Unstoppable ERC3 winner Pellier sweeps up in Cyprus dust
ByERC
Published 17/06/2018 at 17:48 GMT
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Image credit: ERC
FIA European Rally Championship Junior Under 28 regular Laurent Pellier scored a near-perfect victory in the ERC3 support category on the Cyprus Rally, winning by more than 13 minutes.
Pellier, who usually drives for the PEUGEOT Rally Academy in an R5-specification 208 T16, dropped down to a 208 R2 for the Cyprus Rally with the same Saintéloc Junior Team which runs his ERC Junior U28 programme.
He had won every stage on Saturday and came close to making it a perfect 11 from 11, stopped only by Emma Falcón who was victorious in SS8 on Sunday.
Pellier’s only drama on the closing day was a front-left puncture on the first stage, but was otherwise untroubled, even matching the pace of more powerful four-wheel-drive production class ERC2 cars on occasion.
Artur Muradian had been Pellier’s closest challenger, though he fell by the wayside at midday service. He had suffered a broken wishbone on SS9, and though cancellation of SS10 allowed him to return directly to service without penalty, his Renault Clio could not be fixed for the afternoon loop.
Constantinos Televantos ensured every Cyprus Rally class would have a local driver on the podium, safely passing through Sunday’s stages to secure second place aboard his Q8 Oils Rally Team Ford Fiesta R2.
He was joined on the rostrum by ERC newcomer Norbert Bereczki, finishing third despite driving a lone R1 specification car less powerful than those of his R3 and R2-equipped rivals.
Falcón added a fourth place finish to her earlier stage win, overcoming similar mechanical gremlins to those which had affected her pace at EKO Rally Acropolis. This also won her the ERC Ladies' Trophy battle, finishing ahead of Pellier’s Saintéloc Junior team-mate Catie Munnings in fifth place.
Munnings had originally been in a podium position fight with Televantos, at one point even over 40 seconds ahead, but a 15 minute penalty due to a start line mix-up on Saturday’s third stage. Christos Mannouris completed the ERC3 top six, driving a similar Citroën DS3 R3T to Falcón.
He had won every stage on Saturday and came close to making it a perfect 11 from 11, stopped only by Emma Falcón who was victorious in SS8 on Sunday.
Pellier’s only drama on the closing day was a front-left puncture on the first stage, but was otherwise untroubled, even matching the pace of more powerful four-wheel-drive production class ERC2 cars on occasion.
Artur Muradian had been Pellier’s closest challenger, though he fell by the wayside at midday service. He had suffered a broken wishbone on SS9, and though cancellation of SS10 allowed him to return directly to service without penalty, his Renault Clio could not be fixed for the afternoon loop.
Constantinos Televantos ensured every Cyprus Rally class would have a local driver on the podium, safely passing through Sunday’s stages to secure second place aboard his Q8 Oils Rally Team Ford Fiesta R2.
He was joined on the rostrum by ERC newcomer Norbert Bereczki, finishing third despite driving a lone R1 specification car less powerful than those of his R3 and R2-equipped rivals.
Falcón added a fourth place finish to her earlier stage win, overcoming similar mechanical gremlins to those which had affected her pace at EKO Rally Acropolis. This also won her the ERC Ladies' Trophy battle, finishing ahead of Pellier’s Saintéloc Junior team-mate Catie Munnings in fifth place.
Munnings had originally been in a podium position fight with Televantos, at one point even over 40 seconds ahead, but a 15 minute penalty due to a start line mix-up on Saturday’s third stage. Christos Mannouris completed the ERC3 top six, driving a similar Citroën DS3 R3T to Falcón.
The post Unstoppable ERC3 winner Pellier sweeps up in Cyprus dust appeared first on FIA ERC.
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