Issue 30, July 2015
u s i s #
s ’ a l a latv t h g i l f l o o h sc
finland
estonia
kevin abbring Plus: The Dutchies, Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy, ForMyFriends
latvala put on a
n epic display in
Image: Bas Romeny
his home rally...
...and the crowd
loved it
Image: Bas Romeny
more and more reports are com ing in of sightin hyundais, this t gs of noseless ime sordo lost h is. didn’t stop h im from flying t hough Image: Bas Romeny
after shining in Image: Bas Romeny
poland, tanak st
ruggled in finlan
d
Rally-eMag
Your monthly dose of WRC reports, news and of course the best images of the most exciting sport on the planet. We strive to bring you the best possible emag about the WRC. To be able to do so we need your support!
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Rally-eMag July 2015 / Contents
This month Who made it? Publisher: Rally-eMag Words: Steven van Veenendaal, Harry van Veenendaal. Photography: Bas Romeny, Erik van ‘t Land
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? Email: info@rally-emag.com Web: www.rally-emag.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ emagrally Twitter: @emagrally Issuu: www.issuu.com/rally-emag
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WRC Rally finland
The dutchies
Another Finnish Victory
van Deijne, van den Brand and Burger in Poland
Page 11
Page 22
Column Kevin Abbring
feature drive dmack fiesta
ERC Rally Estonia
Life in the Fast Lane
Tarmac Fest
Got Speed?
Page 25
Page 28
Page 33
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Overview 11/43
neste oil rally finland
Based in: Jyvaskyla Date: 30/07-02/08/15 Number of stages: 20 Shortest stage: Harju, 2.27 km Longest stage: Ouninpohja, 34.39 km Total stage distance: 319 km Surface: Gravel Image: Bas Romeny
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Revieww
another finnish victory There was some temptation to copy paste our 2014 report of Neste Rally Finland, but that’s not what you would expect from us, so we wrote a new report although there were quite some similarities with last year’s proceedings. This year again it was a fraternal quarrel in the Volkswagen ranks that kept everybody on his toes. Ogier doesn’t need the points, but being as competitive as he is, always wants to win and Latvala really needs to perform well in front of his home crowd.
Words: Harry van Veenendaal
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Images: Bas Romeny
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Revieww
The teams Nothing new in the team department, everybody is there at his usual place. The only exception being at Citroën, where Khalid Al Qassimi is present again. At Hyundai they have ‘only’ three cars as Kevin Abbring has to wait until Germany before he can ride again. One privateer should be mentioned and that is Juho Hänninen. Last year he was still part of the Hyundai team, but now we see him back in a Fiesta WRC with strong Neste Oil (the title sponsor of the rally) backing. Early scare One man we do not see on the see on the starting list although he had been entered and that is recent Estonia winner Alexey Lukyanuk. The man who is currently third in the European Championship came to Finland for a test. During this test he
had a typical Finland accident. After negotiating a jump he landed in the wrong place and tried to compensate his mistake. However he over compensated and ended up on the other side of the road sliding off into a tree. Both he and co-driver Arnautov could get out of the M-Sport entered Fiesta, but at service the M-Sport crew came to the conclusion the car was beyond immediate repair, so no Lukyanuk at the start.
stick. His Hyundai had taken quite a beating. At the service it soon became clear the roll cage had not been damaged so the crew could start rebuilding the car, just like they did in Germany almost a year ago. At that occasion Neuville won his first WRC event, would this be a good omen? Meanwhile Østberg was fastest, followed by Mikkelsen, Kubica, Latvala, Ogier and Tanak. Kris Meeke this time managed to make it to the end of shakedown and his cautious approach Shakedown shunt earned him seventh place. Paddon, Evans and At shakedown there was another scare. This time Sordo completed the top ten. it was the Hyundai team where blood pressure momentarily reached top levels. Thierry Neuville Let the games begin! misjudged the grip levels and found he had to Like last year a superspecial stage had been brake earlier than expected. While going into a laid out in host town Jyvaskyla. Being a stage in left hand corner he simply went to fast and went a city it is not a typical example of what the drivoff. A tree stopped him but it broke like a match- ers could expect but it’s always a tricky stage
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A good start for a very jovial Mads Ostberg as he won the shakedown stage.
Less fortunate was Thierry Neuville who gave his team an extra challenge ahead of the event to reconstruct the battered i20.
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Revieww
and you have to be on full attack in order to stay into contention. The ever present camera’s of WRC+ caught a very interesting on board view of Jari Matti Latvala while preparing for the start of the stage. He seemed to perform a ritual including making funny faces and beating himself as well as the steering wheel. Obviously he was boosting his confidence in this way. But Harju is not his kind of stage. Last year he clipped something damaging his Polo, this year he did have a fairly clean run but het had to allow Ogier to draw first blood. He was fifth and lost 1.6 seconds. Not a lot but still…
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Monster day The Friday in this year’s Rally Finland was a monster. No service, just fuel and tyre changes were possible for the rest it was on long run over the infamous Finnish gravel paths. Two loops of four stages and finally a re run of the Harju super special. But the main course was the full Ouninpohja stage. This year the competitors have to tackle the full 34.39 kilometre of the stage twice. Some one calculated the cars are projected into the air no less than 77 times making it one of the most epic stages in the history of rallying. And though being a Finn, Latvala never seemed to be confident in the stage. This year was different. “Jari you lost some time”, said stage end commentator Colin Clark.
