Valeriy Pushkar has impressed with his maiden IRC Production Cup win after fighting back from a double puncture on Saturday’s opening stage.
The Dream Team Ukraine driver was a hugely impressive fourth overall on the Sibiu Rally to clinch the showroom category by almost 50s ahead of leading Romanian driver Edwin Keleti, who was at the wheel of a similar Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.
After a troubled morning, when he picked up two punctures on the opening stage, Pushkar regained his composure to win alongside co-driver and fellow Ukrainian Ivan Mishyn. “I am very happy with this result because we had many problems with three times punctures,” said Pushkar. “There have been no problems with my driving but it’s been a very hard rally.”
Valentin Porcisteanu started the day leading the category as the top Romanian driver when disaster struck on stage nine: “After three kilometers from the start we got a puncture and it damaged the steering,” he said. “Then the car fell down from the jack, later Vitaliy passed us and we didn’t see anything in the dust.”
Porcisteanu eventually finished third in class behind team-mate Keleti. Slovenian lady driver Aska Zupanc took fourth with Bogdan Marisca fifth and Marius Klein sixth. Title leader Andreas Aigner did not restart in his Stohl Racing Subaru Impreza R4 STI following his exit on stage two with broken suspension.