Rally-eMag 020 July 2014

the future of the wrc Issue 20, July 2014

wrc+

ALAIN

PENASSE WILSON MALCOLM

WRC: ERC:

Monthly News Wrap-up & For my Friends

finland estonia

finland is famou

s for its lakes

Image: Bas Romeny

the rally of finla nd of course, is famous for it s jumps!

Image: Bas Romeny

big crowds des

pite ominous clo

uds

Image: Bas Romeny

jari matti gets s ome expert adv ice from finnish leg end ari vatanen Image: Bas Romeny

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Rally-eMag July 2014 / Contents

This month Who made it?

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

Photography: Bas Romeny, Timo Anis

Who helped?

Logo design: Minse Blom Backcover artwork: Dam Charles Distribution: Issuu.com

Who we thank!

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

How to reach us?

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

WRC Rally finland

feature The future of the wrc

feature wRc+

erc auto24 Rally estonia

Finally a Fin Finishes First...

Interviews with Alain Penasse and Malcolm Wilson

A review of the new WRC+ platform

Page 42

Page 12

Page 24

Page 37

To cut, or not to cut

Rally-eMag July 2014 / News

This month’s wrap up

Kuipers returns to WRC

Portugal back north

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In the hayday of Rally Portugal the event was held in the north of the country. The immense popularity of the event eventually caused its own downfall. Crowfds could no longer be controlled and the event was removed the WRC calendar. After a five year absence the rally returned in 2007 but at different venues in the Algarve region in southern Portugal. The crowd numbers were significantly lower and the new region and the event organizers deem the time right to move the event back north.

Although the exact route is not yet determined this brings about the possibilty to reinstate the infamous Fafe stage as a genuine part of the rally. Currently the stage serves as a warmup to the real rally with the Fafe Rally Sprint being held one week in advance. It will also be interesting to see if the old mixed surface character of the event returns. Portugal was a genuine mied surface rally with full gravel, full tarmac en 50/50 mixed stages. The return thus holds a lot of promise, let’s hope it can live up to them in a sensible way.

Image: Bas Romeny

Dutchman Dennis Kuipers will make his return to the WRC this year. The comeback well over a year after his last appearance in Portugal. 2013. Kuipers enjoyed mixed succes but did record the best ever result by a Dutchman when he finished fifth overall in 2011’s Rallye de France.

Dutchman. “Rally Germany is one of the best to me. The stages are varied and it’s (almost) my home event. The fact that there are so many Dutch flags lining the route makes it extra special to me. I’ve been out for a while and the level of competition in the WRC is extremely high. So I will try to build my pace steadily and go So far Kuipers has scheduled two ral- from there.” lies for his return, the upcoming Rallye Deutschland and the Rallye de France in Kuipers will be partnered by Belgian coOctober. He will use an M-Sport prepared driver Robin Buysmans.

Fiesta WRC for both rallies.

Returning in Germany is special for the

Image: Steven van Veenendaal

Rally-eMag July 2014 / News

Grönholm joins VW

Toyota rumors

“To get behind the wheel for the world championship-winning team is obviously a great opportunity for me.” – Marcus Grönholm.

For months now Toyota Motorsport has been working on the development of the Toyota Yaris WRC. The first tests were held in March and recently the car faced extensive test mileage on tarmac for the first time. Toyota itself remains reluctant to give any information on a possible date of entry in the WRC, or even if they will join

Toyota itself (not Toyota Motorsport) was building their own WRC car in the form of the GT86, although Makinen built the version we saw in Finland. Toyoda brimmed with joy as he spoke after doing a few stages with Makinen, “Toyota has a huge heritage in the sport and I want to bring Toyota back. Only I am just the manager,

the championship at all. It is clear that the brand is interested in rallying, as the new rear wheel drive Toyota GT86 R3 will debut on the coming Rally Germany.

so I don’t decide! I am going back to Japan now and will try to convince the rest that we should return to WRC.”

Wait, what?

Volkswagen surprised the rallying world when they announced that former double World Champion Marcus Grönholm would join the team. Did Marcus enjoy his stint at the ‘Helsinki Battle’ so much that he wants to return to WRC action? Hold your horses, he will not partake in any competitive action but will support the team with the development of the car as a test driver. Team boss Jost Capito seemed happy enough: “Thanks to his indepth understanding of technical aspects and his analytical skills, he will be able to provide our engineers with valuable input.” Grönholm seemed to share the excitement by adding “I am really looking forward to having the chance to work on the further development of what is currently the best rally car out there.”

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So no white smoke yet, but things are Then suddenly in Finland the excitement looking good for a Toyota return to the multiplied. Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda was WRC. What car it will be is also unclear. on site and guest co-drove for Tommi Mak- The Yaris is the mass seller and seems inen over selected stages. The car they the logical choice, but a true WRC spec were driving? A four-wheel drive version coupe would be the stuff of dreams… of the GT86. Rumors quickly spread that

Rally Finland / Overview 12/53

Rally Finland

Based in: Jyvaskyla Date: 31/07-3/08/14 Number of stages: 26 Shortest stage: Super Special Stage Harju, 2.27 km Longest stage: Lankamaa, 23.44 km Total stage distance: 360.82 km Surface: Gravel

Rally Finland / Rally Review

Finally a finn finishes first in Finland The fans in Finland have been deprived from a home win since 2010, when Jari Matti Latvala secured his last home victory.

Three French victories by Loeb (2) and Ogier (1, in 2013) made the local fans hungry demand a new home-win. This heavy burden was on the shoulders of two men: Latvala and, to a somewhat lesser extent on Hirvonen.

They are both previous winners but could one of them beat Ogier in his present form?

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Bas Romeny

Rally Finland / Rally Review

Popular demand Finland for a lot of people is one of the absolute highlights of the WRC season. Not only for the drives but especially for the home crowds. Portugal and Mexico and, more recently, Poland have their fare share of enthusiastic fans lining the stages and the service park. But historically Finland is home of rallying with Jÿväskÿlä as the capital of the WRC. Still the last few years there has been a certain drop in popularity. Where formerly only people either Finland or Sweden had a chance of winning, but Carlos Sainz and Didier Auriol broke the spell in 1990 and 1992. After that Juha Kankkunen, Tommi Mäkinen and Marcus Grönholm set things right again and Markku Märtin was considered a man from the North. So from 1993 until 2007 the Finns were master on their own turf again. Then came Loeb. His first victory was in 2008, Hirvonen and Latvala stopped him in 2009 and 2010, but since then it has been either Loeb or Ogier who won here. The Finns simply love rallying and they can very well appreciate a good fight between several good drivers, even if they come from

abroad. But in the end this fight should not prevent a real Finn from winning! Therefore they no less than demanded a home win.

Mission So the pressure was fully on the shoulders of JML. After his mediocre performance in Poland, he had to pick himself up and find some new self-confidence. “I did not have the right mind set in Poland,” he confided. This is why it took me a long time before I had the right set-up. By then I was too far behind for a really solid finish.

