to drive the car without power steering, I ended up with blisters on my hands. Obviously, it’s disappointing because the intention was there. We made the right call on tyres and the time on the opening stage confirmed the good feeling we had. Everyone in the team is disappointed this evening, but obviously we’re professionals and our approach has always been to never give up and see where we are at the end of the rally.”
It wasn’t a good day for Seb and Julien. Photo credit, Citroën Racing
Esapekka Lappi (DNF)
“I’m disappointed that my rally has come to a premature end, especially as I had enjoyed a pretty solid and consistent day up to that point, in terms of pace. The gaps were small and we were up for the fight, because I felt comfortable in my C3 WRC. I will now look forward to Australia and finishing the season on a high with the best possible result.”
STANDINGS AFTER DAY ONE
Loeb / Elena (Hyundai i20 WRC) 1:21:24.7
Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) +1.7
Sordo / Del Barrio (Hyundai i20 WRC) +7.6
Meeke / Marshall (Toyota Yaris WRC) +13.0
Tänak / Järveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) +21.7
Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) +30.1
Evans / Martin (Ford Fiesta WRC) +44.0
Suninen / Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta WRC) +51.8
Katsuta / Barritt (Toyota Yaris WRC) +1:50.3
Ostberg / Eriksen (Citroën C3 R5) +2:59.8
Summary
Well, a very interesting first day on the gravel roads in Spain. It’s certainly not the day that the Citroën team would have wanted, and now it is looking very likely that we will see our first Estonian world champion.
At the front, Hyundai’s drivers are doing all they can to help Thierry take the fight to the final round, but with Ott Tänak sitting in fifth overall, he’s in a good position to take the title.
Toyota had a reasonable day, with Kris, Ott and Jari-Matti all setting pretty good times, and will look to move up the order tomorrow.
At M-Sport they had their moments, but with the problems that Elfyn had in the longest stage this afternoon, they’ll be wanting more from the weekend. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.
Now, tomorrow sees the crews attack seven stages totaling 121km. We’ll have a better idea if Ott Tänak is set for his first championship by the end of tomorrow.
The championship fight between Ott, Seb and Thierry arrives at the dual surface challenge that is Rally Spain! The Belgian is on balance, given he is forty-one points behind Ott Tänak, the driver least likely to win this years’ championship. Very simply, he has to win this event and take the powerstage as well, and hope that neither Ott, or Seb actually finish to take the fight to the final round down under. Even then, he’d still be behind the Estonian. Seb though is closer, just twenty-eight from the leader, giving him the chance to lead the championship should he win and take the powerstage, assuming that Ott doesn’t finish. Now, the championship could be decided in Spain should Ott finish ahead of either of his rivals.
The Podium Challengers
There are a number of drivers who could finish on the podium. Now, think back to Tour de Corse, we saw a storming drive from Elfyn and Scott on the tarmac, which almost gave them victory. The M-Sport duo will almost certainly feature at the front, and last time out in Wales they made a great return. Kris and Seb will also be quick enough to take stage victories. Now in the Hyundai camp, we’ll have Dani returning to his i20 and last years’ Rally Spain winners, Seb and Daniel as support to Thierry and Nicolas.
Driver Quotes.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak
“I’m looking forward to Spain. As always, I will aim to do my best, but we need to be smart. We know that it could be tricky for us on the first day, as we’ll be running first on the road on gravel. The weather could change things too: We saw last year that we can easily get rain in Spain at this time of year. But I believe that our performance should be good on both surfaces: We were already fast on this event last year and hopefully that will be the case again this time, and we can get the result we need.”
FIA World Rally Championship 2018 / Round 12 / Rally Catalunya-Costa Daurada Rally de Espagna 2018 / October 25-28, 2018 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Jari-Matti Latvala
“The combination of gravel and asphalt in Spain is something I’ve always really liked. The gravel stages are quite smooth but very slippery, while the asphalt roads are best that we have in the championship: really smooth and fast. I had a test on asphalt in Spain last week and I had a really nice feeling in the car. I’m very motivated and looking forward to being back in the car, fighting for the best possible result as we try to win the manufacturers’ championship again.”
Kris Meeke
“Spain is one of my favourite events on the calendar. I’ve always enjoyed the mixed-surface challenge, and last time I did the rally in 2017, I managed to take the win. I’ve had a really good feeling with the Yaris WRC on asphalt so far, so I’m especially looking forward to that part of it. On gravel, we know there will be a couple of drivers who will have ideal road positions and can be very strong on this event. With the manufacturers’ championship being so close now, we’ve got a job to do and we’re certainly going to have to be on our game.”
Citroën Total WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“I enjoy racing on different surfaces so I like this rally and I’m very determined to score big points here if I can. We don’t have any choice, really. We have to close the gap to Ott if we are to retain our hopes of retaining the title. Given the influence of road position, the first leg on gravel is bound to be difficult for us but I’m not going to worry about that any more than usual. I’m confident that we’ll be quicker on tarmac. The feeling in testing was much better than recently but only the times and those of our rivals will tell us whether or not the step forward we have made is big enough.”
