Rally

20th July 2023

Rally Estonia 2023 Preview – Fast gravel!

After last month’s epic Safari Rally Kenya, the championship arrives back in Europe with the reigning champions leading the way. Of course, the exclusion of Thierry Neuville from the results of that rally puts Elfyn into send in the championship and also second on the road and he will surely be a threat to his teammates who lead the way. Takamoto again steps up to drive a car nominated for manufacturer points with Seb Ogier enjoying a longer holiday and missing this event.

At M-Sport, Ott will certainly be targeting a big result to get himself back into the championship battle, and will have a good road position as well, whilst his teammate Pierre-Louis will look to get more useful experience for the future.

Finally at Hyundai Thierry has not helped his championship challenge with his mistakes at the last round, and it has to be said that he’s not really felt at home on these fast type of roads over the years. Will he be able to find some pace both in Estonia and Finland which is at the start in August? Esapekka has shown great pace throughout this year and could again star at the front, perhaps even lead with a great road position throughout Friday.

Here’s a look at the stages.

Twenty-one in total and 300km’s spread across the weekend make this rally a big challenge. Friday sees the longest day with 136km’s, then 102km’s on Saturday and finally 61km’s on Sunday.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“Rally Estonia is definitely one of my favourite events on the calendar. I have spent a lot of time in Estonia and the fast and flowing roads suit my driving style really well. I have good memories from the rally, and it has always been an enjoyable one for me. Even in 2020 when I didn’t have much experience we could fight for the podium, and then 2021 was very special as it was our first win. Last year the weather was making a difference and I hope we can have some rain this year too, because we will be opening the road again on Friday. Like on any rally, the plan will be to aim for the win, and especially as this is one, we have been so strong on before.”

Elfyn Evans

“Estonia brings a complete change of territory and with it a change of mentality. We’re coming off the back of some rough and relatively low-speed rallies and moving onto extremely high-speed and smooth gravel, and these next events are all about confidence and commitment behind the wheel. As a driver, you need to have trust in your pacenotes and also have a good feeling with the car, so we were working hard during our pre-event test last week to try and get everything right. Hopefully we can go into it feeling good from the beginning and really enjoy the driving, which is really key to performing well on a rally like this one.”

Takamoto Katsuta

“I really like the kind of high-speed stages we have in Estonia and Finland. It’s going to be a big challenge but I’m really looking forward to these rallies. In Estonia, the stages are very fast but there are also some really narrow and twisty sections. The surface can be quite soft sometimes, so the ruts can make the second pass of stages even more difficult: as a driver you still need to really commit but you also have to be able to manage the ruts well. I will try to do my best and I hope that I can perform well and get a good result for the team.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Rally Estonia is a challenging event for me every year. Fast and wide roads mean the average speed is very high, so you need to really to commit to it and feel comfortable in the car. Most of the time you are running a low car, at least on the first pass. On the second pass you might have to rise the ride height because of the ruts. Generally, you need to find the balance between a stiff car to get the precision and the directivity, but also keep enough traction. It’s hard to find the right balance but those are the main challenges.”

Esapekka Lappi

“As everyone knows, in terms of speed this event is similar to Finland and Chile. The driving style is you are either full throttle or braking – there is no in-between. Normally in central European rallies, you need to drive a different way, but in Estonia and Finland you are full throttle and that is the biggest difference. One of the main challenges in my point of view is that road usage is not so clear; you can cut from the bushes and use the exits if there is a field. To be able to comfortably go outside of the road you have to have perfect pace notes at that speed, that is the trickiest thing to get right.”

Teemu Suninen

“I’m really excited to get in the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, especially when it’s one of my favourite rallies. I’ve been dreaming of it for a long time, and I’ve been working hard to get back to the top class so it’s great to be here. Normally Rally Estonia is one of the fastest rallies on the whole calendar and it’s like a sprint, so we have to drive flat out from start to finish. The surface is normally quite soft so the grip level is really high, especially on the second loop with some big ruts. My main goal is to bring some good manufacturer points, but I also need to show good pace, and if the feeling is good, then we will push for a strong result.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak

“We’ve had some quite intense preparations; we did a pre-event test and then a small event, so it’s been a big effort to make it as good as possible for Estonia. Obviously, the next two events are purely about performance, so we’re putting everything into it and we’ll find out how close we get to the others.

“Now we are going into the second half of the season we’re definitely not letting the championship go, so we feel like we need to increase our game and put everything in. It’s going to be a short turnaround to Finland, so if something isn’t quite working in Estonia the week in between will be flat out, but hopefully in Estonia we will be on a good level already.”

Pierre-Louis Loubet

“There are a lot of changes to be made ahead of this kind of rally. It’s almost the complete opposite of what we saw in Kenya and some of the previous rallies which have been very rough! We can expect Estonia’s road to be very clean and very fast.

“We will be making a lot of changes to the car’s settings; the ride height, the dampers, everything really. I’m looking forward to it, it’s definitely one of the most enjoyable events of the season. Because of the high speeds on straights and on corners and everywhere, it’s really a great event for these Rally1 cars to showcase their power. We will try to enjoy it and hopefully achieve a good result!”

WRC2 Category

Hyundai

Emil Lindholm

“It’s exciting to go into my first event in the Hyundai i20 N Rally2. It’s a new team and a new car, and it’s already feeling impressive so I’m confident going into Estonia. The roads are soft so they get rutted but, of course, they’re super-fast – some unique road conditions. It reminds me of my home rally, so of course I like it. The target for the weekend is to enjoy the car, enjoy the roads and to do our best. I believe we have everything we need to achieve a podium in Estonia.”

Fabrizio Zaldivar

“I’m ready to get back into the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 and focus on going flat-out for the rest of our campaign. There is no better rally to apply this approach than Rally Estonia, which requires you to maintain a consistent rhythm. We were disappointed with our struggles in Sardinia, so we are keen to wipe our slate clean and demonstrate what we and the car are capable of doing. If everything goes to plan, we will complete the rally without any large mistakes and hopefully score a good result.”

Oliver Solberg

I really like this rally; Rally Estonia is one of the fastest rallies of the season and it’s somewhere I’ve really enjoyed myself in the past.”

“We are allowed to take one dropped score in the championship,” said Oliver. “The retirement in Italy was obviously not what we wanted and now we need to stay focused and keep a consistent speed. “

Summary

Well, we are all set for high-speed on the forest roads of Estonia! This rally will be spectacular and there will be close battles up and down the timesheets. Unfortunately, Ott and Martin will start with a five minute penalty due to needing an engine change following problems in shakedown.

Enjoy and pop back to check my daily reports.

25th June 2023

Safari Rally Kenya 2023, Day Three Report. Sunday

The final day then of this epic round of the championship and we had 75km’s over six stages to bring the event to a close. EP re-joined the action and would open the road throughout the day’s stages.

Into SS14 Malewa 1 – 8.33 km and when Esapekka got to the finish it emerged that he had another propshaft had failed. What, again?! Unbelievable for the Finn. Meanwhile Kalle took the stage win from Seb and Takamoto. Elfyn suffered a spin in the stage and with his Japanese teammate setting such a good time the gap between them came down to 11.4 seconds. Another gap that reduced was that between Kalle and Seb. Just 8.6 seconds was now separating them. The top three in WRC2 remained Kajetan, Martin and Carl.

Next up was SS15 Oserian 1 – 18.33 km and Seb won the stage from Kalle and Ott. The Frenchman doubled his lead as well over his younger teammate to 17.2 seconds. Their teammate Elfyn also increased the gap to Takamoto by 10 seconds.

The final stage before service then, SS16 Hell’s Gate 1 – 10.53 km and the first look at the power stage. EP struggled through with what he thought was front wheel-drive. His Spanish teammate also had technical problems after his powersteering failed. The Toyota’s had their problems, with Takamoto getting a problem with his hybrid system. There was a bigger problem for Seb though as he went wide and removed his rear wing and hatch completely. However, he only lost around four seconds of his lead. He was lucky that this happened on the stage before service. The top three were Ott, Thierry and Kalle.

After service SS17 Malewa 2 – 8.33 km was won by Kalle by just 6 tenths of a second from Seb and Takamoto third. Further back, Thierry was closing on eighth place overall which had been kept by Kajetan for most of the rally, the gap was just 13 seconds now.

Time then for the penultimate stage, SS18 Oserian 2 – 18.33 km and Takamoto took his second stage win of the weekend, beating Elfyn to the top spot, whilst Kalle was third. Once again, the gap reduced to just 9.2 seconds between the top two. Thierry made it past Kajetan and into eighth overall.