My fifth place was not what I had in mind for the finish when I arrived in Poland”. But there was still quite a strong memory of the disastrous event in 2009, when he bumped into a barrier, losing all his chances for a very good classification. “So for Finland there can only be one goal and that is winning! It’s a bit of a platitude but you can rightly say JML was a man with a mission.

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The Finns were convinced JML would win ...

Rally Finland / Rally Review

Hurrah it’s raining!

Where normally rally drivers don’t like rain as it makes the roads slippery, in Finland the opposite is true. The rain binds the top layer of gravel to a mixture that offers much more grip than the usual dry gravel. Or as Latvala said it: “The rain just before the start really helped. It made our grip much better than expected.” But JML always is kind to others as well and added: The weather’s great for us rally drivers but not so good for the spectators.” Any way from the word GO! It was clear that the battle would be a Volkswagen battle again. Where in Poland it was Mikkelsen, who made life difficult for Ogier, in Finland it was Latvala’s turn to do the same. And he really set of to do just that. Helped a bit by the rain he flew over the first few stages. The first two stages were for Latvala, on the third they were equal. Onhte final stage of the day, the first running of the Harju

stage, situated in the inner city of Jÿväskÿlä the homeboy made a tiny mistake and touched a barrier. It cost him some bodywork of the Polo and 0.8 seconds. But the result of the day was that the Finn led by 4.5 seconds.

to continue. Thierry Neuville was next. He went wide and touched ‘something’. He lost part of his rear wing, and that caused his aero dynamics to be completely spoiled. Not a good thing on the super fast Finnish roads. But the drama wasn’t over yet as upon arrival back in the service park, Meeke the FIA safety inspectors concluded the strucOn Friday the battle simply continued, but anoth- ture of the role cage had been compromised and er driver also reports for duty. Kris Meeke who, so it was game over for the Belgian. before getting off the road, made a brilliant impression last year on this event, felt very much at The next Friday victim was a Hyundai as well: home and really mingled in the Volkswagen bat- suffering from a slow puncture, Juho Hänninen tle, by putting his Citroën DS3 between Latvala came out of a right-hander a bit to fast, spinned and Ogier on the leader board. and rolled his car. “As you can see the car is less than perfect now,” the Finn joked. But at least Friday’s dramas he could continue his route, be it without a windEarly on Friday drama struck for Robert Kubi- screen that had been shattered in the process. ca. After only 1.6 kilometres, his Friday quest His roll cage wasn’t damaged so after repairs he stopped after he slid of the road and was not able could fight for his chances again.

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Hanninen was doing well before rolling his car bu t luckily could contnue .

Initially Ogier wasn’t happy because of his early starting position, but the rain helped a bit.

Rally Finland / Rally Review

Kris Meeke was quite happy, he even landed on the podium

Martin Prokop The Chech driver was not so lucky. In the second running of Kakaristo, a shorter version of the infamous Ouninpohja stage he crashed. In service the FIA safety delegate said the roll cage was still OK, but the service crew saw no possibilities to repair all the damage.

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Latvala in control Apart from a big morning scare, “I was in a ditch quite long”, admitted Latvala. “I must admit my heart missed a few beats!” but for the rest of the day the Finn’s progress went according to plan.

At the end of the day he was leading the rally. A somewhat grumpy Ogier had lost some time and

Jari Matti Latvala had an early scare in the Harju PowerStage, but his encounter with a strawbale just caused cosmetic damage.

was in third with Meeke as a surprise runner up.

“I hadn’t expected this” said a delighted Meeke.

At the finish Ogier was philosophical: “Tomorrow another rally starts for me. I will not be sweeping the road. Oh no that’s not true, FIA wants me to clean the road, so that’s alright!”

Latvala consolidating?

No clouds in the sky for Latvala. On Saturday too he built on is lead. When six out of ten stages had been tackled, Latvala’s lead over arch-rival Ogier had grown another ten seconds to over half a minute. On run two of the Jukojärvi stage a lot of drivers complained about a big hole. Both Ogier and Meeke touched the hole but with minor dam-

age. Latvala’s luck seemed to have ran out on him and he complained of brake problems. Consequently he lost 11 seconds on the stage. He had to do emergency repairs but the rest of the day the Finn had to struggle with a three wheel braking system. One of the front wheel brakes did not work as a caliper had broken.

Damage control The remaining stages just meant damage control to Latvala. Especially a rather long downhill section of the penultimate Himos stage is very tricky if you only have three brakes. With an enormous effort he managed to reach the day’s finish in Jÿväskÿlä.

Rally Finland / Rally Review 17/53

His 31-second lead had shrunken to 3.4 seconds! “I did not come here to lose the rally,” said a determined Latvala. ”So I had to hold on, I’m happy we’re still in the lead, so tomorrow we we can still fight for the victory!”

gins since quite a long time: 3.6 seconds. Ogier was all smiles again. No sulking about road sweeping anymore. He had enormously enjoyed the last day’s battle and hugged his teammate at the stopfinish of Rally Finland’s last stage. Meeke was a happy third. “I hadn’t expected this and I think this is my best ever result in a rallycar!” So everybody was happy at the finish of Ruuhimäki. Three drivers and especially the thousands of Finnish fans who got what they came for: another Finnish victory!

Østberg Mads Østberg had a difficult start to Rally Finland, but slowly he found his rhythm.

Unfortunately his rally came to an end at the midday service after he collided with a rock on the Leustu stage just before the service. The impact was so violent that his roll cage was bent, as a FIA official found out.

Perfect Powerstage Ruuhimaki is almost the Sunday Thriller perfect PowerStage. It looks As Latvala promised, he like it’s been made for live fought for his victory. On the television. It’s the perfect first run of Ruuhimäki, later length, it’s got a lot of drato be run as PowerStage, he ma in the form of enormous took back 1.6 seconds of his jumps and some nice flat out lost time. Stretching his lead corners. The Finnish broadto five seconds. Ogier retali- caster YLE was a pioneer in ated and brought the Latva- this field. We saw the first la lead down to 3.7 seconds attempts to a live TV stage again. some ten years ago! This year not only the few local So Ruuhimaki had to bring fans that were not lining the the conclusion of this epic stage, could follow the acbattle. Ogier stayed cool and tion on their TV screens but grabbed the scratch, a de- people all over the world tremined Latvala followed at could see it via WRC + 0.1 second and won the ral- (More about this you’ll find ly with the smallest of mar- elsewhere in this edition).

Mads Ostberg had a difficult start and eventually did not make it to the end of the rally.

There were quite a few people awaiting the Finnish winner

Rally Finland / Round-up 18/53

Round-up M-Sport World Rallyteam The Cumbria outfit came to Finland full of anticipation and confidence. They baptized the new face on the Fiesta and they even built a completely new car as a birthday present for former winner Mikko Hirvonen.

