Ireland - IRC news before SS4

Wiegand unsure of stage-three puncture cause

Sepp Wiegand says he is unsure what caused his puncture on stage three of the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally.

The young German ace, currently third in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers’ standings, slipped from 10th to fifth when his ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 suffered a front-left deflation on the 25.16-kilometre Legane stage, which caused a delay of almost two minutes.

Andreas Leue, spokesperson for ŠKODA Auto Deutschland, said: “He was six kilometres before the finish of the stage but there was no collision and no other damage on the car. But he is driving well in difficult conditions, which are very slippery and changing a lot.”

The highlight for Wiegand so far occurred on the Titanic Super Special Stage when he set the second-fastest time, just 0.2s behind stage winner Jan Kopecký.

Setback for Renault star Consani

French driver Robert Consani’s hopes of a high-scoring finish on the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland are in tatters after he picked up a puncture on the front-left wheel of his Renault Mégane RS on stage three of the all-asphalt event.

Consani, co-driven by former Intercontinental Rally Challenge title-winning co-driver Nicolas Klinger, cut a corner and picked up a puncture on the 25.16-kilometre Legane run. However, the bulk of the time was lost finding a safe place to stop on the narrow roads. The crew then had difficulty in changing the wheel.

“I don’t really know what happened but it was a bit of a disaster: we lost around six minutes,” said Consani, who is competing on the Armagh-based event for the first time. “Then it was a problem to change the wheel. We’re here now at service but it is a pity: I was looking forward to this rally and now we are already at the back.”

Consani is eligible for IRC Production Cup and IRC 2WD Cup points. Sam Moffett and Marty McCormack lead the categories respectively.

Stage four, Drummond 2, is due to go live at 21:37hrs local time, following a 12-minute delay to the timetable.

Peugeot’s Breen out of luck on Circuit of Ireland

Craig Breen says his chances of a strong result on the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally have been dealt a huge blow after his Saintéloc Racing Peugeot 207 Super 2000 developed a fuel pump problem on the road section to service in Armagh.

Breen, a 21-year-old rising talent from the Republic of Ireland, completed the third stage of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier in fourth position but is set to drop down the order when time penalties – believed to total 1m30s – are applied to his overall result following his late arrival at the regroup control prior to service.

“We were midway from the last stage to service when it happened,” said Breen. “It’s very disappointing but it can happen. We took the first few stages to settle into the new car and the new team but unfortunately we had a problem with the fuel pump. We’ll now just try to learn the car, push and show some good speed for our team and Peugeot.”

Breen’s team-mate Mathieu Arzeno, from France, is currently 3.9s behind Breen in his 207. Arzeno suffered a spin on the Titanic Super Special Stage, while a handbrake glitch caused some concern on Drummond 1. Otherwise the ex-circuit racing star has impressed on his debut in Northern Ireland.