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Olympus Rally Recap: Stages

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

  1. Semenuk, 15:31.1 
  2. Williams, 15:33.2 (+24.1)
  3. Gruszka, 16:39.4 (+1:08.3)
  4. Perusina, 16:41.5 (+1:10.4)
  5. Seehorn, 16:55.1 (+1:24.0)
  6. Bailey, 17:25.0, (+1:53.9)
  7. Plsek, 17:28.9 (+1:57.8)
  8. Olivares, 17:43.5 (+2:12.4)
  9. Miller, 17:47.2 (+2:16.1)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 4:21.5 
  2. Williams, 4:32.1 (+10.6)
  3. Seehorn, 4:39.6 (+18.1)
  4. Gruszka, 4:41.4 (+19.9)
  5. Perusina, 4:47.2 (+25.7)
  6. Olivares, 4:57.6 (+36.1)
  7. Dickinson, 5:01.0 (+39.5)
  8. Bailey, 5:01.9 (+40.4)
  9. Block, 5:05.6 (+44.1)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 15:27.8
  2. Williams, 15:50.5 (+22.7)
  3. Gruszka, 16:20.8 (+53.0)
  4. Seehorn, 16:47.3 (+1:19.5)
  5. Perusina, 17:07.1 (+1:39.3)
  6. Bailey, 17:10.9 (+1:43.1)
  7. Olivares, 17:16.6 (+1:48.8)
  8. Miller, 17:36.3 (+2:08.5)
  9. Bardha, 17:40.6 (+2:12.8)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 4:21.3
  2. Williams, 4:30.4 (+9.1)
  3. Seehorn, 4:38.4 (+17.1)
  4. Gruszka, 4:44.2 (+22.9)
  5. Olivares, 4:54.8 (+33.5)
  6. Perusina, 4:54.9 (+33.6)
  7. Bailey, 4:57.5 (+36.2)
  8. Block, 4:59.4 (+38.1)
  9. Hooper, 5:00.5 (+39.2)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 13:12.9
  2. Williams, 13:41.3 (+28.4)
  3. Gruszka, 14:26.1 (+1:13.2)
  4. Seehorn, 14:26.1 (+1:13.2)
  5. Bailey, 15:14.2 (+2:01.3)
  6. Olivares, 15:17.4 (+2:04.5)
  7. Block, 15:40.3 (+2:27.4)
  8. Bardha, 15:42.0 (+2:29.1)
  9. Honn, 15:44.3 (+2:31.4)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 13:34.4
  2. Williams, 14:00.3 (+25.9)
  3. Seehorn, 15:55.4 (+2:21.0)
  4. Gruszka, 16:02.9 (+2:28.5)
  5. Bailey, 16:22.0 (+2:47.6)
  6. Clark, 16:49.3 (+3:14.9)
  7. Olivares, 17:08.1 (+3:33.7)
  8. Hooper, 17:17.6 (+3:43.2)
  9. Sperry, 17:20.3 (+3:46.0)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 20:40.5
  2. Williams, 21:13.1 (+32.6)
  3. Seehorn, 22:28.6 (+1:48.1)
  4. Olivares, 23:01.9 (+2:21.4)
  5. Gruszka, 23:23.5 (+2:43.0)
  6. Bailey, 23:37.9 (+2:57.4)
  7. Trudel, 23:55.5 (+3:15.0)
  8. Miller, 24:00.0 (+3:19.5)
  9. Bardha, 24:11.8 (+3:31.3)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 5:47.3
  2. Williams, 6:01.0 (+[13.7)
  3. Gruszka, 6:20.0 (+32.7)
  4. Seehorn, 6:20.0 (+32.7)
  5. Bailey, 6:33.7 (+46.4)
  6. Olivares, 6:34.6 (+47.3)
  7. Hartmann, 6:41.8 (+54.5)
  8. Miller, 6:43.0 (+55.7
  9. Block, 6:45.2 (+57.9)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 20:40.7
  2. Williams, 21:02.4 (+21.7)
  3. Gruszka, 22:25.3 (+1:44.6)
  4. Seehorn, 22:33.3 (+1:52.6)
  5. Olivares, 23:00.7 (+2:20.0)
  6. Bailey, 23:10.7 (+2:30.0)
  7. Block, 23:43.9 (+3:03.2)
  8. Miller, 24:03.9 (+3:23.2)
  9. Trudel, 14:16.3 (+3:35.6)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 5:47.4 
  2. Williams, 5:55.5 (+8.1)
  3. Seehorn, 6:07.2 (+19.8)
  4. Gruszka, 6:09.3 (+21.9)
  5. Bailey, 6:28.3 (+38.9)
  6. Olivares, 6:33.5 (+46.1)
  7. Block, 6:35.0 (+47.6)
  8. A Miller, 6:43.0 (+55.6)
  9. Hartmann, 6:45.2 (+57.8)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 4:42.6
  2. Williams, 4:46.3 (+3.7)
  3. Gruszka, 4:53.7 (+11.1)
  4. Seehorn, 5:03.8 (+21.2)
  5. Bailey, 5:06.2 (+23.6)
  6. Block, 5:16.9 (+34.3)
  7. Olivares, 5:19.4 (+36.8)
  8. Block, 5:20.2 (+37.6)
  9. Bardha, 5:21.3 (+38.7)
  10. 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

