ERC 2017 season recap: Rally Rzeszow

Marijan Griebel won ERC Junior Under 28 for a second time in a fine third overall, one place ahead of reigning Polish champion Grzegorz Grzyb. With his closest rival Pepe López non-scoring, Griebel increases his advantage in his quest for the coveted title and a prize drive in a World Rally Car on a European round of the world championship in 2018.

Jari Huttunen boosted his chances of winning the 100,000 euros career progression fund on offer to the ERC Junior Under 27 champion with his first category win. Tibor Érdi Jr looked set to win ERC2 after completing the final stage with his lead intact. However, engine failure forced him to retire moments later, leaving Zelindo Melegari to claim top spot. Huttunen also bagged the ERC3 honours, while Tamara Molinaro won the ERC Ladies’ Trophy. Castrol Ford Team Turkey continues to lead the FIA European Rally Championship for Teams.

“It’s great,” said Bouffier. “This rally has always been important to me because if was my first rally in Poland a long, long time ago. When you look at the level of the ERC it’s nice to be on a good pace, especially after Canarias, which was no good for me. Back to winning means I am very happy.”

While there was no repeat Rally Rzeszow victory for Kajetanowicz, second place and the lead of the European championship represented mission accomplished for the LOTOS Rally Team driver. “Maybe I should be angry because this is my country but I am happy. To be leading the European championship was my main target and it was hurting my head that I wasn’t. The fans and my team have been amazing.”

Bruno Magalhães arrived in Poland leading the ERC standings by 14 points but set-up and confidence issues blighted his ultimate pace on his Rally Rzeszow debut. For the first team this season the SEAJETS-backed Portuguese does not head the title chase but he’s determined to hit back when the ERC resumes on Barum Czech Rally Zlín later this month. “We knew it would be a very difficult event for us and all the time you lose you never like it. There are a lot of drivers who are fast in one rally but not in the other.”

Behind Grzyb in fourth, ERC Junior Under 28 contenders Sylvain Michel and José Suárez excelled in fifth and sixth with Łukasz Habaj, Josh Moffett, Magalhães and Tomasz Kasperczyk completing the top 10.

World championship star Mads Østberg started leg two in sixth overall after brake and powersteering issues delayed him on day one. Although he was intent on pushing for victory on his ERC return, a front-left puncture ended those hopes and he withdrew on the road section after stage seven due to concerns over the powersteering on his Ford Fiesta R5 failing. “I want to enjoy and have fun but I’m scared all the time and I’m not confident with the car,” he said.

Lukyanuk heroics earn Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy
Alexey Lukyanuk, who was seriously injured in a testing crash in Russia in early May, wasn’t due to return to ERC action until Barum Czech Rally Zlín at the end of August. But an arduous period of rehabilitation enabled him to come back ahead of schedule, despite the Russian Performance Motorsport driver revealing he was suffering from pain in his legs, hips and left ankle following his Qualifying Stage win on Thursday. He led after winning Friday’s first stage but then suffered a rally-ending crash four kilometres from the finish of stage two. He was handed the Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy for his efforts. “One of the corners was too optimistic,” he said of his crash. “I started to enter the right corner too early, supposing it was a fast corner that corresponded to my notes, but it appeared to be harder and we touched the ditch on the exit. There was a bank in the ditch and it launched us in the air, we rolled several times on the road. We are both okay apart from a couple of bruises. The previous corner was over the crest and I concentrated on it and paid less attention to the next one in the recce. The lesson is expensive but the confidence is still there. And if there was an option to restart with Rally2, I will do it immediately, but the car is damaged badly and we will have the next chance on Barum. I am sorry for our fans but I believe it is better to win a couple of special stages and retire than to drag behind in fifth or 10thpositon.”

ERC Junior Under 27: Huttunen on a high with first winWith an advantage of almost 90 seconds starting leg two, Jari Huttunen’s first ERC Junior Under 27 victory of the season was all but assured, providing the Finn could stay out of trouble on the six Saturday stages. Although a brake issue caused concern in the morning, the ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team driver was able to keep in front to win ahead of ACCR Czech Team’s Filip Mareš and local driver Aleks Zawada. Karel Kupec was fourth with Buǧra Banaz fifth, Dominik Brož sixth and Tamara Molinaro seventh. Chris Ingram, the winner of the opening two events, continues to lead the standings but his hopes of a third victory ended when his factory ADAM cut out on Friday’s fourth stage and several minutes were lost while running repairs were made. He placed eighth in class. Sébastien Bedoret stopped with radiator damage, Radomír Kupec and Catie Munnings retired after going off the road, while Simon Wagner stopped with a power issue. Kristóf Klausz was a non-starter on leg two following his crash on Friday’s first stage.

