The Olympus Rally has ended, marking the end of the third round of the 2023 Green APU American Rally Association season. Brandon Semenuk would take a dominant win once again.
Semenuk Wins His Third Straight
Brandon Semenuk would take home his third straight win of the 2023 Green APU American Rally Association season at Olympus. Semenuk now leads the championship by a 35-point lead. Now this may seem like a large points lead, and you’d be correct, but this is rally and anything is possible. Brandon Semenuk knows that better than anybody else, as he has had it happen to him in the past. If Semenuk continues to drive at this pace he should have the championship clinched by the end of the New England Forest Rally.
Lia Wins Her First
Lia Block would take her first O2WD class win at Olympus. This will likely be the first of many wins for the 16-year-old Block. This is only Lia’s second year of rallying and only her second event in the Subaru BRZ she’s running this season. She’s gonna have a fight on her hands the rest of the season if she wants to take the O2WD Championship home. As Lia will have to fend off more experienced drivers such as David Clark and Micah Nickelson to achieve this.
Two Blocks In The Top 10
Both Lia and Lucy Block would finish in the top 10 at Olympus. With Lia finishing seventh overall and Lucy finishing ninth. This is the first time this has happened this season and it likely won’t be the last. As both drivers have what it takes to consistently finish in the top 10 at every event in which they attend.
Bailey Came To Play
Jason Bailey would put on a show at the Olympus Rally. With the Canadian finishing fourth overall and first in the L4WD class. Bailey will be one to keep an eye on for the LN4 Drivers Championship, as he currently sits second, 10 points back from Matthew Dickinson who leads the championship. Although Bailey isn’t actively chasing the title as the ARA isn’t his primary focus.
Bad Luck Continues For Williams
Tom Williams would, unfortunately, be forced to retire from his second straight event. As Williams would be forced to retire from The Rally In The 100 Acre Wood due to a turbo issue. This would ultimately cost him what would’ve probably been a RC2 class win. At Olympus, Williams would be forced to retire on the final stage of the event. This would come as a result of Williams rolling his car after a 11G impact. Williams car would end up blocking the road causing both Patrick Gruszka and Jeff Seehorn to transit the rest of the stage, causing both drivers to get the same time as Brandon Semenuk. Therefore causing a three-way tie for first on the stage, meaning all three drivers would get the 5 extra championship points.
Living Up To Its Reputation
The Olympus Rally has gained a reputation for being one of the harder events on the American Rally Association calendar. As the event takes place through mostly forest and logging roads and are very technical in nature. It’s an event that can reward those willing to take a risk, but some risks may end your rally early. Olympus is an unforgiving event, as one wrong move could spell the end of your event. We saw this a few times this weekend, as 34 drivers would retire at the event at some point. With retirement reasons varying from a little mechanical failure to their car burning to the ground. Stage DNFs would cause 30 out of the total 38 retirements. The remaining 9 would be caused by 7 mechanical retirements and 1 MPL retirement. It’s worth noting a DNF retirement can mean basically anything, as it just means the driver didn’t finish the stage. In some cases, this could mean the DNF is due to an off while in other cases it could be caused by a mechanical issue, or in rare cases the car burning to the ground.
Ollie Bearman Sprint and Feature race winner at Baku 2023. Image courtesy of Ferrari
The Ferrari Junior Driver had his best weekend in Formula 2 yet with the 17 year old finishing every single session across round 4 of the FIA Formula 2 World Championship around the streets of Baku.
Bearman first of all topped the one and only Free Practice Session of the weekend with a 1:54.063. Hadjar and Maini followed behind in second and third respectfully. Qualifying was very tight with the 17 year old setting a lap time just 0.012 ahead of Red Bull Junior Enzo Fittipaldi.
Sprint Race:
The sprint race got underway in Baku with the ART of Victor Martins immediatel cutting across the Red Bull Junior of Zane Maloney. The reverse pole sitter Richard Verschoor nearly lost the rear end, tapped the wall and got both front and rear damage. Maloney lead from Hauger and Martins in P3. The Boy from Barbados Maloney got a puncture and went from 1st to last on lap 1 of the sprint. Boschung tapped the wall by the castle section and had to retire which brought out the safety car. We went 2 laps under the SC and when the safety car was brought in, Hauger lead the way from Martins and daruvala. Bearman managed to make a chagre up to P4 by lap 11 out of 21.
The PHM of Roy Nissany then crashed on lap 14 which brought out a safety car and saw the pack bunch up again. The drivers spent 5 laps under the safety car and from then, a 3 lap shootout for the win resulted in a huge crash into turn 1. Hauger and Martins locked up and went into the wall, Daruvala hit Martins due to him also locking up and Leclerc and Pourchaire tapped the wall and the engine stalled. Vesti and Martins were then battling for the lead which saw Bearman take the lead just before the safety car was deployed and the race was then over due to the amount of cleanup required. Bearman took home his first victory of his F2 career ahead of Vesti and Crawford finishing the top 3. Maini, Fittipaldi, Correa and Novalak finished off the top 7. Hadjar did finish P8 but got a penalty post race so Stanek got the final points position.
