Skoda Fabia S2000 drivers collected important points for the championship in the "high-speed" rally in Estonia . The crew of Esapekka Lappi/Janne Ferm increased their lead in the ERC overall ranking with fifth place. Their closest pursuers are colleagues Sepp Wiegand and Frank Christian from the ŠKkoda Auto Deutschland team: they took seventh place with the second factory Fabia and are now second overall. Skoda will therefore go to the next ERC event in Zlín (August 28-31) with a pair of leading drivers of the ERC championship.
Rally Estonia was a newcomer to the ERC calendar this year. This was the motivation of both crews of Skoda Fabia Super 2000 factory cars on the gravel tracks near the Otepää winter resort in southern Estonia. It was immediately clear: these are the fastest ERC tracks. Speed averages of around 127 km/h were quite common for both competition days. The winner was the local matador Ott Tänak with Raigo Mõlder.
“This was a really crazy fast rally. We were practically always in sixth gear. I don't even know this from my native Finland," says Esapekka Lappi . "To be able to compete with the local riders here, we would have to go too far with the risk. At the end of the tenth exam, for example, it was raining so hard that we could hardly see anything. It was more reasonable not to risk so much with regard to the development of the championship. The positive thing is that we increased our lead in the championship before the start in Zlín.
In the next ERC competition in Zlín, Sepp Wiegand will appear as the second rider overall. "We didn't get a podium this time, but it was the most amazing rally I've driven so far," said Wiegand. I gathered a lot of new experience here, because there are no such fast tracks anywhere in Europe. In addition, I am happy to gain points for the championship."
The next competition takes place from August 29 to 31 in the home country of the Skoda brand in the Czech Republic. Two weeks before that, Skoda starts as the leader of the brand evaluation in Malaysia within the APRC . The leader of the APRC is Jan Kopecký after two firsts and one second place. Teammate Gaurav Gill, who won the opening event in New Zealand, is second in the championship.
Rally Estonia – provisional results:
1. Tänak/Mõlder (EST/EST, Ford Fiesta R5) 1:49:36.4 hrs
2. Lukyanuk/Arnautov (RUS/RUS, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) + 47.1 s
3. Kõrge/Pints (EST/EST, Ford Fiesta R5) + 55.4 s
4. Aus/Koskinen (EST/EST, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) + 2:11.7 min
5. Lappi/Ferm (FIN/FIN, SKODA Fabia Super 2000) + 2:17.2 min
6. Kruuda/Järveoja (FIN/FIN, Peugeot 208 T16) + 2:56.8 min
7. Wiegand/Christian (D/D, SKODA Fabia Super 2000) + 3:24.1 min
8. Murakas/Adler (FIN/FIN, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X) + 3:41.8 min
9. Chardonnet/De La Haye (F/F, Citroën DS3 R5) + 4:27.7 min
10. Sohlberg/Flythström (FIN/FIN, Ford Fiesta R5) + 5:59.0 min
Source: Skoda Motorsport
