M-Sport ended their Rally Germany hoodoo as Ott Tanak secured his second win of his career, as Sebastien Ogier took a huge leap towards the title.
Title rivals Ogier and Thierry Neuville of Hyundai were level on points coming into the asphalt event. However with Neuville breaking his suspension on the Panzerplatte stage.
Friday saw the debut of the ‘monsoon’ tyre after torrential downpour. Tanak responded best to hold the lead. Neuville sat third with Ogier fourth going into Saturdays action.
However with Neuville breaking his suspension and being unable to return until Sunday, Ogier seized the initiative and took it easy, sitting behind Andreas Mikkelsen in second and Tanak comfortably out front.
Mikkelsen, who was flying the flag for Citroën after Kris Meeke’s Thursday superspecial crash less than a mile into the event, helped boost his chances of a further drive with the team. His 2017 season looks uncertain and his second place did his chances no harm.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Deutschland (DEU) – WRC 16/08/2017 to 20/08/2017 – PHOTO : @World
He led for much of Friday but just couldn’t catch Tanak, who took the win by 16.4 seconds. Ogier couldn’t catch Mikkelsen and settled for third, knowing he’d be leading the championship.
Neuville re-joined the rally under Rally2, but couldn’t regain his confidence and finished outside the top ten.
Elfyn Evans had a rally to forget after being in the top five for most of the rally, only to lose fifth place to Citroen’s Craig Breen on the last stage. His DMACK tyres weren’t as competitive when the weather improved on Saturday, meaning he lost fourth to Toyota’s Juno Hanninen and fifth to Breen.
Toyota were enjoying a positive Rally Germany and were fighting for the top five, until Jari-Matti Latvala’s Yaris had a misfire and fell down the order, ending the rally seventh. Team mate Esapekka Lappi crashed, finishing outside the top ten after returning through Rally2.
Hyundai’s only hope was Hayden Paddon, who took eighth after an early puncture scuppered his chances.
Veteran driver Armin Kremer in an M-Sport entered Ford, took ninth with Eric Camilli taking the WRC2 class win with tenth place in the rally.
Hyundai’s Dani Sordo took the powerstage win, with Lappi, Latvala, Ogier and Breen taking the top five and the extra points it provided.
This saw Ogier take his title lead to 17 points, with Neuville needing to pull off some impressive results in the remaining rounds of the season.
M-Sport Team Principal Malcolm Wilson said: “Everyone in the team is extremely happy as you can imagine. After all the work that went on behind the scenes, we knew that we could challenge for a strong result but never dreamt of achieving anything quite like this.”
The World Rally Championship heads to Germany as we enter round ten of one of the most exciting seasons in years.
Title protagonists Sebastian Ogier and Thierry Neuville are level on 160 points heading into Germany, a happy hunting ground for both drivers. Neuville took his maiden WRC win here in 2014, while Ogier has won here three times, including the last two years.
The German round of the championship always provides a stern test for the teams. Regarded as three rallies in one, Rallye Deutschland is renowned for its twisty vineyard stages, countryside routes and the dangerous military complex. Held mainly on asphalt, Rallye Deutschland is not one to be missed.
M-Sport will be hoping Ogier can help them deliver their first ever win here, the only rally on the calendar the famous team have never conquered. Team boss Malcolm Wilson said: “Rallye Deutschland hasn’t been so kind to us in the past. It’s the only event that we are yet to win, but this year we have our best chance of putting that right.
“We feel that we have a good package for Tarmac and we have been building on that during our pre-event testing.“The competition will be extremely strong and I expect a hard-fought battle. The great thing about this year’s championship is that it’s anybody’s game – but we aim to be in the fight and hope to come out on top,” Wilson added.
Reigning champion Ogier said: “Every year I look forward to Rallye Deutschland, and this year’s event will be really exciting with the championship battle so close. Naturally, we aim to deliver our best and get our championship defence back on track.”
2016 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 09, Rallye Deutschland 2016 / August 18-21, 2016 // Worldwide Copyright: Hyundai Motorsport
Hyundai consider this their home event, with their base in Alzenau just two hours away from the service park. Title challenger Neuville said: “Germany is usually a really good event for us, as a crew and as a team. We have great experience and memories from there, particularly from our first WRC win in 2014 with Hyundai Motorsport.
“Heading into this year’s edition leading the Championship is something new, but I am really looking forward to opening the road. Hopefully, we can enjoy another strong performance, and try to increase our lead in the classification. It won’t be easy, but we know we can be fighting at the front.”
One team who know how to win the Rallye Deutschland is Citroën. The French manufacturer have 12 wins here, with Sebastian Loeb winning the first of those in 2002, Germany’s first WRC rally. Loeb participated in one of the team’s most incentive testing sessions yet. He and Daniel Elena ran on the final day following work from the three works drivers.
Team principal Yves Matton said: Everything appears to be following on consistently after the Tour de Corse, where we showed how competitive the C3 WRC is on tarmac. As has often been the case this season, the race is bound to be very tight. We aim to be among the frontrunners but it’s difficult to make any predictions, especially as the weather is likely to significantly influence the way that the race plays out.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Tour de Corse (FRA) – WRC 06/04/2017 to 09/04/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Toyota will want to continue their impressive debut season and after a win last time out in Finland, the likes of Latvala, Hanninen and Lappi will be keen for more success.
Here’s the story as to how Esapekka Lappi took his maiden WRC victory, on only his fourth top tier start!
We were treated to an amazing Finnish Rally this year. Just like last year, it will go down in history, but for very different reasons. It all started as usual with shakedown on Thursday morning and once more it was very close.
SHAKEDOWN STANDINGS
Meeke / Nagle (Citroën C3 WRC) 2:14.3
Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) 2:14.4
Tänak / Jarveoja (Ford Fiesta WRC) 2:14.8
Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:14.9
Sordo / Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC) 2:15.2
Breen / Martin (Citroën C3 WRC) 2:15.3
Østberg / Floene (Ford Fiesta WRC) 2:15.6
Paddon / Marshall (Hyundai i20 WRC) 2:15.6
Ogier / Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) 2:15.8
Lappi / Ferm (Toyota Yaris WRC) 2:16.0
Moving onto the first stage that evening and Ott won the stage from Thierry and Seb. The top ten looked like this.
1 Tanak 1m44.1s
2 Neuville +1.1s
3 Ogier 1.5s
4 Breen +1.6s
5 Latvala +2.2s
6 Paddon +2.5s
7 Hänninen +2.7s
8 Meeke +3.0s
9 Evans +3.1s
10 Sordo +3.5s
13 Lappi +5.7s
This was the full schedule that the drivers could look forward to on Saturday then and the day dawned bright and sunny, although there were reports that rain would be making an appearance later in the day.
FRIDAY JULY 28
6.05am: Service A (Jyväskylä – 15 mins)
7.12am: SS2 – Halinen 1 (7.65km)
7.45am: SS3 – Urria 1 (12.75km)
8.48am: SS4 – Jukojärvi 1 (21.31km)
10.06am: SS5 – Halinen 2 (7.65km)
10.38am: SS6 – Urria 2 (12.75km)
11.42am: SS7 – Jukojärvi 2 (21.31 km)
1.37pm: Service B (Jyväskylä – 30 mins)
3.00pm: SS8 – Äänekoski-Valtra 1 (7.39km)
4.13pm: SS9 – Laukaa 1 (11.76km)
5.11pm: SS10 – Lankamaa (21.68km)
6.09pm: SS11 – Äänekoski-Valtra 2 (7.39km)
7.22pm: SS12 – Laukaa 2 (11.76km)
8.30pm: SS13 – Harju 2 (2.31km)
9.00pm: Flexi Service C (Jyväskylä – 45 mins)
Just a short one to start the day, and Teemu would come out on top, showing all the drivers the way. Kris was just behind with Hayden just a few more tenths adrift. Overall, Ott still led with Thierry tumbling down the order to tenth. At the point Esapekka was 8.2 from first place.
SS2 – Halinen 1 (7.65km)
1 Suninen 3:39.7 (140kph)
2️ Meeke +0.1
3 Paddon +0.3
The news from Ogier at the end of stage 3 was not good. After a heavy landing, he started getting trouble from his throttle response, meaning that he’d lose just under 5 seconds and drop to sixth overall. The driver on the move was Teemu, who had slotted his Fiesta WRC into fifth overall. It was a Jari-Matti stage win, with Lappi admitting at the end of stage 2 that he’d been too cautious and deciding to let himself relax more. Top three quickest were all Finns. Incredibly, it wasn’t yet 9am in Finland at this point, but we’d had those stages completed already!
SS3 – Urria 1 (12.75km)
1 Latvala 5:56.4 (144kph)
2 Lappi +0.1
3 Suninen +0.4
Coming into stage four Seb was in sixth place, but after a heavy landing from a very big jump, much further on in the stage would see the car slide off the road and hit a tree, tearing the nearside rear wheel from the Fiesta. They were out for the day and would both visit hospital to be checked out. With the other M-Sport car of Ott, he’d get to the end of the stage with a puncture. He’d run wide and believes he’d caught a rock at the edge of the road. Sadly, Hayden would hit the same rock, but the damage was far worse and the number 4 Hyundai was out for the day. Through all this drama, came new flying Finn Esapekka. He won the stage and moved from tenth overall into second! All this despite stalling on the line at the start! Craig Breen also had a fright, after a heavy landing something not feeling right at the front and he was left hoping that there was nothing wrong with the suspension at the front.
SS4 – Jukojärvi 1 (21.31km)
1 Lappi 10:06.3 (126kph)
2 Latvala +1.3
3 Ostberg +5.6
Stage five then and it was another to go Lappi’s way, with his teammate just a tenth off, keeping his overall lead at 5.2 seconds. Kris also gained a place, passing Juho for sixth. The other Citroen was going well, fourth quickest in the stage and keeping third overall.
SS5 – Halinen 2 (7.65km)
1 Lappi 3:36.5 (140kph)
2 Latvala +0.1
3 Ostberg +0.5
Lappi was now really into the groove and completed stage six a full three seconds faster than Jari-Matti. Now the gap was just 2.2 seconds. In addition to that, Mads was closing on both Teemu and Craig, reducing the gap to them both by a second. He wanted third place.
SS6 – Urria 2 (12.75km)
1 Lappi 5:49.7 (144kph)
2 Tanak +1.8
3 Ostberg +2.2
Stage seven, and it was another fastest time for Esapekka, three now in a row. The gap was now 1.6 seconds! Mads was also very quick moving from fifth into third overall with Craig now in fourth and Teemu in fifth. A service break followed this stage, allowing time for the drivers to work on their note for the afternoon loop.
SS7 – Jukojärvi 2 (21.31km)
1 Lappi 9:57.2 (140kph)
2 Latvala +0.6
3 Ostberg +3.9
When they arrived for the start of stage eight at three in the afternoon, the rain had started. Also, with Seb out, Thierry would be first on the road. Mads didn’t remain in third for long, as Teemu was 1.3 faster setting the quickest time and did a Mads, jumping from fifth to third! Jari-Matti and Esapekka set the same time, meaning the gap between them remained 1.6 seconds.
SS8 – Äänekoski-Valtra 1 (7.39km)
1 Suninen 3:27.4 (140kph)
2 Hanninen +0.2
3 Latvala +1.1
Esapekka reduced the gap once more by half a second to Jari-Matti. Just incredible driving from the young Finn. Craig was also on the move, passing Mads, who was now back down into fifth place.
SS9 – Laukaa 1 (11.76km)
1 Lappi 5:51.0 (132kph)
2 Latvala +0.5
3 Suninen +2.4
Lappi took the next stage as well, and after pushing really hard, emerged in the lead! Once more, it was a Finn 1-2-3-4, with Juho fourth fastest, despite damaging his suspension on a stray rock in the road. With that time, Juho had moved past Craig into fourth. Mads had a nightmare dropping to seventh overall. Elfyn in his Fiesta made a very good move, going sixth fastest and moving up from eighth into sixth overall.
SS10 – Lankamaa (21.68km)
1 Lappi 10:21.4 (126kph)
2 Suninen +0.7
3 Latvala +1.4
Esapekka increased his lead to 3.5 seconds over Jari-Matti in stage eleven, with Teemu and Ott just behind him. Jari-Matti could only manage eighth fastest. Thierry passed Kris for eighth overall, but really for him, it had been a very quiet day, barely troubling the drivers at the front.
SS11 – Äänekoski-Valtra 2 (7.39km)
1 Lappi 3:23.4 (140kph)
2 Suninen +0.4
3 Tanak +0.7
At the front of the leaderboard, not much changed in stage twelve, but further back, Mads passed Elfyn for sixth place. Craig Breen was also 4 seconds faster than Juho, thus moving back ahead of the Toyota driver into fourth.
SS12 – Laukaa 2 (11.76km)
1 Lappi 5:44.9 (132kph)
2 Latvala +1.1
3 Ostberg +2.9
The final stage of the day then and Thierry was fastest, with Tanak and Breen just a few tenths behind.
SS13 – Harju 2 (2.31km)
1 Neuville 1:46.9 (120kph)
2 Tanak +0.1
3️ Breen +0.3
Top ten at the end of Friday
1 Lappi 1:11:36.4
2 Latvala +4.4
3 Suninen +19.0
4️ Breen +33.0
5 Hanninen +39.1
6 Ostberg +45.0
7 Evans +45.1
8 Neuville +58.0
9️ Meeke +1:07.6
10 Tanak +1:50.2
Let’s hear from the drivers then.
Esapekka Lappi 1st said:
“I could never have imagined I would be leading Rally Finland. Just competing here in a World Rally Car has been a dream I have had since I was a small boy. That I am leading is hard to comprehend. But it’s been a really clean run so far with no mistakes and the car has been perfect. I’ve given it my all. I won’t force myself to fight against Jari-Matti if it means I will take too many risks. It feels to special to be leading this rally, the spectators are amazing, you just can’t feel that anywhere else.”
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC, Rally Finland 2017
Jari-Matti Latvala 2nd said:
“Of course, Esapekka was always going to be fast, but I didn’t think he was going to be such a hurricane and that we would be the top two in this position after the first full day. The car is working well; I’m very happy with the balance and generally my driving has been good. When you have no other issues and a good car, you can just focus on the driving. There’s a little bit of a home advantage I think, as our car has been developed in Finland on roads like these. My confidence is high, but at the same time I’m trying to avoid taking any big risks.”
Teemu Suninen 3rd said:
“I’m very happy to be sitting in third place today. This is my home rally and only my second time in a world rally car so it is special for sure. The Finnish fans have been amazing as always and I want to thank all of them for their support.
“I think we have driven well today and shown good pace with no mistakes, but there are still things to improve. I need to be more consistent and more precise with the driving lines as that is what brings the good times here with these cars.
“I would say that my main strength is that I seem to be improving quite quickly. Hopefully we can continue that and someday be fighting for the victory myself. That is not the objective this weekend – I just want to focus on myself and forget about my Finnish friends ahead.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Craig Breen 4th said:
“It’s been a good day, even if everything wasn’t perfect. This morning, after a bit of a ‘big’ landing over a jump, I had the feeling that there was something wrong with the handling and it was getting worse as we progressed. The team did their magic in service and the C3 WRC they handed me back was like new, but I had a few minor problems on the second loop. My pace notes weren’t always perfect and I was a little too careful in places. Every tenth you give away is hard to get back, but there’s still a long way to go – we haven’t even reached halfway as yet.”
Kris Meeke 9th said:
“Obviously, it wasn’t quite the day I was hoping for. I just couldn’t find the feeling that I had here last year when I won the rally. Despite our efforts and the work done in service, I couldn’t place the car like I wanted to and I was struggling to feel the grip. And clearly, it wasn’t ideal to contest the last few stages with the damaged steering.”
Khalid Al Qassimi 20th said:
“It was a tough day, during which I lost a lot of time. I was constantly looking for traction and struggled to keep the car on the right line. We made a lot of changes to the set-up – the differential, the throttle, the springs – but I think there is still a lot we can improve.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Juho Hänninen 5th said:
“The general feeling here has been really good. The car has been working well. It is handling really well even on the high-speed sections and the jumps. This morning I wasn’t fully confident because the grip was changing, but things improved this afternoon and the times were good. Then I hit a rock and damaged the suspension. We were lucky to be able to finish the day without losing too much time. Tomorrow we will continue from where we left off before.”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg 6th said:
“This was really frustrating, but something electronic in the rear was playing up and started locking up the rear wheels and that is something you really don`t want on these fast roads. I was back up to speed on the last stages of the day, and gained back one position, but it is nearly impossible to regain 25-30 seconds from the leaders in a rally like this where the margins are so tight. Still I aim to fight for a possible podium position. It’s a long way to go and my speed is definitely there.”
“We have done a good job during testing before the rally, and I really hope that we can continue without technical issues tomorrow. This is my favourite rally and we are not too far away from the last podium position. Torstein has done a tremendous job. I can tell you, it`s really not simple to step into a car like this in the fastest rally of the season. Both Torstein and I are determined to push to the maximum tomorrow and Sunday.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans 7th said:
“With no pre-event test, we’ve had to discover the optimum set-up out on the stages. I was struggling with understeer throughout much of the morning and that hampered our confidence. On these roads – and at these speeds – that confidence makes all the difference.
“That said, we’re in seventh position with some very close gaps ahead. There’s still a long way to go so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
M-Sport WRT
Ott Tänak 10th said:
“The disappointment came early in the day so after that we just had to keep going. We ran slightly wide at the start of SS4 and picked up a puncture. We lost more than one and a half minutes which obviously ended our hopes of challenging for the victory. At these speeds, the gaps are so close, and it is very difficult to make up the time.
“Since then, we’ve just been focused on driving cleanly. There is still motivation as it’s important for the team that we score as many points as possible. But you know the motivation is different when you are not fighting for the win. There is still a long way to go and a lot can still happen in this rally, so we just need to continue as we are and see what happens.”
Sébastien Ogier said:
“There was a big jump about two kilometres before we crashed. The landing damaged the rear suspension and towards the end of the stage I got a bit distracted by it. I was too late on the brakes and we had an impact sideways into a tree.
“It’s a real shame because our pace was really good and now we have missed an opportunity to score some good points for the championship. We had already lost some seconds with a throttle problem that was coming and going, but without that we were fighting right at the front.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville 8th said:
“It has not been an easy day. We have been struggling to find the required rhythm for these incredibly fast stages. Following Ogier’s issue in the morning, we knew we had inherited an opportunity to close the gap in the Championship even further, but so far, we haven’t made as much progress as we’d have liked. We have been first on the road for much of the day, which is of course part of the game, but we have been losing a bit to the other guys. The Toyota’s are, as expected, much faster, but my focus now is on moving up the classification to the top-five, where a solid points haul will aid our Championship ambitions. This rally is not over yet, even if we are now on the back foot after a difficult Friday. There is plenty to play for.”