The WRC live reporter was met with a brilliant smile. “This is the first time I felt confident here. It was never one of my favourite stages bur now I know how to do it and I also know where I made some tiny mistakes so next run I’m going to make up for that!” he promised. At that time the difference between him and Ogier was 4.8 seconds in favour of the Frenchman. But the Finn kept his word. At the second running of Ouninpohja he passed his rival by beating him on this very stage. At the first running of the stage Latvala lost 0.4 seconds to Ogier. At the second occasion he won 5.4 seconds beating his own time by some 18 seconds! At the end of the day Latvala was leading the rally and consequently in good spirits. “I’m happy to be leading the rally and I’m especially pleased with my performance on Ouninpohja,” he said. “But it’s still a long way to the finish!”
Top to bottom: Neste Rally Finland 2015 would become a two-way fight between the Volkswagen boys. Ogier jumped out to an early but it wouldn’t take long for Latvala to strike back and set things up for a great battle right to the finish.
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Revieww
ment list was Robert Kubica After some earlier issues he had to throw the towel when Kris Meeke was doing well he managed to win the sec- transmission problems made it impossible for him to conond running of the Päijälä stage, however towards the tinue. Both Tanak and Evans made it to the end of the day end he had some transmission issues throwing him out but not without problems. After hitting a stone one of of contention. Still he managed to hang on to place 3, Tanak’s front dampers got before Østberg, Neuville and damaged and as there was no service, it was a survival Sordo. The first privateer run for him the rest of the was Hänninen who needed some time to find the rhythm day. Elfyn Evans had a similar problem after hitting a again but managed quite rock he broke part of his rear well by positioning himself suspension. He managed to in seventh. Not so lucky reach the finish of the stage was Andreas Mikkelsen. A and there performed an opdifficult morning ended in eration that earned him the a big roll al the end of the ‘mechanic of the day’ title. first loop. The result among He connected a broken part other things was a bent of the suspension by tying roll cage so for him it was a spanner between the two game over. Hayden Padloose ends. The suspension don ended his recent good had become a little more performances when lying flexible bit it brought him to in fifth place, when he too the finish of the day, some damaged his car in such a way it could not be repaired ten minutes behind leader in service. Also on the retire- Latvala. Behind the leaders
Top to bottom: Mikkelsen was struggling to keep up with his leading teammates until he ended a difficult Rally Finland in the trees.
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Even though Kris Meeke’s Citroen wasn’t running at 100% he was still the biggest rival to the Volkswagens. Creative engineering kept Elfyn Evans in the rally after hitting a rock in the Ouninpohja stage. His rear wheel may have looked a bit crooked, at least he stayed in the rally.
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Revieww
Cat and mouse The fight between Ogier and Latvala simply continued and the times did not differ very much, however as the day developed Latvala could walk away a little bit and at the end of the day he was still in first with a semi comfortable lead of just over thirteen seconds. Ogier would have to perform a miracle to catch his teammate in the remaining two stages. Casualty of the day was Kris Meeke. For the third time in three rallies he went off the road, damaging his DS3 in such a way, he cold not continue. Apparently the muddy conditions tricked Meeke. “I went over a crest and landed a bit wide,” he said. The I started to slide very slowly and was stopped by a tree. The speed was no more than perhaps 20 kilometres but it is my luck again that I hit the tree with a wheel that then came of…” Robert Kubica can
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Latvala and Ogier battled until the final stage...
easily understand Meeke’s frustration. After his bad first day he dis quite well on day two. He even drove a scratch, but on the last stage of the day he too was caught by the tricky weather conditions. 300 meters before the finish of stage 18 he wrecked his car in a frightening roll. Latvala makes it three! On the first stage of the last day Latvala grabs 0.9 second to add to his lead. Ogier of course tweaked his notes on this stage for the re run when it is the PowerStage. With the pedal completely to the metal Ogier starts the second running of Myhinpää. Absolutely flat out he flies over the stage improving his time by some 10 seconds. As last man of the top drivers Latvala also flies over the stage and he too improves his flying time by more than ten seconds. It’s not
enough to win the stage as he loses 0.4 seconds to PowerStage master Ogier. But it is more than enough to secure his third Finland win. “Finland is a win I desperately want to win,” he told us in Poland. “And Germany, Spain and GB as well.” It would probably not be enough to earn him the championship. But it would definitely be nice to see these kinds of fights in the rest of the season. Third man in the PowerStage was Meeke. It was hardly a consolation for his dramatic performances in the last three rallies but at least shows he does have the speed! Mads Østberg was no real match for the Volkswagen duo but at least he won some manufacturer’s points, so that Citroen could keep it’s runner up position. Neuville was fourth in a rally he never felt totally confident in after his shakedown off.
... but given this grin it’s clear who won in the end!
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Revieww 17/43
Round-up Volkswagen World Rallyteam These days the battle for top classifications is a Volkswagen battle. Ogier is always one of the fighters and Latvala or Mikkelsen are the challengers sometimes even both. In Finland it was Latvala’s turn. For some reason Mikkelsen did not have the confidence and started cautiously. When he was sixth, he wanted to heat up things a bit. Unfortunately he pushed a bit too hard and rolled out of the Homos stage, wrecking his Polo is such a way that a restart was out of the question. So it was game over for the Norwegian.
