Rally
Review: WRC2 / JWRC / WRC3 were all present in Portugal
by
Martijn Kösters
WRC2 had an interesting line-up of drivers for the Rally of Portugal. Amongst them we found a WRC Academy Winner (Elfyn Evans), a Grand Prix Winner making his gravel debut (hello Robert Kubica) and the current leader in WRC2 (Sepp Wiegand). Yet it was neither of these who took the lead after the first duo of stages. A young Finn going by the unique name of Esapekka Lappi topped the time sheets ahead of Wiegand, Evans, Kubica and Barrable. After the end of the first day Sepp Wiegand had crashed on the final stage of the day and Kubica retired because of problems on the liason. This meant that Lappi lead Evans by 30 seconds after day one, with Bresolin and Barrable a good two minutes behind the Finn.
WRC2 had an interesting line-up of drivers for the Rally of Portugal. Amongst them we found a WRC Academy Winner (Elfyn Evans), a Grand Prix Winner making his gravel debut (hello Robert Kubica) and the current leader in WRC2 (Sepp Wiegand). Yet it was neither of these who took the lead after the first duo of stages. A young Finn going by the unique name of Esapekka Lappi topped the time sheets ahead of Wiegand, Evans, Kubica and Barrable. After the end of the first day Sepp Wiegand had crashed on the final stage of the day and Kubica retired because of problems on the liason. This meant that Lappi lead Evans by 30 seconds after day one, with Bresolin and Barrable a good two minutes behind the Finn.
Kubica's
debut on gravel can be summarized in three words: Impressive, short
and troublesome. Impressive as he managed to keep pace on a surface
he never competed before, setting top four times in the stages in
which he did compete. Troublesome for the fact that a tree branch
ended hopes of a good result when it decided to become a structural
part of the radiator, piercing it and spilling fluid everywhere.
Kubica and his co-driver Maciek Baran did fix the cooling issue after
the stage, but a trio of punctures with only two spare tyres around
meant that the final stage of the day in Lisbon was a bridge too far.
Kubica did return for day two, but transmission problems meant he had
to use his weaker right hand for manual shifting.
Back to the action on day two where Lappi continued to dominate the pace, by setting up a nifty 11 stage win streak and building a four minute lead Elfyn Evans was forced to retire with transimission issues at the first stage of the day, handing P2 to Robert Barrable who demoted Bressolin to third in WRC2. A puncture for Barrable and troubles for Bressolin meant that Wiegand made his way back into second, ahead of Barrable. Meanwhile Fuchs and Villanueva held on to 4th and 5th after day 2.
Four stages remained on day three, with Lappi comfortably leading he did not push for fastest stage times any longer yet still extended his lead in what seemed an easy run for the Finn. When Wiegand's gearbox jammed he lost second place and a good ten minutes, giving Lappi a ten minute lead over Barrable with two more stages to go. As no more close battles were fought out little changes happened in the final loop. Esapekka Lappi won by 11,5 minutes over Barrable, with Wiegand a quarter of an hour behind. Fuchs fourth almost twenty minutes behind Lappi. Al-Kuwari and Kubica made up the top six.
Back to the action on day two where Lappi continued to dominate the pace, by setting up a nifty 11 stage win streak and building a four minute lead Elfyn Evans was forced to retire with transimission issues at the first stage of the day, handing P2 to Robert Barrable who demoted Bressolin to third in WRC2. A puncture for Barrable and troubles for Bressolin meant that Wiegand made his way back into second, ahead of Barrable. Meanwhile Fuchs and Villanueva held on to 4th and 5th after day 2.
Four stages remained on day three, with Lappi comfortably leading he did not push for fastest stage times any longer yet still extended his lead in what seemed an easy run for the Finn. When Wiegand's gearbox jammed he lost second place and a good ten minutes, giving Lappi a ten minute lead over Barrable with two more stages to go. As no more close battles were fought out little changes happened in the final loop. Esapekka Lappi won by 11,5 minutes over Barrable, with Wiegand a quarter of an hour behind. Fuchs fourth almost twenty minutes behind Lappi. Al-Kuwari and Kubica made up the top six.
The JWRC kicked off its six-event season in Portugal, with a field of ten drivers. Best known might be Pontus Tidemand, who showed impressive pace in the WRC field at the rally of Sweden where he ran within the top six during the first day. Drivers drive identical Fiesta R2s for this year, but setup and such is all theirs to adjust. Day one saew Pontus Tidemand, Jose Suarez and Marius Aasen draw ahead of the rest of the field by a good 2 minutes with little drama for most drivers. Except for Estonian Sander Parn who lost a wheel in stage one and already had to retire. Tidemand lead after day 1 out of 2 by 27 seconds over Suarez, Aasen third 32 seconds behind and Bostanci in fourth trailed Tidemand by 2m02.
Day two saw Jose Suarez keep up nicely with Tidemand, losing only 19 seconds over four stages but a puncture on the final stage threw him back by over 1,5 minute. Lemes had a strong second day, climbing all the way up from 8th to 3rd place. After a puncture on day one he put on a strong performance to claim a podium spot. Amberg edged out Koci for fourth by just 4 seconds as Marius Aasen dropped to sixth after a puncture and rear axle damage.
The
JWRC will be back during the Acropolis Rally.
WRC3
then, with only a field of nine drivers the smallest of the four
World Rally Championship. Yet this did not affect the competition as
the top four was split by just over 20 seconds after the first day.
Keith Cronin lead the field by only 3.3s over Alistair Fisher,
Chardonnet another 3.3 behind. Bryan Bouffier was also at Rally de
Portugal and maintained fourth only 23 seconds behind.
Drama on day two where a river crossing claimed two leading drivers. Both Cronin and Fisher got their DS3 R3s stuck. Where Fisher managed to get going after a long 18 minute delay Bouffier used his experience to avoid trouble and take the lead. Chardonnet went off road later on the day and lost six minutes, yet held second. Bouffier lead by eight minutes after day two, Chardonnet as said being second. Francesco Parli held on to third, more than 13 minutes from the lead, with Quentin Gilbert in fourth and the only other driver to complete the full day. He is almost 22 minutes behind Bouffier.
Day three saw just four more stages, and with differences being this big little changes in the standings. Bouffier, Chardonnet maintained one-two. With Francesco Parli retiring on the final day it granted Quentin Gilbert third place. Fisher, Cronin and Campadelli were the last to complete the rally in 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.
Drama on day two where a river crossing claimed two leading drivers. Both Cronin and Fisher got their DS3 R3s stuck. Where Fisher managed to get going after a long 18 minute delay Bouffier used his experience to avoid trouble and take the lead. Chardonnet went off road later on the day and lost six minutes, yet held second. Bouffier lead by eight minutes after day two, Chardonnet as said being second. Francesco Parli held on to third, more than 13 minutes from the lead, with Quentin Gilbert in fourth and the only other driver to complete the full day. He is almost 22 minutes behind Bouffier.
Day three saw just four more stages, and with differences being this big little changes in the standings. Bouffier, Chardonnet maintained one-two. With Francesco Parli retiring on the final day it granted Quentin Gilbert third place. Fisher, Cronin and Campadelli were the last to complete the rally in 4th, 5th and 6th respectively.
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