Photo by: XPB Images
Unadventurous start for Daniel Oliveira in Finland’s debut
The BWRT Brazilian driver made his way through a short opening leg.
Daniel Oliveira and the Brazil WRT broke into one of the most famous showdowns within the World Rally Championship: Rally Finland, eight round of the WRC.
After the first three opening stages disputed in a mild but overcrowded afternoon, where thousands of fans were eager to watch some good action, the young Brazilian driver was able to settle his MINI John Cooper Works WRC in a secure 38st position ahead of the real test which will start tomorrow.
Considering it’s been his first time rallying in Finland, Daniel alongside his co-driver Carlos Magalhaes made a cautious approach to this high demanding event so as to start taking the pulse of the typical tree-line roads which feature this rally.
Also, this first day was a good way for Daniel to measure his own speed against the local drivers who are used to driving throw Finland’s flying over blind crests, which are so difficult to cope with as he learned some days ago while taking lessons with experienced Finish driver Pasi Hagstrom.
Daniel’s words.
“During the morning, ahead of the Shakedown, we had a minor technical issue which was quickly solved by the team and that enabled us to set a good time on our final run. As for the afternoon stages, we tried to stick to the plan which was to complete the leg and practice all we had learned with Pasi Hagstrom. However, we got a little fright on the first stage that reminded us to take things in a calm way. We were cautious on the fast sections and avoided going off the road by all means. It was a positive day, we covered all the kilometres and we gained a lot of experience”.
All in one.
It has been a long, busy and exhausting day for all the drivers since the action started early today with the Shakedown, followed by the Ceremonial Start and the first three stages.
The second leg.
There are eight high-speed tests -totalizing 134.6 competitive kilometres- scheduled for the second day of action. The stages are scattered around at the South of the event’s base in Jyvaskyla. Tomorrow the drivers will be tackling two tests of over 20 kilometres, including the longest section of the rally, the Hyväneula stage (29.9km). There will also be a remote service placed on Lahti.
A peep into the lead.
Freanchman Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) is leading the rally with a 2.8s. difference over his team-mate and countryman Sebastien Ogier (Citroen). The action will restart tomorrow at 9:00 (local time) and Loeb’s car will be the first one to hit the road.
by: Brazil WRT
Be part of Motorsport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
Toyota selects Ogier for WRC’s visit to Croatia
Ogier proud of WRC Monte display after “rollercoaster of emotions”
Why Loeb v Ogier duel gave the WRC's new hybrid era the ideal start
Ostberg gets full WRC2 season with Citroen
Citroen open to making WRC car available to privateers
How Ogier's Citroen dream died
Porsche lodges appeal over da Costa's Misano Formula E disqualification
Ricky Taylor looking for redemption at Long Beach
How Senna’s early Pacific GP exit raised his Benetton suspicions
What could have been: When Villeneuve’s shock return thwarted an F1 rookie
How Rovanpera showed his class above his WRC rivals in Kenya
How a new 'old' challenge is capturing the spirit of British rallying lore
How Lappi survived Swedish snow carnage to snap his lengthy WRC drought
The new WRC highs Neuville reached to defeat Monte master Ogier
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments