ERC - Junior under 27 championship post-event quotes
Round 2 of 6: Rally Islas Canarias, 3-5 May
ROBERTO BLACH NUÑEZ (ESP) Position: Fifth
Co-driver: José Murado González (ESP) Team: Escuderia Coruña Car: PEUGEOT 208 R2
“I am happy to do all the rally and that we are here at the finish. But I checked the set-up and the set-up isn’t good, especially on Friday afternoon when it was very, very hard and I can’t go fast. But the conclusion of the rally is good. I think we were fast in the stages when we could be but I lost a lot of time in the corners to corners with the set-up. I want to go to other ERC rallies because I think we can learn a lot in ERC but I haven’t got a lot of sponsors and it’s difficult.”
DOMINIK BROŽ (CZE) Position: Eighth
Co-driver: Petr Těšínský (CZE) Team: ACCR Czech Team Car: PEUGEOT 208 R2
“We lost a lot of time on Friday and I don’t know where is the problem. I was happy with the car but I was not happy with my driving. I was pleased to finish but I hope the next rally will be better. Big thanks to the Czech federation and to all my partners for their support. On the final stage two corners before the end we leave the road but the car was okay.”
DIOGO GAGO (PRT) Position: First
Co-driver: Miguel Ramalho (PRT) Team: RaceSeven Car: PEUGEOT 208 R2
“It was incredible, really, really nice to win after the battle with Opel, it’s crazy. I work a lot to be here and this victory for everyone who helped me. Now it’s possible to come to Rome for the next round. I am leading the championship so I have to go there. I have to get sponsors and go to Rome and try to keep the lead. It’s not easy to get the sponsors but I will talk with our sponsor because it’s important for him and us as well to get the money and work for another win. Let’s see. I want to win the championship and I am focused. When I started this rally I did not expect to fight for the victory because Tarmac is not the surface I feel better on. But I felt the confidence and found the best rhythm to win.”
MIIKA HOKKANEN (FIN) Position: Sixth
Co-driver: Jukka Pasenius (FIN) Team: Saintéloc Junior Team Car: PEUGEOT 208 R2
“Overall the rally has been a big learning for us, the team has done a perfect job all the weekend and also in the test so thank you to them. Friday morning was okay for us but on Saturday morning the times were not so good. We didn’t do one stage because of the crash of Efrén Llarena and in one stage with a lot of narrow section I was not in the rhythm. But for my first time on Tarmac I was enjoying the driving, it was a nice feeling.”
TOM KRISTENSSON (SWE) Position: Fourth
Co-driver: Henrik Appelskog (SWE) Team: ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team Car: Opel ADAM R2
“I’m really proud but a bit disappointed not to be on the podium. I have done a complete rally without any mistakes. The team and the car have been amazing. I really enjoyed it, now I just need to improve some of the small things. It was hard for me at first to find out how hard I could go but we found out quite well. I know there is more to do, more to come from myself. I know Tarmac from Germany but it’s more straights and 90-degree turns in Germany but this is totally different. It felt really good but I just need to feel safe in my own pacenotes and just go for it 100 per cent. Then I feel I can let go. In the short corners I know I’m fast and I know it’s working very good but in the long ones that open and tighten and open again and tighten there is my problem I think. But I think I’m pushing a bit too hard, I need to back off a bit to find the rhythm and the speed out of the corners.”
EFRÉN LLARENA (ESP) Position: DNF (accident)
Co-driver: Sara Fernández (ESP) Team: Rally Team Spain Car: PEUGEOT 208 R2
“I think we had a really good pace. This morning, I felt we could win, but, suddenly, on the second stage of the day, I don't know why, the rear of my car slid at 130kph... I couldn't control it and we hit a tree with the front. Fortunately, Sara and me are okay, but it was a shame. Nonetheless, we feel strong and motivated for Rally di Roma Capitale. We did what we should, showing our skills on the first Tarmac rally of the season, so we feel confident and motivated for Rome. We will push there like a hell to try to win. It's going to be our aim.”
CATIE MUNNINGS (GBR) Position: Ninth
Co-driver: Anne Katharina Stein (DEU) Team: Saintéloc Junior Team Car: PEUGEOT 208 R2
“At the beginning I was just getting used to it, trying to get back into the rhythm of it. The second stage I didn’t have a great feeling, I felt quite a lot of understeer and I think I was probably trying too hard which doesn’t really work on this rally. The third stage we had a better feeling but we chose the wrong tyres. We went with the wets but it was dry by the time we got there. But it’s all about safety and we’re at the finish and that’s the most important thing for the experience. We could have been faster and we also had to reverse at a hairpin on the third stage. The guys at the top were really pushing because they are fighting on the limit and it’s quite nice my times per kilometre compared to them on the right level. I think I know where I can push harder and I think it’s going to be working on my lines and on my pacenotes for next time. When we were on the last stage I had some warnings that just flashed up and went, especially in corners. At the end of the stage we had the water pressure alarm on so we turned the car off just to be safe and Sergei [Remennik] pushed us over the finish. But I think it was just a problem with the sensor and we were just being on the safe side by stopping. But we’re here at the finish, which is a good thing. We had a good pace this afternoon, I’m not sure what happened but we finished on a high.”
MĀRTIŅŠ SESKS (LVA) Position: Second
Co-driver: Renārs Francis (SWE) Team: ADAC Opel Rallye Junior Team Car: Opel ADAM R2
“It was quite good for the first time here, my first time on Tarmac. I felt good on Friday morning. I had a good breakfast, it was nice sunny upside eggs with the bacon and maybe that was the key to it. But really it’s all about pacenotes and feeling comfortable and it was working well. The car was perfect and Opel Motorsport did a great job. But we didn’t have the same confidence on Saturday morning as we did on Friday. We just didn’t have that good working as a crew on the stage. A bit of pacenote things, a bit of my driving, being too aggressive in some places and that’s tough.”
ROLAND STENGG (AUT) Position: Seventh
Co-driver: Claudia Dorfbauer (AUT) Team: Stengg Motorsport Car: Opel ADAM R2
“I am very happy to be at the finish, really I am. This rally was tough but I learned so much about the stages. The car was really good, you could really throw it into the corners and it was fun to drive. At first I was way too aggressive on the tyres. I should have been smooth and clean and try to go with a bit more speed out of the corner. The set-up was very good, it was more in my head that was the problem. Saturday was better than Friday because we got a bit faster. We had some small moments but it was a better feeling than yesterday because I changed my driving style a bit. It’s mostly the entry speed that I take slower. We were too fast into the corner and we really have to get the most out of the exit. That’s the hard part. We are still learning.”
MATTIA VITA (ITA) Position: DNF (Mechanical)
Co-driver: Pietro Ometto (ITA) Team: G-Force Marketing Solutions Car: PEUGEOT 208 R2
“The engine broke and set the car on fire. Luckily we stopped the fire quickly and it did not damage the rest of the car so I’m lucky and unlucky at the same time. I’m also sad because I wanted to do as many kilometres as possible for my experience.”
SIMON WAGNER (AUT) Position: Third
Co-driver: Gerald Winter (AUT) Team: Saintéloc Junior Team Car: PEUGEOT 208 R2
“It was difficult on Friday. I tried to save the tyres a lot on the first two stages and it was definitely the wrong plan. We switched to Plan B and we attacked on the long stage, which was much better. We still did a bit too much tyre surviving but we were on the pace. Being on the podium it definitely what we needed, we needed the points but of course we would like to finish first or second but the gap was too big.”