Maximum out of 2015 for Volver

It’s been an up and down season for team ASRT driver Karl-Martin Volver: a season full of learning, finding new limits and sometimes even going over the limits. First proper year for Volver in rallying has brought the youngster his first title with many wins and podiums.

Being only 16 years old, it’s not easy driving against more experienced folk, but Volver has proved that it’s possible and that it’s also possible to fight with them for podium positions.

It’s been almost over a year since ASRT picked up this young, only 16 years old, hope and gave him a chance to do a full season of rallying in a Peugeot 208 R2 vTi. Thanks to them, Volver took part in both Latvian and Estonian rally championships, being successful in both countries.

The Estonian Rally Championship has come to a conclusion with the 48th Silveston Saaremaa Rally, that took place from 9th to 10th of October. This was a rally to remember for Volver and Margus Jõerand, his co-driver, who secured their first ever rally title.

Winning Saaremaa in class EMV4 meant that they also took the title in the class, with the final total being 111 points, just 14 points ahead of their closest competitor, Sultanjants.

Volver @ Saaremaa Rally. Photo: Remo Kuningas

Volver after Saaremaa Rally:

“Overall it went very well. We didn’t take any unecessary risks because we had to finish this rally. We didn’t have any big  moments either during the rally, which was great.”

“We’re very happy to have finished our first Saaremaa Rally with a victory in our class. We’d like to thank our fans, sponsors, team and everyone else who helped us reach our goals. I’m truly very happy.”

 About next year’s plans, Volver plans to contest more ERC rallies and also do some local rallies in Estonia.

.. a look back: 

2015 was an impressive year for Volver and Jõerand: the season started with Rally Aluksne in Latvia, where the crew had their first start in the new ASRT serviced Peugeot 208 R2 VTi. First start, first class victory for the crew since Rally Strugi Krasniye in 2014.

For all of the next rallies, Volver gave the other, more experienced, crews a big fight in their class, but it all came with a price: driving on the limit and going over it. Rally Talsi was a rally to forget, as the crew had a big accident, in which co-driver Margus Jõerand got injured and was forced to skip the next rally, Harju.

Volver took on Harju Rally with a new car, Ford Fiesta R2, and a new co-driver,  Marten Madissoo. Even though half of the things were new for Volver, it didn’t stop the crew from taking a victory in their class and a 7th position overall!

After a calm and careful Rally Estonia, the crew went on to Rally Tallinn, where the crew rolled after clipping  concrete block on SS1. Then came one of the fastest rallies of the season, Tartu Rally, where the crew achieved 2nd in their class, EMV4.

“Calm” Rally Estonia. Photo: Edgars Leonovs

It all concluded with Saaremaa Rally, where the crew secured their title in EMV4 with a victory in the class and a 9th position overall.

Statistics of 2015:

Started rallies: 12

Started, but not finished rallies: 3

Class victories: 4

Fastest rally: 118,3 km/h – Võrumaa Winterrally 2015

1st in EMV4, Estonian Rally Championship

4th in LRC3, Latvian Rally Championship

2nd in ABS, Estonian Rally Championship (458 Pts)

Closest victory in class: Neste Oil Harju Rally 2015, EMV4, 1.1 seconds ahead of David Sultanjants

Top 4 stage time at ERC Rally Liepaja 2015, SS6. 17.7 s to Kajetanowicz, 3.1s ahead of Berkis

ERC dream over for Lukyanuk and Chervonenko

After many impressive performances in the European Rally Championship for Lukyanuk and Chervonenko, it’s all over  for them as their cooperation ends before SATA Rallye Azores. The pair together achieved a Top 3 finish in Jännerrallye 2015 and a very impressive 6th at Circuit of Ireland.

Yevhen Chervonenko announces with deep regret that the cooperation between the pair has ended in June.

Lukyanuk: “Unfortunately, our cooperation with Cherovnenko ended for reasons beyond our control: difficult economical situation and health problems for Yevhen.”

Cooperation between these two has sadly come to a halt

“I’m trying not to be discouraged and won’t stop rallying. We will find ways to continue our performances in rallying at the highest level. I can’t say any more, but me and Alexey Arnautov are starting “Samsonas Motorsport Rally Utena 2015″ in preparation for WRC Neste Oil Rally Finland.”