  1. Semenuk, 4:43.8
  2. Gruszka, 4:43.8
  3. Seehorn, 4:43.8
  4. Bailey, 5:11.0 (+27.2)
  5. Block, 5:18.3 (+34.5)
  6. Olivares, 5:27.2 (+43.4)
  7. Block, 5:29.3 (+45.5)
  8. Brassfeild, 5:31.9 (+48.1)
  9. Bardha, 5:35.9 (+52.1)
  10. 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. 

Photography Credit

© Trevor Lyden, Subaru.com/motorsports, 2023

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Azerbaijan GP: Sergio Perez takes yet another street circuit win

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.

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2023 Azerbaijan Sprint Race

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.

 

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Leclerc takes pole for Azerbaijan sprint race despite last minute crash

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.

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F1 Weekend Preview: It’s all Change for Baku

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.

Formula 1 Cars on track again

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.

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Rally Croatia 2023 – Day Three Report. Elfyn and Scott win!

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

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Round 3 WorldSBK, Assen, Race 2

The earlier Superpole race saw Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) claim his 2nd win of the weekend, and the question on everyone’s mind was, who could stop him claiming his 3rd win.

Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) had a crash on the sighting lap, and that meant he would have to start at the back of the grid for race 2, instead of 4th.

Round 2, World Superbikes, Assen. Picture courtesy of WSBK.

Lights out then for race 2, and it was Bautista with the hole shot into turn 1, followed by Toprak (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 2nd, Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) 3rd, Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) 4th, Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) 5th, Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) 6th, and Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 7th.

Next lap and drama for both Brad Ray (Motoxracing Yamaha) who crashed out,  and then local rider, Vd Mark (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who had a massive high side into the chicane and landed with a gruesome looking injury to his leg. He got stretchered off into an ambulance, with later news confirming he had broken his leg. Vierge (Honda HRC) was next to crash, this time into turn 1. Neither Honda or BMW were having a good weekend, and it was now made a lot worse.

Next lap and Toprak made a move on Bautista, before Alvaro snapped straight back, also allowing Rea to come through into 2nd in the process.

With 18 laps of 21 remaining positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Rea 3. Toprak 4. Bassani 5. Locatelli 6. Aegerter 7. Redding 8. Lecuona. Meanwhile Rea, late on the brakes, dived into turn 9 briefly taking over the lead, before Bautista could unleash all of the Ducati power down the back straight to retake the lead. Toprak then repaid the favour to Rea and came through back into 2nd.

With 16 laps to go, and having to push so hard to make any ground on the leading Bautista, Rea lost the front end into turn 9 trail braking into the corner. The Kawasaki flew into the gravel, and a disconsolate Rea trudged back to the safety barriers, his race over.

Next lap and Toprak put in a new fastest lap a 1:34.304 to keep the pressure firmly on Bautista. The positions were as follows: 1. Bautista 2. Toprak 3. Bassani 4. Locatelli 5. Aegerter 6. Redding 7. Lecuona 8. Gardner (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK) 9. Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing) 10. Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati).

