Kalle Rovanperä took the lead on day one of Rally Acropolis, and has a 3.7 second lead over Ott Tänak and Seb Ogier holds third after a very good drive after opening the road throughout the first day. Marco Bulacia holds the WRC2 lead and Chris Ingram leads WRC3.
Friday
Heading into the five stages for today with 89km of competitive action. The startlist looked like this –Ogier, Evans, Neuville, Rovanperä, Tänak, Greensmith, Sordo, Fourmaux, Loubet, Serderidis.
The first stage of the day then, SS2 Aghii Theodori 1 – 17.54 km and after Seb set the fastest time early on, it came down to Ott to set beat Seb and move into the lead. Welshman, Elfyn Evans who was second on the road was just 1.7 from the lead, but fell from second overall to third. Thierry fell from fourth to sixth. He was struggling with the pace, after taking two spare tyres in the car it was causing issues with the handling. At M-Sport Adrien was the faster of the two drivers, and he moved up into seventh overall.
Into SS3 Loutraki – 19.40 km and it was an amazing stage from Kalle as he went fastest from Dani and Ott. The young Finns pace took him from fourth into the lead over Ott which was second. Former rally leader, Seb, fell to third place. It was a bad start to the stage for Elfyn though, who gained a 40 second penalty for being 4 minutes late at the time control. He was now in sixteenth place.
Kalle continued to set the pace in SS4 Aghii Theodori 2 – 17.54 km, winning the stage from Ott and Seb. He’d extended his lead over Ott to 3.8 seconds as well. Elfyn, who was struggling with his gearbox stuck in one gear. Incredibly he was still seventh fastest in the stage, only 30 seconds slower than Gus. Thierry was also suffering technical problems, and the power steering had failed in the i20! The Ypres winners fell to twenty-sixth place overall. What a disaster for them. All of these problems meant that Adrien and Gus rose to fifth and sixth overall. In addition to this, the WRC2 and WRC3 crews were now into the top ten, with Andreas leading WRC2 and Chris Ingram, WRC3.
The single run of SS5 Thiva – 23.27 km saw Seb set the best time from Thierry and Dani. The Frenchman’s pace lifted him into second overall, just 2.8 seconds from Kalle. In the WRC2 battle, Marco moved ahead of Andreas with an incredible time that was just two seconds slower than Gus. Quite amazing pace from the Bolivian!
The final stage of the day then, SS6 Elatia – 11.65 km and Thierry had solved his problems clearly and he was fastest from Ott and Kalle. The Estonian’s pace lifted them back ahead of Seb into second overall. Pierre-Louis went off the road. Despite all his problems, Elfyn had made it to the end of the day and again he was going well, only 2.8 slower than Gus. Marco was going really well and increased his lead over Andreas to 5.4 seconds as they battled over the WRC2 lead.
Classification after Day One
1
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota Yaris WRC
1:01:57.1
2
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+3.7
3
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Toyota Yaris WRC
+3.9
4
D. Sordo
C. Carrera
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+23.9
5
A. Fourmaux
R. Jamoul
Ford Fiesta WRC
+54.2
6
G. Greensmith
C. Patterson
Ford Fiesta WRC
+1:23.3
Let’s hear from the drivers
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kalle Rovanperä (1st)
“It was a nice day today. We started more carefully, but then I could push a bit more and was enjoying it. It was really challenging conditions, with quite a lot of cleaning for us once others dropped back and we were running second on the road. Today when it was dry the conditions are more what I expected here, and the stage we did two times was really rough, so you need to take care of the car and the tyres. Tomorrow is going to be a completely different story after the weather we had earlier in the week: There is one stage that we did the recce for almost completely in fog, so it was really difficult to make the pacenotes, and there could be more grip changes and damp places.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 09 / Acropolis Rally Greece / 09-12, September 2021 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier (3rd)
“I am delighted to be third tonight and so close to the lead. Of course, I was pretty pessimistic starting this day given our road position and the conditions, I was thinking it could be a tough one, but I think I did everything I could and managed to stay out of trouble. We were really on the limit in some sections and also a bit clever in some rough parts. It has been enjoyable to drive. Funnily enough the only stage I didn’t enjoy was the one that I won, SS5, where the grip was really inconsistent. I need to focus on myself and not on the fight for the win as we are in a good position in the championship and I cannot afford to go full risk. But today the feeling was great in the car, and if the feeling is good, I can go for it.”
Elfyn Evans (16th)
“Obviously it was not the day we hoped for today. We tried to do whatever we could to resolve the issue and obviously the team were working pretty hard behind the scenes to find a solution as well, but there’s only so much you can do in that situation, so it was a frustrating few stages this afternoon. The only positive is that we could get back to service tonight. The championship situation for me is worse than it was this morning, but at the end of the day, these things happen in rallying and it’s a really rare occurrence in this team: I don’t think I’d had one technical issue like this since I joined. I’m quite sure it’s fixable for tomorrow.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Ott Tänak (2nd)
“It has been a struggle today, and difficult to find the feeling and confidence in the car. I have tried my best to keep up the pace with the leaders, but we need to look for some improvements tomorrow if we are to stay in this fight. I have felt a bit out of my comfort zone today, so it’s hard to get to the limit without risking having a moment or a surprising situation, especially on a new rally like this when you don’t know the conditions and need the car to behave as you expect. Even so, it’s nice to be back here, driving on stages with a nice character. We’ve had amazing support from the crowds; it shows that the rally means something in Greece and this rally deserves to be on the championship.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 09, Acropolis Rally 9-12 September 2021 Ott Tanak Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Dani Sordo (4th)
“I can’t say I am fully happy with the day, or with being fourth on the classification; we always want to be higher up. I made a small mistake at the start of SS3 this morning and went a little bit before the start, so we got a ten second penalty. I was a bit excited to get going. Apart from that, it went OK. I lost a lot of time in some small parts, so there was room for improvement. It is my first WRC event with Cándido in the co-driver seat, and I am pleased with how it’s gone so far. We have a very long day tomorrow, so we have to push ourselves more.”
Thierry Neuville (18th)
“We have had a lot of problems, so it’s been a bit of a day to forget. We got hit by electrical trouble from the start this morning, and then had an issue with a leaking power steering. I was more of a mechanic than a driver at times today. We realised there was an issue in the tyre fitting zone, and our one goal was to repair the damage. We just didn’t have enough time. We managed it in the end, and I am proud of the job that we did to fix the car in time for the final two stages. Our only hope now is to try and catch back P7, or possibly P6, that’s about the best we can do. It’s going to be tough but we’re going to do our best and keep our motivation high until the end.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Adrien Fourmaux (5th) said:
“It was really tough, honestly. Some places we are enjoying but it’s about 75% really hard, rough conditions but it’s really an incredible rally and an enjoyable challenge.
“We knocked off the rear bumper and diffuser early on in the morning, and with no service we had to just live with the car when it was lacking downforce at the rear as a result of this damage. You really felt this on the faster stages later on in the day but overall, it was very good for us to end the day in fifth place, now we can make the repairs in service and then push again for the rest of the event.”
Gus Greensmith (6th)
“It was quite tricky with the weight of two spare wheels in the back on the morning stages because the extra weight affected the handling a lot more than on some other events. I was able to get more comfortable with the car and push on from there and overall, it was a good start to the event for us.
“On the second pass through the stages I felt more confident in the conditions and that was reflected in my pace. It’s been a very encouraging day for us overall. The Rally Acropolis is really a bucket list item for any rally driver, and to come here. I want to get the car right in service this evening and then go again tomorrow.”
Jourdan Serderidis (9th)
“Every stage I am learning more about this car. The stages are very narrow and complicated – all the more so at WRC speeds. But to be inside the top 10 on my home event is a fantastic start and I look forward to push a little from here through the rest of the event.”
Nikolay Gryazin (3rd, WRC2)
“I’m very happy and excited. The car is a big change for me but I will be working on my pace to see where we end up. It has been a positive first day, I made a couple of small mistakes early on but third place overnight is positive for us.”
Saturday sees the crews tackle 132km six stages with two stages repeated and it all starts at 6:33am UK time!
When this event was last held in 2013, we had three manufacturers represented, with Volkswagen, Ford and Citroen all entering a number of cars based on the Polo, Fiesta and DS3. All three manufacturers were represented on the podium, with Jari-Matti Latvala winning for VW, Mads Ostberg in second for Citroen and Thierry Neuville third for M-Sport Ford.