when he reached the stopfinish. He had finally found the perfect way to concur the 77 jumps. “I lost a bit of time but I know where and I know how to do that next time.” He kept his word. Though Sebastien Ogier did not relinquish, Latvala kept on winning back seconds if Ogier took some. At the end of Saturday the graphs showed Latvala an up going line for the Finn and Ogier accepted defeat. “Sometimes you have to except you can be beaten.” It was a quote so rarely heard from the mouth of the Frenchman that everybody repeated it. Of course his fighting (and calculating) spirit At that moment there was a fierce is never over. He let Latvala take battle between the other two VW some more seconds in the first colleagues. The pressure was on stage on Sunday. But, be it with a for the local hero. All Finns were very small margin, he did win the behind Latvala and were no less PowerStage. According to maththan demanding a win! Latvala was ematicians he therefore now could feeling well and completely conwin the championship. Mathematicentrated. Inboard images from cally they might be right but includthe start of the first stage show ing Ogiers’s German track record a Latvala bringing himself into we think the Frenchman has to wait a kind of trance. It proved to be a little longer. Apart from that Latworking. The battle was close but vala expressed his will to win a few the Finn was in control. The turnmore rallies this year. The first one ing point was the first running of was Finland, the second Germany, Ouninpohja. This stage had never so we hope that he keeps his word been Latvala’s favourite but now he again and at least keeps Ogier had it all right. Though missing the from grabbing the title in his emscratch by the smallest of margins ployer’s home event. to Ogier. He was broadly smiling
M-Sport World Rally Team
M-Sport has a good car and both Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak are able drivers. But unfortunately in Finland that did not become clear looking at the leaderboard. Both Evans and Tänak broke some suspension parts and had to limp through the Friday stages. It earned Evans the mechanic of the day award for mending a broken suspension using a spanner and some clips. At the end of the day that keeps you in the race and that is important to
gain experience but it doesn’t bring you victory flowers. Eventually Evans finished 12th. Tänak did reasonably well on the next two days and his determination was rewarded by a fifth place. But as always Malcolm Wilson finds some positives: “We’ve seen some great times from both drivers throughout the weekend which is really encouraging...”
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Revieww 18/43
Hyundai Shell World Rally Team We don’t know what it is but for some reason Thierry Neuville is not performing as well as he could be. His shakedown shunt was an example of that. A misjudgement can always happen and the battle for the top placings is quite fierce. But the thing is that he seemed to be affected. When about a year ago the same thing happened to him in Germany he seemed to thrive on it and won the rally. In Finland however he was lacking confidence. Luckily the feeling wasn’t lasting. As the rally progressed he did find some balance again and did some decent times. Eventually he was fourth, so a not a to bad result at all. But we seem to want and expect more of this very fast Belgian. But as we said a decent result that keeps Hyundai within striking distance of the Citroën team for the runner up position in the constructor’s championship. Asphalt ace Dani Sordo has never been very strong on gravel roads. But since quite some time he seemed to have found his gravel rhythm. However during the last few events he seemed to have fallen back again. Finland has always been a difficult rally for him but he followed his leader Neuville at a
Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT
After Poland Mads Østberg as well as Kris Meeke were complaining about the fact they did not get the chance to do a pre event test. In Finland they both did get the chance to get in the groove for this exceptional rally. And at least for Østberg it seemed to be working. He was smiling and talkative indicating confidence with the Norwegian. You could call his ride a sensible ride. Initially he experienced some damper settings that did not suit him. Once that was sorted out he started to climb the leaderboard to fourth place behind Teammate Meeke. When the rain came on Saturday he understood the hazards and slowed down a bit. It brought him a podium position and the title of best non-Volkswagen driver. not to big distance. But he went off and lost his sixth place. When finally fans pulled him on the road again he had lost so much time that at the end of the rally he was eleventh. Not a position he wanted. For him it’s good Germany is next. He will not have forgotten his last year’s runner up position, nor will his team that won their first WRC event and also their first double. After his recent excellent form everyone looked at Hayden Paddon. Especially as he performed very well in Finland last year, even challenging his Finnish team mate Juho Hänninen. Initially he delivered in Finland, as he seemed to out perform his colleagues in the Hyundai team. But his fight was over on stage six when he rolled his Hyundai, wrecking it in the same manner as Mikkelsen. And like his Norwegian rival the Kiwi too had to retire from the event.
Yves Matton invented a selection system for both his drivers. For the next three events they should build their own strategy and work accordingly. So the pre event briefing was a different one than normal. It was not Yves Matton who told his drivers what they should do; it was the other way round. The drivers explaining to Matton what they intended to do. After the three events Matton will decide about his drivers’ line up. We have not been at the briefing but we can be sure Kris Meeke’s strategy did not include the Jukojärvi incident. Perhaps the rain tricked him but the result was disastrous to his strategy. He crashed out. You may wonder why this happened because he had a fairly comfortable third place and the distance between him and Østberg was reasonably big (more than 50 seconds). Perhaps he hoped to catch the top duo, but crossing that over half a minute gap cannot have been his intention. However it was a mixture of bad luck (others bend a fender if they slide off and slam into a tree. He slams his wheel into that tree...) and his own spirit. (Always pushing). Matton stayed taciturn on the point and promised to wait until after the three events. “It is then when I will evaluate my drivers, until then they are on their own.” Perhaps that is why Meeke still sees some positive points. Maybe he means his speed. But we never doubted his speed. Let’s hope that somewhere during the next two events he finds some consistency, because that is what he desperately needs to survive in the Citroën team or even any other regular WRC ride next year.
Jipocar Czech National Team Being a private team it is always more difficult to do the same things as a factory team. But after two non-finishes in Finland, Martin Prokop thought it imperative to have a pre-event test here and he managed to do so. The test went well and he said it gave him a really good feeling also during shakedown. But confidence can play tricks on you and to prove this we found him in a ditch in the early stages of the rally. Spectators managed to get him out but he lost quite some time. Then he realized that if he wanted to stop the string of non-finishes here that he had to back off. This strategy paid dividend as he ended the rally in seventh.