The final stage then SS19 Hell’s Gate 2[Power Stage] – 10.53 km and early pace setter EP’s time was eclipsed by first Thierry then Ott went second fastest and Kalle third. Rounding out the top five were Seb whose car crossed the line with a smashed windscreen, courtesy of a rock that flicked up near the end of the stage and Esapekka.

Let’s check out the final finishing positions and hear from the drivers.

Final Overall Classification –Safari Rally Kenya

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	3:30:42.5
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+6.7
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:58.5
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+3:23.8
5	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+5:05.4
6	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+9:14.4
7	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+16:15.7
8	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+24:47.0
9	K. Kajetanowicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia Evo	+ 26:33.4
10	O. Solberg	E. Edmondson	Škoda Fabia Evo	+ 27:04.0

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier (1^st)

“This was a hell of a rally and a hell of a fight. I really enjoyed it but I would have liked to have a few less incidents because it could have been a much more comfortable race: the pace was really good, the car was great to drive, I had a good feeling and it seemed that we had everything under control. But we were hit by some little things here and there, including today when we lost the tailgate, and we had some overheating in the fesh-fesh sand. But I’m happy that we could bring it home. I think it’s a deserved victory and result for the whole team and we need to enjoy it.”

Kalle Rovanperä (2^nd)

“The battle with Seb got quite tight at the end, and when you miss out on the win by a small margin like this then it’s not always the best feeling for a driver. But at the end we still scored good points for the championship. I stuck to my plan for the whole weekend, driving with quite good pace but not taking huge risks. So to still finish like this is quite nice. The final day was really tough for the cars: the penultimate stage especially with a lot of deep sand and ruts. It’s good that our cars were so strong and made it through, because to have the 1-2-3-4 finish for the team again here in Kenya is amazing.”

Elfyn Evans (3^rd)

“It’s been quite a rally with a lot of challenges, so I think the team can be very proud to again get four cars in the top four. It shows both the speed and the strength of the GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID and I’m proud to be a part of that and of this team. Of course, from a personal perspective I can’t be totally satisfied to be third in the order at the finish, but I’m very pleased for the team and of course to be on the podium in third means we take some reasonable points for the championship as well.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Dani Sordo (5^th)

“Safari Rally Kenya was a really tough event, but at least we took home some points. In the end it was not as bad as it could have been, but we did expect a little bit more. Today was quite ok, quite rough in some places but the car was really strong – it is amazing how much you can put these cars through. We were running well and trying not to make any mistakes to bring car the home in fifth, which we achieved.”

Thierry Neuville (8^th)

“A tough and challenging weekend. Obviously, we tried what we could but unfortunately, another time in Kenya where it didn’t work out for us. There’s a lot of frustration to be honest, because it is not good for our championship aspirations, but it is what it is. We did our best in the car, took the five points in the Power Stage and fought back to eighth place, which was the maximum we could do today.”

2023 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 07, Safari Rally Kenya, 22-25 June 2023
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Action during Day 3 of WRC Safari Rally Kenya 2023
Photographer: Vincent Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Esapekka Lappi (13^th)

“It was an interesting week in many perspectives. The result is not what we all wanted but that’s a different story; I need to be pleased with the pace that we had and that we were really fighting for the podium positions until our technical problem yesterday. At least in the Power Stage I could try to drive more normally, but overall, I have to say it has been a good experience.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak (6^th)

“Altogether a great safari with a lot of passionate fans a people who clearly love rally. So far it’s been a bit tricky this year, so we need to find a bit of speed for the next rally as it is all about the speed now.”

Pierre-Louis Loubet (7^th)

“A lot of things happened! A couple of punctures on Friday unfortunately meant we missed the opportunity to do good things, and after that we were missing a bit of confidence and pace. We struggled to find good balance. It was a bit disappointing with the power stage, I wasn’t able to do a good run because I had an issue with the turbo pressure. So, I’m a bit disappointed about that, but it’s part of the game.”

Oliver Solberg (10^th)

“What a fantastic rally. Before I say anything else, to Daniel [Chwist], thank you my friend for helping us this week – and to all of the Eurosol team. We couldn’t have managed to do this rally without you guys.

“And I’m so glad we came here. The roads have changed a lot from last year to this and it’s so important to keep up the knowledge base for next year.

“For the performance, I’m really happy. We weren’t pushing near the limit, that wasn’t what this rally was about for us. Of course, it would have been nice to win [RC2 class] but maybe that would have made the story too perfect.”

“Like I said, it would have been nice,” said Solberg, “but winning so many stages and even making fifth fastest time overall in the second run at that crazy Sleeping Warrior stage on Saturday afternoon was cool for me.

“I’m sure there will be time and chase a bigger Safari Rally Kenya trophy in the years to come. For me, this is really mission accomplished. It only remains to say congratulations to all of the organisers and thank you to the beautiful people of Kenya.”

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 7

1	K. Rovanperä	139
2	T. Neuville	102
3	E. Evans	98
4	O. Tänak	97
5	S. Ogier	97
6	E. Lappi	68
7	D. Sordo	46
8	T. Katsuta	35
9	P.L Loubet	20

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 7

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	283
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	241
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	174

Summary

Well, what an epic rally we were treated to and another victory for the eight-time champion, his fifty-eighth as well! Just amazing. His decision to run throughout Friday with just one spare showed his intent that he wanted a second victory in Kenya. It was a brilliant drive.

Kalle had a great run and deserved a podium which he got. Not only that, but he increased his lead over Thierry and in fact all his challengers for the championship.

Elfyn took third of course and although he didn’t take a stage win, should be happy as the championship heads for two very fast rallies. He will have a good road position indeed.

Takamoto rounded out the top four with a very good drive which included two stage wins. Third place slipped away after some spins in the tricky conditions yesterday, plus the hybrid issues on the final day.

The next round is Rally Estonia on the weekend of the 20^th to 23^rd of July. Look out for my preview in the days ahead. The teams will enjoy something of a summer break till then.

24th June 2023

Safari Rally Kenya 2023, Day Two Report.

Coming into the second full day of competition and there was 150km’s over six stages for the crews to tackle. Thierry returned to the action after his early retirement on Friday’s second loop and would open the road.

Into the first stage, SS8 Soysambu 1 – 29.32 km and Seb hit the top of the timesheets going 7.6 faster than Kalle, thus increasing his lead to over 30 seconds, whilst EP was third fastest. The Finns pace took him ahead of Elfyn and into third overall. This came about because Elfyn’s GR Yaris engine cut out after the water splash, and he lost 40 seconds. Gregoire continued to lead WRC2 from Kajetan, but the fastest WRC2 runner was Oliver.

The shorter SS9 Elmenteita 1 – 15.08 km was taken by Kalle with Seb just six tenths slower and Elfyn was third. However, EP was just 2 tenths slower and holding the Welshman at bay at around 20 seconds ahead. In WRC2 things were pretty static in terms of positions.

The final stage then before lunchtime service, SS10 Sleeping Warrior 1 – 31.04 km, so called due to the rising hill that the road ran almost and alongside. Kalle took a good stage win from Esapekka with Seb setting the third best time. Elfyn suffered a puncture in this one giving EP an even more secure position in third. There was a change in the WRC2 lead though as long-time leader Gregoire losing the lead to Kajetan. Meanwhile further back Thierry was on the climb back up the leader board, moving into fourteenth place.

After the lunch break the second run of SS11 Soysambu 2 – 29.32 km and the top three was Seb, Kalle and Takamoto. Unfortunately, EP dropped out on this one. After he drove through the water splash there was a loud noise from the underside of his car. The problem was terminal, and he pulled his car off the stage and was out for the rest of the day. This meant that Elfyn was back into third overall. In WRC2 Gregoire retook the lead from Kajetan.

We had a new stage winner in SS12 Elmenteita 2 – 15.08 km, with Takamoto going fastest from Seb and Thierry. The pace from the Japanese star took him ahead of his teammate Elfyn and into third place. Meanwhile Thierry had made his way into the top ten at the end of this stage. In WRC2 Gregoire fell from the lead again with Kajetan benefitting from a problem for the M-Sport driver. A mechanical problem put him out for the day.

The final stage of the day, SS13 Sleeping Warrior 2 – 31.04 km had a sting in its tail as the rain that was promised finally arrived. Takamoto set the early pace even though he went off the road and also damaged his rear wing. The rain was in the middle of the stage, but by the time the crews made it to the end it was dry. Of course, Kalle won the stage and with Seb taking it easy the gap and lead was reduced to just 16.7 seconds. The other news was that Elfyn moved back ahead of Takamoto and into third overall, the gap being the same, 16.7 seconds! Kajetan was firmly in the lead of WRC2, the gap between the top two was 10 minutes with Martin Prokop holding second and Carl Tundo now third in the category.

