Motorsport News – July 17, 2019

Irishmanis lookingforward

Frenchpreparationfirm

PHSporthasbuiltanall-

newoff-roadraceraimed

atnextyear’sDakarin

SaudiArabia.TheSSVTP

Zephyrhasbeentestedin

FranceandAbuDhabiby

theteamwhichhelped

guideSebastienLoebtoa

podiumaboarda Peugeot

3008 DKRinJanuary.

Ingramislooking

forwardtoRome

SolbergaimstoaddNewEnglandtopurplepatchofthrills

OliverSolbergfliestoAmerica

chasinga hat-trickofperfect

performancesatthisweekend’s

NewEnglandForestRally.

The17-year-oldstoletheshow

atGoodwood’sFestivalofSpeed,

postingthethirdfastesttimeat

theFinalShootoutaboardhis

DS3 Supercar.Lastweekend

hecontinuedthatspeedwith

a comfortableR5classwinat

RallyEstonia.

ThesonoftripleFIAworld

championPetterSolbergwas

neverheadedintheracefor

classgloryinEstoniaandhe

usedhisVolkswagenPoloGTI

R5toposttimesfasterinsome

stagesthandriversofcurrent

generationWorldRallyCars.

Solbergfinishedtheevent

seventhoverallandadmitted

hewasenjoyinghistimeinthe

carsrightnow.

odwasthebiggest

” he

said.“ThepeopleI met,talked

toandracedagainst,it wasjust

unbelievable.AndthenEstonia

lastweekwasamazingaswell.

Solbergwillnowreturnto

AmericaforhislatestSubaru

USAMotorsportsoutingina

WRXSTI.“I drovetheWRXin

Goodwood,”saidSolberg,“so

thatwasa goodchancetoget

thefeelingagain– evenif the

wasverydifferenttowhat

ct inNewEngland.

st time[inAmerica]we

a fewissues,butI’msure

is weekend’sgoingtobea

oodone.”

ChrisIngramwilllook
to furtherhisleadinthe
ERC1Juniortitlerace
andkeephishopesofthe
outrightEuropeanRally
Championshiptitlealiveat
thisweek’sRallyofRome.
Ingram,whoenjoysa
35-pointleadat thetopof
ERC1andsitsthirdinthe
overalltitlerace,insistshe
willbetakinga different
approachfromtherallieshe
contestedearlierthisseason.
TheToksportSkodadriver
admitshehasbeentoo
uptightinthefour 2019 ERC
roundshehasstartedsofar.
“I’vebeenthinking[about]
whyI amonlyfastat the
endofa rally,”hesaid.
“I needto gointoRometo
enjoyit andthetimeswill
comefromthestartif I am
confident.I knowI’venot
beenableto string[the
perfect]rallytogetherfor
a whilebutI’mreally
confidentforRomeand
I knowtherallyfromthe
lasttwoyears.”

ByDavidEvans

CraigBreensayshisreturnto
WorldRallyCarcompetition
at lastweekend’sRally
Estoniawas“business
asusual”.
TheIrishmanreturnstothe
WRCinFinlandnextmonthand
usedhisEstonianoutingwith
HyundaiMotorsporttogetused
totheteamwhilereacquainting
himselfwiththespeedofthe
sport’stopflight.
BreendroveHyundai’stest
i20CoupeWRCinFinlandthe
weekbeforeRallyEstoniabefore
takinga 2017-specificationcar
totheOtepaa-basedevent.

“[Estonia]wasaboutme

gettinguptospeedandfinding

thecommitmentona high-speed

rally.I waswonderingif it might

takemea littlebitoftimetoget

backthereafterdrivingtheR

car,butI’mhappytosaythatit

wasbusinessasusualforPaul

[Nagle,co-driver]andmyself.

Therewasnobotheratall.

“I wasrunninganoldercar

withtheoriginalengine,butit

doesn’tmatter– I’mgratefulto

Hyundaiforgivingmethechance

todriveontherallyaswellasthe

test.It wasreallyuseful– there

arebitswhicharecommonto

thenewcarandit wasgreatto

getinandfeelcomfortable.

“ThelasttimeI competedin

oneofthesecarswasinAustralia

lastyear,sogettingsomemiles

inwasreallyimportantforme.”

Despitetheageofthecar,

Breenposteda pairoftop-three

timesonhiswaytofifthplace.

OfmoreinterestforBreen

washistimeintheFinland-spec

i20hedroveinFinlandthe

previousweek.

“Thecarfeltgreat,”hesaid.

“I tookwhatwouldberoughly

Thierry’s[Neuville]set-upand

madea fewsmallsubtlethings

tobringthecartome,butI was

surprisedhowquicklyI felt

comfortablewitheverything.

“Thecargavemeconfidence

and,goingtoa rallylikeFinland,

that’ssoimportant.”

Breenis scheduledtodrivean

i20CoupeWRCjustonemore

timebeforetheAugust1-4event.

“I’mgoingtoshake[Sebastien]

Loeb’scardownforRallydi

Alba,”saidBreen.“There

werejusta coupleofthings–

simplethingslikethedash

configuration.Therewasa

chancetodrivethecarand

I jumpedatit.”

LikehisfellowWRCdriver

HaydenPaddon,Breenwillmiss

thenextroundoftheTitansRX

seriesatLyddenHill,whichruns

theonJuly27/28,theweekend

beforeRallyFinland.