FuckmatiĂŠ World Rallyteam Again Lorenzo Bertelli can show some desperately needed progress to his family who are backing his WRC challenge. In Poland he made it to the finish and for the first time without the use of Rally2. Although his heart must have skipped a beat at some occasions, he again did not need Rally2 and made it to the end. For the first time this WRC season he even scored a championship point. If this will be enough to secure his WRC future in 2016 still remains unclear but it is a start.
RK World Rallyteam Sometimes you wonder where people find their motivation. This absolutely goes for Robert Kubica. Every time he seems to find back his motivation no matter what happens. Unfortunately his Finnish performance was not a motivation booster. All kinds of technical glitches finally mad him retire on day one. He did come back the next day proving to himself that he could still be fast. But on the last stage of the day he was tricked by the very wet conditions and aquaplaned off the road where another frightful roll wrecked his car.
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Results 20/43
Overall final classification 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Latvala-Anttila VW Polo R WRC Ogier-Ingrassia VW Polo R WRC Østberg-Jonas Andersson Citroën DS3 WRC Neuville-Gilsoul Hyundai i20 WRC Tänak-Mõlder Ford Fiësta WRC Hänninen-Tuominen Ford Fiësta WRC Prokop-Tománek Ford Fiësta WRC Lappi-Ferm Škoda Fabia R5 Tidemand-Axelsson Škoda Fabia R5 Bertelli-Granai Ford Fiësta WRC
2h 33m 03.8s + 13.7s + 1m 36.8s + 3m 58.7s + 4m 29.3s + 4m 44.3s + 6m 20.3s + 7m 11.2s + 8m 52.2s + 9m 37.4s
Neste Oil Rally Finland / Standings
2015 FIA WRC Drivers’ Standings 1. Ogier 182 2. Latvala 93 3. Østberg 84 4. Mikkelsen 83 5. Neuville 70 6. Meeke 54 7. Evans 53 8. Tänak 50 9. Paddon 44 10. Sordo 39
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2015 FIA WRC Manufacturers’ Standings 1. Volkswagen Motorsport 257 points 2. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT 141 3. Hyundai Motorsport 139 4. M-Sport 126 5. Volkswagen Motorsport II 49 6. Hyundai Motorsport N 43 7. Jipocar Czech National Team 43 8. Fuckmatié WRT 9
Rally-eMag / The Dutchies
the dutchies
As we are based in The Netherlands, we’ve got to show some love for our Dutch compatriots tackling the WRC!
Words: Harry van Veenendaal; Images: Erik van ‘t Land
This being a qualifying event of the Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy we again find some Dutch teams in Finland. This means Both Mats van de Brand and Kevin van Deijne were present here. For van Deijne it is familiar territory as he was present here last year too. He then also drove a Fiesta R2 but did not compete in the DDFT, for the first time this year he was driving with co-driver Hein Verschuuren sitting next to him. Their main aim is to improve last year’s result, which means staying as close as possible to Max Vatanen as he was last year. For Mats van den Brand it’s his first visit to the land of the thousand lakes. “Watching television when I was a little boy made me dream about competing in Finland.” He confided. “And now I’m actually here. That’s a dream come true and I’m absolutely going to make good use of this opportunity.” Next to him we find Martijn Wydaeghe, who has the important task to read the notes. Third Dutchy is Kees Burger. He is Dutch but for him Finland is almost his home event as he does most of his rallying here. His notes will be read by local man Miika Teiskonen and they will drive a Subaru WRX STi.
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DDFT The rally did not start well for Mats van den Brand. As he said himself: “It was a silly mistake. I misjudged a pace note and went into a corner too fast. Then I hit a wall and and damaged my steering. It meant I could not continue. Of course the next day I could drive again as my mechanics could repair the damage, but chances for a good result were gone. After tis mishap he did some good times and was enjoying himself and,
as he said, “gaining valuable experience”. During the rest of the rally he had his ‘fair’ share of punctures. This was a phenomenon experienced by a lot of DDFT drivers including the other Dutchy Kevin van Deijne. The preceding drivers in their more powerful four-wheel drive cars took away the top layer of the road, exposing big solid rocks that caused the punctures with the DDFT. Still at the end of the rally Van den Brand was philosophical: “I expected a difficult rally but it was even more difficult than I could have imagined. The stages have been fantastic and I
have learnt so much; experience of stages is always important but here it is even more important. In fact it is the only thing that allows you to gauge just how fast the roads are here and how that affects your recce. With all the blind crests, making notes here is essential. But judging how fast you can go in your rallycar is something you have to experience. So next year my notes will probably be better. The early mistake meant we were out of the fight but I’ve enjoyed the experience.”
Rally-eMag / The Dutchies
Kevin van Deijne was here last year and consequently does have some experience with the typical Finnish roads. However last year he had another co-driver and then it is difficult to immediately adjust your driving style. But for him the same applies as for Max van den Brand. “It’s been a very difficult event compared to last year. Ouninpohja is such an iconic test of rallying skill and a pleasure to drive. This rally was also my first rally with Hein Verschuuren and maybe this is not the best event to start with a new co-driver. But hey, I’ve gained some incredible experience and learnt a lot. Nest stop Germany and after that I’m specially looking forward to Spain because I have more experience there and I feel more at home.” Van Deijne ended 6th in Finland and Van den Brand 7th. In the overall DDFT standings they hold fifth and seventh position respectively.
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Kees Burger also made it to the finish in Jyvaskyla. Together with Miika Teiskonen he brought back his Subaru in 25th place overall, as always with a smile on his face. Because one thing can be said about the Dutchman: he thoroughly enjoys rallying.