The Formula 2 2023 Baku Sprint Podium with a Prema 1-2 and Crawford in P3. Image Credit: Prema Racing Photos and Videos
Feature Race:
The feature race saw a very clean getaway from everyone and a clean first lap from everyone. Pourchaire got up to P2 on Lap 2 after overtaking Fittipaldi but he wasn’t finished there. Pourchaire got past bearman on lap 3 for the lead of the race and both Premas of Vesti and Bearman were attacking Fittipaldi and Pourchaire respectfully. Bearman wasn’t finished as he got up to P1 on lap 4 with the assist of the DRS system. Hauger and Crawford went wheel to wheel with Hauger getting the advantage. the top 2 pitted on lap 9 due to yellow flags and Bearman managed to hold the lead ahead of Pourchaire.
Brad Benevides stopped on an escape road after a touch with the barriers and brought out a VSC as he was recovered. Daruvala ried to get past Maloney on lap 14 but ended up getting a 10s time penalty for rejoining unsafely. Fittipaldi was challenging Pourchaire on lap 24 for P2 and he eventually got the moce done in turn 3. Bearman crossed the line to take the feature race victory in Baku and make it a perfect weekend. Fittipaldi finished P2 and Pourchaire in P3. Martins was P4 but got disqualified due to a technical infringement. This pushed Vest, Maini, Hauger, Hadjer, Verschoor, Crawford and Leclerc up to P4-P10 respectfully after Daruvala’s penalty pushed him down to P13, originally P14.
The Olympus Rally has ended, marking the end of the third round of the 2023 Green APU American Rally Association season. Brandon Semenuk would take a dominant win once again.
National Championship Standings
Brandon Semenuk would take his third event at win of the season at Olympus. This would allow Semenuk to extend his points lead over Patrick Gruszka from 27 to a comfortable 35-point lead. If Semenuk continues this pace he should have his second ARA championship in the bag by the end of the New England Forest Rally. Matthew Dickinson would remain third in the championship, although he would retire from Olympus meaning he took 0 points home from the event. Jeff Seehorn would move into a tie for fourth with Barry McKenna. With both drivers having 22 points under their belts. Tom Williams would get pushed out of the top five after once again retiring from the rally, therefore not taking home any points.
National Championship Points After Olympus
B. Semenuk, 80
P. Gruszka, 45
M. Dickinson, 23
J. Seehorn, 22
B. McKenna, 22
RC2 Championship
The RC2 class would see Patrick Gruszka take his second class win of the season. Gruszka now sits 39 points above Tom Williams in the championship standings. It won’t be easy for Williams to regain those championship points, but it is possible, as anything is possible in rally. For Williams to regain those points he would need a shift in luck from bad to good.
RC2 Championship Points
P. Gruszka, 64
T. Williams, 25
K. Tilley, 17
M. Georgakopoulos, 17
R. Cordero, 12
O2WD Championship
Lia Block would take a hard-fought O2WD class win at Olympus. This would allow Lia to both move into second place in the O2WD championship. As well as close the 30-point gap between her and leader Micah Nickelson down to just 5 points. With Nickelson not attending the Oregon Trail Rally next month it shouldn’t be hard for Lia to move into first overall in the championship. Lia will have to fight off more experienced drivers first, however. As Nick Allen who sits third in the championship, just 10 points back from Block will also be in Oregon next month. Other notable names attending the Oregon Trail Rally next month include Dave Clark, Michael Hooper and Tim O’Neil
O2WD Championship Points
M. Nickelson, 47
L. Block, 42
N. Allen, 32
D. Clark, 17
M. Hooper, 14
T. O’Neil, 14
LN4 Drivers Championship
Matthew Dickinson will remain first in the LN4 Drivers Championship although the wouldn’t take home any points from Olympus. This would allow Jason Bailey to take the class win and move into second overall in the championship. Bailey now sits just 10 points back from Dickinson. With both the top two drivers attending Oregon Trail next month, it should be a fun battle to keep an eye on. Javier Olivares would technically fall to third overall, as the driver would sit tied for second in the championship heading into Olympus. Olivares would take second in the class at the event. Ele Bardha would move himself and his 2000 Subaru Prodrive GC8 into fourth place in the championship at Olympus.
Bank Holiday weekend played host to British Superbikes for Round 2, Oulton Park.
Oulton Park – Image Official BSB
Known for it’s changing weather conditions, Oulton didn’t buck the trend for three seasons in one weekend when it rained solid for the Sunday sessions, dried up for Race 2 on the Monday and finally allowed the sun out for Race 3.
The rain finally abated for the Sunday ebay Sprint race long enough for the track to dry out and allow the Superbike riders to get out on their slick tyres.
After an eventful start to the race, which saw the Curse of Oulton Park strike again for Jason O’Halloran when a crash saw the McAMS rider slip off, a somewhat linear Race 1 ensued, with the top 6 riders braking away. Brookes, a resurgent Leon Haslam, G Irwin, Hickman, Bridewell and A Irwin ticking off the laps at a steady pace, while pulling somewhere around a 8-10 second gap to chasing riders Christian Iddon, Storm Stacey, Lee Jackson and Charlie Nesbit.
Counting down the laps and revving up for a last lap push, the typical North-West weather robbed the fans of any last lap shenanigan’s when a sudden downpour brought out the red flag handing another well deserved race victory to Josh Brookes. While Brookes openly admitted he doesn’t like to win under such circumstances, he’ll gladly take them where he can. The FHO BMW rider gladly banking another race win in the 2023 season.