The crew are also trying to find additional funding to attend one of the most exciting rallies in the ERC – Rally Estonia, which is traditionally held mid-July and acts as a great warmup for Rally Finland.

But it’s not all sad news and planning for Lukyanuk – they are 100% confirmed to start WRC Rally Finland, driving a Ford Fiesta WRC, under Academy Rally!

Rallipaus: intervjuu Roland Poomiga

2015. a. rallihooaeg on suure hooga käimas ja peagi alustatakse juba kruusarallide hooajaga Eestis, nimelt Neste Oil Harju Ralliga. Kaks esimest EMV rallit on juba läbi ning peale Võrumaa Talverallit tuli veidike pikem paus sisse. Pausi ajal otsustasin võtta ette ning küsida mõningaid küsimusi ühelt noorelt ja andekalt Eesti rallisõitjalt. Seekord sattus teele ette Roland Poom.

Tere Roland. Räägi veidike eesolevast hooajast. Mis plaanid, rallid, kaugemad minekud?

Roland: “Tere. Selleks hooajaks konkreetseid plaane hetkel veel ei ole. Peale võru rallit on juba päris pikk paus sisse jäänud ja hetkel ei oska täpselt öelda, kus on järgmine ralli.”

“Vahepeal käisime hoidsime kätt soojas Narva rallisprindil vana hea Lada Samaraga.”

“Hetkel üritan saada eelarvet kokku, et sõita veel kuni 4 rallit see hooaeg, ehk siis Eesti rallid ja ilmselt enne Tallinna rallit Leedus 300 Järve rallil. Harju rallil see aasta ei stardi kahjuks.”

On plaane ka suuremale pildile saada? Näiteks ERC?

Roland: “Nagu igal sõitjal, on ka mul see plaan koguaeg olnud. Eks see kõik oleneb finantsilistest vahenditest, millal suuremale pildile jõuda.”

“Minul on eesmärgiks hetkel ERC juunioride sari, kus võiks ideaalis 2016 hooaeg sõita 3-5 rallit, kuid loomulikult tuleb mõelda reaalselt ja vaadata, kas on võimalik see eelarve kokku saada ka. “

“Selle hooaja eelarve otsimise kõrvalt tuleb tegeleda juba ka järgmise hooaja planeerimisega. Julgen väita, et see on ilmselt üks keerulisemaid töid “

Kuidas Citroenilt Fordile minek siiamaani olnud on? Mida on veel plaanis seoses autoga?

Roland: “Citroenilt Fordile minek läks üsnagi valutult, kuigi aega võttis siiski paar-kolm rallit, et saada õige hoog üles.”

“Teatud sõiduvõtted, mida Citroeniga sõites kasutasin, olid Fordiga sõites üleliigsed.”

“Eelmise hooaja Saaremaa ralliks olin kiiruse kätte saanud ja tundsin end autos juba mugavalt. Eesti sõitude jaoks hetkel auto vahetust plaanis ei ole.”

Valutu Saaremaa 2014 (Anna Kolomiets foto)

Kui kaugesse tulevikku vaadata, mis on visioon?

Roland: “Ma usun, et kõige odavam viis ennast suuremasse pilti saada on läbi ERC sarja, seega olla ERC sarjas tehasetiimi sõitja, tundub reaalne plaan. Sealt edasi on juba lihtsam liikuda WRC sarja poole. “

“Ma arvan, et ei ole ühtegi noort võidusõitjat, kellel ei oleks selliseid tuleviku plaane ning unistusi, sest ilma nendeta ei ole võimalik tippu jõuda..”

Vahest saab ka kahe rattaga hakkama..

Pane kokku endale perfektne ralli. Sinu valida on asukoht, auto, tiim, jne.

Roland: “Ma olen suur Volkswagen grupi autode fänn, niiet Volkswagen Polo R WRC oleks kindlasti auto, mille ma valiksin.”

“Asukohaks ma võtaksin tänaseks WRC kalendrist eemaldatud Uus-Meremaa ralli nende mõnusate looklevate teede pärast. See oleks minu jaoks perfektne ralli, kuid ausaltöeldes Fiestaga Saaremaa kadakate vahel sõita on ka väga mõnus.”

Pea igal rallisõitjal on ka omad iidolid. Kes on sinul, miks?

