The summer break is over and there are six rounds left this year. Thierry Neuville leads the championship by twenty-seven points over the reigning champion, Sebastien Ogier. The Frenchman has also not finished this event for the last two years, but can be quick, having taken victory in 2013. His Belgian rival will want a decent haul of points from this event but opening the road will make it hard for him to fight for victory, particularly with the three Toyota’s having been honed to perfection on the very unique gravel roads that make this event so hard for non-Scandinavians to win.
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Finland (FIN) – WRC 26/07/2017 to 31/07/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Now, there’s a good chance that Toyota could sew up the whole podium, with former winners Jari-Matti and Esapekka Lappi in the team, plus a very quick Ott Tanak, but who could challenge this? Well, Elfyn Evans scored a brilliant second place last year, after being patient early on and getting the car in a good place, showed great pace on the Saturday and Sunday to score his best result ever on these roads.
Hoping to do well will be the Citroen squad. Two years ago, Kris Meeke took an incredible victory, the first for any British driver, beating Jari-Matti. Now Craig Breen and Mads Ostberg are the drivers the team are looking to, and both have scored podiums on this event. The key to their chances will be with whether they can take advantage of the road position on Friday, which if they can, will benefit them both on Saturday and Sunday.
Here’s the full schedule for the event. Sixty-five percent of the stages are new, and two that were run last year are being run in the opposite direction. Getting those pace notes correct during the reece which takes place today (Tuesday) and Wednesday will be so important.
RALLY FINLAND SCHEDULE (GMT+3)
THURSDAY 26 JULY
8.00am: Shakedown Vesala (4,26 km)
6.37pm: Start (Jyväskylä Paviljonki)
7.00pm: SS 1 – Harju 1 (2,31 km)
7.25pm: Parc fermé
FRIDAY 27 JULY
7.15am: Service A (Jyväskylä Paviljonki – 15 min)
8.18am: SS 2 – Moksi 1 (20,04 km)
9.21am: SS 3 – Urria 1 (12,28 km)
10.13am: SS 4 – Ässämäki 1 (12,33 km)
11.36am: SS 5 – Äänekoski 1 (7,71 km)
12.51pm: Service B (Jyväskylä Paviljonki – 30 min)
2.24pm: SS 6 – Oittila (19,34 km)
3.27pm: SS 7 – Moksi 2 (20,04 km)
4.30pm: SS 8 – Urria 2 (12,28 km)
5.22pm: SS 9 – Ässämäki 2 (12,33 km)
6.45pm: SS 10 – Äänekoski 2 (7,71 km)
8.00pm: SS 11 – Harju 2 (2,31 km)
8.30pm: Flexi service C (Jyväskylä Paviljonki – 45 min)
SATURDAY 28 JULY
6.00am: Service D (Jyväskylä Paviljonki – 15 min)
8.13am: SS 12 – Päijälä 1 (23,92 km)
9.29am: SS 13 – Pihlajakoski 1 (14,90 km)
10.38am: SS 14 – Kakaristo 1 (23,66 km)
12.13pm: SS 15 – Tuohikotanen 1 (8,95 km)
1.31pm: Service E (Jyväskylä Paviljonki – 30 min)
2.55pm: SS 16 – Tuohikotanen 2 (8,95 km)
4.08pm: SS 17 – Kakaristo 2 (23,66 km)
5.36pm: SS 18 – Päijälä 2 (23,92 km)
6.54pm: SS 19 – Pihlajakoski 2 (14,90 km)
8.55pm: Flexi service F (Jyväskylä Paviljonki – 45 min)
SUNDAY 29 JULY
7.30am: Service G (Jyväskylä Paviljonki – 15 min)
8.38am: SS 20 – Laukaa 1 (11,74 km)
9.38am: SS 21 – Ruuhimäki 1 (11,12 km)
11.01am: SS 22 – Laukaa 2 (11,74 km)
1.18pm: SS 23 – Ruuhimäki 2 Power Stage (11,12 km)
2.21pm: Service H (Jyväskylä Paviljonki – 10 min)
4.00pm: Podium
So, lets hear from the drivers.
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“Sardinia was an incredible weekend, we couldn’t have hoped for a better result heading into the summer break! Now I’m ready to carry the momentum forward into the second half of the season. Finland is one of those rallies that everyone looks forward to. It’s going to be tricky this year coming into it after the extended break and jumping straight in the car. For the second event in a row, we’ll be first on the road and won’t have the advantage of the sweeping effect to begin with. It will be tough as the speed is very high – but I can’t wait for the challenge.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship, Round 09, Rally Finland 27 – 30 July 2017, Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, Photographer: RaceEMotion, Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Andreas Mikkelsen
“Rally Finland is a really nice rally – it’s probably the event the drivers fear most, but also the one they really want to win! Because the grip is so low, you have to be very confident in the car to go fast on the stages. We were disappointed we couldn’t show our true potential in Sardinia, so hopefully we can find a good pace quickly and push hard to bring home a strong result.”
Hayden Paddon
“For me, Finland is the most incredible rally of the year. Not only are the roads, the jumps, and the pure speed impressive but also the atmosphere is electric. It really makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. I’m really looking forward to getting back into the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. We hope we can put the pieces together this year to bring home a strong result.”
M-Sport Ford
Sébastien Ogier
“It was nice to have a little break and spend some time relaxing with family and friends, but now the action is ready to resume and we’re fully focused on Rally Finland.
“For so many people this is the highlight of the year and it’s easy to see why. There is an atmosphere here that you don’t get anywhere else and the roads were tailor-made for rallying.
“This is the fastest event on the calendar and at those speeds its mere tenths of a second that you’re fighting for. The competition will be extremely strong, but the engineers and designers from M-Sport and Ford Performance have been working tirelessly to ensure we’re in the best possible position.
“We’ll have some aerodynamic updates on the rear of the car that we hope will give us that little bit extra in terms of performance, but we’ll still have to get absolutely everything right over the course of the weekend if we want to be in the fight for the top results.
These are the updates that will be run on Seb’s car.
“We know that the car was strong here last year and we had a good feeling on the test, but this is a rally that doesn’t forgive even the smallest of mistakes. We’ll certainly give it our best and the goal is always to come home with a strong haul of points.”
Elfyn Evans
“It feels like a long time since we were last in competition, but we’ve not been sitting idle! The team have been working extremely hard, we’ve had a good test, and I’ve also been doing a lot of PR work with Ford and Red Bull.
“I was involved in an advert for the new Fiesta ST – a great little road car – and also got behind the wheel of the Fiesta WRC to film some promotion with Red Bull ahead of Goodwood Festival of Speed. The festival itself was great, but now we’re ready to get back to business, and start the second half of the season with one of the highlights of the year – Rally Finland.
“I’d challenge anyone who said they didn’t enjoy driving Finland’s gravel roads in a world rally car! The high speed combined with the technical nature of the stages is incredible, and when you get into a good rhythm it’s a phenomenal feeling.
“We did well here last year and found a good feeling on the test; but the margins for error are so fine and the gaps so small that even the slightest of mistakes can be costly. The competition is going to be strong so we’ll need to be note perfect and deliver a very clean and precise drive. If we can do that, and get everything right, then I’d hope that we’ll be in with a good chance.”
Last year Elfyn drove his D-Mack shod Fiesta to second place. Photo credit, M-Sport
Teemu Suninen
“We had a really good test and are feeling ready and well prepared for the rally. We drove more than 200 kilometres on our test day – starting with the base set-up my team mates found earlier in the week. All three of us drive with a pretty equal set-up, so there were only some small confirmations to find and the car feels really fast.
“Having come so close last year, the top-three is my ultimate goal. It could be hard to achieve, but we will try our best. At the end it’s such a small margin that decides whether you finish third or sixth!
“Starting the first forest stage last year I was pretty nervous, but as soon as I saw the time and saw that my speed was enough I felt better straight away. This year the rally will be driven on similar roads and we have a very good feeling with the car in the high-speed sections. We’ll start the rally as we mean to continue – driving flat-out.”