Josh Brookes – Image FHO BMW Racing Team
Race 1 Top 10 – Brookes, Haslam, G Irwin, Hickman, Bridewell, A Irwin, Ryde, Iddon, Stacey, Jackson.
Race 2
Bank Holiday Monday, in front of a packed crowd, kicked off in Oulton Park style with Peter Hickman sliding off his FHO BMW at Turn 1 and saw him retire from the race. Hicky later mentioning a change in the tarmac surface potentially leading to a loss of grip whilst admitting he was clutching at straws for an answer as to what happened.
Another rider having a disastrous lap one was Jason O’Halloran once again. A slide on his Yamaha R1 while dropping down Cascades ended his race there and then, unfortunately collecting Josh Owens on the Crendon Hawk Honda. Owens’ Honda was so badly damaged, he was unable to contest Race 3 later on in the afternoon.
Bridewell got on with the job and led from the front for the race, while 2-6th was battled for between G Irwin, A Irwin, Brookes, Ryde and Haslam. With Ryde dropping back in the early laps, but fighting his way back into the battle, Brookes bemoaning a lack of feel on the bike after opting for a stiffer rear spring for Race 2, both were unable to join in the position swapping with Glenn, Leon and Andy. It was ultimately Glenn Irwin whom made his way forward to try and challenge team mate Tommy Bridewell for the win. As we have seen before, when Bridewell gets in the groove at Outlon Park, generally no one can lay a glove on him. In the end a comfortable 1-2 for the Beermonster Ducati riders.
Beermonster Ducati – Image Courtesy PBM Double Red Photo
Race 2 Top 10 – Bridewell, G Irwin, Haslam, A Irwin, Ryde, Brookes, Iddon, Jackson, Kennedy, Dean Harrison.
Race 3
This felt like the most action packed race of the day. Perhaps from where I watched, on the inside of Lodge Corner it’s probably true. Most overtakes of the race would no doubt go to McAMS Yamaha rider Jason O’Halloran who managed to put some of his demons to bed and see the chequered flag. Starting from near the back of the grid saw the Yamaha rider school many competitor on how to slip underneath someone on the brakes into the final corner on the lap. So a special mention to Jason for a gritty performance in the 3rd and final Superbike race of the day.
A strong start from Andy Irwin saw the Honda Racing UK rider lead off the start, chased down by brother, Glenn. Closely followed as expected, based on weekend form, Brookes and Haslam. After a hand ful of laps, the aparent lack of race winning pace from the Honda began to show as Glenn made his move for the race lead.
With the laps ticking down, the front 8 riders of G Irwin, A Irwin, Haslam, Bridewell, Brookes, Hickman and Iddon broke away from the chasing pack of Jackson, Stacey and Kennedy, pushing on to the flag.
The mainstay of the action came from Leon Haslam on the Rokit BMW, Glenn Irwin and Tommy Bridewell on the Beermonster Ducati. The pair swapping positions multiple times throughout the race, all looking for victory in the final race if the day. As usual though, there can be only one and resisting the pressure, and it was Glenn Irwin’s turn to take the spoils followed by Leon Haslam. A resurgent Kyle Ryde was able to get his head down and catch Bridewell, ultimately fending off the Ducati rider for the final place on the podium.
The Olympus Rally has ended, marking the end of the third round of the 2023 Green APU American Rally Association season. Brandon Semenuk would take home all 12 stage wins.
SS1, Nahwatzel 1
Stage one would see Brandon Semenuk take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 24.1 seconds. Patrick Gruszka would finish third on the stage, 44.2 seconds back from Williams. Alejandro Perusina would finish fourth on the stage, 2.1 seconds back from Gruszka. Jeff Seehorn would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 13.6 seconds back from Perusina.
SS1 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 15:31.1
Williams, 15:33.2 (+24.1)
Gruszka, 16:39.4 (+1:08.3)
Perusina, 16:41.5 (+1:10.4)
Seehorn, 16:55.1 (+1:24.0)
Bailey, 17:25.0, (+1:53.9)
Plsek, 17:28.9 (+1:57.8)
Olivares, 17:43.5 (+2:12.4)
Miller, 17:47.2 (+2:16.1)
Bardha, 17:48.4 (+2:17.3)
SS2, Cougar Meadow 1
Stage two saw Brandon Semenuk win the stage once again, beating Tom Williams by 10.6 seconds. Jeff Seehorn would finish third on the stage, 7.5 seconds back from Williams. Patrick Gruszka would finish fourth on the stage, 1.8 seconds back from Seehorn. Alejandro Perusina would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 5.8 seconds back from Gruszka.
SS2 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 4:21.5
Williams, 4:32.1 (+10.6)
Seehorn, 4:39.6 (+18.1)
Gruszka, 4:41.4 (+19.9)
Perusina, 4:47.2 (+25.7)
Olivares, 4:57.6 (+36.1)
Dickinson, 5:01.0 (+39.5)
Bailey, 5:01.9 (+40.4)
Block, 5:05.6 (+44.1)
Bardha, 5:05.9 (+44.4)
SS3, Nahwatzel 2
Stage three would see Brandon Semenuk once again take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 22.7 seconds. Patrick Gruszka would finish third on the stage, 30.3 seconds behind Williams. Jeff Seehorn would finish fourth on the stage, 26.5 seconds behind Gruszka. Alejandro Perusina would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 19.8 seconds behind Seehorn.
