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Another problem for Elfyn Evans forces him out on SS16
Photography by Toyota, Hyundai & M-Sport
Elfyn Evans has hit trouble for the second day in a row, parking up with broken suspension on Rally Italy, while Dani Sordo had a setback of his own in the battle for second.
Bedrock had bashed through the sump guard on Evans’ Yaris on Friday morning and sent his water temperatures through the roof, forcing him to park up and return on Saturday.
After a series of trouble-free stages on Saturday morning it all went wrong for a second time on the rerun of Coiluna – Loelle, where he picked up suspension damage on his rear-left corner.
Evans, who was running way down in 44th overall, initially pulled over to change the left-rear wheel thinking he’d suffered a puncture, only to discover the broken suspension and swiftly disappear down an access road.
Ott Tanäk picked up yet another stage win to extend his lead by another second to 46 seconds – but the second pass of Coiluna – Loelle was not so positive for team-mate Dani Sordo.
Craig Breen continues to occupy second place and his advantage over Sordo grew further, now up to 20.8s, after encoutering a problem at a watersplash late in the stage.
Despite braking hard before the jump preceding the watersplash he still ripped the front splitter off his i20 N Rally1 and the engine bay subsequently filled up with water, causing him to stall and lose several seconds.
Rather than be angry at the car, Sordo was mad at himself for what he considered a self-inflicted error.
“I’m so f***ing stupid,” he said. “I didn’t go fast. I miss one thing in the front bumper and the water comes in. But last year [it was] exactly the same; I pass really slow and it’s this s***.”
That error allowed Pierre-Louis Loubet to narrow the gap to third place slightly, now at 13.5s. But the second-best Ford Puma driver was not going to allow himself to be lured into a dogfight for third.
“We know what is our target and I don’t want to change my philosophy because Sordo is in front,” said Loubet. “I continue in my way and with my feeling and we’ll see.”
Adrien Fourmaux is now under real pressure from Kalle Rovanperä for fifth place, dropping 9.8s to the championship leader.
“I can see that he is pushing,” said Fourmaux. “That’s good. But I think we still have some time for the next stage, so we’ll see. It will be interesting to stay in front of him for tomorrow, but we’ll see.”
Any hopes Takamoto Katsuta may have had of staying within reach of Rovanperä were gone by the second pass of Coiluna – Loelle, the side-effect of an earlier hard impact at the front of his GR Yaris.
With his under-body protection damaged his car’s radiator remains highly vulnerable and, while he cured an earlier issue with his cooling system, he’s afraid of breaking it for a second time.
“We got damage on the radiator and then we fixed it,” explained Katsuta.
“Now it’s OK but I have to be very careful driving because now the bumper is quite broken. If you go over a loose rock, I break [the radiator] again, so I really have to be careful and I need to avoid every single rock. All OK but I need to kill that speed at every jump and water[splash].”
Tags: Dani Sordo, Elfyn Evans, Hyundai, Rally Italy, Rally Italy 2022, Toyota Gazoo Racing, WRC
Publish Date June 4, 2022 DirtFish https://www-dirtfish.imgix.net/2022/06/WRC_2022_Rd.5_202.jpg?fit=scale&fm=pjpg&h=520&ixlib=php-1.2.1&q=70&w=780&wpsize=entry-main June 4, 2022
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Copyright © 2022 DirtFish, LLC. All rights reserved.
Subaru Impreza STI Sedan & Hatchback Features
Roll Cage: Every rally car requires a welded-in safety cage. The roll cages in our cars are built in-house from scratch.
Racing Seats: Driver and co-driver need to be firmly mounted to the structure of the vehicle. The use of hinged-back seats in rally vehicles is prohibited in rally and most forms of racing.
Racing Harnesses: Safety first. A minimum of a 5-point harness is required by all American rally sanctioning bodies. The 5 points consist of 2 shoulder harness, 2 lap belts and a single anti-submarine belt (not shown).
Handbrake: Most rally cars use a hydraulic handbrake. The purpose of the handbrake maneuver is to turn a car around a very tight corner by locking up the rear wheels aiding in the rotation of the car around the corner.
Engine: Our Subaru STi’s use a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder Turbo-charged Boxer engine.
Drive train: The Subaru STi is equipped with an advanced all-wheel-drive system with an active center differential.
Gravel Rally Tires: Being a rally school, we spend most of our time on gravel roads. To maximize the learning experience, we outfit all of our cars with the latest gravel rally tires for maximum traction.
Method Rally Wheels: It is very important to have a durably strong, yet lightweight rally wheel that can hold up to constant abuse, rocks, rough roads and punctures. At DirtFish, we use and trust Method Race Wheels.
Suspension: Rally is rarely on a perfectly smooth roads, because of that rally cars require suspension that can take the abuse. We choose to use Reiger rally suspension on our cars.
Brakes: Rally cars commonly use a 15″ rally wheel. In order for the wheels to fit on our Subaru STi’s, we had to convert them to a Group N brake setup.
Underbody Protection: Driving at high speeds over variable surfaces can easily damage parts. With the constant spray of gravel that gets thrown at them, skid plates and urethane underbody protection help with the longevity of the underbody of the cars.
Roll Cage: Every rally car requires a welded-in safety cage. The roll cages in our cars are built in-house from scratch.
Racing Seats: Driver and co-driver need to be firmly mounted to the structure of the vehicle. The use of hinged-back seats in rally vehicles is prohibited in rally and most forms of racing.
Racing Harnesses: Safety first. A minimum of a 5-point harness is required by all American rally sanctioning bodies. The 5 points consist of 2 shoulder harness, 2 lap belts and a single anti-submarine belt (not shown).
Handbrake: Most rally cars use a hydraulic handbrake. The purpose of the handbrake maneuver is to turn a car around a very tight corner by locking up the rear wheels to aid the rotation of the car around the corner.
Engine: The Subary BRZ is powered by a 2.0 liter naturally aspirated Boxer engine.
Drive train: The Subaru BRZ is rear-wheel-drive and equipped with a limited slip differential.
Gravel Rally Tires: Being a rally school, we spend most of our time on gravel roads. To maximize the learning experience, we outfit all of our cars with the latest gravel rally tires for maximum traction.
Method Rally Wheels: It is very important to have a durably strong, yet lightweight rally wheel that can hold up to constant abuse, rocks, rough roads and punctures. At DirtFish, we use and trust Method Race Wheels.
Suspension: Rally is rarely on a perfectly smooth roads, because of that rally cars require suspension that can take the abuse. We choose to use Reiger rally suspension on our cars.
Brakes: Rally cars commonly use a 15″ rally wheel. Luckily with the Subaru BRZ’s, the stock brake system is more than adequate for our programs.
Underbody Protection: Driving at high speeds over variable surfaces can easily damage parts. With the constant spray of gravel that gets thrown at them, skid plates and urethane underbody protection help with the longevity of the underbody of the cars.
Below you will find an aerial view of the DirtFish property. Go through and check out the courses you’ll be driving on during your driving program! View everything from The Slalom all the way up to our longest course, the Advanced Mill Run!