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

Classification after Day Two

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	2:43:49.2
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+16.7
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:23.3
4	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+2:40.0
5	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+3:52.3
6	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+8:38.9
7	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+13:56.6
8	K. Kajetanowicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia Evo	+19:53.1
9	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1	+24:06.2

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“We had a good morning with really good speed in the first stage, even though we lost a bit towards the end with a puncture. Then I was a bit more careful for the rest of the morning, especially in the last stage which was the roughest part of the rally, and it was so easy to damage something there. In the afternoon I think we did a good job and did everything we could in the first two stages. Then the last one was challenging for everyone with heavy rain and a lot of water on the road. I took it easy in those sections and just tried to manage. The most important thing is we’re still in the lead tonight. It’s not a big gap to Kalle now but hopefully we can have a smooth finish tomorrow and another result like this in Kenya for the team would be amazing.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“The whole of today was a big battle and it’s not easy to find the balance between trying to fight for the win here while also being on for really good points at the moment compared to our championship rivals. Seb was pushing really hard, but our plan was to drive smooth and not push too much in the rough places. I was maybe not so brave in the first stage this morning but after that I think we managed to stay on the pace and out of trouble. When the rain came in the last one it was a proper challenge just to stay on the road, but we could again take some time there so it was a good day overall. It’s pretty special for the team to be in this position going into tomorrow. It will be quite a long and tough day, but we’ll try to make it a clean one because the points are important for us.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a challenging day and we had a difficult start this morning. The feeling in the car was fine initially in the first stage but then we took on some water in the watersplash; maybe I didn’t take the best line into it. Then we unfortunately got a puncture in the Sleeping Warrior stage, so we had quite a lot of time loss this morning. In the afternoon, the first two stages were clean for me, but Taka was on a big push: he was driving well and driving quickly. The conditions in the last stage were extreme and sometimes there was no grip at all, but we got through it with an OK time. There’s still a big task ahead of us tomorrow but hopefully all goes well and we can bring this result home for the team.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Dani Sordo

Honestly, it was really tricky conditions out there. I was hoping to have a good time on that final stage as we didn’t make many mistakes. We were trying to push in the heavy rain, but it was as slippery as ice. I was trying to get through this rally with no problems. We’ve had some bad luck as a team, but we hope that is the end of our issues. The speed of the cars in front of us is a step up from where we are, and it is difficult to match their pace. Tomorrow’s stages will be a little bit faster, with different profiles from today. We might not be able to do much about our position, we just have to survive like we have today.”

Thierry Neuville

“It was a wild day in general. We had some muddy sections this morning and then some big rain and standing water this afternoon. I have to say it is what we were hoping for today; to be able to have some fun. My motivation wasn’t very high this morning, but we followed the target of driving through and keeping up our speed. We were hoping the rain would come later on that final stage, but it came five minutes too early, and we struggled a lot, yet we had some smiles in the car. We still have eighth place in our sights, so we are going to chase that tomorrow. It’s a four-minute gap with six stages to go and we are going to push hard.”

Esapekka Lappi

“It was very frustrating to retire on the first stage of the afternoon. I pushed the throttle to accelerate and there was a big bang. It seems the prop shaft cracked somewhere underneath the car, so we pulled over into the junction in front of us. I haven’t had this problem before this week, clearly something is wrong, and we need to investigate very carefully. I’m sure we have a chance to return tomorrow to try to gain experience and fight for some Power Stage points. I think we were doing a really good job and prepared very well for this rally to have a good weekend, but it wasn’t to be.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“Every stage closer to the end is a relief. The short stage tomorrow is quite rough, and the others are bit more sandy.”

Summary

Well, what an amazing day, with an incredible ending. It was a big shame to lose Esapekka from the top positions. Considering that this was his debut at this event, he was really on the pace. Having said that the Finns have always gone really well at this event, so he will certainly be looking to coming back to this event in the coming years.

Now, will we see more drama tomorrow, or can Toyota take another win with Seb and all four Toyota’s take the top four positions again? There is just a little under 75km’s over four stages to complete this year’s edition of Safari Rally Kenya and find out!

23rd June 2023

Safari Rally Kenya 2023, Day One Report

The first full day of action saw the crews tackle 130km’s over six stages. Kalle would be opening the road due to being the championship leader. Of course, he won this rally last year from first on the road but did have heavy rain giving him the best conditions. After the super special on Thursday Ott lead from Seb and Kalle.

First stage of the day, SS2 Loldia 1 – 19.17 km and Seb was fastest from Kalle and Elfyn. The Frenchman moved into the lead and his teammates also all gained a position moving into second and fourth places respectively. Thierry moved into third overall as well, showing similar pace to Elfyn. In WRC2 Oliver was the fastest, but as he decided to run with no nomination for points, Kajetan was leading the category from Gregoire and Martin Prokop.

Into the spectacular SS3 Geothermal 1 – 13.12 km and EP was fastest from Seb and Takamoto. Elfyn moved into third overall as Thierry suffered a puncture and fell to sixth place. Also going the wrong way down was Ott who was not on the pace, and he fell to seventh. EP jumped two places and into fifth overall. In WRC2 and whilst Oliver remained the fastest in the category, Kajetan remained the category leader from Gregoire and Martin.

The longest stage of the day, SS4 Kedong 1 – 30.62 km and it was a really fast stage again. Kalle was fastest from Thierry and Seb. The Belgian moved ahead of Takamoto and Esapekka into fourth overall. There was a change in the WRC2 lead with Gregoire moving into the lead.

After the lunchtime service and Seb was fastest in SS5 Loldia 2 – 19.17 km and Seb was fastest again from Esapekka and Ott. Pierre-Louis lost a position falling behind Oliver after breaking a wheel. Gregoire remained in the lead of WRC2 from Kajetan.

The next one, SS6 Geothermal 2 – 13.12 km saw Seb fastest again from EP and Kalle. There was drama though for Thierry whose suspension on the front left broke. He pulled off the stage and was out for the rest of the day. It was a good stage for EP though who gained two places, jumping ahead of Takamoto and back into fourth overall.

The final stage then of the day, SS7 Kedong 2 – 30.62 km and Seb was again fastest from Kalle and Esapekka. The Frenchman had built a lead of nearly 30 seconds. Unfortunately, Oliver broke his suspension and stopped in the stage. Gregoire held the lead of WRC2 from Kajetan and Martin.

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

Classification after Day One

1	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	1:14:38.7
2	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+22.8
3	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+43.5
4	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+54.0
5	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:19.4
6	D. Sordo	C. Carrera	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+1:28.4
7	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+3:03.3
8	P. L. Loubet	N. Gilsoul	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+7:04.9

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Sébastien Ogier

“It’s been a pretty good day for us, almost perfect in fact. We had very good pace and I’m happy to be in the lead tonight. This morning I tried to push on the first two stages, and I had good fun in the car. On the third one there’s always a bit of fear with a lot of rocks coming out of the sand, and we lost the hybrid after a few kilometres which cost some performance. This afternoon I felt it was possible to go with just one spare tyre, and that if I drive very clean and smooth, I can still be fast with the advantage of being lighter. It paid off and I’m happy with that. It’s the first time I’ve got through Friday in Kenya without major time loss, so let’s hope we can carry on like this tomorrow, which is the biggest day of the rally with very difficult stages to get through.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“I’m quite happy with today. The first stage of the loop was the trickiest for us with a lot of cleaning and loose gravel in places. Then the next stages were much faster, and I felt I could push harder, and the time on the last one this morning was really good; I think we did some clever driving there. This afternoon I lost more time than I wanted on the first one: it was drying up and getting loose and my setup didn’t work so well for that. After that I tried to keep up a good pace and we didn’t lose too much time. Of course, I would like to be a bit closer to the lead, but tomorrow is still such a long day and will be much rougher than today, so we will try to stay out of trouble.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a bit of a steady day for us, but we got through it without issues. Of course, it would have been nice to have been a bit faster and, looking back, maybe we could have taken a few more risks this morning when the conditions were not so rough. But it’s a very difficult balance to find here, with a lot of rocks beinng pulled out by the cars in front. The afternoon was generally better, but the long Kedong stage had a lot of big holes and stones, and it was difficult to judge how hard to attack. There’s still a long way to go and tomorrow’s probably going to be a tough day, so let’s wait and see what happens.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“If you take our puncture out of the equation, today has been quite a decent day. We started carefully and then improved quite quickly; our afternoon was really consistent. The conditions are interesting, but I found them really fun. It’s a different kind of roughness we are facing, unlike anything I’ve seen before. On the soft fesh-fesh, you don’t know what to expect and it is so fast, so you have no time to react – you just have to drive and hope for the best. I need to keep improving on what we did today; I think the pace was brilliant this afternoon. We will concentrate on our own performance and the podium will be there if it is meant to be.”