SS3 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 15:27.8
Williams, 15:50.5 (+22.7)
Gruszka, 16:20.8 (+53.0)
Seehorn, 16:47.3 (+1:19.5)
Perusina, 17:07.1 (+1:39.3)
Bailey, 17:10.9 (+1:43.1)
Olivares, 17:16.6 (+1:48.8)
Miller, 17:36.3 (+2:08.5)
Bardha, 17:40.6 (+2:12.8)
Trudel, 17:52.0 (+2:24.2)
SS4, Cougar Meadow 2
Stage four saw Brandon Semenuk once again take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 9.1 seconds. Jeff Seehorn would finish third on the stage, eight seconds back from Williams. Patrick Gruszka would finish fourth on the stage, 5.8 seconds back from Seehorn. Javier Olivares would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 10.6 seconds back from Gruszka.
SS4 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 4:21.3
Williams, 4:30.4 (+9.1)
Seehorn, 4:38.4 (+17.1)
Gruszka, 4:44.2 (+22.9)
Olivares, 4:54.8 (+33.5)
Perusina, 4:54.9 (+33.6)
Bailey, 4:57.5 (+36.2)
Block, 4:59.4 (+38.1)
Hooper, 5:00.5 (+39.2)
Block, 5:01.8 (+40.5)
SS5, Stillwater 1
Stage five would see Brandon Semenuk take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 28.4 seconds. Patrick Gruszka and Jeff Seehorn would tie for third on the stage, with both finishing 44.8 seconds back from Williams. Jason Bailey would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 48.1 seconds back from Gruszka and Seehorn.
SS5 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 13:12.9
Williams, 13:41.3 (+28.4)
Gruszka, 14:26.1 (+1:13.2)
Seehorn, 14:26.1 (+1:13.2)
Bailey, 15:14.2 (+2:01.3)
Olivares, 15:17.4 (+2:04.5)
Block, 15:40.3 (+2:27.4)
Bardha, 15:42.0 (+2:29.1)
Honn, 15:44.3 (+2:31.4)
Miller, 15:48.1 (+2:35.2)
SS6, Stillwater 2
Stage six saw Brandon Semenuk once again take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 25.9 seconds. Jeff Seehorn would finish third on the stage, one minute and 55.1 seconds back from Williams. Patrick Gruszka would finish fourth on the stage, finishing 7.5 seconds back from Seehorn. Jason Bailey would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 19.1 seconds back from Gruszka.
SS6 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 13:34.4
Williams, 14:00.3 (+25.9)
Seehorn, 15:55.4 (+2:21.0)
Gruszka, 16:02.9 (+2:28.5)
Bailey, 16:22.0 (+2:47.6)
Clark, 16:49.3 (+3:14.9)
Olivares, 17:08.1 (+3:33.7)
Hooper, 17:17.6 (+3:43.2)
Sperry, 17:20.3 (+3:46.0)
Allen, 17:21.0 (+3:46.6)
SS7, Wildcat
Stage seven would see Brandon Semenuk take another stage win, beating Tom Williams by 32.6 seconds. Jeff Seehorn would finish third on the stage, 1 minute and 15.5 seconds back from Williams. Javier Olivares would finish fourth on the stage, 33.3 seconds back from Seehorn. Patrick Gruszka would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 21.6 seconds back from Olivares.
SS7 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 20:40.5
Williams, 21:13.1 (+32.6)
Seehorn, 22:28.6 (+1:48.1)
Olivares, 23:01.9 (+2:21.4)
Gruszka, 23:23.5 (+2:43.0)
Bailey, 23:37.9 (+2:57.4)
Trudel, 23:55.5 (+3:15.0)
Miller, 24:00.0 (+3:19.5)
Bardha, 24:11.8 (+3:31.3)
Brassfeild, 24:18.1 (+3:37.6)
SS8, Dayton
Stage eight saw Brandon Semenuk take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 13.7 seconds. Patrick Gruszka and Jeff Seehorn would tie for third on the stage, with both drivers finishing 19 seconds back from Williams. Jason Bailey would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 13.7 seconds back from Gruszka and Seehorn.
SS8 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 5:47.3
Williams, 6:01.0 (+[13.7)
Gruszka, 6:20.0 (+32.7)
Seehorn, 6:20.0 (+32.7)
Bailey, 6:33.7 (+46.4)
Olivares, 6:34.6 (+47.3)
Hartmann, 6:41.8 (+54.5)
Miller, 6:43.0 (+55.7
Block, 6:45.2 (+57.9)
Trudel, 6:46.5 (+59.2)
SS9, Wildcat
Stage nine would see Brandon Semenuk once again take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 21.7 seconds. Patrick Gruszka would finish third on the stage 1 minute and 22.9 seconds back from Williams. Jeff Seehorn would finish fourth on the stage, 8 seconds back from Gruszka. Javier Olivares would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 27.4 seconds back from Seehorn.
SS9 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 20:40.7
Williams, 21:02.4 (+21.7)
Gruszka, 22:25.3 (+1:44.6)
Seehorn, 22:33.3 (+1:52.6)
Olivares, 23:00.7 (+2:20.0)
Bailey, 23:10.7 (+2:30.0)
Block, 23:43.9 (+3:03.2)
Miller, 24:03.9 (+3:23.2)
Trudel, 14:16.3 (+3:35.6)
Reavis, 24:16.4 (+3:35.7)
SS10, Dayton
Stage 10 saw Brandon Semenuk once again take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 8.1 seconds. Jeff Seehorn would finish third on the stage, 11.7 seconds back from Williams. Patrick Gruszka would finish fourth on the stage, 2.1 seconds back from Seehorn. Jason Bailey would round out the top five on the stage, 17 seconds back from Gruszka.
