Hetzer
Forumguru
The opening event of the S-WRC championship offered 365 power-stage kilometres over
four days. The race was challenging for both the racers and the cars, especially due to
high on-track temperatures (over 33 degrees) and altitudes of as much as 2,700 m
above sea level.
Day 1 of the Mexico Rally saw the opening 1.05-km city stage. A narrow and slippery
track in the centre of Leon with crowds of excited fans standing alongside the road
offered no space for mistakes. Short as it was, the first stage was indeed very difficult -
the drivers had no time to warm up the tyres, which was exactly the reason why Red Bull
Škoda's Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula damaged the chassis of their Škoda Fabia
S2000 by touching the road's high kerb. Yet they were third in the S-WRC category after
the first day, only 1.7 and 0.5 seconds behind Nasser Al-Attyiah and Martin Prokop,
respectively.
The event started in full on Friday, with altogether nine stages (143 km in total). The day
started with a hectic bustle in the depot zone when the mechanics and the crew found
out that it was necessary to replace the whole steering and the rear axle pin – the Red
Bull Škoda mechanics made it within the 15-minute limit and their heroic performance
was heavily applauded by the fans watching their “show”. However, Juho Hänninen made
a mistake right in the first stage that made his car spin and leave the track. As Juho said
later on, the two minutes he and his co-driver had lost by pushing the car back to the
track was a loss difficult to eliminate. The mechanics then preventively replaced the gear
box during the following stop. Red Bull were fourth after Day 2, more than two minutes
behind the leader, Nasser All-Attyiah in a Ford.
A change in the car setting the mechanics made on Saturday morning brought some
more excitement to Juho Hänninen's chase ride – he won the first power stage by 19
seconds and started to gradually reduce his two-minute loss caused by his own mistake
on Friday. Saturday's nine stages (159 km) offered a mix of fast stretches, difficult jumps
and bumpy roads with sharp bends. Having cut one minute off their previous-day loss,
Red Bull Škoda were third before the last day. Juho Hänninen commented: “Our
competitors were a bit slower than us today, and we will do our best to further reduce
our loss. We will probably not manage to eliminate it completely, because we do not
have many kilometres to drive in this race any more.”
The Sunday portion of kilometres (62 km in total) started with probably the most difficult
stage - 29 km full of dangerous stones spread all over the track. Juho put in a fantastic
performance to cut some more seconds off his loss, but he pushed it too far in the
following stage and his car rolled on its roof. Although he managed to continue with his
slightly damaged car after just 14 seconds, he lost his chance to get higher in the
rankings, and the final stage did not change anything. However, Nasser Al- Attiyah was
soon to find out that the regulations and technical rules of the world championship are
indeed very strict and merciless. The technical commissioners responsible for the final
technical inspection found out that the fuel cell ventilation system in Al-Attiyah's vehicle
was not compliant with the rules and disqualified Al-Attiayah from the race. As a result,
Juho Hänninen moved up to the runner-up position.
Final rankings:
1. Martin Prokop
(CZE), 2. Juho Hänninen (FIN) + 1.13,7.
Commenting on the opening event of S-WRC, Juho Hänninen says: “Our ambitions
definitely could have been even higher if I hadn't made that mistake at the beginning. I
wish to thank the mechanics for their excellent job, next time I will try to bring the car to
the finish line in better condition and in even a better position. The second place and the
championship points are certainly positive.”
Appreciating the excellent teamwork, Head of the Red Bull Škoda team Raimund
Baumschlager said: “Our guys are top-class drivers. Looking back at the whole race and,
especially, the bad luck at the beginning, we are happy with the second place – it is
positive in terms of further progress of the championship. I would like to appreciate the
mechanics' contribution – I take my hat off when I remember how they replaced the
whole steering and the rear axle pin on Friday morning. We are looking forward to the
next event in Jordan, but the track there is difficult, and it will certainly be a challenging
event, too.”
The next item on the agenda of the Škoda Red Bull team is the Jordan Rally over April
14-16 that is going to see the team's other crew, Hermann Gassner jr. & Katharina
Wüstenhagen. The complete Red Bull Škoda team is then going to appear at the
following S-WRC event in Sardinia over May 5-8.
bron Skoda-Press
four days. The race was challenging for both the racers and the cars, especially due to
high on-track temperatures (over 33 degrees) and altitudes of as much as 2,700 m
above sea level.
