Rally-eMag 017 March/April 2014

Dawn of the new t16

ERC Acropolis Circuit of Ireland

Issue 17, March/April 2014

WRC Portugal

jwrc vs ddft Monthly News Wrap-up & For my Friends

Everybody’s wa t

ching the new

kid in town...

Image: Bas Romeny

Cacti, the sharp

est of plants

Image: Bas Romeny

Mikkelsen jumpin

g through down

Image: Bas Romeny

town lisbon

Rallydrivers are

ready for anyth

ing!

Image: Bas Romeny

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Rally-eMag February 2014 / Contents

This month

At the same time the promoter is busy trying to conceive a programme that enables the fans to see extra content for an extra price.

I thought we had to reach bigger audiences. We would pay for really interesting extra content, but will all these new crowds? If in Munich they would like to have some good examples they don’t have to go that far. Look at the new FIA WRX. OK TV coverage is a lot easier WRX but spirit and PR machines are excellent, making it a very serious threat to WRC. And what do we

think about ERC TV coverage? Everyone can watch Eurosport andthey provide us with a good programme, including live stages and wrap-ups.

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Who made it?

The first part of the season is now over. In the beginning we were quite optimistic. Unfortunately we have to amend that on several fields. First of all WRC Promoter GmbH: they don’t seem to have their act together yet.

You can read all about the unfortunate proof of that: the TV problem in Portugal. Basically the promoter should have had their contracts in order before the season started and not play hardball during the third rally! All parties met again later and said they were happy, but still it is not clear what is going to happen.

Publisher: Rally-eMag Words: Steven van Veenendaal, Harry van Veenendaal.

Photography: Bas Romeny, Timo Anis

Who helped?

Logo design: Minse Blom Distribution: Issuu.com

Who we thank!

PR Photography from: Peugeot Sport, Hyundai Motorsport, Citroen Racing, FIA ERC.

Well at least the teams and promoter are on speaking terms again and, optimistic as we are, let’s hope for the best.

And then the championships. In WRC Ogier is the king and probably will be that for quite some time to come. Luckily both Østberg and Hirvonen now seem to have found their rhythm and the Hyundai camp took their first stage wins.

WRC Rally Portugal

JWRC vs DDFT

Springtime in Portugal Page 11

In ERC all eyes are on Peugeot. With two very competent drivers in Breen and Abbring they should be able to play an important role, but their battle machine is not completely reliable yet. Once they get that right we foresee a bright future, a future that fits the historic name of the car T16.

How to reach us?

Email: info@rally-emag.com Web: www.rally-emag.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ emagrally Twitter: @emagrally Issuu: www.issuu.com/rally-emag

Meanwhile we wish you pleasant reading.

erc circuit of ireland

For my Friends

Junior trophies

ERC Acropolis rally

Page 22

A New Roar

Bumpy Circuit

Page 39

Page 24

Page 32

The ‘other’ shots

Rally-eMag March/April 2014 / News

This month’s wrap up

ERC Champs continues winning ways After winning last years ERC crown Jan Kopecky was up for a new challenge. His Skoda team offered such by switching him and Esapekka Lappi from their respective championship. Lappi was to join the ERC while Kopecky wandered off in search for adventure and further glory in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.

Bryan Boufier back at Hyundai French asphalt ace Bryan Boufier rejoins the Hyundai squad in the special capacity of test driver. His most important task is to test the 2015 version of the i20. He’ll do that in the usual preevent tests the team will be doing. Further he’ll compete in the Rallye Antibes Cote d’Azur at the end of May. His task will be to gather as much data as possible for the asphalt rallies that are awaiting the team in the next part of the season.

The APRC is sure to provide adventure as it takes teams all across Asia through China, Thailand, Australia, New Zealan, Japan, Malaysia and perhaps most exotic of them all, New Caledonia. It was here that Kopecky clinched his first win on the series after an event that was adventurous to say the least. Kopecky was initially given a 33 minute penalty for delaying the event.

The penalty was awarded when Kopecky arrived at a stage which was scheduled to be run no less than six times. Due to extreme weather conditions three of those runs were cancelled and when Kopecky was not granted a starting time for this particular run, he assumed the stage was cancelled again. It turned out it wasn’t and Kopecky was found guilty of delaying the event. Strong protests by the Skoda team led to the penalty being revoked though, alllowing Kopecky to claim his firt APRC win, over six minutes ahead of Indian team mate Gaurav Gill who dropped behin on the opening day after colliding with a tree. The two now share the lead in the APRC standings.

Hyundai drivers visit Korea

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During the short spring break, Thierry Neuville, Dani Sordo, Juho Hänninen, Chris Atkinson and Hayden Paddon visited Hyundai’s headquarters in Seoul and the R&D center in Namyang. In this centre some new parts of the i20 WRC have been and will be developed. Judging to Neuville’s Facebook coverage of the visit, he was quite impressed.