Roland: “Jah, ka mul on omad iidolid olemas. Kindlasti üks iidol on Markko Märtin, sest need emotsioonid, mida see mees Eesti rahvale pakkus, olid väga võimsad ning ma arvan, et see tundub loogiline, et ühe noore Eesti rallisõitja iidol on Eesti läbi aegade edukaim rallisõitja.”

“Ma tean, et ma ei ole väga originaalne, kui ma ütlen, et mu teiseks iidoliks on Sebastien Loeb. 9 kordne maailmameister, 78 MM ralli võitu.. Rohkem pole ilmselt vaja öelda.”

Kunagi oli teil plaanis minna Soome võistlema. Oli vist isegi suurem kampaania plaanis. Mis sellest sai?

Roland: “Jah, see plaan oli mul olemas ning isegi sain juba end registreeritud rallile. Tegime Rakvere Põhjakeskusega koostöös suurema kampaania, kus kõigi toetajate vahel loosisime välja kaardilugeja kohad testipäeval.

“Kui me olime 2015 hooajal juba 3 rallit järjest katkestanud, saime aru, et ei suuda oma jõududega enam autot hooldada, sest kiirus oli kasvanud ning auto vajas üha rohkem hooldust.”

“Suhtlesime toetajatega ja leidsime, et meil oleks targem see raha panna uude autosse, sest Citroeniga ei oleks me seda Soome MM rallit suure tõenäosusega lõpetanud. Paar nädalat hiljem saime tänu Egon Kaurile ja Allan Ilvesele Soomest vana Andreas Ambergi Ford Fiesta uuteks omanikeks. Fordi hooldab Kaur Motorsport.”

Kõigil on omad hetked olnud, mis kauaks meelde jäävad. Mis on sinul üks seik, mis eriti meeles?

Roland: “Otseselt ralli ajal selliseid seike olnud ei ole, aga näiteks peale 2013 Rally Estoniat, kui katkestasime generaatori probleemide tõttu esimese päeva, oli vaja auto tagasi servicesse saada. “

“Panime auto sleppi ja hakkasime tõmbama öösel, kui viimane katse oli läbi saanud. Vahepeal oli vihma ka sadama hakanud ja meil autos voolu polnud, et kojamehi käima panna. Lasin kaardilugejal rooli hoida ja läksin ise akna kaudu välja, võtsin kojamehe akna pealt ja hakkasin sellega siis klaasi puhastama ise auto küljeakna augus istudes.”

“Eks selliseid lõbusaid seiku ole teisigi olnud, kui on pidanud kähku midagi välja mõtlema.”

auto24 Rally Estonia 2013 (fotodarius.lt)

Kus asuvad sinu nn. “juured”? Ehk ala, mis esimesena sidus sind autospordiga ja kuidas läks?

Roland: “Kuna mu suguvõsas ei ole keegi autospordiga mitte kuidagi kokku puutunud, siis minu sattumine autosporti oli pigem juhus.”

“Väiksena hakkasin naabrimehega koos rallisid vaatamas käima, enda peret ralli ei huvitanud. Mõned aastad hiljem suutsin kuidagi isa ära rääkida, et jääraja auto saada, siis olin 14 või 15. “

“Sealt peale hakkasin autospordiga tegelema. Enamused jääraja võistlused, kus osalesin, võitsin ära ja siis hakkas suur töö jälle peale, et isa kuidagi nõusse saada, et ralliauto ehitada.. Nii see on läinud ja tänaseks juba osa perest on ka suured ralli fännid.”

Sinul on ka palju rallisprinte selja taga. On sealt ka midagi, mida meenutada?

Roland: “Esimene rallisprint oli Narvas 2012 aastal. Ega keegi meist ei teadnud, kuidas korralikul EAL-is registreeritud võistlusel asjad käivad.”

“Asi hakkas kohe registreerimisega pihta: mul ei olnud isikut tõendavat dokumenti kaasas, siis ma veel ei teadnud, et mingit tehnilist kontrolli toimub, võistlus jalanõud olid koju ununenud ning lõpuks rajaga tutvuma läksime kolmekesi koos vanaisa ja isaga.”

“Huvitaval kombel keegi selle kohta midagi ei öelnud, kui kolmekesi istusime esi istmetel väike bussis. Eks see suur õppimise võistlus oli. Järgmistel võistlustel oli õnneks asi juba selge ning aasta lõppes meistritiitliga rallisprindis.”

