Sun 26 Mar 2023
Georg Linnamäe made it two podiums in as many starts in the FIA European Rally Championship with third place on Rally Serras de Fafe, Felgueiras, Boticas, Vieira do Minho e Cabeceiras de Basto recently.
And the Estonian, who also finished third in Fafe last season, said his performance in northern Portugal represented a “really good step” behind the wheel of his RedGrey-run Hyundai i20 N Rally2.
Linnamäe has switched to Hyundai power for 2023, and after three appearances on snow in the car, the ERC season opener marked his first outing on gravel in his new machine.
“We had very little testing in this car so I’ve not had the chance to try a lot of things,” said the 24-year-old, who is co-driven by Briton James Morgan. “But we’re here to learn and in the second loop we managed to improve the car a lot. Considering the little mileage we’ve done in testing in completely different conditions it was a really good step.”
After making it through the “horrendous” conditions of leg one in fourth overall, Linnamäe inherited third on the event-deciding Power Stage when Mikko Heikkilä was forced to change a damaged tyre.
“I feel very sorry for Mikko,” Linnamäe said at the finish. “He did a great rally and deserved [the podium] but it’s rallying and it happens.”
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