Image: Skoda Motorsport Image: Hyundai Motorsport

Rally Portugal / Overview 11/42

Vodafone Rally de portugal

Based in: Faro Date: 03-06/04/14 Number of stages: 16 Shortest stage: Superspecial Lisboa, 3.27 km Longest stage: Santana da Serra, 31.09 km Total stage distance: 339 km Surface: Gravel

Rally Portugal / Rally review

rain and shine in portugal After the Mexican mountains the WRC comes back to ‘the old world’ for the Portuguese WRC round. It’s the inaugural rally for both the new version of the Junior WRC and the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy and of course it is the next stop on the road to a new championship for Volkswagen. A lot of things happened in Portugal both on and off the rough tracks that form the actual battleground of the rally.

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Bas Romeny

Rally Portugal / Rally review

Torrential rain prior to the event spoiled the recce and made conditions tricky.

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In the days preceding the actual rally rain poured down in enormous amounts. During recce it seemed we were watching the world championship powerboat racing. The organizers therefore had no other option than to postpone recce, much to the regret of Mikko Hirvonen. He already had completed his second passage of Ourique (Stage 3 and 6), when recce was stopped. When recce was resumed he was not allowed to do part of his recce in better conditions. Although the FIA allowed him to do a third pass it was Clerk of The Course Pedro Almeida who said no to the request. Thus making it impossible for the Finn to see the stage in normal circumstances. “This is silly,” Hirvonen expressed his thoughts. “The conditions should be the same to everyone. And we have been deprived of the possibility to see the latest situation, that is a serious safety issue.”

Drivers were banned from talking to TV crews Saturday morning.

TV in trouble The recce issue was not the only dispute in Portugal. On Saturday morning all manufacturer drivers were told not to speak to WRC TV. This is the result of a difference of opinions between the manufacturer teams and the WRC promoter.

The nature of the dispute did not become entirely clear, but the bottom line was that the teams were denied access to TV footage shot on Friday

by WRC TV. The reason was they first had to sign a contract with the WRC Promoter. We don’t know the terms of this contract, but it’s clear that the teams weren’t happy about them and unanimously decided to make one front. This resulted in the ban on TV interviews. An absolute silly situation that shows there is still quite a bit of mistrust between the parties involved. This could be disastrous to the sport. These are two of the

most important parties in the whole WRC circus.

If they don’t trust each other how can we build on a strong WRC? Especially as other fields (ERC, WRX) are doing so well. Not long after this clash WRC Promoter GmbH invited all parties to join them during a workshop in Munich. There was a positive buzz among the participants but nothing solid was presented but “all relevant matters were put on the table.” As VW boss Jost Capito phrased it. The most concrete thing that came out of this meeting was that this meeting was a kick-off of a “a regular and on-going consultation process for all stakeholders,” so the press release said. We can only hope this to be true and that this on-going consultation process results in some good agreements that help the sport to grow. And that embarrassing situations like the TV dispute in Portugal don’t happen again.

Rally Portugal / Rally review

new rules starting from portugal After a meeting of FIA’s Rally Commission in Paris a number of changes in the regulations were made. Although these had to be rubberstamped by the World Motorsport Council in Marrakech a few weeks later, the decisions took immediate effect, pending ratification by WMSC. This meant the regulations did apply in Portugal already. Here is a list of these new rules. Some of them are amendments to recently changed rules that proved not to work to well… In Marrakech the WMSC agreed with all these proposals.

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Scoring points in the Starting order PowerStage in rally 2 Since very recently everyone could score extra championship points in the Powerstage, with the exception of people who have started the last day under Rally 2.

In Mexico this meant that Mikkelsen and Østberg who retired on day 2, could not get PowerStage points, but Hirvonen (retired on day 1) got the chance to pick (the last) point and did so!

Starting in Portugal, everyone starting on the last day can get PowerStage points again.

Starting order in Rally 2 Starting order will always be an issue we think. But the new rule says that for the starting order it is not only the leaderboard that decides the starting order on days two and three. First the retired drivers who start again according to Rally 2 regulations and then the P1 and P2 drivers will follow. In this way retired competitors cannot enjoy better road positions by starting further back.

A new rule should make the Powerstage even more interesting.

testing Shakedown We don’t have a qualifying stage anymore but we still have the shakedown. Formerly priority drivers were obliged to do at least four runs. Now they only have tot complete two runs. “Professional teams can now set up their car without having to run four runs...” the FIA says.

As the present homologation is frozen for 2014, a lot of manufacturers are now starting their tests for their 2015 models. According to the present regulations there are only a limited number (42) of test days available. If a team is testing their present car they can now extend these tests tot their new cars. In this way they cab save a lot of costs, as they don’t have to set up separate tests anymore for their new cars.

penalty reduced for missing a stage If a competitor retires during the day and wants to restart according to Rally 2 rules he or she got a penalty of ten minutes. This is now reduced to five minutes.

Rally Portugal / Rally review

The rally Oh, we almost forgot but there was also a rally in Portugal. As we said the recce was quite wet.

But on Shakedown day things were back to normal. The sun was shining in a cloudless sky. The stage was not completely dry yet but it wasn’t flooded. Latvala outperformed his teammate Ogier but it was Henning Solberg who came closest. That being a surprise, the other drivers in the top five were not: Ogier, Sordo and Hirvonen.

