Latest news with #MartinsSesks
Belfast Telegraph
15 hours ago
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
Opening the road at Rally Sardinia was ‘proper punishment' after mishap, admits Josh McErlean
McErlean ran wide during the 'Telti-Calangianus-Berchidda' test, causing significant damage to the left-rear corner of his Puma Rally1 including its damper and driveshaft. Incredibly, all three Puma cars came a cropper on the 11.5-mile stretch of road – Martins Sesks walked away from a roll, while Gregoire Munster suffered a similar fate to McErlean. M-Sport mechanics worked wonders to fix the Kilrea man's machine on Friday and have it ready for the following day, but the trade-off for rejoining under the 'Super Rally' rule meant the Motorsport Ireland Rally Academy member had to run first with co-driver Eoin Treacy. With more than six minutes of time penalties applied, adding to his points total on the sun-drenched island was always going to be a tall order. Instead, the 25-year-old used the seat time as an extended test for the Acropolis Rally on June 26-29. 'Running first on the road Saturday and Sunday following the mistake on Friday is proper punishment – I don't think anyone needs to shout at me, I fully understand why you can't make mistakes,' admitted McErlean. 'It was my first time running first on the road and opening a rally – any type of rally – so I have learned a lot from that, even on the Sunday when, second time over the stages, there were more ruts and surface changes. We can take some things forward into Greece. 'It was definitely a nasty rally. It was a shame because, I think on the Friday, we had the pace to have a strong day, but it was my mistake on the second stage, running wide and hitting the tree and taking the rear-left wheel off it. 'This weekend shows you that you need to have a good start to these rallies, especially if you are running further down the field. We knew that Sardinia would be a tough rally but, in actual fact, it turned out to be brutal.' Rally Sardinia was awash with drama that continued up until the closing Power Stage when an overshoot for leader and eventual winner Sebastien Ogier (Toyota Gazoo Racing) slashed his buffer over runner-up Ott Tanak (Hyundai Motorsport). The Frenchman held on to make it two victories on the bounce following his success at May's Rally de Portugal.
Belfast Telegraph
01-05-2025
- Automotive
- Belfast Telegraph
Kris Meeke reveals why it will be difficult to maintain perfect start to Portuguese Championship
Round three of the Championship welcomes back Latvian Martins Sesks in a Ford Fiesta Rally2, while Frenchman Yohan Rossel leads the 68-car field in a Citroen C3 Rally2. While neither are registered to score points — they are entering the event as a warm-up for Rally de Portugal (May 15-18), the fifth round of the 2025 FIA World Rally Championship — they possess the speed, and race craft, to bring Meeke's winning streak to a quick end. 'It has been great to start the season with two wins so far, and we want to keep it up,' said Meeke. 'However, this rally usually brings some WRC2 drivers who take advantage of the event to test, like Martins, who was very fast in Fafe, and Johan, who comes to the event on the back of a WRC2 win at last weekend's Rally Islas Canarias. 'The competition will be strong, but our focus is on the Portuguese Rally Championship.' The Dungannon man was victorious at Rali Serras de Fafe by just over half a minute from the Hyundai i20 N of Team Hyundai Portugal's Dani Sordo at the beginning of March and repeated the trick three weeks later, beating the Spaniard in the Algarve by 13.3 seconds. Meeke's path to a 12th career victory on Portuguese soil will take him and co-driver Stuart Loudon through special stages in the Amarante, Marco de Canaveses and Baião areas, with three of these making up Friday's itinerary and a further seven on Saturday. The 45-year-old will be looking to get off on the right foot in his Toyota GR Yaris Rally2 this time around as, 12 months ago, he crashed and rolled on shakedown after hitting a rock. As well as increased competition from Sesks and Rossel, and punishing gravel roads, the weather is another factor Meeke has one eye on. Heavy rain is forecast for the opening day of the meeting and given the altitude some of the roads climb to, fog could be a factor. He said: 'I like challenges, and I really enjoy those northern stages. I have mixed memories of last year — we made a mistake in qualifying, but managed to recover and win the rally, so this year we want it to be sweet, not bittersweet. 'It looks like the weather could complicate matters, with heavy rain forecast for the shakedown and the first day of the rally. With the altitude, that could bring fog, just like last year.'