Column / Kevin Abbring
life in the fast lane
Hi everyone and welcome to my very first column for Rally-eMag! I’m writing to you from the service park in Finland where a torrential downpour is currently causing the service park to slowly drift away… Thankfully I’m safely inside the Hyundai hospitality unit overlooking one of the thousands and thousands of beautiful lakes and ready to look back on the last month.
Kevin Abbring Hyundai Mobis World Rally Team From the outside it may seem that the life of a rally driver is all about flying across the world to beautiful locations to get into a car and compete in a rally. While that may be partly true, there is a lot more to it. In this brand new section we asked Hyundai factory driver Kevin Abbring to provide us with insights into what it actually takes to be a driver competing in the top level of rallying. In his monthly column Kevin will share his monthly activities, giving you a glimpse inside the life of a rally driver. Image: Bas Romeny
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Column by Kevin Abbring
The highlight was of course my first planned WRC outing for Hyundai in Poland. We had already done Sweden, but that came as a surprise due to Dani’s absence. This time we could actually work towards the event although unfortunately our preparations didn’t go exactly to plan. There was no pre-event test scheduled for me and although I have some miles under my belt in the new car, this meant that I couldn’t really get into nice rhythm before the event because the new car is totally different from the current car. Prior to the event we did have a regular test planned in Finland where I would also get the opportunity to drive the current car. It wasn’t to be though as food poisoning struck the team, including myself. So instead of doing tests on the Finnish roads, I spent some time in a Finnish hospital! It’s also a big challenge for the team to enter four cars instead of three. Everybody loves to have four cars at the start, but at the same it is also a big challenge. You really shouldn’t underestimate the effort it takes to enter an additional car. It may seem easy to just slot in another car in the service unit, but it’s actually far from it. It’s not like we just have a bunch of WRC’s on the shelves, ready to go. And apart from the car and the parts, you also have to add another service
crew and a new engineer. Given all that, I was delighted just to have gotten the opportunity to drive in Poland. The first part of each rally is the recce, which I am able to do on all events this year. I usually try to incorporate the feeling, speed and potential of the car when writing the notes. In my mind I go through the gears to determine in what gear I will arrive at the corners. However as I only do the recces on most events, I don’t have the opportunity to test my notes at rally speed so you can’t really see if you’re going in the right direction with your notes. What I learned from competing in Sweden is that you can’t compare a WRC to any other type of rally car. That makes it very difficult for me to judge the stages during the recce. Of course I can note the sharpness and camber of a corner, but that really is only half of good pace notes because you don’t have the rhythm and sense of speed yet. Although I have been writing notes all my life, there’s still a trick that I need to master to make everything run a bit smoother. And it’s necessary because at this level, everyone is taking care of business and nothing is left to chance. You can’t come in without a perfect preparation and expect to compete at the top.
“At this level everyone is taking care of business. You can’t come in without a perfect preparation and expect to compete at the top.”
Column / Kevin Abbring
When I competed in Sweden, even though everything was new, I felt really good right from the start. When you enjoy yourself like that it helps you too because a lot of things will go a lot easier. That was the mind-set I was hoping to find in Poland too but to be honest it never really materialized. WRC’s are so different from R5’s or S2000’s that I am still adjusting my driving style to suit them better. Now I am learning and developing as a driver in the spotlight of events rather than during tests. What also didn’t help was that we had some issues with our diffs so I was never really 100% at ease in the car. Add those things up and I felt like I couldn’t really do my thing, I was not even doing a nice steady stage at say 85%. That made it a very tough and long rally for us. Even so, our times were actually pretty good as we were closer per kilometer to the front-runners than we were in Sweden. Bystanders might not always appreciate those challenges though and think we were not doing very well because we aren’t setting top three times. But let’s be honest, those aren’t realistic expectations to begin with. On the other hand people are looking at you and judging your performance.
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Looking back on things, maybe Poland was one of the most difficult events to return to the championship due to its amazing speed. That causes little differences to have large impacts. If I for example lift off the throttle just a little bit on a crest and the others take it flat, you would lose a couple of tenths on most events. But in Poland you might get an 800 meter flat out section after the crest and those tenths turn into seconds. On the other hand, however difficult it may have been, I did gain a lot of experience from the event. Some people questioned the decision to drive in Poland, saying that they didn’t understand I was doing a fast rally like Poland as my first rally after Sweden.
Interview / Martin Prokop
But even though it may have been the most difficult rally to do, I also know it’s another good chunk of experience to take with me. We know where we lost time, so we also know where to look to improve and change the car to make it more suited to my driving style. We definitely got used to the speed!
trying to learn as much as possible about the chassis so that we know what we need for the various events. During these tests we gather huge amounts of data, so really all other departments, like the engine engineers, are involved as well as they all try to learn as much about the new car as possible. It’s hard work because the homologation is only two or three months away but what we are seeing now from the engine and weight distribution is really encouraging. It shows great potential!