The next day it was the usual long trip to Lisbon where huge crowds awaited the teams for meet and greet sessions and of course for the first special stage in front of the majestic Jerónimos Monastery in the middle of the capital. The WRC seems to have a thing with UNESCO World Her-

itage Sites. As in Mexico there was a stage in Juanjuato, a Unesco site as well. On Jari Matti Latvala’s birthday it was Ogier who clinched the fastest time with Latvala and Mikkelsen making it a VW 1, 2, 3! After just over three kilometres of furious action it was now more than 250 kilometres back to Faro.

Scratch for Hyundai Four crashes for others Sordo made a good start in the first Friday stage and handed Hyundai its first scratch in the WRC. On the next stage he repeated this performance and for the first time Hyundai was leading a WRC event. Ott Tanak was another surprise as he was second, 2.8 seconds behind. At Almodovar

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This time Mikko Hirvonen was not prepared to just give away the rally, but Ogier showed everyone he is te reigning champion and intends to be that next year too...

(stage 4) things went wrong for both Kubica and Evans. Kubica hit a tree and ripped off a wheel.

Evans rolled off a slope after missing a braking point. The repeat of the Silves stage (Stage 5) provided new drama. Latvala who had his share of Portugal problems in the last years, again did not make it to the finish unscaved. “In a lefthander we went wide,” said the Finn. Before I get it back on track we hit a big hole, went on two wheels , then hit a bank and started to roll…” After 2009, 2010 and 2012 this was his fourth big crash here.

Two stages later it was Meeke’s turn. His sick codriver Paul Nagle warned him by reading “Elfyn’s corner” but that did not help. The Irishman rolled off at the same spot as Evan’s did that morning.

Dani Sordo handed Hyundai it’s first scratch, and was even leading the rally, But a broken driveshaft ended his succesful drive.

Rally Portugal / Rally review

Hirvonen In the meantime it was Mikko Hirvonen who seems to have finally found his rhythm again. At stage seven he grabs a scratch propelling him into the overnight lead.

Business as usual On Saturday everything is back to normal. Hirvonen reinvented his fighting spirit and fought like a lion but it was not enough for an Ogier in good form, so halfway the day he is back in front again and by the end of the day the Frenchman had built an insurmountable lead again. Meeke’s car was beyond immediate repair and he couldn’t restart. At Volkswagen they had to use some very heavy equipment to straighten Latvala’s battered Polo. A fork lift truck eventually did the trick and the Finn could restart. At M-Sport the mechanics had to do some overtime as well but in the early morning Elfyn Evan’s car was back in shape again. Compared to that, re-attaching a wheel back onto Kubica’s car was peanuts and the Pole could also restart, only to slide off again on Saturday . For Ott Tanak Saturday was a bad day. His initial result of the rally was near perfect and on Saturday he held a non-expected third place. But on the third stage of the day the infamous Malhao stage he went off in the

same corner where Latvala went off in 2009. Tanak luckily was bounced back onto the road but his car was not fit to start again for the final day of action.

Full house for Ogier Sunday was more for the record. Ogier’s lead of 38 seconds was enough and on the Frenchman preserved his tyres for the final test, the Loulé PowerStage. On this stage he was 3 seconds faster than teammate Latvala and 4 seconds faster than Østberg so he could add another 28 points to his championship’s quest. Mikko Hirvonen stayed on top of things and was second. Mads Østberg was too fast for Mikkelsen in fourth. A fine fifth place was the final result for Henning Solberg who enjoyed himself thoroughly.

Back North?

Perhaps this was the last time the rally was in the Algarve region. At this moment there are lots of talks about moving north again. For all kinds of reasons Porto will not be the host city but the organizers are looking for a suitable rally HQ north of Lisbon so that classic stages like Fafe and Arganil could bring back some memories of the original Portugal Rally. In June the organizers hope to know if the rally moves back north.

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Three different makes completed the podium. Ogier won again (of course) while Mikko Hirvonen refound his groove to take seconds. Mads Ostberg completed the podium for Citroën

Rally Portugal / Round-up

Round-up Jipocar Czech National Team

Volkswagen

Things are looking up for Martin Prokop.

After disappointments in Monte Carlo and Sweden he finally scored his first points in Mexico. He had another good solid run in Portugal adding some more championship points.

The German manufacturer is still well on the way for a new success.

Ogier won the rally and PowerStage thus grabbing some additional points. Latvala still hasn’t been freed of the Portugal jinx and did not score points and Mikkelsen took a precautious approach bringing him a well-earned fourth place.

Enough to now share the third/ fourth place with Mads Østberg.

Jari Matti Latvala is now almost one rally win away from Ogier.

M-Sport World Rallyteam

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The Cumbrians had mixed feelings about the Portugal outing. To start on the positive side, Mikko Hirvonen seems to have found his family again. The warm bath that M-Sport has always been to him seems to have its effect again.

Second spot here was not because others hampered, but because the Finn was doing well.