Secretly Malcolm Wilson thought they had a chance to fight for victory here. So at the end of the rally he was openly disappointed. He even said Mikko did not like driving anymore. If you don’t like your work you cannot do it properly,” he said ominously.

This is especially significant as, when we spoke to him in Poland, he said he’d seen back the smile on Mikko’s face again. Elfyn Evans did what he came for: to gain more experience. Hampered by punctures and the likes he never was on winner’s pace.

But he did finish his rally and got a lot more experience that is extremely valuable especially in such a high speed event

Jipocar Czech National Team Finland was not a happy event for Martin Prokop and just like Poland he probably wants to forget Finland as soon as possible. Right from the beginning he had problems of finding his pace.

Then he crashed his car in such a way his service crew had to throw the towel, so no championship points.

Volkswagen World Rallyteam Even more than in other rallies Volkswagen made the rally. This time it was the Ogier/ Latvala battle that no one, could or would ignore.

The Finnish driver proved to be the better driver in his home soil. This caused some rocky patches in the relation between the two drivers. As Ogier makes clear at any occasion he is not happy with his road position. In Finland however, we heard it a bit too often.

Even Latvala reacted in an unfamiliar way. “Okay in this stage he may have lost a little bit due to his road position, but partly that is just

in his head. If you think the road position is the cause of your misery you forget to focus on your driving and to do something about it!” he said like a true mental coach. Perhaps he involuntarily revealed the secret of his Finland success. He was focused on the things he can do, on enjoying it and not to give up if there is a glitch in his progress. The amount of determination he showed was striking, especially if you compare it to the lack of it in Poland.

Mikkelsen was on the pace but refrained from mingling his teammates fight.

Rally Finland / Rally Round-up 19/53

Hyundai Motorsport N team

Citroën Meeke was completely on the pace. At the start of the season he had already predicted it: “In the second half of the season I’ll be OK. Well not only did he he win his third podium here, but also it was a podium well deserved.

It was based on pure speed and therefore he was probably right in saying: “this was the best drive of my career!”

Haydon Paddon drove a very promising rally. Never far away from, and sometimes even faster than teammate Hänninen, he delivered a solid performance. Unfortunately on the last day his pace was compromised by a faulty power steering, but Hyundai had two cars at the finish and well within the top ten.

Mads Østberg was struggling from the start.

“I was feeling quite good in the car,” said the Norwegian, but the times were telling something else.” He tried to change the set up but it did not help.” On day 2 he seemed the have found his grips. At the end of the day he was in fifth, behind Mikkelsen but in front of Hirvonen. But a heavy landing on the last stage of the Saturday stages damaged his roll cage.

For the second time in two rallies a FIA technician took him out of the rally because of a compromised roll cage! “Very disappointing,” was Østberg’s somewhat superfluous comment before rushing off to his hotel.

RK M-Sport World Wally Team

Hyundai Shell World Rallyeam After the three-car finish in Poland the Korean outfit was aiming for the same result in Finland.

But it wasn’t to be. On stage five Neuville first collided with a rock and as a result of that with a tree. In the process he lost his rear wing and with it most of the aerodynamics, but worse was yet to come. In service the FIA technical delegate explained the roll cage had been ‘irreparably damaged’.

So game over for the Belgian.

Hänninen was doing well in his home event. A puncture caused them to roll on stage six. They had to do emergency repairs, like kicking out the shattered windscreen and lost quite a bit of time. They could, however continue and at service the roll cage was inspected and approved by the FIA technical delegate.

Kubica made it through the first day unscaved. But 1.6 kilometres into the second day he crashed again, ripping a wheel of in the process. He made it to the finish after his Rally 2 start on Saturday, although he almost went off in front of the live TV cameras on the last stage. “We gained a lot of experience,” he said. And that is about he could say.

Rally Finland / Results 20/53

Final Result 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Latvala-Anttila Ogier-Ingrassia Meeke-Nagle Mikkelsen-Floene Hirvonen-Lehtinen Hänninen-Tuominen Evans-Barritt Paddon-Kennard Solberg-Minor Kruuda-Jarveoja

Volkswagen Polo R WRC 2:57:23.2 Volkswagen Polo R WRC +3.6 Citroën DS3 WRC +50.6 Volkswagen Polo R WRC +1:52.5 Ford Fiesta RS WRC +2:49.

Hyundai i20 WRC +4:29.0 Ford Fiesta RS WRC +5:25.8 Hyundai i20 WRC +6:17.8 Ford Fiesta RS WRC +12:07.0 Ford Fiesta S2000 +14:44.7

Rally Finland / Standings

Championship standings (Drivers) 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

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

187 points 143 95 66 62 54 46 42 31 26

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Manufacturer standings 1.

Volkswagen Motorsport 305 points 2.

CitroĂŤn Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 130 3.

M-Sport World Rally Team 106 4.

Volkswagen Motorsport II 94 5.

Hyundai Motorsport 88 6.

Jipocar Czech National Team 34 7.

RK M-Sport World Rally Team 21 8.

Hyundai Motorsport N 12

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Rally-eMag / Interview

the team managers In our series ‘The future of the World Rally championship’ we started with the promoters and last month published interviews with ERC’s Jean Baptiste Ley and WRC’s Oliver Ciesla. This month we talk to two team managers Alain Penasse of Hyundai Shell World Rallyteam and Malcolm Wilson of MSport World Rallyteam. That means a relative newcomer and some one who said, “I’ve been in the sport too long!”

Of course just past the halfway point we also took the opportunity to discuss the development of their teams during the 2014 season up till now.

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Bas Romeny

Rally-eMag / Interview

Alain Penasse We meet with the Hyundai team coordinator in the sumptuous motorhome that clearly indicates the Korean manufacturer is quite serious about it’s the rally program.

Alain Penasse Is: Team manager at Hyundai Motorsport.

How did your programme develop in the first half of the 2014 season?

We’re quite OK. We hadn’t expected to be here to be honest. We all thought it would have taken a bit longer and that the gap with the competition would have been a bit larger. So in that sense we’re definitely happy. But we should not forget that we built this team in nine months time and that is very short, in all honesty maybe even too short! But we took the challenge so all of the sudden we found ourselves in Monte Carlo. There we had a rolling start and you notice that you have such a last minute start. Then you’re bound to notice that you need a few months to bridge that gap.

Why is it that nine months is too short?

We had to start the whole thing from scratch, build a factory, hire personnel, build a rally car, test the car and of course homologate it. All in al it was a bit short.

OK, Hyundai wanted it this way. They wanted us to do the normal test year in competition rather than do it outside the limelight. So that’s the way we do it.

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Did they fully realize what they were doing?

I don’t think so, but I have to add to that I can’t really

say it is bad to do it this way. OK as a result of not testing enough you may find us beside the track a bit more often, but with Rally 2 it’s now perfectly possible to start again the next day. So everything considered it has not been such a bad choice. The only thing is that the media and spectators might sometimes forget that we are doing our test year in competition and that everyone thinks “Ooh Hyundai retires again, they have a technical problem.” Few people understand it takes so long to get everything ready.