SS10 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 5:47.4
Williams, 5:55.5 (+8.1)
Seehorn, 6:07.2 (+19.8)
Gruszka, 6:09.3 (+21.9)
Bailey, 6:28.3 (+38.9)
Olivares, 6:33.5 (+46.1)
Block, 6:35.0 (+47.6)
A Miller, 6:43.0 (+55.6)
Hartmann, 6:45.2 (+57.8)
Redd, 6:45.7 (+58.3)
SS11, SIP SuperSpecial
Stage 11 would see Brandon Semenuk take the stage win, beating Tom Williams by 3.7 seconds. Patrick Gruszka would finish third on the stage, 7.4 seconds back from Williams. Jeff Seehorn would finish fourth on the stage, 10.1 seconds back from Gruszka. Jason Bailey would out the top five on the stage, finishing 2.4 seconds back from Seehorn.
SS11 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 4:42.6
Williams, 4:46.3 (+3.7)
Gruszka, 4:53.7 (+11.1)
Seehorn, 5:03.8 (+21.2)
Bailey, 5:06.2 (+23.6)
Block, 5:16.9 (+34.3)
Olivares, 5:19.4 (+36.8)
Block, 5:20.2 (+37.6)
Bardha, 5:21.3 (+38.7)
Redd, 5:27.1 (+44.5)
SS12, SIP SuperSpecial
Stage twelve would see somebody finally match Brandon Semenuk, technically. As a stoppage would force both Patrick Gruszka and Jeff Seehorn to transit the entirety of the stage. This came in accordance with ARA RCR 5.31. All three drivers would finish the stage with a time of 4:43.8. Jason Bailey would finish fourth on the stage, 27.2 seconds back from Semenuk, Gruszka and Seehorn. Lucy Block would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 7.3 seconds behind Bailey.
SS12 Top 10 Times
Semenuk, 4:43.8
Gruszka, 4:43.8
Seehorn, 4:43.8
Bailey, 5:11.0 (+27.2)
Block, 5:18.3 (+34.5)
Olivares, 5:27.2 (+43.4)
Block, 5:29.3 (+45.5)
Brassfeild, 5:31.9 (+48.1)
Bardha, 5:35.9 (+52.1)
Clark, 5:41.3 (+57.5)
Stage One Cancelled
SS1 would be cancelled due to a car catching fire. That car would be car 282 driven by Mark Tabor. The cause of the fire is said to be because of a mechanical issue. Mark will not restart the rally, as well, he doesn’t have a car.
Stage Two Cancelled
SS2 would also be cancelled much like SS1. This time it was due to a time issue. As the stage was delayed due to a crash involving car number 307 driven by Spencer Crabb. This delay would ultimately take too long and too many drivers were backed up for the stage to run in enough time to be ready for SS4.
BAKU, AZERBAIJAN – APRIL 30: Race winner Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates after the F1 Grand Prix of Azerbaijan at Baku City Circuit on April 30, 2023 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202304300912 // Usage for editorial use only //
Sergio Perez took yet another street circuit win in Baku on Sunday afternoon after an excellent drive to beat his world champion teammate. A timely safety car ensured that Perez took the lead in the early stages of the race and the Mexican driver did not have to look back for the rest of the race.
Charles Leclerc started the race on pole after setting the fastest lap on Friday qualifying in the new format that kicked off this weekend. The pace of the Ferrari was simply no match for the Redbulls as both Verstappen and Perez picked off Leclerc one after the other once DRS was activated at the beginning of lap 3. The fight for victory from here on was largely between the Redbulls as they left the rest of the pack behind very swiftly.
Verstappen was just ahead of Perez around lap 8 when Nick De Vries crashed, bringing about a Safety Car. The Redbull pitwall called in Verstappen ahead of Perez while there was no safety car yet but the safety car was called in moments after Verstappen completed his pitstop and Perez gained full advantage of this. Verstappen was relegated to P3 in the aftermath and spent the rest of the race catching up to his teammate.
Ferrari had a decent outing with Leclerc getting his first podium of the season, albeit not after huge pressure from Fernando Alonso in the Aston Martin, who was chasing Leclerc until the finish line. Carlos Sainz in the other Ferrari had to fend off Lewis Hamilton to scramble to a P5 finish.
For Mercedes, it was yet another weekend of being too far away from the top while struggling to be in the battle for the 2nd best team on the grid. Hamilton tried his best after an untimely pitstop before the safety car and ended up P6 while his teammate George Russell spent the large part of the race behind Lance Stroll in the Aston martin. Although, a late pitstop at the end meant that the Englishman had the point in the bag for the fastest lap.
McLaren’s upgrades meant that Norris was in the running for the points throughout the race and the English driver finished P9 while his teammate just missed out after finishing at P11. It was a fantastic effort from the Australian despite battling illness throughout the weekend to achieve a high finish, especially after losing around 3kg in weight as informed by Mark Webber.
