“Eurosport Events” presents: EKO Acropolis Rally 2018
Highlights of the “EKO Acropolis Rally 2018” with our crew!
Highlights of the “EKO Acropolis Rally 2018” with our crew!
The third round of the FIA European Rally Championship finished on Sunday in central Greece – the city of Lamia honored the winners of the EKO Acropolis Rally 2018. Two Russian crews performing for the Russian Performance Motorsport team completed the race with completely different results, nevertheless it allowed the RPM to remain the series leader.
Alexey Lukyanuk, the European Championship main favorite, won the first day of the race on Friday, but Saturday morning brought troubles to the crew – the broken suspension arm of the Fiesta R5 and decided to retire and continued the race on Sunday with the help of Rally 2 system with a large fine for missed special stages. On the final day Lukyanuk showed his driving skills and received seven bonus points for the victory at the end of the day, so Petersburgers are still the series leaders – they have 83 points against 69 of Bruno Magalhães, who was able to win the race in Greece.
Alexey Lukyanuk, driver (Ford Fiesta R5), “On the second day, on Sunday, we had the task to score as many points as possible, namely for the day (maximum 7 points) and to take as many points as possible from Bruno Magalhães. Fortunately, we did it. Although at the first stage we had a problem with the brakes overheating – the brake fluid boiled. Then we “bled” the brakes; everything was perfect until the end of the day, there were no problems. Also, in a very narrow place of that SS I slipped and hit the tree with the rear wheel. I didn’t expect that it would be so loose there. I’ve damaged the hub, but we reached the finish line, losing a little time. It was a bit uncomfortable at first because of the brakes, but then we went at our own pace; the notes were good, we enjoyed driving. We were ahead of all the closest competitors for a minute.
In general, it was our rally, and it was necessary to win it. Saturday’s problem consisted 80% of a simple combination of ridiculous circumstances. The boss even told me, “Don’t drive slow. If you have a good gap, go at your own pace, don’t try to be too cautious, because you get out of the usual regime and start driving wrong”. Of course, we knew it, but we wanted to have the car undamaged here, so yesterday I was extremely cautious and outwitted myself.
I’m glad that we have speed and confidence, and a reserve of points too. Magalhães has scored only 2 bonus points today. It’s not as much as he could. Many participants “moved” him, and this is to our advantage. Sunday was a good training for us before the next race. Today everyone has driven a little bit relaxed, but we’ve had a good pace. I think, in Cyprus, we’ll have a good deal. We are waiting, we hope and believe”.
Sergei Remennik, the second RPM team driver, faced fewer problems in Greece, but surprised himself on Saturday, when he managed to puncture the same tyre twice at one special stage. According to Sergei, he has never changed the tyres as many times as in Greece. However, the flat tyres did not prevent the crew from entering the ERC-2 top three and finishing the difficult race on the second position.
Sergei Remennik, driver (Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X), “Finish at the Acropolis rally is a special experience, and I would like to repeat it! Two special stages before the finish line our competitor Tibor Erdi drove confidently ahead, which includes our tyre punctures. And there were three of us behind him: Juan Carlos Alonso, Petros Panteli and our crew, all in 10 seconds. After the day service there were two more stages, where we mobilized energy and pushed hard. Psychological pressure was incredibly strong, but it seems that we pushed more. Alonso didn’t cope with it (he went off the track at the final special stage), and Panteli had problems with his car.
To undergo such a long and difficult race is incredibly cool! Regarding the last year, we have much more experience now. It’s impossible to win the European Championship off the cuff. And even now there’s a whole bunch of things we need to comprehend. You can seriously claim for victory in the third or fourth year. But in the second… We’ve already learned to drive these long distances stably, but sometimes, when we try to accelerate, we get different unplanned “special effects”. We still need to work on this”.
Following the three FIA ERC rounds, Lukyanuk and Arnautov remain the series leaders in the overall standings; while Sergei Remennik and Mark Rozin, having secured the second place in three rounds, keep the lead in the “Production” category.
The legendary Acropolis rally started yesterday in the Greek capital. The Friday route turned out to be rather stretched: passage through the starting arch in Athens, a short paired spectator special stage at the Olympic racetrack, and then the longest competitive special stage at this FIA ERC round – 30.53 kilometers. The Acropolis rally showed its bad and demanding character literally in the first turn – both crews of Russian Performance Motorsport team dismantled the tyre one after another and lost 12 seconds to the best result in their categories.