Dani Sordo

“Thankfully we had no real issues on the car today, which is good. It was a bit difficult on some of the stages, particularly on Kedong. It was really soft, and the car was moving a lot in the fast sections, so I didn’t have a good pace there. With so many rocks, it is easy to make a small mistake. We also had a unique situation in one of the hairpins on the final stage, where we had to stop to allow dust inside the cockpit to clear. It is difficult to calculate the speed of the corners as you need to be aggressive, but you could easily move off the line onto the really soft surface and struggle to find traction.”

Thierry Neuville

“I’m very disappointed to be honest. Unfortunately, we had to retire in the second stage of the afternoon, which isn’t good for our championship fight. There was no warning at all; just before a left junction, the damper came out of its position and the top mount came loose under braking, which was the end of the rally for us. It was a shame as we hoped our puncture in the morning was the end of our bad luck for the weekend. With the conditions here, anything can happen, and now we have to analyse if there is an opportunity to return tomorrow and get back into the points.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“The conditions have not been too bad, the last one had some soft place but overall, not too bad. Tomorrow will be more tough than today.”

Saturday

Day two sees the crews tackle 150km’s over six stages and there are two stages run as usual twice that are just under or just over 30km’s! What will happen?!

Pop back tomorrow and check out my day two report.

20th June 2023

Safari Rally Kenya 2023 Preview

The championship moves to the wilds of Kenya, and we are set for a challenging event. This year there are 355km’s over the twenty-two stages. Kalle and Jonne come to the event as championship leaders and of course that means they will open the road throughout Friday’s stages. Now of course they did that last year and still went onto win the rally. Can they repeat this? We shall see!

Let’s take a look at the stages ahead for the crews.

Safari Rally Kenya begins on Thursday 22 June with a super special stage in Nairobi.

Friday features six stages, with two runs of Loldia (19.17km), Geothermal (13.12km), and Kedong (30.62km) for crews to contend with.

The honour of the longest day goes to Saturday, in both time and competitive distance.

Teams have an early start to take on Soysambu (29.32km), Elmenteita (15.08km) and Sleeping Warrior (31.04km).

Three further stages are run on Sunday; Malewa (8.33km), Oserian (18.33km) and Hell’s Gate (10.53km) to bring the total competitive distance to 355.92km.

Let’s hear from the drivers!

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“I’m looking forward to going back to Kenya. I have really enjoyed the event both times we have been there. Already in 2021, we were going quite well until we got stuck in the sand. Then, last year, it was of course very special to win with a perfect result for the team. It’s a rally that can depend a lot on the weather, because the conditions can change completely from one year to another. That makes it a really big challenge, but it’s one that suits us quite well, I think. Let’s see what the conditions will be like this year and hopefully we can have another strong weekend and score more good points for the championship.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s always difficult to know what we can expect on the Safari Rally, which is what makes it such a challenge for the teams and the crews. Most of the route will be the same as last year, but we know that the conditions can vary massively: not only from one year to the next, but also from one section of stage to another. We’ve already experienced a lot of different conditions there over the past couple of years, so we have been looking back through those events to prepare as best as we can, but we also need to be ready to adapt to whatever we face during the week. As a team we had a fantastic rally last year and hopefully we can be strong again.”

Sébastien Ogier

“I have really enjoyed the experience of going to Kenya these past two years and this is the main reason why I wanted to return again. It’s something very different from what we are used to, and the country and its people are amazing. The rally is very tough, and we know that luck can be a big factor: in 2021 it was possible for me to come back from more than two minutes behind to win, as almost everybody had an issue at some point. Every rally I start, I try to win, and we will give it everything like always. I hope we got all our bad luck out of the way in Sardinia and that fortune will be on our side this time.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Kenya is an adventure. It is a tough event and very challenging because we are driving through the middle of the parks and the countryside, where there are some very rough sections with sand and fesh-fesh. Each stage has its own unique characteristics, but the changing conditions and different surfaces is what we enjoy so much about this rally. The goal is definitely to win, so we will keep fighting all the way through; as we know very well, the rally isn’t over until it’s over. We saw that two years ago when we were leading, and then unfortunately had an issue just before the end. Hopefully, we get the victory this year.”

Esapekka Lappi

“It’s harder work than normal to prepare for Safari Rally Kenya. I’ve watched as many onboards as possible to understand how you should drive on each of the specific areas. It’s another gravel rally, and we know the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid performs well on this surface, but we may just need to go higher on the ride height. I’ve also heard there are a lot of zebras here and they might venture onto the road, so it will be a unique experience for me with the conditions and the animals as well! Every rally we need to set the target of the podium now: we know the speed is there, so that has to be our goal.”

Dani Sordo

“Safari Rally Kenya is a nice experience; I have only done it once before, but the stages are quite different – especially with the animals around and the fesh-fesh sand, which we know can be tricky. The weather can also play a big part, as the stages can become slippery if it rains. The goal for the weekend is to fight for the podium and hopefully for another team victory. Kenya will not just be about the speed, but also getting through the challenges that lie ahead.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak

“I wish we had more time to enjoy life around the rally in Kenya, but it’s of course the wildlife that is so special compared to our lives in Europe. We have more challenges to face in terms of keeping the car in one piece in Kenya! Sections in fesh fesh mean it’s easy to get stuck and difficult to understand where the track goes.

“I haven’t really succeeded there yet so that’s something to discover for myself. We need to make sure we won’t incur any mechanical setbacks with the tough conditions and then it’s up to us to give our best performance!”

Pierre-Louis Loubet

“I feel very lucky to be able to drive in Kenya, it’s a really magical event. I’m so happy to be able to drive there and I hope to enjoy this crazy adventure a lot! I hope we can do something good there, the car is fast in tricky conditions, so I hope we’ll be able to bring a good performance.”

WRC2 Category

Oliver Solberg

““I love the Safari Rally,” said Oliver. “For us, in our sport of rallying, this kind of adventure is really what we’re about. The Safari is part of the DNA of our sport and the world championship. You talk to people in the street about rallying and they talk about Monte Carlo and this one.

“Before I go further, I want to say a very big thank you to my friend Daniel Chwist for allowing me to use his car on this event. Without him, I wouldn’t be able to be here to compete.”

“We have done this rally both times it’s been back in the World Rally Championship [in 2021 and 2022] and I just love the event and the people here.

“We’re using the Škoda Fabia Evo Daniel used in Mexico and it will be run by Eurosol. We will push, make some strong times and have some fun.”

Grégoire Munster

“We’re really looking forward to Kenya, it’s a dream to be able to participate in this rally. We learned a lot in Portugal and Sardinia; there has definitely been a learning curve, but this is encouraging, and we set some good times on Sunday in Sardinia. We’re used to the car on gravel, but Kenya is always a really tricky rally. It’s hard to judge what speed you should be driving at to get to the finish and avoid any problems. With the weather forecast, which seems to be pretty rainy, it might become really interesting! The goal will be to complete the first stage and see where our pace is; be smart, be fast and be cautious as well.”

Summary

Shakedown is on Thursday morning and then the action gets underway with the first stage on Thursday evening. Who will win this year?

4th June 2023

Rally Italia Sardegna – Day Three Report – Sunday

The final day then and with 46km’s over four stages, it would be a short day for the crews. We had three crews restarting after their problems on Saturday. Seb, Ott and Takamoto were all back with the Japanese driver opening the road followed by the Estonian and Frenchman. Rain was reported for later in the day, but for the first stages of the day it would be dry.

First up then SS16 Arzachena – Braniatogghiu 1 – 15.22 km and Ott made a good start to the return winning the stage from Thierry and Elfyn. The Belgian and Welshman actually set the exact same time. In WRC2 Oliver won the category from Nikolay and class leader Adrien was third.

Into SS17 Sardegna 1 – 7.79 km, the first run of the power stage and with the front runners saving tyres for the later running of this stage the top three were Ott, Takamoto and Seb. Dani completed the stage, but his Hyundai was not sounding right. The fastest WRC2 was Nikolay this time from Sami and Oliver, whilst the top three remained Adrien, Andreas and Teemu.

More tyre saving followed in SS18 Arzachena – Braniatogghiu 2 – 15.22 km and meant that Takamoto took a good stage win from EP and Thierry Neuville. Sadly, Dani retired from the rally before the stage started. His car had a damaged exhaust and there was a risk that this would cause a fire. This was the right decision to take.