Toyota Gazoo WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala
“I am really looking forward to Rally Finland. It is a good opportunity to start the second half of the season in a positive way. I have always felt really good support on my home event, and this is even more the case now that we are driving a car that has been built here. I could really feel last year that everybody was behind the team and willing us on. One of the big challenges this year will be the changes to the route. I have driven some of the new roads before, but it was a long time ago and there are large sections that even I don’t know. Therefore, I think it will actually create a more level playing field.”
Ott Tanak
“Rally Finland is always one of my favourite events. It is quite a specific rally: really high-speed but also quite technical with the jumps. You really need to have some respect for the roads there. This year there will be a lot of new roads that we have not seen before, which will add to the challenge. I think we have had some really good preparation. As well as our pre-event testing, I took part in Rally Estonia last weekend and won it, which was quite nice in front of so many fans. I am sure that a few of them will go to Rally Finland as well, and I hope we can give them a good result there too.”
Esapekka Lappi
“Rally Finland is always a special event and even more so after our victory last year. I am really looking forward to it. There is more pressure this year. From my side, I am expecting a good result and I think everyone else is too, so we really need to perform. I think it will be tougher to win it this time, though. The competition will be tougher, both from inside our team and from the other teams as well. The new stages will also create a big challenge. We know that our car will be competitive so the focus will be on making good pace-notes and finding a nice flow with the driving.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Finland (FIN) – WRC 26/07/2017 to 31/07/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Craig Breen
“Rally Estonia was excellent preparation for me. It gave us the opportunity to look at a few things and we also noted that with the new front geometry, the C3 WRC is even better balanced. I feel very confident coming into this round, especially as it’s one of the world championship events where I have the most experience. Experience is absolutely critical here, even though some of the stages have changed for this year’s rally.”
Craig Breen, Scott Martin will be hoping for a good result on these challenging roads. Photo credit Citroen Racing
Mads Østberg
“This really is one of my favourite events of the season. Although you need to make good pace notes in recce, afterwards it’s all-out attack! You don’t have to worry about tyre wear or the road surface breaking up. I have some very good memories from here, especially the podium secured when driving for Citroën in 2015, and I hope to take advantage of my two days of pre-event testing to get off to a good start and try to reproduce the same kind of performance.”
Khalid Al Qassimi
“This round is special for me because it’s where I made my debut in a works team in 2007. The feeling in the car during the stages, with the high speeds and never-ending crests, is also unique. It’s also what makes it such a difficult rally: you must be really comfortable and have good pace notes. As my last outing was in Argentina, I’ll need to get my bearings back first of all. I’ll then try to up the pace gradually whilst making sure I don’t make any mistakes.”
Well, can Hyundai score their first ever podium on these roads this year, or will we see a podium lockout for the Toyota team? What about Seb? Will he use the new aero on the back of his car to win? Can Citroen have a better event and challenge at the front?
Well, what an amazing rally we witnessed this weekend!
End of day one (Thursday):
1 Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) +2m02.7s
2 Andreas Mikkelsen/Anders Jaeger (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +0.1s
3 Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC) +0.7s
Friday morning saw rain arrive. Now this would see drama in each stage! This was the start list for the day – Neuville, Ogier, Tänak, Lappi, Mikkelsen, Evans, Latvala, Breen, Suninen, Ostberg, Paddon.
First stage of the morning, stage two, and Andreas would use his good road position to make a great start and take the lead from Seb and Mads slotted into second overall. Thierry remained in third, but Elfyn suffered a big problem and damaged his steering arm. He’d replace it in the stage very quickly and get back underway.
Stage three would see Andreas increase his lead to 15 and a half seconds after he won the stage, and with Mads dropping back with handling woes. Thierry, Ott and Teemu all moved ahead of the Norwegian.
Stage four would see Ott Tanak set the best time and he’d move into second overall, whilst Seb moved ahead of Mads after he put hard tyres on his car and with the heavy rain really struggled for grip! Andreas remained in the lead though, 14 seconds ahead of Ott.
Into stage five, the last of the morning before service and Thierry won it, moving ahead of Ott who fell to third. Seb set the second fastest time and closed to within one tenth of a second of his younger teammate. Further back, Jari-Matti and Miikka, making his 200th wrc top level start set the fourth fastest time, thus passing Mads into sixth overall.
The service break would allow M-Sport to fix Elfyn’s steering arm, but the timeloss with his problem would hamper his progress.
Stage six would have standing water and this would see Seb put an amazing time in, going from fifth place into the lead, with Andreas three and a half seconds now behind after he overshot at a tight left hander. Esapekka also moved ahead of Teemu into sixth place. Thierry suffered a spin and was now eight seconds behind our new leader.
Stage seven would see Andreas drop out of second place, 10km into the stage after he stopped with gearbox failure. Teemu won the stage from Seb and new second placed man, Thierry was third fastest. Just two stages remained and the top three was, Seb, Thierry and Ott, with just 15 seconds covering the top three!
Thierry won stage eight, reducing Seb’s lead to ten and a half seconds, whilst Ott remained in third place a further six seconds behind. Meantime, further back, Elfyn was climbing the leaderboard after setting the 7th fastest time bringing him into 23rd place.
The final stage of the day was won by Jari-Matti and with the demise of Ott Tanak after he broke his radiator on a jump and Teemu who’d gone off the road after losing control on a right-hander, he was now in third overall.
Classification after Day One
1
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
1:35:56.9
2
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+18.9
3
J.M. Latvala
M. Anttila
Toyota Yaris WRC
+37.2
4
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+41.6
5
M. Østberg
T. Eriksen
Citroën C3 WRC
+58.3
6
H. Paddon
S. Marshall
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+1:01.5
7
C. Breen
S. Martin
Citroën C3 WRC
+1:26.0
Let’s hear from the drivers.
Sébastien Ogier
“It’s a perfect result at the end of the day and I’m really happy with our performance. Maybe I wasn’t in the mood to take all of the risks this morning, but I knew that I had to do a little bit more if I wanted a good position for tomorrow.
“The first stage of the afternoon was really demanding and in these conditions it’s so hard to estimate your rhythm. You never know if you are going to lose 20 seconds or gain 20 seconds, so to get to the end of the stage and see the time – let’s say that it was a happy surprise.
“If it stays dry tomorrow then we should have a good road position, but there is still a long way to go. It’s nice to be in the lead with a 19 second advantage, but for sure there is no time to relax.”
Thierry Neuville
“A challenging day, that’s for sure! Starting first on the road is never easy, irrespective of the conditions. The rain on the opening loop helped minimise the disadvantage, but we knew it would be a struggle. The car was working well, and I was pretty satisfied as we could fight for some stage wins and end the day second overall. We have had to be clever with our tyre strategy. It worked well in the morning, but by the final stage we had two new tyres left and opted to put them crossed on the car. Unfortunately, this created a big imbalance in the handling; the car was unstable and tentative with a lot of slipping. We tried to push hard but experienced some surprises. Tomorrow will continue to be hard but we’ll give it our best.”
Jari-Matti Latvala
“Today has been very positive. I was too cautious on the second stage this morning but then I started to find the rhythm and the speed. In the second run through Tula the conditions were more like Wales with the rain and the mud, and it was so slippery. I lost a lot of time at the end of that stage, but after that the conditions got better, I felt like I could push more and then in the final stage of the day I had the confidence to attack and we won the stage. It’s very close with Esapekka going into tomorrow. I like tomorrow’s stages and the most important thing will be to have a clean run. Then, if we can keep the speed up as well, we will be in a good position.”
2018 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 07, Rally d’Italia, Sardegna / June 7-10, 2018 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Ott Tänak (Rally2)
“On the final stage of the day we had a bad landing which caused some damage to the car and forced us to stop. The impact caught us by surprise quite a bit because we have driven this section of road four times now, including the shakedown yesterday and the first pass this morning, and I always had the same approach. Therefore, it’s difficult to explain why it happened. It’s a tough moment and a big setback. Even though I hadn’t had a perfect feeling with the car today, we were doing OK and we were still in the fight, so it’s a big shame to have to retire from the day with this kind of issue. It makes our title chase really hard now, but we will try to win every other rally from here.”
