RallyRACC, day 1: Ogier-Veillas and Toyota take the lead
21/10/2022
By the end of the race's first day, French team Sébastien Ogier - Benjamin Veillas (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid), leads the 57th RallyRACC Catalunya-COSTA DAURADA, Rally de España 2022. The stage is made up of 8 timed sections and a total of 119 km. Taking silver, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT teammates Kalle Rovanperä - Jonne Halttunen (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid). Both are undoubtedly this year's stars, since Ogier has been World Champion the last two years (and six other times before) and Rovanperä, only 22 years old, was recently proclaimed World Champion 2022.
The day has seen a great intensity. Thierry Neuville - Martijn Wydaeghe (Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid), winners of the last two editions of the RallyRACC, arrived at the mid-day service in first position with exactly half a second over Sébastien Ogier - Benjamin Veillas (Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid). The all-out fight for the top places was reaching its peak, with four teams separated by 6". The scratches up to that point had been doubly achieved by Rovanperä-Halttunen (Toyota) and once by Ogier-Veillas (Toyota) and Neuville-Wydaeghe (Hyundai), respectively.
Ogier reacted in the re-run through Els Omells-Maldà, regaining the lead with his scratch. Seeing as the Belgian Hyundai failed to maintain the form he had shown in the morning, Rovanperä became Ogier's real rival. Becoming an unstoppable force in the next two stages, Rovanperä overtook Neuville and snatched second place with only 3.6 seconds to the leader, with one stage to finish the day. In the last Special, Ogier wanted no surprises and clocked the scratch, 1"2 ahead of his rival, finishing in the lead.
In WRC2, overnight leadership for Teemu Suninen - Mikko Markkula (Hyundai i20 N Rally2), followed by Nikolay Gryazin - Konstantin Aleksandrov (Skoda Fabia Rally2 Evo). Unfortunate withdrawal of Spanish team Alejandro Cachón - Alejandro López (Citroën C3 Rally2) in the penultimate special stage after hitting a wheel when they were in fourth position.
Tomorrow, day two of three, drivers will be battling over 7 sections with a combined total of 118.75 timed km. Of these 7 special stages, four are different and three of them are run twice: Savallà (13.93 km), Querol - Les Pobles (20.19 km) and El Montmell (24.18 km). The urban stage of Salou (2.15 km) will be run only once and will close the day. The first participant will leave PortAventura World park at 07.15h, will return at 12.20h for a 40' service, and will finally reach again the park at 19.00h (after the Salou section) for the 45' end-of-day service. Once this time is over, the cars will enter the service park until the following day.
Provisional classification of 57 RallyRACC (after Day 1)
1. Sébastien Ogier (F)/Benjamin Veillas (F) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid, 1h.06'07"9
2. Kalle Rovanperä (FIN)/Jonne Halttunen (FIN) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid, +4"8
3. Thierry Neuville (B)/Martijn Wydaeghe (B) Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, +12"5
4. Ott Tänak (EST)/Martin Järveoja (EST) Hyundai i20 N Rally Hybrid, +20"0
5. Dani Sordo (E)/Cándido Carrera (E) Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, +50"9
6. Elfyn Evans (GB)/Scott Martin (GB) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid, +1'01"2
7. Craig Breen (IRL)/Paul Nagle (IRL) Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1, +1'03"7
8. Takamoto Katsuta (JPN)/Aaron Johnston (IRL) Toyota GR Yaris Rally1 Hybrid, +1'28"6
9. Adrien Fourmaux (F)/Alexandre Coria (F) Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1, +1'31"3
10. Gus Greensmith (GB)/Jonas Andersson (S) Ford Puma Hybrid Rally1, +1'38"8
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