|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
02.04.2007
Clark sets new records on Rally de Portugal Scotsman Barry Clark (24) and Carlisle co-driver Scott Martin (25) have cruised to a second victory in the Fiesta SportingTrophy International on the Vodafone Rally de Portugal. The Stobart sponsored crew finished 26th overall and sixth in GpN, beating Lambros Athanassoulas’ previous record of 31st on Rally Deutschland 2006, for the highest placed Ford Fiesta ST to be classified on a WRC event. Clark was dominant on Rally Norway in February, but Welshman Simon Hughes (23) and Scottish co-driver Claire Mole (38) pushed Clark hard in Portugal, allowing them a lead of only 37.9 seconds after 357 kilometres of rough gravel stages. Hughes has now climbed to second place in the championship standings and shares the spot with Russians Evgeniy Vertunov (23) and co-driver Georgiy Troshkin (29). The seven round series follows the FIA World Rally Championship calendar and Rally de Portugal was the competitors’ first outing on gravel stages this year. The rally returned to the WRC calendar after a break of five years and was based in the Algarve region for the first time. Road conditions were tough for crews in this competitive series and the weather was inconsistent; with the two-litre Fiestas facing sunshine and clear skies on day one, torrential rain on day two, and bright sunshine again on the final day. Clark started the event as he meant to go on by setting the fastest time in the N3 class on the opening SuperSpecial Stage. His rally was not without incident, however, bending a steering arm and a rear beam on Friday and dropping time catching slower cars in front of him on a number of stages. Fastest stage times in the N3 class were shared solely between Clark and Hughes and, after a cautious start to the rally, Hughes went on maximum attack to catch Clark. On stage 10 Simon was lucky to escape when he slid wide, clipped a post, lost the rear bumper and damaged the front panel. Hughes’ bad luck continued on Saturday afternoon when the clutch failed on the first of three stages, however he managed to drive competitively on these tests with no clutch, returning to service for his mechanics to change the offending part in only 40 minutes. The final day saw the Welshman damage the suspension after a heavy impact with a rock. Now on an equal footing with Hughes in the standings is Vertunov. His rally started badly when he was given a 30 second penalty for being late for the Stadium SuperSpecial Stage as a result of a fuel leak. The driver from Moscow hit a tree on the 24 kilometre Serra de Tavira 1 stage, bending the rear beam. After losing only 0.6 seconds to Hughes on stage 5, the Russian broke a suspension ball joint on the stage re-run On day two, when a rear wheel bearing failed, forcing him into retirement. New to the series were Italians Gianni Barbati (26) and co-driver Fabio Cadore (38). The Modenese driver had never competed on gravel and his confidence developed as the weekend progressed. Barbati’s first day passed without incident, but he was forced to retire on Saturday with damaged suspension. After restarting on Sunday, he had no further problems and claimed fifth position. Lithuanian Vytautas Baranauskas (23) had much better luck in Portugal after he rolled his Ford Fiesta ST on the first day on Rally Norway. He was co-driven by fellow countryman Gediminas Celiesius and the pair finished in third position despite losing power to the engine on Friday with dust inhalation. Local Portuguese brothers Miguel (37) and co-driver Paulo Monteiro (39) really enjoyed competing on their home event against the other international drivers. Unfortunately, the crew from Porto had an off-road excursion on stage 3 and then had two punctures on stage 4, causing Monteiro delay of nearly two minutes. More bad luck was to follow when the suspension broke on the second day forcing them into retirement. Sunday was much better as they amended their pace notes and driving style to finish sixth. The next round of the Fiesta Sporting Trophy International will be Rally Sardinia on 18-20 May. Barry Clark said: "The roads were a little rougher than I had anticipated and the cars before us had dragged rocks out onto the stages. We encountered big ledges of hard bedrock hidden beneath the loose gravel, which made the surface very difficult to judge. I was too cautious on Sunday morning and really had to push hard to make sure that Simon [Hughes] didn’t catch me. I’ve got a good lead in the championship now, so feel confident for the next round in Sardinia in May." Simon Hughes said: "The impact of the hard rock base that was hidden under the gravel was really tough on the car, Claire [Mole] and I. We gave it our best shot and the rally had such a great atmosphere. I was impressed with how well the Fiesta has coped with such rough conditions; we pushed as hard as we could, and I was pleased to see that we could keep up with Barry’s [Clark] pace." Miguel Monteiro said: "The car is really great, we’ve had real fun! I felt that the mistakes we were making were due to our pace notes, so we adjusted them on the final day and it made a world of difference. It was a fantastic feeling to be representing Portugal on our home territory in the Fiesta SportingTrophy against drivers from around the world; the local fans were really supportive and filled the stages with such a fantastic atmosphere." Kate Rhodes, FSTi Co-ordinator said: "The battle between Barry [Clark] and Simon [Hughes] shaped up to be a real nail-biter! Although Barry now has a seven point lead, Simon has demonstrated that he has the speed to keep him honest. The stages were rough and really quite tricky in places, but the pace that the Fiesta ST showed was fantastic, with Barry finishing 26th overall and sixth in Gp.N – a superb achievement." Championship standings after round 2 of 7 1 CLARK GBR 10 10 20 Ffurther information available from www.fiestasportingtrophy.com - Kate Rhodes -
Author: Maggy (admin)
Last modified: Monday, 02.04.2007 - 03:27 More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |