ERC Junior Under 28: Ingram defeats Koči in dramatic Azores finish

Ingram had extended his lead to 15.8 seconds after Saturday’s opening stage, but a puncture through Tronqueira’s opening pass sent him straight back into Koči’s clutches.

Reigning ERC Junior U27 champion Ingram then went into tyre-saving mode in SS13, ceding first place to Koči. Ingram replied immediately through SS14, regaining the lead and setting up an epic showdown with a slim 4.7 second advantage over Koči.

Koči’s fantastic efforts came to a tragic end in Tronqueira’s rally-closing second pass, ripping a wheel from his ŠKODA Slovakia-backed Fabia R5 and unable to complete the stage.

“It was my mistake. I touched too much in one corner and it ripped the wheel off," explained Koči.

"I’m sorry for my team, my sponsors, the fans and my family and I’m sad for me. It might have been a good performance but that doesn’t change much right now.”

Fredrik Åhlin inherited second place in his absence, a sensible and straightforward approach to his final day wrapping up an ERC Under 28 podium in only his second ERC start. Likewise, Rhys Yates scored his first ERC Under 28 podium with third place.

Taking a deliberately cautious approach to preserve points for his Portuguese championship campaign, Luis Rego brought his Ford Fiesta R5 home in one piece to clinch fourth place, while an impressive Fabian Kreim set the fastest time of anyone in SS13, even beating ‘Russian Rocket’ Lukyanuk and last year’s overall runner-up Bruno Magalhães on his way to fifth in class.

Tamara Molinaro was extremely unlucky to pick up punctures in both passes of Tronqueira, but her perseverance was rewarded by sixth place in ERC Under 28. Behind her were returning retirees from Friday and Saturday, Tomasz Kasperczyk, Laurent Pellier and Pierre-Louis Loubet securing positions seven through nine. OSCARO-backed Loubet showed glimpses of what might have been, setting a trio of overall top five stage times in leg two’s afternoon loop.

Hubert Ptaszek rolled his ŠKODA Fabia R5 while driving flat-out, crashing into a farm building and becoming stuck for over 20 minutes. Spectators came to his aid to extricate his car, dropping him being Pellier and Loubet to tenth.