The right or wrong choice of tires in motorsport can lead to sudden reversals and this was also the case in Special Stage 5 of the Polish Rally. In the 29.40 kilometer Stanczyki 2, the first test of today’s afternoon tour, Kalle Rovanpera was right in choosing the tires to bring with him and mount on his GR Yaris Rally1 and this led him to gain 3 positions in the general classification, making him the new leader of the event.
The reigning world champion mounted 2 Hard and 2 Soft crossovers and this was the decisive move, combined with the fact that he entered testing much later than his historic rivals.
The Finn stopped the clock at 14:32.5, 4.7 seconds faster than his closest rival, teammate Elfyn Evans. Andreas Mikkelsen, now the rally leader, chose the same tyres as Rovanpera, but the set-up proved insufficient to make the different compounds fitted in an X-shape work.
Mikkelsen thus lost a whopping 14.4 seconds to Rovanpera, slipping to second place in the overall standings. Kalle now has a lead of 2 tenths over the Norwegian from Hyundai Motorsport, but the important thing is that the top 3 in the standings are covered by less than a second and a half.
Martins Sesks completed the first in third place, 8″1 behind Rovanpera. Now the Latvian, at the wheel of the first Ford Puma Rally1 without the hybrid supplied, is third, 1″3 behind Rovanpera.
Evans is also back in the running for the win, second in the special stage and now fourth overall, but 2.4″ from first place. The Welshman from Toyota Gazoo Racing has lost a position, but is much closer to the top than he was at the start of today’s afternoon ride.
In this test, Gregoire Munster was unable to replicate the good work done in the morning session due to the wrong choice of tyres, at least for this test. The Dutchman, like his teammate Adrien Fourmaux, Martins Sesks and Thierry Neuville, entered the test with 4 Softs mounted and one in the trunk. The test, however, proved to be much more abrasive than expected, so those who mounted the Hards found themselves at an advantage, especially from the second sector to the finish line.
We will see if the situation will change further during the afternoon, because where the special stages are held a message has been spread of possible very violent rainfall that could redraw the rankings again, if the rain were to wet at least one or two of the 4 special stages remaining at the end of the day.
In WRC2 Sami Pajari leads further on Kajetan Kajetanowicz, first of the opponents and owner of the house. Between the two there are 11″1 in favor of the Finn, while Josh McErlean took third place with the second Skoda Fabia RS Rally2.
WRC 2024 – Rally Poland – Ranking after PS5
Pos. | Pilot/Navigator | Car | Time/Detachment |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Rovan pear / Halt | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | 44’49”9 |
2 | Mikkelsen/Eriksen | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +0″2 |
3 | Sesks/Francis | Ford Puma Rally1 | +1″3 |
4 | Evans/Martin | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +2″4 |
5 | Fourmaux/Coria | Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid | +9″2 |
6 | Munster/Louka | Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid | +15″2 |
7 | Neuville/Wydaeghe | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | +30″2 |
8 | Katsuta/Johnston | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid | +33″0 |
9 | Pajari/Malkonen | Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 | +1’47″6 |
10 | Kajetanowicz/Szczepaniak | Skoda Fabia RS Rally2 | +1’58″7 |
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