Next lap and Remy Gardner got through on Lecuona to take 7th, the Aussie had only started from 14th on the grid. Further ahead Locatelli got past Bassani to take 3rd. At the front Bautista held a gap of 0.9s to Toprak behind, and then put in a new fastest lap a 1:34.1 to respond to the pressure from the Yamaha.

With 12 laps to go Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) went down into turn 15, he had only just recovered from a fractured ankle. Meanwhile Bautista was upping the tempo and now held a gap of 1.8s to Toprak. Lowes had made a massive recovery after having started at the back of the grid, and was now up to 10th, with Rinaldi behind in 11th.

With just over half race distance covered, Bassani had fought back to Locatelli and was looking for the pass into 3rd. Meanwhile the poor weekend for Honda continued as Lecuona crashed into turn 4, he briefly rejoined before retiring into the pits. After all the crashes there were now only 19 riders left.

Round 2, World Superbikes, Assen. Picture courtesy of WSBK.

With 8 laps to go former Moto2 rider Gardner was having a great race, and was now all over the back of Redding.

Next lap and Bautista was firmly in line to take Ducati’s 400th WorldSBK win. Behind it was Toprak in 2nd, Locatelli 3rd, and Bassani in 4th.

With 3 laps to go Aegerter, like his team mate, was also having great late race pace, and was catching Bassani ahead in 4th, with the gap cut down to 0.7s. Meanwhile further back Lowes was up into 9th, Rinaldi 10th, and Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 12th.

Last lap and Bautista made no mistake to claim his 3rd win of the weekend, also his 40th career win, and Ducati’s 400th win. Toprak 2nd, Locatelli 3rd, Aegerter 4th, Bassani 5th, Gardner 6th, Redding 7th, Petrucci 8th, Lowes 9th, and Rinaldi 10th.

Result top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  3. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  4. Bassani (Motocorsa Racing)
  5. Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 174 pts
  2. Razgatlioglu – 118
  3. Locatelli – 104
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Round 3 WorldSBK, Assen, Race 1

After the long break from round 2 in Indonesia, fans were eagerly anticipating another action packed weekend of racing ahead of the Assen round.

Jonathan Rea, Kawasaki Racing Team. Race 1 Assen 2023. Picture courtesy of WSBK

Superpole saw Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) initially claim top spot, but he was subsequently penalised after a dangerous incident between himself and Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) in the pit lane exit. Pole position was then handed to Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) with a time of 1:33.5, followed by Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), and Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) in 3rd.

Conditions were dry and mild for race 1, and most of the grid went for the soft SCX rear tyre.

Lights out then for race 1 and it was Rea with the hole shot into turn, 1 followed by Toprak and Bautista in 2nd and 3rd respectively, Lowes 4th, with Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) behind in 5th. Lowes started aggressively from the off, and was soon attacking Bautista into the chicane, which he did taking 3rd. Alvaro responded however, and snapped straight back into turn 1 to retake the position.

Next lap of the 21 lap race and positions were as follows: 1. Rea 2. Toprak 3. Bautista 4. Lowes 5. Redding 6. Locatelli.

His disastrous season continued, it was another mechanical issue for former champion Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) and his race was over. Meanwhile at the front, the leading 3 were pulling out a gap to the group behind of 4 riders, which included Lowes 4th, Redding (Rokit BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) 5th, Bassani (Motocorsa Racing Ducati) 6th, and Locatelli 7th. Meanwhile further back current BSB champion, and rookie Bradley Ray (Motoxracing Yamaha) was in 15th and on track to score his first ever point in WorldSBK.

With 17 of 21 laps remaining, Bautista moved through on Toprak into the chicane to take 2nd. Meanwhile further back drama for Iker Lecuona (Honda HRC) who crashed out, but was subsequently able to rejoin at the back of the field. It was Gardner 8th, Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) 9th and Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) in 10th.

With 15 laps to go, Rea held a gap of 0.2s to Bautista behind in 2nd. Further back it was Bassani 6th, and Bradley Ray was in 14th. Toprak held a gap of 2.5s to Lowes behind in 4th.