We hope he can continue this way to put some spices in the championship. Elfyn Evans did not have a good rally. After his violent off he had to find his rhythm again. In the end he was performing half way the top ten. The (semi) privateers like Tanak and Solberg initially per-

formed very well but Tanak went off, a bit like in his earlier M-Sport days. Reaching the top spots doesn’t seem difficult for him.

Staying there till the finish is still an issue. A welcome comeback was there again for Henning Solberg. He improved his last appearance in Sweden (7th) by being fifth here an achievement. It hopefully paves the way to a more extensive programme for this year. On the entry list for Sardinia we found his name and Ilka Minor seems to be fully booked for the whole WRC season as Evgeny Novikov found out when he was asking her to be his co-pilot for Finland.

Rally Portugal / Round-up

Citroën

RK M-Sport World Wally Team

Though Mads Østberg is performing well with another podium finish, at Citroën they do look a bit worried. After Meeke’s very good Monte result the number of points he scored in the last three rallies is one! The team is still second in the FIA Team’s standings but there is a huge gap to the VW Motorsport team. And in order to score in this list both drivers have to perform well.

If you want to finish first, you first have to finish, we said last month. Unfortunately that still applies to Robert Kubica. On Friday he went off and lost a wheel. On Saturday he again went off, this time trying to get back onto the road he demolished his clutch and internal damage prevented him from coming back the next day. Two crashes in one rally is a bit too much. And the Pole agreed: “I think I must somehow reset myself and try to approach rallies the way I did at the very beginning, twelve months ago.”

Hyundai

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The Korean team made a huge effort and came to Portugal with three teams: Neuville and Hänninen in the regular team and Dani Sordo in the ‘N’ team. Sordo was fastest of the lot, scoring two scratches that even brought him in the lead of the rally; a premiere for the Hyundai team.

Unfortunately a broken driveshaft on the last day threw the Spaniard (then

in fourth place!) out of the rally. The other drivers also had their share of trouble. It’s important for the team that two cars made it to the end. (Neuville in 7th and Hänninen in eighth) But more important was the fact they could gain some more valuable information and have even been able to see the positive result of changed settings.

Rally Portugal / Final result 19/42

Final Result 1.

Ogier-Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC 3:33:20.4 2.

Hirvonen-Lehtinen Ford Fiesta RS WRC +43.2 3. Østberg-Andersson Citroën DS3 WRC +1:12.4 4.

Mikkelsen-Markkula Volkswagen Polo R WRC +4:50.5 5.

H. Solberg-Minor Ford Fiesta RS WRC +5:10.2 6.

Prokop-Tománek Ford Fiesta RS WRC +8:27.2 7.

Neuville-Gilsoul Hyundai i20 WRC +8:32.3 8.

Hänninen-Tuominen Hyundai i20 WRC +8:51.6 9.

Al-Attiyah-Bernacchini Ford Fiesta R5 +10:14.7 10. Ketomaa-Lindstrom Ford Fiesta R5 +10:26.3 10.

Meeke-Nagle Citroën DS3 WRC 3:11:49.1

Rally Portugal / Standings

Championship standings (Drivers) 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Ogier Latvala Ă˜stberg Hirvonen Mikkelsen Neuville Evans Bouffier Prokop Meeke

91 points 62 48 36 36 21 20 18 18 17

Manufacturer standings

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1.

Volkswagen Motorsport 144 points 2.

CitroĂŤn Total Abu Dhabi World RallyTeam 75 3.

M-Sport World Rally Team 60 4.

Hyundai Motorsport 45 5.

Volkswagen Motorsport II 40 6.

Jipocar Czech National Team 20 7.

RK M-Sport World Rally Team 4

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JWRC vs DDFT / Rally-eMag

jwrc vs ddft

two junior trophies

In Portugal two special trophies started their season. The Junior World Championship (JWRC) and the Drive DMAC Fiesta Trophy (DDFT). Both trophies aim to attract young drivers who want to earn some experience on the highest level of competition in rallying.

junior wrc Why two trophies? Of course the JWRC is the official world championship for young drivers. It is a series that is organized by the FIA. In 2011 the championship’s name was changed to as WRC Academy but since this year it is back to its old (and better!) name. Initially the choice of cars was free within a series of classes. Since the initiation of the WRC Academy however, the series became a one make only series. In those days M-Sport did the best offer and prepared a Fiesta R2

for the competitors in the Academy. A special department of M-Sport was built in Poland and from there the Fiesta’s would conquer the world. The drivers only saw their car at the rallies.

The total maintenance of the car was part of the deal and was done by M-Sport.

The three-year contract ended in 2013 and from then on new offers were asked for. This time Citroën Sport was the lucky winner. They proposed a Citroen DS3 R3 as the weapon of choice for the next three years.

