Day Report: Lukyanuk’s ERC title hopes shine again with victory in sunny Roma
ByERC
Published 22/07/2018 at 18:50 GMT
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Image credit: ERC
Alexey Lukyanuk resisted a late challenge from twice FIA European Rally Championship title winner Giandomenico Basso for victory on Rally di Roma Capitale, securing his third win this season.
Basso had more than halved Lukyanuk’s lead in a single stage on Sunday afternoon, but ran out of competitive kilometres to catch the Russian Performance Motorsport driver, falling short by 7.5s.
Grzegorz Grzyb held two rivals at bay to secure a “dream” podium finish which far exceeded his own expectations for this rally. 10 time Italian rally champion Paolo Andreucci had closed to within two seconds of Grzyb in fourth place but crashed out.
His other challenger for a podium was ERC Junior Under 28 category winner Fabian Kreim. Keen to secure his first ever class win and vital points for his championship challenge, Kreim focused on reaching the finish while improving his confidence, happy to let Grzyb escape and finish fourth overall.
Bruno Magalhães was happier with his SEAJETS-backed ŠKODA Fabia R5’s performance and pace on Sunday than in Leg One.
Magalhães could not make the progress he desired though, with one of two passes through Leg Two’s longest stage cancelled lacked opportunities to climb his way further up the classification than fifth place.
ERC Junior U28 runner-up Chris Ingram was a star performer on Sunday, scoring his first ever outright stage victory on SS13, shared with Basso on equal times.
Ingram had started Sunday 50.9s behind ŠKODA junior driver Juuso Nordgren but made up all that time plus more, jumping to sixth place overall with one stage remaining and demoting Nordgren to seventh.
Fredrik Åhlin was in good spirits, capturing a second consecutive ERC Junior U28 podium finish on his way to eighth place overall. Like Ingram he had lost time with a puncture on Saturday but also with a driveshaft failure on Friday, overcoming both for a strong finish in his class.
Grzegorz Grzyb held two rivals at bay to secure a “dream” podium finish which far exceeded his own expectations for this rally. 10 time Italian rally champion Paolo Andreucci had closed to within two seconds of Grzyb in fourth place but crashed out.
His other challenger for a podium was ERC Junior Under 28 category winner Fabian Kreim. Keen to secure his first ever class win and vital points for his championship challenge, Kreim focused on reaching the finish while improving his confidence, happy to let Grzyb escape and finish fourth overall.
Bruno Magalhães was happier with his SEAJETS-backed ŠKODA Fabia R5’s performance and pace on Sunday than in Leg One.
Magalhães could not make the progress he desired though, with one of two passes through Leg Two’s longest stage cancelled lacked opportunities to climb his way further up the classification than fifth place.
ERC Junior U28 runner-up Chris Ingram was a star performer on Sunday, scoring his first ever outright stage victory on SS13, shared with Basso on equal times.
Ingram had started Sunday 50.9s behind ŠKODA junior driver Juuso Nordgren but made up all that time plus more, jumping to sixth place overall with one stage remaining and demoting Nordgren to seventh.
Fredrik Åhlin was in good spirits, capturing a second consecutive ERC Junior U28 podium finish on his way to eighth place overall. Like Ingram he had lost time with a puncture on Saturday but also with a driveshaft failure on Friday, overcoming both for a strong finish in his class.
The post Day Report: Lukyanuk’s ERC title hopes shine again with victory in sunny Roma appeared first on FIA ERC.
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