Dani Sordo 11th said:
“There is not a lot to say, at least nothing really positive. We have not found the confidence in the car to tackle the rally with full attack. In Finland, more than anywhere else, you need to have full commitment inside the car; the smallest of lifts can make a huge difference on the timesheets. We have been trying all we can to get the right feeling but the others just have more. We will look at the information we have with the engineers this evening to see what we can do to improve for the rest of the rally.”
Hayden Paddon said:
“There is no margin for error in Finland, and so that has proven today. We started well and showed some encouraging pace on the opening stages. Then, in SS4, we ran slightly wide on the same corner several other drivers did. Unfortunately, a rock hit back and we broke our suspension. It wasn’t a huge amount of damage but enough to end our day prematurely. Still, the speed of the car is good and we were competitive; when you go just a tiny bit too fast here in Finland, there can be a heavy price to pay. We’ll be back under Rally 2 on Saturday.”
Marcus Gronholm, Toyota service park, Rally Finland 2017
SATURDAY JULY 29
7.20am: Service D (Jyväskylä – 15 mins)
8.58am: SS14 – Pihlajakoski 1 (14.90km)
10.06am: SS15 – Päijälä 1 (22.68km)
10.49am: SS16 – Ouninpohja 1 (24.38km)
12.02pm: SS17 – Saalahti 1 (4.21km)
1.27pm: Service E (Jyväskylä – 30 mins)
2.55pm: SS18 – Saalahti 2 (4.21km)
4.08pm: SS19 – Ouninpohja 2 (24.38km)
5.16pm: SS20 – Pihlajakoski 2 (14.90km)
6.24pm: SS21 – Päijälä 2 (22.68km)
8.39pm: Flexi Service F (Jyväskylä – 45 mins)
Saturday dawned cloudy, but it wasn’t raining. The roads in the first stage of the day were not as dry as you might expect. Latvala won the stage and his teammate, Esapekka was 3.8 seconds slower meaning that the gap was now six tenths of a second. At stage end, Jari-Matti said he pushed really hard, using the whole road. He had grass sticking out of his radiator- Evidence of how hard he’d pushed. Lappi said he wasn’t going to fight with Latvala. Elfyn was on the move as well, passing Mads for sixth place.
SS14 – Pihlajakoski 1 (14.90km)
1 Latvala 6:53.9
2 Hanninen +2.7
3 Suninen +3.2
Watching the cars through stage 15 was amazing. They were sideways out of the corners and flying from the top of the crests on the road. Jari-Matti pushed like crazy, going through corners in fifth gear! The outcome of all of this this was he took the lead emphatically! Now with Elfyn’s time being as good as it was and the spin that Craig suffered at a junction, the Welsh wizard climbed another spot into fifth!
SS15 – Päijälä 1 (22.68km)
1 Latvala 10:55.5 (124.6kph)
2 Evans +3.7
3 Lappi +5.4
Now it was time for the big one. It’s an unbelievable stage, Ouninpohja…… Run in the opposite direction compared to last year as well. A real rollercoaster, cornering at 170kph- That’s over 100mph! This stage does not have any straights, every part is either a left or a right-hand corner. They are blind as well. Only the ones that really know it, can push that hard. Jari-Matti was quicker again in this, increasing his lead to 7.3 seconds over Lappi. It was a Toyota 1-2-3 in this as well with Juho third through the stage and moving ahead of Teemu as well into third overall. Sadly, Mads went off and broke his suspension which dropped him down the field to eleventh place.
SS16 – Ouninpohja 1 (24.38km)
1 Latvala 10:56.9 (133.6kph)
2 Lappi +2.5
3 Hanninen +11.5
Stage seventeen saw Jari-Matti increase his lead to 7.8 seconds, through the shorter 4km stage, which was run again after afternoon service. He won it in the afternoon as well.
SS17 – Saalahti 1 (4.21km)
1 Latvala 1:58.4 (128kph)
2 Lappi +0.5
3 Tanak +0.5
At the end of stage 18, Jari-Matti had a 8.5 lead over Lappi with Juho just ahead of Teemu.
SS18 – Saalahti 2 (4.21km)
1 Latvala 1:56.4 (130.2kph)
2 Lappi +0.7
3 Suninen +1.0
It was time to run the big one again and the speeds would be even higher this time. Mads jumped over fifty metres! There would be drama in the Toyota of Jari-Matti though. Mid-way through the stage the car just stopped and there was nothing the Finn could do about it. He thumped the steering wheel in frustration. The dream was over again for another year. Esapekka passed the stricken Yaris WRC in the stage. When he reached stage end he was told he led again, but he sounded glum. He was disappointed he’d taken the lead in this way. Thierry finally found some pace and with everything, moved up into sixth position.
SS19 – Ouninpohja 2 (24.38km)
1 Lappi 10:49.8 (135.1kph)
2 Hanninen +2.8
3 Neuville +5.5
Final stage of the day, and there would be drama for Kris. A rock would puncture his tyre and the resulting damage would rip the front near-side of the car apart. Teemu won the stage, with Elfyn and Mads, giving us a Fiesta 1-2-3! With that time, it meant that Teemu was now in second overall! Just astonishing in only his second outing in a WRC car.
SS20 – Pihlajakoski 2 (14.90km)
1 Suninen 6:49.0 (131.1kph)
2 Evans +1.3
3 Ostberg +1.8
Top ten overall
1 Lappi 2:02:13.2
2 Suninen +54.4
3 Hanninen +55.4
4 Evans +1:01.9
5️ Breen +1:17.4
6 Neuville +1:34.1
7️ Meeke +2:09.6
8 Tanak +2:14.1
9 Sordo +3:48.0
10 Ostberg +4:21.4
So, here’s the views of all the drivers.
Esapekka Lappi 1st said:
“It is amazing to be leading at this moment, although I have mixed emotions as I am disappointed for Jari-Matti. He was driving really well. I could not keep up with him without taking big risks, which I did not want to do. When I passed him I slowed down a little bit. I am used to leading with a gap as it happened last year and I know how to manage a lead. I must now concentrate and keep my mind clear. I will sleep well tonight.”
Teemu Suninen 2nd said:
“I’m feeling good today. When I had a good feeling on the stages the times have been really good, but it was a disappointment to have lost so much time on Ouninpohja this morning. We lost about 20 seconds at a chicane and that has a big effect now as the fight is really tight.
“Tomorrow, I think all of us will have to keep the same pace as today if not more. I’ll continue to focus on my own driving – on keeping a good rhythm and on not making any mistakes.”
Juho Hänninen 3rd said:
“This morning was very good. It was a clear run. The afternoon was not so easy. I was a little bit too careful in the last stage, which was very narrow at the end, and I could have been a bit more brave. We are still in a good position, but it is very close with the cars around us. I will try to get second place, that’s the goal for tomorrow.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans 4th said:
“It will be an exciting day tomorrow. It’s fair to say that we were struggling yesterday, but it’s been a pretty positive day for us today.
“Everything seems to have come together and we’ve been happy with our performance on most of the stages.
“The conditions suited us a bit better today and we also found a better balance with the car which helped regain some of the confidence we had been lacking previously.
“It’s game on for tomorrow so let’s see what we can do.”
Elfyn Evans, Dan Barritt, D-Mack Fiesta WRC, Rally Finland 2017
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Craig Breen 5th said:
“It’s been something of an up and down day, a bit like the roads here in Finland! I thought I could have been a bit faster in places, but I had a bit of trouble with the set-up we chose for the morning. It was better this afternoon, when there was more grip, but it still wasn’t perfect. I feel like we’re further away from the podium, but we’re still only thirty seconds off second place. If luck is on our side tomorrow, we might be able to move up the standings.”
Kris Meeke 8th said:
“Every year it’s the same. Ouninpohja is simply one of the best rally stages, an incredible piece of road. The level of grip was good this afternoon and I was able to push because I had a good feeling in the car. We changed quite a few things on the set-up during the mid-leg service and we got some interesting information for the future, so that was pretty positive. On the final stage, we picked up a puncture after hitting a stone. I wanted to keep pushing but the tyre exploded, causing some fairly serious-looking damage. But it wasn’t all that serious.”
Khalid Al Qassimi 17th said:
“It was another tough day. We worked constantly with the engineers, and yet the car remains very sensitive and tricky to drive on these ultra-fast roads. I had a few moments, especially on the final stage, when we went wide into a ditch and hit some rocks. Fortunately, the damage wasn’t too substantial and we are still in the race.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville 6th said:
“Another dissatisfying day for us, but we have gained a few places since yesterday thanks, unfortunately, to others experiencing trouble. We need to pick up as many points as we can, to try and close the gap to Sébastien. The car performed better in the afternoon loop, although it wasn’t without its difficulties. In the final stage, I hit a rock in the narrow section and bent the steering. I had to back off a bit. We know that we need to rely on some luck to make up any more positions on the final day, but we’ll see what happens.”
Dani Sordo 9th said:
“These stages are fantastic and it is a privilege to drive them. The two runs through Ouninpohja were incredible, like a circuit inside the forest. Overall, we had a better afternoon loop when the stages had more grip, but it is just difficult to find motivation and enjoyment when the times are not there. We have not been in a position to fight for anything meaningful so we are just focused on getting through each stage – it is not an ideal way to approach a rally but we can do no more.”
Hayden Paddon (Ret) said:
“There was nothing we could do about our retirement today. We were going through a blind left, into a right, when all of a sudden, I caught sight of a big football-sized rock in the road. In the split-second it took to see it, and I knew it would do damage. We could not avoid it and it broke the suspension arm. The real shame is the lack of mileage from this rally. We will be back out on Sunday to try and end this weekend on a high note.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 09, Rally Finland 27 – 30 July 2017 Hayden Paddon, Seb Marshall, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
M-Sport WRT
Ott Tänak 7th said:
“The Finns have been quite dominant this weekend, but I think it would have been possible to be in that fight. After yesterday’s time loss, there was no opportunity to see if we could do that and it’s difficult to find the same confidence when you are not fighting for the win.
“We’ve just been trying to improve the feeling without taking too many risks. That said, it’s still been a decent day and you can’t help but enjoy yourself on these Finnish roads.”
Jipocar WRT
Speaking about the spin on the first run through Ouninpohja-
Mads Østberg 10th said:
“It was nothing very dramatic, but we hit some rocks, was thrown off the road and damaged the suspension and brakes rear left on the car. We had to stop and check the damages and change a wheel, and continued on the stage without much effect from the brakes. That resulted in further time loss, and it really is quite scary to drive such a fast stage without brakes”.
“Yesterday I played with car, today I have had to fight with it. We have worked all day to improve the set-up, and it has been a little better, but not the same as Friday”.
The car still isn`t balanced as I would like, and we need a proper check-up during end of day service. We aim to go for some good stage times tomorrow and possibly some points on the “power stage”.
8.00am: Service G (Jyväskylä – 15 mins)
9.25am: SS21 – Lempää 1 (6.80km)
10.08am: SS22 – Oittila 1 (10.12km)
11.47am: SS23 – Lempää 2 (6.80km)
1.18pm: SS24 – Oittila 2 Power Stage (10.12km)
2.21pm: Service H (Jyväskylä – 10 mins)
3.00pm: Podium
Sunday morning, and Esapekka had a very healthy lead of nearly 50 seconds. It was bright and sunny. Who would complete the podium? We had Teemu, Juho and Elfyn covered by just seven seconds.
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC, Rally Finland 2017
Stage 21 went to fourth placed Elfyn and with that, the gap came down. Further back Citroen pairing Khalid Al Qassimi and Kris Meeke both had damage, so they both returned to the service park.
SS21 – Päijälä 2 (22.68km)
1 Evans 10:42.3 (127.1kph)
2 Tanak + 0.6
3 Suninen +1.9
With the problem fixed on Jari-Matti’s Toyota, he returned to the top of the time sheets with a quickest time through stage 22. Incredibly, with Juho going through the stage faster than Teemu, they were both now on the same overall time, 49.4 seconds down from Lappi. Elfyn was also continuing his hunt for a podium finish.
SS22 – Lempää 1 (6.80km)
1 Latvala 3:08.4 (129.9kph)
2 Hanninen +1.1
3 Evans +1.8
Latvala was back in the groove and took the next stage, thus setting him up well for later, as this stage would be run again as the power-stage. Thierry didn’t do very well at all, after running wide twice and losing several seconds as a result. Evans was the one on the move however, passing Juho on the leaderboard and into third place. Juho had made a mistake, hitting something at the side of the road, losing time as a consequence.
SS23 – Oittila 1 (10.12km)
1 Latvala 4:52.1 (124.7kph)
2 Suninen +3.2
3 Evans +3.7
A combination of things happened in this stage that meant Juho would jump back into second overall. Firstly, he would set the same time as Jari-Matti and despite Elfyn being just 1.1 seconds slower than that, it was enough to put the Welsh wizard behind the Finn. The other thing was that Teemu dropped out of that battle completely after he spun in a very quick right-hander, which turned the car around and pulled the bumper into the hedge. Incredibly, Esapekka ran wide as well, damaging his rear wheel. Just shows how on the limit that they drive these cars.
SS24 – Lempää 2 (6.80km)
1 Hanninen 3:08.3 (130kph)
2 Latvala +0.0
3 Tanak +0.5
It was the last stage! The power-stage gives points for the top five best times. Jari-Matti wanted this one, and he had reason to be optimistic after being fastest earlier. However, his time would be beaten and he would ultimately be fourth quickest. Ott would win the stage and take max points from it. What would happen between Evans and Juho? Incredibly, with Juho only fifth fastest, 2.7 seconds slower, Elfyn was second fastest through the stage and it was enough to put him into second overall, just three tenths of a second faster after 25 stages! Just amazing.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Finland (FIN) – WRC 26/07/2017 to 31/07/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Esapekka had won the rally and what a result for him in only his fourth event at this level.
SS25 – Oittila 2 (Power Stage) (10.12km)
1 Tanak 4:48.6 (126.2kph)
2 Evans +1.5
3 Neuville +2.0
1 Lappi 2:29:26.9
2 Evans +36.0
3 Hanninen +36.3
4 Suninen +1:01.5
5️ Breen +1:22.6
6 Neuville +1:33.1
7 Tanak +1:53.6
8️ Meeke +3:12.6
9 Sordo +4:11.5
10 Ostberg +4:21.2
Let’s hear from the drivers at the end of this amazing historic event.
Rally Finland Podium 2017
Esapekka Lappi 1st said:
“I’m not normally an emotional person but this is amazing. What a rally. I could never have imagined that we could get a result like this, so it’s a very big surprise. I have to say a big thank you to the team because they have built such a great car in a very short period.”
Elfyn Evans 2nd said:
“We’re really chuffed to come away from Rally Finland with second place – especially as that wasn’t looking likely on Friday evening. We kept at it, kept pushing and managed to claw our way back up the leader board. It’s a really positive way to finish the weekend.
“Friday was a very difficult day for us. We started without a test and were really struggling with the balance of the car throughout that opening day. We made some changes which helped quite a lot and the longer stages and drier conditions helped too. We started making our way up the order and it all went from there.
“Going into this morning, it was a very difficult situation to be in. There was an element of wanting to push for the best result, but at the same time it was really important to secure good points for the team. It wasn’t an all-out attack, but it all worked out in the end.
“It’s not the win, but it’s still a strong weekend and we can be pleased with the job we have done this weekend.”
Juho Hänninen 3rd said:
“It’s been an amazing weekend and I’m very happy with this result. Of course, I tried to get second, but we made a few mistakes. I’m still very happy to be on the podium for the first time in my career. Thank you to the team and this fantastic car that made it possible.”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen 4th said:
“Of course, it’s disappointing to have lost out on a podium in the final stages, but we had to try. This is our last planned rally in a world rally car, so I had to try. Unfortunately, I just ran a little bit wide and had a high-speed spin which dropped us out of that battle.
“I’m disappointed right now, but in the morning, I think I will feel better – knowing that I was fighting for a podium on only my second time in this car.
“We had really good pace all weekend – honestly more than we had expected before the rally – and I am happy with that. A big thanks also to all of the fans and the team for their support which has been pushing me to do my best.”
Ott Tänak 7th said:
“The Finns have been quite dominant this weekend but I think we had the pace to be in the fight. Unfortunately, we will never know what would have been possible – our disappointment coming quite early in the rally.
“To score the top times here in Finland you need to be fully confident, and it’s hard to find that when you’re not fighting for the best positions. But it’s still been a fairly decent weekend. Driving in Finland is always a lot of fun and we showed our speed with the fastest time through the Power Stage.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Craig Breen 5th said:
“It wasn’t our best day in terms of pure performance. I knew that I couldn’t make up the ground on the leaders in normal racing conditions so I just focused on containing Thierry Neuville. For sure, it’s a good run of fifth places but I’d like to get back onto the podium before the end of the season!”
Craig Breen, Scott Martin, Rally Finland 2017, Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT.
Kris Meeke 8th said:
“Although there weren’t many miles to cover, it was still a proper leg with some typically fast Finnish stages. As I had nothing to gain by taking risks and was low on confidence, I played it safely to bring the car home.”
Khalid Al Qassimi 16th said:
“Like yesterday, I was first on the road and that made my job a little more difficult. The roads were very slippery this morning and it wasn’t easy to read the level of grip. So I drove without any real feeling, but there wasn’t much else I could do.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville 6th said:
“We set out to score more than Ogier this weekend, and we were able to achieve that. We had a very difficult weekend so to salvage some points is crucial. The Power Stage was a key moment, as we scored three vital extra points to move to the top of the Championship. This levels the playing field with four events left of the season, so it has been an important result. We know everyone is pushing hard to keep us in contention, so we have to put this complicated rally behind us and look forward to Germany, the team’s home event, where we know from the past that we can perform well.”
Dani Sordo 9th said:
“I am relieved that this rally is over. I have never had the right feeling all weekend, and on these fast roads you need to be fully committed to perform at the highest level. It has been complicated, not only for me but also for the team, so we have to put this behind us and look forward to the next event. We cannot let this weekend affect us; we need to stay concentrated and push flat out for victory in Germany!”