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JWRC Entrants Molly Taylor Jan Černý Martin Koči Panikos Polykarpou Quentin Giordano Stephane Lefebvre Sylvain Michel

Australia Czech Republic Check Republic Cyprus France France France

Christian Riedemann Alastair Fisher Kornél Lukács Simone Tempestini Simone Campedelli Aron Domzala Frederico Della Casa

Germany Great Britain Hungary Italy Italy Poland Switzerland

JWRC vs DDFT / Rally-eMag

Programmes Both trophies will roughly run the same programme; the kick off was in Portugal. After that the competitors have to tackle two more gravel rounds in Poland and Finland Then both series will conclude on the asphalt events in Germany and France. The JWRC will then go to Wales for their final round.

personnel, spare parts, entry fees and administration, racing insurance, accommodation, etc.

All the competitors will use identical Michelin tyres and FIA fuel, which are also included in the service provided. The champion will be rewarded,” as they continue on their site. “ With a six-round WRC2 programme in 2015 at the wheel of a Citroën DS3 R5. Information from the DDMFT site tells Prices and prizes us that the winning driver will be The total costs of the Drive handed a full seven-round seaDMACK Fiesta Trophy are, as son of WRC 2 competition using Malcolm Wilson said, ‘less than a Drive DMACK Ford Fiesta R5.

GBP 100.000’. The costs for a JWRC season are not gener- No matter what trophy a driver ally known. The Citroen site just selected, the young talent can be claims all costs will be fixed for sure that they know beforehand the whole season… or, as they what the costs will be and that say on their website: we will pro- they may expect a well equipped vide the drivers with a “turnkey” trouble free season. All they have programme for a fixed price, in- to bother about is driving as fast cluding provision of the car, team as possible.

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DDFT Entrants Nicolas Amiouni Lebanon Tom Cave UK Ghislain De Mevius Belgium Quentin Gilbert France Szymon Kornicki Poland Yeray Lemes Canary Islands

Sander Parn Allan Popov Nils Solans Jose Suarez Leo Urlrich Max Vatanen

Estonia Russia Spain Spain Canada Finland

drive dmack fiesta trophy When M-Sport heard that the JWRC was awarded to Citroën, they immediately took action and talked to tyre supplier DMACK. Overnight a new cup was founded, the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy. The principles with the junior championship are the same: provide a chance to talented drivers to gain experience on a global level. Also this should be done in a cost effective way. “We think we’ve been able to just that,” said M-Sport’s Malcolm Wilson. “By keeping the costs under GBP 100.000. This is very cost effective, especially if you consider the prize to be

won: a seven round WRC campaign in 2015 in a Fiesta R5.”

Before the opening of the entries a maximum number of twelve competitors had been fixed. After the closing date there were more than twice that number.

“This is going to be a tough process,” Wilson proceeded. “Now we have to pick the ones who can compete. But the fact we have so many means we can a good look at the quality and geographical spread of the contestants. But one thing is sure we will have a fantastic championship.”

ERC: Acropolis Rally / Overview

Acropolis Rally

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Based in: Loutraki Date: 28-30/03/2014 Number of stages: 13 Shortest stage: Loutraki 16.13 KM Longest stage: Aghionori – 23.63 km Total stage distance: 239 km Surface: Tarmac/Gravel

ERC: Acropolis Rally / Rally review

A new roar After the infamous 205 T16, the ultra successful 206 WRC and the slightly less remarkable 207 S2000, Peugeot unleashed its newest rally monster in Greece.

The 208 dons the iconic T16 mark as its iconic early predecessor did. Can it duplicate the success as well? Craig Breen and Kevin Abbring will get the chance to prove its potential in the ERC this season, starting in Greece.

Words: Steven van Veenendaal

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Images: FIA ERC

ERC: Acropolis Rally / Rally review 26/42

Kevin Abbring got of to a very good start, but his fortunes were short lasting.

A smooth start The Acropolis rally is one of the best known events in the world after featuring on the WRC calendar for decades. During the WRC days the rally built a reputation of being a real car wrecker.

The rough gravel roads with its large stones combined with temperatures often rising well over the 30C mark make for a perfect recipe for disaster for cars partaking in the event. This year though, things are a bit different. The event is still located around Loutraki but it is part of the ERC rather than the WRC. This provided the event organizers the opportunity to be a bit more flexible with the route layout.

The opening leg consisted of six all-asphalt stages, very different from the rugged gravel roads we are used to seeing here. The asphalt pro-

Fastest on the first stage, but after a puncture Bouffier was forced to play catch up.

vided a slightly less demanding start for the new Peugeot than the gravel would have, although debuts will never be easy for cars. The homologation of the car had been delayed due to issues with the cooling system making it all the more interesting to see how the car would perform in competitive action.

Settling in?

Anyone thinking Peugeot would quietly settle in to the event to nurse the car on its first competitive mileage was very wrong. Bryan Bouffier managed to win the opening stage in his Citroën DS3 RRC but after that he was hampered by a puncture and there was no stopping the Peugeots. Kevin Abbring won the second stage to give the car its maiden stage win and moved into the

lead. Not to be outdone by his Dutch teammate Craig Breen fired back on the next stage to gain his first stage win of the rally. At the first service halt the Peugeots held an impressive one-two with Abbring leading and Breen in second. Happy faces around the Peugeot Rally Academy camp then, spearheaded by a broadly smiling Kevin Abbring “The car has been perfect, a big surprise because it is so new. Me and the entire team can be very happy and I’m really pleased to be back competing at this level and being competitive too.” Coming out of service Abbring continued right where he left of with another fastest time on the fourth stage, opening up a five second lead over his teammate Breen.