Esapekka Lappi (4th)
“This morning was quite difficult. That car felt OK but we had a slow puncture in the first stage and our one spare tyre was a hard compound, and because it was raining it was not really a good tyre to put on. The conditions were crazy in the first stage this afternoon with a lot of mud and rain but we managed to do a good run there and gain some time back to most of the others. Then the weather dried up, and we made some small changes to the car before the last stage and we were close to the top time. I think we can just work to find a little more grip for tomorrow and fight for the podium.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Craig Breen (7th)
“It hasn’t been a very good day for us, especially due to the problems we had with the handbrake. On twisty stages like those we had today, we tend to use the handbrake a lot. I stalled three times on one of the stages and lost quite a bit of time. I’m going to be running second on the road tomorrow, which will probably be difficult, but I’ll do everything I can to try and make up the time lost.”
Mads Østberg (5th)
“This rally has never been easy, but today’s crazy weather undoubtedly made it even more difficult. We were a bit unlucky, especially with two mistakes on tyre choice for the Tergu-Osilo stage, but I’d rather focus on the second fastest time on the final stage, which means that we will have a pretty good road position for tomorrow.”
Mads Ostberg, Torstein Erikson – Rally Italia 2018. Photo credit Citroen Racing
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon (6th)
“We can’t be happy with our performance or results today. Whatever we have tried just hasn’t worked. Nothing has been clicking. We took a bit of a gamble this morning with the tyre choice, expecting it to dry out more than it eventually did. Tyres aside, we haven’t had the rhythm we need, nor the confidence to push. We have had little choice but to play the sensible game and get to the end of the day without having any issues. We are in the top-six but that is little consolation. We need to let the times come more naturally, and there are some things you can’t shake a magic wand at. We’ll sleep on it tonight and start again on Saturday morning.”
Andreas Mikkelsen (Rally2)
“The ultimate day of two halves for us today. We started really positively and confidently. It was a great morning loop and we could really build a good lead. It was nice to show the results of the changes we had made to the car, which we weren’t able to demonstrate at the last rally. We wanted to keep that momentum going into the afternoon but it wasn’t to be. An overshoot about 2km into SS6 lost us a lot of time, and then in SS7 we had some transmission problems, which left the car in reverse gear. The car was returned to service. We start under Rally 2 on Saturday but we’ve missed a good opportunity to assert our authority on this rally.”
Saturday would see seven stages run over a distance of 146km. The running order looked like this – Evans, Breen, Paddon, Ostberg, Lappi, Latvala, Neuville, Ogier, Tänak, Suninen, Mikkelsen
Ott won the first stage of the day. Despite not completing all the stages on Friday, he’d got a pretty decent position in the running order. In fact, so did Teemu and Andreas too. Meantime Elfyn, who had finished all the stages was first on the road – a very interesting situation. In the battle for the lead, Thierry took some time out of Seb’s advantage whilst Latvala and Lappi were separated by just nine tenths of a second in their inter-team battle for the final step on the podium.
2018 FIA World Rally Championship / Round 07, Rally d’Italia, Sardegna / June 7-10, 2018 // Worldwide Copyright: Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC
In stage eleven, Seb was fastest resulting in the gap increasing again to Thierry. Further back, Citroen duo of Mads and Craig suffered with poor stages. Mads was hampered with speed sapping understeer, whilst Craig had a big impact on the front right. Latvala opened up a decent gap to his younger teammate after setting the fourth fastest time, opening up the gap by around five seconds.
The last stage of the morning loop, stage 12 saw a storming drive by our championship leader Thierry, who flew through it 14 seconds faster than Seb who suffered with understeer, bringing the lead down to just 4.9 seconds! Meantime, Hayden passed Mads gaining fifth place from the Norwegian.
The afternoon loop started with the short stage 13 and clearly any changes that had been made by M-Sport to Seb’s car hadn’t helped in this stage. The stage was won by Esapekka, but more significantly Thierry went third fastest and closed down Seb some more, the lead just 2.9 seconds.
Stage 14 saw Seb strike back, winning it and bringing the gap back up to nearly seven seconds. Hayden was now making fifth place his too, opening up the gap to Mads who was still the best placed Citroen.
Thierry wasn’t about to give up though in his pursuit of Seb, winning stage 15 and now the gap was just 4.3 seconds. In fact the battle between Latvala and Lappi continued to rage, with the younger Finn three seconds faster – now just two seconds separated them.
Well, the final stage of the day, and Thierry completed it just four tenths faster than Seb, but this meant there was just 3.9 seconds between the title protagonists. This was not over at all. Now, annoyingly for Jari-Matti and Miikka, they’d completed the stages and held a good lead of 6 seconds over Esapekka Lappi and Janne Ferm. Unfortunately, their car didn’t make it back to the service park after it stopped on the road section. Sadly, the alternator had packed up. Such is the way of motorsport.
Classification after Day Two
1
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
3:02:16.9
2
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+3.9
3
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+54.2
4
H. Paddon
S. Marshall
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+2:01.8
5
M. Østberg
T. Eriksen
Citroën C3 WRC
+2:03.9
6
C. Breen
S. Martin
Citroën C3 WRC
+3:13.6
Let’s hear then the thoughts of the drivers!
Sébastien Ogier
“Generally, I think it’s been a good day and it’s been really enjoyable driving these stages – there was just one that didn’t go to plan. I don’t know why, but on SS12 I didn’t have the rhythm and it’s actually in that one stage where we lost all the time.
“For sure it will be a big battle tomorrow and the pressure will be on; but to be honest it’s been like that all weekend with no time to relax at any point. Nobody likes to cruise to the finish on Sunday morning – we all like to fight – and it’s definitely not going to be a cruise tomorrow. If we want it, we will have to fight for it.”
Sébastien Ogier- Photo credit, M-Sport
Thierry Neuville
“We have had a good day and have really set up a great fight between Sébastien and me for the final morning. With just 3.9 seconds between us, it will be full attack for the win on Sunday. Generally, we’ve had a strong performance with three more stage wins and a good feeling inside the car. The mechanics did an amazing job to repair the small damage we picked up on Friday afternoon, and we could really feel immediately back ‘at home’ on the morning loop. We have taken fewer risks than we did yesterday but still been able to push and feel comfortable in the car. The afternoon wasn’t as smooth but we have kept out of trouble and can now look forward to an exciting end to the rally.”
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 07, Rally Italia Sardegna 7-10 June 2018 Thierry Neuville, Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: Austral Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Esapekka Lappi
“Today was quite fun. It was a really good fight with Jari-Matti. I was faster on one stage and then he would be quicker on the next. It was like that this morning and again in the afternoon. It is a shame how it ended with the problem for Jari-Matti. It means that we will start tomorrow with a big gap in front of us and a big gap behind, so we don’t need to push very hard. The car felt really good this afternoon, so I’m feeling pretty confident.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon (4th)
“We have definitely enjoyed the conditions today more than we did on Friday. There has been a little bit of sweeping required, but nothing too detrimental. The grip was good on the morning loop and we recovered some of the positive feeling we had in shakedown. Rally Italia Sardegna certainly throws up a fair few surprises, as we’ve seen again today, so we played it smart and concentrated on clean runs. We tried to keep the pressure on Mads throughout the day, and it’s going to be a close-run final morning. There are important manufacturer points up for grabs, so we won’t be doing anything foolish but fourth is there for the taking, so we’ll do our best to defend it.”
Andreas Mikkelsen (20th)
“We knew that there wasn’t going to be much to challenge for today, as we restarted under Rally 2. Of course, it is a shame we weren’t able to push for a good result, especially after taking an early lead. Instead, we just wanted to find a good feeling from inside the car on today’s stages and carry out some learning for next year. There’s not much more we could have done in the circumstances. We still wanted to show our pace, which I felt we did in many of the stages. We had a spin in the first run through Monte Lerno and a puncture in the repeat stage, but otherwise it was a decent day for us. Let’s see if we can push for some Power Stage points tomorrow.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Mads Østberg (5th)
“Although we played it safe this afternoon by taking two spares, we managed to stay right in the mix for a good final position, and I really enjoyed today when the conditions were closer to those you expect at this round. Tomorrow looks set to be another exciting and close fight, and I can’t wait to get started!”