None of the rivals expected such a “gift” from the crew of Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov. Estimating that the starting position for Saturday is determined by the crew position in the statement by the first day results, guys decided to catch up the lost time. And they have done it! According to the calculations, the advantage in speed was 1.5 seconds from the kilometer, as Lucas “brought” the temporary leader Norwegian Eyvind Brynildsen 44.5 seconds after SS-2!
Alexey Lukyanuk, driver, “It was clear that it was necessary to play a backlog somehow in order to rise in the day results. So we’ve gone! I don’t know what others did, because I was cautious in places, and sometimes I drove normally. We have the very good pace notes; and it’s great that we drive quickly from the first pass at the new special stages for everyone – this road has never been used. Of course, I’m pretty much tired, my hands ached at the end… but when we finished we felt that we were working!”
Usually Sergei Remennik and Mark Rosin show themselves at the spectator special stage quite successfully, but not this time. After the finish at the racetrack and the wheel replacement, the Urals crew tried to drive restrained, testing the surface and adjusting to the speed of the main competitors in the fight for the European champion title – Tibor Erdi and Juan Carlos Alonso. Erdi added much in pace compared to the last year. And now it seems he does not exert himself too much, driving away from his pursuers. The ERC-2 crews were located at the finish on Friday as follows: Tibor Erdi, Juan Carlos Alonso and Sergei Remennik behind him by 08.9 seconds.
A full racing day, the results of which will go to the bonus points, started only on Saturday. It sound really epically, but the day special stages were located only ten kilometers from the historical site of the Thermopylae – the most famous battle of antiquity. In European culture, when it is mentioned, first of all the valor and courage of the Hellenes are emphasized.
It was a fair amount of courage that almost every crew had to find in themselves, as the news from the track reminded the chronicles from the front of the military actions: a tyre puncture, another puncture, a puncture of two tyres at once, a replacement, fallen out interphone systems, broken suspension parts, pierced radiators and even a takeover – the crews from the top ten virtually went away somewhere to the end of the field.
During Saturday the goddess of luck and destiny were showing all the variability of the world, its instability and chance, having thinned out the field. At SS-5 Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov were lucky enough to fix the suspension malfunction. The lever replacement directly at the stage – it took more than 14 minutes, the broken drive and the risk of not arriving to the TC on time led to the crew decision on retirement and return to the team location. Tomorrow guys will start with the help of “rally2” system.
Sergei Remennik and Mark Rozin finished the day of “battle” in the third position in their standings; they also had problems with the tyres. The crew seemed to be trying to fight with the Hungarian Tibor Erdi, and it seemed that it worked. But by puncturing the tyres, the Urals “pushed” themselves from the top two positions at the end of the day. Tibor Erdi can be called a lucky one who avoided all possible problems with vehicle and tyres, and won all Saturday special stages in ERC-2.
Sergei Remennik, driver, “The race is cool, I’m very pleased to finish the day, because we had an open gestalt from last year (laughing). Everything is fine, but we had a puncture at today’s second stage – we lost the front left wheel, it was very unpleasant. So we lost all hope for fighting with Tibor Erdi. But, frankly speaking, we didn’t push hard on these stones; when I saw the stones, I slowed down, trying to ride carefully. But nevertheless, we somehow managed to puncture the tyre. And the car got some damage after that – we slid to the rock and I, as I could, pulled the forecarriage from the stones, but the rear end still hit. At the next stage we also punched the rear tyre, but it was purely my fault – I drove too optimistically shortly before the finish.
We finished the day with improvised slicks, trying to drive even more carefully so that not to tear off anything, not to puncture the tyres, because all the stones that were hidden beneath the layer of soil and sand exposed themselves. And the car doesn’t brake at all on these stones! Well, it’s very unpleasant! The race is not extremely fast, but very tough; on the other hand – it’s a very interesting experience. Of course, the punctures unsettle. But everyone had problems due to the hard surface; and it was very unusual to see the results, where there were not so many crews in front of us”.
On Sunday the participants will tackle two different special stages that they will pass twice a day and 81 kilometers of competitive distance. And in the afternoon there will be a ceremonial finish and the prize-giving in Lamia.
