Canarias - IRC news before SS13

Saliuk quick but not happy on Rally Islas Canarias

Dream Team Ukraine’s Oleksandr Saliuk says he cannot be happy with his sequence of top six stage times on Saturday’s opening three runs because he no longer appears in the overall classification.

Saliuk retired on Friday morning when his M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000 suffered transmission failure.

He restarted on day two after repairs were carried out on his car but does not feature in the overall classification following his early exit.

“I am not happy because I am not in the results,” said Saliuk. “But I am getting some experience and my times are good.”

Saliuk’s team-mate Oleksii Tamrazov will also be missing from the final classification after he and Italian co-driver Nicola Arena retired on stage 12 after damaging their front-left wheel hitting a stage-side barrier.

Brake issues hamper Tempestini in IRC Production Cup

Marco Tempestini has revealed that a brake problem is preventing him from challenging for IRC Production Cup honours on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés.

The Romania-based driver is trailing category rival Robert Consani by 1m41.5s with three stages of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier remaining.

Tempestini said: “We’re having to slow down because for the last two kilometres we have no brakes due to all the downhill parts and when it is like this it’s impossible. Now we have no chance to catch Consani so we have to be safe and arrive to the end.”

Co-driven by Dorin Pulpea, Tempestini is 15th overall in his Subara Impreza R4 STI.

New gearbox for Al-Ketbi in Gran Canaria

Rashid Al-Ketbi will have a new gearbox fitted in his Skydive Dubai Rally Team ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000 when he begins the final loop of three stages on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés this afternoon.

Al-Ketbi. who is currently 12th overall on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event, completed Saturday’s first three stages with no working clutch, which he said had placed a great strain on his car’s gearbox.

“I am lucky the gearbox is not broken because we did all the stages [this morning] with no clutch,” said the Emirati, who is tackling his second rally on asphalt. “This does not make it easy.”

Al-Ketbi’s mechanics used the 30-minute service halt in Las Palmas to replace the unit.

Wiegand plans to experiment in Gran Canaria

Sepp Wiegand will use the remaining three stages of Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Inglés to experiment with different set-ups on his ŠKODA Auto Deutschland Fabia Super 2000.

The 21-year-old from Germany is in a secure fourth position on the second round of the 13-event Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Unable to close the gap to third-placed Luis Monzón and with Jonathan Perez almost two minutes behind, Wiegand will start his preparations for the next round of the IRC, the Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland Rally, by trying out different settings.

“In this position we are looking quite okay for some more points for the IRC and this is very important,” said Wiegand. “Now we try some different things with the set-up to get some ideas for the next races.”