Motorsport: Irish crews secure point-scoring positions in Sweden
Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) were the top Irish crew and the highest placed M-Sport Ford duo on Rally Sweden, the second round of the World Rally Championship. Picture: M-Sport Ford.
The Irish crews of Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne and Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy secured points-scoring positions (eighth and ninth respectively) in Rally Sweden - results that should provide a good platform for the rest of their World Rally Championship season.
After retiring from the opening round in Rally Monte-Carlo, it was crucial that both finished Rally Sweden - another specialised event - as they head to next month's Safari Rally Kenya with a renewed sense of optimism.
Armstrong, the highest placed M-Sport Ford driver, said: "It's been a really strong weekend. This last stage was (about) trying not to take any risks after our first run through it where we had a bit of an issue with slowing the front of the car. Fantastic weekend, really good to get through and showed some good pace along the way, a big thanks to the team. Let's see how it goes in the next one."
Meanwhile, it was a historic occasion for the Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 team that took the top four places with the British crew of Elfyn Evans/Scott Martin securing victory and the lead of the WRC.
They finished 14.3s ahead of Japan's Takamoto Katsuta and his Northern Ireland co-driver Aaron Johnston. It was the first time since 2010 (Citroen) that a manufacturer netted back-to-back podium lockouts in the WRC.
Saturday's penultimate leg of seven stages was a day of being chased and chasing with Evans and Solberg the main movers. It didn't take long for Evans to regain top spot as the Welsh ace turned a 2.8s overnight deficit into a 4.4s advantage on the 15.7km first run on Vannas.
From there, he never looked back and by SS13 he had extended the margin to 18s before Katsuta cut the deficit to 13.3s on the final pair of stages.
A satisfied Evans remarked: “This morning was pretty good but this afternoon (was) a bit more mixed. Looking after the tyres was a bit more difficult and not my speciality, but it has still been a clean afternoon.” Katsuta was less assured.
“I feel like I have no traction and no grip. I don’t know why. It is so strange."
Meanwhile, Pajari had closed to within 9.7s of Katsuta with a fastest time on SS12.
Although he had another on SS14 where Katsuta was only a fraction of a second behind, it strengthened his third place as he ended the day 33s ahead of Solberg.
From sixth overnight Solberg chased down the Hyundai Motorsport duo of Esapekka Lappi and Adrien Fourmaux, leapfrogging both on the morning first stage. The afternoon stage where the loose snow was challenging prevented further progress.
The Hyundai pair and teammate Thierry Neuville (seventh) played with various settings, the latter subsequently penalised one minute not fastening his helmet correctly for the day's final stage.
The M-Sport Ford crews had a mixed day. Martins Sesks gave the team a stage win on SS10 but had to nurse his Puma to the finish due to water-pressure warnings.
Maintaining eighth, Jon Armstrong struggled in the morning.
"A bit tricky just to have the right balance and enter the corners right. We've been forced to make a change in the setup." Another set-up change yielded a positive outcome for the afternoon stages. McErlean, one place behind had an intermittent light-pod issue at high speed.
On the final leg and with an unchanged top four, Fourmaux displaced his Hyundai team mate Adrien Fourmaux for fifth. Neuville (seventh), took the five points for winning the Power Stage.
McErlean in ninth, summarised his weekend: "It's been a weekend of ups and downs. We've showed some good pace throughout and we’ve got some clear things to work on before Kenya. Overall, it's been positive from a bounce-back perspective."
Another Irish crew - Paraic Duffy/Jeff Case Hyundai i20 Rally2) finished 31st. In the Junior WRC, Cavan's Craig Rahill crashed out of fifth place on the penultimate stage.
Elsewhere, Tyrone's Mark Donnelly (VW Polo GTi R5) survived the strong challenge of Leitrim's Keelan Grogan (Ford Fiesta rally2) to win the Collooney based Connacht M.C. Yeats Ridge Forest, the opening round of the Irish Forest Rally Championship. Donnelly led throughout but Grogan - 13.3s adrift after SS2, punched in the best times on the remaining stages only to lose out by 0.4s. Derry's Jordan Hone (Skoda Fabia Rally2) was 21.5s further behind in third.
1. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h. 35m. 53.1s; 2. T. Katsuta/A. Johnston (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+14.3s; 3. S. Pajari/M. Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+ 46s; 4. O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+1m. 11.6s; 5. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+1m. 50.3s; 6. E. Lappi/E. Malkonen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+1m. 53.2s; 7. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+3m. 45.9s; 8. J. Armstrong/S. Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1)+4m. 05.5s; 9. J. McErlean/E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)+6m. 05.4s; 10. R. Korhonen/A. Viinikka (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2)+10m. 36.2s.
1. E. Evans 60pts; 2. O. Solberg 47pts; 3. T. Katsuta 30pts; 4. A. Fourmaux 28pts; 5. T. Neuville 21pts; 6. S. Ogier 18pts; 7. S. Pajari 7pts; 8. E. Lappi 9pts; 12. J. Armstrong 4pts' 14. J. McErlean 2pts.
1. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 117pts. 2. Hyundai Mobis WRT 66pts; 3. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 18pts; 4. M-Sport Ford 14pts. Connacht M.C. Yeats Ridge Forest Rally (Round 1 Irish Forest Rally Championship) Collooney: 1. M. Donnelly/M. Brady (VW Polo GTi R5) 34m. 48.9s; 2. K. Grogan/A. Sherlock (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+00.4s; 3. J. Hone/P. Hone (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2)+21.9s; 3. G. Mimnagh/J Barry McCarney (Ford Fiesta Rally2)+26.1s; 5. J. Moffett/A. Hayes (Hyundai i20 R5)+27.0s; 6. D. Mackarel/E. Creedon (Ford Fiesta R5)+55.1s.
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