Rally Fafe Montelongo 2020

[dimviii]

... and Solberg 4 seconds faster on the stage than all figthing for the victory...

yes he is surprising fast at asphalt straight away.Just remember Rovanpera at his first asphalt rallies.

[Rally Power]

Hats off to Fafe, the ERC and all those involved for providing this fantastic rally on a short time and on such a difficult period. Honestly, I was a bit worried on possible spectator restrictions due to the pandemic, but from the shakedown it came clear that the main focus of the organizers was to prevent large or unsafe gatherings, which was achieved.

Even with the internet, being on the stages makes one a bit lost of what’s going on but from the start it was possible to notice that Luky, Solberg and Breen were standing out from the rest; the last 2 were pushing like hell (gutted for their issues) while Luky surprisingly looked as if he still had an extra margin to explore (which he probably wasn’t using on his late spin); big congrats to him, his codriver and Saintéloc.

Behind those 3 many others showed a nice pace, despite the tricky conditions; some were able to make it appear on the crono (Bonato, Ares, Llarena or Munster), while others sadly not (Hecrzig, Marczyk, Dinkel or Cais and even Melnhof on a few occasions; btw, on tarmac the MkII Fiesta looks and sounds impressive).

On ERC3 case it was impossible to avoid noticing that Bassas and Torn were on an epic duel, with some amazing ‘moments’; huge congrats to them, despite the regret of not having Antunes present on another ERC3 battle (hope it will happen often next year, starting on Rali Serras de Fafe!).

P.S.: on the Alpine I just wish to say that the car is gorgeous, no matter the pace; thanks for bringing it to Fafe, Mr. Melegari!

[Fast Eddie WRC]

Me too. I sometimes think that Lukyanuk makes better publicity for Citroen than Ostberg.

Not just Citroen but the ERC itself.

It would be a tragedy if he couldnt continue and fight to regain the title.

[Jarek Z]

ERC standings after Fafe look good for Alexey:
https://www.fiaerc.com/standings/

[Fast Eddie WRC]

ERC standings after Fafe look good for Alexey:
https://www.fiaerc.com/standings/

Lukyanuk may be able to wait and see what the others can score in the next round(s) and decide if he even needs to enter another rally.

And Solberg may be happy just to confirm a win in ERC1 Junior and take the €100k.

[PLuto]

Hats off to Fafe, the ERC and all those involved for providing this fantastic rally on a short time and on such a difficult period. Honestly, I was a bit worried on possible spectator restrictions due to the pandemic, but from the shakedown it came clear that the main focus of the organizers was to prevent large or unsafe gatherings, which was achieved.

Even with the internet, being on the stages makes one a bit lost of what’s going on but from the start it was possible to notice that Luky, Solberg and Breen were standing out from the rest; the last 2 were pushing like hell (gutted for their issues) while Luky surprisingly looked as if he still had an extra margin to explore (which he probably wasn’t using on his late spin); big congrats to him, his codriver and Saintéloc.

Behind those 3 many others showed a nice pace, despite the tricky conditions; some were able to make it appear on the crono (Bonato, Ares, Llarena or Munster), while others sadly not (Hecrzig, Marczyk, Dinkel or Cais and even Melnhof on a few occasions; btw, on tarmac the MkII Fiesta looks and sounds impressive).

On ERC3 case it was impossible to avoid noticing that Bassas and Torn were on an epic duel, with some amazing ‘moments’; huge congrats to them, despite the regret of not having Antunes present on another ERC3 battle (hope it will happen often next year, starting on Rali Serras de Fafe!).

P.S.: on the Alpine I just wish to say that the car is gorgeous, no matter the pace; thanks for bringing it to Fafe, Mr. Melegari!

I think Lukyanuk, Solberg and Breen had big advantage in the first leg with their starting position. Who knows what should be the situation with qualifying which should allow Bonato and Ares (and some others) to start earlier in the field. I think you have also forgotten to Emil Lindholm, who was surprisingly fast (but unfortunatelly crashed very early).

[PLuto]

To summarize the event from my side, I must say that I am happy with the event and how all things happened. In fact organisers had only 4 weeks to manage the event on so big level and result was really great. Of course there are things to improve, but this is on every rally. Stages were very interesting, with changing its characted from narrow bumpy roads to wide smooth roads good for hillclimb races. And of course weather helped a lot. One of the negatives for me was cancellation of qualifying, with this changeable weather conditions and also more gravel on stages, starting order was important. What will happen if Bonato and Ares (and maybe others) should start first day on better starting position? But there were really great fights for most of positions, everybody enjoyed it a lot. And I was happy when I have heard from some competitors that it is better than WRC3... (of course they were talking about general feeling)

[Rally Power]

I think Lukyanuk, Solberg and Breen had big advantage in the first leg with their starting position. Who knows what should be the situation with qualifying which should allow Bonato and Ares (and some others) to start earlier in the field.

There was no real advantage for the first crews as earlier stages were wetter for them, due to previous night rain. Anyway, with so many cars 'polluting' the stages, first crews advantage would only exist on the first loop, never on the entire leg.

I think you have also forgotten to Emil Lindholm, who was surprisingly fast (but unfortunatelly crashed very early).

You're rigth: Lindholm was flying in the SD, but sadly he only run SS1 without problems (touch on 2, crash on 3).

[PLuto]

There was no real advantage for the first crews as earlier stages were wetter for them, due to previous night rain. Anyway, with so many cars 'polluting' the stages, first crews advantage would only exist on the first loop, never on the entire leg.

I dont agree with you. And crews dont agree also. With variable and changeable weather, starting order was crucial. Especially this year when weather was really changing. Also there was more gravel on stages on some places.

[Rally Power]

I dont agree with you. And crews dont agree also. With variable and changeable weather, starting order was crucial. Especially this year when weather was really changing. Also there was more gravel on stages on some places.

Sorry, but during last weekend showers fell randomly, affecting all crews here and there. Besides, after 40 ERC cars and 15 Historics (plus 50 Regionals on the second loop), gravel was around for everyone.

Btw, looked closely into SS’s times and was nicely surprised to see that Ares and Bonato were leveled with Breen and Solberg almost from the start; only Luky was slightly ahead, which cannot be strange for those who saw him (and his perfectly tuned C3) on the stages.