Hayden Paddon said: “It has been one of those weekends for us. After our retirements on Friday and Saturday, we wanted to approach these final stages in a positive manner and to get some time behind the wheel. This rally has perfectly illustrated our season, where anything that can go wrong does go wrong. The Power Stage was another example, when the car unexpectedly went straight on at a third gear corner. Still, we got to the end of the rally and I am sure, one day in the future, we will look back and laugh at our bad luck this year. I am sure we could have fought for the podium this weekend, and that is the positive that we will take away.”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg and co-driver Torstein finished Rally Finland in 10th place, after a challenging but also positive weekend on the superfast Finnish roads.
Mads 10th said:
“I`m not thinking so much on the end result, because this has actually been my best rally this season. Except for some bad luck with the off-road excursion yesterday, we have been genuinely competitive this weekend with many top-three stage times. Torstein has also done a fantastic job jumping into the co-drivers seat on relatively short notice. We will just have to work with the positive experiences from this rally, and therefore I am really positive before the rest of the season”.
Thinking of the coming weeks ahead, Mads continued,
“It’s really tough with two WRC-rallies and one ERC-event in only 17 days. But also, very interesting and challenging with the chance to evaluate three different codrivers. I am looking for a permanent codriver to partner me further on and Torstein, Patrick and Emil are all possible candidates for this job”.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Finland (FIN) – WRC 26/07/2017 to 31/07/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Well, the championship has just got very interesting indeed. With Seb not scoring any points at all and Thierry finishing in sixth place and scoring enough points to bring him level with Seb at the top. We have a four-event battle to look forward to for this year’s championship. It starts in two weeks in Rally Germany!
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 09, Rally Finland 27 – 30 July 2017 Thierry Neuville Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 9
1 T. Neuville 160
2 S. Ogier 160
3 O. Tanak 119
4 J.M Latvala 114
5 D. Sordo 84
6 E. Evans 79
7 C. Breen 53
8 H. Paddon 51
9 J. Hänninen 46
10 E. Lappi 45
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
It’s time for the big one! This is it. The WRC is heading for the iconic roads in Finland. Formerly known as the 1000 Lakes Rally, this very fast event includes the super-fast Ouninpohja, a stage that you must have absolute faith in the car and the pace notes that will guide you through its jumps and, run twice on Saturday, it features jumps and blind crests over its 24.38km’s! One key difference this year is that this stage will be run in the opposite direction compared to last year.
Last year saw Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle win during their part time season with Citroen. This year has certainly not been what they wanted, with a single victory in Mexico, and various other problems causing retirements, including mechanical problems and mistakes from Kris. He sat out the last round in Poland, but is back for this one.
In the Jipocar squad, Mads and Ola have parted and so for this round, he’ll have a new co-driver called Torstein Eriksen alongside him.
Here are the details of the stages.
RALLY FINLAND SCHEDULE(GMT+3)
THURSDAY JULY 27
8.00am: Shakedown – Ruuhimäki (4.62km)
6.42pm: Start (Jyväskylä)
7.00pm: SS1 – Harju 1 (2.31km)
7.25pm: Parc ferme (Jyväskylä)
FRIDAY JULY 28
6.05am: Service A (Jyväskylä – 15 mins)
7.12am: SS2 – Halinen 1 (7.65km)
7.45am: SS3 – Urria 1 (12.75km)
8.48am: SS4 – Jukojärvi 1 (21.31km)
10.06am: SS5 – Halinen 2 (7.65km)
10.38am: SS6 – Urria 2 (12.75km)
11.42am: SS7 – Jukojärvi 2 (21.31 km)
1.37pm: Service B (Jyväskylä – 30 mins)
3.00pm: SS8 – Äänekoski-Valtra 1 (7.39km)
4.13pm: SS9 – Laukaa 1 (11.76km)
5.11pm: SS10 – Lankamaa (21.68km)
6.09pm: SS11 – Äänekoski-Valtra 2 (7.39km)
7.22pm: SS12 – Laukaa 2 (11.76km)
8.30pm: SS13 – Harju 2 (2.31km)
9.00pm: Flexi Service C (Jyväskylä – 45 mins)
SATURDAY JULY 29
7.20am: Service D (Jyväskylä – 15 mins)
8.58am: SS14 – Pihlajakoski 1 (14.90km)
10.06am: SS15 – Päijälä 1 (22.68km)
10.49am: SS16 – Ouninpohja 1 (24.38km)
12.02pm: SS17 – Saalahti 1 (4.21km)
1.27pm: Service E (Jyväskylä – 30 mins)
2.55pm: SS18 – Saalahti 2 (4.21km)
4.08pm: SS19 – Ouninpohja 2 (24.38km)
5.16pm: SS20 – Pihlajakoski 2 (14.90km)
6.24pm: SS21 – Päijälä 2 (22.68km)
8.39pm: Flexi Service F (Jyväskylä – 45 mins)
SUNDAY 30 JULY
8.00am: Service G (Jyväskylä – 15 mins)
9.25am: SS21 – Lempää 1 (6.80km)
10.08am: SS22 – Oittila 1 (10.12km)
11.47am: SS23 – Lempää 2 (6.80km)
1.18pm: SS24 – Oittila 2 Power Stage (10.12km)
2.21pm: Service H (Jyväskylä – 10 mins)
3.00pm: Podium
All of this adds up to 314.20 km’s of action. Let’s hear then from the drivers.
M-Sport WRT
Sébastien Ogier said:
“Rally Finland is most definitely a highlight in the season. The Finns certainly know how to deliver a good rally, and these gravel roads are tailor-made for rallying.
“It’s fast – really fast – and the big jumps and high grip levels offer an incredible sense of speed that every driver looks forward to. At that pace, you’re fighting for tenths of a second and I’m expecting a very close battle.
“The weather looks as though it could be a little unsettled, so we’ll have to wait and see how that plays out, but we want to be in the fight at the top. That demands a near-perfect performance throughout the weekend with no mistakes and a set-up that delivers confidence in the driving.
“We had a two-day test this week and, although it was cut short and I’m sorry for my teammates who were unable to continue, the car felt fantastic. I’m really looking forward to the rally now – where we hope to secure a good result for our championship defence.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Poland (POL) – WRC 29/06/2017 to 02/07/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Ott Tänak said:
“Poland didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but we know that we have the pace and we’ll be looking to take that forward to Finland – another high-speed rally and another of my favourite events.
“I think every driver looks forward to Rally Finland. When you’re on it and hook up the perfect stage there really is no better feeling – and we’ll be hoping for plenty of that next week.
“The roads are really fast with blind corners after big jumps and a surprising amount of grip. You need to be brave and confident in yourself. If you don’t feel completely comfortable it’s almost impossible to push to the maximum and you’ll lose time – something that’s not easily gained at these speeds.
“We completed a two-day test in Finland this week – working to find the best set-up – and I’m confident that we’ll be able to fight at the head of the field again. I’m looking forward to it and I’m excited to see what we can do.”
Teemu Suninen said:
“It’s always nice to start to my home rally, and it will be especially nice this year as we’re behind the wheel of a world rally car.
“We were brought up on these roads, which are incredibly fast, but many people forget that I actually don’t have a lot of experience at Rally Finland. I’ve driven the stages of Rally Poland quite a few times with a four-wheel drive car, but the Finnish stages not so much – and I’ve never driven Ouninpohja in this direction!
“Of course, I’m excited to be competing on home soil, but the goals remain the same as they would on any other rally and we will need to drive well to secure the result we want.
“In Poland, we aimed to be in the top six and finished sixth. Losing a position on the final stage felt like a small disappointment, but that does not change my approach for Rally Finland. We’ll need to be on the top of our game from the start if we want to achieve our goals, and that is certainly the aim.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans said:
“Rally Finland is one of the most enjoyable events of the year and I think everyone is looking forward to this year’s encounter. With these new cars, the spectacle will be something very special and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.
“We’re keen to get back to the sharp end and at the moment the weather looks as though it could be a little unsettled so we’ll have to wait and see how that works for us – hopefully the conditions won’t be as challenging as they were in Poland.
“The stages are so fast and you need to have precise Pacenotes and the confidence to drive to the maximum. The high speed combined with the technical nature of the stages is incredible and when you get into a good rhythm it’s a phenomenal feeling.
“It’s not all fun and games though as the margins for error are so fine. That said, we’ve shown some pretty good speed here in the past and, if everything works in our favour, anything is possible.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville said:
“We were delighted with both our own and the team’s performance in Poland. We hope that it can be a real catalyst for further success moving towards the end of the season. The car is looking very strong and with two wins on gravel already this season it has shown how competitive we can be. We are confident that we can continue to challenge for the Championship. We know that Finland can be a tricky event and that the margin of error is minimal due to the high speeds and complexities of the track, but we are confident of putting on a good show.”
2016 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 08, Rally Finland 2016 / July 28-31, 2016 // Worldwide Copyright: Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon said:
“Finland is definitely a rally that I enjoy, it’s very fast and it has got a lot of history. We know how tricky an event it can be, given the speeds that we reach and some of the difficult jumps and corners that come up during the event, but I’ve done it eight times now, so it’s good to have that experience. It’s a rally where I feel at home, so we want to put on a really good show for everyone watching. That Polish podium has given us a big confidence boost, and we can’t wait to get back out on the stages and look for a similar result.”
Dani Sordo said:
“Having come close to a podium in Poland, we are hopeful that in Finland we can claim a top-three finish. It has been a mixed season for us so far with some positive results and a few challenging moments. We have had a few issues in some events that have hindered our progress but we are as determined as ever. We want to continue the second half of the season on a positive note. Finland is a tough event, but we will do all we can to get the most out of the car and ourselves to score more points for the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championship.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala said:
“Along with Monte-Carlo, Finland is the rally that everyone wants to win; especially if you are Finnish. There’s pressure to do well, but it’s a positive pressure. No doubt about my target: victory. I’m feeling confident, but I don’t think there’s such a thing as a big home advantage for Finnish drivers anymore. Now that so many of the stages are used every year, the other drivers have got a lot of experience as well. I’m expecting a big fight.”
Juho Hänninen said:
“Finland is the rally I have done more than any other, so I’m feeling quite confident. I don’t want to set any specific targets but I’m definitely going to push hard from the start and see how high we can finish. There’s no choice in Finland: the speeds are so fast that you don’t have time to build up to speed; you have to be awake from the first corner. The work we did on the test was mainly on the suspension and now it feels really good. I also had some rain at the start of my test but this is positive as it means that the roads should be really compact and in the right condition for the rally.”
Esapekka Lappi said:
“It’s going to be really exciting to take part in my home event for the first time with a World Rally Car. I think there’s a chance that if we have a perfect rally we could be on the podium, but everything would have to go without a hitch because the gaps in Finland are normally so small. Our car should be very well suited to the roads in Finland: I think the aerodynamics and engine are really our strong points. This rally is a big job for my co-driver Janne too as he’ll be calling out the pace notes at speeds that are much faster than we have ever experienced in Finland before.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT, World Rally Championship.
Kris Meeke said:
“Rally Finland has always been one of my favourite events, but it became even more special after my win here last year. You have some of the best gravel roads in the world here and it can be an awful lot of fun drive on them. I’m pleased to be back behind the wheel of the C3 WRC, although I’m expecting it to be a tough rally. Our test sessions were mostly held in the rain and with cool temperatures. It looks likely that we’ll have similar conditions for the rally, so my being tenth in the running order won’t be an advantage if the roads are covered in mud! Whatever happens, we’ll do our very best to secure a good result for the team.”
Craig Breen said:
“This rally is one of the ones where I feel most comfortable. I have very fond memories of last year’s rally, where I secured my first World Championship podium. After a frustrating Rally Poland, I can’t wait to get started here and will be aiming for a good result. After four fifth-place finishes, obviously, I’d like to go one or more better. We’ll just have to wait and see whether or not the racing conditions enable us to fight at the front. I’m also pleased to have the latest upgrades on the Citroën C3 WRC.”
Kalid Al Qassimi said:
“Finland is an extremely fast rally and the jumps can be difficult to negotiate. My aim will be to maintain a good pace in the C3 WRC. We’ll need to work well during recce, in order to have precise pace notes. My day of testing gave me the chance to re-familiarise myself with the quick roads here, and discover the latest upgrades made to the car. I would like to wish Kris and Craig the best of luck and hope that they can once again secure the best result possible.”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg said:
“I am looking for a new permanent codriver after we agreed with Ola to go separate ways earlier this summer. Torstein has been a part of our team organisation since 2012, he knows my pacenote system and he has been with me in the car during testing. He is a very competent codriver, but the challenge for him is to adjust from the speed of the R5-cars he is used to the full 2017 spec WRC-Fiesta. I`m sure he will manage well”.
“Finland is really something else, and you need to be extremely mentally tough with yourself to cope with the highspeed nature of the event. You sometimes need to go beyond what your brain tells you is the “sensible” approach. But if you start braking that little split-second early, you immediately will lose a lot of time. The fight is always very close in Finland, a few seconds in either way can mean the difference between a top or a mid-field position. I have been on the podium in this rally before, and if things go according to plan I will aim to fight for many points this time”
“First and foremost, we were happy with finishing Poland relatively problem-free, and we had good speed on the fastest bits. Finland is however different with all the jumps. On some stages, you feel you are in the air most of the time. Of course, it isn`t so, but it makes for a really special challenge”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Poland (POL) – WRC 29/06/2017 to 02/07/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Just a few days to go then and what an amazing event this will be. There’s some uncertainty about the weather, with some reports of possible rain throughout the three days. This would make running at the front as Seb, Thierry and Jari-Matti less of a disadvantage. Both Seb and Jari-Matti have won on these roads, but Thierry will want to give Hyundai their first podium and perhaps it will be a win.
Thierry Neuville would take his third win of 2017 on the Polish roads, but there would be lots of different leaders of the 74th Rally Poland. Here is the story of this year’s event.
Thursday morning would dawn a very wet day after thunderstorms would hit the stages overnight. The shakedown stage was very very muddy. Thierry would set the fastest time by two tenths of a second, from Ott, winner of the last rally in Italia. There was little to separate them.
THURSDAY 29 JUNE
8.00am: Shakedown – Sady (4.90km)
4.00pm: Start (Mikolajki)
7.08pm: SS1 – Mikolajki Arena (2.50km)
7.28pm: Parc ferme (Mikolajki)
SS1 – Super Special Stage Mikolajki Arena -1 (2.50km)
1 Evans 1:44.4 (120kph)
2 Neuville +0.8
3 Ogier +0.9
Just the usual short evening stage to get the event underway and it was a stage that Elfyn would win, and therefore hold an early lead.
FRIDAY 30 JUNE
6.25am: Service A (Mikolajki – 18 mins)
7.15am: SS2 – Chmielewo 1 (6.52km)
9.00am: SS3 – Wieliczki 1 (15.96km)
9.55am: SS4 – Swietajno 1 (19.60km)
10.40am: SS5 – Stare Juchy 1 (13.50km)
It was an early start for the teams on Friday morning, and Thierry would start very strong, winning stage two and taking the overall lead. Previous leader, Elfyn in the D-Mack shod Fiesta would drop to 13th overall. Jari-Matti would pop into second overall with Seb in third at this point.
SS2 – Chmielewo – 1 (6.52km)
1 Neuville 3:22.9 (120kph)
2 Latvala +0.2
3 Ogier +1.4
The lead would change at the end of stage three, with Thierry dropping time and Jari-Matti took over top spot after winning the stage from Ott and Thierry losing 3.1 seconds and falling to fourth. Top three overall was now Jari-Matti, Seb and Ott.
SS3 – Wieliczki -1 (15.05km)
1 Latvala 7:33.0 (128.6kph)
2 Tanak +0.9
3 Ogier +1.3
Jari-Matti won the next stage as well, and his nearest challenger would become Ott, as Seb fell behind his young Estonian teammate. Speaking of teammates, Esapekka Lappi would stop in this stage, and lose time. Teemu Suninen had made a great start in his debut WRC event for M-Sport, running inside the top ten as well.
SS4 – Swietajno -1 (19.60km)
1 Latvala 9:47.3 (126.7kph)
2 Tanak +1.3
3 Ogier +3.0
Last stage of the morning and Andreas would suffer broken rear suspension on his Citroen C3 after hitting a tree sump. With the quickest time on this stage, Thierry would move back into second place, now just 4.5 seconds behind the lead Toyota driver. There were further changes in the top ten with Hayden moving into fifth place and Elfyn Evans back into ninth.
SS5 – Stare Juchy -1 (13.50km)
1 Neuville 6:54.8 (130kph)
2 Latvala +1.9
3 Tanak +3.2
Service gave Citroen Racing the opportunity to fix the suspension on Andreas car.
12.40pm: Service B (Mikolajki – 33 mins)
1.45pm: SS6 – Chmielewo 2 (6.52km)
3.30pm: SS7 – Wieliczki 2 (15.96km)
4.25pm: SS8 – Swietajno 2 (19.60km)
5.10pm: SS9 – Stare Juchy 2 (13.50km)
7.08pm: SS10 – Mikolajki Arena 2 (2.50km)
7.38pm: Service C (Mikolajki – 48 mins)
Stage 6 was cancelled. This was because spectators did not listen to the safely marshals, and stood in a prohibited area. Not good at all.
Young Finn Teemu, would take his first stage victory beating Hayden by seven tenths of a second. Very impressive indeed. There was a change in position between Ott and Thierry as well, with the Hyundai driver losing time and falling to third on the overall leaderboard.
SS7 – Wieliczki -2 (15.05km)
1 Suninen 7:47.9 (128.6kph)
2 Paddon +0.7
3 Tanak +1.2
However, on the following stage, with Thierry taking the stage win, it was all change on the overall positions again, with Ott moving to the top and now just 1.7 seconds covering the top three as well.
SS8 – Swietajno -2 (19.60km)
1 Neuville 10:03.3 (114kph)
2 Sordo +1.2
3 Suninen +3.4
The following stage was also won by the Belgian and this meant that with Ott third fastest and Jari-Matti sixth, Thierry moved into the lead from third!
SS9 – Stare Juchy -2 (13.50km)
1 Neuville 7:07.4 (111.4kph)
2 Paddon +1.5
3 Tanak +3.2
Last stage of the day and Elfyn would show that he was a master of this short stage, winning again just like Thursday evening.
SS10 – Super Special Stage Mikolajki Arena -2 (2.50km)
1 Evans 1:44.3 (120kph)
2 Tanak +0.5
3 Neuville +0.7
The first day then had its mix of lead changes, car problems and accidents. With Seb first on the road, he would struggle to stay with those whose road position would give them an advantage, but he was still within 35 seconds of the lead.
Top Ten Day 1
1 Neuville 56:21.2
2 Tanak +1.3
3 Latvala +6.6
4 Ogier +35.1
5 Paddon +39.6
6 Sordo +51.7
7 Suninen +1:11.0
8 Hanninen +1:28.9
9️ Lefebvre +1:37.0
10 Ostberg +1:42.7
Let’s hear then from the drivers, starting with the top three.