But the car looks to be fast…

That’s true and we do compare it in every field. For example we opted for Michelin tyres in the same configuration as the other teams for the simple reason we wanted to see how competitive the car really is. If we would have done a year of testing and then would have met the competition we wouldn’t have had a clue where our car would be in relation to the competition. By now we do know that. All weak points we encountered during the rallies have been solved by the next event. Then of course new challenges surfaced, but I think all our teething problems are now history.

Of course we keep on testing so the evolution will not stop and on the first of July we implemented five jokers in several fields. That will certainly be a step in the right direction. The nose has been reinforced enormously and the same applies to the radiator and suspension. Also two jokers have been used for the engine. We have done these for a performance improvement but also for reliability and sustainability.

“Few people understand it takes so long to get everything ready.”

Rally-eMag / Interview

The car looks already quite fast

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“Ok by now we have some scratches and also a podium.

So it is not arrogant to say we are now ready for our next podium.”

What was your initial goal for this year?

Our original goal was to score some top five results and some scratches. OK by now we have some scratches and also a podium. So it is not arrogant to say we are now ready for our next podium. Our next goal for this year is to have three cars at the finish without the use of Rally 2. So we continue our test programme. But of course we are restricted to the 42 days that the FIA allows us. That is for the first team, for the second team we get an additional ten days.

You seem to have quite a lot of drivers, why is that?

Yes that is true. We did that because we knew we would have to do a lot of testing. We decided we did not want to use our drivers doing all thirteen rallies, for all the testing as well. Of course being a manufacturer driver also includes all kinds of other duties like PR functions, contacts to the media etcetera.

So we wanted to have some test drivers outside the limelight. We have a busy schedule ahead with testing this year’s car and of course we have to start development for the new car for 2015. So we need a lot of drivers for that.

We were quite happy about the work several drivers have done for us in the previous year so that makes things easier. They help our regular drivers a lot as the WRC calendar is quite busy. Just look at rallyweek, the pilots have to be there for recce and the usual other things like the PR functions. If we would add all the tests to that, the drivers would never be home.

Will you change that next year?

Well I think next year we will still need some extra drivers.

We haven’t decided yet if we will enter two or three cars next year so it all depends on these things. During the summer this should become clear.

... and feels at home in all kinds of terrain

Did you opt to run a third car because of the extra testdays?

Yes but also to get extra competitive mileage. If you drive with three cars you get feedback from three cars. We saw it in Monte Carlo. After three stages both of our cars were retired and if we had three cars, at least one would have still been running at that point. So yes then we said we will take another car. Also we feel it is necessary for a constructor to find and create opportunities for young drivers. So we decided to give a potentially good pilot a chance.

thought about a German driver, but we couldn’t find one and then we thought about Kevin. It proved to be a good choice.

This year it is a bit more complicated because of his ERC program with Peugeot but it’s still working quite well.

Let’s talk about the future of WRC, what do you think about the proposals?

Well I think at this moment everyone starts thinking about the possibilities. It’s fair to say not everyone is happy with the present concept of the WRC. It’s of course true that there should be more rallying on TV. But rallying just happens to We heard you also let Kevin Abbring do some testing? be a project that is hard to get on TV. Although I must say Yes Kevin is a good pilot and he does all of the rollouts of our that Eurosport with ERC seems to be doing a better job than cars before a rally. When you are developing a car it’s hard WRC with its promoter. to stick to a testing schedule. So we often had to re-arrange travel arrangements for our drivers. So we said we should How come? find a driver that lives within easy travelling distance of not Pff I don’t know… more than 300 kilometres form our factory. Of course we first

“We feel it is necessary for a constructor to find and create opportunities for young drivers”

Rally-eMag / Interview

Does the promoter realise it’s essential to the sport to be more present on TV? Yes I think they are aware of that. But it’s not such an easily sellable product. And of course Eurosport has the big advantage that they can show their product in their own shop window to start with, so they almost have global coverage with that. A few local broadcasters complete the picture. WRC doesn’t have its own shop window and therefore they have to find someone else’s and that seems to be a bit difficult.

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Why is it so difficult to sell WRC? Well to start with WRC is a very difficult product to sell. So you have the wrong idea if you think you can easily sell it.

There may be one or two daffy countries that absolutely want to have it and who want to pay a price but most of the countries don’t want it. Even if you give it away they are reluctant. If you look at a country like the Netherlands, you even have to pay to get it screened. Every country is different; there are countries where they are quite happy they get the product for free. Others say: “Do you want airtime? OK than you’ll have to pay” How can you make WRC more attractive for general TV audiences?

Look at the Azores coverage of Eurosport. That is a good example. You simply have to make a good production. You go from there. WRC productions simply seem to bea bit less attractive. Perhaps the guys from WRC should look over

the fence and see how others do it. This doesn’t sound nice but that is the reality.

Of course the promoter is new and you need some time before everything is right. But above all I think they need some new blood. If you would hire some new people, you get new ideas and other habits and then perhaps you can turn things around.

But there is a huge media company behind it; they certainly know how to manage media?

On paper I think they do. I think in the beginning everyone thought Red Bull Media House? They know how to make a production. But I sometimes have the feeling Red Bull Media House’s involvement in the story is only on paper. But it takes time and things are getting a little better already.

What do you think about the new proposals like the PowerStage Shoot out or whatever it is called?

Officially our position is still a bit behind the screens. But among the constructors we have understood by now that we all have to look in the same direction. If one wants blue, another orange or green or apple green, then we will never reach an agreement. So I think the constructors now came together to all have the same opinion. We made that clear to the FIA and the promoter, so I think it will be discussed internally.

Then I think we soon will get an answer a lot of criticism in the media and from that indicates in what way we will get what the fans and I think we should first come we want as constructors to a kind of agreement with all parties involved, the stakeholders, the FIA and Do you want something special for the constructors. So I’m not going to go the last day of a rally? deeper into this.

Yes I think we should have something for the last day. Everyone is saying that Ok, one more short question. What rallying will not be the same anymore. about pit-stops being part of a long But since the single service park has stage? been introduced, rallying was not the Well I think this is a dream. Argentina same anymore and everyone seems to proposed something like that but we be able to live with it. couldn’t possibly guarantee safety, I think that’s a stillborn child.

We must be a little bit flexible. Time goes by and products change. Cars of twenty- Than our conversation partner gets the five years ago are not the same as today signal that he should now be present at and look at cell phones. The first mobile a strategy meeting with his drivers. So phones included a battery that made our unfortunately that is the end of an interarm inches longer than your other arm esting conversation. in a few weeks. That was not practical either.

The DNA of Rally But to come back to the issue, Jost Capito’s story of last year was very extreme and therefore he got a lot of opposition.

Of course the other constructors are now involved in the story too and so it was amended. I think the plan that is now on the table is, let’s say much more consequent and much closer to the DNA of rally. But at the same time the elements of spectacle and surprise are in it. And I believe that’s a good thing.