One fourth of the season is over, and the FIA European Rally Championship continues its program – the third round will be held this weekend. The fight for the points will take place in the mainland Greece and, with the Eurosport Events support, millions of spectators around the world will be able to see the battle at the challenging EKO Acropolis Rally 2018.
Russian Performance Motorsport team is currently the championship leader; and the crew Alexey Lukyanuk/Alexey Arnautov is ahead of the nearest pursuer Portuguese Bruno Magalhães with double points (76 points against Bruno’s 35 points). It is Magalhães who will try to beat Lucas at the Greek round of the series.
Sergei Remennik and Mark Rozin is the second RPM crew, performing in the production car Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, is leading the ERC-2 (Production) standings. Here the point gap from Juan Carlos Alonso is not so great, so to keep the lead Sergei will have to use all his skills and rely on the favor of the Greek goddess Tyche to strive for positions on the race podium.
Mark Rozin (left) and Sergei Remenik (right)
Sergei Remennik, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution,: “This rally is very difficult, I would say, quite tricky for our vehicle. R2 and R5 cars are more prepared for such long and tough races. Acropolis is one of the hardest rallies in terms of surface, with sharp stones and ruts. Finishing here and saving the car on the road is not an easy task. Production class cars work well at the races with half the distance of the European round, but it’s much more difficult to drive the rally completely without breakdowns of standard nodes in a N4 category car.
Of course, the entry list in our standings is encouraging – there are more participants, it will not be easy for us to fight. We go to the Acropolis Rally as the leaders in our class (ERC-2), but this is only an intermediate result and we do not feel any mental load. But of course, it’s pleasant!”
Pirelli tire for gravel driving
Rally Acropolis has been a common name for a long time, when racers give a description of a particular track, denoting under the name “Acropolis” the toughest surface abounding with sharp stones. In reality the Greek roads surface is very specific; the field traditionally gets empty for more than a half to the finish line due to various breakdowns of equipment, therefore the entry list for this rally is not numerous – 34 crews in different standings. Some of the teams decided to skip the race, making a choice in favor of other rallies that are more sparing for the vehicles. To win the championship it is enough to have good results in six of the eight competitions – that is how many races count against the series for each crew that is fighting for the overall standings. In the junior class ERC-2 the standings formula is four rounds out of eight.
The rally is planned in a three-day format, but the sports vehicles will start moving on Thursday, when the drivers will be able to “taste” the qualification section and, according to the results shown, choose the starting position for the first racing day.
Landscapes that crews see during the rally “Acropolis”
The EKO Acropolis Rally 2018 start will take place in the center of Athens, whence the drivers will go to the first section. Spectator special stage will be held in the capital of Greece at the racetrack; after it the crews will return to the region of Lamia for the first racing day. The FIA ERC third round will end on Sunday, when the crews will finish in Lamia after 238 competitive kilometers and 630 kilometers of liaisons.
On the eve of the rally Lukyanuk and Remennik had a test session on the mountain roads in the vicinity of Lamia, where they checked and set the cars for the upcoming race. It is necessary to recall that the previous stage of the series was held on the asphalt surface, and the current one will take place on gravel.
Highlights of the “Rally Islas Canarias 2018” with our crew!
The second round of the FIA European Rally Championship finished in Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. The Russian crew of Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov, performing in the Ford Fiesta R5, celebrates overall victory again. And the crew of Sergey Remennik and Mark Rozin, contrary to all expectations, reached the second place in the ERC-2 standings.
For local spectators and Spanish fans of motorsport Lukyanuk is an idol – he is expected at every stage and supported throughout the race. This is the third victory in the island race for the crew from St. Petersburg and the Russian national anthem was heard in Las Palmas for the third time. The main competitor to the citizens of St. Petersburg was the crew of Russians, where the driver participates under a Latvian license – Nikolay Gryazin and Yaroslav Fyodorov, performing in the Skoda Fabia R5, lost 51.4 seconds to Lukyanuk by the rally results.