Time then for the final stage SS19 Sardegna 2[Power Stage] – 7.79 km and guess what!? The rain had returned and soaked the stage throughout, plus made the water splash a bit deeper. The WRC2 runners came through without any problems apart from Adrien who slid wide going off the road and ending a great run. Andreas had already finished and was told of the problems for the category leader and therefore that he had won now. Top five was Kalle, Ott, Takamoto, Seb and Elfyn.

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

Final Overall Classification –Rally Italia Sardegna

1	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	3:40:01.4
2	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+33.0
3	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:55.3
4	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+5:20.5
5	A. Mikkelsen	T. Eriksen	Škoda Fabia RS	+9:33.3
6	T. Suninen	M. Marrkula	Hyundai i20 N Rally2	+11:48.9
7	K. Kajetanowicz	M. Szczepaniak	Škoda Fabia RS	+12:46.1
8	Y. Rossel	A. Dunand	Citroën C3	+12:53.5
9	M. Marczyk	S. Gospodarczyk	Škoda Fabia RS	+15:33.8
10	E. Cais	P. Těšínský	Škoda Fabia RS	+16:49.4

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“I’m really happy to be on the top step of the podium after such a challenging and incredible weekend. We came here with the belief that we could fight for victory but the first day was very challenging and we lost a bit of time. We brought it back but then we lost it again, but at the end of yesterday we managed a big turnaround and found ourselves in the lead. The weather has been up and down all weekend long, we faced every condition possible between from dry and warm to heavy rain. We had to manage the tyres throughout, and it was very tough on our cars but we had great reliability and it really paid off. It is a pleasure to take the first victory for the team this year, and the first 1-2 for our new Team Principal as well. Craig is also in our memory today as well; we wanted the victory in Croatia, but we got it now.”

Esapekka Lappi

“A very important result for our team. We really wanted to push for the victory as a team and to come away with a 1-2 is very good. Our tyre strategy on Friday was to save the softs, and then yesterday afternoon we went all in and sacrificed the softs to put pressure on Ogier. We also had a bit of a risky strategy on Friday afternoon, but everything paid off.”

Dani Sordo

“This has been a difficult weekend for me in general. I didn’t start it well, and I made a mistake on the first day that put us on the back foot for the rest of the event and unfortunately today we had an issue with the exhaust. Nevertheless, I am pleased that the team has finished 1-2. We know how difficult Safari Rally Kenya can be, but I hope to find the same pace we had in Portugal and come back fighting.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“We had a good tyre package left for the final day and it was really nice that we could therefore push on the Power Stage and finally take the fastest time and five extra points. It was definitely not easy, with a lot of rain just beforehand which was easing up a bit for the last cars, but it was a proper challenge in the mud. This has always been a tricky event for me personally, and this weekend our plan was to try and be fast when we can be and take it steady when needed and I think we did that. We had quite good pace overall and stayed out of trouble and at the start of the weekend I really didn’t expect that we could end it with this many points.”

Elfyn Evans

“Today it was just a case of getting the car through the first three stages and trying to look after the tyres we had ready for the Power Stage. The conditions really changed quite a lot for the Power Stage, it was raining very heavily so it was pretty slippery but thankfully we managed to get through it OK. We would have liked to take some more points from there, but a couple is still better than nothing. After everything that happened this weekend, I think we have to be grateful to take fourth overall and some decent points even if we’re not really happy with how everything went.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Today we could get back out there and it was all about the Power Stage and trying to take some points for the team if we could. Again, the weather made things quite tricky at the end of the rally, and the feeling was not really there to take too much risk in these conditions. We kind of finished with some decent speed but it was nothing crazy. So overall it’s probably not a weekend we will remember strongly but that’s the way it is sometimes in sport, and you have to accept it. There’s still a lot of positives we can take with the speed that we had this weekend, and let’s hope that on the next one the luck will be back on our side.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak

“It’s true to say it has been a hard weekend. It’s not been great, the weather made it tricky, and I think a lack of performance from me also. I struggled to find the speed. The stage times aren’t what I should be delivering, at the moment I’m not close to what I should deliver. There is something lacking a bit. Hopefully with time we will find that extra speed.”

Pierre-Louis Loubet, retired Friday

“This is not what we had hoped for this weekend, we were looking forward to a good result. Things were working really nicely on Friday, even though the conditions weren’t perfect, we still did some good times and had a nice position. We’re all sorry to not see the results we were hoping for. We will take a bit of time to refocus and get ready for Kenya.”

Adrien Fourmaux (WRC2) – retired Sunday

“I’m really heartbroken for all the team who were hoping for this result. We were really close, and I’m very disappointed it ended like this. I have been so comfortable in the car all weekend and we were happy to be fighting at the front. I was happy with how we managed the car, but heavy rain in the power stage changed everything for us. The car feels really good, and we have everything working well. It’s a shame but we have to look forward now.”

Oliver Solberg (WRC2)

“What a week! I don’t really remember conditions like this in a rally for a long time – and especially not in Sardinia. Normally we come here and it’s going to be something like 30 degrees and no clouds in the sky. This time it was raining nearly all of the time.

“On Saturday in the afternoon and today, these were some of the toughest conditions I think we have competed in for a long time. But with this weather, you learn all of the time: it helps you to understand more for the car and how it’s working with the tyre and the road. You have to take positives. We don’t know what’s coming next time and maybe the weather can be the same and this experience can help us understand how the road changes.”

“Of course, this is not the result we wanted. We started well, we started with stage wins and things were looking good. It’s not the end of the world, but we know it makes the rest of the rallies more important.

“Trust me, nobody will be working harder than me and Elliott to get everything right next time. We had a lot of issues here. Hopefully that’s all of our issues gone now. It was a real shame the power stage was cancelled for us – this would have given us the chance to take some points away from what’s been a very frustrating week.

“Now, it’s time for Africa again and this is going to be a real adventure. At times, some of the roads looked and felt like Kenya this week – but there’s nothing like the real thing!”

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 6

1	K. Rovanperä	118
2	T. Neuville	93
3	O. Tänak	85
4	E. Evans	83
5	S. Ogier	70
6	E. Lappi	67
7	D. Sordo	36
8	T. Katsuta	23

2023 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 6

1	Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team	235
2	Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team	212
3	M-Sport Ford World Rally Team	148

Summary

Well, what an amazing rally that we were treated to! Several lead changes throughout the first two days between EP and Seb and the first win for Hyundai this season.

2023 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 06
Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, Atmosphere during Day 3 of WRC Rally Italia Sardegna 2023
Photographer: Romain Thuillier
Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH

Thierry brought himself close to the leaders and was in the right place to jump into the lead from third place in the stage that Seb went off. Starting ahead of the former champion in the stage meant that he did not know that the Toyota crew had gone off, and he clearly felt comfortable to push hard even with the challenging conditions. Esapekka was the driver who challenged Seb for the lead. The Finn played a huge role in the win taken by his teammate.

Kalle drove a very good rally and took a very good third place. He showed again that the pace he can set in wet stages is very high. Elfyn was getting back into the groove and showed good pace in some stages but did struggle in some as well. Seb showed his experience and used this plus his road position to build a lead.

Next rally is Safari Rally Kenya on the 22^nd to 25^th of June.

3rd June 2023

Rally Italia Sardegna 2023 – Day Two Report

The second full day from the island of Sardegna had 133km over eight stages and the start list looked like this – Sordo, Tänak, Evans, Katsuta, Rovanperä, Neuville, Ogier, Lappi.

First up then and don’t forget EP had a tenth of a second lead over Seb heading into SS8 Coiluna – Loelle 1 – 16.28 km. Thierry took the stage win from Seb, with Kalle third. Esapekka was fourth and lost the lead to Seb, the gap now 1.7 seconds between the duo. There was huge drama though for Takamoto as he hit a water splash really hard, heavily damaging the front including the radiator. Sadly, he was out for the day as the damage was to much for the crew to repair and continue. Meanwhile in WRC2 Sami was still leading from Adrien and Andreas moved into third with Emil dropping one place.

Into SS9 Su Filigosu 1 – 19.57 km and it was a good stage for the two leading Hyundai crews with Thierry winning the stage from EP and Seb third. This meant that Esapekka moved back into the lead by just three tenths of a second and Thierry was just thirteen seconds from the new overall leader. Unfortunately, Ott who was setting a really good pace had a huge problem in a river crossing which stalled the engine and he could not get it working properly again. Two crews down then after two stages. Wow, there was huge drama already! In WRC2 there was a lead change as Sami fell to third and both Adrien and Andreas moved into the top two positions!

Seb won SS10 Erula – Tula 1 – 21.92 km from Dani and EP was third. The Toyota crew moved back into the lead, the gap now 12.7 seconds. Dani had now moved into seventh overall gaining four positions and now only Adrien was ahead of the Spanish driver. The Frenchman was still leading WRC2.