Craig Breen (6th)
“Despite our poor road position, some of our times were fairly encouraging, but we then broke the anti-roll bar mounting and that slowed us down a bit in the ruts on the afternoon’s two long stages.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (8th)
“Overall, I would say that it was a good day, even though it ended this way. Looking just at the special stages, I’m really pleased with how they went. I took care when there were rough sections and I pushed harder when the conditions were better. Esapekka was doing really good times and getting closer and closer and I wanted to really attack on the last stage. I got to the end of the stage, but we had an alternator warning and eventually we ran out of battery on the road section. It’s very frustrating because I really wanted to get a podium from this event. Tomorrow we will carry on fighting and try to score as many points as possible.”
Ott Tänak (9th)
“After the frustration of yesterday it was important to get back behind the wheel today. We made a couple of changes to the car at lunchtime and this afternoon it was really enjoyable. The car was feeling almost perfect and I had a nice rhythm. Unfortunately, we picked up a puncture somehow on the last stage, which gives us a little bit more to do tomorrow because we are trying to gain one more position and now the gap is a bit bigger. But we are not giving up and we will start tomorrow with a big attack to try and get this one position.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Teemu Suninen (13th)
“It’s not been an easy day and it was difficult to find the rhythm. I think I was a bit too careful after yesterday, and that cost us a lot of time. But we were still able to take a lot of experience that will help in the future – and next year I believe I can be faster.”
Elfyn Evans (14th)
“It’s never an easy situation to be in when you’re opening the road and not in a fight. There were some tricky sections today, so we just had to focus on getting through without any mistakes.”
Sunday arrived and it was a sunny day! We had the amazing situation with a real battle for the win between Seb and Thierry. The Belgian had a great opportunity to beat Seb and increase his lead in the championship and just four stages covering 42km to do it in. This was the start list – Evans, Breen, Ostberg, Paddon, Lappi, Latvala, Neuville, Ogier, Tänak, Suninen, Mikkelsen.
Well, stage 17 saw the lead that Seb held over Thierry close by 8 tenths of a second. Now just 3.1 seconds separated the top two. The Belgian was delivering on what he said. He said at the end of the stage “I don’t know if it’s enough. It will be tight. Two small mistakes at a junction and I ended up in a bit of loose, so I lost a bit of time.” Seb said “It is okay, it is very narrow, so it is hard to push harder”. Ott completed the top three in this stage
Thierry continued his push in stage 18, taking 1.8 seconds out of Seb. The gap was just 1.3 seconds… wow. Thierry was asked how he felt after a dominant display. “I don’t know! I just try to keep it on the road and push as much as I can without making mistakes. At this level everyone is pushing hard and fighting with Ogier is the most difficult!”
Seb said “It is tight! We will have to push to the end. This stage is all about fighting with the car, and for sure you can be a lot more aggressive. I will have to push on the next one.” Andreas was third fastest and saving his tyres for the powerstage.
A short regroup before the final two stages, and which way was this going to go?
Well, we had the answer. Thierry went through and it may not sound much, taking half a second from Seb’s lead. That however meant just eight tenths of a second remained between these two…. One stage left.
Thierry said, “I made two mistakes. I overshot the ruts and I was once was a bit close to the wall so I lost a bit of speed. We are going to go for it to the end”. Seb didn’t say anything at all and left his timecard with a marshal at the end of the stage. Clearly the pressure was telling. Ott collected the timecard and returned it to Seb.
The last stage then, after a pretty epic event! Who would prevail? Thierry set the fastest time in the stage, beating Tanak’s benchmark. He said “I had to try. I gave it everything. I want to say thank you to the team for all their hard work this weekend.” Now, at first Seb was seven tenths up at the first split, but the middle split showed he’d lost that time and more, now two tenths down. Coming through the final split he was 2.2 down, therefore technically not in the lead and finally coming over the flying finish 1.4 down. Thierry had done it. He’d beaten Seb by just seven tenths. The Belgian said, “We gave it everything and it was a great fight. Such a small difference at the end.”
Seb had this to say, “I tried everything I could today. I was always losing a few tenths here and there. The last stage was very rough and I made two mistakes which cost me a few tenths. It is still good points for the championship. We lost the battle, but we haven’t lost the war. There are still six rounds to go, it isn’t time to panic. Thierry was lucky with the rain but there will be another rally where he loses time as the road opener.”
Summing up the event.
Thierry did benefit from the rain on Friday to a degree, but this will go down in history as I believe as his best drive to date. Just amazing. It was a shame for Jari-Matti and Miikka retiring on Saturday from a great third place on Miikka’s 200th WRC event.
Hayden Paddon and Seb Marshall drove well, getting a great fourth place. Elfyn can feel a bit annoyed with his position of first on the road, despite completing all the stages. Those to benefit from the rally2 regs had a far better positions, and I believe it’s something that needs to be looked at.
The Citroen pairing of Mads and Craig had solid events, but it’s fair to say the team have some work to do to make their car faster.
Let’s hear from the drivers’ then!
Thierry Neuville (1st)
“I can’t believe it! We knew we had to give it everything we had this morning, and it was a truly fantastic fight with Sébastien. The gap at the end was so small and we left absolutely nothing behind. We kept pushing as hard as we could without doing anything stupid. Battling against Séb is one of the most difficult things to do, so this is a precious victory. Nicolas and I send massive thanks to the whole Hyundai Motorsport team for giving us a great car this weekend. Without them we couldn’t have done this today. Starting first on the road on Friday put us at a disadvantage. The rain helped a bit but we never gave up and we can share in one of the finest wins of our career. Leading both championships heading into the break gives us all the motivation we need for the second half of the season.”
2018 FIA World Rally Championship Round 07 Rally Italia Sardegna 07-10 June 2018 Photographer: Fabien Dufour Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Sébastien Ogier (2nd)
“I don’t think I can be unhappy with this weekend. I did everything I could, but I have to say that I was not prepared to take as many risks as Thierry. We still have some work to do because we were losing some tenths here and there – especially in the slower, more technical sections – but it’s still a good result for the championship.
“We’re only at the halfway point with six more events to come, but for sure we will have to be consistently strong. It will be a nice challenge and we will enjoy that, but now it’s time to have a break and enjoy the holidays!”
Esapekka Lappi (3rd)
“Today was just about bringing the car to the finish and to the podium. This is a really important result, both for my confidence but also for the team as well. I think we deserved a podium. We had opportunities to do it earlier in the season but I made some mistakes. Both Portugal and Sardinia have been quite clean rallies for me with a consistent performance, so I hope I can take this forward to Finland.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon (4th)
“A difficult weekend for us, but a positive end to the rally for the team. We wanted more from this rally, but to take fourth place gives us important confidence for the coming events. Things didn’t really click from the first stages, and we weren’t able to replicate the positive feeling we had from shakedown. Still, it’s nice to finish this event for the first time in three years, and to score important points for the team in the manufacturers’ championship. We will look to build from here, and to try and take a few more risks. Congratulations to Thierry, Nicolas and the whole team for a fantastic victory.”
Andreas Mikkelsen (19th)
“We gave it all we could in the Power Stage to try and salvage something from what has been a frustrating weekend. Since the last rally, we have found a much better feeling from inside the car but we haven’t had the results to match. On Friday morning, we could show the potential we have with some strong times and leading the rally. Unfortunately, the transmission problem ended our rally and we’ve spent the remaining stages just refining things and picking up useful information about the car on these tough gravel stages. It is all valuable learning but we leave Sardinia with a feeling of missed opportunity. We will regroup over the summer break and be ready for Finland. Finally, congratulations to Thierry and Nicolas on an outstanding win this weekend.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Mads Østberg (5th)
“Although we set competitive times on a number of occasions, we quickly found ourselves having to defend our position. We therefore didn’t take any unnecessary risks. That was true both on my side, in terms of driving, and also from a technical point of view, in carrying two spares for yesterday afternoon’s loop, for example. But I’m pleased to secure this fifth place for the team.”
Craig Breen
“The weekend didn’t go especially smoothly for us. Having started quite far down the running order on Friday in the rain, we struggled with the tricky road conditions. We then ended up opening the road for the next two days as the ground dried out. The roads, when dry, are renowned for cleaning a lot, meaning the early runners are at a real disadvantage. I nonetheless managed to improve my knowledge of this specific rally. My focus has already shifted to Finland.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (7th)
“It was good to be able to get back out on the stages today after the frustration of yesterday. The feeling in the car was good and the times were pretty good, even though we were saving the tyres. Unfortunately, on the Power Stage I stalled the engine in one corner: I went too quick into a left-hander and the ruts were quite deep. I really wanted a podium here but I will try to have a positive break and be ready to fight in Finland.”