Rallisprintidel sõitsid sa Lada Samaraga. Räägi veidike autost ja sellega saavutatust.

Roland: “Samara sünni kohta midagi erilist öelda pole, see käis lihtsalt ja valutult.”

“Ostsime valmis kõik jupid ja keretööd tehti teiste poolt ära, meie panime ainult kokku.”

“Auto jäi 2012. oktoobris seisma, aga juba sel nädalal on võimalus, et auto ostetakse meilt ära.”

“Peale seda on auto sõitnud Avo Vaheri käes Viru Rallil VIP autona ja nüüd 2015. a.  mai keskel käisin sõitsin selle autoga oma viimase sõidu sealt, kust alustasin, ehk Narva rallisprint.”

“Sõitsime seal põhimõtteliselt originaalvedrustusega, niiet võidu peale sõita polnud võimalik. Kohaks oli äkki 4. kui ma õigesti mäletan. ”

“Samaraga kahjuks palju sõita ei jõutud, aga siiski saavutati sellega Rallisprindis meistritiitel ja 2012. a.Viru Rallil E9 klassis teine koht. Sealt edasi juba hakkasime sõitma Siim Plangi vana Citroen C2 R2-ga, mille leidis meile Simo Koskinen. ”

Müüa: Lada Samara 1.6

—

Suured tänud Rolandile selle vestluse eest ja edu eelseisvaks hooajaks ka minu poolt! Ma arvan, et sellest mehest hakkame tulevikus rohkem kuulma.

Roland Poomi rallikarjäär eWRC andmebaasis: http://www.ewrc-results.com/profile.php?p=31458

Roland Poomi fännileht Facebookis: https://www.facebook.com/Poom.Udevald

New city stage addition for Rally Estonia

This years’ FIA European Rally Championship round auto24 Rally Estonia has strengthened its grip around South Estonia and now features a new city, Elva.

On the 18th of July, a new city stage will also be run in Elva which will be followed by a concert by the legendary Suzi  Quatro.

That makes it two city stages planned for Rally Estonia this year: on friday, 17th of July, in Tartu and on the 18th of July in Elva. Both stages will be free to watch for everyone and tens of thousands of spectators are expected to line the stages.

Toomas Järveoja, Elva city major: “We’re happy to host a very well organized autosport event here in Elva,  it’s the biggest in the Baltics, having almost up to 30 000 people spectating last year. The pre-, during and after publicity of the rally was worldwide and that’s positive for the local companies and businesses.

That was also confirmed by the Estonian Insititute of Economic Research last year, who concluded that the rally brought in a total of 3 million euros to the local economy.

The city stage will bring a lot of autosport fans to Elva. It’ll be a great day here, filled with autosport and other entertainment, with a Suzi Quatro concert ending the day.

I’m sure that auto24 Rally Estonia will be a positive influence for Elva, which will have a lasting effect for years to come. Elva awaits all fans and drivers!”

Tänak/Mõlder – auto24 Rally Estonia 2014 / Photo: Jaanus Ree

Urmo Aava, auto24 Rally Estonia director: “We’re glad to have this cooperation with with Elva city, which will bring autosport closer to the people.

The addition of Elva to the rally is very important to us, it will widen the operational area for auto24 Rally Estonia in South Estonia and help boost the local economy. There’s much praise for the people of Elva, who saw the potential in the city stage.

Last years’ city stage in Tartu showed that rallying brings lots of people out to spectate and even the drivers got a good emotion from the stage.

Elva city stage will be an attractive stage for both the spectators and the drivers.”

—

Text in Estonian: autosport.ee / http://autosport.ee/meedia/node/920

Translated by: Karlip

Opportunity of a lifetime for Lukyanuk

Russian crew Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov have been offered the chance of a lifetime: a World Rally car drive on a World Rally Championship round.

So far of the revealed plans we’ve found out that Lukyanuk will drive a Ford Fiesta RS WRC serviced by M-Sport World Rally Team at WRC Neste Oil Rally Finland.

The crew Lukyanuk and Arnautov got the invitation to drive the rally from the head of  “Academy Rally” team, Mihail Lepehov, who has a lot of experience on WRC level, as he was the one who supported Evgeniy Novikov’s career – the first Russian pilot driving for a factory team.

