L’épopée de Mads Østberg en Championnat d’Europe de Rallye FIA a pris fin après avoir manqué un virage lors de la dernière spéciale du jour au Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés.
La star norvégienne, qui menait le rallye depuis le début grâce à sa victoire lors de la première spéciale du jour a tiré tout droit dans une épingle, d’après son poursuivant Alexey Lukyanuk.
Lukyanuk déclare: « Je pense qu’il a manqué son point de freinage et s’est pris un rocher. C’est vraiment dommage pour lui car je pense que son rallye est fini. On a vu qu’ils allaient bien. »
Lukyanuk a, quant à lui, mis un terme aux succès de Kajetan Kajetanowicz en s’imposant avec 1.2 secondes d’avance à l’issue des 14.5 kilomètres de l’épreuve de Santa Lucía.
Kajetanowicz prend la tête du classement général à Østberg et possède 22.7 secondes d’avance sur Lukyanuk avant la dernière journée.
Suite à l’accident d’Østberg, Robert Consani prend la troisième place du général, 10.5 secondes devant Luis Monzón.
Iván Ares, qui pointait à la quatrième place avant un problème mécanique, qui lui a fait perdre du temps lors de l’ES6, a pris encore plus de retard à cause de celui-ci.
Mads Østberg’s debut lead in the FIA European Rally Championship is over after he crashed on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés near the end of the final stage of leg one.
The Norwegian star, who had led the rally since winning Friday’s opening stage, crashed straight on at a hairpin, according to the following Alexey Lukyanuk.
Lukyanuk said: “He missed the braking point I think and stopped into a rock. A big shame for him but I think the rally is over for him. We saw them OK [out of the car].”
Lukyanuk claimed his first stage victory of the rally, ending the streak of Kajetan Kajetanowicz by beating the Pole by 1.2 seconds over the 14.5-kilometre Santa Lucía stage.
Kajetanowicz takes over the lead from Østberg, carrying a 22.7-second lead over Lukyanuk into the second and final leg of the rally.
After Østberg’s crash, Robert Consani is up to third overall, 10.5s ahead of Luis Monzón.
Iván Ares, who was fourth prior to a problem on SS6, has lost further time with his mechanical issue.
Wojciech Chuchała may have turned out to be one of the FIA European Rally Championship’s star drivers today, by leading the ERC2 category in his Subaru Impreza, but he says he had plenty in reserve – so his plan is to push a little bit harder tomorrow.
“Honestly, it was no real risks today,” he said, holding eighth overall tonight as well as the class lead. “We actually didn’t have a single moment so for tomorrow we can go a bit harder. I think we can drive faster without taking any more risks.”
Chuchała (pronounced ‘hoo ha wa’) is a star in his native Poland, but is making his name in the ERC for the first time in the Subaru Poland Rally Team: the same squad where reigning ERC champion Kajetan Kajetanowicz first came to prominence.
“I’m happy that we have been able to do well so far, but like they say, to finish first, first you need to finish!” he added. “The team ha
