M-Sport: Determination and damage limitation

M-Sport World Rally Team’s Elfyn Evans and Ott Tänak know how demanding Rally Finland can be, but the youngsters were cruelly reminded of that fact today – having to muster all of their determination in pursuit of damage limitation.

Without the luxury of a midday service, two small mistakes behind the wheel of their Ford Fiesta RS WRCs meant that our determined duo had to limp through six of today’s eight speed tests – nursing their damaged cars back to the end of day service.

Both drivers looked under control and on pace through the day’s opening stages. Two third fastest times saw Tänak hold fourth place while an impressive display of speed propelled Evans into a strong sixth position.

But as the crews prepared for the first pass of ‘Ouninpohja’ (SS4), their hard work and promising performances were undone.

Over-correcting what they thought was an overly ambitious pacenote towards the end of SS3, Tänak and co-driver Raigo Mõlder clipped a rock which damaged the front-left damper.

One stage later, Evans and co-driver Daniel Barritt were to fall foul of ’Ouninpohja’ – running wide less than five kilometres into the stage and hitting a rock which damaged the rear suspension.

The subsequent fix that the pairing then affected was genius – reinforcing the broken suspension arm with the Snap-On spanner from their in-car toolkit!

As two of the most determined competitors in the field, Tänak and Evans refused to give up the fight. The Gravel Grand Prix can be cruel, but thanks to the will of our drivers and the strength of the EcoBoost-powered Fiesta RS WRC, an encouraging result may yet be possible with both cars fully repaired ahead of tomorrow’s action.

Ott Tänak (10th) said:

“A couple of kilometres before the end of the second stage [of the morning, SS3] I over-corrected one corner. It looked tighter than what we had it down as in the notes and we were fully sideways on the exit. There was a big stone and we clipped it which damaged the damper.

“It was of course really frustrating because I think we could have had the pace to be challenging for the podium again this weekend. Thankfully, we were able to get the car back to service, but we have lost a lot of time as a result.

“Tomorrow I think we just need to go out there and have some fun on these amazing stages. There is still a long way to go, and there is still a good chance of points so let’s just see what tomorrow has to offer.”

Elfyn Evans (20th) said:

“We ran wide at the start of Ouninpohja [SS4] and there was a huge stone on the exit of the corner which we hit and damaged the rear suspension arm. We managed to make a temporary repair that got us back to service, but we lost so much time and the whole afternoon was mainly about nursing the car back.

“It’s been frustrating, but it’s from my own doing so I have nothing to blame other than myself. It’s been a long afternoon, on what would have been massively enjoyable stages, so we’re obviously very disappointed.

“We were feeling really good in the car for the first two stages [SS2 and SS3]. It didn’t feel particularly risky and we felt that we were reasonably clean so we just need to put today behind us and focus on developing that same pace tomorrow.”

Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:

“Both Ott [Tänak] and Elfyn [Evans] started really well. Unfortunately there were a couple of little mistakes which has cost us dearly today.

“Ott went too deep into a corner and hit a rock which damaged the front-left suspension. Then on the very next stage, Elfyn went a little wide and hit what we think must be the biggest rock in Finland!

“The fix he and Dan [Barritt, co-driver] did on that car was phenomenal. It’s incredible that they managed to get back to service and I think both drivers displayed a real determination today.

“Both cars were fully repaired in service and we’re looking forward to seeing what they can do tomorrow.”