Next lap and Scott Redding got through on Lowes to move up into 4th. Next up was the turn of Bassani to pass Lowes, Lowes had now dropped from 4th to 6th in a few corners.

Race 1 Assen 2023. Picture courtesy of WSBK

With 13 laps to go Bautista got by on Rea into the fast turn 7 to take over the lead for the first time. Rea now in 2nd, with Toprak in 3rd. The gap to Redding in 4th was now 3.0s. Unfortunately for Bradley Ray he had now dropped down to 18th. Meanwhile making the most of the clear track ahead of him, Bautista set the new fastest lap a 1:34.830.

With 11 laps remaining, a mistake for Redding saw him run wide into turn 1, and allowed a grateful Bassani to come through into 4th. Scott was now in 5th. Toprak now held a gap of 4.5s to Bassani in 4th, while Locatelli held a gap of 4.9s to Aegerter (GYRT GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) in 8th.

With just over half race distance covered, Rea wasn’t giving up his fight for the win, and was putting pressure on Bautista. Rea held a gap of 1.1s to Toprak.

With 8 laps to go, Bautista had extended his lead to 0.3s and was slowly edging away from the grasp of 6 x world champion Rea. Toprak too was losing contact with both the riders ahead of him. Meanwhile behind the 4 way battle for 4th was still red hot between, Bassani, Redding, Lowes and Locatelli.

Next lap and Locatelli who had been eyeing up a pass on Lowes, made it into turn 5, cutting up the inside of the Kawasaki to take 6th. Further back it was team mates Domi Aegerter and Remy Gardner in 8th, and 9th respectively, Petrucci 10th, Vierge (Honda HRC) 11th, Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing Ducati) 12th, and Brad Ray in 18th.

With 5 laps remaining, reigning champion Alvaro Bautista, had put the hammer down and had extended his lead to 1.6s over Rea. Rea had done all he could to stay with Alvaro but it wasn’t enough, and he held a gap of 2.5s to Toprak who was in a lonely 3rd ahead of Bassani by 5.4s. Lowes 7th held a gap of 2.7s to Aegerter in 8th. Lowes then burst through on Redding to move into 6th, with Locatelli ahead of him in 5th.

Next lap and there was a 4 way battle for 12th between Gerloff (Bonovo Action BMW) 13th, Oettl (Team GoEleven), 14th and Rinaldi 15th. Meanwhile current SSP champion Aegerter, got past Redding to take 7th, and was showing great late race pace.

Penultimate lap and Locatelli was all over the back of fellow countryman Bassani and looking for the pass.

Last lap and Bautista took the win followed by Rea in 2nd, Toprak in 3rd. Meanwhile Locatelli mugged Bassani into turn 5 as he had done with Lowes, and took 4th, Bassani 5th, Aegerter 6th, Lowes 7th, Gardner 8th, Petrucci 9th, Redding 10th.

Alvaro Bautista, Ducati Racing. Race 1 Assen 2023. Picture courtesy of WSBK

Result top 5:

  1. Bautista (Aruba.it Racing Ducati)
  2. Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)
  3. Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  4. Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK)
  5. Bassani (Motocorsa Racing)

Championship top 3:

  1. Bautista – 137 pts
  2. Razgatlioglu – 91
  3. Locatelli – 83
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Rally Croatia 2023 Day Two report – Elfyn moves into the lead!

Well, day two would see the crew tackle 116km’s over eight stages. Thierry held a small 5.7 second lead over Elfyn following Friday’s stages. The top ten would be reversed with Thierry starting the stage last of all.

 

First up was SS9 Kostanjevac – Petruš Vrh 1 – 23.76 km in which Kalle as fastest from Ott and Seb. The Frenchman was now fighting back up the leader board following getting a one-minute penalty for moving away after the tyre change. Thierry was 4.8 faster than Elfyn, therefore taking his lead to over 10 seconds. There was a change in positions between Takamoto and Pierre-Louis as the Japanese star was passed by the young Frenchman. In the WRC2 category, Adrien was fastest from Emil and Yohan.

