ERC
Former ERC champion Hänninen backs Vaher to show more potential
Former European champion Juho Hänninen has backed Jaspar Vaher to build on his potential following the teenager’s hero to zero return to the championship last weekend.
Vaher, an FIA Junior ERC frontrunner in recent seasons, led BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia after 11 stages on the back of a standout performance in a Pielli-equipped Toyota GR Yaris Rally2.
But having excelled on his first top-tier ERC outing by winning the Qualifying Stage and leading from the opening super special, a high-speed crash on stage 12 left his car badly damaged and the 19-year-old – the first non-Japanese driver to be selected for the Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC Challenge Program – firmly out of the lead fight.
Hänninen was impressed by what he saw from Vaher in Sweden
© ERC
Hänninen, a Toyota Gazoo Racing WRC Challenge Program instructor, was in Sweden for round two of the ERC season to follow Vaher and team-mates Shotaro Goto and Takumi Matsushita.
Speaking in the aftermath of Vaher’s unfortunate incident, Hänninen said: “For sure he’s the most disappointed but it was nothing like he was crazy fast, it looked like the front touched a bit more than he expected and he lost the car. Unfortunately, it was a big time loss but we were able to fix the car, and he was able to drive the afternoon stages and that was really important for him to come back and get in the car straight away.
“It’s a shame but we still have to remember it was his first experience of leading this rally with big names behind him, it was a demanding place to be for him but there are plenty of positives for him to take and we just need to look forward.
“He’s got quite a lot of potential for the future when you see his performance.”
There are plenty of positives for him to take
Estonian teenager showed big potential for the future
© ERC
International rally driver and respected driver coach Tom Cave, Rally.TV’s expert commentator during BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia, said: “It was a long left-hander and he was probably five kilometres too quick on the entry and he just lost the rear of the car. He tried to rotate it round but, unfortunately, there was a tree, which Jaspar’s car hit. Disappointing to see because he’s been really impressive this weekend.”
Vaher was leading by 9.7sec when he crashed. He said afterwards: “It was almost a flat corner over the crest. The rear started sliding, I was full throttle but I couldn’t save it, it was into the woods and spun around. It’s tough, we did quite a perfect performance up until that point. The team were doing such a great job to get us there, but I just ruined the whole thing, it was clearly my mistake.”
Japanese pair Goto and Matsushita also retired from the event following separate accidents.