Thierry Neuville (BEL) / Nicolas Gilsoul – Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Day one, 2013 Acropolis Rally
Only three drivers from the last event will be returning as competitors, with Seb Ogier, Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo having competed last time out. Jari-Matti Latvala returns as a team principle, but I bet he’d love to be competing.
Jari-Matti Latvala
“It’s great to have the WRC back in Greece. The last time that the Acropolis Rally was on the calendar, I actually won it, and it’s an event that I like a lot myself. You have to really think about your driving because it can be rough in places and the tyre wear is quite high. Some of the stages close to Lamia have not been used for 16 years, so they will be completely new for all of the current drivers. We know that the organisers have been working on the roads quite a lot, and the road condition seems to be much better than in the past. There’s a lot of loose gravel on top, though, so opening the road could be pretty challenging. Although this is another new rally on the calendar, we do have some good Acropolis Rally experience within the team, and I hope this helps us to have a successful event.”
Stage overview
Acropolis Rally kicks off with shakedown on Thursday morning, followed by a ceremonial start in the famous Acropolis citadel and a street stage in the city centre.
After staying overnight in Athens, crews tackle five stages on Friday before heading north to Lamia for evening service: two passes of Aghii Theodori (17.54km) and one each of Loutraki (19.40km), Thiva (23.27km) and Elatia (11.65km).
Saturday is the longest day on the itinerary with six stages totalling 132.56km. Pavliani (24.25km) and Gravia (24.81km) are followed by a tyre fitting zone for Bauxites (22.97km) and Eleftherohori (18.14km). Following service, Pavliani and Eleftherohori are repeated.
Three stages bring the rally to a close; Tarzan 1 (23.37km) and Pyrgos (33.20) – the longest stage of the rally – are run before a tyre fitting zone. A shortened Tarzan 2 (12.68km) acts at the event’s Power Stage.
Let’s hear from the drivers;
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“It’s nice that the WRC is going back to Greece. The Acropolis Rally is one of these events which made the history of the WRC, and we’ve missed it now for a few years. It’s definitely a country I love and I’m looking forward to going back there. Of course, we can have some idea of what to expect from the past, but it will be a new event in the sense that I think everybody will have to write new pacenotes, and it’s always nice when everybody starts from the same level like that. I know it will be a rally where opening the road will be challenging, but it’s nice to be in the position we are in the championship and we’re going to do everything we can to maintain this gap. That will be our target.”
Elfyn Evans
“I’ve done the Acropolis once before, back in 2012, but that was with a two-wheel drive car. It’s obviously going to be a very different experience going there now with a World Rally Car, and there will be a lot of new pacenotes to write. So, it’s more or less like going to a brand-new rally for me, even though Scott does have a bit more experience there. The route has a lot of stages that will be used just once, which is unusual, and that means there will be a lot of road cleaning to contend with – as with any dry gravel rally. We don’t know exactly what we’re going to be facing, but we’re going there to get the best result possible, as always.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“It’s nice to be going to another classic event in the WRC. I know that previously the Acropolis was always a really tough event. This year, from the videos we have seen, the roads look to be in a better condition than in the past, and I think it’s going to be quite an interesting event. With many stages being driven only once, it’s going to be really important to have a good setup for those first-pass conditions when it’s a bit more slippery, so this was the main focus of our pre-event test. Hopefully we can have the pace to fight for the podium places again. We just need to try and have a clean rally and see what we get.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“Acropolis Rally is going to be a tough event. When I was competing there back in 2012 and 2013 it was one of the roughest rallies – together with Argentina at that time. I always enjoyed it. We tested in Greece two years ago to prepare for Rally Turkey, so we have some knowledge of the terrain there. The stages have some very twisty profiles with a lot of loose stones, hot temperatures and it could be very similar to the rough conditions of Turkey. It will be very challenging as not only do you need to go flat out, but you also need to manage the car and the tyres. Strategy will be very important, but that’s something we like. We have high expectations for another good result, and we are looking forward to it.”
“It’s been a long break since the last WRC rally in Greece eight years ago. Acropolis Rally is an event with a lot of history and tradition behind it. It’s an event which belongs to the WRC, and it is good to be back. The last time I competed there was back in 2012 – a long time ago, but I have some great memories. Acropolis Rally is a good replacement for Rally Turkey which is normally the roughest event of the year. I think it’s going to be a really nice event; it will be quite demanding, but the stages are really special and flowing. I can’t wait to be back and bring home a good result.”
Dani Sordo
“Acropolis Rally was one of the roughest rallies when I competed there in the past but, overall, it is a nice rally with good stages. Normally the main challenges are the rocky surface, which is really demanding on the tyres and the high temperatures. You can have a lot of issues in this rally but now we have other similar rallies on the calendar such as Portugal and Sardinia that are similarly demanding, so maybe we are more prepared for this kind of event. Our road position is advantageous when we look at the big picture; it is good to start at the back and we will try to make the most of our running order on the first day. I can’t wait to start it. It will be the first rally with Cándido alongside me and I hope we can get a good result.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 05, Rally de Portugal 3-6 June 2021 Dani Sordo Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Oliver Solberg
“I can’t wait to take the Hyundai i20 N Rally2 to Greece. I did quite a lot of testing with the car on the gravel, so I know the potential and the speed it has. We have to remember though; we are still early in the life for the car so we have to make sure we are making a lot of kilometres. I think this is a rally where you drive more with your head than with the heavy right foot; there will be lots of big rocks waiting, especially on the second loop of stages. This is going to be especially true on the first day because we have no service in lunchtime. It’s going to be fantastic.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Gus Greensmith
“The Acropolis is on my list of events I want to do before I stop so it’s a rally I’ve been looking forward to for a very long time. I tend to enjoy rough rallies and I’ve done my best to prepare by watching old footage to get an idea of what it’s going to be like. I’ve also done nine days in a heat chamber in anticipation of the very high temperatures although the forecast is now for 30 degrees centigrade rather than 40, which is still warm but nothing out of the normal.
“If we compare the Acropolis to Turkey, we’ve seen that everyone is flat out all the way through. It means you have to commit in the rough stuff but also show a degree of mechanical sympathy because the bedrock will be hard for the suspension and the tyres. Usually when it’s rough anything can happen so it’s an exciting situation to be in.
“There are a lot of single-use stages, which means it won’t be as rough as it has been in previous years because you don’t have the second pass and we’ll have a good road position. Friday should therefore be a very good day for us and I plan to maximise the opportunities. We’ve got a good car for rough conditions and I feel we can have a very strong rally.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“Like most of the time, it’s a new rally for me but I do remember playing it on PlayStation when I was younger! Some drivers have some experience, but it was eight years ago and the cars have changed a lot since then. I’m just trying to prepare as I do for the other rallies, working on the videos and my physical and mental training. We had an issue on the last rally in Belgium, so we want to go back to our positive attitude from the beginning of the season and keep taking the experience.
“The Acropolis is in the WRC next year, so we need to get the experience of all stages. I know it will be hot, really tough with big rocks in the middle of the road that you don’t expect. It will be a big challenge and you can expect punctures, maybe some mechanical damage.
“I will take the experience from Turkey and Safari, which can also help me with the set-up of the car. I was probably too careful with the car on the Safari on the Friday but I know more about the limits of the car on rough rallies, that it’s really, really strong. I know many things can happen on this type of event so I will do my rally, do my best and try to do some good stage times. But the most important thing is to be at the end with no issue and have a good result. It was a good rally for M-Sport in the past and hopefully it will be the same in 2021.”
Look ahead
It’s going to be an interesting rally, with a very challenging set of stages which will be rough. Also, with some stages run only once, this will bring another unknown aspect to the event, and it will be the crew that best controls their pace on the hot stages that will take the win.
Hopefully Hyundai won’t suffer the rear suspension problems that they have in the other gravel events from this season, and we’ll get a good fight between all the top crews. Road position will be really important, so perhaps we’ll see Dani, or Ott at the top. Within the Toyota team, Elfyn will want to take win if he can and close the gap to Seb in their fight for the championship.
The M-Sport Ford team don’t have the drivers to fight at the front, so will have a plan I imagine like Safari Rally to get through the event, and this may mean that they’ll pick up positions as other crews drop out with problems.
Anyway, enjoy the rally, and pop back next week for my full stage by stage review.
Adam Morgan took his second win of the season in the final race of the weekend at Thruxton. Colin Turkington finished second with Senna Proctor third in a race which had three safety car periods.
