RallySport Magazine September 2016

on Ostberg. He had a horrendous time,
suffering differential troubles which led
to eternal wheel spinning on corners
due to front axle trouble, and there
were constant brake cooling issues.
Through all this he battled on to
finish sixth, the last of the World Rally
Cars that completed the full route.
Volkswagen’s 59 point championship
lead over Hyundai in the Manufacturers’
series was shaved to 55, while
M-Sport’s third place over Volkswagen’s
secondary team was down to one point.
In the Drivers’ series, Ogier extended
his lead over Andreas Mikkelsen to 59,
with Hyundai drivers Hayden Paddon
and Thierry Neuville equal third.
There was a spate of early
retirements in the WRC2 category,
mostly the results of going off the road.
Day 2 leader Armin Kremer’s private
Skoda headed off the works cars of
Jan Kopecky and Esapekka Lappi, with
the Peugeot 208 T16 of Jose Suarez
challenging in the early stages before
a spin and a puncture.
Kremer lost a half minute and
with it went his lead, which he was
never able to retrieve. Kopecky also
punctured and spent the rest of the
rally trying to pull back time.
At the end of Day 2 he
passed Kremer and got up to second,
so works Skodas were now first and
second in WRC2.
Hidden from view were the efforts
of a third works driver, Pontus
Tidemand, who was this time
competing on a non-points-scoring
basis and therefore seeded far
behind the others. Secretly he
was bidding for a top 10 position,
eventually finishing the rally in eighth
place overall, between his regular
teammates Lappi and Kopecky.
Lappi scored his second WRC2 win of
the season. In the WRC2 championship
standings, the absent Elfyn Evans and
non points scoring Teemu Suninen
(delayed on this event by suspension
damage) continue to hold 1-2 in the
WRC2 series.
Simone Tempestini led the WRC3 and
the Junior categories almost from the
start, ahead of early leader Martin Koci,
who finished second.
In the DriveDMack Fiesta
Trophy, Osian Pryce led all the way,
finishing ahead of Max Vatanen, and
they also lie 1-2 in the series’ standings
as well.
Thierry Neuville has no
time to admire the vines.
Eric Camilli makes his way
through the Mosel wine region
in his Fiesta RS WRC.
A consistent drive into fifth
place was a good result for
Hayden Paddon.
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SEPTEMBER 2016 - RALLYSPORT MAGAZINE | 47