Ott Tänak (8th)
“It was a tough weekend with many lessons learned. We still need to understand what happened and why, and we need to avoid the same things happening in the future. Generally, the feeling is good, we are really fast, now we just need a bit of consistency. I know we can do it. As a team we are still young but we are learning quickly. I have good faith in the team and I’m sure we can put these moments behind us and be stronger in the future.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Teemu Suninen (10th)
“On Friday I was really happy with my speed. The feeling was good and the rhythm was coming quite easily – we were in the fight for the podium and weren’t taking any big risks. Then in the last stage I just pushed a little too hard on the old tyres and we went off.
“After that it was a difficult weekend. We were focused on getting through all of the kilometres and when you’re driving carefully you lose the rhythm and the times don’t come as easily. But we got to the end and I am sure that we will be faster here next year.”
Elfyn Evans (14th)
It’s been a frustrating weekend – especially as the feeling in the car was really good on Friday morning. A relevantly small error proved pretty costly, and when you drop 13 minutes there is very little to fight for. We managed to salvage a point from the Power Stage which was some consolation, and now we’ll have a few weeks off before getting fully focused ahead of the next one in Finland.”
We now have the summer holiday break and the WRC will return in the last weekend of July, a full six weeks from now for Rally Finland!
Final Overall Classification – Rally Italia Sardegna
1
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
3:29:18.7
2
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
+0.7
3
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+1:56.3
4
H. Paddon
S. Marshall
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+2:55.2
5
M. Østberg
T. Eriksen
Citroën C3 WRC
+3:10.9
6
C. Breen
S. Martin
Citroën C3 WRC
+4:31.7
7
J.M. Latvala
M. Anttila
Toyota Yaris WRC
+11:22.1
8
O. Tänak
M. Järveoja
Toyota Yaris WRC
+12:38.2
9
J. Kopecky
P. Dresler
Škoda Fabia R5
+13:14.6
10
T. Suninen
M. Markkula
Ford Fiesta WRC
+15:30.4
2018 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers’ Standings
After round 7
1
T. Neuville
149
2
S. Ogier
122
3
O. Tanak
79
4
E. Lappi
70
5
D. Sordo
60
6
A. Mikkelsen
56
7
E. Evans
46
8
K. Meeke
43
9
J.M Latvala
37
10
C. Breen
34
11
M. Østberg
26
12
T. Suninen
24
13
H. Paddon
22
2018 FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers’ Standings
After round 7
Alexander Schjerpen and Jack Mitchell took an ultimately comfortable win at Silverstone for Century Motorsport’s #43 BMW team.
After a poor start in which he fell to 16th, the team recovered back to the front and took advantage of the dominant Equipe Verschuur #10 McLaren suffering a suspension failure while leading by half-a-minute.
And Schjerpen felt the team had to work hard to earn their second straight victory.
“We knew that we were going to be strong here at this track. We struggled a little in qualifying so going into the race we knew the pace was there so we had to push hard.
“I had a bad start, I’m not sure what happened there but others went and I didn’t so we ended up P16 and it was hard work in the first stint, Jack did a great job in his first stint to get us back to the front.”
The Norwegian took the first British GT win of his career with Mitchell on Sunday and left nothing on the table in his second stint.
“I finished my second stint with qualifying laps and we were pushing very hard, we were unsure where exactly we were with the stops and cars pitting around us, it was a hectic race and we’re super-happy that we finished at the front.”
And he had a lot of praise for his team’s preparation of the GT4 BMW M4, having had bad luck earlier in the season.
“The BMW is a brilliant car, every time I get into it I can throw anything at it and it responds. We’ve been playing around a little with set-up in practice yesterday and we found a good setting with the car.
“Century Motorsport are doing a brilliant job with it, and it’s fun to drive.”
TF Sport’s Mark Farmer was relieved to win the Silverstone 500 event with Nicki Thiim in #11 Aston Martin after an earlier collision with the #47 Aston of Graham Davidson left him facing the wrong way.
Thiim held off the Lamborghini #33 duo of Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen, with Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam were third.
Davidson was given a 10-second stop/go penalty for causing the collision with a move that Farmer branded “silly”.
“I thought it was game over because of our 10s success penalty in the last stop.
“It was a move that wasn’t on really and he ruined his own race and nearly ruined ours. It was silly really because they were lightly fuelled, they were quick and could have gone well, he was catching me and another couple of corners and he’d have done it easily. I was quite cross because it was never on.”
Farmer paid tribute to his TF Sport team for their strategy that saw the team negate the 10s penalty to squeeze ahead of Keen’s Lamborghini at the final stop, a move that proved crucial as the #33 could not land a blow.
“The team played a masterstroke on strategy, that really worked for us and Nicki drove like he stole it. The team executed the pitstops flawlessly.”
Thiim meanwhile was delighted after TFSport secured their third straight podium and their second win in three races.
“It was a great weekend, we started off really well but we struggled a little with the set-up because of the new surface at Silverstone. It was really hard at the end with the tyres going away.
“The team did the right strategy in my eyes and it was a really good race after the opening stint. I’m so happy to win this meeting.”
This weekend sees the return of the British Touring Car Championship to the Cheshire circuit of Oulton Park.
Map of Oulton Park Circuit.
The 5th event on the calendar this year, Oulton Park marks the midpoint in the hectic season that defines the BTCC and what a season it’s been so far!
With Adam Morgan currently holding a precarious one point lead at the top of the championship, this weekend could be the location for large amounts of reshuffling with the top 5 separated by a mere 18 points! Oulton Park is a circuit renowned for exciting racing with its varying gradients and hills such as Knickerbrook as well as possessing a number of tight corners ideal for overtaking such as Lodge Corner. Be prepared to see big reshuffles of the standings throughout races as there are simply countless areas ideal for overtaking.
With low chances of rain and predicted temperatures of around 20 degrees Celsius, the fans will be turning out in droves with an estimation of around 40,000 coming to the circuit over the weekend. It’s sure to be an enjoyable weekend for them if they are lovers of adrenalin fuelled overtaking and gorgeous weather!
The make-up of the grid was confirmed after qualifying today and there was a shock at the top of the grid. Matt Simpson set pole with a lap over two tenths faster than second placed Sam Tordoff. In terms of the title race, it was expected to be a tricky qualifying session for championship leader Adam Morgan with the 75 Kilogram success ballast that accompanies the top spot. He ended up 19th. This leaves considerable work to be done on race day for Morgan but it also presents a glorious opportunity to his championship contenders, especially Matt Neal. After struggling in the early rounds of the Championship Neal has gotten to grips with the new Honda Civic sealing a win at Thruxton, he currently sits 6th in the standings but has qualified 5th at Oulton. If there’s a man to watch this weekend I’d point towards Matt Neal.
It’s sure to be a great day of racing at Oulton Park with many thrills and spills along the way so start your countdown to round 12 of the season, it’s going to be an interesting one.
James Clinton Hunt
Featured image courtesy of BrianDeegan.co.uk under creative commons
The British GT series rolls into Silverstone for the longest race of the season just two weeks after the two sprint races at Snetterton.
Aston Martin dominated in the GT3 class with two victories including the #11 TF Sport crew of Mark Farmer and Nicki Thiim in Race One, while Derek Johnston and Marco Sorensen in the #17 Aston held off a late charge from the #99 Beechdean crew of Darren Turner and Andrew Howard in Race Two.
There are fourteen GT3 crews at Silverstone this weekend, with Balfe Motorsport’s McLaren returning this weekend and one-off appearances from Ultimate Speed’s Aston Martin team and another Mercedes in Team ABBA Racing.
Points-and-a-half are on offer in the British GT’s Big One, where five different crews have won five races in 2018, with the #116 Mercedes of Lee Mowle and Yelmer Buurman leading the overall GT3 class by just 4.5 points after a tough weekend in Norfolk.
Like the ERC Sport Mercedes, the second in the championship #33 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini crew of Jon Minshaw and Phil Keen do not have to serve a success penalty in the first mandatory pitstop.
Such is the closeness of the GT3 category that the top seven crews are separated by less than the 37.5 points available this weekend.
The #99 Beechdean Aston Martin is 12 points behind in third, with the #17 of Johnston and Sorensen and the #11 of Farmer and Thiim following close behind.
The Optimum Aston crew of Flick Haigh and Jonny Adam are still in touch in sixth, while technical issues meant that Iain Loggie and Callum Macleod slipped to seventh in #7 Bentley.
Meanwhile, the GT4 championship race is as closely fought as the GT3 counterparts after Tolman Motorsport’s #56 crew of Joe Osbourne and David Pattison took the spoils in Race One and a dramatic Race Two win for the #42 Century Motorsport BMW of Ben Tuck and Ben Green.
Five different crews have won five races this season, and half a point separates the leading #55 Ginetta crew of Callum Pointon and Patrik Matthiesen leading the #4 McLaren duo of Michael O’Brien and Charlie Fagg.
Academy Motorsport’s Will Moore and Matt Nicoll-Jones are next after three straight podiums and the #42 Century BMW of Tuck and Green.
The Jaguar Invictus’ second batch of wounded, injured and sick armed forces veterans make their British GT debuts this weekend when Basil Rawlinson (2nd Battalion Parachute Regiment) joins Jason Wolfe in the #22 F-TYPE SVR and Paul Vice (42 Commando Royal Marines) teams up with Matthew George aboard #44.
It’ll be a busy weekend for George, who is also registered to race as James Holder’s co-driver in the Generation AMR Super Racing Aston Martin.
George and Holder last contested a full-season British GT programme together in 2016, which ultimately led to David Appleby Engineering – which runs the V8 Vantage – overseeing 2018’s Jaguar project. George will therefore split his weekend between both cars and swap between them during the race, before a lie down after the race.
It was an early start on Sunday the 20th of May, heading up at 6.30am on Sunday for the two-hour trip to the Northampton track. The weather was fantastic, with sunshine and blue skies. Ed Hocknull and I had been invited by Lexus UK to attend the second UK round of this championship that is held in the UK, although this would be the longer endurance three-hour race, rather than the two separate one-hour sprint races held at Brands Hatch.
There were perfect track conditions for the three hour race. – Photo credit, Warren
The team run two Lexus RC-F GT3 cars, numbered 14 and 114. The drivers of car 14 are, Albert Costa, Christian Klein and Marco Seefried, whilst Stephane Ortelli, Norbert Siedler and Marcus Palttala team up in 114. We were given a warm welcome by the team, with VIP passes allowing access to the garage at all times and grid access too.
Emil Frey Racing hospitality – Photo credit, Warren Nel
The first track action of the day was qualifying, which is an hour long. Each driver has to drive the car in qualifying, getting 15 minutes each, with a seven-minute break between each run. This makes for a busy hour when there are 50 cars on track! When all was said and done, the number 14 car was third on the grid, whilst the sister 114 car had qualified seventh. The team were very happy with this result, particularly after topping the timesheets in the second part of the session with car 14, showing that they were starting to find the sweet-spot in the set-up and unlocking the potential pace.
Everyone was watching how qualifying would turn out! Photo credit – Warren Nel
At the start of the afternoon, we were given a garage tour. The BOP or, Balance of Performance was explained. The are so many different cars that run in this championship, that SRO mandate certain things to keep the performance of the cars very close. For example, every team get the same tyres and fuel and then there are also restrictors placed on the inlets for the engines, controlling the power the engine can produce. There are freedoms though and the teams use trick single seater suspension systems.
Garage tour – Photo credit – Warren NelThe poor guy giving us the tour kept getting interrupted by engines revving and wheel gun noise! Photo credit – WarrenThe garage tour continued with a look at the engineers area. – Photo credit, Warren
A pit walk followed the tour, allowing the fans to meet the drivers and teams. The championship definitely welcome fans with open arms, and it’s great to see! After this, we had a delicious lunch at the teams’ hospitality. It was getting close to race time though, and before that was the grid walk. It was super busy on the grid, with the cars coming around from the pitlane, before being pushed to their spots on the grid.
The drivers meet the fans! Photo credit, Warren NelA very fan friendly championship – Photo credit, Warren NelWhat a great looking race car! – Photo credit, Warren NelOn the grid with the team – Photo credit, Warren NelThe number 14 Lexus chases down the 62 Aston Martin. Photo credit, Warren Nel
Race Recap
Christian Klein would be taking the wheel of the number 14 car, whilst Stephane Ortelli would start the 114.
Now after half an hour of racing, the two Lexus were running very well, with Klein in 4th place and Ortelli two places further back in 6th. As the pitstops approached after nearly 50 minutes of racing, the RC-F GT3’s were 6.3 and 9.4 seconds from the leader.
The team had done a very good job indeed. The number 14 Lexus, with Klein behind the wheel pitted, but suffered a slow pitstop. The reason? Well, the team had a failure with a wheel gun slowing down the changing of the tyres.
Ortelli pitted a couple of laps later, and the pitstop was completed without any hitches. All of this meant that the 114, driven by Marcus was now in 5th place, whilst number 14, piloted by Marco was now in 7th.
Lexus 114 approaches the left-right-left before Hangar Straight. Photo credit Warren Nel
Twenty minutes after the pitstops Marcus passed the number 4 Mercedes, and then quickly closed on the number 62 Aston Martin which had Alex Brundle behind the wheel. On lap 51, Alex made a mistake and slid wide in the left-right-left and this allowed Marcus to get alongside the Aston and then make the pass into third place down Hangar straight!
With an hour and five minutes to go, Marcus pitted and handed 114 over to Norbert. It would be down to him to bring the car to the chequered flag. A lap later and Marco pitted and Alberto Costa took the wheel of the number 14 and re-joined in 8th place. He started setting some very fast sector times, looking to move up some places.
Lexus RC-F GT3 – Photo credit, Warren Nel
On lap 69, Albert Costa passed the Strakka Racing number 43 Mercedes for 7th place. He was just two seconds behind the 62 Aston Martin now. Just thirty minutes remained in the race.
With just twenty minutes left, Costa was dropping back a little, with the 43 Mercedes getting closer and behind that, the 72 SNP Ferrari closing on the Merc.
Meantime, the 114 was holding its own, 22 seconds from 1st place, but the number 1 Audi was within 1 second of the Lexus. Drama though for the number 14 car which ran wide at Aintree on lap 75, giving the 72 Ferrari 7th place. Just six minutes remained now, and the battle was on for the final spot on the podium between 114 and 1! With less than 4 minutes remaining the 114 Lexus was still in 3rd place! The team were looking at their first podium finish!
The number 114 Emil Frey Racing Lexus RC-F GT3 chases the number 4 Mercedes – Photo credit, Warren Nel
Coming into the loop near Silverstone six stand, the number 1 Audi got a run and was starting to get alongside the Lexus, but he ran wide, giving Norbert a breather! It was enough! They’d done it! Further back number 14 had lost another place unfortunately, crossing the line in 9th place. The team had definitely done a very good job to improve the car, allowing them to fight at the front.
Nerves were high in the garage as the final minutes of the race counted down. Photo credit, Warren Nel
We all headed down to the end of the pitlane to watch the podium, which was their first ever in the Blancpain championship. The trophies were handed out and then it was the time-honoured tradition to spray the champagne!
The top three celebrate on the podium – Photo credit, Warren NelStéphane Ortelli, Norbert Siedler, Markus Palttala, hold their trophies aloft! Photo credit, Warren Nel
It was now time to go home, but first we visited the team garage and watched as the team all celebrated their great result!
Finally, I’d like to say a big thank you to Matt at Lexus/Toyota and Emil Frey Racing for the invite. Ed and I had a fantastic time, with a really friendly team.
It’s time for the really dusty rally! Last year, M-Sport won the rally, thanks to a superb drive from Ott Tanak. Thierry Neuville is the championship leader, currently 19 points ahead of the reigning champion Seb. Opening the road on Friday will make the event very tricky for him. Last year we saw Seb open the road and he finished in fifth place and kept the lead in the championship.
Rally Italia Sardegna – Photo credit – M-Sport World Rally Team
Here’s last year’s result.
