Ahead of the all-Tarmac round, double event winner
McRae held a four-point lead over three-time podium finisher Carlberg in the
fight for second place in the final standings.
But with dropped scores taken into account, Carlberg
led McRae by one point when the crews lined up for the ceremonial start in
Katowice yesterday evening, making the Polish finale a winner-takes-all battle
between the young talents.
Fastest on stages two and three, Carlberg was 8.9sec
ahead of McRae and on course to make more progress when a turbo issue held him
back on SS4.
The Swede’s delay allowed McRae to win the stage and
close up to within 2.6sec of the ADAC Opel Rally Junior Team driver at the
Silesian Stadium midday halt.
With his Opel Corsa Rally4 restored to full working
order at midday service, Carlberg set the pace on SS5 and SS6. With SS7
cancelled for Junior ERC crews following Meirion Evans’ crash in ERC, Carlberg started
the Silesian Stadium super special with an advantage of 7.5sec.
“Unfortunately we had a technical issue on [stage
four] and we dropped 18 seconds,” Carlberg explained. “It was turbo related and
in the last five kilometres we dropped all power. We managed to get through but
it was a long road section back to service so I was a little bit nervous. But
the car kept together and the guys could fix it in service.”
Of the battle for the runner-up spot in the
final standings of the Hankook-equipped Junior ERC Championship, Carlberg said:
“I
only had my sights on one thing, [to be champion], but when that’s over you
have to rethink. I owe it also to Opel to do the best job I can and to myself
to be able to win an event and grab the vice championship. It could be very
helpful for next year.”
McRae reported a struggle with understeer aboard
his TRT Rally Team-run Peugeot 208 Rally4 during the opening two stages this
morning. And while finishing runner-up was a target for the Scottish driver,
the late Colin McRae’s nephew said he wasn’t prepared to go flat out to beat
Carlberg.
“Of course we’ll push to get runner-up in
the championship but if we’re risking too much to do it it’s not a massive
thing if we’re third although of course we’d like to get second,” he said,
highlighting the ever-changing grip levels as a key concern.
After winning Friday night’s Katowice Super
Special Stage, Davide Pesavento dropped time when he spun his ACI Team Italia
Peugeot 208 Rally4 on a right-hand corner halfway through SS2 and picked up
left-rear bodywork damage.
“I am half happy because in the first stage
this morning we turned around and touched the rear so we are very lucky to be
here because we take a big risk,” Pesavento said. “We continued to push hard
with our good feeling and continued to improve.”
Pesavento’s delay dropped him behind his
fellow Peugeot 208 Rally4 driver Daniel Poláśek, who is third overall after
SS8.
“It’s definitely challenging here with the
grip because you need to read the surface if it’s slippery or the grip is there,”
the Czech driver said. “But for me it’s much easier than in Wales because it’s
a bit similar to Barum Rally. So we enjoy, we are trying to pus and the set-up
is really working well.”
The Junior ERC drivers competing on Rally
Silesia are also eligible for ERC4 points along with Romanian Ciprian Lupu, who
is tetraplegic, and rising Polish star Michał Chorbiński.
Chorbiński was three minutes late leaving
service this morning while his mechanics rushed to repair a powersteering issue
on his Peugeot. Despite a 30sec penalty, he’s fourth in ERC4, two places ahead
of Lupu, who reached the midday service with his Renault Clio Rally5’s
right-side wingmirror missing following contact with an anti-cut device.
“We have a better pace than we did on Barum
Rally and it’s the game to gain experience on this type of road so we are
happy,” Lupu said.
The 11.45km Marklowice Górne gets the
deciding day of the 2024 ERC season under way at 08:55 local time tomorrow
(Sunday).
Estonia
Poland
Turkey