The last stage then of the morning, SS11 Tempio Pausania 1 – 9.04 km was won by Thierry from Seb and Kalle! Seb remained firmly in the lead, the gap growing over EP to over 18 seconds. The Frenchman was looking comfortable out in front. There was one change for position with Dani moving ahead of Adrien and into sixth overall. In WRC2 the Frenchman remained in charge with Andreas holding second and Kajetan moved ahead and into third place.

After the service break Esapekka won SS12 Coiluna – Loelle 2 – 16.28 km with his teammate second fastest and Seb third. He ended up losing about eight seconds of his lead, the gap now just 10.5 seconds between the top two. The top three in WRC2 remained Adrien, Andreas and Kajetan, whilst Teemu was climbing the leader board now into fifth in category.

Next up was SS13 Su Filigosu 2 – 19.57 km and the rain fell down moving from the stage start to the end making the conditions super tricky! Seb lost more time as he completed the stage going through the river crossing and almost stalling his Toyota. His lead was now just 4.3 seconds. Thierry won the stage from Kalle and EP. There was a change in the positions in WRC2 with Teemu moving past two drivers and into third place, with Kajetan and Emil falling to fourth and fifth respectively.

The drama continued in SS14 Erula – Tula 2 – 21.92 km with Seb sliding off the side of the road just a short distance into the stage. When EP came past him, he decided to back off and completed the stage, whilst Thierry continued to push on, having started the stage before Seb and EP. Of course, starting the stage first actually gave Dani the best conditions in the stage and he won the stage. We had a new leader though with Thierry jumping ahead of EP, the gap between the teammates now almost 24 seconds! What a turnaround! There was a change in the WRC2 positions as well with Emil passing Kajetan for fourth place.

The final stage then of the day, SS15 Tempio Pausania 2 – 9.04 km and Thierry finished his day with another stage win with Dani and Elfyn setting the second and third fastest times. Adrien remained quickest in WRC2 and at the end of the day held a 25 second lead over Andreas.

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

End of Day – Saturday

1 Thierry Neuville/Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) 3h10m36.9s

2 Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +36.4s

3 Kalle Rovanperä/Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +1m50.7s

4 Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +5m36.5s

5 Dani Sordo/Cándido Carrera (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 HYBRID) +6m27.9s

6 Adrien Fourmaux/Alexandre Coria (Ford Fiesta Rally2) +8m11.7s

7 Andreas Mikkelsen/Torstein Eriksen (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +8m37.4s

8 Teemu Suninen/Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 Rally2) +10m46.4s

9 Emil Lindholm/Reeta Hämäläinen (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +11m08.3s

10 Kajetan Kajetanowicz/Maciej Szczepaniak (Škoda Fabia RS Rally2) +11m40.5s

18 Sébastien Ogier/Vincent Landais (Toyota GR YARIS Rally1 HYBRID) +19m46.9s

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Today has been a big battle with lots of ups and downs. We started very well this morning, until we took a big hit from Ogier on SS10 as he was pushing very hard. We felt we were doing well and step-by-step we closed the gap until we were only seven seconds behind going into the stage where everything changed. It is a fine line between pushing hard and keeping the car on the road, and we were able to stay just on that line. The job is not done, we have to get the car ready for tomorrow – it has suffered a lot in these conditions. The weather will still be tricky so we have to remain focused.”

Esapekka Lappi

“We had a consistent morning but our target in the afternoon was to keep Ogier under pressure. We were managing that very well, and while I would never hope that he would make a mistake like that, it is part of rallying. After that, our target changed; with the rain coming down, we focused on saving our tyres and not taking any risks. It would have been very easy to go off as well. The aquaplaning was crazy at some points, but thankfully we had no big moments. Tomorrow is definitely not going to be dry, and while we are 1-2 at the moment there is always a chance that can change, so we have to be careful.”

Dani Sordo

“Another difficult day today. It was tricky to find the right pace, particularly in the narrow forests. Being first on the road in the morning was a small advantage, as I had a little bit more grip than the others, but after that the stages became quite slippery and it would be very easy to make a mistake. We felt we were cleaning the road a little bit and that made it hard to fight. However, the job today was to bring the car home to service, and now we are in fifth place, so let’s see what else happens tomorrow. In the recce the stages were already really wet, so we’re expecting another demanding and unpredictable day.”

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been a good day and a really smart one from us, I think. This morning we could show some pace when we needed to. We had a better road position than yesterday, and it was going quite well; then with some others dropping out we ended up having to do some road cleaning again. The afternoon was really tricky. We had some tyres that were already well-used so we just did the best that we could. We tried to stay out of trouble, have a clean afternoon and we could also gain one position – but it’s never nice to gain it when a team-mate has issues. Hopefully our tyre package will be better for tomorrow and let’s see what we can do.”

Elfyn Evans

“It’s been a long and challenging day. In the morning we were caught by surprise by a watersplash that was deeper than I was expecting. That did quite a lot of damage at the front end which we then had to try and manage to get back to service – where the team did a great job to fix the car. This afternoon we had some very difficult conditions and were just taking it easy to try and get the car through. We’re a bit lucky to be fourth tonight with the issues we’ve had but there’s still a decent way to go tomorrow, so we just have to try and stay clean and see what’s possible on the Power Stage.”

Sébastien Ogier

“We were missing a bit of pace in the first two stages this morning, but we managed to react in the longest and probably most difficult stage. I fought hard to make this time and it was nice to build a bit of a lead after that. Unfortunately, it was then an eventful afternoon for us. It started with the issue in a watersplash where we damaged the front of the car. It was a big fight to try and fix that and carry on. Then we had to change a tyre right at the last minute before the third stage, in the mud. And when I hit the brake pedal, my foot slipped, and we couldn’t make the corner. We have been quite unlucky today, but that’s rallying, and we need to put it behind us and look forward.”

Final Day – Sunday

One more day then with 46km’s over four stages. Will we see yet more drama over the final short day, or will things calm down? We shall see!

2nd June 2023

Rally Italia Sardegna 2023, Day One Report

The first full day of competition tackled 141km over six stages and to celebrate the 20^th edition of this rally the stages featured a huge 49.9km stage, Monte Lerno, which included the famous Mickey’s Jump!

Esapekka led following the first stage on Thursday evening from Ott and Thierry. The start list for the first full day looked like this – Rovanperä, Tänak, Ogier, Evans, Neuville, Lappi, Sordo, Katsuta, Loubet.

Into the first stage of the day then, SS2 Tantariles 20Ris 1 – 10.71 km and the overnight leader Esapekka was second fastest behind new overall leader Seb, whilst Pierre-Louis was third fastest and climbed up six positions and into third overall. In WRC2 Oliver held the lead from Andreas and Teemu.

Takamoto made it two stage wins in a row for the Toyota team as he set the fastest time from Dani and Thierry. There was a change for the lead with EP passing Seb who could only manage the seventh best time. In addition to that, Takamoto after setting the fastest time also gained some positions, moving into third overall. There was a change within the WRC2 leader, with Andreas moving ahead of Oliver. The Swede had a huge problem at the end of the stage that featured a really challenging final section that still had large standing water following the rain earlier in the week. Somehow the front right suspension spring ended up becoming detached and was sticking outside the top of the wing!

The first run then of SS4 Monte Lerno – Sa Conchedda 1 – 49.90 km and Kalle who of course was opening the road could only manage the eighth best time and over 40 seconds slower than his teammate, Seb who won the stage from Elfyn and Esapekka. There were a few changes in the overall standings with Elfyn moving into fourth, Pierre-Louis into third. Takamoto’s brief third place came to an end as the Japanese driver slid straight onto some rocks. He finished the stage though dropping two places into fifth. It was not as big as Dani’s moment though! He went off the side of the road nose first and the car rolled as well. However, he got going again and finished the stage with huge damage to the front and a heavily damaged rear wing.

After lunch time service the second run of SS5 Tantariles 20Ris 2 – 10.71 km was won by EP from Pierre-Louis and Thierry. However, it’s important to report the Frenchman was given a notional time with a number of other competitors. This was done due to some safety issues in the stage and therefore the stage not being able to be run in full leading to the notional times for the later crews. This is where it was really strange for the Frenchman to be given a time as he was not allowed to start the stage due to being unable to engage any gears. In the WRC2 category Gus Greensmith went off the stage and into a bush.

Into SS6 Terranova 2 – 8.41 km and Thierry was fastest from EP with Takamoto third. With the Belgian setting the best time and Elfyn only ninth fastest the Hyundai crew moved into third overall. In WRC2 Teemu was leading from Andreas and Adrien.