So what is the plan now on the table?

We agreed not to share our thoughts with the rest of the world. You only get

Rally-eMag / Interview

the team managers We met the team manager of the M-Sport World Rallyteam in the hospitality unit of the team in the as ever, informal and relaxed atmosphere.

Again we started with a mid season review of the team, to continue about the future of WRC.

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Bas Romeny

Rally-eMag / Interview

Malcolm wilson How has the first half of the season been to you?

I think that, still to be here is quite an achievement, considering our position, the fact that we don’t have a title sponsor, we don’t have Ford Motor Company. But of course, you know it is our showcase for the business so it’s important that we are here showcasing at the highest level and that’s why we decided to bring back Mikko and also to invest in the future with Elfyn Evans. I just hope that we can still find a way to continue to be here next year.

We’re working towards that but obviously we need to have a sponsor on board so we are working very hard to try and locate a global partner as well.

Malcolm Wilson

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Is: Owner of team and constructor M-Sport

the good thing from our side is that we’ve got a lot of points where we can still improve performance, if we have to. Let’s first see how strong the opposition will be.

Is it more difficult to make a reliable R5 car than a WRC car?

Yeah for sure, that is purely because of what is governed by only the price of your components. You know, it’s difficult to make a steering rack for 1500 Euro’s or for whatever the price cap is. A manufacturer can take the decision to subsidize something. Obviously I’m not in the position to benefit from that, so we have to find a way to make everything work within the price brackets presented by Ford will not be coming back? the FIA. So probably as much time has been spent, No I don’t think so. In fact there aren’t any plans for on research on parts that will suit the application, sure. But don’t get me wrong; we still have a very as has been spent on actually designing the car in good technical relationship with them. That is very the first place. valuable to us, and we also got a lot of Fords out there, 55% of the entry here is Fiesta’s. Obviously I read somewhere that you were thinking of putfrom the commercial point of view we need it but ting some WRC drivers in the ERC? to have so many Fiestas competing at this level is I really would like to that, but again, unless things something that we are really proud of. change commercially, we won’t be in the position to do that, although I would like to do it…

One of these Fiestas is the R5. It is doing well if you compare it to other manufacturers?

Why? Yes but it’s quite a difficult task to build an R5 in the Again because it’s our showcase. I don’t spend any designated price range and to get the reliability and money on marketing other than this, this is my marthings like that. But fortunately we seem to be OK, keting tool these two cars and I would like to do the I mean we still got some small issues for sure but same in ERC.

“I don’t spend any money on marketing other than this, this is my marketing tool these two cars.”

Rally-eMag / Interview

The Fiesta is M-Sport’s showcase

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“We have to be realistic; we’re not in the position to challenge the likes of Volkswagen...”

Let’s go back to WRC and your driver’s line up.

Why did you choose to bring Mikko?

I knew that Mikko could do a very strong solid job for us and the position we were in, we needed to have somebody who could at least get some solid results. And we’re obviously not expecting any pressure given to Elfyn. Apart from that, obviously Mikko didn’t have a drive. We’ve always worked very well together. So we both decided between us: let’s try it. It’s an opportunity for him to re-establish himself and also I felt that he could do a solid job for us. And he’s given us some good solid results.

I mean we have to be realistic; we’re not in the position to challenge the likes of Volkswagen. So we have to look at how can we best deliver, with the tools that we have got. And the fit with Mikko I felt would work quite well.

Apart form the fire..

Apart from the fire… I think it took him a little bit of time to just get back in and get the confidence back but I certainly was happy with the pace we’ve seen in Portugal, Argentina, OK Sardinia did not last very long but at least I felt he is now more back to his old self. Now all I want is to see him happy and smiling again and I haven’t seen that for a couple of years so…

Did you see his smile back again?

Yeah, you can see it in his body language. He seems to be happy within himself and that is important because I know that if he is happy he will be driving well.

Mikko is happy and smiling again

Do you know what happened in Sardinia?

No, we know the fire started in the right rear wheel but whát started it we don’t know. The car is completely destroyed; I’ve never seen a car burnt out so quickly. Even the cylinder blocks had melted so there is absolutely nothing salvageable. We are getting some forensic guys to have a look. We know it started in the rear wheel, was it a brake pipe? Or was it a damper burst?

We don’t know yet.

You would like to know though?

I can tell you I was very concerned in Sardinia because I had another seven cars and obviously when you don’t know why…

I’ve had all the engineers take a look but unfortunately we could not yet figure out what happened because we never had that problem.

haven’t found anything.

Now we would like to proceed to the new WRC next year Is there going to be a new WRC next year? There is a lot of speculation. I think I’ve been in it too long…

But you don’t want to get out do you?

No I don’t ! No I mean what are you referring to exactly?

What we are mainly interested in is something like the shoot out stage.

Where do we start? Iinitially when it was talked about, about twelve months ago I was, it’s fair to say, not in favour but obviously since then there have been meetings between the teams, the FIA, the promoter and I don’t know if something is going to change. But I think we need to do something. Is what has been It couldn’t be just bad luck? proposed the right thing? As I said I’ve been in it too long, I don’t I always believe that if something goes wrong it’s not bad luck, know. It is important however that we don’t lose the DNA of rally it’s the start of an epidemic. But as I said unfortunately we and we don’t end up having fifteen Fafe rallysprints here.

“if something goes wrong it’s not bad luck, it’s the start of an epidemic...”

Rally-eMag / Interview 34/53

So what is the answer? I don’t know. We have to try it. You start to look at all kind of things, I mean when Sebastien Loeb was in rally, you could pick up any motorsport magazine and I’m pretty confident that 99% of the time there would be something that would hit you in the face: Sebastien Loeb. That is when he was still in World Rally. Now he is in WTTC. If you get any magazine now, you really have to look and you might find some news about him. So maybe rally is not too bad.

But I’ve got an open view and I am a lot happier about what‘s been proposed. At least there is some kind of advantage for the guy who led the rally so I just hope it works, and gives the sport what it needs.

But we have to be mindful not to lose sight of what the two days mean. That’s the important thing.

one. Say the length of the Powerstage is fifteen k’s, multiply that by 15 and you’re going to the final stage with a 0.5 seconds advantage.

Editor: Let’s make that a bit easier to understand by giving you the formula: Length of the rally up to the Powerstage (Rally length): 300 kms Length of the Powerstage (Powerstage length): 15 kms Advantage held up to the Powerstage (Initial lead): 10 seconds Divide the Powerstage length by the Rally length -> 15/300 = 0.05 Multiply this by the Initial lead -> 0.05*10 = 0.5 seconds

What do you think about the pit stop issue?

But if you say that something is good A pit stop is crazy, the teams have never for rallying what are we talking about? mentioned it. Nor has it been mentioned We hear so many different stories. in any of the meetings I’ve been in. That What is the proposal? is something ridiculous.

It is very much similar to what it is today.

