Protasov wins Rally Class in Portugal

Under conditions so treacherous that the entire Friday afternoon loop of stages were cancelled, Ukraine driver Yuriy Protasov won the inaugural round of Rally Class on Rally Portugal. Protasov, a multiple rally champion in his homeland, also won the Group N category (class 3) on the all-gravel event in 20th overall.

Rally Class is designed as a feeder championship to the Production Car World Rally Championship, using identical Group N Subaru Imprezas, built by reigning PWRC champion team Symtech Racing, on control DMack tyres.

The winner receives five fully-paid rallies in a Subaru Impreza R4 car next year, while the second-placed finisher will get two rallies, all expenses paid, in a Group N Impreza. So far, four drivers have signed up for the inaugural series and they all encountered varying fortunes on the first event of the year.

Yuri Protasov had no problems during the opening night stages and enjoyed the muddy stages of Friday, despite the marginal conditions. The total traction and user-friendly handling of the newly-built Group N Symtech Subaru Impreza enabled him to pull out a significant advantage without taking unnecessary risks.

On Saturday’s six stages, he was slowed by two punctures and he was also affected by a strange noise from the car on one stage that forced him to stop and investigate. However, the problem turned out to be nothing, and he was able to continue to service. On Sunday, he enjoyed a clean run to the finish over the remaining six stages.

"This was a great way for us to start the year," he said. "Rally Class has proved to be a lot of fun, and to come home with a win is always satisfying. This was a very difficult rally, and for a brand new car, it’s great for us to get to the finish with no major problems. I’d like to thank all our mechanics and our competitors for a fantastic weekend. Now I’m already looking forward to the next round!"

Latvian Andis Neiksans finished second in the Rally Class standings after a fraught start to the rally on Thursday. When he went to start the night stages that opened the event, he found that the lamp pod was not working. His attempt to fix the electrical problem actually made things worse, as the car then refused to fire up out of regroup and he lost 16 minutes.

On Friday his run through the stages was straightforward, but he lost time on Saturday as the result of a timing issue and some problems with the brakes. At midday service, the gearbox was also changed. Nonetheless, he finished second overall in the Group N standings on Sunday after a challenging event.

Mexico’s Ricardo Trivino is third in Rally Class but he encountered problems on Friday’s SS6 when he hit a rock and opened up the front-right wheel. Unfortunately, the car then slid off the road at around 10kph on the inside of a right hand corner. The Symtech team was able to repair the damage and the Mexican re-started on Saturday. However, the accident had affected the suspension and this slowed Trivino over the first loop of stages. The problem was fixed at midday service and he had no further problems all the way to the finish on Sunday afternoon.

Multiple Indonesian drifting champion Rifat Sungkar took his time to adapt to the unique conditions in Portugal. Sungkar battled an intermittent gear selection on Friday, which was fixed during the final service halt, but he too picked up two punctures on Saturday. On the day’s final stage he was losing time with a braking problem, so he chose to stop and take a five-minute super rally penalty rather than lose more time by battling to the end.

He was set for a strong finish on his World Championship debut, but on Sunday’s penultimate stage he slid off the road. After losing several minutes he was able to get back on and complete the final power stage. He ended the rally classified fourth in the Rally Class standings, ensuring that all the Symtech cars that started also finished.

Symtech Racing’s Dirk Van der Sluys commented: "We faced very difficult conditions for our debut, which wasn’t made any easier by the fact that our tight deadlines for championship registration meant that the cars weren’t finished until just before the rally. Nonetheless, we’re here with everything we need and we’ve certainly had a spectacular start! I think everybody has understood that this is our first event and so there’s plenty of work to do, but we’re delighted that Yuri has had a trouble free run over the tough stages to claim this win. I’d like to especially thank the Portuguese organisers for the warm welcome they have given us and all their help. Now we look forward to the next round on the Acropolis Rally, where we may also be joined by some new competitors."

After Portugal, Rally Class continues with five more rounds in Greece, Germany, France, Italy and Spain making three gravel rallies, two on asphalt and one mixed-surface event.