After Poland it was straight on to Germany where we did a tarmac test for the new car and Thierry and Dani did their pre-event test for the upcoming Rally Germany. We are very busy with the development of the new car where my main focus is on the en- The following weekend I went to Lithuania gine, chassis, suspension and differentials. for some extra timed kilometres. I got the Together with the other engineers we are
chance to do a 10-hour race in a 2.2 litre normally aspirated silhouette car, which was great fun because there were a whole bunch of different cars competing. Throughout the years I have done a fair number of circuit races with quite some success. On one occasion I even beat a certain Sebastien Ogier. And I must say that it’s still quite exciting to be competing with other cars in the same road, I love it! Of course I am first and foremost a rally driver but I can usually hold my own in any competition where I have to drive something with four wheels. And when you get to drive three or four hours you get quite a bit of mileage under your belt. Even though I was mainly there to have a good time, I must admit it was satisfying to see that when it was starting to rain I was setting the pace in a much underpowered car. Many full time rally drivers will not compete in these events because it requires them to adapt their style to the car and track. They are absolutely right when they say so, then again, they are behind the wheel of the WRC every week. For me it’s a bit different. To me each competitive mile counts so when an opportunity presents itself, I take it. With a little imagination you can also claim that it was a test for Rally Germany, it was on tarmac after all. Racing is a completely different game of course, but competitive mileage on a similar surface does help me get into the right rhythm. Of course I also really enjoy it! When you’re competing the challenge is to get from A to B in the fastest possible way and it’s that challenge that drives me. It doesn’t really matter what kind of car you’re driving, the satisfaction when you’re going fast is the same. Of course I am a bit of a petrol head myself so I cherish the opportunity to drive all these different cars around various tracks and stages across the world, they’re all great experiences.
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It’s now time for me to wrap up this first column and start packing my bags again as I am heading to Brands Hatch tomorrow to provide training for a Porsche race.
Image: Steven van Veenendaal
Feature / The Drive Dmack Fiesta Trophy
the drive dmack fiesta trophy Words: Harry van Veenendaal; Images: Bas Romeny, Steven van Veenendaal
This year was the second season of the Drive DMack Fiesta Trophy. For M- to gain experience in rallying at a high level for a reasonably fair price. We Sport it was the welcome follow up of the WRC Academy or Junior WRC as talked to the initiators of this Trophy. we now call it again. For young talented drivers it was another opportunity company some time ago. He has been involved in rallying since he was 17 and worked as a technician then he went to Pirelli and he saw an opportunity to do his own rally tyre and one day he wants his own rally team running his tyres, so he is very ambitious. The fact that DMack is a company, just like M-Sport, based in Cumbria is very convenient and makes communication easier and that’s why we came up with the package we came up with. Hopefully it’s a win win for him. It’s giving him the profile that he is looking for and it’s D-Mack a win win for us, running all the cars we are runIn the whole project M-Sport and tyre manufac- ning.” Both the two seasons in the junior championship turer D-Mack closely work together “That is right,’ and the first year in the DMack Trophy proved that says Malcolm Wilson. Dick Cormack started the The reasoning behind the trophy “It was a follow on to us having the Junior WRC.” M-Sport boss and Trophy initiator Malcolm Wilson stated. “We felt we had created something that really appealed to the competitors and we obviously wanted to continue it and then we got the opportunity with DMack and we jumped on it. They were happy to get involved in it too so that is why we started with them last year also because they were prepared to put up a great prize with the R5 drive. This year we wanted to continue with the new 1 litre Ecoboost engine.”
the right kind of people took the challenge. Previous winners all found their way up in either WRC or other prestigious series. “This is of course a goal,” says Andrew Wheatley. He is Business Development Manager at M-Sport and as such he is responsible for the DDFT project. “We want our winners to move on and with previous winners like Elfyn Evans, Craig Breen and Pontus Tideman, I think we can say we succeeded in that goal and obviously we therefore want to continue.
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“Sander Pärn he was 16th overall in Finland last year in a 160 HP two wheel drive car, that is not so easy…”
Feature / The Drive Dmack Fiesta Trophy
“Now we have Opel and Peugeot so we need the car to be very competitive” The tyres The tyres have been an important part of the package as we learned from several drivers, they are quite happy with the tyres. “There has been an enormous improvement on the tyres,” agrees Wheatley. “Every rally last year, there was a tweak to the tyres. The guys in the trophy are pushing very hard and the drivers are very competitive. Look at Sander Pärn he was 16th overall in Finland last year in a 160 hp two wheel drive car, that is not so easy so it has to be that the whole package is working well. In the end you can say the drivers have been pleasantly surprised by the development of the tyres. The improvements have not only been achieved in terms of performance, but also in terms of reliability, longevity and puncture resistance. All of these elements have been worked on and the trophy has been used as an active test track. The result is a very good tyre.” Malcolm Wilson adds: “Yes but this has been possible because there are less restrictions. Where in WRC1 you can only have one evolution. We don’t have that here so all improvements can be implemented immediately also because DMack is small enough to implement changes quickly. So at the end of the day we can keep evolving the tyre which is good for everybody, because the tyre is a big factor in the overall performance of the car.”
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The car Like with the latest evolution of the Fiesta RS WRC, the R2 Fiesta that is used in the DDFT is a completely new car. “It looks the same,” Wheatley jokes. “But for 80% the car is new. The engine with all the electronics is completely new. The transmission is new, both in ratios and in casing. The suspension on the front is new. The brakes are totally new. The roll cage is new. The fuel tank is new. Well the seats are the same and the steering wheel and of course it looks the same. Basically it’s an evolution of the old 1.6 litre car. That one was designed to be economical and was developed in 2008, 2009 when competition in R2 was not as hectic as now. As a result the performance of the car could be a little bit less, and that was good because we had to build the car cost efficient.
Feature / The Drive Dmack Fiesta Trophy
With the new car we had a different environment, now we have Opel and Peugeot so we need the car to be very competitive. For example we now have a digital dash. Do you need a digital dash? No, but to progress as a driver you get better feedback, from a digital dash, you get better data logging, and the customers want it, so… Also the regulations have changed, so we need to have an FIA safety fuel tank. Do we need it? Probably not, but the regulations dictate it and it allows us to carry more fuel. But sadly that element meant a significant in the increase of the costs. But do we think it is a better car? Yes we do. It’s better because every single part of the car has been improved: the suspension, the brakes, the transmission, the chassis, the engine, every piece has been improved and a little improvement everywhere, at the end of the day means a big improvement to the car.”