Final Overall Classification -Rally Italia Sardegna
1
O. Tanak
M. Jarveoja
Ford Fiesta WRC
3:25:15.1
2
J.M Latvala
M. Anttila
Toyota Yaris WRC
+12.3
3
T. Neuville
N. Gilsoul
Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC
+1:07.7
4
E. Lappi
J. Ferm
Toyota Yaris WRC
+2:12.9
5
S. Ogier
J. Ingrassia
Ford Fiesta WRC
+3:25.3
6
J. Hänninen
K. Lindstrom
Toyota Yaris WRC
+3:38.5
7
M. Østberg
O. Floene
Ford Fiesta WRC
+6:31.8
8
A. Mikkelsen
A. Jaeger
Citroën C3 WRC
+8:07.8
9
E. Camilli
B. Veillas
Ford Fiesta R5
+11:15.8
10
J. Kopecky
P. Dresler
Škoda Fabia R5
+11:21.4
Here’s the full schedule for this tricky event!
RALLY ITALIA SARDINIA SCHEDULE (GMT+2)
THURSDAY 7 JUNE
8.00am: Shakedown Olmedo (3,34 km)
5.00pm: Start (Alghero)
6.00pm: SS 1 – Ittiri Arena Show (2,00 km)
7.00pm: Parc fermé (Alghero)
FRIDAY 8 JUNE
6.30am: Service A (Alghero – 15 min)
8.33am: SS 2 – Tula 1 (21,99 km)
9.48am: SS 3 – Castelsardo 1 (14,52 km)
10.37am: SS 4 – Tergu – Osilo 1 (14,14 km)
11.48am: SS 5 – Monte Baranta 1 (10,78 km)
12.44pm: Service B (Alghero – 30 min)
3.02pm: SS 6 – Tula 2 (21,99 km)
4.17pm: SS 7 – Castelsardo 2 (14,52 km)
5.06pm: SS 8 – Tergu – Osilo 2 (14,14 km)
6.24pm: SS 9 – Monte Baranta 2 (10,78 km)
7.00pm: Flexi service C (Alghero – 45 min)
SATURDAY 9 JUNE
5.55am: Service D (Alghero – 15 min)
8.38am: SS 10 – Coiluna – Loelle 1 (14,95 km)
9.33am: SS 11 – Monti Di Ala’ 1 (28,52 km)
10.11am: SS 12 – Monte Lerno 1 (29,11 km)
1.03pm: Service E (Alghero – 30 min)
2.11pm: SS 13 – Citta’ Di Ittiri – Coros (1,40 km)
4.08pm: SS 14 – Coiluna – Loelle 2 (14,95 km)
5.03pm: SS 15 – Monti Di Ala’ 2 (28,52 km)
5.41pm: SS 16 – Monte Lerno 2 (29,11 km)
8.15pm: Flexi service F (Alghero – 45 min)
SUNDAY 10 JUNE
7.45am: Service G (Alghero – 15 min)
8.45am: SS 17 – Cala Flumini 1 (14,06 km)
9.38am: SS 18 – Sassari – Argentiera 1 (6,96 km)
11.12am: SS 19 – Cala Flumini 2 (14,06 km)
12.18pm: SS 20 – Sassari – Argentiera 2 Power Stage (6,96 km)
1.15pm: Service H (Alghero – 10 min)
2.15pm: Podium (Alghero)
Let’s hear from the driver’s!
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville
“Portugal was the near-perfect weekend for us, as we took 29 out of a maximum 30 points. We now move onto Sardinia, which is one of the most technical events on the calendar, leading the championship. The roads are very narrow and become extremely rough on the second pass. The grip level is quite high on the repeat loop, but we often lack traction on the first run through. They are tricky conditions but the stages tend to suit my driving style and pace notes system. I am able to be very precise and I have been successful there many times in the past.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 07, Rally d’Italia Sardegna 8-11 June 2017 Thierry Neuville – Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: RaceEMotion Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Hayden Paddon
“First of all, I am feeling fighting fit after the incident in Portugal and I’m ready to get back down to business. Up to that point, we were able to show a competitive level of performance, taking a stage win and battling for the lead. Rally Italia Sardegna is certainly one of the highlights of the year, located in the Mediterranean with sunny conditions and hot temperatures. The stages are very twisty and challenging. It is a rally I enjoy, and from where I have good memories. I scored my first WRC podium there in 2015 and led the rally in 2017. I would like to finish off what we started last year.”
Andreas Mikkelsen
“Rally Italia Sardegna is a very warm event and it’s important to have high concentration; there are many rocks sticking out that can cause punctures or damage. You also need a stable car because the stages are quite narrow and rough with a lot of bumps. We have made improvements to the car on gravel, which has given me an improved feeling, and I felt really comfortable during Rally de Portugal. This is a positive sign for Sardinia where our aim is to catch up some points and improve our position in the drivers’ championship, while also helping the team to increase the manufacturers’ lead. It will be tough on mind and body, as well as the car and tyres, but we’re ready for it.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala
“I always enjoy competing in Sardinia. I actually drove there for the first time in 2003 on the Rally Costa Smeralda, the year before the WRC started going there. The roads have a very hard base with a layer of sand on the top which can make it very slippery for the first cars on the road. The roads are narrow but you can go very fast if you can keep to the right line. I feel positive heading to Sardinia. I had two clean days of driving in Portugal without any mistakes and this helped my confidence a lot, and I am really enjoying driving this car.”
Jari-Matti and Miikka scored a podium last year on this event – Photo credit Toyota World Rally Team
Ott Tanak
“Sardinia is a special rally for me as it’s where I got my first win one year ago. Hopefully we can get another top result this time around. I think this will be a key rally for the championship. Portugal obviously didn’t go as well as we planned or hoped, so it will be really important to score some strong points. We are trying to be well prepared as possible, and I know that the team is working really hard. I am really happy with how the car has been performing: In Argentina it was fantastic and it felt good in Portugal as well. Now we just need to translate that speed into a good result before the summer holidays.”
Esapekka Lappi
“I am really looking forward to competing in Sardinia again. We had a pretty good result there already last year and my speed was good, as we won six stages. I think I have learnt a lot since then, and there has also been a lot of progress with the car. I have felt very comfortable over the last couple of rallies and I have had the confidence to push hard. Now that we are fifth in the championship, we will have to run quite early on the road on Friday. The road cleaning effect can be quite big there, but I got some good experience of this on the final two days in Portugal, so I am not worrying about this too much.”
M-Sport Ford WRT
Sébastien Ogier
“Portugal was a shame as we had the speed to challenge for the win. It was a small mistake with big consequences, but we put it behind us and are now fully focused on giving it everything we’ve got in Sardinia.
“Having competed here many times before, I’ve learned to really enjoy these demanding stages. It’s a beautiful island, but not the easiest of rallies with some very rough and abrasive terrain. You need to keep a margin and stay focused from start to finish – which is exactly what we intend to do next week.
“We won’t be opening the road this year, but we’ll still have something of an uphill battle with many fast drivers benefitting from a cleaner road behind. Even so, I’m confident that we can challenge for a good result. If we can keep the lead in sight on Friday night then we’ll be in with a chance – and will push for the best possible result.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Italy Sardegna (ITA) – WRC 08/06/2017 to 11/06/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Elfyn Evans
“Sardinia will always be a special place for me. It’s where I first got behind the wheel of a world rally car and I’ve come to really enjoy the challenging nature of the stages. It’s not an easy rally by all means, but I think that’s one of the reasons why I enjoy it so much.
“It’s such a demanding event and there are so many things that you need to keep in mind. The stages themselves are very rough and abrasive. You need to keep a margin within your driving otherwise your rally can be over before it’s even begun.
“Then there’s the heat. At this time of year, we can be looking at temperatures as high as 30C. That takes its toll on the cars, and the 50C plus temperatures inside the cockpit take their toll on the crew too!
“After our good result in Portugal we’re keen to keep that momentum going in Sardinia. We’ve completed two days of testing and we’ll have a fairly good road position on Friday that we’ll need to make the most of. If everything goes our way, I see no reason why we can’t be challenging for another strong result.”
Teemu Suninen
“I didn’t compete in Sardinia last year, but I did win the WRC 2 category in 2016 so hopefully that will help us this year. Every rally is difficult at this level and every minor detail has an effect on the end result – I’m sure Sardinia will be no different.
