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06.08.2007
Finland proves tough test for Fiestas Brits Barry Clark (25) and co-driver Scott Martin (25) clinched their fourth consecutive victory in the Fiesta SportingTrophy International (FSTi) in Neste Oil Rally Finland this weekend. The win in Finland means that the Stobart Motorsport crew have won all four events this season: Norway, Portugal, Sardinia and Finland. The first stage of the rally was the Super Special located at Killeri trotting track on the edge of the host town of Jyväskylä, where Clark beat fellow Fiesta crew Emre Yurdakul (25) and co-driver Can Erkal (24) by the narrow margin of half a second. Although the Ford Rallye Sport Turkey team was not registered for FSTi points in Rally Finland, Yurdakul put in a notable performance to finish third in class N3 and 52nd in the overall WRC classification. The action switched to the spectacular forest roads west of the city early on Friday morning, where Clark took control until the first service. Lithuanians Vytautas Baranauskas (23) and Gediminas Celiešius (35) stopped on Stage 2 to change a puncture and lost over three minutes to Clark. They had the misfortune to receive another puncture at the end of the next stage, but only dropped 8.5 seconds on this occasion. After the cancellation of Stage 4 following an accident, Clark arrived at midday service with a 3.5 minute lead over Baranauskas. Baranauskas took his first championship stage wins on SS6 and SS7, beating Clark by 1.6 seconds and 7.5 seconds respectively in front of the tens of thousands of fans who had flocked to the forests near Jyväskylä. After a long day on the blisteringly fast gravel roads and roller-coaster jumps that characterise this event, Clark returned to service with just under 3.5 minutes over second-placed Baranauskas. Yurdakul’s first outing on Rally Finland was without incident and the young Turk got a real taste for the demanding Finnish stages. Saturday was one of the longest days of competition seen in the WRC for many years. The nine stages covered 186.10 km, more than half the event's competitive distance. It was also one of the WRC’s classic days, based on the smooth, wide and fast gravel roads south-west of the host town of Jyväskylä, where enormous crowds packed the forests in glorious sunshine to view the action. Clark noticed a power steering leak on Stage 12, with it ultimately failing on Stage 13. Stopping to top up the fluid during a refuel, the problem diminished for Stage 14, the infamous Ouninpohja. Having successfully cleared the awesome roller-coaster of Ouninpohja 1, full of blind crests, jumps and sweeping corners and regarded as rallying's ultimate test of skill and bravery, both Clark and Baranauskas became victims to SS15 Leustu. The Scotsman fell foul at one of the famous Finnish jumps and damaged his radiator, completing the stage, but having to retire for the remainder of the day. Baranauskas was forced to retire mid-stage due to gearbox problems. Both drivers were able to repair the damage and restart on Sunday under SupeRally rules. Saturday was Yurdakul’s birthday and the day was to end far worse than it began, following an off-road excursion on Stage 12 after the driver misjudged a crest that lost him over 8 minutes to Clark. A temporary lapse in concentration and a mistake over a jump on the following stage lost the Turkish crew almost another minute to the leading Fiesta. Sunday saw the shortest leg of the rally with just three stages and no opportunity for service after leaving Jyväskylä in the morning. The competition took drivers north and east of the city for 40.75 km of action before the finish. Clark’s DGM team repaired his car the previous afternoon for the Brit to complete Leg 3 without any issues and take his fourth victory. The Lithuanian team replaced Baranauskas’ gearbox on Saturday evening, but it failed en route to the first stage on Sunday morning. Yurdakul put in a steady drive to arrive at the podium without the problems that had hampered him on Leg 2. The Fiesta SportingTrophy International continues with ADAC Rallye Deutschland on 17-19 August 2007.
Barry Clark said: "I’m chuffed that Scott [Martin] and I have managed to clinch victories in all four rounds of FSTi so far and you can be sure we’ll be aiming for a fifth consecutive win in Germany in two weeks’ time! Today’s win leaves us with a comfortable points margin in the championship and we can relax and enjoy the rallies because we don’t need to push so hard for the victory. Finland is the first event in which we’ve had to retire so far this season; it was a stark reminder that the championship isn’t over yet and that we still need to work hard to get the job done. We’ll certainly be pushing for the win in Germany in order to claim championship victory."
Vytautas Baranauskas said: "It was a great feeling to take five stage wins in Rally Finland, especially against Barry [Clark], who is proving to be very tough opposition. This is my first season in the WRC and I am learning all the time, so it is good to be able to measure myself against a driver of Barry’s skills and experience. It was a shame that we did not make it as far as the podium, but I intend to make up for that in Germany."
Championship standings after round 4 of 7 1 Barry CLARK GBR 10 10 10 10 40 2 Evgeniy VERTUNOV RUS 8 5 8 - - 21 3 Simon HUGHES GBR 5 8 6 - - 19 4 Vytautas BARANAUSKAS LIT DNF 6 4 8 18 5 Gianni BARBATI ITA - 4 5 - - 9 6 Sveinung BIELTVEDT NOR 6 - - - - 6 7 Miguel MONTEIRO POR - 3 - - - 3
- Stobart -
Author: maggy (admin2)
Last modified: Monday, 06.08.2007 - 12:02 More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
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