Today the WRC will open the triptych of rallies on fast gravel. This morning the Polish Rally Shakedown took place, the seventh round of the 2024 season and the first of three events that could upset both general rankings.
Ott Tanak achieved the best time in the third of his three passes on the test stage, the 5.10 kilometer Lubiewo, located a few hundred meters from the Service Park.
The Estonian from Hyundai Motorsport stopped the clock in 2’12″5, preceding the sister car of teammate Thierry Neuville by 1″1.
Both drivers of the Alzenau team were involved in errors in the first of the three passes in which they damaged their respective cars. Neuville, who entered the test first, had grip problems on an asphalt stretch, ending up crashing into a bale of hay that delimited a part of the test. In the impact, the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 number 11 reported minor damage to the rear bumper, just before the right wheel arch.
Ott Tanak, on the other hand, took a very fast left turn completely sideways – making a correct maneuver – but too far to the outside. Passing under an arched warning sign, his trajectory was too wide, thus ending up breaking a piece of the rear wing.
Behind the first two Hyundais is Adrien Fourmaux’s Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid. The Frenchman was 7 tenths of a second slower than Neuville, but half a second faster than the third official Hyundai i20 N Rally1, that of Andreas Mikkelsen.
The Norwegian, fourth, was one of the two drivers at the wheel of a Rally1 to also take advantage of the fourth pass in the test. Together with him the debutant Martins Sesks, at the wheel of the third Ford Puma Rally1 but without the aid of the hybrid. The Latvian is fifth, just 2 tenths slower than Mikkelsen.
Behind the rookie Sesks are the three Toyota GR Yaris Rally1s. The first of these is by Elfyn Evans, sixth and 6 tenths faster than that of Kalle Rovanpera, replacing the injured Sébastien Ogier. The reigning world champion made a mistake in the chicane created with hay bales, hitting one of them with his right side, but without suffering significant damage.
Eighth time for Takamoto Katsuta, while Gregoire Munster closes the Rally1 rankings almost 5 seconds behind the reference time achieved by Tanak.
The Rally Poland will start this evening with the first special stage, the Mikolajki Arena 1 show stage of just 2.50 kilometres, but it will be very important because it will outline the first provisional ranking of the event. The first car will enter the special at 7.05pm Italian time.
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