It didn’t take long for the first safety car to be deployed. Gordon Shedden’s Honda made contact with Jade Edwards’ Honda, sending the pair into the wall and out of the race. The safety car came out to recover the cars.
On the restart on lap six, Ingram was hunting down Sutton, with both drivers fighting for the championship. On lap seven Ingram squeezed past Sutton at the final chicane. Jason Plato seized his opportunity and passed Sutton too.
The second safety car was brought out on lap ten as Sam Smelt and Carl Boardley made contact. Smelt’s car came to a halt on track while Boardley crawled back to the pits.
Just before the safety car was deployed, Ingram passed Stephen Jelley in a brave move around the outside at the high speed Noble corner.
The race was briefly restarted on lap 13 with Ollie Jackson retiring on lap 14 with a right suspension failure. The safety car was brought out for the third time to retrieve his car.
Lap 16 saw the restart, and a point of contention. Coming into the final chicane Morgan locked up heavily, and decided to cut the chicane instead of attempt to make the corner. He made a large gap on Turkington, which he later slowed down to rule out. However the argument could be made that it denied Turkington an overtaking opportunity.
On the final lap Ingram made another daring move on Rory Butcher and took fifth place.
Morgan took the win, with Turkington in second and Proctor in third. Hill, Ingram Butcher, Cook, Plato, Smiley and Sutton rounded off the top ten.
Ash Sutton extended his championship lead with a win in race two at Thruxton. He reeled in race one winner Josh Cook, who finished second, with Tom Oliphant third for the WSR team.
Cook led from pole at the start, with Rory Butcher passing Jake Hill, who dropped from second to fourth off the line. Jade Edwards jumped the start, seeming to misread the lights and was given a five second penalty.
There was drama for the Dynamics Honda team as both Dan Rowbottom and Gordon Shedden were into the pits by the end of lap two with mechanical issues. Jack Mitchell joined them in the pits in his Team HARD Cupra Leon, with his team mate Aron Taylor-Smith not even making the start. He broke down on the formation lap.
On lap three Sutton passed Oliphant for second place, with Cook 2.2 seconds up the road in the lead.
The other battle was between Butcher and Tom Ingram, who were fighting over fifth place.
By lap seven Sutton was just a second behind Cook, who had the full 75kg ballast on his Honda Civic. On lap nine Sutton was on the rear bumper of Cook, and was looking for the right opportunity to pass, which he eventually took.
Sutton’s Infiniti made the best exit out of the final chicane and had a run on Cook. He cut down the inside and passed into turn one, taking the lead and cruising to the chequered flag.
Lap 13 saw a hairy moment between Butcher and Ingram, as they made slight contact at Noble, an incredibly high speed corner, thankfully Butcher regained the car and held on without losing a place. However on lap 15 Ingram passed Butcher with a nice switchback move at the Complex. Colin Turkington was in the mix too, but couldn’t pass either.
Sutton took the win and extended his championship lead, with Cook and Oliphant behind him.
Hill was fourth and Butcher inherited fifth as Ingram suffered a puncture on the final lap, sending him all the way down to 12th. Turkington was sixth. Senna Proctor took seventh with Adam Morgan eighth and the Power Maxed pair of Jason Plato and Dan Lloyd rounding off the top ten.
Pos
Driver
Car
Team
+/-
1
Ash Sutton
Infiniti Q50
Laser Tools
20:42:975
2
Josh Cook
Honda Civic Type R
BTC Racing
+0.878
3
Tom Oliphant
BMW 330i M Sport
Team WSR
+4.504
4
Jake Hill
Ford Focus ST
MB Motorsport
+5.036
5
Rory Butcher
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Gazoo
+8.059
6
Colin Turkington
BMW 330i M Sport
Team WSR
+8.452
7
Senna Proctor
Honda Civic Type R
BTC Racing
+8.973
8
Adam Morgan
BMW 330i M Sport
Ciceley
+10.140
9
Jason Plato
Vauxhall Astra
Power Maxed
+10.995
10
Dan Lloyd
Vauxhall Astra
Power Maxed
+11.297
11
Chris Smiley
Hyundai i30N
Excelr8
+11.596
12
Tom Ingram
Hyundai i30N
Excelr8
+13.721
13
Aiden Moffat
Infiniti Q50
Laser Tools
+16.540
14
Stephen Jelley
BMW 330i M Sport
Team WSR
+16.844
15
Jack Butel
Hyundai i30N
Excelr8
+17.363
16
Jack Goff
Cupra Leon
Team HARD
+18.875
17
Tom Chilton
BMW 330i M Sport
Ciceley
+20.066
18
Ollie Jackson
Ford Focus ST
MB Motorsport
+22.286
19
Sam Osborne
Ford Focus ST
Motorbase
+24.582
20
Rick Parfitt Jr
Hyundai i30N
Excelr8
+25.105
21
Carl Boardley
Infiniti Q50
Laser Tools
+27.640
22
Sam Smelt
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Gazoo
+28.163
23
Paul Rivett
Ford Focus ST
Motorbase
+28.679
24
Jade Edwards
Honda Civic Type R
BTC Racing
+29.365*
25
Nicholas Hamilton
Cupra Leon
Team HARD
+46.624
26
Dan Rowbottom
Honda Civic Type R
Team Dynamics
+6 Laps
Retirements
DNF
Jack Mitchell
Cupra Leon
Team HARD
Mechanical
DNF
Gordon Shedden
Honda Civic Type R
Team Dynamics
Mechanical
DNS
Aron Taylor-Smith
Cupra Leon
Team HARD
Driveshaft
– Jade Edwards received a 5 second penalty for a jump start.
Josh Cook cruised to his seventh win at Thruxton to keep his title challenge going in round 16 of the British Touring Car Championship.
He surged into the lead off the start line from third, passing Jake Hill and polesitter Dan Rowbottom and into the lead which he never surrendered.
Tom Oliphant also had a fine start from fifth and was third by the end of the first lap. Hill started well and passed Oliphant for second at the chicane.
A couple of cars were seen going off at the high-speed Church corner, with Paul Rivett spinning on lap two. Nicholas Hamilton later did the same, both losing the back end and spinning.
There was a battle developing behind the top three with seven cars all fighting for a better position. Ash Sutton put the moves on Adam Morgan into Church to take sixth and soon made light work of Rowbottom to chase down Rory Butcher in fourth.
The Scot did incredibly well in his Toyota to fend off the championship leader, despite the fact Sutton had 75kg of success ballast on his Infiniti.
On the penultimate lap Jason Plato was chasing down Ingram for tenth place on the road. Having been on his rear bumper for the majority of the race, the veteran finally made his move into the final chicane.
Plato squeezed past and Colin Turkington swooped in to capitalise on Ingram’s lost momentum. Ingram however recovered and passed Turkington into the complex.
Cook cruised to the win, his seventh at Thruxton and the 11th of his career. Hill and Oliphant rounded off the podium. Butcher impressively held off Sutton for fourth with Rowbottom going from pole on the grid to sixth. Morgan was seventh with Senna Proctor eighth. Plato and Ingram came home ninth and tenth.
Dan Lloyd was eighth on the road at the chequered flag but he was given a five second penalty for being out of position at the start.
Pos
Driver
Car
Team
+/-
1
Josh Cook
Honda Civic Type R
BTC Racing
20:37:012
2
Jake Hill
Ford Focus ST
MB Motorsport
+1.360
3
Tom Oliphant
BMW 330i M Sport
Team WSR
+3.740
4
Rory Butcher
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Gazoo
+5.847
5
Ash Sutton
Infiniti Q50
Laser Tools
+6.506
6
Dan Rowbottom
Honda Civic Type R
Team Dynamics
+9.260
7
Adam Morgan
BMW 330i M Sport
Ciceley
+10.617
8
Senna Proctor
Honda Civic Type R
BTC Racing
+12.144
9
Jason Plato
Vauxhall Astra
Power Maxed
+14.511
10
Tom Ingram
Hyundai i30N
Excelr8
+15.970
11
Dan Lloyd
Vauxhall Astra
Power Maxed
+16.635*
12
Colin Turkington
BMW 330i M Sport
Team WSR
+16.667
13
Gordon Shedden
Honda Civic Type R
Team Dynamics
+17.480
14
Tom Chilton
BMW 330i M Sport
Ciceley
+17.845
15
Stephen Jelley
BMW 330i M Sport
Team WSR
+18.535
16
Aiden Moffat
Infiniti Q50
Laser Tools
+21.375
17
Chris Smiley
Hyundai i30N
Excelr8
+21.659
18
Ollie Jackson
Ford Focus ST
MB Motorsport
+22.165
19
Jack Butel
Hyundai i30N
Excelr8
+23.507
20
Jack Goff
Cupra Leon
Team HARD
+23.983
21
Jade Edwards
Honda Civic Type R
BTC Racing
+24.259
22
Sam Osborne
Ford Focus ST
Motorbase
+31.014
23
Jack Mitchell
Cupra Leon
Team HARD
+33.060
24
Carl Boardley
Infiniti Q50
Laser Tools
+35.373
25
Rick Parfitt Jr
Hyundai i30N
Excelr8
+35.696
26
Sam Smelt
Toyota Corolla
Toyota Gazoo
+1 Lap
27
Aron Taylor-Smith
Cupra Leon
Team HARD
+1 Lap
28
Nicholas Hamilton
Cupra Leon
Team HARD
+1 Lap
29
Paul Rivett
Ford Focus ST
Motorbase
+1 Lap
– Dan Lloyd given a 5 second penalty for improper grid position.