 

Kalle made it two from two, winning SS10 Vinski Vrh – Duga Resa 1 – 8.78 km from Seb and Ott. The top two duo of Thierry and Elfyn were fourth and fifth respectively separated by just three tenths of a second and they continued their battle for the lead, the advantage going to the Hyundai driver. Yohan continued to lead WRC2 with a thirty second lead over Nikolay.

 

There was drama in SS11 Ravna Gora – Skrad 1 – 10.13 km as last through the stage Thierry lost control of his car on a long right hander and slid into large rock on the outside of the corner and was spun into the trees. He knew immediately that they could not continue. Elfyn was now in the lead.

 

Into SS12 Platak 1 – 15.63 km and Seb was fastest from Kalle and Elfyn. The Welshman held a 22 second lead over his former M-Sport teammate. Meanwhile, Seb had moved up into fifth place, pushing his teammate Takamoto down to sixth. In WRC2 there was a change for second place, with Nicolas Ciamin passing Nikolay, whilst Yohan continued to hold a big lead.

 

After the midday service the second run of SS13 Kostanjevac – Petruš Vrh 2 – 23.76 km was won by Seb, with Ott and Kalle second and third fastest. With the pace of Seb and Kalle out there, they both moved up to fourth and sixth respectively, with Pierre-Louis falling to fifth and Takamoto to seventh. There was drama in WRC2 with Nicolas rolling out of second place.

 

Ott won SS14 Vinski Vrh – Duga Resa 2 – 8.78 km from Kalle and Seb, whilst Elfyn saw his lead over Ott fall to twelve and a half seconds. Kalle also passed Pierre-Louis for fifth overall as the Frenchman struggled with his hard compound tyres.

 

Kalle won SS15 Ravna Gora – Skrad 2 – 10.13 km and closed the gap to Seb for fourth overall to just 1.3 seconds, whilst Elfyn was third fastest and increased his lead over Ott. This was part in due to the Estonian getting technical problems with his Puma, mainly with his handbrake. Further back, Takamoto passed Pierre-Louis for sixth overall.

 

The final stage of the day, SS16 Platak 2 – 15.63 km saw Seb again leading the way from Kalle and Esapekka. Elfyn was fourth, whilst Ott could only manage sixth fastest and 8.6 seconds slower than the leader, who now had a 25.6 second lead over Ott.

 

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Classification after Day Two

1 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid 2:20:05.7
2 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +25.4
3 E. Lappi J. Ferm Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +55.4
4 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:49.4
5 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:51.4
6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:25.9
7 P. L. Loubet N. Gilsoul Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +2:32.1

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a long day but a good one in terms of our position tonight. I was maybe taking a bit too much care in the dirty places to begin with, but I felt things were getting better as the morning went on and things were working quite well in the car. I wasn’t completely happy with my afternoon; we were losing some time compared to Ott but then he had some issues which has given us some breathing space. But it’s also a big part of the game on this rally to stay on the road and avoid trouble. It’s not a huge lead on a rally like this, so we still need to drive well tomorrow while managing the risks.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“Today we were fighting really hard to gain some positions back, and we were able to gain three places and we also had a close fight with Seb. It’s always tough to fight with Seb, so it’s been a proper push today and we were fast during the whole day. After yesterday afternoon I knew that I now had a good feeling with the car and the setup, so I was more confident starting today. We also had a good road position this morning, starting first with a clean road, although for the second pass this afternoon it was still quite dirty and slippery. Tomorrow we’ll see what happens and try to score as many points as we can.”

Sébastien Ogier

“It has been nice to be fighting with Kalle and for us to both climb some positions today. OK, it’s not really the position that either of us want to be fighting for, but at least it’s working towards scoring more and more points for the team. It’s been enjoyable in the car and at least I could have a trouble-free loop this afternoon. This morning we had to fix an issue on the road section, and we were just a little bit too late to avoid another penalty. But at least we could keep going, and after that we had good pace. Now we will try to carry on like this for the four remaining stages.”

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“Of course, it’s nice to be in a podium position even though we have been lacking a bit of pace today; it’s been a different feeling compared to what we had yesterday, but I know I have never been perfect on the dirty tarmac. I have been trying to reproduce the driving we had on Friday, but it was difficult to match the times at the front. The conditions have felt more slippery, and if you feel like there’s no grip then the confidence just goes. We knew that the new stage would be tricky, but it was crazy how dirty it was. We have benefitted in terms of our position because unfortunately Thierry went off this morning, so we will have to concentrate, try to find some improvements in the car for the final day, and aim to complete the rally on the podium. That would at least be something to take away for the whole team.”

