ŠKODA Customer Teams Weekly 31/2017

Filip Nivette clinched the Polish Rally Championship in fine style last weekend with victory at the fifth and penultimate round of the season, the Rajd Nadwiślański (29 September - 1 October).

Nivette and co-driver Kamil Heller, driving ŠKODA FABIA R5 prepared and run by Kresta Racing, were in dominant form, winning nine of the ten special stages driven to end up 1 minute and 29 seconds ahead of the chasing drivers. But they did not have everything their own way, as they fought off a stiff challenge from Frenchman Bryan Bouffier who was only 20 seconds behind in second place after SS6, before crashing out on SS7.

After that incident, Nivette stretched the gap back to his closest rivals well and still managed to win all the remaining stages on his way to victory and the championship title. This victory was his fourth in five rallies this season and ensured he was crowned champion with one round still remaining.

While the championship race may be over, there is still one rally remaining on the Polish calendar. That is the Rajd Śląska which will take place from 13th to 15th October.

Teemu Asunmaa has been crowned the Finnish Rally Champion for 2017 at the end of an eventful Lake City Rally (29-30 September) which saw Eerik Pietarinen win on his first ever drive in an R5 car.

23-year old Pietarinen was making his debut drive in a ŠKODA FABIA R5 alongside his regular co-driver Juhana Raitanen. He had already put in some impressive performances this season, with a season’s best of fifth position overall coming into this event. But while TGS Worldwide OU obviously had faith in his potential, nobody could have foreseen the performance he put in at this event. He finished a remarkable 1 minute and 48 seconds ahead of the chasing pack, winning all but one of the ten special stages driven, and led the rally from the start to finish.

Speaking afterwards, even the driver himself was surprised at his comfortable margin of victory and also expressed a hope that this opportunity to drive an R5 would not be a one-off.

While Pietarinen is undoubtedly a talent for the future, the big success story right now is Teemu Asunmaa. He was on the podium once again here with a third place in his Hannu’s Rally Team FABIA R5 alongside co-driver Jonne Halttunen. He missed out on second place to Juha Salo by a narrow margin of 2.6 seconds, but nonetheless, the result was enough to ensure he would be crowned Finnish Rally Champion for the first time in his career.

Asunmaa ended the season with 136.5 points, which was 11.5 more than Salo who finished second. And he was understandably elated at this achievement.

There were two other FABIA R5 crews inside the top 10 as well. Mikko Lehessaari / Reeta Hämäläinen finished fifth for Hannu's Rally Team, while the Printsport Oy pairing of Jukka Kasi / Henri Ania came home seventh.

The East Belgian Rally (29-30 September), which was the eight and penultimate round of the Belgian championship, had plenty of stories and drama as Kris Princen returned to take the victory and keep his championship hopes alive going into the final rally of the season.

Princen had originally declared his season to be over after a crash at the Omloop van Vlaanderen saw their car damaged. But after a change of heart, he returned to the field at the East Belgian Rally in emphatic style, edging out title rival Vincent Verschueren by just 11 seconds to take the championship down to the wire.

Princen, who was in a ŠKODA FABIA R5 for the Bernard Munster Autosport team alongside co-driver Peter Kaspers, found his pace early, chasing down pacesetter Kevin Abbring, who won the first two special stages, before Princen winning five of the next six stages. A problem on SS8 put paid to Abbring’s hopes, but Verschueren continued to push Princen all the way. Anyway, BMA driver held his ground and keep his title dreams alive, for the time being at least.

For Vincent Verschueren, driving a FABIA R5 for the GoDrive Racing team, getting to the end of this rally was the most important thing and he didn’t get involved in the battle between Princen and Abbring at the head of the field. With tricky conditions, which included muddy and slippery roads in places and even fog on the final stage, he managed his drive carefully to ensure he will have a 12 point lead going into the final rally of the season.

Verschueren co-driver Veronique Hostens can already celebrate as she has been confirmed as the Belgian co-driver champion for 2017 already.

Further down the field, there was a fourth place finish for Ghislain de Mevius / Johan Jalet, who were driving for the Ice Pol Racing Team, in a FABIA R5 prepared and run by Bernard Munster Autosport. And Achiel Boxoen / Jasper Vermeulen were eighth for ŠKODA Belgium, in a car prepared and run by SXM Competition.

But the most interesting story in Belgian rallying right now is the title tussle between the FABIA R5s of Kris Princen and Vincent Verschueren. Verschueren still has the edge, but it will all be decided at the final round of the season, the Rallye du Condroz-Huy, which takes place from 3rd to 5th November.

French rally driver Quentin Gilbert has announced that he will not be competing at the upcoming Rally Catalunya in the World Rally Championship (WRC) and indicated that this is the end of his WRC career.

After failing to secure the necessary budget to compete in the Spanish round of the championship, Gilbert thanked Tagai Racing Technology team, DMACK and all his partners for their support and noted that with two WRC2 podium finishes (third at the Rally Poland and second at the Rally Finland) secured on a very small budget, they can all be proud of their achievements.

When asked about his future plans, Gilbert indicated that he now plans to focus his efforts on the French championship in 2018.