There were with a total of 135.34km over eight stages to complete on Friday. The startlist looked like this – Ogier, Evans, Neuville, Rovanperä, Tänak, Katsuta, Breen, Greensmith, Fourmaux, Loubet.
The first stage, SS1 Reninge – Vleteren 1 – 15.00 km then and Ott was fastest from Thierry and Craig giving us a Hyundai 1-2-3 and the three were separated by less than 3 seconds. Elfyn was the closest challenger in fourth. What was interesting was that opening the road didn’t seem to provide the cleanest road. The two M-Sport crews held eighth and ninth, with Adrien ahead of the Englishman.
There was a change in the lead in SS2 Westouter – Boeschepe 1 – 19.60 km, with Craig going fastest from Thierry and Elfyn. Ott could only manage the fifth best time and dropped to third. There were just seven tenths of a second between the top two! Further down Adrien passed Takamoto for seventh place after going 3.2 seconds faster than the Japanese driver.
Craig continued his great drive, winning SS3 Kemmelberg 1 – 23.62 km from his Belgian teammate and increasing his lead to 1.6 seconds. Elfyn was third fastest in the stage and closed the gap to third placed Ott to just four tenths of a second. Seb suffered a puncture and was only sixth. There was huge drama for Adrien and Renard who suffered a huge crash. They’d slid wide on a left hander and as the road dropped away the car took off and pirouetted in the air before then colliding with a post on the left where the car came to a stop. They were out for the day, and also for the remaining days as well.
The last stage then before the lunchtime service break and it was a first stage win of the weekend for Thierry in SS4 Zonnebeke 1 – 9.45 km with Craig only managing the fourth best time as well. The Belgian had now taken the lead. Ott was second and Elfyn again third. The gap between first and second was just four tenths of a second as well.
It was a 1-2-3 for the Hyundai team in SS5 Reninge – Vleteren 2 – 15.00 km with Thierry leading Craig and Ott. Kalle matched Ott’s time, whilst Elfyn was just a further 2 tenths back and continued to hold fourth overall and only one second behind Ott in their battle over the final podium position continued.
Into SS6 Westouter – Boeschepe 2 – 19.60 km and Thierry was fastest again from Craig and Seb finally finding some pace after service. Elfyn was slower than Ott and this meant that the gap opened up a little in their fight for third place. We lost Gus in this stage though after going off the road and ending up in one of the big ditches at the side. The car was undamaged, but they could not get it out and their day was done.
So, to SS7 Kemmelberg 2 – 23.62 km and what turned out to be the final stage of the day. Thierry was fastest from Seb and Kalle. The Belgian’s pace meant that he’d opened up a lead now over Craig of 7.6 seconds. There was a change on the leaderboard with Kalle moving ahead of his teammate Elfyn into fourth place, but there were only eight tenths between them.
The final stage of the day, set to run as the sun set, was cancelled for safety reasons.
Classification after Day One
1
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
1:04:27.0
2
C. Breen
P. Nagle
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+7.6
3
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+31.2
4
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota Yaris WRC
+32.6
5
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota Yaris WRC
+33.4
6
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Toyota Yaris WRC
+39.4
7
T. Katsuta
K. Williams
Toyota Yaris WRC
+1:24.5
8
P.L Loubet
F. Haut-Labourdette
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+2:50.0
Let’s hear from the drivers
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville (1st)
“We knew if we had a clean run today that we could be among the fastest. Of course, experience counts for a lot and the car has been working well, but it’s good to be leading at the end of the first day. We have tried to keep a good rhythm without taking risks and everything went smoothly. The target for the afternoon was to have another clean run. I was able to drive a bit faster because the pace notes had been checked and the gravel crew had done a good job, so I felt comfortable to push a bit and extend the lead. We got up to seven seconds during three stages which was great; I would have loved to have done the final stage with all those spectators but unfortunately the stage had to be cancelled. So far, it has been a great team effort, and we have some tough challenges ahead of us tomorrow.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 08, Ypres Rally Belgium 13-15 August 2021 Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Craig Breen (2nd)
“Honestly, I am really happy and have to be pleased with how the day has gone. The car has been feeling fantastic, and Paul is doing a great job as always. It’s nice to get back the feeling on tarmac; Croatia was a struggle, but the car here fits me like a glove. The first three stages this morning went well. I lost time on the fourth one as I took some references from the R5 car, which didn’t work, but it was a brilliant loop. Two fastest times and we led the rally. The gap to the lead went out a bit this afternoon but we knew it would be a challenge to match Thierry here; to be seven seconds behind after 135km isn’t terrible. The conditions on the second loop were tricky but I still enjoyed it and it’ll be another interesting day tomorrow – after I’ve had a cup of tea and some sleep!”
Ott Tänak (3rd)
“It is certainly a challenge to be competing at Ypres Rally for the first time, but I am happy to be here. We had a clean morning loop; there was a lot of dirt on the road already, sometimes more than I expected. The car was working well, but it was slippery in places, so we were careful. The long stages were quite demanding and on occasions it was difficult to know where you need to drive and find the grip. At times, the experience is definitely missing but we were learning step by step and the feeling was not so bad. In the afternoon, we were a bit low on boost but apart from that it was enjoyable to drive. Let’s see what tomorrow brings, with more new stages for us. It has been close, so for sure tomorrow we’d like to do a bit better.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kalle Rovanperä (4th)
“Today has been quite demanding with tricky conditions all the time, as we expected. I don’t have so many kilometres on asphalt in this car or with these tyres, and it can be tricky to know the grip level on these stages because it’s changing a lot. I found it easier this evening now that I knew more about the conditions, so I could push a bit more but without taking too much risk and it was quite enjoyable in the car. I could match my team-mates quite well, and the fight is quite hard now for the podium.”
Elfyn Evans (5th)
“It has not been an easy start to the rally. With changing grip levels and a mix of different surfaces it’s difficult to find confidence. Some sections felt pretty good, but in some sections I struggled to be fully at one with it. I think we got through the first loop quite OK, trying our best to keep in touch with the leaders. This evening I had a pretty good feeling in the car to be honest, but the times seemed to be not as competitive, so we need to understand why that was and try to be better tomorrow morning.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 08 / Rally Ypres Belgium / 15-18 July, 2021 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Sébastien Ogier (6th)
“It was not an ideal start for us today. In the first loop the pace was not great. It was difficult to find grip running first on the road, and I really didn’t expect the dust to play as much of a role as it did. On top of that there was some room for improvement in the setup. In the second loop it was going in the right direction. It’s not perfect yet but we made some steps in the setup which made me feel more and more confident. I still have some ideas for tomorrow to hopefully make another step forward. Now we have to focus on that fight for the podium.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Gus Greensmith (DNF, SuperRally)
“This event is completely unique and we made a few setup changes with each passing stage to get more comfortable. Things were feeling better and better and I felt increasingly confident in the car but sadly the day ended too soon and it will be back to the drawing board tonight and to try to take as much experience as we can through the weekend.”
Adrien Fourmaux (DNF)
“We have a small headache and some pain in the legs and my foot but basically all okay. Honestly, it was just the corner tightening but it was still flat, it said in the pacenote that it was flat corner but there was a bit of dirt and we just oversteered a little bit and then just hit something in the ditch and the car was gone.
“It’s nearly my home rally of course and it’s a big disappointment with so many friends and family here but for sure it’s also the downside of this sport that this sort of thing can happen. There is always something to learn and for sure we have to analyse a little bit more. It’s a shame we were just 500 metres from the end of the stage but we will have a lot to learn.”