Thierry Neuville commented: (1st)
“It’s been a good start to this rally for us, even if the conditions have been very demanding throughout the day. We started this morning with a very good stage win but the rain made it difficult to correctly read the grip levels. To take the team’s 50th stage win of the season in SS5 was a nice way to finish the morning loop. We added another two wins in the afternoon as the conditions improved. At the start of the loop there was a lot of standing water in the ruts and no driving line to follow. Overall, though, I am very happy and the car has performed excellently. The fight for the lead has been close and I don’t expect that to change over the next two days. We’re in a good position but there’s a lot more to come from everyone and more surprises I’m sure.”
Ott Tänak (2nd) said:
“It’s been an extremely tricky day today, but the Polish roads are always enjoyable. It’s a really tight battle and I’m sure that tomorrow will be interesting with a lot of new stages. We just need to keep our focus and continue as we have today.
“This was only the first day of competition and with the conditions as extreme as they were there was no need to go flat-out. For sure we need to keep the speed up so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow – when the conditions will hopefully be a little drier so that we can really enjoy these mega stages!”
Jari-Matti Latvala (3rd) said:
“The morning was very good. I was happy with the car: it was working really well in the fast sections, and it was also OK in the more slippery sections. The afternoon was not so good: I didn’t go so well in the ruts, which were quite big because of the rain. We will look at what changes we can make but it’s difficult to know in these conditions. With everyone so close, it will be an exciting day tomorrow. We will be ready to fight from the first stage onwards.”
Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Antilla, Toyota Yaris WRC. PHOTO : @World
M-Sport WRT
Sébastien Ogier (4th) said:
“It’s been a really tough day and we suffered quite a lot this afternoon. Being the first car on the road there was so much standing water and so many ruts which lost us a lot of time. I really tried to push but there was nothing we could do when faced with these sorts of conditions.
“If it had kept raining all day then we would have had more constant speed – like we did through the morning loop. But that’s how it is and tomorrow is another day. We’ll keep fighting.”
Teemu Suninen (7th) said:
“We’ve had a good day and of course it was nice to get our first stage victory this afternoon.
“We know that we can be competitive over some sections and some stages, but the aim is to keep doing that consistently. I’ve had a stage win, but I want more and that means we must continue to work.
“We’ve learnt a lot and were able to improve quite a lot over the second pass. Tomorrow, we just need to continue with the same objective – more good work with no mistakes.”
Teemu Suninen, M-Sport WRT – PHOTO : @World
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon (5th) said:
“After the rain, we expected very tricky, muddy conditions this morning, and that’s exactly what we got. Given our later road position, we couldn’t manage much more than fifth by lunchtime service. The grip was changing from one corner to the next, and it felt like driving on ice at times. The team made some changes at lunch, which transformed the car; I had more confidence to push and a competitive feeling, which was shown by our improved stage times. When we’re on a level playing field, we can definitely be up there with the front-runners, so I’m hoping for better weather as the weekend continues, so we can enjoy these incredibly fast and fun stages. I’m definitely not here to settle for fifth!”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 08, Rally Poland 29 June-02 July 2017 Hayden Paddon – Seb Marshall, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: RaceEMotion Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Dani Sordo (6th) said: “If I am totally honest, I found this morning very difficult and not at all to my liking. The wet conditions made the stages changeable and erratic. I just could not get into a rhythm. We had to concentrate on completing the loop without any issues, which we did. Conditions improved on the afternoon loop and I had more control over the car. It just felt more ‘normal’ and there was a better feeling. We have lost some time as a result of the morning struggles, but there’s a long way to go in this rally and I hope we can have a more consistent Saturday.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Juho Hänninen (8th)
“Quite a difficult day with really tricky conditions on the stages. The morning went a bit better, we had no problems and no mistakes. This afternoon I was struggling with the ruts, we had the ride height a bit too low and there was so much mud on the dampers that we couldn’t raise it between the stages. Hopefully tomorrow can be better, and maybe a bit drier.”
Esapekka Lappi, Toyota Yaris WRC – PHOTO : @World
Esapekka Lappi (Ret)
“Everything was going smoothly. OK, it was difficult for sure, it was so muddy, but we found a pretty good pace to drive at. Then on one long right-hand corner, I cut slightly too much and there was a rock which I didn’t have on the pace-notes, and it broke the suspension. It was my mistake. I need to learn from this. It is unfortunate we can’t continue because the more kilometres I do, the better I get: before the incident I felt comfortable with the car and the setup was really good.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans (11th) said:
“We didn’t want extreme conditions this weekend, but that’s exactly what we got and we’ve just had to manage as best we can. It’s been really tricky out there and the inconsistent grip levels made it really difficult to judge.
“It was nice to take another stage win this evening, and let’s just wait and see what conditions we’re faced with tomorrow.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Stéphane Lefebvre (9th) said:
“It was a very difficult leg in terms of the conditions, but we managed to avoid making any major mistakes. It wasn’t all plain sailing this afternoon: I got my pace wrong on SS7 and the ride height was too low on SS8. But above all, I’m pleased to have matched Andreas’ times throughout the day and to be fighting for seventh place. If the weather is drier tomorrow, I think we can make up a place or two.”
Andreas Mikkelsen (12th) said:
“It was my first time in the car on muddy roads this morning and it was very difficult to get a sense of the handling. We made a few changes during the mid-leg service and that gave me more feeling for the level of grip. The conditions were also more even and that was reflected in the times. I’m very pleased with the progress we’ve made today.
Craig Breen (26th) said:
“It’s been a miserable day. I was really motivated to have a good weekend, but we were let down by a mechanical issue on SS2. On the second pass, I just couldn’t find any confidence in the car. We’re going to press the ‘reset’ button now and let’s face it, tomorrow can only get better!”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg (10th) said:
“I couldn`t get the car to turn in during the first loop of stages and it was extremely difficult in the mud. We changed the set-up on the front diff during service and that made a great improvement as we got rid of most of the understeering. Basically, this was my first experience with this car on wet and slippery roads as we have had limited testing and only in the dry.”
“The conditions today have been horrible in places and I don`t think it will be as difficult tomorrow. But it has rained heavily in the whole area and it will for sure be slippery also tomorrow. The character of the stages is also a bit different from today. We will continue working with the set-up for further improvements, so I`m looking forward to a better day overall.”
Mads Ostberg, Ola Floene, Jipocar WRT – PHOTO : @World
SATURDAY 1 JULY
7.45am: Service D (Mikolajki – 18 mins)
8.08am: SS11 – Baranowo 1 (15.55km)
9.20am: SS12 – Pozezdrze 1 (24.28km)
10.45am: SS13 – Goldap 1 (14.75km)
11.35am: SS14 – Kruklanki 1 (19.58km)
Saturday morning dawned bright and sunny. I imagine this lifted the confidence of the Citroen drivers and who really struggled in the muddy conditions.
Jari-Matti hit the ground running, looking to get his Yaris WRC back in the lead. Thierry was less than eight tenths slower, so the gap didn’t reduce much. Ott was right there, but his four-time champion teammate lost more ground to the overall leader. Craig and last year’s winner, Andreas in their C3’s definitely were doing a better job in the dryer conditions.
SS11 – Baranowo -1 (15.55km)
1 Latvala 8:02.2 (112.5kph)
2 Neuville +0.8
3 Tanak +2.1
Ott hit the front of the leaderboard after his performance through stage 12. Thierry could only manage fourth fastest, 6.1 seconds slower and finding himself now 3.5 seconds behind Ott. Hayden also passed Seb who could only manage 13th fastest and was now a minute and ten seconds behind Ott.
SS12 – Pozezdrze -1 (21.24km)
1 Tanak 10:39.8 (126kph)
2 Paddon +3.0
3 Latvala +4.0
Hayden would win the next stage, and he was closing the gap to the front runners as well. The battle for the lead continued between Thierry and Ott, with just four tenths separating them at the end of this stage. Seb continued to fall down the field, ending the stage behind Dani, and Stephane in his C3 and Mads at the wheel of his Fiesta both passed Juho Hanninen who fell to tenth overall.
SS13 – Gołdap-1 (14.75km)
1 Paddon 7:24.1 (120kph)
2 Neuville +1.4
3 Tanak +1.8
Thierry won the next stage and moved into the lead, after Ott could only manage the third fastest time. Stephane and Andreas also found good pace through this stage, so perhaps Citroen were finding their feet.
SS14 – Kruklanki -1 (19.58km)
1 Neuville 10:08.5 (114kph)
2 Latvala +3.2
3 Tanak +4.4
1.12pm: Service E (Mikolajki – 33 mins)
2.08pm: SS15 – Baranowo 2 (15.55km)
3.20pm: SS16 – Pozezdrze 2 (24.28km)
4.45pm: SS17 – Goldap 2 (14.75km)
5.35pm: SS18 – Kruklanki 2 (19.58km)
7.30pm: SS19 – Mikolajki Arena 3 (2.50km)
8.00pm: Service F (Mikolajki – 48 mins)
After the service break, the Belgian increased his lead after winning stage 15 and it seemed that now he would continue to pull away from Ott. Seb closed the gap of Dani Sordo from around seven seconds to just three tenths of a second! A mighty drive from the champion.
SS15 – Baranowo -2 (15.55km)
1 Neuville 7:47.9 (128.6kph)
2 Tanak +1.7
3 Latvala +3.8
There was drama on the following stage for two of the top three. Jari-Matti pulled over in the stage, when his car just stopped and Thierry suffered a puncture. He lost 22.9 seconds and dropped behind Ott but was still in second place overall, with the Estonian now 14.4 seconds ahead. Hayden won the stage, moving into the podium positions, from a resurgent Seb who had now moved ahead of Dani and into fourth overall. Jari-Matti had now dropped right out of the battle for the podium after his car breakdown. In fact, he was now not even in the top ten.
SS16 – Pozezdrze -2 (21.24km)
1 Paddon 10:23.4 (126kph)
2 Ogier +2.7
3 Sordo +4.8
Leader, Ott, lost a bundle of time, 8.8 seconds to stage 17 winner Hayden who was really enjoying some quality pace, and with Thierry just half a second slower than his Kiwi teammate, Ott’s lead was now 6.1 seconds. The young Frenchman, Lefebvre came through third fastest.
SS17 – Gołdap -2 (14.75km)
1 Paddon 7:20.8 (120kph)
2 Neuville +0.5
3️ Lefebvre +3.2
Thierry won the next stage and with Ott 8.6 seconds slower, the Belgian moved back into the lead. Hayden was closing on Ott as well. The Citroen in the hands of Lefebvre was showing some pace as well, with his second consecutive top three time. Further down the leaderboard, Andreas in his C3 had moved ahead of Juho into tenth place.
SS18 – Kruklanki -2 (19.58km)
1 Neuville 10:02.1 (114kph)
2 Paddon +0.5
3️ Lefebvre +2.7
Last stage of the day, and it was Elfyn once again who showed that he had this stage figured out. No-one had been faster around this one, with all three going to the welsh wizard. Thierry and Andreas rounded out the top three.
SS19 – Super Special Stage Mikolajki Arena -3 (2.50km)
1 Evans 1:44.4 (120kph)
2 Neuville +0.2
3️ Mikkelsen +0.4
The biggest loser from the day had to be Jari-Matti, who was right in the hunt for the podium spots, but his car had stopped. Nothing to do with him at all. Hayden had enjoyed a very good afternoon.
Let’s hear then from the drivers.
Top Ten Day 2
1 Neuville 2:10:26.3
2 Tanak +3.1
3 Paddon +25.5
4 Ogier +1:32.0
5 Sordo +1:43.8
6 Suninen +2:06.2
7️ Lefebvre +2:20.3
8 Ostberg +2:45.8
9 Evans +3:23.1
10 Mikkelsen +3:34.6
Thierry Neuville (1st) commented:
“It has been a pretty intense day, one way or another. We had a solid morning loop and it was developing into a fun, close battle at the front. We lost the lead in the first stages but gained it back with a big push in SS14 (Kruklanki). It was almost a pointless loop because we held the same lead at the end as we did at the start! We were determined not to give up, so we pushed hard when we could and started the afternoon with a stage win. Unfortunately, we then picked up a rear-left puncture that cost us a lot of seconds in SS16 (Pozezdrze). Ott was also suffering with his own issues, so we had to use that opportunity to make up the lost time. In the penultimate stage, it started to rain a lot on our run and we struggled, we were really unlucky. Thankfully, we still set the fastest time and retook the lead. We don’t have a huge time advantage so we won’t be able to take it easy on Sunday. The win is still very much open and I am sure Ott will be hunting us down.”
Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Ott Tänak (2nd) said:
“It’s been an interesting day with a lot of things happening so it’s good to still be in a close battle at the top.
“We lost the rear wing this afternoon and that made things really tough. There’s so much aero on these new cars and they make a really big difference – so when you lose the biggest part I can tell you that it is not easy!
“We tried the best we could and made some set-up changes to make it more comfortable to drive. It was still extremely difficult, but Thierry also had a problem and the battle is still on.
“We need to keep fighting as he has also been very strong this weekend. We’re still in the fight and it looks as though we’re in for a really exciting day tomorrow – with the weather making it interesting as well.”
Ott Tanak, M-Sport Fiesta WRC – PHOTO : @World
Hayden Paddon (3rd) said:
“We have had far better conditions today, especially this morning, and that gave us a more even playing field and more confidence in the car. We could really set about getting down to business and just enjoying the driving. We took a stage win in Goldap and were looking solid in fourth place with big margins ahead and behind us. We were focused only on securing that position, which would be so important for the championship. We added two more stage wins in the afternoon and moved up into third overall after Jari-Matti’s problem. I am sorry for him, but at the same time I am happy to have the chance for a podium here, which would be an unexpected, but very welcome result.”
M-Sport WRT
Sébastien Ogier (4th) said:
“Today was not an easy day. We had a lot of things to deal with, but I’m happy to be here at the end of the day and the most important thing is that we are still in with a chance of scoring some good and important points for the championship.”
Teemu Suninen (6th) said:
“It’s been another positive day and we’ve learnt a lot, but I need to learn how to improve my driving through the ruts. I’m really enjoying it, but I want to keep improving. I know that we can be fast in certain stages and in certain sections, but I need to learn more so that we can get the consistency and be competitive all weekend.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo (5th) said:
“We were able to stretch our legs a bit today with improved stage conditions and more confidence in the car. We were able to push flat out in some stages. It was fun being in close competition with Ogier. We managed to get past him towards the end of the morning loop, and did all we could to defend the position. The final two stages were not as good. I made a big mistake in a hairpin in SS17 (Goldap), which cost us time, and then towards the end of SS18 (Kruklanki) we picked up a puncture. We were lucky it was at the end of the stage, really. There is still everything to play for on Sunday.”
Dani Sordo, Marc Martí, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Stéphane Lefebvre (7th) said:
“I think I had a good day today – it was certainly my best day in the Citroën C3 WRC. It wasn’t easy to find the right pace or the right set-up as we went from one stage to another but all in all, everything went well and I was able to push without taking any major risks. I’ll remained focused and ready to take advantage of the slightest opportunity to move further up the overall standings. There are still four stages to go!”
Andreas Mikkelsen (10th) said:
“I’m pleased with our performance on today’s leg. From the word go, on the opening stage, the car seemed quick in these conditions. Of course, we continued to work in order to keep improving. I held back slightly on the second pass, because I didn’t want to risk a puncture in the ruts.”
Craig Breen ( 13th) said:
“I felt a lot more comfortable in the C3 WRC today. I was able to start building my confidence as we got through the stages. It wasn’t easy given that I was running first on the road. I had to cope with the changes in grip and I ended up making a few mistakes. I hope the experience acquired this weekend will be useful for me in Finland.”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg (8th) said:
“We are still learning and I`m really surprised how sensitive this car is when it comes to set-up adjustments. I must admit we have gone a bit wrong on set-up during the test before the rally. The front diff was adjusted yesterday that and cured some of the understeering problems. But we have also been too soft on damping and we have been working with that today. Now the car actually works quite well and we are much more competitive.”
“As it is now we are in a bit of a vacuum and it will be difficult to improve our position during the short Sunday. We will continue working with the car, but it’s a pity that this is how the car should have been when I started the rally. Then we could have been much more competitive”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans (9th) said:
“It’s not been a perfect day, but it’s certainly been better. The drier conditions improved things for us today. The stages were still pretty slippery this morning but I think we found a benefit in some sections this afternoon.
“It’s looking like it’s going to be wet again tomorrow so another difficult day for us out on the stages. We’ll just focus on getting through cleanly and perfecting the notes for the next time.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (Ret) said:
“I’m very disappointed that we had to retire for the day. On SS16 I had to stop due to technical reasons. So that was it for the day for us. Up to then my feeling with the car was good. We’ve lost a valuable opportunity to score points that would have been important for the championship. Still, the only thing we can do is fight back now, because we never give up, and I’m looking forward to returning to action tomorrow.”
Juho Hänninen (11th) said:
“This was quite a frustrating day for us but the most important thing is that we are still here at the end of it and of course with the problems for our team mates now it’s important that we get to the finish and try to score some points. To drive around the turbo boost problem, I had to keep the engine revs high, but it was OK: we knew what to do. The afternoon was OK, but then we had the slow puncture that cost us some time. On the last stages of the day the ruts were really deep: it was a real struggle to put the power down. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.”
SUNDAY 2 JULY
6.40am: Service G (Mikolajki – 18 mins)
8.10am: SS20 – Orzysz 1 (11.15km)
9.08am: SS21 – Paprotki 1 (18.68km)
10.45am: SS22 – Orzysz 2 (11.15km)
12.18pm: SS23 – Paprotki 2 – Power Stage (18.68km)
1.40pm: Service H (Mikolajki – 13 mins)
2.30pm: Podium (Mikolajki)
Sunday morning dawned, and we had three stages left. Who would win? It was raining again as well. Ott started well, winning stage 20 and retaking the lead. After last year’s disappointment with the puncture, he wasn’t going to let this go. Re-joining under Rally2 rules, Jari-Matti showed how good the combination of him, Miika and the Yaris have been this year. Such a shame they dropped out with the technical problem. Further down, Mads closed the gap a little to Lefebvre who was the Norwegians target.