Probably a couple of stages on Sunday We recently spoke to ERC promoter morning and then one Powerstage after Jean Baptiste Ley, he said: “You don’t which a calculation is done based on the need a shootout stage, you need to winning margin over the distance of the tell the story.” Do you agree?

Powerstage compared to what you have done the rest of the rally.

Well yeah for me there is more that could be done. With the footage, there is defiSo you need to be a mathematical ge- nitely a lot more that could be done. nius to understand what is going on?

No it’s really quite simple. You’ve done 300 kilometres and you’re ten seconds in the lead. You multiply that by zero point

So maybe rally is not too bad...

You’ve been in rallying quite a few years. Is it possible for you to explain your love for rallying to the promoter?

Yeah, they listen. There is no question about that. A lot of this has come about in discussions with the promoter, the FIA and the teams. We have had various meetings to try and come to a solution; everything has come onto the table. For me this is the best. I’m not saying it’s going to be perfect, I’m not saying it’s going to be good, I’m not saying it’s going to be bad. But from everything that has been presented at the moment it appears to me to be the best of what’s been talked about… If anyone else can come with a better solution than we are happy to listen to him or her.

Can you sell this to your drivers?

Yeah the drivers were, like I was initially, but they have come back with a lot of good points and in principle our drivers seem to be OK with it. But I think you’re right. It’s about explaining it and getting it across to the public. I think that any true and hardcore rally fan is going to reject to it but as I say we don’t know how it will work out.

But does this bring the excitement that they want?

I totally agree that so much more that could be done. If you see what Eurosport can do. And we need that because we’re in a more difficult situation than anyone else so we need to raise the global awareness to create a return on investment. That means return on investment for my sponsor and as you can imagine if

these plans achieve that I’m all in favour of it, as I want to stay in this business Is TV going to bring that?

Well it’s how sponsors and manufacturers measure the return on investment.

The thing is that the tools they use are the TV figures. That is for manufacturers and also for sponsors Is the internet important?

Yes, if ever a sport was made for it, it’s rally. There is no question about that.

The numbers are growing but you still need the platform of TV as well.

You still need it to attract he casual fans?

We need to grow; we need to grow the sport; we need to grow the return of investment. We’ve got a solid fan base but we need to look to grow in other area’s to get the non-rally people. We can provide them the excitement that makes them say ‘wow this is exciting’ by having a battle down to the final stage the Powerstage. I just know we need to improve the return on investment. Otherwise the sport will not survive.

Martin Holmes said the sport would always survive...

Yeah he’s probably right it will always survive but for me we still need to increase the return on investment and reduce the costs so that rallying can survive at this level….

Feature / WRC+

WRC+

WRC+

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Is: The new online platform launched by WRC Promoter.

Last month we published an interview with Oliver Ciesla. As managing director of WRC Promoter GMBH he told us about his plans for the future of the sport. The inevitable discussion about the Powerstage shoot-out came about but Ciesla was much more enthusiastic about something else. At the time he kept us in the dark and merely advised us to “follow WRC.com closely the coming weeks”. So we did, and we were not disappointed. Right before Rally Finland the new WRC+ platform was launched promising to be the ticket to the world’s toughest motorsport and provide us with the full WRC experience. So let’s take a look and see if WRC+ lives up to its potential.

What is WRC+?

WRC+ is an online platform that delivers various forms of content (to be discussed further on in ‘Features’) about the WRC. The service is subscription based and costs just under five euro’s a month.

Being a web-based platform, the content can be accessed worldwide; all you need is a fast internet connection. Furthermore it is a cross platform system and works on your computer, laptop, tablet and smartphone.

The platform was launched with the tagline “Your full WRC experience”. So what exactly does that mean, full WRC experience? According to WRC+ the following four features do the trick: Live stages, live maps, on-board action and full highlights. This combination gives to viewer the opportunity to follow all the action, right as it takes place. Let’s take a closer look at these features to see if the promise holds true.

Feature / WRC+

Live stages Perhaps the most spectacular feature of them all, the live stages section does what it should do, provide live footage of the stages. It is a massive logistic operation to broadcast an entire WRC stage as the venue is usually stretched out over multiple kilometers. It’s a bit like following a cycling race like the Tour de France, only the WRC cars travel a tad bit faster. Another issue is that the cars do not run as a group like in circuit racing and there are usually multiple drivers on the stage at any given time. All of them are at different sections of the stage, meaning the director has a tricky job of switching between teams at the right times to capture all the action.

which all live streams at some point tend to have. From a technical point of view, the live stages worked like a charm with stable and usually high quality video.

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The second aspect of a good live stream is the content itself. To cover the live stages WRC+ uses cameras on the ground, in helicopters in the sky and onboards in the cars themselves. Combined these three provide enough footage for excellent coverage of the stages. Both stages were quite short and took not much more than three minutes. With slightly prolonged starting lapses between the teams (up to three minutes) this allowed us to follow the cars Given the difficulty of making these broadcasts it is no surprise that not all through the entire stage before switching to the next, which had just started. stages were broadcasted on the live feed. In Finland two different stages were Live commentary is included with the live streams and in Finland local hero broadcasted, the Harju stage in downtown Jyvaskyla (broadcasted twice) and and ERC leader Esapekka Lappi provided co-commentary. Obviously Lappi is the Powerstage, Ruuhimaki. The stream was smooth and barely ever stutno commentator but he does have a lot of knowledge about rallying so when tered. When the connection speed dropped, rather than freezing the feed, he spoke, he usually said interesting stuff. The expert eye of Lappi added to quality dropped back a notch to a lower quality. Once the connection was fast the fun as he could see by the way drivers were tackling corners how commitenough again, you were right back at the HD level. This made for an enjoyted they were. Near-offs were welcomed by a cool Finnish “ Hoooo…”. able experience as quality drops are much less annoying than freeze-ups,

So was it all good then? In general, yes. The stream was steady, the images were good and the commentary was fun. The only slight issue in Finland were the somewhat messy end of stage interviews. Some were shown while others weren’t and there were times when we were slightly disappointed not to hear the driver after the stage. Another remark is that the Harju stage is not really representative of the rally itself and the Ruuhimaki stage is quite short. This meant very small time differences between the drivers especially given the second half of the stage, as Lappi put it “Now it’s all flat out from here, you can’t make any time anymore.”

Live maps The other ‘live’ feature of WRC+ is Live Maps. It allows fans to follow the drivers at all times during the event. Each car is fitted with a tracking device and a dot is projected on a map to indicate where the car is. The dot moves along in real time so you can follow the cars as they go about from the service park to the stages and of course on the stages as well.

Perhaps this is a feature for hardcore fans but we thoroughly enjoyed it.