Teemu Suninen (DNF, SuperRally)
“Basically, the day was going quite well, in the morning we were showing good pace and it felt like we had good pace and good feeling in the car. The roads were tricky with people before us cutting corners and that’s a big feature of this rally with the dirt on the road and we were just coming through the last stage and I lost the rear, went in a ditch and grass blocked the radiator so we had to stop after the final stage.”
Tom Kristensson (DNF)
“This rally started very well for us and we were encouraged by the way that we were able to build our pace through the day. The stages were very enjoyable and we were building a good feeling but sadly the final stage was so dirty when so many cars had been through and I just lost the front end of the car, I’m sorry for me and for the team when it was going so well.”
Saturday
With 119.92 over eight stages, what would day two hold for the crews? Well, the startlist looked like this – Greensmith, Loubet, Katsuta, Ogier, Evans, Rovanperä, Tänak, Breen, Neuville.
Into SS9 Hollebeke 1 – 25.86 km and it was a good start for Craig who was fastest from Elfyn and Thierry. Ott had to stop and change a tyre, and then re-joined in front of Craig, who was briefly behind, before Ott moved over for his teammate. Unfortunately, Pierre-Louis slid out into a ditch, just like Gus on Friday. Some spectators attempted to help get the car out, but this did not work.
Craig was also fastest again in SS10 Dikkebus 1 – 12.49 km from Thierry and Seb. The Belgian’s lead was now just 3.5 seconds. There was huge drama though for one of the Toyota’s. Takamoto lost control of his Yaris on some bumps and spun across the road and ended up colliding with a post at the side of the road, before coming to a rest on the left-hand side. They were out for the day and the event.
Elfyn won SS11 Watou 1 – 13.62 km from Thierry and Craig, thus allowing the Welshman to increase the gap to his younger Finnish teammate in their battle over the final podium position. In the WRC2 category, Oliver who was driving the new i20 Rally2 in competition, was suffering with power steering failure and really struggling through the stage. Never-the-less, he was holding the lead of the category after Teemu and Jari both suffered problems.
The final morning stage, SS12 Mesen – Middelhoek 1 – 7.99 km and Thierry was fastest from Kalle and Craig. Gus continued to have issues with his intercom, but was still setting good times, going seventh fastest in the stage.
After the lunchtime service, Seb won SS13 Hollebeke 2 – 25.86 km from Elfyn and Craig. Thierry was fourth and lost 1.8 seconds of his lead to Craig, but the gap remained a healthy five seconds. Elfyn also increased the gap to Kalle and the gaps between the three Toyota drivers closed up a little with less than 10 seconds between them. In the WRC2 category, Teemu retired from the rally after the engine in his Fiesta overheated.
Thierry returned to the top of the timesheets with the fastest time in SS14 Dikkebus 2 – 12.49 km with Seb and Craig second and third fastest. Seb was now just 2.5 from Kalle whilst Elfyn was further down in the stage times, only going sixth fastest and now the gap was just 6.6 seconds between the three of them.
Seb won SS15 Watou 2 – 13.62 km from Elfyn and Thierry. The Frenchman’s pace lifted him ahead of Kalle into fourth place and the gap between them all three Toyota drivers was just 5.8 seconds! Further down the leaderboard, there was a good battle between the WRC3 top two! Seb Bedoret driving a Skoda Fabia and Yohan Rossel in a C3 Rally2 were only separated by 2.4 seconds and holding seventh and eighth overall as well.
The final stage then of the day, SS16 Mesen – Middelhoek 2 – 7.99 km won by Thierry from Kalle and Ott and Kalle’s pace took him back ahead of Seb into fourth place. Thierry now held a ten second lead over Craig who was fifth fastest. In the WRC3 category, Johan was tenth and closed the gap to Seb to just nine tenths of a second in their battle for seventh overall.
Classification after Day Two
1
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
2:06:18.8
2
C. Breen
P. Nagle
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+10.1
3
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota Yaris WRC
+42.4
4
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota Yaris WRC
+45.7
5
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Toyota Yaris WRC
+46.7
6
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+3:55.2
Let’s hear from the drivers
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville (1st)
“We have had another controlled, trouble-free day and we can only be satisfied. We have stayed away from punctures and any other issues, as well as setting some more fastest times. The only moment we had was when I went straight at a junction but, even then, we only lost half a second. I decided to take a good but steady rhythm and keep things under control. The handling of the car has been nice, and I’ve been enjoying our home event. We have now completed a big part of the rally, managed very well by us, but I am conscious that we have another day to go. They will be very different to the stages we’ve had so far, so nothing is done yet. We have to be clever, but I hope we can have a nice day.”
Craig Breen (2nd)
“It’s been a very nice day from start to finish. We have tried to make no mistakes, and I am happy that I have found a rhythm that I can manage; it’s not only being on the pace but also being able to control it. I am super happy with the performance we’ve shown; we’ve taken another good step forward. I’ve had a nice feeling from the car, and it’s important for us to have two cars in a 1-2. Spa tomorrow may not have many kilometres but there will be room for mistakes. We have to protect our positions, which would be a great boost for the championship.”
Ott Tänak (6th)
“We have had another day of new stages to us, so it’s been important to get through and to get the knowledge. That’s really been the best that we could achieve at the moment. Unfortunately, we picked up a puncture on the opening run. As we had 10kms to go, we decided to stop to change the tyre in the stage, which lost us time. This is a new event for us, so it has been crucial to learn this rally; we can see how demanding it is and how many surprises there are. The stages are nice, especially with the higher grip on the second loop.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 08, Ypres Rally Belgium 13-15 August 2021 Ott Tanak, Martin Jarveoja, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Elfyn Evans (3rd)
“This morning was a bit better than yesterday and everything was working quite OK, but it’s been a bit up and down since then. Overall, I would say we have made some steps forward from yesterday. In the shorter stages we lost some time and that’s not ideal, but it means we have a close fight for tomorrow. I’m looking forward to giving it our all. Both stages have a real mix of character within them with a lot of things going on, so we need to have a car setup that will work everywhere.”
Kalle Rovanperä (4th)
“Today has been really nice. I think in some places it was a bit more dirty in some places from the cuts with a lot of loose gravel on the road, and that’s one area I still need to learn more about, because when it’s clean like on the last stage we have really good pace. With our lack of experience, I’m really happy that we have been able to match our team-mates and it has been really tight between us. Tomorrow is going to be interesting because the stages are a different style, and it’s going to be nice to drive on the track at Spa.”
Sébastien Ogier (5th)
“Today for me it was a little bit the same trend as yesterday. The grip has been very low on the first pass of the stages, but surprisingly it is much higher on the second pass. Then I can carry much more speed into the corners and enjoy it. It’s a shame that we lose so much on the first pass, but at least we are still in the fight. 4.3 seconds is not that much, so tomorrow we have to try to drive well and see where we end up.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 08 / Rally Ypres Belgium / 15-18 July, 2021 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
M-Sport Ford WRT
Gus Greensmith (61st)
“We needed a strong day after the disappointment of going off the road yesterday and I’ve done everything I can today to learn what I can about the stages and the rally. It really has a character unlike anything we’ve seen in the WRC before. We had one or two electrical issues through the day, which made it hard to be as fully committed as I would have liked to be because the challenge is enormous. There’s no room for error and for anyone who hasn’t competed here before it’s really a learning process, and there have been some encouraging signs of progress through the day.”
Teemu Suninen (DNF)
“We quickly found a very good feeling with the Ford Fiesta Rally2 this morning and from this we had the confidence to push. We were able to set fastest times once again and prove how fast the car is, but unfortunately there was still some damage in the engine from where we overheated yesterday. The car began overheating again and the fan broke, with the result that we had to stop rather than cause more damage.”
Sunday
The final day then and a long 300km drive to the Spa-Francorchamps track for a total of 40.52km over four stages. The startlist looked like this – Loubet, Greensmith, Tänak, Ogier, Rovanperä, Evans, Breen, Neuville.
The first stage then, SS17 Stavelot 1 – 9.05 km, which started away from the track and then joined the track at the end of the Kemmel straight and then followed the track to the Stavelot corner. Kalle was fastest from Ott and Thierry. The young Finns pace halved the gap between him and Elfyn as he bid to take third from his Welsh teammate. In the WRC3 category there was a change in the lead as Yohan passed Seb after finishing the stage 5.6 seconds faster.