SS20 – Orzysz -1 (11.15km)
1 Tanak 6:10.3 (110kph)
2 Neuville +4.9
3 Latvala +13.3
Ott’s big push came to nought unfortunately in stage 21. He hit something on the side of the road with the rear of the car and the car spun, putting the front into a tree. He finished the stage, but the damage was too great to continue. Andreas and Lefebvre also had their own problems, with the Norwegian overshooting a junction and for some reason the young Frenchman ended up with a tool under his feet and he hit a fence because of that. Juho Hanninen benefitted from Andreas’ mistake, moving into the top ten. The Hyundai team were now looking at a one-two finish, as Hayden took up second position.
SS21 – Paprotki -1 (18.68km)
1 Neuville 8:58.1 (135kph)
2 Latvala +8.8
3️ Lefebvre +18.7
Thierry was now in the lead, with a gap of just over a minute to his Kiwi teammate. Seb had now moved into a podium position with the demise of his teammate, and Andreas had moved into tenth place.
SS22 – Orzysz -2 (11.15km)
1 Neuville 6:02.6 (110kph)
2 Latvala +0.5
3️ Mikkelsen +2.2
The final stage then and Jari-Matti flew through it to win the maximum 5 points from the stage, with Seb in second and Andreas third, all former Volkswagen WRC drivers. Frenchman, Stephane in his C3 was fourth through here, meaning that on the overall leaderboard he’d demoted Teemu in the M-Sport Fiesta into sixth place. Andreas had also demoted Juho from ninth to tenth after going through the stage 15 seconds faster.
SS23 – Paprotki -2 (Power Stage) (18.68km)
1 Latvala 8:57.5 (135kph)
2 Ogier +4.9
3️ Mikkelsen +5.3
4 Lefebvre +6.3
5 Neuville +6.4
Overall after SS23
1 Neuville 2:40:46.1
2 Paddon +1:23.9
3 Ogier +2:20.8
4 Sordo +2:47.4
5️ Lefebvre +3:11.8
6 Suninen +3:16.8
7 Ostberg +3:39.6
8 Evans +4:39.1
9️ Mikkelsen +4:43.5
10 Hanninen +4:53.7
Well, Thierry now has three victories this year and is only 11 points behind Seb in the championship fight. Big shame for Ott, who was right in the fight for victory. Hayden drove a well measured rally to secure his first podium of the year and with it Seb Marshall’s first WRC podium as well. Seb Ogier should count himself lucky that he scored a podium here, because he was well off the pace. You can’t argue with his consistency though.
Let’s hear then from all the drivers starting with the podium.
Thierry Neuville (1st) commented:
“What a great result for the whole team! I am really delighted for everyone involved. It was a closely fought battle this weekend, as it seems to have been for the past few events. It was certainly a relief to retake the lead after Ott’s retirement this morning, as it allowed us some breathing space in the final stages. We could take it easy and relax – not too much – but enough to finish the rally calmly and to secure this great result. Our goal for the weekend was to outscore Séb, which we did, and we have closed the gap in the championship for the second rally in a row. We have to continue in this way but for now we can enjoy our third win of the season, and celebrate with the team who have worked so hard for this result.”
Hayden Paddon (2nd) said:
“I can’t tell you how relieved I am with this result. It feels like a win after the season we have had so far. We have had some really difficult moments so to finish second as part of a fantastic team result is very special. It’s like a weight has been lifted. This morning’s final stages have required a lot of commitment to drive slowly and cleanly in tough conditions. We were focused on third place, but to take second, of course as a result of Ott’s misfortune, is an added bonus. We still have some speed to find compared to the guys at the front, but it sets us up nicely for Finland – and beyond. Finally, a word of thanks to Seb for a job well done this weekend, and congratulations to him for his first WRC podium.”
Sébastien Ogier (3rd) said:
“This weekend was really tough for us so to come away with a podium is more than we expected.
“Of course, I’m sorry for Ott – he had really good speed this weekend and deserved to be on the podium, but that is the way it goes sometimes.
“We had a lot to contend with and it’s fair to say that the good luck hasn’t really been on our side. But we made the most of it and secured some good points which is really important for the championship.
“Now I can enjoy my holiday and come back ready for what is sure to be another exciting battle at Rally Finland.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo (4th) said:
“It has been a difficult weekend with some tricky conditions but overall it has been positive. I am really pleased for the team, as we’ve collected a lot of points for the championship. Fourth place is not bad, but I am always aiming to perform better and to be competing for the podium in each event. I will try to do better in Finland, but for now I think we can be satisfied with our Poland weekend, and consider it a job well done for the team.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Stéphane Lefebvre (5th) said:
“It’s a morale-boosting result for everyone after such a difficult start to the season. I’d like to thank the team, who have never stopped supporting me, and my engineer, who helped me to put together the best rally of my career so far. Whenever there was enough grip, I felt sufficiently confident to push. I won’t be competing in the next two rallies, but I can head off on holiday in good spirits!”
Andreas Mikkelsen (9th) said:
“The stages were more enjoyable on the second pass, because the grip was better. We pushed and I’m pleased to finish the rally like this, with a good time on the Power Stage. I’m looking forward to testing the C3 WRC on tarmac in preparation for Rally Deutschland.”
Craig Breen (11th) said:
“This weekend has been one of the most difficult of my career and I’m just glad to make it to the end. We all worked hard to improve the car, but I never managed to feel really confident. We’re going to do some testing before Finland, so that will help me to prepare well for the rally where I scored my first podium last year.”
M-Sport WRT
Teemu Suninen (6th) said:
“It’s disappointing to lose a place on the last stage with a small mistake, but okay, that’s the way it goes sometimes and I think that it has still been a good weekend for us.
“We’ve learnt a lot and it was nice to get a fastest stage time on Friday. I think we’ve shown good speed through certain sections, but there remains work to do to keep that speed up for the whole weekend.
“I want to improve and now I’m looking forward to my home rally in Finland where we can hopefully take another step forward.”
Ott Tänak (DNF) said:
“What can I say? Obviously, it’s really disappointing to have finished the rally like this and I am just so sorry for the team and all of the fans who came here to support us.
“We were ready for the fight and had a really good run through the first stage this morning. We were pushing hard, but it was a clean run and I would say almost a perfect stage for us.
“Then on the next stage, there was just one really slippery place in the forest. We touched the bank with the rear of the car and that pulled the front into a spin and into the trees. There was too much damage to continue, and that is where our Rally Poland came to an end.
“It was one of those things, and we’ll be back stronger. This one wasn’t to be, but we know that we have the performance and now it’s all focus on Finland.”
Jipocar WRT
The goal for Mads and his privateer team was to get through the event without any technical problems, and they certainly did that.
Mads Østberg (7th) said
“That was actually the goal before this event, to finish without the technical problems that has hampered us earlier this year. The set-up wasn`t ideal when we started the rally, but we have worked through all three days and made it much better. This will give us a good base for the next rally in Finland, which is also on superfast gravel roads.”
They wanted a good base level for Rally Finland, as this is the next rally.
“We have been struggling a bit more on the narrow and slippery stuff, but we have worked hard to get a good set-up for the really wide and fast parts. And of course, Rally Finland is for most parts run on wider roads, so we can bring with us a good base for the set-up from Poland. It also gives us a positive feeling from a rally where I have struggled a bit before. It can only be better in Finland.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans (8th) said:
“It’s been a tough weekend. We were hoping for a dry rally but we got the opposite and I think it’s fair to say that we struggled in the extreme conditions.
“We kept our heads down and focused on delivering a clean rally. Three stage wins and eighth place isn’t bad considering, and let’s hope the sun is shining next time out in Finland.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (20th) said:
“Of course, it was disappointing to retire on Saturday but it was important that we came back and managed to win the Power Stage. I was focusing a lot before the stage, going through all the corners and the braking points in my mind, and it paid off. We scored five more points and it gives me the confidence again that our car is very fast and we can challenge our rivals in the rallies that are coming up. Thanks to the team for the work to prepare my car to restart today and ensure we could get these five points. They could still be very valuable in the championship.”
Juho Hänninen (10th) said:
“It has been a challenging weekend. The conditions were very difficult. When it was really slippery, on the harder ground, we actually had decent pace, but in the softer ground with the deep ruts we were losing quite a bit of time and it was frustrating. We will try to improve this for the future. Luckily, Rally Finland is next and I am sure this will be better, as we will have a good test beforehand.”
So, it’s the big one next! Rally Finland! Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle will return in their number 7 C3 WRC, to the place that they won so amazingly last year. What chance another victory to re-start their season? Hayden and Seb had a very good Rally Poland, getting their first podium together. Teemu Suninen will also take part in Finland, and just like Esapekka Lappi, has a good chance of making a long career at the top of the rally world.
Seb will want to get back to winning ways in Finland as well, so the battle for the championship will continue between him and Thierry.
Here’s the full championship standings for the drivers and teams.
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round eight:
1 Sebastien Ogier 160
2 Thierry Neuville 149
3 Jari-Matti Latvala 112
4 Ott Tanak 108
5 Dani Sordo 82
6 Elfyn Evans 57
7 Hayden Paddon 51
8 Craig Breen 43
9 Juho Hänninen 30
10 Kris Meeke 27
13 Esapekka Lappi 20
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round eight:
Twenty-seventeen sees this event celebrate the fifteenth ever Rallye de Portugal. There are a few changes to the stages this year, but on the whole the event will be very similar to last years.
During their part season last year, Kris and Paul won this rally, and he’ll be looking to come here and get a solid result, having retired from the last two rounds. Tour de Corse was a big let-down, after a win slipped away with a mechanical problem. In Argentina, it was two rolls that saw him not finish. Meantime, Seb and Thierry have been racking up the points, but its Thierry who is on a roll, having won twice now in a row. Seb will want to be on the podium and will have to work closely with M-Sport to understand what caused him so many problems in Argentina.
At this event, Citroen will be running four C3 WRC cars. They will be piloted by, Kris, Craig, Stephane and Khalid. Also, Toyota will be running a third car for the first time. Driving this car will be the young Finn Esapekka Lappi who is a promising talent.
Here’s the thoughts of the drivers ahead of this true classic.
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Kris Meeke
“Argentina was wild – nothing went as planned. It happens sometimes, you just have to put it behind you. I feel okay ahead of Portugal, although I can’t say I’m overflowing with confidence. I think that the work done in our recent test sessions will help us move in the right direction. I’m pleased to be competing at this rally. Obviously, I have some fond memories of winning here in 2016. And the enthusiasm of the fans here for our sport makes for a very special atmosphere. Quite a lot of changes have been made to the course, so in a lot of cases we’ll have to start from scratch with the pace notes. Concentration will therefore be key in recce, as well as in the rally.”
Craig Breen
“Just like in Argentina, I’m venturing into something of the unknown here. I did recce here in 2016, but that’s no substitute for actual racing experience. I know that I have to improve on this kind of surface, where I’m a little be less at home than on the fast gravel roads you get in Poland or Finland. The testing done this week in Sardinia was positive. We kept working on certain points, taking into account the things we learned in Argentina. The Citroën C3 WRC will be even better in Portugal!”
Stephane Lefebvre
“Unlike the previous few rounds, I feel I know this rally pretty well. Having competed once here in an R5 and once in a WRC, I have good experience on these roads. When they are wide and fast, the stages are magnificent. I really like Amarante, the longest stage of the rally. I’m also almost certain to have a good position in the running order on day one and I’m hoping to make the most of it!”
Khalid Al Qassimi
“After more than six months away from the WRC, I have to prepare very carefully for Rally de Portugal. It will be my first outing in the new Citroën C3 WRC and I know that it is a real step up compared with the cars used in previous seasons. My aim will be to build my confidence gradually, without taking any big risks. I’m delighted to be taking part in what is one of my favourite rallies. The atmosphere is always very special. The Portuguese fans are very loud and enthusiastic, especially next to the Fafe jump!”
M-Sport WRT
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Argentina (ARG) – WRC 26/04/2017 to 30/04/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Sébastien Ogier said:
“Rally de Portugal is an event that I look forward to every year. Julien and I have had a lot of success there and it was where we took our first victory so it holds a lot of special memories.
“It’s a country with a real passion and enthusiasm for motorsport, and the atmosphere that the fans generate is something quite unique. As a driver, you always want to do well in those conditions, and we will push the limits to challenge for the win.
“The competition is even closer this year and every team has a chance of victory. Opening the road on the first day will probably make it harder for us, but we come to Portugal with high objectives and a focus on increasing our championship lead once again.
“We’ve done a lot of testing in Portugal over the past couple of months and done some further development work on the car – that’s definitely a confidence booster ahead of this rally.”
Ott Tänak said:
“Rally de Portugal starts a series of gravel events that I’m really looking forward to. I’ve always enjoyed the Portuguese roads and we’ve shown good speed there in the past.
“I feel as though we’ve developed a lot recently and should be looking towards the podium at every gravel event to come. That has to be our goal in Portugal and I’m looking forward to seeing what we can do.
“The stages are generally quite technical and twisty with a lot of blind corners and crests, but then there are stages like Fafe – a really enjoyable and fast stage where you can really feel the passion of the fans.
“With the competition, so close at the moment, we’ll need to be fully focused and at the top of our game if we want to deliver another strong result. That’s certainly our aim and we’ll be giving it our all as always.”
D-Mack WRT
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Argentina (ARG) – WRC 26/04/2017 to 30/04/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Elfyn Evans said:
“We’ve always had pretty good pace in Portugal, but for various reasons we’ve not been able to translate that into a strong result. After coming so close to victory in Argentina, our confidence is high and I think we’re in a good position to deliver a strong result next week.
“The whole package worked really well in Argentina and the hope will be to continue that in Portugal. A lot will depend on the weather, but the surface isn’t too dissimilar and the soft roads have the potential to become quite rough and rutted over the second pass.
“If we’re to challenge for another strong result we’re going to have to be at the top of our game. We’ll need to get into a good rhythm early on and find our confidence through the stages. If we can do that, anything is possible.”
Hyundai Motorsport
2016 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 05 / Rally Portugal / May 19-22, 2016 // Worldwide Copyright: Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon commented:
“It’s not been the season that we expected or wanted to have so far. Argentina was a bit of a low, especially when contrasted with our win there last season, so I hope Portugal will be the place where fortunes change. Unfortunately, John will not be co-driving at this event after aggravating an existing hip condition but it’s good he will still be present in Portugal with the team. Thanks to Seb for stepping in at an event he knows from last season. It’s a rally with a special atmosphere. There are a lot of passionate people there who love rallying. For us to be able to go out there and compete in front of those crowds is an incredible sensation. We’ll work hard to get a good result and kick-start my season.”
Thierry Neuville said:
“We are still on a high after the results of Corsica and Argentina. At the same time, we know we have to stay focused and concentrated on our job because the Championship is incredibly close. We saw with the margin to Elfyn in Argentina, one of the smallest in WRC history, that we can take nothing for granted. Rally Portugal in its current format is still a bit of a new one for us, having only been in the north of the country for the last two seasons. It is quite a tricky event, but I am looking forward to it. I am sure that with this new car and with the confidence we have, we can be fast.”
Dani Sordo said:
“Portugal is always a really special event for me because it takes place so close to Spain. There is a lot of support from the crowds, which gives us a real boost. There are a lot of Portuguese people on the team as well, so it’s a really great rally for us all. We really can feel that crowd cheering us on, especially through famous sections like the Fafe jump. Hopefully we will be able to give them something extra special to cheer about by Sunday. After the disappointment of Argentina, I am determined to get back onto podium-challenging pace and to get the full potential out of our Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC on these fun stages.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala
“What I learned in Argentina is that the first day is very important; you really want to try and be in the top five so that you can have a good road position for the following day. So that will be my objective in Portugal, and if the weather is bad on the first day, my position of second on the road could actually help me – as the road conditions behind might deteriorate. Before the rally, we tested a few things, trying out some dampers and also experimenting with the ride height, so that we can perform to the maximum of our potential in rough conditions as well.”
Juho Hänninen
“I tested when the weather was still OK: it was quite warm, and we were able to try a few new things with suspension and differentials. Although I’ve done Rally Portugal before, this is actually my first time on the stages in the north. I like these stages, but from what I can see there could be a lot of road cleaning, so hopefully my road position might help me. Portugal is a bit like Argentina, only not as rough, so I think we can use many of the lessons that we learned there to make more progress. The second run through the stages might be a bit tricky, so we will need to be careful.”
Esapekka Lappi
“I’ve been able to test before the rally in Portugal, which has given me a good taste of some future development directions, but these may not be the conditions we experience when it comes to the actual competition. It’s obviously very exciting for me to be starting my first rally in the Yaris WRC: the opportunity I’ve been waiting for all of my life. But this is team effort, and my role is to collect as much data as possible for the team to develop the car further. The most important thing is to finish: never easy on such a challenging event like Portugal. For my own experience too, I need to make sure that I do all the stages, so we’re going to take a very calm and focussed approach to the rally.”
ToyotaGazooRacingWRC Official Presentation 13December 2017 – Helsinki
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg says:
I think there were quite a few among the factory guys taken by a bit of surprise by our speed especially the first day in Argentina. We had found a good setup for the car, despite limited testing, and I felt confident and motivated. I have the same feeling before Portugal and aim to fight for top positions. I am really looking forward to the rally here in Portugal. It’s a classical and very demanding rally and the atmosphere with all the spectators is brilliant.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Argentina (ARG) – WRC 26/04/2017 to 30/04/2017 – PHOTO : @World
This year there are nineteen stages, with the road having a soft sand covering and then after the first pass through a bit rocky afterwards.
THURSDAY 18 MAY
7.30am: Shakedown (Paredes)
6.10pm: Start (Guimaraes)
7.03pm: SS1 – Lousada (3.36km)
8.00pm: Parc ferme (Exponor)
FRIDAY 19 MAY
8.40am: Service A (Exponor – 19 min)
10.09am: SS2 – Viana do Castelo 1 (26.70km)
11.06am: SS3 – Caminha 1 (18.10km)
11.46am: SS4 – Ponte de Lima 1 (27.46km)
2.25pm: Service B (Exponor – 34 mins)
4.09pm: SS5 – Viana do Castelo 2 (26.70km)
5.06pm: SS6 – Caminha 2 (18.10km)
5.46pm: SS7 – Ponte de Lima 2 (27.46km)
7.03pm: SS8 – Braga Street Stage 1 (1.90km)
7.28pm: SS9 – Braga Street Stage 2 (1.90km)
8.40pm: Service C (Exponor – 49 mins)
SATURDAY 20 MAY
7.15am: Service D (Exponor – 19 mins)
9.08am: SS10 – Vieira do Minho 1 (17.43km)
9.46am: SS11 – Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (22.30km)
11.04am: SS12 – Amarante 1 (37.55km)
1.00pm: Service E (Exponor – 34 mins)
3.08pm: SS13 – Vieira do Minho 2 (17.43km)
3.46pm: SS14 – Cabeceiras de Basto 2 (22.30km)
5.04pm: SS15 – Amarante 2 (37.55km)
6.55pm: Service F (Exponor – 49 mins)
SUNDAY 21 MAY
7.35am: Service G (Exponor – 19 mins)
9.08am: SS16 – Fafe 1 (11.18km)
9.30am: SS17 – Luilhas (11.91km)
10.20am: SS18 – Montim (8.66km)
12.18pm: SS19 – Power Stage Fafe 2 (11.18km)
1.50pm: Service H (Exponor – 14 mins)
2.20pm: Finish
Well, can Kris get his season back on track and score some decent points this weekend? Will Thierry win again, or maybe one of the other Hyundai drivers? Hayden will have Seb Marshall along him for the first time, as John Kennard sits out this one because of a problem caused by the rough stages in Argentina.
