Sesks and Wagner tied for ERC Junior U27 lead after first Rome stage
ByERC
Published 20/07/2018 at 18:42 GMT
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Image credit: ERC
ADAC Opel Rallye Junior protégé Mārtiņš Sesks and Saintéloc Junior driver Simon Wagner share first place in the FIA European Rally Championship’s Junior Under 27 category after Rally di Roma Capitale’s opening stage.
Pulling off a finish most would struggle to choreograph, Sesks and Wagner had been paired together for Friday’s opening stage, a short 1.8 kilometre blast through the two-at-a-time ACI Roma Arena superspecial in Italy’s capital city.
They came across the line together side-by-side in their respective lanes, establishing a 0.8s advantage over Sesks’ team-mate Tom Kristensson in an identical Pirelli-shod Opel ADAM R2.
Wagner had the added difficultly of racing without pace notes, after a break-in to one of Saintéloc’s recce cars left Wagner without his own race suit and his co-driver Gerald Winter without his pace note book.
Efrén Llarena was 1.3s behind Sesks and Wagner, driving his usual Rally Team Spain-prepared PEUGEOT 208 R2.
Mattia Vita began his home round of ERC Junior U27 with fifth fastest time in the Rome city stage, 0.1s faster than ACCR Czech Team’s Dominik Brož and 0.3s ahead of series debutant Sindre Furuseth in seventh place.
Miika Hokkanen was eighth quickest, 5.5s off team-mate Wagner’s pace but 2.7s ahead of next-best Roland Stengg in 9th. ERC Junior U27’s second debutant Sebastian Johansson completed the top 10, 8.s behind Sesks and Wagner.
Catie Munnings had unfortunately suffered the same fate as Wagner, her pace notes and race equipment having been stored in the same vehicle.
Her opening stage was a difficult one, spinning at a hairpin and struggling to reverse. She eventually had to pull over to let Kristensson past due to the short nature of Rome’s superspecial, losing 28.5s to team-mate Wagner.
They came across the line together side-by-side in their respective lanes, establishing a 0.8s advantage over Sesks’ team-mate Tom Kristensson in an identical Pirelli-shod Opel ADAM R2.
Wagner had the added difficultly of racing without pace notes, after a break-in to one of Saintéloc’s recce cars left Wagner without his own race suit and his co-driver Gerald Winter without his pace note book.
Efrén Llarena was 1.3s behind Sesks and Wagner, driving his usual Rally Team Spain-prepared PEUGEOT 208 R2.
Mattia Vita began his home round of ERC Junior U27 with fifth fastest time in the Rome city stage, 0.1s faster than ACCR Czech Team’s Dominik Brož and 0.3s ahead of series debutant Sindre Furuseth in seventh place.
Miika Hokkanen was eighth quickest, 5.5s off team-mate Wagner’s pace but 2.7s ahead of next-best Roland Stengg in 9th. ERC Junior U27’s second debutant Sebastian Johansson completed the top 10, 8.s behind Sesks and Wagner.
Catie Munnings had unfortunately suffered the same fate as Wagner, her pace notes and race equipment having been stored in the same vehicle.
Her opening stage was a difficult one, spinning at a hairpin and struggling to reverse. She eventually had to pull over to let Kristensson past due to the short nature of Rome’s superspecial, losing 28.5s to team-mate Wagner.
The post Sesks and Wagner tied for ERC Junior U27 lead after first Rome stage appeared first on FIA ERC.
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