Croatia Rally 2022
16h
The fight for victory in this second edition of the Croatian Rally is gaining in intensity with the driving of Ott Tänak (Hyundai). The Estonian gained an additional 3″8 on the leader of the event, Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) and is only 13″ behind in the general classification!
The most furious man this Saturday is Thierry Neuville (Hyundai). The Belgian hit the steering wheel of his Hyundai as he passed the timing cell and cursed three times " Whore ".
“I have an engine problem, I only had 40% of the total power over the last 5 km of the special! Damn, I'm fed up! »
Thierry Neuville continues his setbacks, after a one-minute penalty for speeding during the night from Friday to Saturday and an alternator problem. Ironically, Craig Breen (M-Sport Ford) was even slower without any mechanical problems; the Irishman only has an 11″ margin.
In WRC2, Éric Camilli (Citroën) fell off the podium. The Saintéloc Racing driver was slowed down by a puncture and leaves provisional third place to the Pole Kajetan Kajetanowicz (Skoda).
SS13 ranking:
Provisional general ranking:
15h
Éric Camilli (Citroën) is also the prey of a problem in the WRC2 class! The Frenchman was in third place in the category and even threatened the Russian Nikolay Gryazin. The C3 Rally2 drives at a very slow pace and reaches the finish line with 1'29" lost to Yohan Rossel (Citroën), still leader of the WRC2.
15h
Kalle Rovanperä feels Ott Tänak’s breath on her back! The Finn continues to lose ground on his Estonian rival! In this special, the leader's Toyota concedes 3″8 to the pursuer's Hyundai. Overall, the margin is only 13″!
15h
Ott Tänak finished 6″2 behind Esapekka Lappi. The road becomes more and more slippery with the passage of cars and the presence of gravel and mud.
15h
Luckily for Thierry Neuville, Craig Breen produced an even more disappointing special. The Ford Puma hybrid loses 15″ on the Belgian due to lack of confidence behind the wheel.
15h
Thierry Neuville is not happy. “Fuck” says the Belgian three times, hitting the steering wheel of his Hyundai as he crosses the timing cell with 7 tenths behind Esapekka Lappi.
“I have an engine problem, I only had 40% of the total power over the last 5 km of the special! Damn, I'm fed up! »
15h
Esapekka Lappi keeps the provisional best time after the passage of Elfyn Evans, 2nd by a handful of seconds.
15h
Takamoto Katsuta is in trouble! The Japanese lost more than a minute in the last part of the special. The Toyota GR Yaris hybrid suffered a front left puncture.
This should benefit Yohan Rossel, who will reduce his delay in the general classification by around half. Sixth place is at stake.
15h
Gus Greensmith concedes 8″1 over Esapekka Lappi.
15h
Pierre-Louis Loubet was not comfortable on this stretch. The Frenchman finished 7″7 behind Esapekka Lappi. “Even though the road is mostly dry, there are still some wet bends. With the soft tires, I started to lose grip at the end of the special. »
15h
Esapekka Lappi's hybrid Toyota Yaris GR starts the afternoon on a dry road. Easier to read than to say!
15h
Here is the starting order for this day:
15h
Hello to all rally fans! We meet again for the second loop this Saturday at the Croatia Rally. Before the start of the 13th special, here is the summary of the morning.
The 2022 Croatia Rally has many pitfalls in store for its competitors. While we thought the rain had definitely disappeared at the start of the second stage on Saturday April 23, a violent downpour reshuffled the cards in SS11.
On a road with almost zero visibility (10 meters at most), the leader of the event Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota) has practically lost all of his lead accumulated during the previous 10 special stages.
The 21-year-old Finn was slowed down by a puncture to his front left wheel in the first turns. His margin of more than a minute over Ott Tänak (Hyundai) was erased to just 18″ before losing another bunch of seconds in the last special of the loop, contested again on a dry road.
The leader in the general classification had nevertheless made a profitable tire choice by running with four grooved tires… just like Ott Tänak. The two men left the other competitors who wanted to play the cautious card (two slick tires and two rain tires).
Neuville penalized, Solberg injured
Hyundai Motorsport can only count on Ott Tänak to threaten Kalle Rovanperä following the setbacks of Thierry Neuville and Oliver Solberg. The first named was found guilty of several speeding offenses on Friday on a connecting route, following an alternator problem.
The commissioners did not appreciate his shaky defense (no danger because traffic was non-existent at that time on the open road) and imposed a substantial penalty of 1 minute overall, accompanied by a fine and two days of work of general interest with the FIA.
ALSO READ > Doubt persists at Hyundai
As for the son of 2003 world rally champion Petter Solberg, a driving error sent him into the background on the first morning special. The fire started in the exhaust pipe of the Hyundai i20 hybrid before co-driver Eliott Edmondson activated the fire extinguisher. The special stage was canceled to allow firefighters to contain the fire which threatened to spread into the Croatian forest.
Rossel masters WRC2
The outgoing WRC3 champion, Yohan Rossel (Citroën), increased his margin over the Russian Nikolay Gryazin (Skoda) to around forty seconds. The Frenchman from the PH Sport team can control his opponent's comeback, especially since he is under threat from the Habs Éric Camilli (Citroën, +1'07''1).
General classification after SS12:
