Latest news with #SuperRally
Belfast Telegraph
2 days 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.
Muscat Daily
05-02-2025
- Sport
- Muscat Daily
Omani trio Al Rawahi, Al Zubair and Al Amri raring to go at Qatar International Rally
Muscat – Oman's Abdullah al Rawahi, Zakaria al Amri and Abdullah al Zubair will be fighting for honours in the second round of the Middle East Rally Championship will begin this weekend in Qatar. After the first leg of the championship in Sohar won by Qatar's Nasser al Attiyah, Al Rawahi occupies eighth place in the overall championship standings. Al Zubair leads the MERC2 group with 30 points, while Al Amri has 24 points. Al Rawahi hopes to return to the podiums this time in Qatar after he was forced to withdraw from the first day of the rally in Sohar. He was able to enter the rally on the second day via the Super Rally and achieved the fastest time in four of the six stages the next day. Al Amri also faced problems with his car from the first day, especially in the turbo system. He said, 'We have complete knowledge of the Qatar Rally and its stages. There are some differences in the stages and some difficulty in navigation, but our goal is to win the category so that we can go to the third round in Saudi Arabia, and we are at the top of our category. I have a good and well-known navigator, Mohammed al Mazroui, and we have previously competed in many races together. We wish success to everyone. We say thank you to all who supported us in the championship'. Al Rawahi said he wanted to win in his country's rally, but circumstances forced him out on day one of the competition. Al Rawahi said: 'For Qatar rally, it is more difficult for us than the local drivers. They are more familiar to the type of stages, for example, Nasser Al Attiyah and other locals, they enter and exit stages their own ways, you have to take careful notes of the stages. 'We hope that the organising committee will be more careful and strike about this point in the stages, last year we finished third in Qatar and we are hoping to do better this time.'
