ERC Junior U28: Title contenders locked in mega Poland battle
ByERC
Published 22/09/2018 at 16:27 GMT
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AUTO - ERC RALLY POLAND - 2018
Image credit: ERC
Nikolay Gryazin has streaked into the lead of the FIA ERC Junior Under 28 category on PZM Rally Poland, though all eyes are on a mammoth scrap between fellow title contenders Chris Ingram and Fabian Kreim.
While Sports Racing Technologies racer Gryazin showed his senior counterparts the way by leading overall, thus leading ERC Junior U28 in the process, Toksport WRT’s Ingram and ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland young talent Kreim spent all day trading a handful of seconds from stage to stage.
Ingram spent much of the morning loop fending off Kreim and, despite a mid-afternoon resurgence from the ERC Junior U28 championship leader, Kreim’s brief return to second place wouldn’t last, Ingram retaking the place on Saturday’s penultimate stage and finishing leg one with 1.7s in hand.
Like Ingram, Łukasz Pieniążek graduated to R5s from ERC Junior Under 27, so unsurprisingly looked set to mix in with Ingram and Kreim’s podium battle. His rally ended before it had even truly kicked off, however, planting his Fabia into a tree only 400 metres into Świętajno.
Not only was Printsport driver Pieniążek forced to retire but the damage sustained was severe enough to rule out a return on Sunday under Rally2 regulations, curtailing his home rally early.
Instead, the role of best home runner fell to ŠKODA Polska Motorsport’s Miko Marczyk, whose combined gravel experience before this event amounts to less than the competitive distance of PZM Rally Poland itself.
Despite his inexperience – starting his rallying a little over two years ago – Marczyk remains within touching distance of a podium, 24.5s behind Kreim in fourth.
Filip Mareš also overcame an experience deficit to end leg one in fifth, despite never competing on gravel in an R5 car before this weekend. He demoted Tomasz Kasperczyk to sixth, who had lost over half a minute by hitting a tree on Świętajno. This allowed the Czech federation-backed Mareš to swoop in one stage later, ending Saturday with a 3.3s advantage over Kasperczyk.
PEUGEOT Rally Academy protégé Laurent Pellier had been fighting with Marczyk and Kasperczyk for fourth place during the morning loop, until a collision with a hay bale on stage six broke his radiator and forced him to retire.
Ingram spent much of the morning loop fending off Kreim and, despite a mid-afternoon resurgence from the ERC Junior U28 championship leader, Kreim’s brief return to second place wouldn’t last, Ingram retaking the place on Saturday’s penultimate stage and finishing leg one with 1.7s in hand.
Like Ingram, Łukasz Pieniążek graduated to R5s from ERC Junior Under 27, so unsurprisingly looked set to mix in with Ingram and Kreim’s podium battle. His rally ended before it had even truly kicked off, however, planting his Fabia into a tree only 400 metres into Świętajno.
Not only was Printsport driver Pieniążek forced to retire but the damage sustained was severe enough to rule out a return on Sunday under Rally2 regulations, curtailing his home rally early.
Instead, the role of best home runner fell to ŠKODA Polska Motorsport’s Miko Marczyk, whose combined gravel experience before this event amounts to less than the competitive distance of PZM Rally Poland itself.
Despite his inexperience – starting his rallying a little over two years ago – Marczyk remains within touching distance of a podium, 24.5s behind Kreim in fourth.
Filip Mareš also overcame an experience deficit to end leg one in fifth, despite never competing on gravel in an R5 car before this weekend. He demoted Tomasz Kasperczyk to sixth, who had lost over half a minute by hitting a tree on Świętajno. This allowed the Czech federation-backed Mareš to swoop in one stage later, ending Saturday with a 3.3s advantage over Kasperczyk.
PEUGEOT Rally Academy protégé Laurent Pellier had been fighting with Marczyk and Kasperczyk for fourth place during the morning loop, until a collision with a hay bale on stage six broke his radiator and forced him to retire.
The post ERC Junior U28: Title contenders locked in mega Poland battle appeared first on FIA ERC | European Rally Championship.
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