Japanese Skoda driver, Yuya Sumiyama, came away from the Netier National Capital Rally, second round of the FIA APRC championship, with the maximum points. This enhances his championship position to 22 points ahead of Italian driver Fabio Frisiero. Australian championship driver, Eli Evans, won the event outright, driving the same Fabia R5 which APRC champion, Gaurav Gill, rallied last year. Frisiero’s Peugeot 208 AP4 had a damaged radiator after a heavy landing on Day 1, but finished Day 2.
Yuya Sumiyama won the APRC section of the Netier National Capital Rally, with Fabio Frisiero second. Photo: Dave King

Yuya Sumiyama won the APRC section of the Netier National Capital Rally, with Fabio Frisiero second. Photo: Dave King

= = = = Portuguese Fabia driver, Bruno Magalhaes, scored his third overall victory in the FIA European Rally Championship when he won the EKO Acropolis Rally in Greece, an event where many top drivers punctured. Second and third finishers were first time ERC podium finishers, Norbert Herczig, who had won the opening super special stage, and Hubert Ptaszek. Eyvind Brynildsen finished fourth, despite running in two-wheel drive mode due to a differential problem. A series of punctures forced Juuso Nordgren to retire on the first full day. Hungarian Tibor Erdi won the ERC2 category in his Mitsubishi Evo X after a battle with Juan Carlos Alonso, which ended when the Spaniard rolled. The entry of the Indian driver, Amittrajit Ghosh in an old model Fiesta R2, created interest and he won the ECR3 category against R3 competitors. The ERC's Eastern Mediterranean mid-season continues in two weeks' time with the Cyprus Rally. Neither of these events qualify for the Junior European titles.
Indian driver, Amittrajit Ghosh, impressed in an old model Fiesta R2.

Indian driver, Amittrajit Ghosh, impressed in an old model Fiesta R2.

= = = = Antoine l’Estage won last weekend’s Rocky Mountain Rally run in Canada’s British Columbia, heading a Subaru top six result. Only Dutch Fiesta R2 driver, Wim van der Poel, stopped a top 11 result for Subaru! = = = =   Third round of the Dutch national series was the ELE Rally, won by over two minutes by the Fabia R5 driver Hermen Kobus. Fellow Fabia driver, Martin Berglund, won the fourth round of the Swedish national championship round, the Rally Askersund. Third round of the Swiss series was Rallye du Chablais, providing a Fiesta R5 1-2 for Steeves Shneeberger and Joel Rappaz. = = = = Third round of American rallying’s ARA series, the alternative major national championship, was the Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally in Pennsylvania. Winner was the Subaru of David Higgins, who finished over a quarter hour ahead of the Subaru of Sam Albert, while the 1977 Ford Escort of Seamus Burke was third. = = = = Outright victory for a Holden Barina came on the New Zealand national championship South Island Canterbury Rally, beating the Polish Fiesta Proto of Australian champion Nathan Quinn by almost 10 seconds. Another Barina, driven by Greg Murphy, finished fourth. = = = = A rather confusing announcement came from the WRC Promoter to say that the company, Anonimo, has become the “Official Timekeeper” of WRC. WRC has clarified this by explaning that Anonimo is the Official Timekeeper as a commercial Partner. RallySafe is the Service provider. Meanwhile in Japan, fans are being enticed to go to their local cinemas to watch a new WRC based film “Over Drive”, which it is intended to create a new appetite in the country for a Japanese WRC event, encouraged by the revival in rallying interest fuelled by Toyota’s return as an active participant.

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