The challenge of SS7 Monte Lerno – Sa Conchedda 2 – 49.90 km remained as the final stage of the day and the rain was falling at different points in the stage. Top three fastest were Kalle, EP and Thierry. As you can tell the best place to be was either first on the road or driving a Hyundai. EP took the lead by just one tenth of a second over Seb and Kalle’s pace brought him into fourth overall with both Elfyn and Ott falling down the leader board to sixth and seventh overall. We also had a new WRC2 top three with Sami gaining three positions, Adrien one place and Emil two places.

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

Classification after Day One

1	E. Lappi	J. Ferm	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	1:31:48.8
2	S. Ogier	V. Landais	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid	+0.1
3	T. Neuville	M. Wydaeghe	Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid	+18.6
4	K. Rovanperä	J. Halttunen	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+46.1
5	T. Katsuta	A. Johnston	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+47.4
6	E. Evans	S. Martin	Toyota GR Yaris Rally1	+1:05.6
7	O. Tänak	M. Järveoja	Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid	+1:09.8

Hyundai Motorsport

Esapekka Lappi

“Today was a day of survival. There was a lot of surprises on that final stage with muddy braking points or corners that were hidden behind bushes. The mixed conditions meant you couldn’t really fully commit because you didn’t know what to expect, but on the other hand you had to commit in order to keep the speed, but we managed. You knew as soon as you entered the forest sections it was going to be muddy and slippery, but there were also some puddles in the open air which was a surprise – it was not easy at all. I hope to have a better start tomorrow than I did in Mexico, but first of all we have to make the right tyre choice in the morning. After that, we need to continue what we did today and see where we are after the final stage.”

Thierry Neuville

“It was a bit of a struggle out there; the confidence wasn’t that high in the tighter corners, but we managed to get into a good rhythm. I’m feeling a little bit better in the car as well in those conditions, and in the end, we had some good stage times this afternoon to finish in third, which is a good position for tomorrow. The weather is going to make it challenging tomorrow as well; anything can happen and we’re going to see a lot of changes in the stage times for everybody. Today we were lucky that we all had more or less similar weather conditions, but with a few minutes’ gap between the cars it can be a huge difference. Our tyre strategy this afternoon was good, and it paid off.”

Dani Sordo

“It was a little bit difficult today, to be honest. On the first pass of the longest stage we went a bit safe with the tyres, and at one of the corners I went wide, and after that we rolled. We managed to bring the car to service and to the mechanics to repair it. There was not a lot of time, so Cándido and I did our best to help. I want to say thanks to them, they did an amazing job at midday, and I’m really sorry for my mistake. Thank you so much for your efforts. For sure it will be difficult now, there was some really tricky conditions this afternoon and it was challenging to drive, but let’s see what the weather does. If it rains a lot, we have an advantage with our early road order, but we have already lost a lot of time.

Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT

Sébastien Ogier

“I’m happy with my day and to be in the position we’re in tonight. I was surprised with the gap we made in the first stage this morning and in Monte Lerno, but the car was working well, and I think we made the right tyre call which helped us to be fast this morning. It was a bit more difficult this afternoon, but it was still an OK loop. I was happy with my driving, a bit less with the decision we made in service; we had a bit the wrong tyre choice and setup. But we still managed to get through without any drama in the slippery conditions and without taking too many risks. We are still where we wanted to be, in the fight for the win. The gap is very close and tomorrow we will push again.”

Kalle Rovanperä

“It’s been quite a good day overall. This morning the first two stages were actually quite OK. There was a bit of dampness, and we were losing less time opening the road than I was expecting. But Monte Lerno was drier, and we lost a lot of time, and there was a lot of action for us in that stage. This afternoon it was still quite tricky even on the second pass, as the lines from the smaller cars were not really suitable for us. Then finally some rain came properly on Monte Lerno, and I tried to push hard and keep at it. I always seem to enjoy the rain and the muddy conditions, and we could take some time back. Now we’ll have a better starting place for tomorrow and we’ll try to push more.”

Elfyn Evans

“We started the day with a tricky couple of stages with the rocks lining the road and I was keen to get through cleanly and have a good car for Monte Lerno. We had a clean run through there also; it was nothing spectacular, but we seemed to manage everything quite well and got to the end without trouble and made up some places overall. It was a difficult afternoon and pretty rough; the first one was quite OK, then we gave away far too much on the second one. Unfortunately, at the end of Monte Lerno we picked up a puncture with a fair bit of time lost. But the gap is not huge to the guys in front, and we have Ott [Tänak] close behind so there’s plenty still to fight for.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tanak

“We had some issues on the first stage that affected the engine quite a bit, some electric thing as we lost the hybrid as well. We also lost the water pressure and thought it was game over, but then the pump came back, and we slowly started to go again, and we in safe mode and I was able to bring it home.”

Day Two – Saturday

Tomorrow has 133km’s over eight stages and although the longest stage is the Erula – Tula stage at 21km’s in length but the challenge remains big. Let’s see who will be leading at the end of the second day. Pop back to read my report later in the day.

30th May 2023

Rally Italia Sardegna 2023 Preview

Time for round six of this season’s championship and we come to the Island of Sardegna for the Italian round! Known for its extreme dusty roads and jumps this event is a favourite on the calendar.

Kalle and Jonne won the last round and come to this as championship leaders. They are joined as always in the Toyota team with their usual teammates, whilst Seb and Vincent are also entered. They will look to use their good starting position to set the pace throughout Friday’s stages and hope to hold on and take victory. However, Elfyn and Scott will want to do the same and it will be interesting to see how they get on.

Thierry and Martijn will have the same idea though and of course Thierry won this round in 2018. There is another Hyundai crew that will have the same idea. Yep, Dani won this round twice in recent years, taking victory in 2019 and also 2020. Let’s see what they can do this year! In fact, Esapekka and Janne will also be I believe challenging for victory. They showed great pace in Mexico and could do the same this weekend.

Meanwhile Ott and Martin at M-Sport Ford will definitely be in the fight this weekend. They took victory last year when at Hyundai and the Puma showed great pace in the hands of Craig Breen co-driven by Paul Nagle who of course took second place last year. For Pierre-Louis and Nicolas in the other Puma, the young Frenchman who has shown very good pace on gravel this year, they will want to take a great result and if things go well, could claim a top five finishing position. Of course, Nicolas won the event as co-driver in 2018 when with Thierry at Hyundai. Could he guide the young Puma driver to a podium this year? It will be interesting to watch!

Craig and Paul took second last year when at M-Sport Ford World Rally Team. Photo credit M-Sport Ford

Stage information

There is 320km’s over nineteen stages this year. Here’s the detail of what lies ahead throughout the weekend.

Following a shakedown in the morning, Rally Italia Sardinia officially begins on Thursday evening with the 3.23km Olbia – Cabu Abbas stage.

Friday is the longest day of the event with a total distance of 138.04km, which includes two passes of the mammoth test that is Monte Lerno – Sa Conchedda (49.90km).

Saturday’s itinerary consists of two loops of the four stages: Coiluna – Loelle (16.28km), Su Filigosu (19.57km), Erula – Tula (21.92km) and Tempio Pausania (9.96km).

Two passes each of Arzachena – Braniatogghiu (15.22km) and Sardegna (7.79km) bring the event to a close on Sunday.

Let’s hear from the drivers.

Toyota Gazoo Racing

Kalle Rovanperä

“Portugal was a great weekend for us, and it was nice to get a victory again. We will try to continue like this in the next events, but we know that Sardinia will be a much more difficult job. Of all the rallies in the calendar, I think this one has maybe been the trickiest for me, and if the weather is dry and hot like it usually is in Sardinia, it can be very difficult to be the first car on the road there; perhaps even more so this year with the 50-kilometre stage to be driven on Friday. It will be a demanding weekend but, like always, we will push together with the team to get the best result that we can.”

Elfyn Evans

“Portugal was a disappointing weekend on my side, but we have to put that behind us now, move forward to Sardinia and see what’s possible there. Our road position will be more favourable than what we started with on the last rally, but we know that it’s a challenging event regardless and one of the rougher rallies of the year. It definitely needs a smart approach but I’m looking forward to it, nonetheless. Like always in Sardinia, they mix up the stages every year. A lot of the route is known from before but some of it has not been driven for many years, so there will be a lot of new pacenotes to write during the recce – and this very long stage on Friday will of course be key.”

Sébastien Ogier

“Sardinia is a rally that I have learned to love. At first, I used to struggle going there, but over the years I started to master it more and more. The most recent memories I have of Sardinia are really good from when we managed to win in 2021 after starting first on the road, which is not normally possible on this event. Having missed Portugal, we will have a bit of a better starting position this time, but it will still be a difficult challenge, especially with this very long stage of 50 kilometres that the organisers have made for this year. I quite like that challenge, honestly; it adds some spice to the rally and the need for tyre management. It will certainly be an interesting rally.”