“We completed a one-day test last week which proved really useful. The road was quite slow, but that was good for me as it’s on these slower roads where I need to focus on improvements – where it’s slow and narrow and you need to take an advantage over every inch of the road.
“Even on the test I noticed how hot it will be next week. Normally I drink three litres a day but in Sardinia I expect to be drinking more than five litres a day! The stages are also quite rough and that means that we will have to get every stone marked in our notes.
“By focusing on my rivals my speed won´t improve. I’ll focus purely on my own driving and on improving stage by stage – then we’ll see where we are at the end of the rally.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Craig Breen
“This is one of the WRC rallies where I have the least experience, but fortunately it hasn’t changed much since last year and so I have most of the pace notes already. It’s not necessarily my favourite event, because it’s never easy to adopt a fluid driving style on these really narrow, technical stages. But I have a good road position in eighth in the running order, because it’s one of the events where cleaning is most significant, so I’m going to try and make the most of it on the opening day.”
Mads Østberg
“It’s one of my favourite rallies. I’ve always been quick here. First of all, you need very good pace notes and then you need to find the right balance between pushing where you can and defending when there is a real risk of smashing the car. I learned a lot about the C3 WRC in Portugal and ended up by showing some pretty decent speed. The two days of pre-event testing held this week will help me to find the right pace, especially as I fully intend to take advantage of my good position in the running order.”
Mads Ostberg – Photo credit, Citroen Racing.
Just one team will be running two cars, with the removal of Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle from the Citroen team a few days ago. This will make it hard for them to make some good ground up in the manufacturers championship, but with Mads making his third start this year for this team and Craig in the other car looking to learn more about this tricky event for the future, they’ve got two drivers that can get to the end of the rally in the points.
Now, this is a special event for Miikka Antilla. He is making his 200th WRC start. A very special moment for Jari-Matti’s co-driver. The Toyota crew will want to get a great result, to mark this weekend.
Well, who do I think could win? Hayden Paddon and Seb Marshall will make their third start this year, and with his great road position, I would expect them to be in the mix for the podium at the very least, along with Andreas, Jari-Matti and Esapekka.
Don’t forget, all the action starts on Thursday morning with shakedown at 8am, that’s 6am BST here in the UK. The latest weather reports for the area on Friday are suggesting there will be thunderstorms. If there are stages that have rain, then Thierry will be a happy man.
Joe Osborne took the chequered flag in Race One for the #56 Tolman Motorsport McLaren to take their first win of the season, while in Race Two the #42 BMW Century Motorsport piloted by Ben Tuck and Ben Green rescued a late victory after being spun early in the race.
Victory in the #56 McLaren also driven by David Pattison exceeded expectations for Osborne.
“I’m absolutely delighted, especially when you don’t expect it at the start of the race. I always have an expectation, position that we’d be happy with and pre-race I’d have been super-happy with a top five.
“With the Safety Car and David’s start, I changed those expectations to third, a podium was on the cards and the pitstop worked out so cleanly for us. I had to bring it home, manage it, do all the boring bits and not mess up.”
After that good fortune from a Safety Car lasting almost eight minutes right up until the opening of the pit window, Osborne is hopeful that the #56’s luck is changing.
“The Safety Car brought us into contention. You get your luck, last year we lost out in the Safety Car with a huge lead, things have maybe righted themselves.
“I’d like it to be sign of things turning, bad luck is pretty boring and tends to follow you for a long time, and good luck comes and seems to disappear earlier. It definitely sets us up for a good second half of the season although it’s only the third weekend.”
After victory at Snetterton, Osborne is now expecting more of a challenge from an entry that has not started with momentum in 2018.
“It’s difficult. Success penalties with a podium stops you getting on a mega-roll for the next race, you’re shot in the kneecaps but I still haven’t changed my expectations from the start of the season to try and win the Pro/Am class and be in the mix for the top three overall. This definitely helps my predictions more than the first two weekends. Hopefully we carry this on.”
In GT4 it was a last-minute move that won the day for Century Motorsport for Ben Tuck, after teammate Green hit strife when tagged into a spin shortly before the pitstops.
“I thought that was it,” he began.
“We had three instances of contact in the first stint, worked hard to get up to the front and I kept pushing even as the car didn’t feel good after the contact, Ben did a great second half of the race.
“I am absolutely delighted, so so happy. You get spun off, in the grass, facing the wrong way and think it’s all over. You just have to keep pushing no matter what happens.”
Both men praised the two-hour sprint format in use for the final time this season in Norfolk.
Green believes that the extra race means more chances for a big result.
“The two-race format means more opportunities to do well, you can have a poor one in the first one but still dominate in the second like we did. But, a two-hour race is much harder because there’s less flexibility.”
Tuck confessed to having more motivation for the shorter races this weekend.
“The shorter races make you want it more because you have less time to get the job done. With the longer races it’s about managing tyres and looking after the car a lot more, it’s a good mix and good to have both in the championship.
BMW’s second driver was delighted with the manner of his late victory, as he took his maiden British GT win.
“The second group out was the Ams so I could pick them off a little easier, and up against the other silver cars the McLaren was struggling on the tyres at the end.
“That is one of my favourite ever moves to be honest, seeing as it got us a win in the British GT for the very first time. It’s definitely one for the memories.”
And Tuck believes there’s more to come, with the BMW outfit having improved as the season has gone on.
“Winning it late is a different buzz, definitely. It’s a great feeling anyway because this season BMW and Century have done a great job, we’ve been learning and developing a lot more and getting better and better. It’s all come out on top here this weekend, doing it right at the end does create a different buzz because you know you have to do it. It’s almost do or die.”
Aston Martin dominated the British GT GT3 class with two victories from Snetterton’s two sprint races on Sunday.
Nikki Thiim and Mark Farmer in the TF Sport #11 Aston Martin eased home after pole position for race one, and Farmer was relieved with his second GT victory after falling back to third.
“I made a bit of a mistake which cost me momentum. Sadly the Aston got me and the Bentley got me because of that, it went from perfection to losing out in the blink of an eye but that is how it is.
“We had a lightning driver change, we’d been practicing all morning, it was really fast and we jumped them in the pits.”
Farmer was quick to point to the guidance given to him by Thiim, a world champion at sportscar level.
“It’s massive to have a Pro driver like Nikki with you, as an Am you’re still finding your way in the sport so to have someone that can guide you an coach you is super important. I had John Barnes for a long time, to have Nikki as well, I’m extremely fortunate.
“They’re both very different, but we get on well and I’m learning a lot from him.”
After finishing well back at Rockingham with technical gremlins affecting his Aston Martin, there’s plenty of motivation for the #11 Am driver, who conceded that the team cannot afford any more mistakes.
“We were really quick in Rockingham but had a technical issue, these things happen and our championship starts now. The competition is really tough, you can’t afford to slip up and we have at Oulton and Rockingham. We need to be flawless from now.”
Later in the afternoon, a stint-long battle between Derek Johnston’s #17 Aston and Andrew Howard in the #99 Beechdean Aston eventually went the way of the former.
Howard had been all over Johnston and despite pushing, Johnston held on for a far from stress-free victory.
I don’t know if it was fun! That’s the hardest I’ve worked in a race I think, Andrew kept me on it and as we’re in identical cars he knows what I can do and vice versa. That is why we go racing. For two old guys like me and him to be out there like that, that was perfect.
“I thought “What have I got to do?” because he just kept on following me through back markers. I was working harder and harder. He just never let me breathe.”
Johnston was well aware of the importance of teammate Marco Sorensen passing the #33 Barwell Motorsport Lamborghini of Phil Keen at the start of the race, which kept the #17 in touch with the leading #11 of Nikki Thiim.
“To pass Phil at T1 at the start was important for us, we weren’t quite as quick as the sister car early on but all in all that was great. We had a BOP (Balance of Performance) disadvantage and we thought that may affect us, but the Aston is still a good old car at seven years old.”
And the #17 Am driver praised the two-race, sprint format in use this weekend.
“Two races lets you know whether you have made a mistake on setup, you can put it right. For me, I rarely get the opportunity to take the chequered flag with a win so that was phenomenal. The best feeling in the world.”