It was a mixed day for Alpha Tauri after Yuki Tsunoda finished in the last of the points position while his teammate Nick DeVries crashed out in the opening stages of the race. Alfa Romeo had both the cars finish out of the top 10 with Bottas at P12 and Zhou at P15, with Bottas being involved in a first lap incident and pitting three times during the course of the race.
Hulkenberg in the Haas and Ocon in the Alpine went on a bold strategy as they started the race from the pitlane. The drivers put on a set of hard tyres and drove almost until the end of the race and only pitted at the end to avoid disqualification. It was not without an incident of course when during Ocon’s pitstop on the last lap of the race, the pit lane was swarming with photographers and mechanics. The safety protocols were grossly thrown out of the window and a massive disaster was narrowly avoided and thankfully no one was hurt. Hulkenberg finished P17 while his teammate Magnussen in the other Haas finished P13. Ocon finished P15 after the whole fiasco while his teammate Gasly in the other Alpine finished P14.
The Williams of Alexander Albon finished P12 while his teammate Sargeant finished P16. They will be hoping for a change of fortunes come the Miami GP which is going to be the second one in the triple header we have going on.
Sergio Perez yet again proved that he is the king of the streets as he fended off an in form world champion teammate to take win and close the gap to 6 points to him. The Mexican driver will be fancying his chances again next Sunday as it is another street circuit with a marina in Miami.
Sergio Perez is posing for a picture in Milton Keynes on February 24th, 2021 // Markus Berger / Red Bull Content Pool // SI202110180128 // Usage for editorial use only //
Sergio Perez has won the first sprint race of the season, winning by almost four and a half seconds from Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen completed the podium in the second RedBull. It was a dominant performance from the Mexican who overtook pole sitter Leclerc as soon as the DRS was activated and never looked back from then on.
The action started straight from lights out with Max Verstappen and George Russell battering for the first four corners with the young Brit coming out on top.
At the front it was Leclerc leading from Perez, At the end of lap one Tsunoda lost his right rear tyre after a brush with the wall causing a Virtual Safety Car. The Alpha Tauri driver seemed to just understeer straight into the wall. After 2 laps of VSC a full safety car was needed to clear the debris. Strangely the team sent Tsunoda back out with the right rear suspension broken and left him to crab round for a whole lap before retiring the car.
At the restart both Mercedes drivers lost positions falling to 4th and 7th. Verstappen getting back ahead of Russell and Alonso moving un front of Lewis Hamilton.
Leclerc again lead away from Perez and Verstappen.
At the start of lap 8 Perez used the DRS to cruise past Leclerc and take the lead. Behind them Verstappen was stalking the pair with Russell, Sainz and Hamilton all falling back from the leaders.
Further back in the field Oscar Piastri overtook his team mate Lando Norris to move up to P10. McLaren had fitted Norris with soft tyres, a gamble that didn’t seem to work with Norris struggling at just over half distance and having to pit, In a sprint race that’s a disaster.
With 5 laps left Charles Leclerc was wringing the neck of his Ferrari and making a fight of the sprint race, getting back within DRS range of the lead RedBull. As soon as he did this Perez suddenly upped his pace and increased his lead to 2 seconds with just 3 laps remaining.
The rest of the field looked fairly settled as usually happens in the sprint races.
In fact the last 3 laps went by with very little action. Perez took the chequered flag after 17 laps of the Sprint Race. Leclerc was second with Max Verstappen third. Behind them was Russell who after his first lap battle had a quiet race, then came Sainz, Alonso, Hamilton, Stroll, Albon and Piastri finishing off the top ten.
The Grand Prix takes place tomorrow and hopefully will bring the usual Baku style craziness.
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc has taken pole position for today’s sprint race in Azerbaijan despite hitting the wall in the closing moments of the session.
It was the first outing of the new sprint weekend format, with an extra qualifying session to determine the starting order of the sprint race. The twelve-minute long SQ1 and ten-minute long SQ2 required the drivers to use the medium tyres, while the final eight-minute SQ3 mandated the use of a new set of soft tyres.
SQ1 ended with a bang when Logan Sargeant crashed at Turn 17, possibly distracted by the two slow Ferraris on the inside of the corner. With only 25 seconds left on the clock, the session wasn’t restarted.
In SQ2, Oscar Piastri narrowly missed out on advancing to the next stage by only +0.0032. His team-mate Lando Norris did scrape through, despite not having a new set of soft tyres available to him and therefore not being able to take part in SQ3!
Leclerc set the pace in the first runs of SQ3 and took provisional pole. On his second run, however, he hit the wall at Turn 5 and damaged his front wing. He was able to back out and continue round to the pits, but compromised his team-mate Sainz’s lap in the process.
Both Verstappen and Perez improved on their times in the closing moments, but it wasn’t enough to usurp Leclerc. It’s the Monegasque driver’s second pole of the weekend.
After what felt like an extremely long time, Formula 1 is back with a street race in Baku. However, while the winner and fastest team may be predictable, the weekend format has changed. There will be six sprint weekends this season, starting with the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, but after a vote, the sprint weekend format is drastically different.
Sprint Saturday
At the last Sprint in Brazil Magnussen started on pole. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media
For those that didn’t know, there was rumour and discussions amongst the teams regarding the structure of a sprint weekend from the start of the season. A vote was taken and it has been decided that qualifying for Sunday’s race will be on Friday with Saturday becoming ‘Sprint Saturdays’.