You can select a stage, which then highlights on the map. A digital version of the maps all rallyfans who have travelled to events know. The dots move toward the stage start and the excitement builds as you see the dots gathering near the stage start. When it’s go time the dots start moving faster as the teams tackle the stage. It’s a great way to follow everything that’s going on. Sometimes it can be a bit deceiving though. The tracking system is not smooth enough yet to see the dots move in continuous flow. Every now and then they halt and zip to a spot further down the stage after a few seconds. At one point we thought Latvala had stopped in the stage when one of these pauses took a bit longer than usual. All in all a nice feature although it remains to be seen how long it will remain interesting, especially for mainstream fans.

Feature / WRC+

On-board action A slight disappointment was the on-board action. We thought it would be a live stream, which it turned out not to be. However the onboard footage is uploaded quite quickly after the stage is completed. Imagine coming home from work on Friday, not knowing what happened at the rally. You can select your favorite driver and relive all stages of the day on-board.

All top cars are fitted with the cameras enabling most fans to follow their heroes.

It is quite tricky to see just one car as apparently, you’re supposed to watch two cars simultaneously. The screen is split in three sections, two on-board video feeds and the map. We were unable to figure out how to see just one car on-board. The only solution turned out to be going to full screen mode, but that meant the map was not visible anymore. Getting the correct sound was also somewhat of a challenge. One sound stream is played and switching between either of the cars can be a bit of a menace.

are half an hour, except for the full recap, which is an hour long.

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For many people these shows are already available on regular (pay) TV. The advantage WRC+ brings to them is that it enables viewers when they want to watch, no more waiting for those late-night timeslots. As soon as the editors finish a show it is made available online and you can start streaming whenever you like. There is a far bigger advantage though for those less fortunate, living in countries where The on-board action is displayed with a map the WRC highlight shows are simply not broadalong the side enabling you to follow the car’s casted at all. For years now the lack of TV availprogress through the stage as well. Want to see Full highlights ability has been the main critique on the WRC a particular section? Just click on the map and The final feature of WRC+ is the inclusion of promoter. The inclusion of the highlight shows the footage fast forwards to the selected spot. all official highlight shows. In total there are at in WRC+ gives the opportunity to fans across This is actually a very handy feature as onleast five for all events. About a week before the the world to see those shows. However highboards can be a bit long and many people will rally the preview is released, followed by a high- light shows on a paid web page are still not the tune in to see the most spectacular parts like light show for each day. One or two days after same as the extremely accessible TV. big jumps or crashes. the rally, the full recap is released. All shows

WRC+ /Verdict 41/53

Verdict So when we look at all the pros and cons, what is the final verdict? To answer that question we first need to look at the goals the WRC Promoter intends to achieve with WRC+. On a high-level three goals can be defined. Give the fans the content they want, build on the fan base and finally give the teams the exposure they need to make reasonable returns on investments.

casual fans will spend much time watching dots move on a map, or sit through a twenty-minute on-board feed. Highlight shows and live stages are definitely interesting enough, but it remains to be seen how successful WRC+ will be in convincing people to cross that five-euro barrier.

There is no free trial system at the moment so a casual fan will have to spend at least five euro to try it for a month.

Of course we are dealing with a brand new system, so some teething trouble could be expected. In reality though there were hardly any. We experienced very few technical errors and got some solid video feeds. Equally important, the amount of content was very high and the quality very good. Therefore we feel it’s save to say that if you are a rally fan, you want WRC+. Simple as that. Sure there is room for improvement (more and longer live stages, live on-boards, better telemetric data with the on-boards just to name a few) but in general the content is very good.

Make sure to also tune into WRC Live to hear ‘Becs’ Williams, Colin Clark and George Donaldson provide the event long radio shows and you’re good to go.

That brings us to the next goal, creating exposure for the team. At the moment we don’t know the number of subscribers and of course you have to give a new platform some time to develop. At the moment though it seems a difficult scenario to attract vast amounts of people to WRC+ due to the issues we mentioned in the section before. The result is that the exposure of the sport will not dramatically grow.

For now, the audience will most likely be the core group of rally fans that were already very aware of the teams taking part in the WRC. Another

With regard to building the fans, things are bit more complicated. Sure, anyone who loves rallying is willing to spend a few euros on great content. But is the casual fan equally willing? It’s unlikely I’d spend five euro’s a month to watch tennis for example. Add to the mix the problem that many people still think everything online should be free of charge and you are faced with quite a challenge to attract the casual fans to the WRC+ platform. The current content is also primarily aimed at rally fans. It seems unlikely that

problem is that legal issues are preventing users from various countries to access the platform.

Countries on this list are the UK, France, Sweden and Norway among others, all of which have an above average interest in rallying.

So only one out of three goals met, is WRC+ a disappointment? Not in the slightest. WRC Promoter built a platform that provides a premier experience for rally fans. We thoroughly enjoyed all features that are currently available and they ran without trouble on the opening weekend.

From this they can continue building to draw in the casual fans as well, creating exposure for the teams in the process. The foundation has been laid out; now it’s time to build the palace the sport deserves.

ERC: Rally Estonia / Overview 42/53

auto24 rally estonia

Based in: Otepää Date: 17-19/07/2014 Number of stages: 15 Shortest stage: auto24 - Tartu City 1.33 km Longest stage: Saku – 28.77 km Total stage distance: 232 km Surface: Gravel

ERC: Rally Estonia / Rally review

welcome to estonia A new addition to the European Rally Championship this year, the auto24 Rally Estonia brings big, wide, flowing gravel roads to the championship. High speeds are guaranteed in the forests around Otepää! The official Peugeot Rally Academy team skipped Rally Estonia leaving championship leader Esapekka Lappi to duke it out with the local heroes. And they were plenty with Tanak, Kruuda, Kangur, Plangu and Körge forming a plethora of young talent eager for success on home soil.

Words: Steven van Veenendaal

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Images:Timo Anis

ERC: Rally Estonia / Rally review 44/53

Some regular ERC drivers opted to miss Rally Estonia, but there was plenty of local talent around to please the fans.

Newcomer The auto24 Rally Estonia is a newcomer to the ERC calendar. Over the past five years, when the event was first held, it has made a remarkably quick rise to fame. The stages around Otepää are quite similar to those at the WRC’s Raly Finland and as such the event managed to draw some top names, preparing for the WRC contender. When it was first held in 2010 the event was won by Estonia’s most successful rally driver ever, Markko Märtin who was succeeded by Mads Ostberg the two following years. Thierry Neuville also made an appearance here as he prepared for Finland. Now in only its fifth year

The Estonian landscape is similar to Finland, making the rally excellent training ground for Rally Finland two weeks later.

running the event secured a place on the Euro- corning after the finish to find yourself at the start pean Rally Championship calendar. of the next stage.

Fast and furious The nature and format of the event are sure to make it a drivers’ favourite in no time. The stages are fast, sometimes a bit too fast with sections of multiple kilometers in sixth gear. Combined with a smooth gravel surface and long flowing corners this makes for a great driver experience.

