Friday news briefs from Sardinia

Al Rajhi impresses co-driver Nagle

Paul Nagle says Intercontinental Rally Challenge newcomer Yazeed Al Rajhi should be praised for his decision to enter the series.

Although the Saudi driver’s outing on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna is a one-off, Nagle said the Middle East championship event winner should be given credit for the commitment he has shown so far.

“It’s a big, big learning curve for him because the Middle East Rally Championship doesn’t really have anything like this rally but he’s come over and got stuck in,” said Nagle of his new team-mate. “He’s keen to learn the different pacenotes and the different conditions and although he’s got plenty to learn he seems happy enough.”

Al Rajhi’s Peugeot 207 Super 2000 is run by the same Kronos Racing team that fields the 207 Nagle shares with Kris Meeke.

“He was at the test with us on Tuesday and showed then he’s willing to learn and listen to advice. His co-driver [Matthieu Baumel] is experienced and that should help him. Hopefully he will do well.”

Break won´t slow Arminen in Sardinia

Finn Teemu Arminen says the broken front driveshaft his Subaru Impreza suffered during shakedown for Rally d’Italia-Sardegna earlier today has done little to hamper his preparations for the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.

Arminen will drive a Tommi Mäkinen Racing-prepared Impreza on the island-based event, which also counts as a round of the Italian Gravel Rally Championship.

“I didn’t lose much time at all really,” said Arminen. “It was the first run to check everything was okay. But I was a bit too fast into one corner and went over a stone and that was. I did two runs after that so everything is fine now.”

Arminen will be one of the favourites to win the Subaru Individual Award in Sardinia. The accolade goes to the highest-placed finisher on all 12 rounds of the IRC.

“We have to concentrate on the Italian championship and we know from shakedown that this rally is going to be difficult on our cars,” said Arminen. “There are a lot of really top drivers in the IRC so it would be nice to keep the gap to them quite low and also get some good times on the stages.”

Shakedown leaves Wittmann well prepared

Franz Wittmann says he is “very well prepared” for Rally d’Italia-Sardegna following this morning’s shakedown, even though he was one of several drivers to report that the 2.6-kilometre course wasn’t representative of the event’s competitive stages.

Wittmann, who is still chasing his first finish in this season’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge at the wheel of his Interwetten Racing Peugeot 207 S2000, completed five runs of the shakedown stage at Monte Pinu.

“Unfortunately the shakedown didn’t have the characteristics of the rally,” said the 26-year-old Austrian. “Therefore it was more sensible not to take a risk. Yet I’m sure that we are very well prepared despite the missing testing kilometres on gravel. The stages could suit me but we’ll have to wait and see how deep the tracks will be.”

Wittmann will start the fifth round of the IRC, which includes four stages shown live on Eurosport, in eighth on the road alongside his German co-driver Klaus Wicha.

Çetinkaya says ace Ogier was a big help

Burcu Çetinkaya reckons the driving tips she has received from Sébastien Ogier will be invaluable when she gets her seven-round Intercontinental Rally Challenge programme underway in Sardinia this weekend.

The 29-year-old from Istanbul will drive a Peugeot Sport Turkey-run 207 Super 2000 and called up Ogier, who won Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo in a 207 last season, for advice on how best to drive the French machine.

“I had one test in Turkey with Sébastien and then we did another test in France, which was for Tarmac,” said Çetinkaya. “He is maybe the best driver in the world so it was a great experience. For my driving it was quite helpful and we will try to apply as much of it as we can. He tried to show me where I was weak such as the braking points.”

Çetinkaya has only driven a 207 S2000 on three previous occasions having spent much of her early career in a Ford Fiesta ST.

“The major challenge has been the change in speed and acceleration,” said Çetinkaya. “I need time to get used to this during the year. The testing has helped a lot but still we have some work to do. It’s been a major change but I must say it’s a positive change to drive the 207.”