The second round of the 2010 Fiesta SportTrophyInternational (FSTi) series got underway last night as the competition joined the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) for the Vodafone Rally de Portugal. This is the third time that the FSTi has visited Portugal and the gravel road surfaces combined with the warm climate proved challenging for the six Fiesta R2 entries and one GpN Fiesta ST.
The event kicked off in the Algarve Stadium on Thursday evening with an exciting Tarmac Super Special Stage. Huge crowds flocked to the football stadium to watch the drivers go head to head around the spectacular floodlit 2.03 km speed test.
SS1 – Estadio Algarve – 2.03km
Victor Henriksson (22) and Håkan Palm took the fastest stage time, followed in second by Christian Riedemann (22) and Josefine Beinke. Harry Hunt (21) and Sebastian Marshall finished in third. Majed Al Shamsi and Alan Harryman lost time by an overshoot on one corner.
SS2 – Santa Clara – 22.72m
Majed Al Shamsi and Alan Harryman took the fastest stage time, followed by Bader Al Jabri (25) and Stephen McAuley; Riedemann finished in third. Henriksson stopped 10 km into the stage due to a broken driveshaft and had to retire, incurring a 30 minute SupeRally penalty. Hunt lost over 19 minutes after an off-road excursion 8 km into the stage, resulting in a loss of five minutes and a bent steering arm. The Brit went off for a second time whilst changing a pacenote, this time losing almost 15 minutes and causing brake loss for the remainder of the day.
SS3 – Ourique 1 – 20.21km
Hunt won the stage with Al Shamsi through the stage second fastest, with Al Jabri finishing in third. Despite losing 19 minutes in the previous stage, Hunt made up the time on the road section and arrived just one minute late at the stage start. He was to lose his brakes completely 10 km from the stage finish, but still managed to set the fastest FSTi time!
SS4 – Silves 1 – 21.36km
Al Jabri was through the stage fastest with Riedemann just 0.2 seconds behind him. Brothers Miguel Monteiro and co-driver Paulo finished in third. Sultan Al Ameri (25) and codriver Killian Duffy rolled during the stage after driving onto the loose gravel and now face a 20-minute SupeRally penalty. Al Shamsi’s front arm bolt became loose and fell out during refuelling, halting his rallying for the remainder of the day.
SS5 – Santa Clara 2 – 22.72 km
Hunt finished the stage first with Riedemann in second and Al Jabri in third. Hunt’s brake issued remained, although slightly improved after service.
SS6 – Ourique 2 – 20.21 km
Hunt finished the stage quickest with Riedemann second and Al Shamsi in third. Al Shamsi found himself held up in the dust of the preceding car for 7 km and was forced to stop five times to allow the dust to clear and drive on with partial visibility.
SS7 – Silves 2 – 21.36km
Hunt finished the stage quickest with Riedemann second and Al Shamsi in third. Monteiro had a puncture 5 km from the end of the stage, but managed to continue without stopping.
Day 2 leader Christian Riedemann said: “We didn’t expect to be in the lead at the end of today. We had no problems and made no mistakes. I increased my speed on the second loop. We will take the same strategy tomorrow morning by starting slowly and seeing how the other drivers go and then pushing harder in the afternoon loop.”
– Credit: www.fiestasportingtrophy.com