Lepehov: “Academy Rally had the chance to give one crew a drive on a World Rally Championship round and we decided to offer the chance to Alexey Lukyanuk. I know that Lukyanuk really wants to drive a machine like that so I decided to give him the chance.

Of course we selected Neste Oil Rally Finland. It’s a classic rally and a favourite for the Russian fans. Every rally driver wants to do the rally of a 1000 Lakes, it’s one of the most popular in the world. We invite all our fans and crews to support Lucas! ”

Lukyanuk: “A year ago I couldn’t even dream of such an opportunity. I’m very happy to get back into the car again with Alexey Arnautov, whom with we won the Russian and the Estonian championships last year. We have a lot of experience and we have worked together for a long time. To be honest, we’ve already started preparing for the rally: training, studying onboards. And we hope to find the budget to do some rallies in Lithuania or Finland as a preparation for Neste Oil Rally Finland. I am very grateful to Academy Rally and Mihail Lepehov for the chance!”

Lukyanuk and Arnautov last took part in Neste Oil Rally Finland in 2013, which was also their WRC debut. They managed a top 8 stage time and a victory in class “3” with a 16th position overall in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 N4.

Text: alexeylukyanuk.com

Translated: Karlip

New name for Harju Rally in 2015

The Estonian Rally Championship season will continue in about a month and a half with the newly named Neste Oil Harju Rally, which, like the first time it was run last year, will be taking place on the gravel roads surrounding Tallinn from 29th to the 30th of May.

Harju Rally was first run last year and it was quite a show. In the scorching hot weather, a total of 80 crews took part in the rally. It was a big show, with Karl Kruuda also debuting the Peugeot 208 T16 R5 in Estonia. On the 1st of April, the organizers of Harju Rally and the representatives of Neste Oil signed an agreement, which means that Harju Rally will now have a name sponsor and will be renamed to Neste Oil Harju Rally 2015.

“Harju Rally was first run in 2014 and, because of the positive experience and feedback we got from the rally, we decided to give the rally our support. Estonian autosport is definitely on the rise, there’s a new generation of young and talented drivers incoming. Rally is quite a spectacle and a very exciting sport, where in an instant everything can change. Beside the skill of the driver and the co-driver, there’s also luck. That’s the excitement we’d like to offer to the spectators in cooperation with the organizers,” said Neste Oil general manager Ivar Kohv.

“The 2015 edition of Harju Rally will be like a new start for us organizers. It’s not just the year that’s changing, it’s also the name of the rally – Neste Oil Harju Rally 2015. We’d like to offer our greatest thanks to Neste Oil for trusting us and seeing the potential and ambition in us to do something big. Neste Oil is a big company that thinks ahead and that’s what we are also trying to do, to grow and get stronger with each year. It’s difficult to think big without a sponsor,” said Janno Hert, a member of the Harju Rally organizing team.

This years Neste Oil Harju Rally 2015 will be the 3rd rally in the Estonian Rally Championship calendar and it will be the first gravel round of the season. The rally HQ and the Service Park will be situated in Jüri. Rally start and finish will be in Rae conty, Peetri village. The first stage of the rally will be a Super Special Stage, run just after the workday ends so everyone can enjoy it. On the 2nd day of the rally, the cars head out to 9 long stages.

Neste Oil Harju Rally will be an event to watch with the whole family.

FACEBOOK: www.facebook.com/harjurally

WEBSITE: www.harjurally.ee

Ivar Kohv — Janno Hert

Tagasiside on kuld Soome MM-ralli korraldajatele

2015. aasta Neste Oil Soome ralli ajakava tegemine on nüüd lõpetatud ja ajakava kaartidega on avalikustatud. Ralli toimub 31. juulist 2. augustini ja selle ajakava baseerub üldises joones eelmisel aastal, mida kutsuti “parimaks läbi aegade”.

Eelmise aasta ralli pealtvaatajate, osavõtjate ja katsetel töötajate tagasisidet võeti korraldajate poolt tõsiselt ning selle aasta ralli baseerub põhiliselt nende tagasisidel.

“Niiet, me lihtsalt muutsime kuupäevi natuke,” muigab Kari Nuutinen. “Meie ülesanne oli teha perfektne ralli väheste muudatustega.  Põhiline tagasiside eelmise aasta ralli osavõtjatelt oli, et see ralli oli parim üle aastate,” lisas Nuutinen.

