Disappointment for Irish crews at Delfi Rally Estonia
Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) were ninth in Delfi Rally Estonia, round nine of the World Rally Championship. Picture: Jaanus Ree / Red Bull Content Pool.
As Finland's Sami Pajari (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) took an impressive maiden World Rally Championship victory on Delfi Rally Estonia, the event was somewhat disappointing for Irish crews as Jon Armstrong/Shane Byrne (Ford Puma Rally1) finished ninth and Josh McErlean/Eoin Treacy, who returned to the event under Super Rally rules, finished down in 43rd.
Meanwhile, and although Irish driver Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport) crossed the finish line in second place in the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race at Spa Francorchamps, the Clonbullogue (Offaly) driver was demoted to fourth following the addition of a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits.
McErlean began Saturday's penultimate leg in eighth place but a technical issue with his Ford Puma Rally1 on the opening stage cost him ten minutes. Everything seem fine on the next stage but then during SS10 an exhaust manifold problem brought an early conclusion to the day.
Returning for Sunday's leg that consisted of just two stages and where he ran first on the road and where conditions were wet on the closing section, McErlean had a small excursion to the scenery, he was untroubled on the second and last stage following which he gave his thoughts on the weekend.
"Obviously a big dream to drive these cars in these forests, quite incredible. The weekend was going quite well until it wasn’t. The speed was there on Friday. Still nice weekend, we will go and reset for Finland (Next event) another flat out one!'
Armstrong, who lost time with a puncture on Friday's first stage, struggled for grip during the first pass of the stages on Saturday. He went on to finish ninth. "It's hard to not enjoy these stages in this car. We had a good push in here, I had one half-overshoot, probably lost two to three seconds in there. Now we are looking forward to Finland."
It took until the tenth stage before Pajari's string of fastest times was broken with Sweden's Oliver Solberg, his main rival, posting a stage win and cutting the margin between them to 14.3s. Although he also won SS11, his gain was a mere two tenths of a second and consecutive stage wins for Pajari saw him move 25.8s ahead. On SS14 he had a moment when his Toyota GR Yaris hit a rock near the stage end and almost spun. Belgian Thierry Neuville (Hyundai i20 N Rally1) was the first non-Toyota driver to claim a stage win (SS15) that helped to close the deficit to his team mate French driver Adrien Fourmaux (third) to 1.9s. They posted identical times on the day's final stage.
Toyota pair Sebastien Ogier and Elfyn Evans completed the top six from the Ford Puma Rally1 of M-Sport's Martin Sesks.
On the two-stage final leg Pajari went on to win, finishing 19.5s ahead of Oliver Solberg, who took his maiden WR win in Estonia last year. Pajari is the 83rd different winner of a WRC event and gave Finland its 199th victory in the series. Fourmaux held off Neuville (by 5.9s) for the final spot on the podium.
In round eight of the FIA Formula 2 Championship at Spa-Francorchamps a pair of five second penalties changed the outcome of the race won by Brazilian Rafael Camara, who completed a double for Invicta Racing for the second year in succession.
The race was interrupted when the Red Flag was waved in order to clear the track following an accident. As Camara took the chequered flag he was followed by Dunne and Mexican Noel Leon (Campos Racing), however both were handed five-second places that dropped them to fourth and seventh respectively.
Qualifying P3 Dunne was passed by championship leader Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov and by Lap 6 was sixth. Following the mandatory pit stop Dunne made up a place by overtaking Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. Later and when racing resumed after the Red Flag and with pit stops equating, Dunne seemed set for second place until the five-second penalty was imposed. In Saturday's Sprint Race Dunne finished fifth behind race winner Paraguayan Joshua Durksen (Invicta Racing). Dunne is fourth in the championship 55 points behind Bulgarian Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing) ahead of this weekend's round in Budapest.
1. S. Pajari/M. Salminen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1) 2h. 31m. 16.5s; 2. O. Solberg/E. Edmondson (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+19.5s; 3. A. Fourmaux/A. Coria (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+53.8s; 4. T. Neuville/M. Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+59.7s; 5. S. Ogier/V. Landais (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+1m. 32.9s; 6. E. Evans/S. Martin (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1)+2m. 01.0s; 7. M. Sesks/R. Francis (Ford Puma Rally1)+2m. 35.3s; 8. E. Lappi/E. Malkonen (Hyundai i20 N Rally1)+3m. 02.3s; 9. J. McErlean/E. Treacy (Ford Puma Rally1)+46.6s; 10. R. Virves/J. Viilo (Skoda Fabia RS rally2)+8m. 33.1s.
1. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT 464 pts; 2. Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT 308pts; 3. Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT2 157pts; 4. M-Sport Ford World Rally Team 116pts.
1. E. Evans 177pts; 2. T. Katsuta 152pts; 3. S. Pajari 144pts; 4. S. Ogier 139pts; 5. O. Solberg 130pts; 6. T. Neuville 111pts; 7. A. Fourmaux 111pts.
1. N. Tsolov (Campos Racing) 161pts; 2. G. Mini (MP Motorsport) 134pts; 3. R. Camara ((Invicta Racing) 125pts; 4. A. Dunne (Rodin Motorsport) 105pts; 5. N. Leon (Campos racing) 75pts; 6. K. Maini (Art Grand Prix) 63pts.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