Arrive and drive One aspect of the car is very important for the drivers. A lot of chores have been taken away from them. Every time they arrive at a rally they ‘only’ have to drive. After every rally they hand over the keys again and the cars are transported to the technical home base of the Fiesta Trophy in Krakov Poland. There they are properly maintained and from there transported to the next event where the drivers can arrive and drive again.
Reliability Malcolm Wilson is quite proud of his car. “Yeah that is right. Like in Portugal where all cars had finished if not two cars had crashed. It was a very good sight to see all the cars come to service at day one of this very difficult rally.”
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“We want to build further on the path we went with Elfyn Evans”
The drivers Wheatley has specific ideas about what he wants the drivers in the trophy to achieve. “We specially want drivers who won local one make championships. And we want to build further on the path we went with Elfyn Evans. Mats van den Brand is also an example; he won the Dutch Fiesta Trophy and then evolved to the international trophy. In this way they a. get the experience and b. they get the opportunity to shine. Basically what we want for our drivers is to provide them with the opportunity to further evolve, finally into WRC1.”
Training Another important aspect of the DDFT is the training programme. Last year it was an on site programme at the events. This year it was done as a 2.5-day pre-season training programme in Cumbria. Apart from driving there, they all got all kinds of workshops like a press and PR training, an introduction to sponsorship, psychology preparation where a sports psychologist came to talk about pre-event preparation. Also there was a navigation panel with Dan Barritt again on how to prepare for the season and for the events. During the season they want to keep up with this programme. Or as Andrew Wheatley said it: “The championship is aimed at people doing their first step into WRC and when you come into WRC it’s quite a big jump. The fact that we take care of their car is making it easier on them but it’s still a big step. So we try to guide them through as much as possible.” Part of the training scheme is a pre event test before every rally where they can get used to their car again and get the feel of the specific rally so that they can make some changes to the settings etcetera. All in all this is a good way to start a career in WRC. You get everything you need to make a good start in WRC.
“The championship is aimed at people doing their first step into WRC”
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Auto24 Rally Estonia / Overview 32/43
auto24 Rally estonia
Based in: Otep채채 Date: 17-19/07/15 Number of stages: 16 Shortest stage: Tartu City, 1.33 km Longest stage: Ristim채e, 34.91 km Total stage distance: 203 km Surface: Gravel Image: FIA ERC
Auto24 Rally Estonia / Review
Got speed?
With speeds regularly surpassing the 200 km/h mark, Rally Estonia is the fastest rally in the ERC this year. The high-speed nature of the rally should favor the production cars, which are allowed to run with 2 liter engines as opposed to their rivals in the 1.6 liter R5 cars. Still, it’s not possible to beat the top runners of the ERC in their purpose built R5 rally machinery. Right?
Words: Steven van Veenendaal
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Images: FIA ERC
Auto24 Rally Estonia / Review
Contenders The top three classified drivers of the championship were all round in Estonia. Championship leader Craig Breen looked to continue his string of gravel wins in his Peugeot 208 T16 while first time Estonia visitor Kajetan Kajetanowicz was looking to close the gap. After the recce he was a bit shocked with the nature of the speed. “To be fast in rallying you have to be a bit crazy and given these stages, I’m sure the craziest will win!” Robert Consani was also around in his Citroën DS3 R5 looking for more experience to continue his learning curve.
since been succeeded by Ott Tänak. Neither of them competed in the rally this year, but just a notch below them, various young guns are looking to break out onto the forefront of rallying and where eager to show their potential in Estonia. The most notable in R5 cars being WRC-regular Karl Kruuda, Timmu Korge, Martin Kangur, Sander Pärn and Raul Jeets. Behind them Siim Plangi and Rainer Aus drive production Mitsubishi’s but perhaps on this event that could prove to be an advantage. Another to pilot a Mitsubishi was Belarusian Alexey Lukyanuk who on occasion already showed some tremendous pace.
Local heroes were aplenty as well though, to spoil the ERC regulars’ party. Estonia has recently developed quite a strong reputation when it comes to delivering new rally talen. Markko Märtin was the first to break into the WRC in 2000 and has
Exciting qualifying The relentless speed of the stages claimed its first victim before the rally proper got started. Sander Pärn crashed heavily on the short test damaging his Fiesta R5 too badly to continue. The roads may be wide and flowing, the slight-
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One of the local favourites, Sander Parn didn’t even make it past the qualifying stage, showing just how tricky this event would be.
est mistake can take you of the right line and the trees lining the stage are patiently awaiting their victims. No problems though for Kajetanowicz who blitzed the 2.95km stage to take the fastest time and gain the valuable first pick of road order. Lukyanuk also turned some heads by setting the fourth fastest time in his ERC-2 car. City opener Tartu (Estonia’s second city) hosted the first stage of the rally with a short blast through the city center. Cobblestones combined with rainy conditions made the stage very tricky as Craig Breen would soon find out. His rally almost ended in tears when he overshot a junction but was fortunate to not clobber the sidewalk and was able to continue. Again it was Lukyanuk who caused a ruckus, this time by setting the fastest time outright.
Huge crowds gathered to witness the action in the Tarty city stage. Although a short stage, it nearly caught out Craig Breen when he overshot a junction.
