ERC: Sibiu Rally Romania / Rally review
Jumping into the lead after stage one, Delecour pleased his local sponsors.
25/32
Halfway through the season Jan Kopecky holds
a firm lead in the European Rally Championship. With Craig Breen, one of his main rivals
absent on the entry list, Sibiu Rally Romania
provides a great opportunity for the Czech to increase his lead even further. He faced stiff competition from the likes of Francois Delecour and
Bryan Bouffier. The first is backed by Romania
and as such was of course looking for a good
result in this ‘semi-home rally’. The experienced
Frenchman has already met Abraham about a
year ago but has not lost any his tenacity and
is always one of the crowd favourites. Bouffier
on the other hand is on the brink of a big breakthrough in his career. Being signed as a test
driver for the new Hyundai i20 WRC provides
him with a great opportunity to secure one of
the seats of the new factory team for the 2014
WRC.
Bouffier took an early lead but it was shortlived, his rally only lasted three stages.
Three out of three
The Three Musketeers embarked on their rally
on Friday afternoon for the opening seven stages. The 27KM Crint stage provided the bulk of
the distance on the first two loops before the final two stages of the day that were held around
ten pm in the dark. Determined to satisfy his
sponsor, Delecour blasted through the opening
stage to take the lead. His success was short
lived though as Bouffier hit back on the first running of the Crint stage to take the stage win and
the rally lead to go with it. After a bit of a slow
start Kopecky won the third stage to become
the third stage winner after three stages.
French trouble
Things would soon change in favor of Kopecky
as on the fourth stage. First Bouffier hit trouble
when he broke a suspension mount resulting
in various mechanical failures forcing his retire-
ment. The undulating rounds around Sibiu had
claimed their first victim. It wouldn’t be the last.
On the same stage Francois Delecour suffered
a water leak on his Peugeot causing his engine
temperature to rise to uncomfortable heights.
Rather than risking engine damage Delecour
opted to slow down and nurse his car to the
finish. Kopecky was hindered by a malfunctioning power steering system on the first stages
but having resolved those issued he was free
to push on into the lead. Going well over half a
minute faster than Delecour and with Bouffier
going out already, Kopecky took a comfortable
lead into the night stages. The sixth stage was
an all asphalt affair which Kopecky claimed as
well. Things were looking to become a bit dull,
but then Delecour struck back on the final stage
of the day to take back ten seconds. Could a
fight be on hand for day two?