Weekend rally news – November 14

Tommi Makinen crashed one of the test Toyota Yaris WRC prototypes in France last Tuesday, during a twin test in which Juho Haninen tested a gravel car and the team chief drove an asphalt specification car close by.   

Tommi Makinen crashed a Yaris test car in France last week.The car of Tommi Mäkinen ended its test in a tree and the driver was taken to hospital for routine check-ups.  

The team is reported to have sent the car back to Finland for repair.

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This weekend sees the shoot out finale of the innovative FIA European Rally Trophy, in which successful drivers from the various ERT zones meet together at the Rallye Waldviertel in upper Austria.  

Four titles will be decided, the overall categories and classes for Group N cars, two wheel drive cars and Junior drivers.

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The Focus WRC of Lionel Baud won the French gravel championship Rallye Terre Pea du Vaucluse in the South of France.

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Jose Pedro Fontes’ Citroen DS3 R5 won its fifth national Portuguese championship rally of the year, at the Rali Casinos de Algarve.  After Pedro Meireles retired, Fontes cruised to victory ahead of Joao Barros’ Fiesta R5.

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The French regional Rallye Mare e Macchia (Sea and Maquis) based at Porticcio in Corsica was stopped after a fatal accident involving a photographer.

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It is 10 years now since the WRC Rally Australia was seen for the last time in Perth in Western Australia.  Only Jari-Matti Latvala and Dani Sordo were there and are still active in the WRC - and still competing with the same co-drivers!

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Pirelli will not produce tyres for use in the WRC for the new 2017 regulations, preferring to produce tyres for use on young driver formulae, particularly in the European championship.  

Pirelli had hoped to break the Michelin monopoly among the WRC teams, but the only regular Pirelli WRC user this year has been Lorenzo Bertelli, with only occasional appearances by Martin Prokop, and once by Robert Kubica.
 
- Martin Holmes

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