San Marino - IRC news before SS3

Lack of confidence slows Mikkelsen in San Marino

Andreas Mikkelsen has put his reluctance to push on Rally San Marino’s opening two stages this morning down to a lack of confidence in his ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia Super 2000.

The Norwegian ace, IRC champion in 2010, is in third position, 4.3s behind leader Sepp Wiegand after two stages.

He said: “These have been one of the two most difficult gravel stages I’ve ever done. They are very twisty and slippery and I didn’t have so much confidence with the grip to push, so I didn’t push at all.”

Mikkelsen has opted to run on hard-compound tyres for the afternoon loop of stages although he has taken two soft compound tyres in the event of damp conditions. Wiegand will continue on soft compound tyres only.

Impressive Wiegand surprised to be leading

Sepp Wiegand is finding it hard to believe that he is leading Rally San Marino, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

The ŠKODA Auto Deutschland driver starts the third stage of the gravel event with a lead of 3.3s over Italian Umberto Scandola in a similar Fabia Super 2000.

“It’s unbelievable, I’m really surprised to be leading,” said Wiegand, 21. “I now have my first stage win in the IRC, which is something I will never forget and I am also leading the rally.”

Despite holding top spot, Wiegand’s rally hasn’t been without incident. He nudged a small tree on the second stage and is also experiencing a significant build up of dust inside his car.

“There is so much dust inside the car that my eyes are actually hurting,” said Wiegand. “We are going to have to find the places in the car where this is happening and make a fix. We also had some oversteer this morning so we will try to make some changes to the set-up.”

In terms of his approach over Friday’s remaining stages, Wiegand said: “I expect the other guys to be faster but I will also try to push but in a safe way.”

Nikara took no risks to top IRC Production Cup

Jarkko Nikara insists he did “nothing special” after setting the sixth fastest time on Rally San Marino’s second stage this morning.

Nikara, who heads the IRC Production Cup in a Tommi Mäkinen Racing Subaru Impreza R4 STI, is 23.7s in front of team-mate Toshi Arai heading to the third stage of the gravel event.

“I did nothing special, the road actually felt quite slippery and I had some understeer,” said Nikara. “It was difficult to find the rhythm after the first stage was cancelled because there are a lot of tight corners. But I am happy to be leading and happy with my time.”

Consani determined to finish Rally San Marino

Robert Consani has admitted to driving at “50 per cent” in an effort to stay on the road on Rally San Marino.

The French ace, a regular in this year’s IRC 2WD Cup, is back behind the wheel of a Renault Clio R3 due to the ineligibility of his regular Renault Mégane RS on gravel events.

At service in San Marino earlier this afternoon, Consani is second in the IRC 2WD Cup classification, 33.1s behind leader Harry Hunt.

“It’s very, very difficult,” said Consani. “It’s okay when you are going uphill but not so good when you are downhill because you don’t have a good feeling, there is not the traction and I drive at 50 per cent. I just want to finish the rally now and try to get some points.”

Cautious Hunt leads IRC 2WD Cup

Harry Hunt, who leads the IRC 2WD Cup classification by more than half a minute heading to stage three of Rally San Marino, says he has never used his brakes so much in a rally car.

The British driver, IRC 2WD Cup champion in 2010, says the lack of grip on the slippery gravel stages has forced him to adopt an extremely cautious approach as he battles to negotiate the all-gravel route with his car intact.

“It’s so slippery that judging your braking is really difficult,” said Hunt. “You have to be very cautious and make no mistakes. I was so heavy on the brakes because of the lack of grip.”

Hunt started the event sharing the lead of the IRC 2WD Cup standings with Martin Kangur. However, the Estonian is 2m37.1s behind Hunt after two stages following a reported powersteering failure on his Honda Civic Type R.

Puskadi plans Rally San Marino improvement

János Puskádi plans to adjust his pacenotes for Friday afternoon’s stages as he bids to climb the leaderboard on Rally San Marino.

The former IRC 2WD Cup frontrunner is competing on gravel in a four-wheel-drive car for the first time. As a result he feels his pacenotes can be improved.

“The pacenotes were made for a two-wheel-drive car and this car is so much faster,” said the Hungarian ŠKODA Fabia driver. “Also, it’s the first time for me in a four-wheel-drive car on gravel and the first time for me in San Marino so there is a lot to learn.”

Puskádi and co-driver Barna Godor are one of five all-Hungarian crews competing on the seventh round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

“I had planned to do this rally anyway but for the others it’s a nice place to come to and they like driving on gravel,” said Puskádi. “There is a good atmosphere between us.”

Salo admits he’s still learning on Rally San Marino

Juha Salo says driving a Super 2000 car in competition for the first time is far from easy following the opening two stages of Rally San Marino, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

The seven-time Finnish champion is competing in an M-Sport Ford Fiesta S2000, which he drove for the first time during pre-event shakedown on Thursday.

“It has not been so easy and we were also delayed on the first stage [when Germain Bonnefis had his problem and blocked the road],” said Salo. “The second stage was quite okay but I am still making mistakes and losing a lot of time. I only did five runs in shakedown and this was the first time I had driven the car so we hope for more this afternoon.”

With three stages of day one remaining, Salo is fifth overall 24.8s behind leader Sepp Wiegand.

Bonnefis plans to hitback from San Marino delay

Intercontinental Rally Challenge rookie Germain Bonnefis has described his costly delay on Rally San Marino’s opening special stage this morning.

The young French driver had been tipped for a point-scoring finish on the gravel event he is contesting for the first time but is instead languishing in 30th position after two stages in his Peugeot Sport 207 Super 2000.

“There was a problem with the fuel pressure and it was impossible to restart,” he said. “Because of this we blocked the road for the other drivers but we don’t understand why it would not restart. We were stopped for seven minutes.”

After setting the seventh fastest time on stage two despite the difficulties he encountered negotiating hairpin bends due to a faulty handbrake, the 25-year-old is 7m40.2s behind leader Sepp Wiegand.

“Now I want to find a good rhythm in the afternoon and try to have a good second lap of the stages and be faster,” he said.

Frontrunner Scandola not certain of car fix

Umberto Scandola says he is not sure if the power problem that has slowed him on the opening two stages of Rally San Marino can be cured in the 30-minute service halt currently taking place.

The ŠKODA Italia driver is second overall, just 3.3s adrift of leader Sepp Wiegand despite reporting that his Fabia Super 2000’s engine has been dropping onto three cylinders.

“We don’t know how it is possible but there is brown water inside the fuel and the engine is sometimes on three cylinders,” said Scandola. “The times have been okay but could be better without this problem. We also had a spin in the middle of the second stage and lost maybe eight seconds. Now I am not sure what can be done in the service.”