Esapekka Lappi can make it two wins out of two on Switzerland’s round of the FIA European Rally Championship – providing he makes it through Saturday’s longest leg unscathed in his ŠKODA Motorsport Fabia Super 2000.

 

Finn Lappi, one of four drivers in ERC title contention, holds a 23-second lead after 11 stages in the spectacular Swiss mountains. But with eight stages over a competitive distance of 135.62 kilometres remaining, the battle for ERC glory on Rallye International du Valais is far from over.

 

“We are leading and that’s very good but it’s still a long way to go and there are some gravel sections tomorrow,” said Lappi, who started the event in Sion yesterday with a 19-point title advantage. “The car has been working perfectly with no problems and the set-up and feeling are good. We are not driving in full attack so it’s okay.”

 

Lappi began day two trailing Michelin-shod team-mate Sepp Wiegand by 4.4s but capitalised on the German rookie’s lack of stage knowledge and struggles to find a consistent rhythm during the morning loop to move into top spot. And it would get worse for Wiegand when a front-left puncture on stage 10 dropped him outside of the podium places.

 

“One positive thing is we were able to drive on top in the European championship and show our speed,” said Wiegand, who is 1m16.2s behind Lappi in fourth overall. “The puncture was bad luck because it has dropped us down when we had the speed to be in the top.”

 

Kajetan Kajetanowicz is a strong second for the LOTOS Rally Team following an impressive display on his Valais debut. The Pole has only been out of the top three stage positions on two occasions today and was fastest of all on stage nine in his Pirelli-equipped Ford Fiesta R5. He’s 23.0s adrift of Lappi in second place with Craig Breen a fine third for Peugeot Rally Academy.

 

The Irishman, who like Lappi, Kajetanowicz and Wiegand can still win the ERC title, began day two in 20th position following a time-consuming puncture on Thursday’s closing test. But a succession of fastest stage times has enabled the 208T16 driver to fight back up to third place, despite a minor handbrake issue in the afternoon. However, it was a day to forget for his team-mate Kevin Abbring who dropped out of third place prior to Friday’s opening test with a mechanical failure (see below).

 

Swiss champion Sébastien Carron is the top local driver in fifth with compatriot Jonathan Hirschi in sixth. Robert Consani is on course for a useful haul of ERC points in seventh following an encouraging display. Olivier Burri is eighth after dropping time with an overshoot and stall on the first run through the Caserne superspecial. Jaromír Tarabus is ninth with Nicolas Althaus 10th.  An exhaust manifold issue and front-right puncture on stage nine slowed Jaroslav Orsák. He’s 13th overnight, four places ahead of fellow Czech Antonín Tlusťák.

 

Florian Gonon leads the ERC Production Car Cup section after overnight leader Mark Higgins was forced to retire with driveshaft failure on his JRM Subaru WRX STI this morning. Laurent Reuche is the man to beat in ERC 2WD in his Renault Clio R3T, while Andrea Crugnola remains in charge in ERC Junior despite reporting an engine issue on Friday’s closing brace of stages.

 

Leg one recap: Wiegand on top after dramatic start

 

Sepp Wiegand took an early lead in the race for ERC glory following Thursday’s dramatic opening leg, which featured three stages. Driving a ŠKODA Fabia Super 2000, Wiegand reached the overnight halt in Sion 4.4s in front of team-mate Esapekka Lappi.

 

However, there was frustration for Peugeot Rally Academy duo Kevin Abbring and Craig Breen. Abbring was leading until a brake problem on stage three dropped him back to third, while Breen picked up a front-right puncture four kilometres from the start of the stage having won the previous test. While Abbring completed leg one a mere 6.3s off top spot, Breen was 1m17s down in 20th.

 

Ice and damp sections made for difficult driving conditions and forced the organisers to shorten the length of stage two to four kilometres due to safety concerns. Bruno Magalhães, running first on the road, came unstuck on a straight 300 metres from the start of stage one. And with his crashed Peugeot 208T16 blocking the road, the stage was delayed by more than 30 minutes to enable his car to be recovered.

 

Following a cautious run through the opening test, Breen was 10.8s off the lead when his hopes of victory suffered a major setback on stage three. “Some day my luck has to change,” said Breen. “It’s a corner I cut last year and in the recce then suddenly there was something there. The last stage was perfect but now I’ve got to pick myself up again.”

 

Olivier Burri was the top Swiss in fourth in a Ford Fiesta R5 with compatriot Jonathan Hirschi impressing on his second appearance in a 208T16. The ex-circuit racer is fifth, one place ahead of Swiss champion Sébastien Carron. Kajetan Kajetanowicz was second on stage two but his lowly road position of 12th – the result of a electrical problem in Qualifying – affected his chances on stage three when the road surface became increasingly slippery. The multiple Polish champion was seventh with Robert Consani eighth, Jaromír Tarabus ninth and Nicolas Althaus 10th.

 

Mark Higgins topped the ERC Production Car Cup category in his JRM Subaru WRX STI with Laurent Reuche holding first place in ERC 2WD on his debut in Renault’s all-new Clio R3T. Andrea Crugnola headed ERC Junior in a strong 16th overall.

 

Abbring: I had the pace for Swiss ERC victory

 

Kevin Abbring is in no doubt that he could have claimed his maiden ERC victory had it not been for his exit prior to stage four. Abbring had been a firm favourite for top honours in Switzerland before the start in Sion yesterday and underlined his promise by winning the opening test in his Peugeot Rally Academy 208T16. Although his lead of 2.3s after two stages had turned into a deficit of 6.3s at the overnight halt following a brake issue on stage three, he was confident of fighting back into first place during Friday’s second leg.

 

“We retired before the first stage on the road section,” Abbring explained. “We had some brake issues on the last stage yesterday. We tested the clutch afterwards and it was strong enough but something is wrong with the clutch. We had some issues to start the car this morning and the focus was on the engine. We don’t know if the brake issue caused the clutch problem.”

 

Dutchman Abbring has led on several occasions in the ERC this season but has been prevented from converting his potential, and that of his works-supported Peugeot, into solid results due to unfortunate mechanical issues. “I would have hoped for my first ERC victory here after my victory in Alsace,” said Abbring, who has confirmed that he and co-driver Seb Marshall are likely to restart on Saturday’s closing leg. “We would have had a decent lead after three stages if we didn’t have this issue so everything was going okay. It’s not up to us now. I just hope we can fight for the victory [on the next ERC round] in Corsica.”

 

What’s next?

 

Saturday’s leg is the longest of the three-day contest with a competitive distance of 135.62 kilometres scheduled. The itinerary includes the monster 32.13-kilometre Les Cols test at 12:10hrs local time. While Switzerland’s ERC counter is designated an asphalt event, there are some gravel sections including 29.90 kilometres on the final day, which begins with the 16.00-kilometre Champx-Lac run at 10:10hrs.