2024 FIA World Rally Championship
Round 05, Rally Poland
27 – 30 June 2024
Andreas Mikkelsen and Torstein Eriksen, driving the Hyundai i20 N Rally1 Hybrid, took the lead of Rally Poland on the first stage of Friday morning. They steadily built a 7.4 second advantage over Martins Sesks, who was making his Rally1 debut in a non-hybrid M-Sport Ford Puma. Sesks was left speechless when he discovered that he had set the second fastest time in SS2. Elfyn Evans and Scott Martin also had a strong performance, holding third place just a few seconds behind Sesks.
Kalle Rovanperä and Jonne Halttunen, who were brought in as last-minute replacements for Sebastian Ogier, performed exceptionally well in fourth place, despite having minimal preparation time. Rovanperä managed to take the lead from Mikkelsen by 0.2 seconds after the tyre-fitting zone, with Sesks close behind, 1.1 seconds further back, and Evans another 1.1 seconds away.
After stage six and seven, Rovanperä was in third place, just 2.1 seconds behind the leader. He then overtook Evans to secure second place, finishing the day 1.8 seconds behind Mikkelsen. Rovanperä reflected on the challenging day, stating that the lack of preparation made it difficult to create accurate pacenotes for the high speeds. However, he was pleased with their performance and hoped to be stronger in the first pass the following day.
Mikkelsen, the leading driver for Hyundai, expressed his satisfaction with the day’s results and his desire to challenge the top competitors on the next day. He admitted to being overly cautious on one of the stages, but saw it as a learning opportunity for future rallies. He anticipated a fierce battle on the upcoming day, with no road cleaning and the top drivers starting ahead of him.
The competition was intense on the lightning-fast stages, with Adrien Fourmaux and Alex Coria of M-Sport Ford delivering an impressive performance. Fourmaux won stage seven, but the stage was cancelled due to spectators on the course. Despite this setback, Fourmaux managed to secure fourth place, narrowly beating Sesks by just 0.2 seconds. Both Ford drivers are eager to continue their fight in the remaining stages.
Grégoire Munster held sixth place, while Thierry Neuville, the championship leader, struggled as the first car on the road. Ott Tänak and Martin Järveoja were unfortunate to retire in stage two after colliding with a deer that suddenly crossed their path. Tänak described it as a stroke of bad luck, with no time to react and avoid the collision.
In the WRC2 category, Sami Pajari held an 8.9 second lead over local hero Kajetan Kajetanowicz in a Toyota versus Skoda battle.