ERC: Acropolis Rally / Rally review

All good things… … come to an end. Despite winning the fourth stage, Abbring was worried and for good reason.

Suspicious fluids were leaking from his car causing concern on wether or not the car was going to survive. The answer came sooner rather than later “We had an overheating problem in stage number five and we stopped to try to fix it but we couldn’t find anything. After the stage we were forced to stop completely to prevent any further damage.” Game over for Abbring who had impressed many with his pace but was unable to capitalize on his performance. Abbring’s misfortune though propelled Craig Breen into the lead.

His second stage win of the day came on the sixth and final stage of the day to increase his lead to 14.7 seconds over second placed Bryan Bouffier.

It’s me, usually The new Peugeots were the talk of the town on day one, and the other championship regulars were left to figure out how they could have been so fast. Second placed Bryan Bouffier did not have to look far to find the answer. “I made a mistake. It was written in my pacenotes that I have to cut a corner. I followed my pacenote but, unfortunately, there was a rock inside, it was completely my fault. On stage three I was a bit optimistic on the braking and went straight on at a hairpin so the second mistake from my side“.

Very honest of the Frenchman who found some positives too “. In the afternoon it was quite good and I have to be happy with this tricky day on this tricky rally.” Third belonged to Kajetan Kajetanowicz who was all smiles at the end of the

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Small mistakes frustrated Bouffier who felt he should have done better.

day “I am happy to be here between these guys.

It was a really fantastic day for us and absolutely crazy with these stages.“ Those stages, new and unknown to most turned out to be both very slippery and very fast, a lethal combination. The high speeds generated on the stages left Esapekka Lappi frustrated behind the RRC/R5 drivers. His Skoda Fabia S2000 is not turbo charged unlike his rivals, and he was suffering from it. “This is more or less the speed we can do and if I push more I will crash. For sure my lack of experience on tarmac makes a difference and I don’t have the confidence but also we don’t have the turbo compared to the others.”

Finns are never really at home on tarmac, so when the gravel came Lappi was happy.

ERC: Acropolis Rally / Rally review 28/42

Dust to dust For the final day of the rally the action returned to the familiar gravel. Punishing as these stages are, we were expecting to be in for a few surprises.

They did not really materialize though.

Up front Craig Breen kept his cool and did a perfect job of defending his lead.

He never lead by much, just over 20 seconds max, but never let Bouffier or Kajetanowicz get close enough to become a real threat. The fact that Bouffier and Kajetanowicz were duking it out for second makes it all the more impressive. At the finish Breen was both delighted and relieved “I can’t describe it. It’s been the perfect weekend. We didn’t really know what to expect when we came here. Of course we have done a lot of kilometers in the car over the last year but rally cars have a habit when you put the stickers on of doing this you don’t expect.“ He is right on that one, as Kevin Abbring’s car clearly did not perform as hoped, but still, finishing one out of two brand new cars is not bad and winning on a car’s debut is nothing short of spectacular!

Best of the rest Behind Breen the fight for second was well on between Bouffier and Kajetanowicz. As Bouffier is former regular of the Polish championship, the two have met many times before in tight battles and knew very well of each other what they were capable of. This knowledge eventually decided the battle. Trading stage wins between each other the second place went back and forth between the two. That was until the second loop of stages commenced and Bouffier showed a skill all too familiar to Kajetanowicz. “We know Bryan is very fast on the second lap.” And indeed Bouffier was very fast, expanding his lead over Kajetanowicz to well over half a minute in just two stages. He was so fast that he even gave Breen a fright as he neared the Irisman to just 8 seconds. In fourth Esapekka Lappi had a rather uneventful rally as he was unable to match the pace on the fast asphalt stages of day one and could not fight back on the gravel either. Fourth than provided a solid result.

ERC: Acropolis Rally / Final result 29/42

1. BREEN (IRL)-MARTIN (GBR) PEUGEOT 208T16 R5 2. BOUFFIER (FRA)-PANSERI (FRA) CITROËN DS3 RRC 3. KAJETANOWICZ (POL)-BARAN (POL) FORD FIESTA R5 4 .LAPPI (FIN) FERM (FIN) SKODA FABIA S2000 5. MAGALHÃES (PRT)-MAGALHÃES (PRT) PEUGEOT 207 S2000

2:21:20.2 + 8.1 + 42.1 + 1:33.0 + 4:40.0

6. GRYAZIN (LVA)-EREMEEV (LVA) 7. ORSÁK (CZE)-SMEIDLER (CZE) 8. RAOUX (FRA)- MAGAT (FRA) 9. TARABUS (CZE)-TRUNKÁT (CZE) 10.CONSANI (FRA)-LANDAIS (FRA)