Some very interesting news to let you know about. Mads Østberg will be running on D-Mack tyres this weekend after switching from Michelins.
How will Esapekka Lappi’s debut go? So many questions to be answered. Let’s enjoy it!
It’s time for one of the fastest rallies on the planet!! The 74th Rally Poland starts on Thursday evening with a super special around the Mikolajki Arena.
This year there are 23 stages covering 326.64 km. There are three new stages, Baranowo, Pozezdrze and Kruklanki this year to provide a new challenge for the drivers and the co-drivers. Also with the faster cars of this season, many changes will need to be made to last year’s pace notes.
RALLY POLAND SCHEDULE (GMT+2)
THURSDAY 29 JUNE
8.00am: Shakedown – Sady (4.90km)
4.00pm: Start (Mikolajki)
7.08pm: SS1 – Mikolajki Arena (2.50km)
7.28pm: Parc ferme (Mikolajki)
FRIDAY 30 JUNE
6.25am: Service A (Mikolajki – 18 mins)
7.15am: SS2 – Chmielewo 1 (6.52km)
9.00am: SS3 – Wieliczki 1 (15.96km)
9.55am: SS4 – Swietajno 1 (19.60km)
10.40am: SS5 – Stare Juchy 1 (13.50km)
12.40pm: Service B (Mikolajki – 33 mins)
1.45pm: SS6 – Chmielewo 2 (6.52km)
3.30pm: SS7 – Wieliczki 2 (15.96km)
4.25pm: SS8 – Swietajno 2 (19.60km)
5.10pm: SS9 – Stare Juchy 2 (13.50km)
7.08pm: SS10 – Mikolajki Arena 2 (2.50km)
7.38pm: Service C (Mikolajki – 48 mins)
SATURDAY 1 JULY
7.45am: Service D (Mikolajki – 18 mins)
8.08am: SS11 – Baranowo 1 (15.55km)
9.20am: SS12 – Pozezdrze 1 (24.28km)
10.45am: SS13 – Goldap 1 (14.75km)
11.35am: SS14 – Kruklanki 1 (19.58km)
1.12pm: Service E (Mikolajki – 33 mins)
2.08pm: SS15 – Baranowo 2 (15.55km)
3.20pm: SS16 – Pozezdrze 2 (24.28km)
4.45pm: SS17 – Goldap 2 (14.75km)
5.35pm: SS18 – Kruklanki 2 (19.58km)
7.30pm: SS19 – Mikolajki Arena 3 (2.50km)
8.00pm: Service F (Mikolajki – 48 mins)
SUNDAY 2 JULY
6.40am: Service G (Mikolajki – 18 mins)
8.10am: SS20 – Orzysz 1 (11.15km)
9.08am: SS21 – Paprotki 1 (18.68km)
10.45am: SS22 – Orzysz 2 (11.15km)
12.18pm: SS23 – Paprotki 2 – Power Stage (18.68km)
1.40pm: Service H (Mikolajki – 13 mins)
2.30pm: Podium (Mikolajki)
Stage maps courtesy of Rally Poland
Day oneDay TwoDay Three
Now, last year, Ott Tanak came within one stage of victory, but a puncture cost him his lead and Andreas Mikkelsen picked up the win. Of course, Ott won last time out, becoming our fifth different winner this year!
Now, Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle are not driving in this event, after having a troubled last few events. Andreas will be driving, with Craig Breen and Stéphane Lefebvre in the C3 WRC cars. The Citroen team are bringing some updates to their car as well after testing them last week. They are a new rear differential rail and a change to the torque split between the front and rear four-wheel drive system.
Let’s hear then from the drivers ahead of this classic event.
M-Sport WRT
Sébastien Ogier said:
“Rally Poland is an event that every driver looks forward to. The pace is incredible and the fast roads give an amazing sense of adrenaline that will only be magnified by the new cars this year.
“I have good memories from Poland having won there twice before, but last year it was probably the worst event for me in terms of road cleaning.
“Leading the championship is exactly where we wanted to be at this point in the season, but if it’s dry that will provide something of a disadvantage on Friday and we’ll need to work hard to limit the time loss.
“It’s so hard to claw back time here, but let’s see what we can do. We had a good test in Estonia where we found a good feeling with the car – that bodes well and we’re ready to push and give it our all.
“Maintaining our lead in the championship is the top priority, and extending it would be a good weekend.”
Ott Tänak said:
“Everyone knows that Rally Poland is one of my favourite events. The stages are so fast and flowing, and that’s something that I really enjoy. I grew up on roads like this in Estonia, and this year will be even more of an adrenaline rush with the new cars – I can’t wait!
“This is a real drivers’ rally. The speeds are incredible and you have to be full of confidence. The pacenotes have to be perfect and the smallest of hesitations can cost you speed and time – something which is very hard to get back on these fast roads.
“I’m sure a lot of people will be looking at us as we’ve done very well here in the past, but let’s see what happens. We won’t have the best road position as the third car on the road, but we had a good test in Estonia and we’re feeling fairly positive.
“We’ve got a good feeling with the car and I’m sure that we’ll enjoy every second of this rally whatever the outcome. The podium always has to be our minimum goal, so bring it on!”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Teemu Suninen said:
“I’ll be taking the next step in my career next week, and it’s a big step – my world rally car debut! The challenge from WRC 2 has been multiplied and I can’t wait to get started. Rally Poland has always been kind to me, so it is great to start this part of my career there.
“Good preparation is really important. I don’t ever expect a debut in a world rally car to be easy, but we have completed a two-day test with M-Sport to get used to the car and find our feet.
“I’ve not had chance to test in Poland so I’ll need to take all of my high-speed kilometres from the rally itself.
“Shakedown will give us our first experience of these fast stages, and then the plan will be to drive smoothly to the finish – gaining maximum experience before my next outing on home soil.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Tour de Corse (FRA) – WRC 06/04/2017 to 09/04/2017 – PHOTO : @World
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans said:
“I’m really looking forward to Rally Poland. It’s fair to say that Sardinia didn’t quite go to plan, but we’ve regrouped and can hopefully secure another good result next week.
“The stages in Poland are incredibly fast and confidence is everything. We tested in Estonia last week where we found a good set-up and that has been a big positive boost for the rally.
“The test road was really representative and we got a lot of kilometres under our belt in a lot of different conditions, so we’re feeling pretty well prepared.
“I’m looking forward to this one, as I’m sure a lot of drivers will be! It’s such an adrenaline rush and a real highlight on the calendar.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon said:
“Our performance in Sardinia showed exactly what we are capable of achieving. It was a shame to lose the lead in the way that we did, but we have to bounce back. I am determined to focus on the positives, of which there were many in the recent rallies. I have spent some time back in New Zealand in between the events, which was good to help refocus. Poland is definitely one of my favourite rallies. It’s one of the fastest of the year, and of course I love going as quick as I can! I think the car will suit the roads quite well. We’re looking forward to it and as always we’ll be giving it 100%.”
Thierry Neuville said:
“I really enjoy Rally Poland as I like the flow of the stages. There are not as many dangerous corners and the stages are quite open. You can be a bit braver at this one and take a few more risks. It is a lot of fun because the speed is just amazing, but at the same time, we know that we have a job to do and we want to continue to press as hard as we can to stay in the Championship hunt. We are now into the latter stages of the season, so this is where every moment and every decision matters.”
2016 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 07 / Rally Poland // June 30 – July 03, 2016 // Worldwide Copyright: Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo said:
“Given the speeds that can be reached in Poland, it is vitally important that our pace notes are accurate. This is particularly the case through some of the corners, where you can lose a lot of time if you make even the smallest mistake. There is no margin for error because it is a really, really fast rally. In general, the atmosphere is nice, with huge crowd’s present, so it is an enjoyable event. We finished very strongly in Sardinia, and will look to build on that in Poland!”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala said:
“We had a really good test for Poland, which featured some rain as well, and I think this will be very useful as there was also some rain on the final day in Poland last year, which often happens after you have many days of hot conditions as we expect next week. We made some steps forward with the dampers and I was particularly impressed by the stability of the car. With a lot of the car’s development having taken place on the rapid roads of Finland, I think the Yaris WRC should be well suited to the very fast roads in Poland too.”
Juho Hänninen said:
“I was happy with our progress in Sardinia and our preparations were able to build on that. I actually think that our car is better on the fast rallies compared to the slow rallies so this gives me a lot of confidence, as you do not have to worry so much about the set-up and you can just concentrate on the driving. On the test, I made some changes to the suspension and since then there has been even more development, so this is really positive. Road cleaning will not be as big a factor as it was in Sardinia but Friday could still be important.
Esapekka Lappi said:
“The test before Poland was a good step up for me: from the slow roads of Sardinia to the really fast and flat-out roads that we experienced in testing. I would say that the test was representative, although maybe in Poland we can expect roads that are slightly softer and sandier. Although I had a good result in Sardinia I have no particular expectations for Poland. Because it’s a really fast rally you need a lot of confidence and I’m not sure if I have that yet. I just want to have a clean run and reach the finish with no problems in order to learn as much as possible.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Andreas Mikkelsen said:
“We had a very good test session last week. After spending two days in the car, on the kind of roads we’ll encounter in the rally, I defined a set-up that matches my driving style. Obviously, there is still work to do, but I think Craig and Stéphane were also pleased with the changes. Poland is my favourite rally: I was runner-up in 2014 and 2015, and then won here in 2016. I feel confident on these roads where, as a driver, you really need to commit. After learning about the car at Rally Sardegna, I hope I can fight among the frontrunners this time out. Many factors – such as the weather, the dust and the running order – can affect the outcome of the race, but I’m hoping to go for a podium spot if everything goes well.”
Craig Breen said:
“After the rough, winding roads of Sardinia, pre-event testing gave me the chance to readjust to the fast, flowing roads in Poland. Andreas explored some new ideas during testing, which seem to be a move in the right direction. I’m pleased to be competing at a rally where I don’t have to learn about everything. Last year, this event marked something of a turning point in my season. This is where I laid the foundations for my podium in Finland. I feel more confident coming into this event than I did before the last three rallies and I think I can up my pace here. Following a series of fifth places, I’d love to get a bit closer to the podium.”
Stephane Lefebvre said:
“Like Andreas and Craig, I think we made progress during testing. I really like Rally Poland. I have been quick here in the last three years, regardless of the category. Last year, I also had the pleasure of claiming my first proper stage win in the WRC, as the leaders were fighting for first place. I know how to drive on these roads and my confidence was boosted by the test sessions. The stages are quite similar to those in Finland, with narrower roads and looser surfaces. There are also long sections through the fields, which are very fast but with few landmarks. My goal is to make it to the finish and put an end to the poor run of results I’ve had recently.”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg is eager for this event!
He said:
“I am looking forward to proving that I can master the specialities of this rally. We have run three very technical and rough gravel events in a row, but in Poland it all changes. It`s a gravel rally ok, but more like Finland with superfast stages. Actually, in some parts it is faster than Finland. The last two years I have struggled a bit in this rally, but I have a positive feeling now after our test last Sunday.”
During the test, he had a small off the road moment.
“Normally it`s not my habit to go off the road, but this time we found the limit. It was nothing to dramatical, but created some extra work for my team. Anyway, I felt the test gave us a good base setup for these fast roads and I will use shakedown on the Thursday to finetune a bit.”
So far, this year, Mads and his small team have shown good pace, but have suffered mechanical problems, so for this event, he’s looking to have a consistent rally and hopefully this will lead to a decent result.
“We have to put together a whole rally. The speed is definitely there and the team is working in a very dedicated style. My goal now is to show that I can be on the top throughout an event, and it can certainly happen in Poland, he says.”
Still he is not really interested in revealing his result wise ambitions in an event he has felt a bit unsure about the last two years.
“It a special event with very high speeds and extremely deep ruts the second time through the stages. I need to be confident all the way through, and if I can manage that I will be able to collect some very good WRC points. That’s all I`m willing to tell before the rally starts.”
WRC2 News
M-Sport will also be running some Fiesta R5 cars, with Éric Camilli, Gus Greensmith, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Osian Pryce at the wheel of them.
Here’s what they had to say about this special rally and their hopes.
Éric Camilli said:
“We had a great rally in Sardinia and now I’m looking forward to the next challenge in Poland, but these two rallies could not be more different!
“The stages in Sardinia were really narrow and rough and you had to be really clever. In Poland, it’s all about being confident and brave. The stages are so fast and flowing and they really are a pleasure to drive flat-out.
“Hopefully, we can continue our good form on these fast stages. We won’t be competing for WRC 2 points, but a lot of the main players will be there and it will be a great opportunity for us to show our speed against them.”
Gus Greensmith said:
“Rally Poland is fast – really fast – and that is a unique challenge in itself. It’s an event I enjoy because of the speed, and because of the high level of commitment that you need to apply in every corner.
“The biggest challenge is in knowing not to push the entry to every corner as you can lose a lot of time on that – especially if it’s followed by a long straight. To be on the pace in Poland, you definitely need to find the right balance between patience and commitment.
“Portugal was a good rally for us, and when we had a clean stage we were fighting right at the sharp end which was great.
“I’d like to make another step forward in Poland. I don’t have a particular position in mind, but I do have a good idea of where I want to be and I’m looking forwarded to realising that goal.”
Pierre-Louis Loubet said:
“Rally Poland is an event that I will always remember – it’s where I had a big crash during shakedown when I was competing in in the Junior World Rally Championship.
“Last year however, I had a lot of fun there and I hope to have just as much this year too. The speeds are incredible and to succeed you need to keep a fast pace whilst staying on the road.
“I’m not scoring WRC 2 points this weekend, so the goal is to take maximum experience ready for a big push in Finland.”
Osian Pryce said:
“I’m really looking forward to Rally Poland. Doing the British Rally Championship with the Fiesta R5, I’ve built up some confidence over the first half of the year and we’ll have a good team around us so I’m looking forward to what will hopefully be an enjoyable and rewarding weekend.
“This will be my third time at Rally Poland and the roads there are definitely unique. It’s a great event with a real buzz about it. The speeds on the stages are incredible, but so are the people – the Polish fans really get involved and have a clear passion for their motorsport.
“Like Finland, the speed in Poland really is on another level. The level of commitment needed is pretty high and you need to find the right balance – between finding that commitment and not overdoing it and making mistakes.
“Of course, I want to set some good times and secure a positive result, but at the end of the day I just want to go out there and enjoy it and make the most of the opportunity.”
This event promises to be very exciting indeed! We have a real battle for the championship between the top four drivers, just 34 points between fourth placed Jari-Matti and leader Seb.
Friday’s action sees 116.16km of action, then on Saturday, 150.82 and finally on Sunday 59.66km’s.
He came close a couple of times last year and now Ott is a winner at the top level of the WRC! Here’s the story of how it all happened in Italia, the place when the young Estonian picked up his first podium a few years ago.
The usual evening short stage gave us a leaderboard of sorts, but the action started properly Friday morning with an early start for the teams. The main challenge in this event being held on very narrow roads, making it a technical challenge!
End of SS1:
1 Neuville 2m01.8s
2 Tanak +0.2s
3 Sordo +0.4s
FRIDAY 9 JUNE
6.30am: Tyre fitting zone (Olbia – 10 mins)
7.18am: SS2 – Terranova (14.54km)
7.41am: SS3 – Monte Olia 1 (19.05km)
9.12am: SS4 – Tula 1 (15.00km)
10.17am: SS5 – Tergu-Osilo 1 (14.14km)
SS2 – TERRANOVA 1 (14.54km)
1️ Meeke 10:14.1 (84kph)
2 Hanninen +0.5
3 Paddon +0.8
When Thierry finished the first stage of the day, he explained that he’d had to slow down in the stage because of the dust hanging in the air. Hayden set a very good time indeed, going through third fastest, but it was Kris in his Citroen who was fastest! He explained about a lot of loose stones, but that it was a pretty good stage for him. Juho in the Toyota did a great time, showing that experience from this event helps a lot! He said at the end that he was surprised at the time. Andreas in his first outing in the C3 said that he was being very careful, just to get the feeling in the car, and that it would get better.
SS3 – MONTE OLIA 1 (19.05km)
1 Hanninen 13:25.8 (87.7kph)
2️ Meeke +3.2
3 Ostberg +4.6
The first casualty of this event would be Craig in his Citroen. The car would land heavily from a jump and damage to the gearbox leading to a big oil leak would mean that his day was done. Juho would win this stage and also take the overall lead by just two tenths of a second. He’d just moved from third to first in one stage!
SS4 – TULA 1 (15.00km)
1 Sordo 11:51.2 (81.8kph)
2 Neuville +2.0
3 Tanak +3.3
We would have our second car exit day one when Elfyn would leave the road, hitting some trees on the right-hand side and breaking the suspension on the front. He was out for the day as well. Dani would win stage four. Juho would fall behind Hayden and Kris again at the end of the stage, with the Citroen driver moving into the lead once more. Privateer Mads was maintaining fourth overall, whilst Seb was now 28 seconds off the lead in ninth place overall.
SS5 – TERGU-OSILO 1 (14.14km)
1 Lappi 9:06.3 (93.3kph)
2 Ostberg +3.3
3 Paddon +3.7
Esapekka Lappi would take his first stage victory in stage five, but it would be Kris and Dani who would have drama in this stage. Dani would lose power in the i20. There was smoke coming from the exhaust, thus meaning that clearly there was an engine problem. Kris sadly would roll his car again after the rear slid wide on a right-hander! They got the car back on it wheels and completed the stage, the bonnet lifting up against the windscreen near the end! Kris was now also out. What a shame.
Hayden was now in the lead, 4.3 seconds ahead of Juho, with the service break following stage five.
