ERC
Vaher flat out on Friday to lead in ERC
Jaspar Vaher continued his flat-out Friday in the FIA European Rally Championship by adding the opening BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia stage win to his qualifying best.
Nineteen-year-old Vaher was already the talk of Sweden’s Värmland region when he set the Qualifying Stage pace this afternoon on his first ERC outing at Rally2 level. But his charge through the 3.18-kilometre Bråtebäcken super special, held close to Karlstad city centre this evening, means he heads into Saturday’s first full day of action with an advantage of 0.3sec over Kalle Gustafsson.
“Let’s say this stage is not so representative for what the rally is going to be like, just one short stage, but the real action starts tomorrow,” said the Pirelli-supplied Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT NG driver, who completed the fan-friendly stage in 2min 21.3sec.
Swede Gustafsson, the lone Ford Fiesta Rally2 driver in the field, was second fastest for his family-run team, with Benjamin Korhola third quickest.
Gustafsson went second quickest in his family-run Ford Fiesta
© ERC
Driving a Pirelli-equipped Škoda Fabia RS Rally2 for MS Munaretto, Finn Korhola took 2min 23.7sec to complete the opening stage, a time that was subsequently matched by runaway Norwegian championship leader Frank Tore Larsen in an MRF-supplied Volkswagen Polo GTI R5.
Behind freestyle mountain bike star and multiple North American champion Brandon Semenuk, Simone Tempestini had been on course to repeat his stage-winning performance of 12 months ago – when he also topped the Bråtebäcken test – until he was deposed of top spot and settled for sixth place instead.
ERC returnee Mikko Heikkilä beat his fellow Finn Tuukka Kauppinen to the seventh fastest time as Philip Allen and Rally2 rookie Tim Liljegren completed the top 10.
Hometown hero Isak Reiersen was the fastest Hankook-shod driver in P11 with Jakub Matulka, Andrea Mabellini, Mārtiņš Sesks and Takumi Matsushita next up.
Ford Fiesta Rally3-driving Ville Vatanen beat his KMS Racing team-mate Craig Rahill to the fastest time in FIA ERC3 as Maximilian Lichtenegger completed the top three in a Renault Clio Rally3.
Korhola set the joint third-fastest super special time
© ERC
After winning the ERC4 opener in Spain last month, Aatu Hakalehto set the pace in FIA Junior ERC, which gets under way on BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia this weekend, the first of six rounds for the Hankook-supplied category. Markas Buteikis was second quickest in another Lancia Ypsilon Rally4 HF with Timo Schulz third fastest in an Opel Corsa Rally4.
However, Karl Peder Nordstrand, a pre-season title favourite, was a non-starter after a crash during shakedown this afternoon left his Corsa damaged beyond immediate repair.
Up next on BAUHAUS Royal Rally of Scandinavia is the 14.46-kilometre Värmskog stage from 08:03 local time tomorrow (Saturday).