FORD FIESTA S2000 SKODA FABIA S2000 PEUGEOT 207 S2000 SKODA FABIA S2000 PEUGEOT 207 S2000

+ 6:11.8 + 7:51.2 + 9:08.6 + 9:18.4 + 9:52.9

Standings ERC: Acropolis Rally /

Championship standings

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1. Craig Breen Peugeot 208 T16 2. Esapekka Lappi Skoda Fabia S2000 3. Vasily Gryazin Ford Fiesta RRC 4. Kajetan Kajetanowicz Ford Fiesta RRC 5. Robert Kubica Ford Fiesta R5 6. Bryan Bouffier Citroen DS3 R5 7. Vaclav Pech Mini Cooper JCW S2000 8. Raimund Baumschlager Skoda Fabia S2000 9. Sepp Wiegand Skoda Fabia S2000 10. Beppo Harrach Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9

63 59 48 44 39 30 30 24 20 20

ERC: Circuit of Ireland / Overview

Circuit of ireland

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Based in: Belfast Date: 17/19-4/02/14 Number of stages: 18 Shortest stage: Lisburn – 1.13 km Longest stage: Bronte Homeland – 29.02 km Total stage distance: 230 km Surface: Tarmac Image: FIA ERC

ERC: Circuit of Ireland / Rally review

Bumpy circuit Craig Breen gave the Peugeot Rally Academy team the dream debut for the new Peugeot 208 T16 in Greece. Coming home to Ireland, Breen was the outright favourite to take another win.

Championship regulars Lappi, Wiegand and teammate Abbring were looking to spoil Breen’s homecoming and perhaps the other local star, Robert Barrable could throw in a surprise.

Words: Steven van Veenendaal

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Images: FIA ERC

ERC: Circuit of Ireland / Rally review 34/42

Abbring was full of smiles before the event, but they quickly faded when technical issues again forced his retirement.

The unsinkable The Circuit of Ireland is full of picturesque locations. In front of Belfast City Hall the drivers pass the start ramp to move to the service park situated in the Titatinc Quarter where the infamous ocean liner was built. From there the route moves into the countryside featuring some of the trickiest tarmac stages in the world. After the recce all drivers spoke with enthusiasm and respect about the stages. The fast tarmac roads are narrow and full of bumps, which continuously throw the car around on and off the track. Lappi compared the stages to those in his native Finland “I am used to crests from back home in Finland but they are usually covered in gravel and a bit wider roads.

Now they are so narrow roads and fast.” It may

Lappi jumped into an early lead.

sound daunting, but Craig Breen assured the challenge made the rally all the more enjoyable.

“You have jumps in Finland but here you have to be so much sharper. There is no better feeling and it’s going to be a pleasure for everyone this weekend.”

The unbeatable Craig Breen might have been the fan favourite for this rally, it was Esapekka Lappi who drew first blood, and then some. The opening loop of the rally consisted of five stages and Lappi clinched victory on all of them to move into an unbeaten lead. Behind Lappi the fight was on between Craig Breen and Kevin Abbring for second. Behind them another fight quickly developed be-

tween the two top local drivers, Robert Barrable and Sam Moffet and another ERC regular Sepp Wiegand.

The broken Disappointment once again found its way to Kevin Abbring. Challenging Breen for second all morning long, Abbring found his car hampered with cooling problems again on stage seven. A broken radiator ended his challenge in similar fashion to his end in Greece. His demise promoted Barrable to third and Wiegand to fourth after Moffet overshot a junction on the final stage of the day and lost 15 seconds in his fight for third.

ERC: Circuit of Ireland / Rally review

Anti-climax After an exciting opening day the stage was set for a great fight for victory between Lappi and Breen. Unfortunately the outcome was decided rather sooner than later. A sensor-fault on the car caused an off for Craig Breen on the very first stage of the day. Breen was unable to continue effectively handing victory to Lappi. The main task for the young Finn from then on was to bring the car home safely as he had a lead of well over one and a half minute.

More trouble Behind the leading duo three drivers were in the mix to claim the final podium spot. Two locals in the form of Barrable and Moffet tried to fight of the German challenge of Sepp Wiegand. It was soon down to one Irishman to defend home honors though als Moffet suffered a pressure fault on the second stage of the day, ending his rally. Wiegand felt confident of his chances “The roads today are not so specialist as yesterday. In Germany you don’t have such crests – on the roads the crests are away.

Today is more easy to drive and we can have a little push.”

Inching closer Barrabele opened the fight to Wiegand on the opening stage of the day, adding six seconds to his. Throughout the day though Wiegand mounted his challenge, setting four fastest stage times in the process. Barrable wasn’t going to go away without a fight and countered with very quick times as well. Wiegand had the edge, but Barrable held on to a lead. After Barrable extended his lead to fifteen seconds on the opening stage, Wiegand beat Barrable on all following stages by slender advantages inching closer to within seven seconds of Wiegand. At that point Barrable finally faltered under the pressure and went off the road. “The tyres started to go off a little bit and we exited the stage left through a gate, which thankfully had already been opened by a competitor on the previous run of that stage.” Luckily surviving that incident without more than a ten second time loss Barrable decided to settle for third with just the final stage to go. This allowed Wiegand to claim his well-deserved second place “Today was more easy to find a better rhythm and I am really happy with second place and to be on the podium with ‘EP’ (Esapekka Lapp, ed.). It’s really nice for the team and a really good result for us.”