11.56am: Service A (Alghero – 30 mins)
3.25pm: SS6 – Terranova (14.54km)
3.48pm: SS7 – Monte Olia 2 (19.05km)
5.25pm: SS8 – Tula 2 (15.00km)
6.30pm: SS9 – Tergu-Osilo 2 (14.14km)
8.10pm: Flexi Service B (Alghero – 48 mins)
SS6 – TERRANOVA 2 (14.54km)
1 Lappi 9:59.5 (93.3kph)
2 Paddon +1.2
3 Tanak +1.7
After service, Esapekka would win stage six and stage seven as well, a great performance indeed, lifting him into ninth overall. He was a happy man, after changes to the car setup meant that he could drive to more of his potential!
SS7 – MONTE OLIA 2 (19.05km)
1 Lappi 13:04.9 (87.7kph)
2 Latvala +1.3
3 Neuville +1.3
After his drama’s earlier, Dani would win the last stages of day one and with that pace move into tenth overall at the end of the day.
SS8 – TULA 2 (15.00km)
1 Sordo 11:38.5 (81.8kph)
2 Latvala +8.2
3 Neuville +8.3
SS9 – TERGU-OSILO 2 (14.14km)
1 Sordo 8:53.2 (105kph)
2 Lappi +3.2
3 Tanak +3.6
So, let’s hear from the drivers starting with the top three.
Hayden Paddon (1st) said:
“We approached today with a specific plan, and we didn’t deviate from that. We know you can’t win this rally on the first day, so we just wanted to feel comfortable. The car felt good and we wanted to continue our positive morning into the afternoon. Unfortunately, we picked up front-left damper damage in SS7, which changed the balance of the car; things didn’t feel as good. Our focus today was on securing a good road position for tomorrow, so it’s mission accomplished from that point of view. I enjoy tomorrow’s stages a lot but we know it’s a tough, unforgiving rally. It’s nice to be leading this evening but we’re not getting carried away.”
Thierry Neuville (2nd) commented:
“It was nice to take the stage win on Thursday evening but today was the real start of the rally. We had a good day, although we lost around five seconds when we went straight at a junction in SS3 (Monte Olia), and had to reverse. Our road position meant we were cleaning quite a bit but I thought we might still be able to battle for a podium. We gave it a push in the afternoon, and actually didn’t have much performance left in our tyres by the end of the loop. Still, we set some pretty decent times and we have a great position in second, which will be important on Saturday.”
Ott Tänak (3rd) said:
“The gaps are so small at the moment that anything is possible. I tried to do my best but it didn’t feel like the best day at the office so it’s good to see that we are so close to the lead at the end of the day.
“The first loop was very slippery with some tricky conditions in the dust. I enjoyed it a lot more in the afternoon, but to be honest I didn’t have the perfect feeling. Sometimes it was okay and at other times it was a bit so and so.
“We have some ideas of what we can do to improve and it looks like everyone is looking forward to tomorrow’s stages so I think it will be good craic.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (4th)
“In the morning, I found the stages quite slippery and there was a lot of dust. Then on the third stage of the day we had an impact on the sump guard and this broke the starter motor, so I had to be careful not to stall the car, as there would be no way to start again. We fixed that at service and then in the afternoon we had no problems apart from one very strange thing: the rally plate on the bonnet came off and it was flapping around in front of me, so that was very distracting. But I’m happy with our performance in the afternoon after we were a bit up and down in the morning: it’s going to be a big fight tomorrow and I feel confident that we’re going to be right in the middle of it.”
Juho Hänninen (6th)
“Close to the finish of the final stage there was a slippery braking area near a bridge: I lost the rear of the car and it span and then I hit the front against a fence. That broke some radiator pipes but we were able to fix it and come to service. It’s a pity as before that it was a good day with no severe problems. Even though conditions were slippery, I felt that I had a lot of traction, so this shows that the work we have done with the dampers has been very effective. In the afternoon I backed off a bit on the particularly rough and rutted sections to try and be safe.”
Esapekka Lappi (9th)
“I’m surprised how today went: I really didn’t expect us to be able to do the times that we were setting. Especially in the morning, as we had no second gear: so maybe we only need five gears to win stages! I changed the set-up completely at service in the middle of the day and I had a much better feeling in the afternoon; the car felt perfect and that’s why I was able to set those times, even though we had a problem with a front-left damper during the second loop of stages.”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg (5th) said:
We actually still have a realistic chance of fighting for the victory, because this is a very tough rally and the margins are so tiny. Tomorrow will be a very hard day with more than 140 km’s of stages, and I just have to push on, but still be patient”
“Everything worked well this morning with good balance in the car, without having to push over the limit. But I made a mistake with my tyre choice for the second loop when I thought I could go a bit softer than my opponents. The soft tyres didn`t function that well in the high temperatures, and I lost the balance with more oversteering. It became a struggle to stay in touch with the leaders.”
He continued, ”14-15 seconds behind really is nothing in a tough rally like this. You can lead a rally with that margin and loose it all in one corner with a half-spin. I just have to push on and on the same time be a bit patient. It will for sure be exciting”
M-Sport WRT
Sébastien Ogier (7th) said:
“It’s not been a fantastic day for us. We tried as much as we could with the grip that we had but that is just the way it is when you’re the first car on the road.
“I was happy with the car and we made some changes in service that I was pleased with, but every time I tried to push there was so little grip and the risks became too high.
“It’s frustrating as I had no chance to go faster today, but sometimes you just have to keep the bigger picture in mind and wait for the next day.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans (Rally 2 / 41st) said:
“On a tightening corner after a crest, there was a bad dip that I hadn’t noted on the recce. The car bottomed out and we were passengers after that. Unable to turn, we went straight into the trees and that was the end of our day.
“We weren’t going flat-out and I felt that we could have taken more risks through the first two stages so it’s just one of those things. There’s a fine line in this game and sometimes you get caught out – that was the case for us today.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing
Andreas Mikkelsen (9th)
“It wasn’t an easy day. My aim was to keep learning about the Citroën C3 WRC. I have to take it gradually, step by step, before I can get back to playing with the leading guys! The car is different to drive compared to the ones I was used to driving and obviously, it takes a bit of time to adjust. We worked with the team to alter the set-up and adapt it to my driving style. The main thing is to have completed all the stages on this leg.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo (10th) commented:
“To start with the positives, we have enjoyed these stages today and set some really competitive times when we could. Unfortunately, the turbo issue has overshadowed the day a bit. The team did all they could to resolve the problem fully at lunchtime service, but we then had troubles at the start of the afternoon loop related to the boost pressure. Thankfully, we were able to fix it in time for the final two stages, so we decided to go flat out and see what we could do. To take three stage wins today is obviously nice. Without the turbo issues, we might have been in the hunt for a podium. We will continue tomorrow but we know it’s going to be tough.”
Overall at the end of the first day.
1 Paddon 1:31:02.6
2 Neuville +8.2
3 Tanak +9.5
4 Latvala +9.8
5 Ostberg +14.7
6 Hanninen +38.0
7 Ogier +41.0
8 Lappi +1:05.3
9️ Mikkelsen +1:57.9
10 Sordo +14:04.2
SATURDAY 10 JUNE
5.00am: Service C (Alghero – 18 mins)
7.45am: SS10 – Coiluna – Loelle 1 (14.95km)
8.41am: SS11 – Monti da Ala’ 1 (28.52km)
9.20am: SS12 – Monte Lerno 1 (28.11km)
It was a very early start on Saturday morning! Could Hayden continue his fine run from yesterday? Well he started well with a stage victory. The young kiwi now had a 13.1 second lead over Thierry.
SS10 – COILUNA – LOELLE 1 (14.95km)
1 Paddon 8:00.8 (105kph)
2 Latvala +4.0
3 Tanak +4.2
Thierry won the next stage, and gained 4 second on Hayden, thus reducing the gap to just under 9 seconds. Ott was consolidating his third overall. Seb moved ahead of Juho into sixth position as well.
SS11 – MONTI DI ALA’ 1 (28.52km)
1 Neuville 17:02.8 (98.8kph)
2 Paddon +4.2
3 Tanak +5.1
This is the stage that features Micky’s Jump. Hayden still lead, but with Thierry getting a puncture, it was Ott who won the stage and the gap between them was reduced to 9.4 seconds. Andreas and Mads both also suffered punctures in this stage and the drivers who benefitted from this were Ott, Jari-Matti, Juho and Esappekka.
SS12 – MONTE LERNO 1 (28.11km)
1 Tanak 17:54.5 (98.8kph)
2 Paddon +5.2
3 Latvala +9.0
12.11pm: Service D (Alghero – 30 mins)
3.08pm: SS13 – Coiluna – Loelle 2 (14.95km)
4.04pm: SS14 – Monti da Ala’ 2 (28.52km)
4.43pm: SS15 – Monte Lerno 2 (28.11km)
7.24pm: Flexi Service E (Alghero – 48 mins)
After the service break, Ott would win again, also taking the lead overall as Hayden would have contact in the stage with the scenery and limped through after suffering a broken wheel. This put Latvala into second overall. Hayden had dropped down to fourth place.
SS13 – COILUNA – LOELLE 2 (14.95km)
1 Tanak 7:52.0 (120kph)
2️ Breen +1.0
3 Neuville +1.9
Ott would win again, but Thierry would come pretty close to beating the Fiesta ace. Sadly, Hayden would retire his car before this stage. Just too much damage to his car.
SS14 – MONTI DI ALA’ 2 (28.52km)
1 Tanak 16:48.1 (105kph)
2 Neuville +0.8
3 Latvala +3.5
It was time for the second run through the stage with Micky’s Jump. Lappi in his Yaris WRC won the stage, really showing his quality again and moving ahead of Juho into fourth overall. A brilliant run. The young Toyota crew had found a lot of time in the stage after the morning stage.
SS15 – MONTE LERNO 2 (28.11km)
1 Lappi 17:35.8 (98.8kph)
2 Neuville +0.1
3 Tanak +1.9
So, just like last year’s Rally Poland, Ott was leading with the just the Sunday stages to go. Could he do it this time, or would Jari-Matti come through to take the win?
Here’s the top ten at the end of Saturday.
Overall after SS15
1 Tanak 2:56:37.3
2 Latvala +24.3
3 Neuville +1:02.2
4 Lappi +2:10.8
5 Hanninen +2:42.1
6 Ogier +3:26.1
7 Ostberg +3:56.0
8️ Mikkelsen +7:47.6
9. Kopecky +9:52.9
10. Camilli +9:53.8
Let’s hear from all the drivers starting with the top three.
Ott Tänak (1st) said:
“It’s been a big fight all rally and I’ve really enjoyed it. Some guys have been dropping out, but we’ve been doing a good job and all we need to do now is keep going and continue exactly as we have been.
“I think we had a good strategy for this weekend. Sardinia is a very special event and it needs a very special approach. You always need to keep that margin and that is what we have done and what we plan to continue doing.
“A massive thanks to the team as the car has been perfect this afternoon. They’ve been working flat-out all hours of the day – literally – and we wouldn’t be sitting here in the first position if it weren’t for them.
“There’s still 40 kilometres of very demanding stages left to come, but there’s a good gap now and we just need to finish the job.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (2nd) said:
“On the final stage the tyres were finished and the brakes were also getting too hot. But apart from that, we’ve done some good work today and improved the car over the course of the rally. The main problem we had was during the first run through Monte Lerno this morning, when we were suddenly caught in the dust behind another competitor, who had a puncture. He didn’t know we were there as radio is not allowed, so we lost about 10 seconds. You can’t afford that in the fight for victory as it is so close, so the team has appealed to the stewards and I hope we get the time back.”
Thierry Neuville (3rd) commented:
“It was a frustrating morning but we are still in with a shout of the podium so we can’t be too disheartened. There have been issues for most crews so, on balance, we have to accept these things can happen at tough rallies like Sardinia. After our win in SS11, we had brake issues and we lost over a minute in SS12. We knew we were battling for the win and without this problem we would most likely have been leading at the end of Saturday. But this is rallying. The mechanics did a fantastic job to fix the car during lunchtime service. It was tight but they really allowed us to keep going into the afternoon loop, and to continue our fight for the podium. We will do all we can on the final day to consolidate this third place, and who knows what other twists this rally has to come!”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 07, Rally Italia Sardegna 05-11 June 2017 Day 1 Portrait Thierry Neuville Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Esapekka Lappi (4th)
“Today has been good but it’s been really about clean driving and not making any mistakes rather than pushing hard. On both loops of stages I felt my brakes going towards the end of Monte Lerno, so I tried just to be careful and bring the car home. In the afternoon, it was very important to look after the tyres in the hot and abrasive conditions, hopefully I judged it right. I started the day as third car on the road so there was lots of cleaning and not much of a clean line, so that was another new experience for me. It’s good because I’ve got a lot to learn.”
Juho Hänninen (5th)
“It’s going very well, the only problem was on the last stage of the day when we had a spin and a problem with the power steering, which cost us some time. Overall, I tried not to push too hard in the afternoon as I knew it would take a lot out of the tyres and I think we managed that well. At midday service, we made the car stiffer and raised the ride height a bit, to cope with the rougher conditions afterwards.”
M-Sport WRT
Sébastien Ogier (6th) said:
“It’s been a tough weekend for us. I feel as though we’ve been driving well and I wouldn’t say that I’m unhappy with the balance of the car, but for some reason we’ve not been able to deliver the performance we wanted.
“There must be something wrong somewhere, but for the moment we’re not sure what. Of course every rally has its own characteristics, so hopefully we’ll be back up to our usual speed with a much better feeling in Poland.”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg (7th) said:
“This is a rally where luck actually can decide where you will end up. You cannot drive around every stone in the road, but you have to take some chances. On SS12 our luck ran out with a puncture and substantial timeloss”
“We did several changes to the car, but the main thing was the front diff, and that really did the trick. After service, I could play with the car again, instead of fighting with it. But then we had a new problem with the front suspension on the last stage, which nearly sent us off the road in 200 km/h”
“We just have to drive the four stages tomorrow to finish in a decent position and possibly set some good times and fight for power stage points. After the changes, we did to the car today I have a good feeling for that”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Andreas Mikkelsen (8th) said:
“It’s getting better and better! After the first day, which we spent mostly getting to grips with the C3 WRC, I had come to the conclusion that I needed to keep my driving style – which I know is effective – and work instead on the set-up. That’s what we did today, with a lot of changes from one stage to the next. It’s always difficult to work that like during a rally, because we only have the mid-leg service during which we can make the most significant changes. But the main thing is that we’re moving in the right direction.”
Craig Breen (Rally 2 / 27th)
“It would appear that we had a very good package for the first stage of the loop. That allowed me to put in a couple of good performances, unlike the other two stages, where I was really struggling. We don’t know why as yet, but I had quite a few moments in there. Whatever it was, we managed to make it to the end of the leg and collected a bit more experience. We’ll try to do the same thing tomorrow.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans (Rally 2 / 26th) said:
“We’ve got some good mileage under our belts today. This is one of the most abrasive rallies that we encounter all year so it was important to go out there and collect as much data as we could. That’s what we’ve done, and we can put that to good use for future development.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo commented:
“We knew it would be a tough day from our starting position on the road, but we haven’t given up and just wanted to enjoy the stages. Frustratingly, we had a paddleshift problem in SS11 this morning. The upshift was working fine but we couldn’t downshift. The first run through Monte Lerno was better, though. In the afternoon, we picked up a puncture after about 1km into the first stage but again we just fought through as best we could.”
Hayden Paddon said:
“I am devastated. It was such a schoolboy error, which caused us to break the rear wheel. I turned in too early and clipped a bank. That was that. There is no one to blame but myself, and I am hugely sorry for the team and all of our supporters. It’s important that I learn from this and do all I can to put things right at the next event. Things were going so well and we were maintaining our lead, which makes it even more frustrating.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 07, Rally Italia Sardegna 08-11 June 2017 Hayden Paddon, Seb Marshall, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Sarah Vessely Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Just four stages remained then to decide this event, and could Ott take a first victory?
The return of Hayden under Rally 2 rules, saw him win the first stage of Sunday, with Ott losing six seconds to a charging Jari-Matti, his lead reduced to 18 .8 seconds. Craig showed that the C3 can be quick again, but that the team just need better consistency from their drivers.
SS16 – CALA FLUMINI 1 (14.06km)
1 Paddon 8:58.3 (105kph)
2 Latvala +0.9
3️ Breen +1.6
Dani took the next stage, with Ott taking a lot of time from Jari-Matti and increasing his lead to 25 seconds over the Finn.
SS17 – SASSARI – ARGENTIERA 1 (6.96km)
1 Sordo 5:10.0 (72kph)
2 Neuville +7.5
3 Tanak +8.7
Sadly, Hayden crashed out on the next stage, but once again Lappi came to the fore again, with another stage victory.
SS18 – CALA FLUMINI 2 (14.06km)
1 Lappi 8:46.9 (105kph)
2 Latvala +1.5
3 Ogier +2.0
Time then for the last stage and some points were up for grabs as well. Incredibly, Esapekka Lappi won this stage as well. He really is an exciting talent! Seb drove really well and passed Juho on the overall leaderboard and into fifth place. The big story was that Ott had taken his first WRC victory! A number of drivers had led this event, Kris, Hayden but it was the Estonian crew who came through the dust to seal the victory, the first for a driver since Marko Martin in 2004.
SS19 – SASSARI – ARGENTIERA 2 – PW STAGE (6.96km)
1 Lappi 5:10.5 (72kph)
2 Sordo +0.4
3 Ogier +1.3
4 Neuville +1.9
5 Latvala +2.3
Final Standings
1 Tanak 3:25:15.1
2 Latvala +12.3
3 Neuville +1:07.7
4 Lappi +2:12.9
5 Ogier +3:25.3
6 Hanninen +3:38.5
7 Ostberg +6:31.8
8️ Mikkelsen +8:07.8
9. Camilli +11:15.8
10. Kopecky +11:21.4
Let’s hear from the top three then.
Ott Tänak (1st) said:
“All everyone has been asking me is how it feels, and I can confirm, it feels good! It was a really difficult weekend but we had a clever strategy and we stuck to it – and now it’s happy days!
“The team have done the perfect job with the car and Martin has been mega. The whole first half of the season has been great. We have such a strong team – both inside the car and outside the car – and a strong team mate who is pushing me to do my best.
“Everything is coming together and we are improving all the time. We’re still a private team and you just have to look at the result from the year to see what an amazing job everyone is doing.
“This was an important step for us, and now that it’s job done, let’s see where we can go from here.”