ERC Junior Under 28: Griebel makes big gains with victoryMarijan Griebel capitalised on Nikolay Gryazin’s crash on Saturday’s opener to make it two wins out of three in his pursuit of the prize drive in a World Rally Car on a European round of the world championship in 2018. Sylvain Michel survived a succession of off-road moments on Saturday morning to score his second category podium with José Suárez third. Suárez overcame the loss of first gear on Friday afternoon and scored an outright stage win on his way to his first ERC Junior U28 podium. However, it was a frustrating event for his Peugeot Rally Academy team-mate Pepe López. Three points behind Griebel prior to the start, the Spaniard crashed heavily on SS1 and was a non-starter on leg two. Josh Moffett took fourth, Tomasz Kasperczyk scored his first ERC Junior U28 points in fifth on his home rally with ACCR Czech Team’s Jan Černý sixth following an event blighted by pacenote issues.

ERC2: Heartbreak for Érdi Jr as Melegari takes top spotTibor Érdi Jr resisted Marcin Słobodzian’s early advances and was set for his second ERC2 win of 2017 when disaster struck at the stop line of the final stage after his engine failed. With Słobodzian retiring in the closing stages due to gearbox failure, Zelindo Melegari took the class victory to extend his title lead. Słobodzian was making his European championship debut for the Subaru Poland Rally Team and impressed with several stage bests. Although a handful of technical issues ultimately slowed him down, it was a strong performance from the young Pole. Sergey Remennik restarted following his off on stage one and got to the finish despite a fuel pressure issue on Saturday morning.

ERC3: More success for Huttunen
Jari Huttunen had double reason to celebrate with ERC3 victory number one. Of the ERC3 contenders not registered for ERC Junior points, Artur Muradian went off the road on Saturday morning on his first asphalt event. Luca Rossetti was unable to restart his factory Toyota GT86 CS-R3 after his crash on stage three. Emma Falcón was also a non-starter following her stage four roll.

PROVISIONAL TOP 10 POSITIONS (after 11 stages, 214.63 kilometres)
1 Bryan Bouffier (FRA)/Gilbert Dini (FRA) Ford Fiesta R5 1h58m12.6s
2 Kajetan Kajetanowicz (POL)/Jarek Baran (POL) Ford Fiesta R5 +38.5s
3 Marijan Griebel (DEU)/Stefan Kopczyk (DEU) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +55.6s
4 Grzegorz Grzyb (POL)/Bogusław Browiński (POL) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +1m08.0s
5 Sylvain Michel (FRA)/Jérôme Degout (FRA) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +1m45.1s
6 José Suárez (ESP)/Candido Carrera (ESP) Peugeot 208 T16 +2m24.0s
7 Łukasz Habaj (POL)/Daniel Dymurski (POL) Ford Fiesta R5 +3m14.1s
8 Josh Moffett (IRL)/James Fulton (IRL) Ford Fiesta R5 +3m38.0s
9 Bruno Magalhães (PRT)/Hugo Magalhães (PRT) ŠKODA Fabia R5 +4m38.8s
10 Tomasz Kasperczyk (POL)/Damian Syty (POL) Ford Fiesta R5 +4m42.9s

FIA ERC2:Zelindo Melegari (ITA)/Maurizio Barone (ITA) Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX
FIA ERC3:Jari Huttunen (FIN)/Antti Linnaketo (FIN) Opel ADAM R2
FIA ERC Junior Under 28:Marijan Griebel (DEU)/Stefan Kopczyk (DEU) ŠKODA Fabia R5
FIA ERC Junior Under 27:Jari Huttunen (FIN)/Antti Linnaketo (FIN) Opel ADAM R2
ERC Ladies’ Trophy:Tamara Molinaro (ITA)
Colin McRae ERC Flat Out Trophy:Alexey Lukyanuk (RUS)