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Like teammate Abbring, Breen did not make it to the end after a strong start. After a long and hard fight with Sepp Wiegand, Robert Barrable settled for third.

ERC: Circuit of Ireland / Rally review

Czech galore In the end the Circuit of Ireland proved a fruitfull expedition for the Czechs. Lappi and Wiegand provided a one-two for Skoda and Jan Cerny added to the festivities by winning the Junior ERC classification, albeit in a Peugeot. Cerny faced stiff opposition from Kris Ingram who was leading the Juniors in his Twingo Evo R2 untill he crashed heavily and was forced to retire. Cerny felt bad for his colleague, but was happy to take the victory none the less. “We really wanted to beat him but not like this [with him crashing]. We are really sorry for him but it’s rallying and sometimes it can happen. We were pushing maybe too much because we lost some time in the corners but we won and it’s great.”

Robert Consani is continuing his learning curve of four wheel drive cars with another solid result as he piloted his 207 S2000 safely across the treacherous Irish roads to finish a respectable fourth overall. Neil Simpson rounded out the top five in his Skoda Fabia S2000. The Production Cup honours stayed in Ireland. Josh Moffet, Sam’s brother won the class in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX well over two minutes ahead of his nearest rival and in sixth overall.

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Another win for Jan Cerny in the Junior Championship.

Consani clinched fourth in his fourth event in a four wheel drive car.

In second, Sepp Wiegand completed the Skoda 1-2.

ERC: Circuit of Ireland / Final Result FINAL RESULT

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1. LAPPI (FIN)-FERM (FIN) 2. WIEGAND (DEU)-CHRISTIAN (DEU) 3. BARRABLE(IRL)-LOUDON (GBR) 4. CONSANI (FRA)-VILMOT (FRA) 5. SIMPSON (GBR)-MOLE (GBR) 6. MCKENNA (IRL)-KIERANS (IRL) 7. MOFFETT (IRL)-ROWAN (IRL) 8. CERNY (CZE)-KOHOUT (CZE) 9. GREER (GBR)-RIDDICK (GBR) 10. BESSUN (HUN)-NYIRFÀS (HUN)

SKODA FABIA S2000 SKODA FABIA S2000 FORD FIESTA R5 PEUGEOT 207 S2000 SKODA FABIA S2000 CITROËN DS3 R3T

MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX

PEUGEOT 208 R2 CITROËN DS3 R3T HONDA CIVIC TYPE-R

2:06:15.5 +1:50.0 +1:57.5 +5:34.0 +6:33.5 +10:46.5 +11:00.6 +12:57.4 +13:50.1 +15:04.1

ERC: Circuit of Ireland / Standings

Championship standings

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1. Esapekka Lappi 2. Craig Breen 3. Sepp Wiegand 4. Vasily Gryazin 5. Kajetan Kajetanowicz 6. Robert Kubica 7. Bryan Bouffier 8. Vaclav Pech 9. Robert Barrable 10. Raimund Baumschlager

Skoda Fabia S2000 Peugeot 208 T16 Skoda Fabia S2000 Ford Fiesta S2000 Ford Fiesta R5 Ford Fiesta RRC Citroen DS3 R5 Mini Cooper JCW S2000 Ford Fiesta R5 Skoda Fabia S2000

98 69 48 44 39 31 30 25 24 22

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag

Bas’ ForMyFriends

Estoril beach. Was the first time here and this is 100 meters from the ceremonial start at Thursday. Had some lovely sardines there.(Thx Keiko) Bas Romeny travels the world to watch the WRC. Between his eyes and the rest of the world he usually holds a camera. You can see the results of that throughout this magazine.

During events he often he sees ‘other things’ than rally cars going over crests. He decided to send a selection to his rallyfriends. And this section he shares them with all his friends at Rally-eMag. Here he shows you his observations and his thoughts at the moment he took the pictures.

Every time I see a company car of Hyundai, and see this licence plates, I think of …uhhh what was it again?

Oja, Alzheimer..

Making lots of uproar with his chainsaw. That’s what fans do. Gives a nice overview of Portugese people.

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No botox.

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag 40/42

I am not necessairily a fan of sundown photography, but Villamoura harbour looks pretty good huh?

After last stage: body language.

JML only racked the 2 points from Power Stage, while Ogier took the maximum points..

As an admirer of all types of Toyota Landcruisers, this would be mine to go to rally’s. When I am 75 and stop WRC, that is.

In Portugal, Maria ‘received’ 6 kids?? Or is this Snowwhite and her 6 dwarfs??

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag 41/42

At an American race scene, they would yell: ’show me your tits’ but hey we are in Portugal, and this is a different world.

Meeke flying into the start..

??

Me at work during podium at the Stadion.. My first 001 tabard ever! (thx David)

see you next time