Into SS18 Francorchamps 1 – 11.21 km which again started outside the track, then saw the cars arrive at the track via a roundabout and then enter the paddock under the start finish straight, before going the wrong way up the pit entry and joining the track at the final corner before heading round la Source and plunging down Raidillon and into the first part of l’Eau Rouge and then finishing the stage at the rally cross track. Ott took the stage win from Kalle and Craig. The Finn passed Elfyn for third overall after the Welshman was only sixth in the stage.
The second run of SS19 Stavelot 2 – 9.05 km saw Ott win from Thierry and Kalle. Elfyn lost another 1.1 seconds to Kalle and he would need a big stage win in the power stage to overcome the five second lead that Kalle now had over him. In the WRC3 category, Yohan now held a good lead of over thirty seconds and held seventh overall as well.
The final stage then, SS20 Francorchamps 2 [Power Stage] – 11.21 km and the top five was Ott, Seb, Thierry, Kalle and Elfyn. Thierry secured his first victory of the year and with it his first win with his new co-driver Martijn, and also on home soil too! What a great performance from the pairing, which brings them back into the battle for the championship.
Final Overall Classification – Ypres Rally Belgium
1
T. Neuville
M. Wydaeghe
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
2:30:24.2
2
C. Breen
P. Nagle
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+30.7
3
K. Rovanperä
J. Halttunen
Toyota Yaris WRC
+43.1
4
E. Evans
S. Martin
Toyota Yaris WRC
+49.6
5
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Toyota Yaris WRC
+55.8
6
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+3.46.5
7
Y. Rossel
A. Coria
Citroën C3 R5
+12:14.9
8
P. Cracco
J. Vermeulen
Škoda Fabia Evo Rally2
+13:05.9
9
F. Kreim
F. Christian
Volkwagen Polo GTI
+13:13.8
10
V. Verschueren
F. Cuvelier
Volkwagen Polo GTI
+13:31.1
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 08, Ypres Rally Belgium 13-15 August 2021 Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Craig Breen, Paul Nagle, Scott Noh Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Let’s hear from the drivers then!
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville (1st)
“We had a lot of pressure coming here but to be honest I have felt confident, comfortable, relaxed and in control all weekend. We were able to rely fully on the team and the car, which worked perfectly. It has been a pleasure to get this first win together with Martijn. It has been a long time coming, but it feels even better now. We knew we had to deliver here, not just because it is our home event but because of the need to score big points for the championships. It was really special to do that final stage at the nicest circuit in the world, just 15km from my hometown, with friends and family cheering us on and to be able to do some celebratory donuts. A fantastic weekend and a result to savour!”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 08, Ypres Rally Belgium 2021, 13-15 August 2021 Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, WRC, Action during Day 3 of Ypres Rally Belgium 2021 Photographer: Romain Thuillier Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Craig Breen (2nd)
“To finish second here at Ypres as part of a Hyundai 1-2 result means a lot. Sometimes, there’s a lot of space in between our events, so we can struggle to get into a rhythm but two events in a row with two podiums is amazing. It definitely gives me more confidence going forward. We have all the ingredients around us to perform to this standard; it’s a pleasure and an honour to drive a car like this. Thanks to everyone in the team, my gravel crew, everyone in service, and to Paul; we’ve had a great package this weekend, and it’s been a lot of fun.”
Ott Tänak (6th)
“This has been a great, challenging event and a really good addition to the WRC calendar. Nobody has really been able to challenge Thierry and Martijn this weekend – congratulations to them – but now we have seen and experience the roads, we’ll be ready when we come back. It is a unique tarmac event, unlike any other; we can’t really compare it to Croatia or Catalunya, so it’s been important to learn it first-hand. All in all, while we haven’t got the result we wanted, it has been a successful event for the team, so we have some positives.”
Jari Huttunen (1st in WRC2)
“I am pleased that we made it safely to the end of Ypres Rally Belgium and to take the first victory with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2. They say, ‘to finish first, you first have to finish’ and that was the name of the game this weekend. I am sad for Oliver and Aaron that they were not able to start this morning. It was not the perfect weekend for us, but luckily, we made it through after we lost six-and-a-half minutes due to three separate punctures. This is an important result for everyone at Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing after a huge amount of preparation work to get the car rally ready. The starting point for this new car compared to the previous one is high, and we know where we can make some improvements easily.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 08, Ypres Rally Belgium 2021, 13-15 August 2021 Jari Huttunen, Mikko Lukka, WRC, Action during Day 2 of Ypres Rally Belgium 2021 Photographer: Romain Thuillier Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Oliver Solberg (DNF)
“It is disappointing not to take the win in WRC 2, especially after leading for so long and battling so hard yesterday. The car just stopped in parc fermé this morning due to an electrical issue. Aaron and I worked on it, and did everything we could, but that was the end. Fortunately, our team-mate Jari was in second place behind us, so he could bring the win home. Everybody at Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing has worked so hard for this moment, they deserve the victory. During our time in the car, there were some of the issues you would associate with a car so young, but I think we all know what’s going to be possible with this car. It has a really good future.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Kalle Rovanperä (3rd)
“The final day here in Belgium was really nice. It was one of the tightest fights I have been in on a Sunday and to compete with your team-mates is always interesting. The stages around Spa were maybe a little bit easier for me, a bit closer to what I have driven before on other rallies and therefore a bit easier for me to get up to the pace, but it was still quite tricky. I’m really happy with this result. The two drivers in front had a lot of experience of this rally and you could see in the times on Friday that nobody could match them. I think that for us to be able to match the rest with our lack of experience and finish on the podium is really good.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 08 / Rally Ypres Belgium / 15-18 July, 2021 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Elfyn Evans (4th)
“Today was unfortunately the worst day of the rally for us. It just didn’t really click from the outset this morning. We were pushing at points but lost a bit with a few mistakes and it just wasn’t our day today. Kalle had a strong day and a great result for him. Overall, it has been a bit of a frustrating weekend, and the potential was there to do a little bit better than we did. I think we had very good performance at points and in certain conditions, but we didn’t manage to back that up throughout all the stages. Now we obviously have to look forward to the next one and try to be better.
Sébastien Ogier (5th)
“I was looking forward to an exciting final day with a nice battle for the podium with our team-mates, but after three or four kilometres of the first stage this morning we picked up a puncture. I know why this time: I hit a small rock that I didn’t notice out of the line, and that was the end of the fight for us. After that moment we focused on the Power Stage. We didn’t manage to win it but still we got second place, with four extra points. Thanks to that we come out of this weekend leading the championship by one point more than before, so it’s not that negative.”
Takamoto Katsuta (DNF)
“This was a very difficult and demanding rally. The grip level is very hard to predict and, in some sections, it is more difficult because of the gravel brought onto the road. I needed to take it step-by-step, and on Friday I was learning many things and gaining new experience. On Saturday I wanted to try and push a bit more in some sections to try and get a better feeling with the driving, but unfortunately, we crashed in SS10. It was in a high-speed but narrow section near the start of the stage. There were some bumps and when the car landed in the compression I couldn’t turn as easily and we went wide into the ditch. In this rally you can’t make this kind of mistake. It was a big crash but luckily, we were both OK. I am very sorry for the team. It was a shame but it is part of the learning and I will try to come back stronger.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Gus Greensmith (47th)
“It wasn’t a good weekend for sure. It was my mistake on Friday that really took us out of contention this time. It was hard to find a rhythm after that and I wasn’t really where I wanted to be but that can often be the case when you are not in a fight with anyone. We learned a significant amount about this rally and we got the car home in one piece. Thank you to the team as ever for their hard work, they always do the best they can.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After Round Eight
1
S. Ogier
162
2
E. Evans
124
3
T. Neuville
124
4
K. Rovanperä
99
5
O. Tänak
87
6
T. Katsuta
66
7
C. Breen
60
8
G. Greensmith
34
9
D. Sordo
31
10
A. Fourmaux
30
2021 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 8
1
Toyota Gazoo Racing World Rally Team
348
2
Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team
307
3
M-Sport Ford World Rally Team
135
4
Hyundai 2C Competition
36
My Thoughts
Well, what a rally! What was clear from this was local knowledge and previous experience went a huge way in helping be competitive on these unique stages. That is why Thierry and Craig had such a dominant 1-2 for Hyundai.
Thierry and Martijn’s first victory together has long been coming, particularly after their drive in the Safari Rally where they had a lead of almost a minute before their problem that took them out. It was a brilliant drive and a well-deserved win for the pairing and has brought them back into the championship battle as they are now equal on points with Elfyn and Scott.