Seb and Julien drove to a strong second place last year. Could they take the win this year? Photo credit, Citroën Racing
Esapekka Lappi
“I like the idea of racing on a mixed-surface rally, even though it’s a huge challenge. It’s especially tricky on Saturday morning when you have to switch from gravel to tarmac with no transition and be immediately on the pace from the first corner. I hope it will stay dry on Friday and I’ll be able to make the most of my position in the running order, particularly as we have now shown good pace on gravel. I love the tarmac stages here. The roads are smooth and flowing, very fast in places, and on the whole pretty clean if it doesn’t rain. They are the ones that remind me most of my track racing past. We should be more competitive than on the previous tarmac rounds, because we definitely pinpointed something during testing, but we’ll have to wait for the times on the first few stages on tarmac to see where we really stand.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“We are approaching a critical part of the season, where the championship really intensifies. Our aim is clear: to fight for victory and to outscore our rivals. At the same time, we know that Rally de España is a unique event due to the fact that we are running one day on gravel and two days on tarmac. It has very specific characteristics and it is truly the only one like this on the calendar. It poses challenges to which we all look forward. We have shown that we are strong contenders on both surfaces this year and we will keep pushing as hard as we can for the championship.”
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 12, Rally de Espaa 25-28 Octobre 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Dani Sordo
“I can’t wait to get back behind the wheel of the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC in Spain, my home rally. This is always a very special event as we compete on both gravel and tarmac in the same weekend. It’s nice to start on gravel. With our advantageous position, starting later on the road, we can hopefully gain some time. Then there’s a big fight on tarmac as there are fast crews in every team, so it promises to be an exciting event. As it is in Spain, it is also double motivation for me. The spectators come to see everybody but I think they support the Spanish drivers a little bit more than the others normally!”
Seb Loeb
“For me, Rally de España is a rally I’ve always enjoyed. I have won it a lot of times but what I like the most is the location: it’s a nice place close to the sea. The mixed surface is something I always enjoyed in the past and it’s the only event we completely change the set-up of the car in the middle of the rally. We are confident we can be on the pace and support the team to extend the lead in the manufacturers’ battle.”
M-Sport WRT
Elfyn Evans
“It was great to be back in Wales, and to see that our pace was strong enough to challenge for the top results. We want to see that pace continue in Spain and I see no reason why we can’t do that. I feel as though we have some unfinished business this year, and I’m keen to deliver some strong results over these final events.
“As the only mixed-surface event on the calendar there’s nothing else quite like this rally. The gravel stages can be quite technical in places, and the asphalt roads are as close as we get to rallying on a race track in full Tarmac trim.
“We completed an asphalt test earlier this week and the feeling is good, so I’m really looking forward to getting back behind the wheel and seeing what we can do.”
There’s no doubting Elfyn and Scott’s pace on tarmac and gravel this year. Photo credit, M-Sport
Teemu Suninen
“We completed a three-day test with Elfyn last week, and got to experience three different types of Tarmac roads. We know that the car is very good on this surface, and on gravel as well, so I’m looking forward to showing what we can do next week.
“My aim is to secure a strong result, and it would be great if we were able to challenge for the podium. The battle between the three Finns in the championship is also really exciting, and I want to do well in that fight.
“We need to be focused, and I will try to find a good rhythm straight away. This is a rally that I have done every year since 2015, so it is quite familiar and if I can get everything right then I think we can challenge for a good result.”
Here’s the stages! There are 325km over seventeen stages, with six gravel on Friday. Once again, getting through the first day in a good position will help give the good start position for Saturday. This will be key, given that the lower that you run on the tarmac, the dirtier it will be, therefore harder to set a quick time.
THURSDAY 24 OCTOBER
9.01am: Shakedown (2,00 km on gravel)
7.00pm: Ceremonial Start (Salou)
FRIDAY 25 OCTOBER
8.00am: Start from PortAventura service park
9.23am: SS 1 – Gandesa 1 (7,00 km)
10.03am: SS 2 – Horta-Bot 1 (19,00 km)
11.13am: SS 3 – La Fatarella – Vilalba 1 (38,85 km)
1.23pm: Service A (PortAventura – 40 minutes)
3.26pm: SS 4 – Gandesa 2 (7,00 km)
4.06pm: SS 5 – Horta-Bot 2 (19,00 km)
5.16pm: SS 6 – La Fatarella – Vilalba 2 (38,85 km)
7.51pm: Flexi service B (PortAventura – 1 hr 15 minutes)
SATURDAY 26 OCTOBER
7.30am: Start & service C (PortAventura – 15 minutes)
9.00am: SS 7 – Savallà 1 (14,08 km)
9.41am: SS 8 – Querol 1 (21,26 km)
10.38am: SS 9 – El Montmell 1 (24,40 km)
12.10pm: Service D (PortAventura – 40 minutes)
2.01pm: SS 10 – Savallà 2 (14,08 km)
2.42pm: SS 11 – Querol 2 (21,26 km)
3.38pm: SS 12 – El Montmell 2 (24,40 km)
5.30pm: SS 13 – Salou (2,24 km)
6.00pm: Flexi service E (PortAventura – 45 minutes)
SUNDAY 27 OCTOBER
6.45am: Start & service F (PortAventura – 15 minutes)
7.41am: SS 14 – Riudecanyes 1 (16,35 km)
8.38am: SS 15 – La Mussara 1 (20,72 km)
9.48am: Service G (PortAventura – 30 minutes)
10.54am: SS 16 – Riudecanyes 2 (16,35 km)
12.18pm: SS 17 – La Mussara 2 Power Stage (20,72 km)
1.41pm: Service H (PortAventura – 10 minutes)
2.01pm: Podium (Salou)
Summary
There could be a new world champion by Sunday afternoon and the first not called Seb since Petter Solberg won in 2003. Who’d have thought in 2004 we would have so many years with French drivers dominating the championship? Now anyone could stand on the podium, and this will have a bearing on the manufacturer’s championship in which the fight between Hyundai and Toyota is really close, with just eight points between them. The Hyundai team are very keen to win this one. This is why they have Dani and Seb in the other two cars, giving them the best possible chance to score more points than Toyota. We really are set for a fascinating weekend.
