San Marino - IRC news before SS9

Puncture, damaged brakes and a fire delay Tempestini

Marco Tempestini has explained how a puncture on stage seven triggered a series of setbacks that have hit his hopes of a podium finish in the IRC Production Cup section of Rally San Marino.

Tempestini picked up a rear-left puncture seven kilometres from the finish of Saturday’s second stage. This, in turn, broke the rear-left brake calliper and caused a small fire, which Tempestini and co-driver Dorin Pulpea were fortunately able to extinguish.

“We have lost a lot of time because we did the last stage with only front brakes,” said the Italian-born Romanian. “We also have some penalties because we were five minutes trying to fix the problem.”

Despite the various delays, Tempestini has managed to fight back into third place in the category after he went quicker than rival Gabriele Noberasco through stage nine.

Repeated stages will cancel out Basso’s advantage, says Mikkelsen

Andreas Mikkelsen says he doesn’t expect Giandomenico Basso’s turbocharged M-Sport Ford Fiesta RRC to enjoy the same performance advantage when Saturday morning’s stages are repeated this afternoon.

Basso moved equal first with Mikkelsen, who is running first on the road on Rally San Marino, after taking time out of the Norwegian on the second and third stages where road cleaning was more apparent than on today’s first test.

“When I need to clean the road a lot I sometimes feel it’s very hard for the engine to cope with the tyres rolling and on those stages I lose a lot of time to Basso,” said Mikkelsen, who is driving a normally aspirated ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000. “He has the turbo and the torque to get out of the corners so next stages will be better for me because the road should be cleaner.”

Although competitors contesting the Historic San Marino Rally are running ahead of Mikkelsen on the road, the Norwegian explained that their alternative lines meant he had still been sweeping away the loose surface gravel for his rivals behind.

“They are just driving on the inside of every corner and not sliding sideways,” said Mikkelsen. “Our lines are quite different especially on the second stage where there was a lot of cleaning.”

Basso’s co-driver, Mitia Dotta, meanwhile said he felt they could have been leading outright had it not been for a slightly slower run through Saturday’s first test. “We didn’t push too much because we didn’t have the feeling when it was slightly damp. We are also learning the car [on gravel] but we’re pushing as much as we can.”

Floene to the rescue on Rally San Marino

Co-driver Ola Fløene turned driver on Rally San Marino when he took the wheel of Andreas Mikkelsen’s ŠKODA UK Motorsport Fabia Super 2000 on the road section heading to midday service.

Their Fabia lost powersteering four kilometres from the finish of stage eight, Sant’Agata Feltria, which cost them vital seconds in the battle for victory on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge qualifier.

“I drove a bit on the road section and then Ola took over so I could save some energy for the stages,” explained Mikkelsen. “I want to fight for the victory, I have a good feeling and I think I can bring this home but we need to push.”

Fløene was left with blistered hands when he reached the San Marino service halt. He said: “I drove for about 35 kilometres. We have done this before when there has been a problem because he needs the power to drive the car, I just need my voice to read the pacenotes.”

Despite the powersteering glitch, Mikkelsen has been able to maintain his overall lead, albeit a lead he now shares with Giandomenico Basso. However, Mikkelsen admitted he feared he would lose more time when the fault occurred.

“I knew we were not so far from the end of the stage,” said the 23-year-old. “But it was quite scary because if you need to do some quick movements on the steering wheel you have no chance and you go off. It was lucky it was just a few kilometres and not long one stage to go before service.”