Craig and Paul’s second podium in a row was a just result for them during their part season with Hyundai. They have won this event in the past, and I suspect their lack of seat time held them back from victory. Never-the-less their drive was fantastic and the question now is when will they get an opportunity to have a full season in the championship?
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 08, Ypres Rally Belgium 2021, 13-15 August 2021 Craig Breen, Paul Nagle, WRC, Action during Day 3 of Ypres Rally Belgium 2021 Photographer: Romain Thuillier Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
The final podium place went to Kalle and Jonne. It was really close between the three Toyota drivers and the battle between them all was really close. As a result, the battle ended up being for the final step on the podium. The young Finns came off the back of their first victory last time out with another very good and consistent drive.
Looking at Elfyn and Scott drive, there were moments of pace including some stage wins, and this was to be expected given that the Welshman knows how to be fast on tarmac. Its fair to say that it was a shame that he lost the third place to Kalle with just two stages left on Sunday. In regards to their championship challenge, they need to take a win next time out in the Acropolis Rally and all they have to do is look back at their win in Turkey last year to know that it is possible.
For Seb and Julien they realised that the win was not going to happen and therefore drove a consistent rally to fifth place and with the points from their finishing position and the power stage they actually outscored Elfyn and Scott and increased their championship lead.
Looking at the drive from Gus and Chris in their Fiesta, after they went out early on, they came back and at least finished the rally to take away some good and useful experience for the future. For Adrien and Renaud, they were going pretty well before their big crash that took them out of the event. Still, they will be looking forward to their next event when they are back in the car for Rally Acropolis.
Takamoto and Keaton suffered an even bigger accident, if that’s actually possible. They suffered a big impact which took the rear hatch off their Yaris. The crew were actually given a fine after they didn’t press the okay button within the allowed minute that is given after a crash. Now I understand why the rules are there, but given the impact that they had, and I think it’s a pretty harsh penalty and have a 2000 Euro fine to pay.
Final mention has to go to Jon Armstrong and Phil Hall who took a really good win in the Junior WRC.
Jon Armstrong (1st Junior WRC)
“It’s been a really good weekend all round we didn’t know what it was going to be like this weekend because the rally is new for the majority of driver in Junior WRC. Thankfully we were really fast out of the blocks we pulled a big lead on day one. Then the rest of the rally we have been trying to manage that. It’s just been very difficult today especially. When you start to try and go slow it’s hard to keep a rhythm and concentrate but it’s fantastic to win and good for the championship.”
Next event is The Acropolis Rally Greece, held over the 9th to the 12th of September and the first time in eight years that the championship will visit the country. Pop back in the days before to check out my preview.
Tom Ingram maintained his title aspirations as he took the final race win at Knockhill.
The 19th BTCC win of his career, the Hyundai driver fought hard and passed polesitter Stephen Jelley and held on for the win to close the gap to championship leader Ash Sutton.
At the start Jelley led, Ingram managed to pass Senna Proctor in on lap one to take third. Proctor’s team mate Josh Cook lost power coming out of turn one and parked up his Honda. The safety car was brought out while the marshals retrieved his car.
Lap four saw the restart with Jelley, Plato, Ingram and Proctor all close together. Ingram had the quicker car and was chasing Plato for 2nd place.
It wasn’t until lap ten when Plato ran wide at the final hairpin and Ingram and Proctor snuck down the inside to take 2nd and 3rd respectively. The next target for Ingram was Jelley in the BMW out in front.
Plato then lost out to Ash Sutton in his Infiniti as he dove down the inside into turn one.
The move for the lead came on lap 17 as Ingram replicated his move on Plato as he dove down the inside of Jelley and Proctor again was the beneficiary as he followed Ingram through for 2nd place.
Proctor had had a fantastic weekend, holding on to the tail of Ingram and followed him home to finish 2nd in his BTC Honda Civic.
Ingram took the win to close Sutton’s championship lead. Proctor was 2nd with Jelley a distant third.
Shedden, Sutton, Chris Smiley, Moffat, Turkington, Plato and Rowbottom rounded off the top ten to cap off a brilliant round of racing at Knockhill.
Ash Sutton capitalized on a rare Colin Turkington error to take the win in race two at Knockhill and extend his championship lead.
After a titanic race-long battle, Sutton prevailed when Turkington ran wide on the final lap.
At the start, Chris Smiley stalled on the start and didn’t get away, but further back Nicholas Hamilton moved across on Tom Oliphant, and caught the BMW, spinning into the wall and bringing out the safety car.
Lap seven saw the restart, with Josh Cook having to fend off Ash Sutton. On lap nine Sutton managed to pass Cook at the hairpin and began his hunt on Turkington.
On lap 12 Turkington had a 1.1 second lead, by lap 15 they were bumper to bumper. In a fascinating battle Sutton was well in the ascendancy. On lap 17 the pair were side by side heading into the hairpin, but Turkington prevailed this time.
Rory Butcher was fighting up the order and passed Tom Ingram with a nice switchback into the hairpin. By lap 22 he was past Moffat heading down the start-finish straight. However he came across too much on Moffat and the pair collided. Butcher’s race ended in the tyre barrier and brought out a second safety car.
On the restart Turkington was defending hard, heading into the final lap Turkington made an uncharacteristic mistake, running wide and opening the door for Sutton to pass and take the win to extend his title lead.
Turkington came second, with Jake Hill a fine third. Cook, Gordon Shedden, Ingram, Proctor, Jason Plato, Stephen Jelley and Carl Boardley rounded off the top ten.
Colin Turkington cruised to victory to reignite his title challenge, and also took Team WSR’s 100th BTCC win.
The BMW driver led from lights to flag with BTC Racing duo Senna Proctor and Josh Cook both on the podium.
Turkington led off the grid after a good start. By the end of lap three he was 2.5 seconds ahead of Proctor, who had to hold off a train of cars led by Chris Smiley.
On lap four Dan Lloyd went off at the exit of the chicane and hit the wall. This brought out the safety car while his stricken Vauxhall Astra was recovered and the wall fixed.
Lap 11 saw the race resume and Turkington again pulled away, opening up a three second lead easily. Proctor managed to pull away from Smiley too as he cruised to a second placed finish.
His team mate Cook was on the rear bumper of Smiley, looking for an opportunity to overtake. He finally managed it with a bold move down the inside of Clark corner. Reigning champion Ash Sutton then dove down the inside of Smiley at the hairpin to take fourth.
Coming out of the hairpin Tom Oliphant was spun off and retired from the race, with Ollie Jackson also having his own issues, going wide at the hairpin and coming into the pits, never returning to the race.
Turkington took the flag and got his title challenge back underway after a few poor weekends. Proctor and Cook took the other podium places for a strong BTC Racing showing.
Sutton, Smiley, Jake Hill, Aiden Moffat, Gordon Shedden, Rory Butcher and Tom Ingram rounded off the top ten.
After the summer break, the championship returns to tarmac having had four rounds on the loose gravel roads, and we are getting to the business point of the championship with this event being the eighth of twelve rounds. Of course, Seb Ogier and his co-driver Julien lead the championship from their teammates, Elfyn and Scott and this will mean that the reigning champions will open the roads on Friday’s stages. Thierry and Martijn remain the closest challengers to the two Toyota crews. They will be aiming to take victory on their home event and close the gap to the leaders.
Here’s a brief look at the stages that the crews face –
After a shakedown on Friday morning in Langemark, Ypres Rally Belgium 2021 gets underway later that day with two loops of four stages: Reninge-Vleteren (15.00km), Westouter-Boeschepe (19.60km), Kemmelberg (23.62km) and Zonnebeke (9.45km).
A further eight stages will take place on Saturday, with Hollebeke (25.86km), Dikkebus (12.49km), Watou (13.62km) and Mesen-Middelhoek (7.99km) each being run once in the morning and once in the afternoon.
The final day consists of two passes of Stavelot (9.05km) and Francorchamps (11.21km). The second pass of Francorchamps will be the rally’s Power Stage, offering bonus points to both drivers and manufacturers.
“I’m very excited for Ypres and another new asphalt rally in the championship. It’s well known as a very challenging rally and I’m looking forward to discover those roads for the first time. Of course, it won’t be easy, but we had a good test last week in difficult conditions with a bit of rain and we have tried to do our best to be ready. Generally, the grip is changing a lot there and I think this will be the main difficulty when we are trying to find the limits without any previous experience of this rally. It’s nice to be in the position we are right now with a bit of a lead in the championship, but we have to stay focused with some difficult rallies – like this one – still to come.”
