Lambros Athanassoulas marked his return to the Fiesta SportTrophy International with a strong performance that saw him take victory and an impressive 25th place overall as the all new Fiesta R2 sparkled on its debut at the Rally de España.
Five Fiesta R2s and four Fiesta STs entered the event, with Athanassoulas taking a historic win in the newly recognised R2 category, as the M Sport developed car matched its rivals for pace throughout the tough Tarmac rally. Anthony Martin (25) took second place, also in a Fiesta R2, to ensure a successful first WRC outing for the car.
Despite Athanassoulas victory, his second career win in FSTi and coming soon after a PWRC victory in Greece, Patrick Anglade (21) and new co driver Peter Loth remain at the top of the standings thanks to their third place in the tried and tested Fiesta ST. While Craig Breen (19) and co driver Gareth Roberts (21) did enough to maintain their challenge for a hat trick of FST titles this year, ultimately taking fourth place. A lack of asphalt experience did not stop Team Abu Dhabi’s Ahmed Al Mansoori (22) completing an impressive fifth place finish with co driver Killian Duffy (26) in the Fiesta ST ahead of Castrol Ford Team Türkiye Emre Yurdakul’s Fiesta R2. Majed Al Shamsi (29) and co driver Allan Harryman completed the finishers in seventh, another good points haul for the Team Abu Dhabi driver. Athanassoulas and co driver Nikos Zakheos got the best possible start to their rally, taking victory on SS1 by five seconds from Breen with Yurdakul grabbing third place on the damp, slippery roads of the Tarragona region to the north of Rally HQ in Salou. Despite developing a brake problem, Athanassoulas further stretched his lead on SS2, with Breen second, ahead of Anglade in third. After his strong start, Yurdakul understeered off the stage, putting him out of the day’s action and earning a 25 minute SupeRally penalty.
Breen took his first stage win of the event on SS3 eating back into the lead of Athanassoulas who took second, with Anglade, finding his rhythm on the Tarmac, in third place. Breen notched up another stage victory on SS4, with Athanassoulas four seconds in arrears and Martin in third place. The battle for supremacy raged on in SS5 with Athanassoulas taking the win with Breen and Martin completing the top three.
But it was the end of the rally for Çetinkaya (28) and co driver Çiçek Güney (27) who rolled off the road sustaining significant damage to their new Fiesta R2. The last stage of the day proved a tough one for Al Shamsi who came off the road, surviving a 25 metre drop. The damage was repaired by his team under SupeRally conditions, incurring a ten minute SupeRally penalty. It was Breen who ended the day on a high though, taking the win on SS6 ahead of Athanassoulas and Martin to take a 3.1 second lead over his nearest rival into Day 2 an impressive feat after electrical problems had hindered performance for the afternoon.
The tussle for victory between Breen and Athanassoulas continued from the start of Day 2 with Athanassoulas taking the win in SS7 ahead of Martin with Breen in third. But championship challenger Breen redressed the balance on SS8 edging out Athanassoulas and Martin. The Greek driver took the final stage win of the morning on SS9 ahead of Breen and Martin and the destination of the overall victory looked set to go right down to the wire. It was a dominant performance by the Fiesta R2s. Disaster struck for Breen on SS10 as he misheard a pacenote and rolled into a rock face, forcing the disappointed Irishman to retire for the day. Athanassoulas went on to take the stage win with Yurdakul second and Martin third.
SS11 saw Martin and co driver Eric Bourget (24) take their first stage win of the rally, finishing ahead of Yurdakul and Athanassoulas who, with a big gap over his nearest rival, opted to back off for the closing stages of the day. Yurdakul added his name to the list of stage winners on SS12 with Martin in second and the Fiesta ST of Anglade in third. Athanassoulas completed the day with almost a six minute advantage over Anthony Martin in second with championship leader Patrick Anglade in third. With his car repaired overnight, Breen, carrying a 15 minute SupeRally penalty, marked his
return to the competition with a stage win on SS13 ahead of Athanassoulas and Martin.
While SS14 was cancelled for the FSTi competitors after an earlier crash in the stage, normal order was restored on SS15 with Athanassoulas and Martin finishing behind Breen. Yet another stage win for Breen ahead of Athanassoulas and Martin on SS16 showed that he would have been well in contention for the overall win had it not been for Saturday’s error. The Irish teenager followed with victory on SS17 ahead of Athanassoulas, the eventual victor, and Yurdakul in third. On SS18, it was Yurdakul that prevented Breen from taking a clean sweep of Sunday’s stages, coming home ahead of Martin and Anglade as Athanassoulas and Breen both had heart$stopping spins within sight of the finish. The result from Rally de España now means that Anglade and Breen are locked in battle for championship honours and the pressure is on both drivers for Rally GB in just three weeks time.
