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ERT - Who are the ERT3 Class Contenders in Portugal?

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12.11.18

Later this week the competitors on the Rallye Casinos do Algarve will gather in southern Portugal, with 16 of the 36 car field competing for top honours in the 2018 European Rally Trophy final on the 16/17 November in Portugal. 

Seven of the crews will be taking part in the ERT3 / ERT Junior classes with four in ERT3 and three in ERT Junior.  The field includes the ERT3 champions from the Central Rally Trophy, the Balkan Rally Trophy and the Iberian Rally Trophy regions.

The four ERT3 class contenders are from the Czech Republic, Romania and Portugal, while the three Junior class competitors will be representing Spain, Italy and Portugal.

Romanian duo Csongor Szabo and co driver Rares Fetean will be competing in the no25 Sonic Motorsport Ford Fiesta R2.  Szabo and Fetean finished on the ERT3 podium twice in the 2018 Balkan Rally Trophy, most notably winning the Bacau Rally in June.

Czech duo Vaclav Dunovsky and Petr Glossl travel to Portugal as the ERT3 Central Rally Trophy champions and they will be competing together in the no24 ACCR Czech Rally Team Peugeot 208 R2.  Dunovsky and Glossl took class honours on the INA Delta Rally in June and followed this up with a second place finish on the Rally Nova Gorica.

Iberian Rally Trophy ERT3 Champions Miguel Correia and Pedro Alves will be looking to add the European Rally Trophy ERT3 title to their CV this weekend.  The Portuguese finished the season on 46 points after taking the class victory on the Rali Vinho da Madeira in August.  Correia and Alves will be competing in the no26 Renault Clio R3.

Portugal’s Pedro Antunes, who won the FIA European Rally Trophy ERT3 class title in 2017 with compatriot Paulo Lopes, will be competing in the no27 Peugeot 208 R2 as the final ERT3 class entry. Antunes finished 3rd in the Iberian Rally Trophy ERT3 class after winning the open encounter of the 2018 season, the Rali Serras de Fafe, back in February.  Antunes finished the season just 7 points behind Miguel Correia and two behind another Portuguese driver, Paulo Neto. 

Portugal’s Diogo Gago and Miguel Ramalho are entered in the ERT Junior class, competing in the no28 Mcoutinho Racing Peugeot 208 R2. Gago finished 3rd in the ERT Junior category in the Iberian Rally Trophy and also finished 6th, alongside Ramalho, in the ERT3 standings after finishing 2nd in the class in the final IRT rally, the Rallye Princesa de Asturias Cuidad de Oviedo in Spain.

Roberto Blach Nunez and Jose Murado Gonzalez will be representing Spain in the ERT Junior finale in Portugal.  The Spanish duo will be competing in the no29 Escuderia La Coruna Peugeot 208 R2 after finishing 4th on 25 points at the end of the 2018 Iberian Rally Trophy.

Italians Enrico Oldrati and Elia De Guio are the third ERT Junior crew entered on the Rallye Casinos do Algarve after finishing 4th in Central Rally Trophy ERT Junior standings.  Oldrati and De Guio finished 8th in the ERT3 regional standings after claiming a fine second place class finish on the Lausitz Rallye in Germany at the beginning of November.  They will be competing in the no30 ACI Team Italia WRC Peugeot 208 R2 in Portugal this weekend.

What is the ERT3 and ERT Junior Classes?

ERT3: This class is for Group N cars that are Two Wheel Drive (2WD) conforming to the 2018 Appendix J, Art. 254. Also all eligible 2WD Group R cars under Appendix J, Art. 260, Group A and Group N cars, plus S1600 and Group A Kit-Cars.

ERT Junior: A special class for the rally stars of tomorrow.  Drivers must be born after the 1st January 1991 and drive a car conforming to Class R1 or R2 regulations.

Class R1 cars can use normally aspirated (up to 1600cc) or turbo charged (up to 1067cc) engines, must be 2WD and have a minimum weight of 1030kg.   Class R2 can also use normally aspirated (between 1390 and 1600cc) or turbo charged (between 927 and 1067cc) engines, are also 2WD and have a minimum weight of 1080kg.

The FIA European Rally Trophy

The European Rally Trophy is made up of competitors from seven regions, which are the Alpine Rally Trophy, the Balkan Rally Trophy, the Baltic Rally Trophy, the Benelux Rally Trophy, the Celtic Rally Trophy, the Central Rally Trophy and the Iberian Rally Trophy.  The top five competitors in each class from the seven regions are eligible to enter the 2018 European Rally Trophy final.

The Rallye Casinos do Algarve gets underway on Wednesday 14 November with reconnaissance over two days. Scrutineering and admin checks take place on Thursday 15 November, with the start of the first leg of the rally taking place on Friday 16 November and concluding on Saturday 17 November.

 

For more information on the 2018 European Rally Trophy CLICK HERE

 

For more information on the Rallye Casinos do Algarve visit the website HERE (in Portuguese)

 

IMAGE COURTESY OF João Viana