 'Erik Wevers scores equal in overtime' Persbericht: ERC
Foto: Willem Wittenberg | RSSP.eu
What an excitement in the second round of the Euro Rally Challenge, the new international rally competition! On the fast stages in the vicinity of the German Schlitz, Mark van Eldik and Erik Wevers fought until the very last meters for the victory. The decision came only… in overtime. Twenty seconds penalty for using extra service time by Mark van Eldik brought the victory to Erik Wevers with 16,3 seconds advantage over his great title concurrent.
One of the top drivers in group A had to cancel just before the start. During an ultimate test in Belgium, Leszek Kuzaj crashed his rented Skoda Fabia WRC. This meant a front battle between van Eldik, Kleinjan and Wevers. On Friday night, the Subaru Impreza WRC S12 started quickest with a scratch on the super special “Willofs”. Wevers lost almost 15 seconds because of the dust in the dark, but began to decrease his disadvantage on Saturday. Mark van Eldik continued the fight and seemed to win by 3,7 seconds, but that was without the time penalty. Replacing the turbo took the Subaru team 2 minutes too many service time, which resulted in a time penalty of 20 seconds. Therefore, the victory went to Erik Wevers and Jalmar van Weeren.
Harry Kleinjan could well follow the pace up front with his Skoda Fabia WRC and noticed even a scratch on the famous stage Niederaula, but a flat tire on SS “Schotten” resulted in a permanent set back. René Kuipers benefited from the misfortune of Kleinjan and claimed the third place in group A. John Temmink never saw the finish in Schlitz. The Skoda driver went off road on SS “Schlitz” and was irrevocably fixed on a bump sand. The Hungarian Mihali Hodula had to throw the towel in the ring because of a broken drive shaft.
In Group N, Janina Depping wasn’t very lucky in her home rally. The German Amazon, as a participant in the German championship could start in daylight on Friday, immediately had problems with the differential. Saturday she appeared on her way to the third place after two flat tires, but unfortunately she went off on the last stage. On front, Dennis Kuipers found a lot of resistance of the Dane Michael Pedersen. He became second after the fast Danish driver with his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9. After his retirement in Emmeloord, Pedersen seems to have found his way and Kuipers should get ready for a new duel in the Belgian Bocholt.
In Group H there was no competition for Hans-Ole Funch. Tim Stebani had to park his Skoda Octavia kit car on the way to the second stage with a broken transmission. Funch therefore was almost certain for victory and scored maximum points.
The next round of the Euro Challenge Rally will be held in Belgium. On Saturday the 17th of May awaits the Sezoens Rally in Bocholt, a rally with 12 special stages. Typical for this rally are the fast stages with long parts of red gravel, a surface which undoubtedly will provide for spectacle in the third round of the Euro Rally Challenge. |
