Took a bit of a scunner to everything last week after the news from
Ulster, then Ally Currie’s phone call lightened the mood. Then another downer
when the Merrick revealed that it would use the Drumjohn stage for the first
time in 6 years.
You see,
Drumjohn is the forest stage where Drew Gallacher’s ashes were scattered way
back in 1997. Drew was/is always a bit special. In fact it was him who
christened me ‘Jaggy Bunnet’ some 40 years ago now. That’s the only reason the
name has stuck, but that’s another story for another time.
Then another
downer, Kris crashed out while leading in Germany. On the other hand, what a
marvellous result for young Elfyn. I didn’t
report on the previous round in Finland because that clashed with the Speyside
Stages and I struggled to get a signal, but the Citroen press release arrived
this morning. The better news is that they are still upbeat about Kris’
performance – even though they haven’t offered him a contract for next season
yet.
Kris Meeke and
Paul Nagle were lying second going into yesterday’s final leg of Rallye
Deutschland but when Latvala crashed out, Kris took the rally lead going into
SS16 at Grafschaft.
“The first stage
was really very difficult,” said Kris, “When I learned that Jari-Matti had
stopped, it didn’t really change my state of mind. I wasn’t affected by the
possibility of winning… I was relaxed and focussed at the start of SS16. But I
had a pace note that was a little bit too optimistic at the start of the stage.
We hit something with the front wheel. I felt a big vibration and we went off
on the next corner and crashed into a wall. I’m really disappointed for
everyone in the team, who have been working so hard to get results. But we
showed that we were on the pace. We’ll have to start thinking about the next rally
now.”
Yves Matton (Citroën Racing Team Principal) added: “It’s really disappointing, because we were so
close to winning. The team and Kris Meeke had had a perfect rally until this
morning. We had wanted to be in position to take advantage of the slightest
opportunity. Unfortunately, we were unable to grab it when it came along. Kris
had a very good rally. After Finland, he continued to improve his pace. In
Australia, he’ll be able to show us what he is capable of again.”
As for Elfyn Evans and Daniel Barritt they scored their best WRC
result to date and topped that with 3 extra points for fastest time on the final
Power Stage.
Elfyn
Evans said: "It's been a
great weekend for us. To take our first stage win was really nice and the
fourth place was something we would definitely have taken at the start of the
rally. We weren't too far away from Andreas [Mikkelsen, third place] at the end
either, but it wasn't our objective to push for the maximum result this
weekend. It was more about learning the characteristics of the car on these
stages and getting round safely, and I think we managed to do that.”
"We've been
there or there abouts on the set-up and the tyre choice all weekend and the end
result is a great one for the team. It always gives you a little boost when you
manage to beat your team mate. Mikko [Hirvonen] didn't make it easy and I'm
sure he'll be on the pace in Australia. But hopefully this won't be the last
time we give him a run for his money this year!"
Team
Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, added: "Elfyn's [Evans] performance this weekend has probably been the
most encouraging result that I have seen from any young driver. If you look at
what he's done with the experience he has, it's been a very special result.”
Mind you the week
ended/started on a bit of a cheery note last night when watching the highlights
of yesterday’s bunfight in Belgium accompanied by the soundtrack of a couple of
dozen angry washing machines. Maybe rallying isn’t so bad after all.
Top Ten Leaderboard:
1. Thierry
Neuville / Nicolas Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) 3:07:20.2
2. Dani Sordo / Marc Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC) +40.7
3. Andreas Mikkelsen / Ola Floene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +58.0
4. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:03.6
5. Mikko Hirvonen / Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:10.5
6. Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson (Citroën DS3 WRC) +1:22.7
7. Martin Prokop / Jan Tomanek (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +4:52.8
8. Dennis Kuipers / Robin Buysmans (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +9:18.1
9. Pontus Tidemand / Emil Axelsson (Ford Fiesta R5) +11:35.4
10. Ott Tanak / Raigo Molder (Ford Fiesta R5) +11:37.2
2. Dani Sordo / Marc Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC) +40.7
3. Andreas Mikkelsen / Ola Floene (Volkswagen Polo R WRC) +58.0
4. Elfyn Evans / Daniel Barritt (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:03.6
5. Mikko Hirvonen / Jarmo Lehtinen (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +1:10.5
6. Mads Østberg / Jonas Andersson (Citroën DS3 WRC) +1:22.7
7. Martin Prokop / Jan Tomanek (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +4:52.8
8. Dennis Kuipers / Robin Buysmans (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) +9:18.1
9. Pontus Tidemand / Emil Axelsson (Ford Fiesta R5) +11:35.4
10. Ott Tanak / Raigo Molder (Ford Fiesta R5) +11:37.2
( Photos: CITROEN RACING/AUSTRAL )
Other Brits:
15, S. Moffett
(Ford Fiesta R5), 3:21:24.7
22, A.
Fisher (Citroen DS3 R3t), 3:33:49.3, (4th WRC3)
27, R.
Tuthill (Porsche GT3), 3:39:25.6
29, E.
Boland (Subaru Impreza R4), 3:39:46.0
30, T. Cave (Ford
Fiesta R2), 3:41:31.9, (2nd RC4)
48, J. Brown
(Ford Fiesta R2), 3:52:59.5
56, M. McCormack
(Ford Fiesta R5), 4:09:07.8
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