A one-hour Sprint Shootout will determine the grid for the Sprint just a few hours later. This makes Saturday a stand-alone day meaning teams don’t have to worry about where they finish affecting them for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
The reason for this is that Pirelli hasn’t been able to make enough tyres for the season so this is the solution Formula 1 has come up with. Another reason will likely be in the name of entertainment for the viewer.
There will be many opinions floating around about the changes, but this will be the format for all six events this year so we will have to wait until the last one to see if this is a format that will work for Formula 1 in the future.
Introducing… Sprint Saturday ✨
🗓️ All-new weekend format 👀 Saturday's Sprint sessions do not affect the Grand Prix ⏱️ Friday's qualifying sets Sunday's grid 🆕 New Sprint Shootout qualifying session
It has been a month since we last saw the teams take to the track in Melbourne for what ended up being a chaotic race with many controversies and lots to talk about. However, we are now back on the streets of Baku but the results could be a familiar story.
Verstappen won in Australia but the other teams weren’t too far behind. Image courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media
Red Bull will likely be very dominant again with their overall raw pace. But in the break, other teams have been able to go away and develop their cars because, unlike in the summer, there has been no mandatory factory shutdown.
With this in mind we could see Alonso push his way past the Mercedes, or will they have done enough to stay ahead? George Russell has said there will be plenty of changes to the car for this race.
For those long-suffering Ferrari fans they will have their fingers crossed the team managed to pull out some development to make their car and strategy more reliable, while McLaren fans will be hoping for more pace. There are many reasons to watch this weekend but the progression of some teams will go unnoticed but is worth keeping an eye on.
The final day then and with 56km’s over four stages, could Elfyn hold on and take victory or would Ott be able to fight back and take a second win of the year? Meanwhile, Esapekka would be looking to take third, unless anything would happen in front of him. Also, there was the battle between Kalle and Seb to settle. Finally let’s remember that all crews were out there and competing for Craig.
The first stage then, SS17 Trakošćan – Vrbno 1 – 13.15 km and Kalle was fastest from Seb by 3.7 seconds whilst Elfyn was third and with Ott down in sixth, the gap widened between the top two. The Finns pace meant that he passed Seb and moved into fourth overall. In WRC2 Yohan continued to lead, with Nikolay now 14 seconds behind and holding second place and reigning WRC champion Emil in third.
Onto SS18 Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec 1 – 14.09 km and Thierry was fastest from Kalle by just nine tenths of a second and Seb third. The gap was widening with the Finn going a little faster than his teammate. Meanwhile, Elfyn continued to lead Ott by a slightly reduced margin of 29 seconds but was looking comfortable in the lead. Top three in WRC was unchanged and Yohan was also looking comfortable with a 13 second lead.
The penultimate stage then, SS19 Trakošćan – Vrbno 2 – 13.15 km and Kalle was again fastest from Seb and Ott. Esapekka was still holding third overall despite only setting the sixth best time on this one, but the Finn had a good gap to Kalle of 34 seconds.
The final stage then, SS20 Zagorska Sela – Kumrovec 2[Power Stage] – 14.09 km and the top five was Thierry, Kalle, Seb, Takamoto and Esapekka. Elfyn and Scott took victory at last, their first win since Rally Finland 2021. We did not see the normal celebrations at the end and instead saw a very poignant and low-key podium, with Elfyn and Scott holding an Irish flag, and the all the drivers joining the top three on the podium, whilst the Republic Irish National Anthem was played.
Let’s take a look at the top ten and hear from the drivers.
Final Overall Classification – Croatia Rally
1
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
2:50:54.3
2
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid
+27.0
3
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
+58.6
4
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+1:18.3
5
S. Ogier
V. Landais
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid
+1:28.0
6
T. Katsuta
A. Johnston
Toyota GR Yaris Rally1
+2:22.5
7
P. L. Loubet
N. Gilsoul
Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid
+4:22.6
8
Y. Rossel
A. Dunand
Citroën C3 Rally2
+7:51.3
9
N. Gryazin
K. Aleksandrov
Škoda Fabia RS
+8:07.4
10
O. Solberg
E. Edmondson
Škoda Fabia RS
+9:16.7
Toyota Gazoo Racing
Elfyn Evans (1st)
“Obviously we have been working for another win like this for a long time but that doesn’t mean so much right at this moment. It’s been a tough week for everybody and the whole WRC family can be proud of how everyone has come together and paid tribute to Craig. Competition went on as usual, as he would have wanted. It seemed a bit of a tall order to win here with our road position on Friday with the amount of dirt on the road, but some others hit trouble and that gave us an opportunity to fight for the win. Scott and myself promised Craig’s family that we would enjoy this weekend and we’ve been able to do that. Now it’s all over, our thoughts turn back to them.”
Kalle Rovanperä (4th)
“It has not been a great weekend in terms of result but in the end, we did what we could. It was a great fight with Seb and to come out on top is not so bad. Of course, we don’t want to be fighting for fourth, but that’s all we could really do after Friday. We didn’t start the weekend well; we made a small mistake with the setup, but after that the car was good so thank you to the team. We tried to push hard on the Power Stage and got some good points at the end of the weekend.”
