The rough and rugged Rally Turkey will be held this weekend, and Martin Holmes takes a close look at WRC teams' preparation.Citroen
Germany proved that more work was necessary on asphalt rallying. TV reports that Lappi’s chassis was damaged on the Panzerplatter jump were wrong and that punctures on the event were caused by wheel failure.
Anway, the WRC and the R5 cars have different wheels. Ogier’s puncture due to misfortune, reasons for Ostberg’s was not known.
Challenge of Turkey, punctures and cooling in high temperatures and low average speeds.
Reason for Breen’s fire in Turkey last year is fully understood and necessary measures have been taken. Four days testing in Greece in region of old traditional Acropolis stages, one day Camilli and day and a half each for Ogier and Lappi.
No change necessary for the design of the rear wing on the Citroen C3 WRC.
Ogier has his Monte Carlo and Mexico winning car, Lappi his Finland car. There are no Citroen R5 cars on the entry list at all.
Anticipated travel time by road and ferry from Satory to Marmaris for the trucks, including the rally cars, is six full days.
M-Sport
Suninen’s probem on the Friday was due to a broken wire, not related to Evans’ throttle problem in Portigal. His subsequent pace proved he had potential to finish on the podium.
Greensmith’s performance on his first asphalt rally in a WRCar was considered fantastic.
Pre Turkey two-day test was carried out at Fontjoncouse in south France was shared between Suninen and Tidemand.
No major technical changes, the rear wing is exactly the same as was originally homologated in 2017.
Rally cars are transported to Turkey by road and ferry in the team’s trucks.
Suninen has chassis 4 (Evans’ winning car on Wales Rally GB 2017) and Tidemand has an ex-Greensmith and Evans car, Dovenby is also sending three Mark 2 R5 cars (for Greensmith, Pedro and Gill).
Recent M-Sport news is that Hayden Paddon will have a new version R5 car for Wales Rally GB and a World Rally Car for Rally Australia, which he is privately funding, while Evans has been given medical clearance to return to competition at Wales Rally GB.
Hyundai
All three drivers tested at Fontjoncouse, chosen to replicate the anticipated rough conditions in Turkey. No specific technical changes are anticipated for this event.
Six days were assigned for travel from the team’s workshops in Germany to Marmaris. Rocky stages and high ambient temperature are the challenges of Rally Turkey.
Neuville says: “This is a tough event. Our cars have been very strong on these kinds of roads.”
Mikkelsen says: “You need to find the balance of speed and consistency, it is easy to push too hard!”
Recently announced team news is that Neuville will contest the asphalt Rally Legends event in San Marino the week after Wales Rally GB, and Loeb will compete on the gravel Rally Ciudad de Grenada in Spain one week later.
Neuville and Mikkelsen have their Finland cars, Sordo has Loeb’s Argentina/Chile, and Breen’s Finland car.
Toyota
The only problem on the 1-2-3 result in Germany was the brake problem suffered on the final stage by Tanak.
This was traced to the bedding-in process for the brake pads being used, which led to imbalance of braking effect and consequent handling trouble. Bedding-in procedure has now been revised.
The new wheels proved reliable.
Challenge for Turkey is the rough conditions. Good pre-event test in Greece where each of the drivers had at least one day, using some of the old WRC Acropolis Rally stages.
Only special change in Turkey is the revised design of the rear wing as required by the FIA.
About one full week of time for the trucks, and the rally cars will travel in trucks.
Latvala and Tanak have their Argentina and Chile cars, while Meeke has the car he twice crashed in Finland.
Tanak and Latvala enjoyed a 1-2 results for Toyota on this event last year. It is 13 years since Meeke last competed in Turkey.
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Hyundai
All three drivers tested at Fontjoncouse, chosen to replicate the anticipated rough conditions in Turkey. No specific technical changes are anticipated for this event.
Six days were assigned for travel from the team’s workshops in Germany to Marmaris. Rocky stages and high ambient temperature are the challenges of Rally Turkey.
Neuville says: “This is a tough event. Our cars have been very strong on these kinds of roads.”
Mikkelsen says: “You need to find the balance of speed and consistency, it is easy to push too hard!”
Recently announced team news is that Neuville will contest the asphalt Rally Legends event in San Marino the week after Wales Rally GB, and Loeb will compete on the gravel Rally Ciudad de Grenada in Spain one week later.
Neuville and Mikkelsen have their Finland cars, Sordo has Loeb’s Argentina/Chile, and Breen’s Finland car.
Toyota
The only problem on the 1-2-3 result in Germany was the brake problem suffered on the final stage by Tanak.
This was traced to the bedding-in process for the brake pads being used, which led to imbalance of braking effect and consequent handling trouble. Bedding-in procedure has now been revised.
The new wheels proved reliable.
Challenge for Turkey is the rough conditions. Good pre-event test in Greece where each of the drivers had at least one day, using some of the old WRC Acropolis Rally stages.
Only special change in Turkey is the revised design of the rear wing as required by the FIA.
About one full week of time for the trucks, and the rally cars will travel in trucks.
Latvala and Tanak have their Argentina and Chile cars, while Meeke has the car he twice crashed in Finland.
Tanak and Latvala enjoyed a 1-2 results for Toyota on this event last year. It is 13 years since Meeke last competed in Turkey.
