ERC
ERC Greatest Graduate early exits
With the ERC Greatest Graduate of the Modern Era quarter-finals under way, here’s a reminder of the FIA European Rally Championship aces who lost out in the fan votes.
Grégoire Munster was first to fall, losing the public vote to Oliver Solberg. Sami Pajari followed after fans voted in favour of Craig Breen in heat two. Kalle Rovanperä – the double WRC champion – then suffered defeat to Stéphane Lefebvre with Andreas Mikkelsen losing out to Kris Meeke.
Ott Tänak received fewer votes than Kajetan Kajetanowicz in heat five before 2014 European champion Esapekka Lappi suffered a shock defeat to Mille Johansson. Nikolay Gryazin also exited the ERC Greatest Graduate early with Mārtiṇš Sesks knocking out his fellow multiple ERC event winner. In the final heat, Thierry Neuville lost the public vote to Adrien Fourmaux, his current Hyundai Shell Mobis World Rally Team stablemate.
Neuville sampled the ERC earlier in this career
© ERC
Solberg was the first driver to be knocked out at the quarter-final stage after fans chose Breen for the first semi-final, while Meeke followed after Lefebvre pooled more votes to progress to the next stage.
The third quarter-final between Kajetanowicz and Johansson is in progress with voting available by the ERC’s social media channels.
ERC Greatest Graduate of the Modern Era explained
As the established feeder series to the FIA World Rally Championship, the FIA European Rally Championship continues to provide a platform for young talents aiming for the top to shine.
Since the ERC was restructured in 2004 into the hugely successful format recognisable today, an endless stream of drivers have built experience competing at European level either at the start of or during their rise to the sport’s highest echelon, the FIA World Rally Championship.
Throughout November, FIAERC.com is highlighting 16 drivers – selected by the ERC’s media team – who have done just that. And it’s calling on fans of the championship to help decide the best of the best graduates through an online poll, which culminates in the grand finale on Friday 28 November.
Employing bracketology, voting is available through the ERC’s social media channels with a minimum 24-hour window to vote for each pairing. The winner will be announced on Saturday 29 November.
