Three stage wins for Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera in tricky conditions at Rally Serras de Fafe e Felgueiras
Team MRF Tyres was fighting at the front after tricky conditions greeted the crews at round six of the FIA European Rally Championship and the Rally Serras de Fafe e Felgueiras in Portugal.
Dani Sordo and Cándido Carrera won three stages during the first day of action where the elements of wind, rain and fog challenged the teams over the eight stages and 113.22km action.
The first loop got underway at 9:00am local time in changeable conditions. Drivers faced changing surfaces with mud and stones, which demanded the best from both teams and drivers.
Team MRF Tyres Hyundai i20 R5 drivers of Sordo and Carrera were on the pace winning stages two, three and four to come into the midday service in the lead.
The afternoon conditions continued to deteriorate, making the roads unpredictable. The key focus for Team MRF Tyres remains on tyre data and development but front running times were set and the battle for the lead remained.
However, the final stage of the day had a cruel twist as a steering issue occurred on the final stage, resulting in a retirement from the day but the team will work to be back on Sunday.
Equally, Simone Campedelli and Tania Canton were also on the pace in their Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo, ending the first loop in fifth place, and within striking distance of a podium.
They had set the fourth best time on SS2 but just after service the car lost power on SS5 and retired for the day on SS6.
The team will seek to repair the car to return to action on Sunday.
Sunday’s action sees another eight stages and 83.82km of action. It gets underway with the Seixoso stage at 9:30am local time or 2:00pm if you are in India. Stages 12 and 16, the final stage of the rally, will be streamed live on the FIA ERC Facebook and YouTube channels.
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Quotes
Dani Sordo, Driver, Hyundai i20 R5
“We had a good battle for the lead of the rally over the first day with [Andreas] Mikkelsen and Alexey Lukanyuk. It was quite close but we lost some time at the start of stage five, but we were fighting. Unfortunately, we lost one part of the steering three kilometres from the start of the last stage. We stopped to repair but after a few more kilometers, we hit a stone and broke the suspension.”
“The morning was good to get three stage wins for MRF Tyres to be leading after the service. We will now bring the car into service to try to repair it for tomorrow.”
Simone Campedelli, Driver, Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo
“We started well but we had a lot of bad luck. I am disappointed as I had good pace and we could have improved our position. The MRF Tyres worked well.”
“But we lost power with a turbo problem so we had to stop for the day. I am looking forward to restarting on Sunday.”