Throw in a couple of big jumps and well, you’re in driver heaven. Another plus of the event are the short road sections, some stages are so close to each other that it’s a mere matter of turning the

Not for all Not everyone was fond of the high-speed stages. Espekka Lappi for one felt it would be very difficult to keep pace with the front-runners. Being a Finn he was born for fast forest stages, but his naturally aspirated Skoda Fabia S2000 not so much. His rivals in turbocharged cars had a huge advantage on the high-speed sections and Lappi would have to utilize every bit of talent to stay up front.

ERC: Rally Estonia / Rally review

Man on a mission As the action got underway it became clear that there was one man, out on a mission. Ott Tänak blasted into the rally to set the fastest time on the opening four stages. The young Estonian had several WRC outings this season in which he proved his pace (fifth in Sweden and in the top three in Portugal before retiring), but the display he was putting on in Estonia was simply astonishing. One of his main rivals, Martin Kangur found out just how unrelenting these stages can be when he made a mistake on stage two, resulting in a heavy accident that ended his rally after it barely got started.

was until stage five when competition came from an unexpected corner. Russian Alexey Lukyanuk showed his tremendous potential when he won stage five. Winning a stage might not be that big a deal, but this guy did so in a Group N car amidst a field full of R5’s and S2000’s. Lukyanuk himself was quite relaxed about the whole thing “I have no secrets apart from trying to go as fast as I can all the way.” There then, the key to success in rallying? Just go as fast as you can, all the way. It brought Lukyanuk right into the thick of things, as he would battle Timmu Körge for second all the way to the finish.

Where are the regulars?

Who else?

The Estonians where dominating up front with It seemed as though Tänak would just cruise to one Russian thrown into the mix for good measvictory, winning all stages in the process. That ure. But where were the ERC regulars? The

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The brightest young star of Estonian rallying, Ott Tänak .

problem they faced was that most of them drove in S2000 cars. With their naturally aspirated engines they had no chance on the high-speed sections. This left Esapekka Lappi in fifth with no real fighting chance of even catching the Group N Mitusbishi’s in front. His main battle was with teammate Sepp Wiegand who was just behind him in sixth. Another ERC regular, Robert Consani found himself adrift even further, outside the top ten, proving that there is pleny of local talent around in Estonia.

“I have no secrets apart from trying to go as fast as I can all the way” - Alexey Lukyanuk

Who needs supercars anyway? Russian Alexey Lukyanuk proved that a standard Mitsubihi Lancer Evo X is capable of competing with the best of them.

ERC: Rally Estonia / Rally review

Will it start?

Overnight leader Ott Tänak had dominated the opening leg, but went to bed full of worry. Just before the final stage of the opening day the fuel pressure warning light suddenly lit up. He made it through the stage and was able to park his car in the parc fermé but was unsure whether or not his car would restart the next morning and make it through the 46 kilometer trip to the service area.

He could breath a sigh of relieve the next morning when it did. The car fired up and the problem (a leaking turbo) was handled at the following service halt. This freed the path to success and Tänak never looked back. He steadied his pace and controlled the rally from the front, never letting any opponent get too close for comfort on his way to victory. He seemed a bit surprised at his pace (or the lack of the opposition’s) but was happy nonetheless “Somehow we managed to have a really good gap from Friday and today was just enjoying so it was a really good event.”

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Best of the rest Behind Tänak a fierce battle for second eventually fell the way of Alexey Lukyanuk. The young Russian impressed many with his pace in the Group N Mitsubishi Lancer which excelled on the fast Estonian roads. Although Lukyanuk was impressive it’s unlikely we’ll see more of the talented Russian the rest of

the season. “It directly depends on these coins. As we don’t have any spare coins we can’t start any more events but hopefully these good results will help us to find the opportunity to find more support and do even bigger events next year.”

Eventually he held on to a slender margin of just over eight seconds over Timmu Körge who finished third in front of another production Mitsubishi Lancer, driven by Rainer Aus. He just pipped Lappi to fourth as the Finnish ERC leader had to settle for fifth five seconds behind.

Rather invisible the whole event Karl Kruuda managed to overtake Sepp Wiegand on the second day but could not be happy just to finish sixth on his home event. Murakas, Chardonnet and Sohlberg rounded out the top ten.

Timmu Körge (above) found himself sandwiched between the turbocharged Lancers of Lukyanuk and Aus (below). Eventually Körge had to settle for third behind Lukyaknuk but managed to stay in front of Aus.

ERC: Rally Estonia / Results 47/53

1. Tänak (EST)-Molder (EST) Ford Fiesta R5 2. Lukyanuk (RUS)-Arnautov (RUS) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 3. Körge (EST)-Pints (EST) Ford Fiesta R5 4. Aus (EST)-Koskinen (EST) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 5. Lappi (FIN)-Ferm (FIN) Skoda Fabia S2000

1:49:36.4 + 53.1 + 55.4 + 2:11.7 + 2:17.2

6. Kruuda (EST)-Jarveoja (EST) 7. Wiegand (D)-Christian (D ) 8. Murakas (FIN)- Adler (FIN ) 9. Cardonnet (F)-De La Haye (F) 10. Sohlberg (FIN)-Flythstrom (FIN)

Peugeot 208 T16 Skoda Fabia S2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Citroën DS3 R5 Ford Fiesta R5

+ 2:56.8 + 3:24.1 + 3:41.8 + 4:53.7 + 5:59.0

ERC: Rally Estonia / Standings 48/53

Championship standings 1. Esapekka Lappi 2. Sepp Wiegand 3. Craig Breen 4. Vasily Gryazin 5. Kajetan Kajetanowicz 6. Robert Kubica 7. Kevin Abbring 8. Ott T채nak 9. Robert Consani 10. Bernardo Sousa

Skoda Fabia S2000 Skoda Fabia S2000 Peugeot 208 T16 Ford Fiesta RRC Ford Fiesta RRC Ford Fiesta R5 Peugeot 208 T16 Ford Fiesta R5 Peugeot 207 S2000 Ford Fiesta R5

118 78 70 53 48 39 38 38 37 37

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag

Bas’ ForMyFriends

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.

Overwhelming clouds over Finland.

Barefoot on stage. Ever tried???

Tough girls.

If your mind is in WRC.. Thx Daniel.

More Gas. No Brakes.

The kid wonders what he is seeing.

I did my utmost to detect her, but I cannot find Ilka Minor.

50/53

‘It’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring’. Okeeee?

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag

Part of our job, removing superfluously grasses, and check.

06,07,08 and 09: The fab4.

Thanks David.

Friendly girls welcome you at Media room. How much nicer than the bored security guards in a lot of other events.

51/53

Great sticker, weird poster.

Could well be a crashed car from the first Finland rally.

That was in 1951. The year I was born. Duh.

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag

Uhhh?

The tree pushes his front wheel backwards..

Uhhh.

HUH?? (no Photoshop)

Jari Matti, he is a happy big kid.

Kris Meeke did an outstanding job, 3rd on podium.

52/53

Different brands of oil. A conflict of interest? Kroon oil is Dutch.

The new cross road Segway from Hyundai.

Ciao Bas!

see you next time...