Jari-Matti Latvala (2nd) said:
“In the end, we were quite close and so I’m happy about this result but I’m a bit disappointed with myself after two mistakes I made today: on the second stage this morning I stalled the car when I was in second gear in the high ruts, then when the same stage was run again as the Power Stage this afternoon I couldn’t get the car turning around the junction. Anyway, all in all I’m happy for the team: it was a good result and a good performance.”
Thierry Neuville (3rd) commented:
“Overall it has been a positive rally, even though we are disappointed at not being able to fight for the victory this weekend. We were just unlucky with a brake issue on Saturday that lost us over a minute, which we were not able to get back. To score a podium in this tough rally is still good and extends our run of positive results this season. I gave everything I could in the Power Stage but the road conditions didn’t really suit us and we weren’t able to raise the ride height enough. Still, we took a few more points and should be reasonably satisfied. We have closed the gap to Ogier ever so slightly but we know it will need a big push into this second half of the season to catch him.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Esapekka Lappi (4th) said:
“I’m happy with this rally, we learned a lot. Today was good, especially the Power Stage, as that’s a stage where a lot of the drivers are pushing very hard. For the first two stages, today I was in full tyre saving mode: that’s why the times were not so good but in any case, we had nothing to lose or gain. Then on the stage before the Power Stage I pushed a little bit harder to get a feel for the speed again, then on the Power Stage it was full attack, but we had no problems: clean with no mistakes. On this rally, the most important thing I learned was the driving style of the car on these slow and twisty roads; now I need to find out a bit more about how to drive the car when we get to fast roads.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Juho Hänninen (6th) said:
“There are many positives we can take away: we tested a lot of things and we gathered lots of useful information for the future. Unfortunately, today we had an intermittent steering issue – the same thing as yesterday – and that cost us a bit of time. But still we score some good points and my best result so far in the Yaris WRC. After the rally, it’s easy to regret the mistake I made on the last stage of Friday: that certainly penalised us in the start order on Saturday, so maybe things could have been different. It’s all part of the sport though and the main thing is we have a good team result with all three cars.”
M-Sport WRT
Sébastien Ogier (5th) said:
“It wasn’t the best weekend for us but we’ve come away with 13 points and that is definitely a positive after such a tough few days.
“To lead the championship at the mid-point of the season is great – as long as you’re in the lead, you know that you are doing well.
“Congratulations to Ott on the win. He fully deserves it and it is another fantastic result for the team who have all worked so hard this weekend.”
Éric Camilli (1st RC2) (9th overall) said:
“I have always enjoyed Rally Italia Sardegna and I have especially enjoyed this weekend. The car has been perfect, the driving has been good and Benji has been word-perfect.
“It was a really good battle with Jan [Kopecky], but we pushed hard today and it’s great to come out on top with the victory.
“I’m taking a lot of pleasure away from this weekend and the team have been amazing. Everyone is working so hard and I think they should really enjoy the celebrations tonight!”
Jipocar WRT
Mads had a big problem in the last stage of the event. His right-rear suspension collapsed!
Mads Østberg (7th) said:
“It happened without forewarning when I was braking for a sharp corner after a couple of minutes driving on the power stage. The right rear suspension just collapsed and the wheel was steering us sideways and nearly off the road all the way to the end of the stage. It was a real struggle to finish and there was a couple of corners where I thought we wouldn`t manage to come through. We did a Safari style repair with strips and a jacking troop to drive the last road section without losing the wheel.”
Anyway, he made it to the end despite this.
Speaking about the next rally in Poland,
“It’s not so rough with much smoother surface and above all much faster roads. We must work hard to sort out possible problems with the goal of finishing a rally and be fully competitive more than one day of the event. I have not forgotten how to drive fast”
Hyundai Motorsport
Dani Sordo commented:
“A much better way for us to end the rally today compared to the frustrations of earlier in the event! I was happy to take a stage win this morning, our fourth of the weekend. We wanted to save our tyres for a good push in the Power Stage and we did just that. It wasn’t easy but I am happy to take some points away from this event. Without the turbo issues we had on Friday, we would have been more firmly in the hunt for a podium but we can do nothing about that now. We will just focus on the next rally in Poland and target a more representative result for us and the team.”
Hayden Paddon said:
“After Saturday’s misfortune, we wanted to use today to get back into a rhythm. Things started out well with a stage win, but that was the extent of our positives from today. In the penultimate stage, we had another very strange incident on a ‘nothing’ corner, where like yesterday I clipped the inside, which sent us wide. I don’t know why this is happening. I am incredibly disappointed in myself and for the team. I want to learn from this but at the same time put it behind us and look ahead to Poland.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Yves Matton said:
Looking at the fortunes of the team at this seventh round, clearly the results vary from one crew to the next. “Before the start, we asked our drivers to make it to the end of the rally. I don’t think we were wrong to think that if they managed to do that, we would end up with two cars in the top five,” explained Yves Matton, Citroën Racing Team Principal. “Unfortunately, Kris was unable to adopt the pace required to have an error-free race. After the opening stages, he felt comfortable in the car and said that his pace was consistent with the targets set. Clearly, he has failed to maintain it.”
“As regards Craig, his race was rapidly brought to a halt after he was caught out when landing a jump,” continued Yves Matton. “His lack of knowledge of the stages proved very costly, because it’s a tricky spot that is well known to the more experienced drivers on this rally. Having said that, we have noted that his retirement was similar to the one he suffered in Argentina and we need to look at whether or not we can make the car more able to withstand this type of impact.”
“Andreas’ approach has been constructive and positive. Following the day of pre-event testing, we knew that the C3 WRC would need to be adapted to his driving style, which doesn’t involve left-foot braking at all. Clearly, that takes time and so this rally became something of a prolonged test session. More than the actual result – eighth overall – we think we did some good work together. He managed to identify the points we need to work on first and foremost, and to achieve some initial improvements.”
Let’s sum up this event then.
Kris and Hayden both continued having bad events this year, whereas Lappi, who will now drive the rest of the year for Toyota delivered a great result. What chance we’ll see him on the podium before the end of the year?
Seb continued to score good points to keep him in the lead of the championship, albeit with a slightly reduced lead to Thierry. To see Ott finally take that first victory though! Just brilliant! It moved him ahead of Jari-Matti into third in the drivers’ championship.
Next round is Rally Poland! Ott came very close to winning there last year, and what will happen this year? We shall see!
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 07, Rally Italia Sardegna 05-11 June 2017 Day 3 Atmosphere Podium Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul Photographer: Helena El Mokni Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Armin Kremer will contest the 10th round of the FIA World Rally Championship with an M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta WRC.
The multiple German, European and Asia-Pacific champion from Mecklenburg will contest this year’s ADAC Rallye Deutschland in M-Sport’s top-specification Ford Fiesta WRC.
Last month saw Kremer get his first taste of 2017 machinery when travelling to the UK for a test drive. Just a few kilometres at M-Sport’s private testing facility was enough to convince the German and he is now looking forward to contesting his home event at the very highest level.
A total of 21 stages covering a competitive distance of more than 309 kilometres awaits. The challenging route mixes a variety of characteristics – from the spectacular new city circuit stage in Saarbrücken to the fast country lanes of Saarland; from the twisty tracks through the Moselle vineyards, to the rugged concrete of the Baumholder military ground.
In preparation for this unique challenge, Kremer will conduct a pre-event test alongside M-Sport’s manufacturer entries in early August.
The German’s entry at this year’s Rallye Deutschland goes full circle – Kremer having taken to the wheel of M-Sport’s Ford Focus WRC at the very first FIA World Rally Championship round to be held on German soil in 2002.
Armin Kremer said:
“I am overwhelmed and proud. It is an honour and a great pleasure for me, but also a huge challenge to compete with the same rally car at the ADAC Rallye as the four-time world champion Sébastien Ogier.
“I will translate everything in order to confirm the confidence placed in me by M-Sport and Malcolm Wilson. It is still too early to think about a result, but I am sure that with the support of the M-Sport drivers and engineers I will quickly get used to the Ford Fiesta WRC and find the optimal set-up for me.
“Anyone who knows me knows how much I want to get a decent result and to offer the German fans a good show.”
M-Sport Managing Director, Malcolm Wilson OBE:
“It’s great to welcome Armin back to the team for his home event. We’ve worked with him in the past and he is an extremely experienced driver – especially at Rallye Deutschland.
“It’s fantastic to have a German driver in a Ford Fiesta WRC for his home event – particularly as the home of the road-going Fiesta is just up the road in Cologne.
“I’m sure that Armin will enjoy every minute of it. I also have no doubt that his vast experience of these unique roads will benefit the entire team.”
Incredibly, it’s the halfway point of this year’s championship! Twelve months ago, Thierry won this event, on his way to finishing the 2016 championship in second place. He had a very strong second half to last season, so what can we expect from this year?
Now, both Kris and Hayden will want to get a solid result from this rally, to kick start their seasons. Kris hasn’t scored any points since his win in Mexico. Hayden certainly can point to a lot of problems, not always of his doing.
This year’s event will feature 19 stages, totalling 312.66 km’s. Here are the details of the stages.
Now, there are a couple of changes to announce in terms of co-driver changes and also Citroen changing their crew for in the number nine C3 WRC.
Sadly, Hayden’s co-driver has decided to bring forward his retirement. If you recall, he sat out Portugal because of an existing hip problem. Well, with no improvement, he’s decided to call it a day.
In the Citroen camp, we have Andreas Mikkelsen and Anders Jæger stepping into the C3 normally driven by Stephane Lefebvre and Gabin Moreau. It’s not a permanent move, as they will be back in the car for the following round in Poland.
Let’s hear from the drivers then!
M-Sport WRT
Sébastien Ogier said:
“We found a good feeling with the Fiesta in Portugal and we’ll be hoping to continue that in Sardinia. We’re approaching the mid-point in the season, and that’s where the championship will really start to heat up… quite literally!
“The temperatures that we’ll experience next week are probably the highest of the year and we’ll need to be prepared for that. We had a good test last week where we confirmed our cooling options as well as set-up configurations for the event – so there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be confident of challenging for another strong result.
“We’ll face an element of cleaning on the opening day, but we’ve got a good track record in Sardinia and I’ve learned to enjoy these demanding stages. It’s not the easiest of events. You need to keep a margin and be focused from start to finish. Tyre preservation can also prove really important and that could be particularly significant on Saturday with two 70 kilometre loops.
“The aim is always to increase our lead at the head of the championship, and we hope to do that with another strong performance.”
Ott Tänak said:
“I feel as though we’re getting better all the time and learning more about the car every time we get behind the wheel. We had a great set-up in Portugal – the best we’ve had all year – and another test last week means that we go to Sardinia in a positive mood.
“The island holds a lot of special memories for me as it’s where I secured my first podium back in 2012 and we’ll be aiming to at least equal that next week.
“We’ll need to be fully focussed from the start as there are so many things to consider on an event as tricky as this one. The stages are very narrow, but also quite fast in places. There is always something to catch you out, so you need to keep that margin.
“If that weren’t enough, we’ll also be experiencing the highest temperatures of the year which could mean more tyre wear and a need to manage the situation. We got an idea of what to expect at the test, and we hope to be in a position to challenge for another strong result.
“The plan will be to go out there and enjoy it – which isn’t difficult with these new cars!”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville commented:
“Rally Italia Sardegna is a special event for me, particularly after our win last year. I still have very fond memories of our entire team jumping into the harbour in celebration. We already have a couple of wins this season, but this is a technical event that we cannot take for granted. The roads are very hard and dry which can be tough on the cars, especially the tyres. Therefore, tyre choice can be crucial depending on road position and will be something we watch closely. Overall, we are happy, we are confident, and we are hopeful that we can achieve a positive result.”
Dani Sordo commented:
“I was pleased to get back onto the podium in Portugal, and to show we can fight on gravel. Sardinia is not one of my preferred events, but the second passes of the stages are nice as they are a bit cleaner and smoother. The stages themselves are very narrow so it is always difficult to build up confidence. Getting a podium in Portugal shows what we are capable of and the consistency that we have had since the beginning of the season has been encouraging. I just hope we can use this positive momentum to tackle this next challenge to the best of our ability.”
Hayden Paddon said:
“The decision for John to step down early was not an easy one, but we all felt it was best in the difficult circumstances. He will continue to play an important role in our WRC programme. Seb did a great job in Portugal, so we are looking forward to continuing the partnership in Sardinia, with John’s support and backing. I think Sardinia is one of the toughest European rallies that we do. It’s rough, it’s hot and you have to pay really special attention to the car as well. But those challenges aside, we have some good memories from there and, of course, we would like to try and repeat some of those. Most of all, we are hoping to just have a nice clean rally. We saw some signs of genuine encouragement on the final day in Portugal, so I’d like to pick up from there!”
2016 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 06 / Rally d’Italia Sardegna // June 09-12, 2016 // Worldwide Copyright: Hyundai Motorsport
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala said:
“I’m looking forward to the rally, but it’s going to be much hotter and more slippery than Portugal, with a bigger cleaning effect. Punctures are going to be the big thing: because the surface is quite hard, the roads don’t get so rough or degrade on the second passage but any loose rocks don’t get pushed back into the surface either. Instead they just stay on the road and this is what can puncture your tyre or even damage the damper. There are some things that you can do to change your driving style to try and avoid this: you have to be very careful of the rocks on the insides of corners.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Juho Hänninen said:
“We did a two-day test in Sardinia before we went to Argentina. That was quite a long time ago and of course conditions were much cooler but it still gave us a good idea of what the roads were like. The advantage of the heat is that it actually makes the tyre choice a little more straightforward, so that is one less thing to worry about. Portugal was a good event for us and we learned plenty of things there, so if we can have another clean run then we have a great chance of scoring more points. I think our road position on the first day could help and then we have to make the most of the conditions to the end.”
Esapekka Lappi said:
“Sardinia has always been one of those rallies that is more about survival than raw speed: I just want to have a problem-free rally and get to the finish. I think I’m going to be trying some new parts on the car, so my job is to collect data for the team and gain more experience. We had a good result in Portugal, but that only alters the expectations from other people: it doesn’t make any difference to me personally. Before Sardinia I had a one-day test in Finland to get more of a feel about how I can set up the car. Obviously, Finland isn’t the same as Sardinia, but I did around 150 kilometres, which was useful just to try some different suspension settings.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Kris Meeke said:
“Obviously, we’ve had a couple of disappointing rounds in Argentina and Portugal. We are fully focused on getting back onto the positive trend that helped us to win in Mexico, and lead the Tour de Corse before having a technical problem. As we didn’t compete in Sardinia last year, we’re going to have to refamiliarise ourselves with the rally. The stages are technically difficult and slippery, so your driving needs to be incredibly precise, especially when the road is narrow. From a pure racing point of view, it isn’t necessarily that enjoyable to drive on this type of surface, but we’ll try hard to have a solid race. I think it’s a good thing to have Andreas in the team. He brings valuable experience and he has the potential to win rallies. We’ll work together to ensure Citroën wins.”
Craig Breen said:
“Like Argentina and Portugal, pretty much all of this rally is going to be new to us. I did recce in 2016 and we did some testing in Sardinia a few weeks ago, but that’s still not very much compared with the guys who have been competing at this event for several years. To try and compensate, I have prepared meticulously for this rally. For example, viewing on-board footage has helped us to spot the largest pitfalls and trickiest sections. After a series of fifth places, I’d be delighted to get the same result in Sardinia, before tackling more familiar events such as Poland or Finland. I’d like to say welcome to Andreas; we don’t know each other very well at the moment, but I’m looking forward to working with him!”
Andreas Mikkelsen said:
“The last few days have been exciting, seeing the Citroën Racing factory for the first time, meeting the members of the team and, of course, getting to grips with the car in the south of France. The roads used during the test were very different to those we’ll see in Sardinia, but it gave me a good idea of the potential of the Citroën C3 WRC. With the downforce and the power of the engine, the feeling in the car was good – it’s an impressive piece of machinery. We started to work on the set-up in order to adapt it to my driving style. Next weekend, I have no idea where we’ll be in relation to the other crews. We’ll have a favourable starting position for the opening leg, but the standard is so high in the WRC at the moment that we won’t be taking anything for granted. We’ll do our best on this tough event.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans said:
“I’ve got a lot of good memories from Sardinia. It’s where I first got behind the wheel of a world rally car and I didn’t want to give it back! It’s not the easiest of rallies by a long shot, but I think it’s the challenge that I enjoy.
“There are so many factors that you need to keep in mind at an event like this. The stages are very rough and abrasive, and then there are the high temperatures. Air temperatures can be as high as 30C and those in the cockpit can get up to 50C plus!
“This will be the first time that we’re experiencing this sort of environment with our 2017 package so we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out. We’ll certainly be giving it our all though, and as history has shown, anything can happen at an event like Rally Italia Sardegna.”
Onebet Jipocar WRT
Mads has become something of a jump king this year! After leaping 44 metres at Colin’s Crest in Sweden and then during Rally de Portugal he jumped 36 metres in the Fafe stage! Coming to Rally Italia Sardegna there is Micky’s Jump in the Monte Lerno stage and this will present another opportunity to get a big jump in!
Mads Østberg said:
“Really, I`m not driving rallies to jump the farthest! It`s not intentional that we have been flying so far this season, but it has been fun and has resulted in a lot of positive publicity. My co-driver Ola has been into it just as much, he is just laughing when we are touching the ground again. We have fun in the car and that is actually very positive.”
“We are aiming to put together a whole event without punctures or other technical problems. We won two stages in Portugal and generally the speed was satisfying, but several minutes time loss with a wheel change on one stage just destroyed our chances.”
Talking about his team, Mads explains the great spirit that has brought them together.
“We are developing together and that gives me strong motivation. It may be a small team, but there are some very creative and smart minds among us. The idea with the shiny and reflective gold roof on the car, that we ran in Portugal, is just an example of this. It really lowered the temperature inside the car, and will certainly be essential also in Sardinia with very high temperatures and lots of sun expected during the event.”
“Argentine, Portugal and Sardinia comes one after the other and has lots of similarities. They are all technical demanding gravel rallies, and that’s a type of rally I like a lot. All three rallies have rough and narrow gravel roads, but there are some differences. In Sardinia starting positions are more important as there normally is a fine layer of sand and loose gravel on top when we drive the stages first time through. There are also more loose stones and rocks. Our starting position when the rally proper begins on Friday should be an advantage, but we are not alone in having that advantage.”
With the recce starting today for all the teams, drivers and co-drivers, creating those pace notes, making sure that the cars are fully prepared for the event, we are set for another very exciting rally.
Can Thierry win a third rally, or will we see Kris get to the top step again? What about Andreas in his first drive for Citroen? Could Ott Tanak finally get his first victory?