Sébastien Ogier (5th)
“It has been a tough week. From a sporting point of view, we had the pace to do much better, but things did not go our way this weekend. That’s motorsport sometimes. It was quite difficult today, but I have to say that Kalle was really fast, and I didn’t have the same pace as him on this final day. Of course, the Power Stage was still a target, but we made a wrong decision with the tyre strategy, and I had a lot of moments in the stage, so I was glad to cross the finish line and still bring some points to the team.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Esapekka Lappi (3rd)
“I don’t know where to start. Big thanks to the team. It was not an easy decision to come here for most of us, but we appreciated the opportunity to drive again. I know it’s been really tough, arguably one of the hardest weeks ever. We kept our heads together with a smart drive that enabled us to be on the podium. It’s a very important result for us and for the team this week, so thank you.”
2023 FIA World Rally Championship Round 4, Croatia Rally 20 – 23 April 2023 Esapekka Lappi Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Thierry Neuville (33rd)
“I don’t know what to say. I am just so disappointed for the team, for us, after everything that has happened. It is a tough moment, so we really wanted the victory to make Craig proud. Unfortunately, we missed the opportunity with our retirement from the lead on Saturday. We have had to give more than 100%, and when you are on the limit you can’t always avoid such mistakes. We re-joined the rally this morning determined to fight in the Power Stage. We gave absolutely everything and that was for Craig.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Ott Tänak (2nd)
“The car has the pace, we can see that from the times, but the operating window seems very small, and it has been difficult for me to understand where the sweet spot of the car is. Up until now the team has been working very hard and I have managed to stay in touch with the competition, but we need to continue working hard on finding more so we can keep involved in this exciting battle for the championship. I am happy to be only four points off the lead of the championship and second this weekend is still a very good result along with the two stage wins. The test for Portugal is next week and now my focus turns to preparing as best as possible and working with the team to get us as prepared as possible for the next important event.”
Pierre-Louis Loubet (7th)
“I am pleased with the performance, some places we have been fast, showing the potential is there, but I have missed some consistency. I made a bad tyre choice on Friday losing us time, however on Saturday it went well, and we were up to fourth but unfortunately with a couple of issues we dropped to seventh by the end of the event. But let’s keep positive, I know if I can get the consistency back, I can finish in the top five or even the podium in the coming events.”
Adrien Fourmaux – Fifth in WRC2
“I’m really happy about the weekend and performance of the car. We had a really good time on the power stage, where we scored valuable points for the championship. We got the car going so much better over this weekend, it was a bit tricky on Friday with a mechanical issue where we lost one minute but I was pleased to be back driving fast on Tarmac with no drama, we were really able to push. It was quite hard for all the drivers with all the emotion over Craig’s loss. It was a really tough weekend for everyone and it’s nice to finish on something positive and have the right feeling with the car going forward for the rest of the championship.”
Gregoire Munster – 26th Overall
“Not the best weekend for us, we had a mechanical issue on Friday which lost us some time. Following that I made a mistake which led to a small off, and then we had a small fire when we restarted the car. Luckily the mechanics were able to repair it so we could go out and grab some more experience on Saturday and Sunday. These kilometres were really important for me to get, as we don’t yet have so much mileage with the car, so this gave us some experience on Tarmac which is a really positive point.”
Oliver Solberg (10th)
“It has been a tough one,” said Oliver. “When I tested, we had so much rain, the roads were so wet – in the recce it was the same, I had such a good feeling with the car, I decided to go to a wet set up with the transmission. The transmission is sealed at scrutineering which was on Wednesday. “If it continued to rain, I had the perfect car!” Sadly, the sun came out.
“It was really tricky in the dry. I took the gamble, and it didn’t work. Basically, you have to make a choice on the transmission set-up, and I didn’t trust so much to the weather predictions and when the roads dried, my car wasn’t so good.
“The differential set-up for the wet is kind of more progressive, with the diffs more open – I didn’t have the same pull I needed from the diff. It was a mistake I made. It’s frustrating, but the positive is some fastest times. When the road got a bit more dirty with more mud pulled out, I won some stages – not as many as I would have liked, but some.
“We took some good experience. I did this rally in full wet last year and now full dry this year, so I understand it quite well now.”
“Craig was such an amazing person,” continued Oliver. “He had such love and such passion for this sport – he loved all of the old cars and he loved to talk about rallying all of the time. But above all of that, he was one of the nicest and most positive people I know – that’s what I’m going to take forward with me when I think about this great guy.”
2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’
After round four
1
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
161
2
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
132
3
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
108
2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’
After round four
1
S. Ogier
69
2
E. Evans
69
3
K. Rovanperä
68
4
O. Tänak
65
5
T. Neuville
58
6
E. Lappi
31
7
C. Breen
19
8
T. Katsuta
18
9
D. Sordo
17
10
P.L Loubet
14
Summary
Well, what a rally. It was good that it went without incident and great that Elfyn and Scott took victory. If it could not be one of the Hyundai crews, then Elfyn and Scott as close friends of Craig was definitely a great result. Of course, Scott was Craig’s co-driver for many years, and they took their first ever podium in 2016 in Finland.
I’m going to leave it at that and give Craig the final words –
“Don’t let anyone ever put you down, because only you know your true potential.”
Craig Breen, Rally Sweden, February 2023
2023 FIA World Rally Championship Round 02, Rally Sweden, 09-12 February 2023 Photographer: Vincent Thuillier Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
