Motorsports Racing News & Blog Articles
Tänak sets the fastest time on Rally Poland Shakedown
The two Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT drivers of Ott Tänak and Thierry Neuville were the fastest on the 80th ORLEN Rally Poland Shakedown on Thursday morning. Tänak set the fastest time on each of his three runs through the Lubiewo shakedown with a best time of 2:12.5.
Tänak beat his teammate Neuville by 1.1 second. The Belgian is currently leading the FIA World Rally Championship standings and he will be the first out on stage when the first loop of the rally starts on Friday morning.
M-Sport Ford WRT’s Adrien Fourmaux clinched the third fastest time ahead of Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen meanwhile the rally debutant Mārtiņš Sesks who drives in the first-ever non-hybrid Rally1 machine took a respected fifth place.
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT who are currently leading the manufacturer championship were further down and quite off the pace to what we are used to see, with Elfyn Evans 2.7 seconds off Tänak in sixth, Kalle Rovanperä who steps in for Sébastien Ogier managed to take seventh and was ahead of his teammate Takamoto Katsuta who managed to get eight fastest time.
Rounding up the top 10 is M-Sport’s Grégoire Munster in ninth and the WRC2 driver Nikolay Gryazin who drives a Citroen C3 Rally2.
| Pos. | Driver / Co-driver | Nat. | Car | Team | Time |
| 1. | Ott Tänak / Martin Järveoja | Estonia | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 2:12.5 |
| 2. | Thierry Neuville / Martijn Wydaeghe | Belgium | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 2:13.6 |
| 3. | Adrien Fourmaux / Alexandre Coria | France | Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid | M-Sport Ford WRT | 2:14.3 |
| 4. | Andreas Mikkelsen / Torstein Eriksen | Norway | Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid | Hyundai Shell Mobis WRT | 2:14.8 |
| 5. | Mārtiņš Sesks / Renārs Francis | Latvia | Ford Puma Rally1 | M-Sport Ford WRT | 2:15.0 |
| 6. | Elfyn Evans / Scott Martin | United Kingdom | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 2:15.2 |
| 7. | Kalle Rovanperä / Jonne Halttunen | Finland | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 2:15.8 |
| 8. | Takamoto Katsuta / Aaron Johnston | Japan / Ireland | Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 | Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT | 2:16.3 |
| 9. | Grégoire Munster / Louis Louka | Luxembourg / Belgium | Ford Puma Rally1 Hybrid | M-Sport Ford WRT | 2:17.2 |
| 10. | Nikolay Gryazin / Konstantin Aleksandrov | Bulgaria / Russia | Citroen C3 Rally2 | DG Sport Compétition | 2:24.1 |
Copyright
© The Checkered Flag