‘Moffetttopsin Sligo

FordFiestaman’sglory,p

Breensaidhewas

pleasedwithpace

BREEN SATISFIED WITH

MAIDEN HYUNDAI OUTING

D

id youwatchit?Youmusthave

done.Evenmymotherwatched

it – andabsolutelylovedit. What

amI talkingabout?England’s

victoryin theCricketWorldCup,

of course.

I haven’talwaysbeenthebiggestfanof shortened

formsof greatsportingspectacles.Forme,a proper

cricketmatchhasalwaystakenfivedaysto complete.

Andthosefivedayshadto includesunshine,rain,

commentaryonpigeons,tea,cakeandtheoddmid-

afternoonsnoozebeforethegamewasdeclareda draw.

WhenEnglandwontheAshes 14 yearsago,I was

convincedcricketcouldn’tgetanybetterthanthat.

I waswrong.

I takemyhatoffto theone-daygame.Sundayat Lord’s

raisedthatbarto whatmustbeanunbeatableheight

now;theentertainmentandexcitementwerelike

nothingelseacrossthewholeworldof sport.

WhyamI talkingto youaboutcricketwhenyoucame

hereto readaboutrallying?

It’sverystraightforward– it’sabouttheopportunity

we’vemissedforrallycross.Yes,yes,I knowrallycross

isn’trallying,butit is a formof thesportI completely

fellin lovewitha coupleof seasonsago.

Onmyfirstvisitto LyddenHill,I wasdeterminedto hold

mylinethatnothingcouldcomparewiththespectacleof

twomenandonemachineracingtheclockfromA to B.

ButthenI watchedsupercarsattackingNorthBend

threeabreastandPetterSolbergrippingdownthehill

to tiphisDS3 intoPaddockBendprettymuchflatout.

I washooked.Andwhentheseriousracingcame,as the

weekendprogressedthroughto thesemisandthefinal,

thetheatreanddramawentthroughtheroof.

Eventhroughtwoyearsof JohanKristoffersson

domination,I keptwatchingand,moreimportantly,the

shortformof oursportkeptmecomingbackformore.

JustbeforeI moveon,I’mabsolutelydelightedto see

Kristoffersson’sentryforRallyFinland.I absolutely

believetheSwederemainsoneof themosttalented,

committedandconsistentdriversI’veeverwatched.

Hadhestartedrallyingat a youngerage,I havelittle

doubthecouldhavemadeit rightto theverytop.

I digress.

WorldRallycrosswasourequivalentto ODIcricket.

Granted,I stillthinkthewholethingtooktoolong(I

don’tthinkweshouldbecommittingthethickend

of threedaysto a five-minutefinale),butwhenwegot

a goodlastracewitha bitof needlebetweenMattias

EkstromandPetterSolberg;a bitof SebastienLoeb

inspiration;a brave,ballsydivefromTimmyHansen

or a cool,calmandcompletelycalculatedKristoffersson

win,it wasalwaysworthwatching.

Sundayeveningwasthecricketingequivalentof

SolbergbeatingEkstromto the 2014 RXof Germany

in Buxtehude,whenPettergotjustenoughgripout

of thejokerlapto crosstheline1/100thof a second

aheadof theAudi-drivingSwede.

Thatkindof thingbecametheruleratherthanthe

exceptionin RX.AndI’msureit’scontinuedthisseason,

butthesimplefactis thatWorldRXhasmissedits

magicmoment.

Yes,there’sa strongargumentforkeepingthissport

fortheprivateers,butmanufacturersupportliftedit

higherthanit’severbeenand,forme,it’sstilltumbling

afternewsof anotherwatered-downelectricsolution.

I can’twatchRXanymore.Theworldof missed

opportunitymakesmetoocross.

GROUPRALLYING EDITOR

AGREE/DISAGREE?

[email protected]

RisingRussianstarNikolay
Gryazinhasnominatedthis
weekend’sRallyofRomeasone
ofhistwoprizedrivesforwinning
lastyear’sERC1Juniortitle.
ERCpromoterEurosport
Eventshascontributed€50,
(£44,000)towardsGryazin’sstart
atthisweek’sERCcounterinthe
Italiancapitalandthesame

amounttowardsBarumCzech

RallyZlin(August16-18).

Gryazinhasselectedthetwo

asphaltralliesinsearchofmore

experienceofthesurfaceahead

ofhisdebutatRallyGermany,

theweekafterZlinnextmonthin

a SkodaFabiaR5.

Hesaid:“TherewereotherERC

ralliesthatarealsonicelikeRally

Liepajabutwearechoosingtwo

Tarmacralliesbecausethis

experiencewillbeimportant.

Theyarebothdifficultraces

witha lotofcompetitorsandit

willbeusefulforustocompare

withallthefastguys.”

Aswellastesting,Gryazin

saidhewantedtoenjoythe

driveinItalywithoutany

championshippressure.

Hecontinued:“Wearenot

drivingforpointsbecause

wearenotinthechampionship.

“ItwillnotbeeasyonTarmac,

it is difficulttobeonthelimit,

tobeveryfast.Youneedto

understandtheroad.Thesetwo

rallieswillbemorelikerace

trainingthangoingfora result.”

RussianGryazinchoosesRallyofRomeforhisprizedriveinSkodaFabiaR

DAVID

EVA

“Lessons for

WRX to learn

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Solberg was an R5 winner