Auto24 Rally Estonia / Review
The rally proper After the short downtown opening stage the rally moved on to more regular rally roads in the forests around Tartu. Robert Consani’s run didn’t last long as he suffered engine problems that ended his rally before the third stage. Meanwhile Craig Breen was also having difficulties. He wasn’t completely comfortable with the setup of his car and on these high-speed stages that is a big problem. Breen felt like he couldn’t really attack and wisely decided to ease off a little bit rather than risking everything by pushing beyond a comfortable pace. As a result he tumbled all the way down to ninth, although he made up some ground throughout the day to climb back to fourth. Battle royale No confidence issues for Kajetanowicz though. The Pole was loving his Estonia trip finishing most stage with a wide grin and a sense of bewilderment. “The gaps are so small here that the only way to win is to attack all the time, so we did! We took many corners completely flat, pedal to the metal. Sometimes you wonder going in to a corner, are we going to come out cleanly? But that’s just the way it is here.” A rally then for the courageous, and apparently, the one with the biggest heart of them is Alexey Lukya-
nuk. In Colin McRae-esque fashion he flung the big Mitsubishi over the stages, drifting it close to, and sometimes over the limit, but always remaining a sort of natural control over the car. A jumpstart on stage six cost him a ten second penalty and the lead, but by stage eight he had reclaimed that lead and looked in command to take home the gold the following day. Bringing it home Six stages separated Lukyanuk from an historic ERC win in his ERC-2 car. It would not be easy though as Kajetanowicz mounted a final attack to try and knibble away at the twelve second lead. On multiple occasions he managed to do so, but everytime Lukyanuk retaliated on the very next stage, keeping his lead in tact. With just one stage to go Lukyanuk still held the lead, although it was down to under ten seconds. “We don want to think about winning until the end” he said going into the final stage and surely flashes of fading hopes and dreams must have passed before his eyes when, with just a few corners to go he made a big cut and sent the car onto two wheels. Luckily, or skillfully(?), he managed to keep the car from rolling over and was thus able to snatch the win. He described his battle with Kajetanowicz as ‘crazy’ and in the end, the craziest won.
Top to bottom: Kajetanowicz was amazed by the speed on the Estonian roads.
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A tough event for Craig Breen with setup woes troubling him all weekend long. Sensationally, Alexey ‘The Craziest’ Lukyanuk won in his ERC-2 Mitsubishi.
Auto24 Rally Estonia / Review
Joy and disappointment Despite the slight disappointment of not winning, Kajetanowicz was very happy to take second on his first visit to Estonia. It’s never easy to drive an event for the first time and especially not one as fast as here. The incredible speed during the rally is very hard to imagine during the recce, making it nearly impossible to write proper notes. Even so, Kajetanowicz managed to keep all local challengers behind him and score a bunch of oh so important points for the ERC title. He was aided by the dismay of Craig Breen. Having struggled with his setup the entire rally, Breen looked to get rewarded for his efforts as he was challenging for third but then disaster struck. On the penultimate stage his Peugeot suddenly started losing oil. Although they could have continued through the stage, it was already clear that the car was not going to make it through the next and the engine would certainly sustain having damage is they continue with the lack of oil.
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Kajetanowicz’ second combined with Breen’s last-minute demise promote Kajetanowicz into the lead of the ERC. With 133 points he know holds a five points advantage over Breen who knows he needs a strong finish to the season in order to clinch the title “We could have finished third, right behind Kajto, which would have been great
for the championship. After three wins I wasn’t so disheartened by Ypres, but here it’s different. We need to regroup for Barum” Breen said, clearly noticing the momentum shifting back to the Pole. After a strong string of events, Breen has now dropped the lead in the championship. He’ll need to regroup to re-emerge from Kajentanowicz’ dust.
Auto24 Rally Estonia / Results 38/43
Overall final classification 1. Lukyanuk – Arnautov 2. Kajetanowicz – Baran 3. Aus – Koskinen 4. Plangi – Sarapuu 5. Korge – Pints 6. Jeets – Toom 7. Butvilas – Mazur 8. Koltun – Pleskot 9. Botka – Michalik 10. Sirmacis – Simins
Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 1:26.25,0 Ford Fiesta R5 +12,7 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +1.07,0 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +2.06,9 Peugeot 208 T16 +2.23,7 Ford Fiesta R5 +3.36,2 Subaru Impreza WRX STI +4.51,4 Ford Fiesta R5 +5.20,8 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +7.36,1 Peugeot 208 VTi R2 +8.01,6
Auto24 Rally Estonia / Standings 39/43
2015 FIA ERC Drivers Standings 1. Kajetan Kajetanowicz Ford Fiesta R5 133 pts 2. Craig Breen Peugeot 208 T16 128 pts 3. Alexey Lukyanuk Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 82 pts 4. Robert Consani Citroën DS3 R5 55 pts 5. Siim Plangi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 43 pts 6. Bruno Magalhães Peugeot 208 T16 38 pts 7. Freddy Loix Skoda Fabia R5 35 pts 8. Jaromir Tarabus Skoda Fabia S2000 34 pts 9. Dominykas Butvilas Subaru Impreza WRX STi 33 pts 10. Bryan Bouffier Citroën DS3 R5 28 pts
Rally-eMag / For My Friends
for my friends When travelling the world to snap the WRC, our photographer Bas Romeny comes across many interesting scenes, both rally related and not-so rally related. Here are his finds from Finland.
Ah well, Marcus always wins
It was just there...
Kids! Follow da monsta! 40/43
No Lorenzo, no more gold bling bling on my cars!
Hey Marcus! Shall we do some funny faces?
Obviously the Finns had not seen the sun for ages
I Like
Julien watching the Finnish Funny Walk Hey Tommi! I heard you want a plant for Toyota in Finland? Yes Jost, I cannot wait to start.
Ogier’s bull
see you next time...