After the 1.53 kilometres short but spectacular show stage at the Tir Prince trotting track in Towyn, which was won by Pontus Tidemand, the real action started on Friday morning in the Welsh forests. The biggest challenges for the drivers were the unpredictable surface and frequent grip changes on the gravel stages. As bright blue sky and sunshine are not the typical weather conditions in Wales at this time of the year, some passages of the stages offered a lot of grip, others were still muddy and slippery.
Having prematurely won the WRC2 Championship, Pontus Tidemand and co-driver Jonas Andersson could start without any tactical considerations. Already on Friday’s first special stage, the 20 kilometres of Myherin, they set the fastest time. On the 4 kilometres short stage “Sweet Lamb”, which was visited by ten thousands of spectators, he was fastest again. Unfortunately, on the next stage, he lost some time stuck behind a slower competitor from the WRC Trophy who had started in front of him. ŠKODA’s young Norwegian O.C. Veiby was fastest in there. Up to the rest halt after four stages in Newtown, Tidemand and Veiby had secured a double lead for ŠKODA Motorsport. On his very first Wales Rally GB Juuso Nordgren opted for a cautious approach, at that time nevertheless lying inside the top ten after a trouble-free morning.
The afternoon saw the repetition of the three morning stages. For second-placed Norwegian youngster team Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjaermœn all went wrong during the second passage of the Hafren stage. They rolled their ŠKODA FABIA R5 just 1.2 kilometres after the start into a ditch. A broken damper finished their day prematurely.
Juuso Nordgren steadily improved his speed during the second passages of the Friday stages, moving up to seventh position in the WRC2 category standings.
2017 Wales Rally GB
After the 1.53 kilometres short but spectacular show stage at the Tir Prince trotting track in Towyn, which was won by Pontus Tidemand, the real action started on Friday morning in the Welsh forests. The biggest challenges for the drivers were the unpredictable surface and frequent grip changes on the gravel stages. As bright blue sky and sunshine are not the typical weather conditions in Wales at this time of the year, some passages of the stages offered a lot of grip, others were still muddy and slippery.
Having prematurely won the WRC2 Championship, Pontus Tidemand and co-driver Jonas Andersson could start without any tactical considerations. Already on Friday’s first special stage, the 20 kilometres of Myherin, they set the fastest time. On the 4 kilometres short stage “Sweet Lamb”, which was visited by ten thousands of spectators, he was fastest again. Unfortunately, on the next stage, he lost some time stuck behind a slower competitor from the WRC Trophy who had started in front of him. ŠKODA’s young Norwegian O.C. Veiby was fastest in there. Up to the rest halt after four stages in Newtown, Tidemand and Veiby had secured a double lead for ŠKODA Motorsport. On his very first Wales Rally GB Juuso Nordgren opted for a cautious approach, at that time nevertheless lying inside the top ten after a trouble-free morning.
The afternoon saw the repetition of the three morning stages. For second-placed Norwegian youngster team Ole Christian Veiby / Stig Rune Skjaermœn all went wrong during the second passage of the Hafren stage. They rolled their ŠKODA FABIA R5 just 1.2 kilometres after the start into a ditch. A broken damper finished their day prematurely.
Juuso Nordgren steadily improved his speed during the second passages of the Friday stages, moving up to seventh position in the WRC2 category standings.