Day 1 of the Mexico Rally saw the opening 1.05-km city stage. A narrow and slippery
track in the centre of Leon with crowds of excited fans standing alongside the road
offered no space for mistakes. Short as it was, the first stage was indeed very difficult -
the drivers had no time to warm up the tyres, which was exactly the reason why Red Bull
Škoda's Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula damaged the chassis of their Škoda Fabia
S2000 by touching the road's high kerb. Yet they were third in the S-WRC category after
the first day, only 1.7 and 0.5 seconds behind Nasser Al-Attyiah and Martin Prokop,
respectively.
The event started in full on Friday, with altogether nine stages (143 km in total). The day
started with a hectic bustle in the depot zone when the mechanics and the crew found
out that it was necessary to replace the whole steering and the rear axle pin – the Red
Bull Škoda mechanics made it within the 15-minute limit and their heroic performance
was heavily applauded by the fans watching their “show”. However, Juho Hänninen made
a mistake right in the first stage that made his car spin and leave the track. As Juho said
later on, the two minutes he and his co-driver had lost by pushing the car back to the
track was a loss difficult to eliminate. The mechanics then preventively replaced the gear
box during the following stop. Red Bull were fourth after Day 2, more than two minutes
behind the leader, Nasser All-Attyiah in a Ford.
A change in the car setting the mechanics made on Saturday morning brought some
more excitement to Juho Hänninen's chase ride – he won the first power stage by 19
seconds and started to gradually reduce his two-minute loss caused by his own mistake
on Friday. Saturday's nine stages (159 km) offered a mix of fast stretches, difficult jumps
and bumpy roads with sharp bends. Having cut one minute off their previous-day loss,
Red Bull Škoda were third before the last day. Juho Hänninen commented: “Our
competitors were a bit slower than us today, and we will do our best to further reduce
our loss. We will probably not manage to eliminate it completely, because we do not
have many kilometres to drive in this race any more.”
The Sunday portion of kilometres (62 km in total) started with probably the most difficult
stage - 29 km full of dangerous stones spread all over the track. Juho put in a fantastic
performance to cut some more seconds off his loss, but he pushed it too far in the
following stage and his car rolled on its roof. Although he managed to continue with his
slightly damaged car after just 14 seconds, he lost his chance to get higher in the
rankings, and the final stage did not change anything. However, Nasser Al- Attiyah was
soon to find out that the regulations and technical rules of the world championship are
indeed very strict and merciless. The technical commissioners responsible for the final
technical inspection found out that the fuel cell ventilation system in Al-Attiyah's vehicle
was not compliant with the rules and disqualified Al-Attiayah from the race. As a result,
Juho Hänninen moved up to the runner-up position.
Final rankings:
1. Martin Prokop
(CZE), 2. Juho Hänninen (FIN) + 1.13,7.
Commenting on the opening event of S-WRC, Juho Hänninen says: “Our ambitions
definitely could have been even higher if I hadn't made that mistake at the beginning. I
wish to thank the mechanics for their excellent job, next time I will try to bring the car to
the finish line in better condition and in even a better position. The second place and the
championship points are certainly positive.”
Appreciating the excellent teamwork, Head of the Red Bull Škoda team Raimund
Baumschlager said: “Our guys are top-class drivers. Looking back at the whole race and,
especially, the bad luck at the beginning, we are happy with the second place – it is
positive in terms of further progress of the championship. I would like to appreciate the
mechanics' contribution – I take my hat off when I remember how they replaced the
whole steering and the rear axle pin on Friday morning. We are looking forward to the
next event in Jordan, but the track there is difficult, and it will certainly be a challenging
event, too.”
The next item on the agenda of the Škoda Red Bull team is the Jordan Rally over April
14-16 that is going to see the team's other crew, Hermann Gassner jr. & Katharina
Wüstenhagen. The complete Red Bull Škoda team is then going to appear at the
following S-WRC event in Sardinia over May 5-8.
bron Skoda-Press