After SS1: Breen on a charge on SATA Rallye Açores
Craig Breen heads Peugeot Rally Academy team-mate Kevin Abbring by a narrow margin following the opening stage of SATA Rallye Açores, round five of the FIA European Rally Championship.
The Irishman took 9m10.1s to complete the 12.10 kilometres of Vila Franca-São Brás and leads Abbring by two seconds in his Michelin-shod Peugeot 208T16.
Such was Breen’s attacking endeavour that the Irishman reached the stage finish with slight damage to the front-left bumper after a brush with an earth bank. “I was using the stages like Rally Sweden, leaning on the banks, but there's no snow here,” he joked. “But there's no stress, no problem either.”
Behind Abbring, Kajetan Kajetanowicz was third fastest with Ricardo Moura fourth and Bernardo Sousa fifth. Sousa is running first on the road and reported the gravel surface was extremely slippery under his Ford Fiesta RRC.
Vasily Gryazin was sixth quickest with Bruno Magalhães seventh and Robert Consani eighth quickest.
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After SS2: Kajetanowicz fastest as R5 cars dominate
Kajetan Kajetanowicz has made a strong start to his first SATA Rallye Açores by setting the fastest time through the second stage of the all-gravel event Coroa da Mata.
The Ford Fiesta R5-driving Polish champion was one second faster than local hero Ricardo Moura with event leader Craig Breen third quickest, 0.2s slower than Moura in his Peugeot 208T16.
And with Kevin Abbring fourth best in another 208T16, R5 cars have filled the top four places on the second stage running of the FIA European Rally Championship round.
“It was okay,” said LOTOS Rally Team driver Kajetanowicz. “In general it's a really soft stage but I like it. It's like driving in the jungle with many trees, a very exotic stage.”
Breen, who won the first stage for Peugeot Rally Academy, was delayed completing the 8.22-kilometre test. “I had to pretty much stop in the stage, there were some boulders from a bank in the road. A couple of times I had to stop. If I tried to drive over the car it would have been beached. I've lost a lot of time but I think I'm still leading.”
Bernardo Sousa, who is running first on the road in his Ford Fiesta RRC, reported more time loss due to the slippery nature of the stage surface he’s encountering at the head of the field. He was fifth quickest.
In the battle for sixth, double event winner Bruno Magalhães has demoted Vasily Gryazin for the position after the rising Russian star admitted he wasn’t a huge fan of the narrow stage.
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After SS3: Kajetanowicz closes on SATA Rallye Açores lead
Kajetan Kajetanowicz has edged closer to the lead of round five of the FIA European Rally Championship by winning the Grupo Marque superspecial.
Driving a LOTOS Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5, Kajetanowicz was 1.8s faster than early pacesetter Craig Breen through the 3.45-kilometre spectator special. He moves ahead of Kevin Abbring into second place heading to the overnight halt in Ponta Delgada.
Normally I don't like these stages but this is good for the spectators," said Kajetanowicz. "There are many people here but we will see tomorrow how fast we can be."
Drivers tackled the stage in pairs with Kajetanowicz going up against Abbring and Breen taking on and beating local hero Ricardo Moura in a close finish. Moura was third quickest, 2.0s down on Kajetanowicz.
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ERC SATA Rallye Açores day one report: Breen edges Kajetanowicz in mid-Atlantic ERC thriller
There will be more serious competition ahead when leg one of SATA Rallye Açores resumes on Friday morning following a thrilling start to the spectacular FIA European Rally Championship counter today (Thursday).
After the opening three stages, Craig Breen leads the gravel event in his Michelin-shod Peugeot Rally Academy 208T16 with Kajetan Kajetanowicz just 0.9s behind in his Pirelli-equipped LOTOS Rally Team Ford Fiesta R5.
Breen was fastest on Thursday’s opening test but lost time on the very next run when he had to stop to drive around two boulders that had fallen into the road. Kajetanowicz, meanwhile, went quickest and was also fastest on the Grupo Marques superspecial to reach the overnight halt in Ponta Delgada firmly in contention for ERC glory.
“It’s better than I thought before the rally, everything is good but I can be better with my driving,” said Kajetanowicz, who is competing in the Açores for the first time. “I am a fighter and I want to win every time but I must be clever and think about all the season. But I think it’s stupid to fight with Craig when he was here last year and has the experience. This is why I am happy tonight.”
Breen, who can move back to the top of the ERC standings with a strong result in the mid-Atlantic said: “It’s good fun and the speed’s there. I just wanted to start at a reasonable pace and on the first stage it was perfect but on the second one I had to stop twice because there were some massive boulders on the road. Kajto was very fast on the gravel in Greece and I think it will be a big fight tomorrow.”
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