Elfyn Evans
“Like many of the drivers I’ve never competed in Ypres before, so it’s an all-new challenge and we can’t be 100 per cent sure what to expect. It will be nice to be back on asphalt again, but it’s very different to what we had last time in Croatia. Initially the roads can seem quite straightforward as there are not so many corners and just a lot of straights and very tight junctions. But what’s quite evident from our test is that there are a lot of surface changes, grip changes and quite a lot of cutting, so there’s a bit more to it in reality. I’ve not done as well in the last couple of rallies as I would have liked, so we’re definitely going to be targeting a strong result.”
Kalle Rovanperä
“It feels good of course to have that first win in Estonia under our belts and to not be waiting anymore for that result to come. Now I’m really looking forward to Ypres. It hasn’t been in the WRC before but it’s a really legendary event that everybody in rallying knows about. In the test we could already see that the conditions are tricky. Normally the drivers are taking really big cuts and there is a lot of mud and dirt on the road, so the conditions can be really demanding and changeable. One of the key points going there for the first time will be to know where the grip is and to see how we can include that information in our pacenotes.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“We are all very much looking forward to be going to Ypres. It’s a rally I’ve done a couple of times in the past, and I won the event back in 2018 with a Hyundai i20 R5. It’s very challenging as the roads are quite narrow and slippery, and the ditches on both sides are always very deep, so you have to make sure to not make any mistakes and keep all four wheels on the road. I think we are going to see a lot of action; it has different characteristics to any other tarmac event we’ve seen so far. When we have competed in Germany in the past, there has been thousands of Belgian fans cheering us on, so with it being in Belgium, and in WRC, I’m sure it will be great atmosphere.”
2021 FIA World Rally Championship Round 03, Croatia Rally 22-25 April 2021 Thierry Neuville, Martijn Wydaeghe, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Dufour Fabien Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Ott Tänak
“I’ve seen some footage from Ypres and it’s obviously a very famous rally. Even though the road look straight in sections, there are still dangerous ditches making it incredibly tricky to drive. We managed to do a one-day test there before the event was cancelled last year and our feeling was that it is certainly going to be a challenging weekend. It will be our first WRC round on tarmac since Croatia, which wasn’t a particularly comfortable rally for us. We have since had some time in the car at Rally di Alba, so I am certainly hoping for a better all-round feeling at Ypres.”
Craig Breen
“Ypres is one of the events I really like the most. I’ve been lucky enough to do it quite a few times across my career, and last time I was there in 2019 we managed to win the rally. It’s definitely one of the most interesting and specialised rallies you’ll ever do. On paper, it seems to be a strange profile of event but when you are in the car it is an amazing challenge. At pretty much every junction, the surface is a little bit different; it’s an event I really look forward to and it’s a rally worthy of World Rally Championship status.”
Oliver Solberg
“It’s been a real honour to be involved with the Hyundai i20 N Rally2. To be given the chance to drive this fantastic car for the first time in competition is so exciting. I can’t wait to show the world what Hyundai Motorsport has been so busy making. I have never competed in Belgium before; I’ve done some testing there and I know it can be a complicated rally. If the weather and the conditions are mixed, it will be a real tough one – to be honest, even if it’s dry it’s definitely not an easy place to go for the first time.”
Jari Huttunen
“I am looking forward to Ypres Rally Belgium and hope that we can bounce back after a difficult and disappointing weekend in Estonia. We have a lot to be excited about with the competitive debut of the Hyundai i20 N Rally2. We have carried out a lot of testing with the new car and we have a positive experience with it. Of course, we hope to do well and to enjoy a positive result. It will be a challenging new rally, for sure, so we’ll have lots to learn.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Gus Greensmith
“From testing I was surprised how slippery and unpredictable the farmland roads can be and the changeable grip will be a big thing during the rally. We had wet and dry conditions in the test, so I got a bit of everything. I’m feeling well prepared and the car was handling very well.
“The roads are much narrower than what we’d find in Germany, for example, and there’s much less room for error. If you have a small slide in Germany, it’s nothing, but if you have a small slide in Ypres then you’re on the edge of the road so you need to drive straight and clean. You need a car that works well in the cuts because there are so many and you need a predictable car because you don’t want to be sliding when the edge of the road is so close.
“One of my main focuses on the test was to make sure I was nailing my braking points for the junctions and not giving away time. If you are not quite committing on the braking you are giving away a couple of tenths and that adds up, so you’ve got to be pushing the limits. But the grip is so changeable, even in the dry, and you’ve got to be careful because it can easily catch you out. Tarmac is a more natural surface than gravel for me because I grew up doing karting so my ambition is the top five.”
Adrien Fourmaux
“It’s a new rally for me but it’s like a home rally for me because it’s 40 kilometres from my house. The specificity of the road is therefore not new and I know about the really tight corners and the need to have big brakes and good traction for the long straights that come after. There are also some really fast corners and the roads are really narrow. There will be a lot of cutting and that means there will be a lot of mud on the road so road position will be very important.
“This rally is already a big challenge in the dry but if rain is coming to the party, it can be really difficult because it’s narrow and there is a lot of mud because we are in the middle of the fields. It could even be faster with gravel tyres!
“Competing in Ypres in a World Rally Car is even more extreme, but I am confident. We had a good test with a bit of rain, some drying roads and proper dry roads. It’s really nice to be so close to my house, my family, my partner’s family, my friends – and it’s the home rally of my co-driver Renaud. Of course, we want a good result and for sure we will do our best like always. Maybe I have a bit of an advantage because I know a bit about what to expect. But I’m not putting any pressure on myself, I just want to be in the fight.”
Teemu Suninen
“It’s going to be an interesting challenge. I’ve tried to watch and find videos from YouTube to get more understanding of the rally and this is where my focus will be in my preparation. I think the biggest challenge is the big cuts, how this will affect the car and how much dirt is coming on the road, especially if it’s raining. It’s a challenge to jump between the cars and I’m really motivated to make the Ford Fiesta Rally2 as strong as possible. At the beginning of my rally career, I was a lot stronger on gravel, but I have good results on Tarmac like in Corsica. But the challenge is to read the grip level, which is still challenging for me. The ultimate goal is to get back to my level where I have been before and be happy for the driving. I am not really setting the result targets.”
Tom Kristensson
“We will test on Monday and this will be very important because I need all the kilometres I can have in the car and to get an understanding of the kind of roads we will drive on during the rally. I need to realise the important points with the car, the surface and the speed and focus on finding a good rhythm and confidence with the car. We had some really good stages in Croatia and a good feeling. To be honest I was more confident on Tarmac than I expected. I am expecting the roads will be quite similar to what we had when I was driving in Germany, the cuts, the weather changes and reading the different Tarmac. To be honest I have not looked at the WRC2 entry because there’s nothing, I can do about it. I just need to focus on my own performance and be the best I can physically and mentally.”
My Thoughts
Well, as I already mentioned, we are really getting to the business point of this season’s championship and the crews looking to challenge Seb and Julien at the top will want to take the fight to the world champions, in the hope that they can take points away and close the points gap down. It’s fair to say that Hyundai’s best driver’s championship hopes lie with Thierry and Martijn, and the team led by Adamo will look to Ott and Craig to support their teammates I suspect.
Toyota have a simpler job, but will need to remain at the top of their game to hold on to their lead in both the driver’s and manufacturers titles. Elfyn and Scott will want to take victory in this event and close the points gap to their teammates. Kalle and Jonne who scored their first victory last time out, will come to this event and will look to push on. Could the young Finn’s take victory again?
At M-Sport Ford, the young crews piloting the Fiesta WRC’s will continue their development, and as they bid to remain with the team into next year and the new rules and cars due to be eligible for competition. It’s fair to say that all three of their drivers that have competed in the Fiesta WRC this year have done a very good job and I’m sure are on the list for Malcolm and Rich to be signed next year. Gus and Chris’ relationship has gone well to date and they will look to show some good pace on the tarmac, whilst Adrien and Renard who step back into the Fiesta WRC will look to show the good pace that they had in the last tarmac event.
In the WRC2 class, Oliver and Jari will compete in the new Rally2 i20 and it will be interesting to see what kind of pace that they can deliver on its first competitive outing. M-Sport will run Teemu and Tom in the class, and the Finn has always shown good pace on sealed surfaces in the past and is likely to challenge at the front of the field.
Well, enjoy the rally and pop back next week for my full stage by stage review.