Korraldajatel muudatuste tegemiseks erilist ruumi ei olnud, aga nad siiski üritasid. Meeskond tegi suure töö ära: sõideti, arutleti, räägiti läbi ja jällegi sõideti tuhandeid kilomeetreid kesk-Soome teid ja tulemuseks on üks üsnagi kiire ja põnev ralli.

Rallit alustab neljapäeval legendaarne Ruuhimäki katse, kus kella kaheksast hommikul sõidetakse Shakedowni. Siis õhtul suundutakse Paviljonki, kus kell 18:42 sõidab esimene auto poodiumilt maha ja suundub esimese katse “Harju” poole. Harju katse algab täpselt kell 7 õhtul.

NELJAPÄEV – Start Jyväskylä Paviljonki 18:42

• SS 1 Harju (2,27 km) 19:00
• Service Jyväskylä Paviljonki 19:30 – 20:15

Reedene päev pakub sõitjatele ja pealtvaatajatele palju põnevust, sest kõigil on ees pikk päev: 9 katset, mille kogupikkuseks on 157,63km. Asjaolud muudab raskeks see, et reede päeval sõitjatele service pause pole! Rallil teeb tagasituleku ka legendaarne 33km pikkune Ouninpohja katse, mis on tagasi originaalformaadis ja algab 1km tavalisest stardikohast tagapool.

REEDE –  Service Jyväskylä Paviljonki 7:30-7:45

• SS 2 Pihlajakoski 1 (14,51 km) 9:28
• SS 3 Päijälä 1 (23,38 km) 10:36
• SS 4 Ouninpohja 1 (34,39 km) 11:29
• SS 5 Himos 1 (5,40 km) 12:42
• SS 6 Pihlajakoski 2 (14,51 km) 14:28
• SS 7 Päijälä 2 (23,38 km) 15:36
• SS 8 Ouninpohja 2 (34,39 km) 16:29
• SS 9 Himos 2 (5,40 km) 17:42
• SS 10 Harju 2 (2,27 km) 19:00

Laupäeval suunduvad ekipaažid Jyväskyläst läände, Keuruu piirkonda. Kell 8:08 hommikul algab päeva esimene katse, SS11 Mokkiperä 1. Päeva lõpetab SS18 Horrka 2, millele stardib esimene auto kell 18:25. Sellel päeval läbivad sõitjad 8 katset, kogupikkusega 130,68 km.

LAUPÄEV – Service Jyväskylä Paviljonki 7:00-7:15

• SS 11 Mökkiperä 1 (13,48 km) 8:08
• SS 12 Jukojärvi 1 (21,25 km) 9:26
• SS 13 Surkee 1 (14,95 km) 11:03
• SS 14 Horkka 1 (15,30 km) 11:56
• SS 15 Mökkiperä 2 (13,48 km) 14:37
• SS 16 Jukojärvi 2 (21,25 km) 15:55
• SS 17 Surkee 2 (14,95 km) 17:32
• SS 18 Horkka 2 (15,30 km) 18:25

Pühapäev tuleb lühike. Päevas läbitakse kaks korda ühte katset Myhinpää, mis on oma teisel läbimisel ka PowerStage. Mõlemad katsed peaks olema ka otse telekast vaadatavad.

• SS 19 Myhinpää 1 (14,40 km) 10:43
• SS 20 Myhinpää 2 Power Stage (14,40 km) 13:08
• Podium 16:00

 

Täielik ralli kaart on saadaval siin: http://www.nesteoilrallyfinland.fi/attachements/2015-03-19T09-09-39105.jpg

 

Experience and stability key for Gustav Kruuda

Gustav Kruuda’s goal for this season is to get more experience and to achieve a stable speed. He still gets words of advice from his brother, Karl Kruuda.

“It’s likely that we’ll be driving the whole season in a Ford Fiesta R2 and mostly on home soil. We’ll be getting experience and learning new methods of driving to find a stable speed,” said Gustav Kruuda about his plans. “I’ll be doing rallies in Estonia and Latvia, no plans to go into the wider world just yet,” said Kruuda, who had his first event in Latvia this year at Sarma.