2023 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 4, Croatia Rally
20 – 23 April 2023
Esapekka Lappi
Photographer: Austral
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Thierry Neuville

“We were trying to maintain defence of our lead over Elfyn, which we had done well on the two opening stages with good pace. In SS11, we were a bit late braking into a third gear right-hander, we entered the cut and just lost the rear of the car upon corner entry. We hit some concrete on the outside and our day was over; we broke the rear left damper and upright, so there was no chance to continue. I didn’t feel too comfortable up to that point. Even though we were slightly down on the splits, I had expected to continue my rhythm, but it wasn’t to be. When you are battling for victory sometimes small mistakes can happen. I want to apologise to the team. We were all dreaming about the victory this weekend for the reasons that we all know about. We were close, we were doing our best, we kept believing but unfortunately our efforts were not rewarded.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“There were many things (referring to problems that started in stage three), some hydraulic and transmission issues and the handbrake in the last stage, quite a few things at the moment. It’s tricky and for sure we will keep going for tomorrow with a short day.”

Summary

Well with just 54km’s over four stages, it will be interesting to see if Ott can close the gap again to Elfyn and take victory or will the two-time championship runner up take his first win since Rally Finland 2021. I know this would be a very popular win.

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Rally Croatia 2023 – Day One Report, Thierry leads for Hyundai Motorsport

The first full day of competitive action in Croatia saw some incredible drama out there. Here’s the round-up of the first eight stages from Friday.

 

First up, SS1 Mali Lipovec – Grdanjci 1 – 19.20 km and with the crew starting in championship order, Seb was first in and would ultimately set the fastest time from Thierry and Ott. At this stage, Kalle and Elfyn were holding fourth and fifth overall, a little over ten seconds from the leader. In the WRC2 category, Yohan held the lead From Emil and Gus with third.

 

It was all change in SS2 Stojdraga – Hartje 1 – 25.67 km with both Seb and Kalle suffering punctures at the same point and on the same side in the stage and having to change their wheels. Seb lost over a minute and Kalle over two minutes changing their wheels. Thierry also had some drama, colliding with a bale in a chicane and damaging the right front bumper and splitter. Once Elfyn completed the stage he now held second overall, whilst Esapekka moved into third, and just 5.6 seconds covered the top three.

 

Into SS3 Krašić – Vrškovac 1 – 11.11 km and Seb was back to the fastest time, but of course was holding seventh overall, now a minute and thirty seconds from Thierry. The Belgian was second fastest and opened up the gap to Elfyn a little to over 15 seconds.

 

The final stage of the morning loop SS4 Pećurkovo Brdo – Mrežnički Novaki 1 – 9.11 km and Seb was making the most of still being first on the road and took another stage win, whilst Ott and Elfyn were second and third respectively. In WRC2, Yohan continued to lead, from Nikolay who gained two places overall and moved into ninth overall.

 

After the service break, Seb was fastest in SS5 Mali Lipovec – Grdanjci 2 – 19.20 km from Elfyn who was starting to close the gap to Thierry, whilst Ott was third fastest. There was a change in positions further back, with Pierre-Louis moving into fifth place.

 

Esapekka took his first stage win in SS6 Stojdraga – Hartje 2 – 25.67 km from Elfyn whilst Seb was third. The former champion was now up into fifth overall, whilst Elfyn had now closed the gap to Thierry to just eight seconds. Kalle was also on the move up the leader board gaining one position and moving into eighth overall.

 

We had another new stage winner with Ott winning SS7 Krašić – Vrškovac 2 – 11.11 km from Thierry and Elfyn. Ott moved ahead of Esapekka and into third overall, just 1.5 seconds ahead now of the Hyundai driver.

 

The final stage of the day, SS8 Pećurkovo Brdo – Mrežnički Novaki 2 – 9.11 km was won by Elfyn from Kalle and Ott was third fastest. Thierry was fifth and lost a further few seconds of his lead to Elfyn, the gap just 5.7 seconds at the end of the stage.

