As the M-Sport World Rally Team duo bided their time through the opening day of Rally Poland, there is an Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta RS WRC at the head of the field – Ott Tänak and Raigo Mõlder leading the rally.
Proving the power and performance of M-Sport’s top-specification Fiesta, the Estonians won five stages today and are on course to challenge for their first FIA World Rally Championship victory.
Having no previous experience of the Polish fixture, Éric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas were under strict instruction to gain vital knowledge for the future. Although not pushing to the maximum, the Frenchmen were pleasantly surprised by their pace.
With their precise pacenotes and driving style perfectly suited to the fast Polish roads, they were able to keep in touch with the leaders and had the better of their vastly more experienced team mates.
Finding a good rhythm, Mads Østberg and co-driver Ola Fløene have been driving well but struggled to find the speed they displayed at the previous encounter in Sardinia.
Hindered by dust over the second pass, the pairing find themselves in an unusual 10th place but aren’t akin to giving up easily. With two days of competition remaining, Østberg will be looking to climb the standings as the event continues.
In the WRC 2 category, Elfyn Evans and co-driver Craig Parry find themselves in a podium position.
Rarely out of the top-three on individual stage times, the Welshmen have delivered a highly consistent performance thus far and will be planning to continue that trend in the days to come.
Éric Camilli (9th) said:
“It’s been a really good day for us. We feel good in the car and have succeeded in being fast and confident without mistakes. It’s important for us to learn this rally, but it’s also important to see that we are already able to get close to the top guys on these kinds of roads. I’ve never competed on roads like this, so we’re happy to see that the pace was good. We didn’t expect to be as close as we are so that is really encouraging for the future.”
Mads Østberg (10th) said:
“It’s been really enjoyable driving the stages today. We feel as though we’re driving well but for some reason the times aren’t what they were in Sardinia. We don’t want to be where we are right now. We want to be fighting for the top positions. We’ll have some discussions this evening and hopefully we can be back on the pace tomorrow. One thing is for sure, we won’t give up and we’ll keep pushing and keep trying to improve.”
Elfyn Evans (3rd WRC 2) said:
“It’s been a good day on the whole. We’ve been driving well but some of the guys are pushing really hard out there. We tried a few things to improve, but we’re still missing something. We’ll continue to give it our all, and we’ll just have to wait and see what tomorrow brings.”
Team Principal, Malcolm Wilson OBE, said:
“Ott is proving what we all knew – that we have a car that is capable of challenging for victories. He and Raigo have been absolutely sensational today and it is a pleasure to hear them at the stage ends. You can hear in their voices that they are loving every minute in the car and they fully deserve to be leading the rally this evening.
“Eric has delivered exactly what was asked of him. He has no previous knowledge of this event so it is important for him to gain the experience that will be vital to his future development. Even though he isn’t pushing, his pace is still quite strong and I think he and Ben have been pleasantly surprised by that – which proves how far they have come over the last few months.
“Mads isn’t where he expected to be at the moment. He’s driving well, but for some reason the times just aren’t coming. We know that he and the car are capable of more so we’ll take a look at everything this evening and hopefully he’ll be able to get back on track tomorrow.”