Hyundai Motorsport

Thierry Neuville

“Sardinia presents a lot of challenges, but the biggest are the heat and tyre wear. The stages are also difficult as the surface is rough, and they are quite narrow and technical too, so there is not much room for mistakes. Our target is to deal with the conditions as best we can and fight hard for a good result. Portugal was a tough weekend for us. I had a different set-up from Dani and Esapekka which we think is one of the reasons why I was struggling with traction and car balance. Switching my car to similar settings to those of my team-mates should be beneficial in the quest for improved performance and I’m looking forward to putting this to the test.”

Esapekka Lappi

“Sardinia is generally quite a slow rally with very technical stages. The second pass is particularly demanding for the tyres and car as there’s some bedrock and lots of loose rocks that get pulled onto the road. The usual high temperatures of around 30 degrees also add to the challenge. Personally, I sweat quite easily, so as a driver I need to concentrate more on nutrition and keeping myself well hydrated. At dry gravel rallies, Friday is always very crucial in terms of making a successful weekend, so that will be the key focus for us. Our hope is that we can deliver a consistent performance, avoid the rocks that could cause punctures, and bring home a podium for the team.”

Dani Sordo

“Sardinia offers a different challenge to previous gravel events this year, as the roads are narrower, more sandy and more slippery. Because of this, you cannot afford to make any mistakes. If you do so in Sardinia, you will pay. Road position can be very important at this event, as starting later in the order usually gives you a cleaner stage than those at the front. The almost 50km-long Monte Lerno stage will be a real challenge. We had one that was 37km in Portugal and even that was hard to stay fully concentrated the entire time. Our minimum goal for the weekend is to finish on the podium and hopefully we can be in a position to fight for the victory.”

M-Sport Ford WRT

Ott Tänak

“Sardinia is a unique rally in many ways, the roads are demanding with very low grip conditions but at the same time very narrow and fast between trees and rock faces. I always enjoy driving there!

“All the M-Sport team, together with the Ford Performance guys in the US, have been on it to bring on the next steps in our performance and we have a busy test day before Sardinia. We are looking into everything to extract some extra speed.

“The target is to get another step closer to our competitors. Things will take a bit of time, but I’m sure that improving step by step we will be there one moment!”

Pierre-Louis Loubet

“I think with the pace we showed on Friday in Portugal we can expect to do something good in Sardinia. It will be very important to avoid any mistakes this time, as even small ones can have big consequences. We know that the pace is there, we just need to put it all together to get a good result and we’re hoping that will all happen in Sardinia.”

WRC2 Category

Once again there is a huge entry for this category. M-Sport will be running three Fiesta Rally2 cars for Adrien, Grégoire and Robert and of course Oliver Solberg will also be competing in a Skoda Fabia Evo. Also joining these crews will be two cars from Hyundai Motorsport.

Let’s hear from these drivers.

Adrien Fourmaux

“Sardinia is a really rough event, with hot conditions, and this year we have a nearly 50km stage to look forward to! It’ll be a huge challenge for everybody, for the crews and the mechanics. But I like the challenge, and this will be my fifth time in Sardinia, so we have a good base knowledge of the stages.

“This is a famously difficult event, there’s no margin for error with rocks everywhere! When you hit something, you hit it hard. Let’s see what we can achieve.”

Grégoire Munster

“Sardinia is a new event for us, just like Portugal, so it will all be about discovery and gaining experience. Portugal didn’t go so well for us, but it was our first time on gravel in the car, so we will try to use that experience in Sardinia and do better there.”

Robert Virves

“This will be my first time competing in Sardinia, so there will be a lot to learn as it is a very tough event. Luckily, we have had some good experience in Portugal, and we can use a lot of that information on the stages in Sardinia. This is a big opportunity to learn a lot, it’s a tough event and we will need to manage the car and the tyres. But the experience in the Rally2 is all about learning, and it’s all beneficial to us going forward. Let’s see what happens!”

Oliver Solberg

“We’re back based on the east side of the island in Olbia again this year. The roads here are not usually quite so rough, they’re more sandy over here. We need to have a look from the recce – the conditions depend a lot on how hard the winter has been.

“The approach for this event is going to be the same as for the other gravel rallies: we just try to do our job. The car has been nice, it’s been fast and comfortable for me. The key here is really that, you want a comfortable car that’s easy to follow – and you have to make sure the rear of the car’s not sliding too much.”

“The long stage on Friday will be tough,” said Oliver. “It will be tough on the car, the tyres and the body a little bit as well. But I’m looking forward to it. These are great roads and to sit on the start line and know you have to drive a car as cool as the Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 as fast as I can for the next 50 kilometres is really something special.

“And, of course, it’s always nice to win a rally my Dad has already won. For me in Sardinia this week, I will try to do my job, like I have done all year. This has been enough so far.”

Teemu Suninen

“Sardinia is normally quite a lot warmer than other events, which makes the driving tougher and it can create higher levels of wear on the car and tyres. The surface is also hard and rough which can be more demanding for the suspension setups. It was clear in Portugal that the level in WRC2 is very high this year, so we must focus on every small detail and fight on every stage. We will also try to have a good pace and stay away from problems. If we do this, I believe we can get a good result. The goal is to win the rally, but with many top drivers in the class, it will be challenging.”

Fabrizio Zaldivar

“We travel to Sardinia looking for a better result than we achieved in Portugal. It will be a difficult challenge, but I am determined to keep pushing and improving. We know there is pace in the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 on this surface, hopefully we can find a good rhythm and show the car’s potential. The initial forecast shows it may not be as hot as last year, but we still expect the heat to play a part in the event. I hope we can come to the end of Rally Italia Sardegna without any incidents and having shown what we are capable of.”

Summary

Well, we are set for a cracking rally ahead this weekend! Keep an eye out for my daily reports!

22nd May 202322nd May 2023

Oregon Trail Rally Semenuk Wins

The Oregon Trail Rally has come to an end. Brandon Semenuk would take all the stage wins and win the event with a 8 minute and 52.3 second lead over Jeff Seehorn.

SS15, Boyd Loop Very Short

Stage 15 would see Brandon Semenuk take the win once again. Lia Block would finish with the second fastest time on the stage, setting a time 28.8 seconds slower than Semenuk. Jason Bailey would set the third fastest time on the stage, finishing with a time 1.6 seconds slower than Block. Andy Miller would set the fourth fastest time on the stage, that time would be 4.3 seconds slower than Bailey. Todd Hartmann would round out the top five on the stage, finishing with a time 0.9 seconds slower than Miller.

SS16, Shadow Buck

Brandon Semenuk would once again take the win on SS16. Semenuk would finish the stage with a time 16.5 seconds faster than Lia Block who placed second on the stage. Jason Bailey would set the third fastest time on the stage, finishing with a time 1.6 seconds slower than Block. Jacob Despain would set the fourth fastest time on the stage, finishing with a time 5.2 seconds slower than Bailey. Matthew Dickinson would round out the top five on the stage, finishing with a time 1.3 seconds slower than Despain.

SS17, Nagles Revenge

Stage 17 would once again see Brandon Semenuk on top. Semenuk would finish the stage with a time 18 seconds faster than Josh Bailey who would finish second on the stage. Lia Block would set the third fastest time on the stage, finishing the stage with a time 2.6 seconds slower than Bailey. Javier Olivares would finish the stage with the fourth fastest time, finishing with a time 3.2 seconds slower than Block. Matthew Dickinson would round out the top five on the stage, setting a time 0.4 seconds slower than Olivares.

SS18, Starveout

Stage 18 would once again see Brandon Semenuk take the stage win. Jason Bailey would set the second fastest time on the stage, that time would be 50.6 seconds slower than Semenuk’s time. Lia Block would set the third fastest time on the stage, setting a time 4.6 seconds slower than Bailey. Andy Miller would finish with the fourth fastest time on the stage, finishing 1.7 seconds slower than Block. Jacob Despain would round out the top five on the stage, finishing 0.3 seconds slower than Miller.

SS19, Starveout

Stage 19 would see Brandon Semenuk take his 19th consecutive stage win. Semenuk would finish the stage with a time 44.1 seconds faster than Jason Bailey who placed second on the stage. Matthew Dickinson would set the third fastest time on the stage, setting a time 11.8 seconds slower than Bailey. Jacob Despain would set the fourth fastest time on the stage, setting a time 0.3 seconds slower than Dickinson. Lia Block and Dave Clark would tie for fifth on the stage, with both drivers setting a time 4.4 seconds slower than Despain.

Photography Credit:

Vlad Tyeryekhov: Facebook