It was Sarma, where Gustav got his first snow experience. “We had a small test on a fast section before Sarma. The first stage of the rally was very surprising because it was much tighter than in the tests! It’s a different world driving on snow and ice compared to gravel. It’d be pretty cool to drive on snow once I get to know it better,” said Kruuda, who  thinks that the Liepaja rally stages were fantastic. “The stages were pretty cool, I liked the 36 km stage the most because it had tempo changes. The stages were fast and quite similar to the roads in estonia.”

Rally Liepaja didn’t go very smoothly for Gustav, who rolled his car there. “It was my own mistake, snoozed a bit,” he admits.

“We won’t be doing the whole Latvian rally championship season and we won’t take any points there. It’s not our objective to get a place at the end of the season, what’s important is to gain experience and to be pleased. I don’t know what rallies we’ll do in Latvia, but we will do some for sure.”

“We’ll try to be competitive in Estonia. I’d be pleased if we could manage to stay in the top 6 fastest and not to just be fast on a couple of stages,” said Kruuda, who is currently holding 3rd in class 2WD 2000 of the Estonian rally championship.

Gustav is waiting for a go at the gravel roads of Southern Estonia, where they hold Rally Estonia. He says that this rally has the best organization and that it’s held on fast, flowing roads. “I think South Estonia has the best roads in the world! It’s a home rally for me.” He adds that he’s driven and spectated there many times and even tested with his mentoring brother. “Karl gives me advice how to make better and more precise notes. He helps me a lot. Sometimes he sits by my side and tells me what to do. He’s a lot of help for me.”

Karl Kruuda says that his brother is good in theory but lacks driving practice and that his driving style needs polishing. “Gustav has come to a lot of rallies with us, he knows how things are done. Doesn’t matter whether he drives at home or outside, he doesn’t fear. He’s got lots of will but lacks the experience. He needs to practice more and drive.”

“It’s been a pretty stable development for Gustav so far,” adds Karl. “I still teach him sometimes. Urmo Aava has sat next to him and so has Sander Pärn. I’ve been driving 4WD cars for a long time now, so maybe I can’t give advice on how to drive a 2WD car so well now. He gets the bigger picture and is a great student. If you tell him something, then he immediately picks it up and gets that it’s a positive thing that will help him drive faster.”

How used has Gustav gotten to the Ford with the couple of years? “It’s a great car! Specially great for learning how to drive. The speed won’t get too high, but you still get some. You get to learn how to maintain a trajectory and overall how to rally. There’s still a long way to go until we can take the maximum out of this car. It can do a lot even though it’s small and has less power.”

“When I was 14 years old, I drove 300 – 400 km on circuits. We needed the experience to learn how a car handles. With the year and a half there’s been a lot more progress than the  year before.

When asked if Gustav wanted to get into a similar car to that of Karl’s, the answer was a straight No. “If i’d step up to a faster car too early then it’ll be bad for the growth. I’ll try to take the maximum out of this car first.”

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Original article: Rando Aav, rally.ee -> http://rally.ee/?a=a009&b=10212

Translated by Karlip

Lukyanuk wins Rally Yakkima 2015

Rally Yakkima 2015, the 7th round of the Russian Rally Cup, took place on 28th of February in the forests of Sortavala. One of the crews taking part in the rally was Alexey Lukyanuk and Vadim Leluh in an older Group-N Subaru Impreza.

Despite the difficult economical situation in the country, up to 50 crews had found their way to the rally.  The organizers were worried about the warm weather, but the stages stayed snowy and very slippery.

On the first section, Lukyanuk and Leluh won all 3 stages and managed to get a lead of 36 seconds over their closest competitor, Dmitry Polyvanym. But on the second section, the crew had to fight some technical issues and began to drop time. Fortunately for them, the 36 second lead they managed to get on the first section was enough to hold Polyvanym back and take the overall victory!

Vadim Leluh: “When we were heading to the first stage of the second section, we got stuck behind a grandpa doing 37 km/h and we couldn’t pass him. We barely had time to reach the time control, but I ran and we made it. Then, on a longer corner in Stage 4, we heard a bang and then even more sounds in the back. We lost drive in the rear wheels. We thought of stopping but decided that, as long as the car goes, we go, and drove the front-wheel drive Subaru to the end. As we were getting used to the new situation, we only lost 4 seconds on the last stage!”

Despite losing about 15 seconds in the last section, the crew maintained their lead and won the rally by 16 seconds.