 

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

Classification after Day One

1 T. Neuville M. Wydaeghe Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid 1:16:02.4
2 E. Evans S. Martin Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +5.7
3 O. Tänak M. Järveoja Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +30.0
4 E. Lappi J. Ferm Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid +33.4
5 S. Ogier V. Landais Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid +1:23.7
6 T. Katsuta A. Johnston Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +1:52.1
7 P. L. Loubet N. Gilsoul Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid +1:52.9
8 K. Rovanperä J. Halttunen Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 +2:40.3

 

 

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“First of all, I am happy to get to the end of the day in the lead of the rally; this is the best result we could expect especially after the incredibly tough week we have had as a team. It was a big relief as we passed the final stage end and saw we were still in front. It has not been an easy day; this morning, it was tough and more challenging than we were expecting. We changed the dampers on the car and felt more comfortable, but I still don’t feel that I can commit 100%. We were fast but we weren’t chasing those final tenths of a second which make all the difference. The next two days will also be challenging; we have a new stage which was dirty in the recce, and we must remember we will be starting from the back of the field, so it could be tough.”

2023 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 04, Croatia Rally
20-23 April 2023
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid
Photographer: Dufour Fabien
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Esapekka Lappi

“This morning, we didn’t have the greatest pace, but we also carried a disadvantage that we didn’t do these stages last year. We were lacking a bit on the pace notes as a result, particularly on the high-speed parts; we needed to make sure they were correct so we could commit more. There were lots of places where I know I could gain on the second pass, and we made good progress. The conditions in the afternoon were much better and more equal for everyone. The gravel crew notes were also more precise which gave me extra confidence. It was quite an enjoyable afternoon. Tomorrow could be a bit ‘easier’ for me as I have done all but one of the stages before. I’m looking forward to it.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Elfyn Evans

“It’s not been easy out there today. The grip was changing almost with every corner and the amount of dirt brought onto the road from the cars in front of us was varying quite a lot. It maybe wasn’t the strongest start to the day, with a lot of pollution on the road with our road position in the first stage this morning. But after that we kept building and building. This afternoon we had some rain showers, and it was a bit of a lottery, but we actually managed to make the right tyre calls at the right time. So, it’s been a pretty positive day overall. There’s a long way to go, but it’s hopefully going to be an interesting fight for the rest of the weekend.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“This morning was more difficult than I expected. The conditions were tricky with more loose gravel and less grip than anticipated. The setup we started with was not so good for me in these conditions, so I was struggling a bit with the balance. Then in the second stage we had the same thing happen as Seb: I had this compression in my pacenotes but it seems the bump was bigger than expected. This afternoon was definitely much better. In mid-day service we could make some changes to the setup, and it was much easier to enjoy the driving and to be on the pace. Hopefully we can continue with a good feeling tomorrow.”

Sébastien Ogier

“The pace was good this morning but unfortunately, we lost a lot of time when we had to stop in SS2 and change the wheel. It happened in a compression on the road in a high-speed section, which is difficult to see in the recce at slower speeds. I was trying be safe and avoid the cut on the inside of the road, but the impact in this compression was too hard. After that, we just needed to keep pushing and try to catch back as many positions as we can. The gap in front now is pretty big so it will be tough to gain more, but we have nothing to lose so we need to keep trying and see what happens.”

 

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“The afternoon was better than the morning, although we didn’t make a good choice in one stage, which was tricky, but other than that the last two were more positive. It’s been quite an improvement since Monte, and also to get reliability and to have a bit of fun actually. Everything is open, we need to keep doing own, and I’m pretty sure we haven’t seen the full potential of this car and there’s still a few things to do, so let’s go step by step.”

Summary

Well, after a full day of rallying, the leader board is interesting. It should be noted that Seb was given a one-minute penalty for moving away with the safety belts not done up after the tyre change and therefore dropped two positions to seventh overall. That means that Takamoto and Pierre-Louis both gain a position each and hold fifth and sixth respectively.

Saturday will see the crews take on 116km’s over eight stages. Can Elfyn close the gap further and take the lead? We shall see.

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