DMACK First, Second And Third In Finnish Thriller DMACK continued its fine form with another winning weekend at Rally Finland, which saw a series of victories and podium results across every class of competition. Local Finnish speedster Teemu Suninen took a stunning victory in WRC 3, DMACK’s first win at this level, as he headed a full field of Junior WRC regulars on an incredible Rally Finland debut. Suninen proved he’s a star of the future after claiming 12 stage victories in his Citroen DS3 and overcoming a huge accident to seal the win in front of an adoring home crowd. He was competing on Neste Oil Rally Finland as his prize for winning a coveted award pledged by AKK Sports, the promoter of Finland´s WRC counter and the Finnish championship, to unearth his country´s latest talent. Despite leading for much of round eight of the FIA World Rally Championship, Jari Ketomaa was denied victory as he and Drive DMACK World Rally team-mate Ott Tänak scored a double podium, finishing second and third in the WRC 2 battle. Ketomaa and co-driver Kaj Lindstrom had been safely leading the pack in their Autotek-run Ford Fiesta R5 but he punctured a tyre on some sharp rocks and dropped three minutes as the car slipped off the jack during his mid-stage tyre change. Once again DMACK shod drivers dominated the popular support series claiming stage wins on all but one of the 26 super-fast timed special stages around Jyväskylä. Backing up the WRC 2 result, Argentine Juan Carlos Alonso took his Mitsubishi Evo to an easy win in the Production Cup. In the top-class WRC category, Norway’s Henning Solberg powered his Ford Fiesta RS WRC to a super ninth place overall on one of the season’s most competitive events. In the one-make Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy, Estonian Sander Pärn claimed an impressive hat-trick after taking his third win from three events and finishing a hugely impressive 16th overall in the nimble Ford Fiesta R2. The series of victories and podiums confirms the suitability of DMACK’s competition tyres across a range of classes and car categories – both front and four-wheel-drive. As the highlight of the WRC championship, Rally Finland is a legendary rally and a real favourite with drivers and the tens of thousands of fans who flock to this event from across the world. It’s the high speeds and huge rollercoaster jumps which make it such an adrenaline-soaked event and a huge challenge for competitors. DMACK drivers across the board used the firm’s soft compound gravel tyres throughout the weekend to offer precision on the high-speed stages and the performance need to master the fabulous Finnish forests. Once again the rally was based in Jyväskylä and crews tackled 26 timed stages, covering 360km of action over the four days. Dick Cormack, DMACK motorsport director, said: “This has been an extremely strong overall result for DMACK and encouraging that we’ve had such a number of leading finishes across every class. It’s no secret that we had also targeted victory in WRC 2 and a shame for Jari that he dropped back from first place. This is a classic rally and the challenge posed by the speeds and stages here really tests tyres to the limit – once again we’ve come away with vital technical information for future development.” Teemu Suninen said: “It has been an awesome weekend for me and a real dream come true. After rolling yesterday I didn’t think this was possible but we got back on a good pace and really pushed hard. It’s extra special that we were able to compete with and beat the regular Junior WRC drivers in just my first time in this car and on DMACK tyres.” Jari Ketomaa said: “Second place is good and gives us some very important points for the championship. The win was looking possible but we had our problems and dropped back – still we are in the fight for the world championship. It’s such an enjoyable rally and great that we can be racing on these stages in front of the Finnish fans.” Ott Tänak said: “When we had no problems we were fastest, so it was good to show we have the speed on these difficult stages. Unfortunately we had some problems and lost time so it wasn’t an ideal event. Overall it was important for DMACK to have two cars on the podium.”
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 16:43:38 +0000
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