Leluh added that Lukyanuk has a very busy schedule training other Russian drivers and managed to have a weekend free. “We decided to race together and get training for ourselves too. It’s good and useful. For me, it was a training session before Rally Gorniy Len.”

Here’s the final results of the rally:

1.  Lukyanyuk Alexey / Vadim LELYUH 40: 54.8;

2.  Polyvany Dmitri / Revenko Andrei +16,0;

3.  Osipov Alexander / Andreev Alexander +34,3;

4. Arshansky Juri / Soskin Mihail +0,9;

5.  Negoda Alexey / Yasiuk Cyril +28,0.

Photo: Lina Arnautova

 

 

Reflections of Võrumaa Winterrally 2015

The 8th edition of Võrumaa Winterrally 2015 offered great, fast-paced action with a new winner in a new car. Sander Pärn and James Morgan dominated the rally, taking 4 stage wins and leading from Stage 1. A total of 77 crews took the challenge, and i’ve brought out 3 crews(who actually have a PR) in particular.

Võrumaa Winterrally 2015 was full of surprises for all the crews, especially that the weekend of the rally, and the days before, didn’t look too good with all of the weather predictions being mostly above 0 degrees. Once the crews met with the roads, though… it was a different story

Ice. Ice everywhere. Photo: Vorobjovs Racing

It all kicked off with the Recce. Almost everyone had an off road excursion, including Pärn. One of the safer crews out there were Janis Vorobjovs and Andris Malnieks, who helped lots of crews out there.

“The rally roads were great, but very difficult to recce, because even when going at 30-40 km/h, it was very slippery. This meant that many drivers slid into ditches or sat sideways in the middle of the road. The stages were full ice, with water on top. But the liaison roads were salted and well driveable,” said Andris Malnieks on recce to go4speed.lv, co-driver of Janis Vorobjovs.

Photo: 4rati.lv/Vorobjovs Racing

For Janis and Andris, the rally was just to get some mileage into the car and finding problems.

” In this rally the goal was to continue testing our new car in a racing mode and find problems which can appear in a just-built car. We made more then 80 kilometrs in a racing mode and can say that the goal is reached. It will definitely help to prepare for the summer season of Latvian rally championship. We drove safely, becouse we are not fighting for Estonian rally championship points,” said Janis Vorobjovs after retiring on SS7 due to a broken oil cooler.

For Sander Pärn and James Morgan, the rally was a big learning experience. New car, faster notes, new driving style. Moving from a 2-wheel drive car to a 4-wheel drive is always difficult, but Sander mastered it and was fastest throughout the rally, leading from start to finish and taking 4 stage wins.

Photo: timoanis.eu/Sander Pärn

„I am happy that I was able to trust my pace notes and that our co-operation with James worked. It‘s good to know that we had enough speed to win this event. We did not have to drive 100 % flat out and was always in a dictating role throughout the rally,“ said Pärn.

„Its a great feeling which comes with the victory of the rally. It’s always a pleasure to compete in Estonia in front of the local fans and friends. The atmosphere in the car was relaxed and the road conditions on the stages were suprisingly good,“ added Pärn.

The Fiesta R5 for Pärn was prepared by MM-Motorsport and it was the first rally for Pärn’s new partner, Tartu city’s heating supplier GIGA.

The fastest 2-wheel drive crew in the rally was Karl Martin Volver and Margus Jõerand, who, despite a puncture, managed 8th overall in the rally and 1st in 2WD 2000.

“It was a rally with very tough competition, but we managed to keep the pressure on til the end,” said Karl Martin, who was driving an ASRT serviced Peugeot 208 VTi R2.

“Okay, there’s still things to learn about the car, but I think i’ll be friends with it by summertime.”

“I mostly liked the first and the last stages. Specially the stages driven in the dark, they were excellent. Very technical and fast, I liked it. There were no errors in the pacenotes so it all went well. We had a huge moment in the 6th stage, but we managed to recover well,” said Karl Martin about the rally.

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From a spectators point of view, the rally was excellent. You could say things about the organisation and the safety on the stages, but all went well. Our stages were 1/3 and 5/6, which we throughoutly enjoyed watching. Hopefully, the stage of 5/6 will be used next year too, it was just super spectacular with its crests and the corners after the crests.

Also a thanks to Margus Kiiver! Helpful, as always!

Thanks for reading!

Karlip