Alexey Lukyanuk, driver, “In general, I think everyone increased their speed significantly. Last year we competed only with Magalhaes and Kajetanowicz, who then finished second and third. Okay, now Magalhaes had problems with the car, but a bunch of young drivers added a lot in pace. Nikolay Gryazin also finally accelerated, he is approaching. It’s cool for us, that he is so close. I expected that it would be a little more difficult to fight. We have also learned something from the past and, on the whole, we conducted this race very confidently, practically without any mistakes. The tyres are amazing; I don’t know why people use others. For these conditions Pirellis are ideal, and we have chosen the composition for each section well. Everything is super here”.
Russian Performance Motorsport team continues to collect victories of its crews. For Sergei Remennik and Mark Rozin, performing in the Production ERC-2 category, the finish in the rally was a strong-willed effort. After a bitter breakdown of the power steering in the middle of the first rally day, Remennik was forced to move his Mitsubishi Lancer with literally the whole body’s effort in every turn, that are countless on the mountain Spanish roads. Of course, it affected his state of health on the second day of the race.
First day results were disappointing – the fourth place and the backlog from the class leader Tibor Erdi was almost seven minutes! And it would be difficult to win back such a “stock”, if it were not the unexpected “gifts” from the rivals.
Asphalt rally is a heavy test for production vehicles. After three Saturday special stages the crew of Juan Carlos Alonso refused to fight, although by that time it firmly established on the second position. The mechanics could not retrieve the gearbox and did not release the crew to the final section of the rally. And for almost thirty kilometers to the finish of the rally there was a message that the Subaru Impreza of Zelindo Melegari stopped at the special stage – a technical problem with the engine and also a retirement.
Thus, Sergei Remennik and Mark Rozin repeated their last year’s result, rising to the second place in the ERC-2 standings of the Rally Islas Canarias.
Sergei Remennik, driver, «“Of course, I would like to conduct the race and climb the podium in a different manner, in the fight. But it turned out as it turned out. And maybe there is some universal justice: for the broken yesterday’s power steering, today everything went very smoothly. Unfortunately, the failures of our rivals have pushed us to the podium. And, as we counted, now we have risen to the first place in the championship standings.
It seems to me really true that the Production class cars can’t withstand such complex races. Perhaps, we just need to stop torturing this vehicle and use another one? (Laughing). In general, all participants in our class had some, even minimal, issues. Even Tibor Erdi had a problem with the gasoline pump, he quickly coped with it, but nobody drove the entire race smoothly. Asphalt surface for these cars is an extreme load, and I think such enduring loads are not traceless for them”.
Following the two rounds results, the Russian Performance Motorsport team tops the championship, and the crews are the leaders – Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov in the overall standings, Sergei Remennik and Mark Rozin in the ERC-2 Production class.
The next FIA European Rally Championship round will be held on the gravel roads of Greece in the first summer days – from 1 to 3 June in the vicinity of Lamia town.
The FIA European Rally Championship second round started on the island of Gran Canaria and the first competition day has already come to the end.
Achievements of the Russian Performance Motorsport Team crews turned out to be as far apart as the poles.
Alexey Lukyanuk and Alexey Arnautov, driving the Ford Fiesta R5, won five of eight special stages of the day, completing it in the first position of the overall standings. Breaking away for 21.3 seconds from Nikolay Gryazin, Lukyanuk/ Arnautov got the first points at this race as the first day winners.
The main task for the crews on Friday was an adequate choice of tyres – the weather at the start of the first special stage and in the middle of the day was strikingly different. The higher the special stages went up to the mountains, the lower the air temperature was.
Alexey Lukyanuk, driver, “We are at the service, the first day is over. I think the day was almost ideal for us. We chose the tires successfully, we were lucky enough with the weather because it was wet in the morning and the road dried up quickly to our starting position – we could attack well. Our competitors made a mistake with the tyre choice, and, fortunately, our pace is still higher. Nothing lasts forever, but we are in a good shape, the car works properly, the tyres are super. So everything is fine today for us. In the morning we had medium-hard tyres, and in the second half – very tough, the hardest. They worked perfectly, the road is very abrasive, it’s hot (the asphalt temperature is almost +50C). Everything worked as it should. In the morning on a wet track, probably, an average or soft composition would have worked better. We lost not so much at the second special stage, but there were a lot of wet places – we were careful. In general, on dry stretches we disengaged and played out much more than we lost on the wet ones. Everything turned out to be balanced”.
Alexey Arnautov, co-driver, “I had no problems reading the notes – it was his problems with my reading the notes (laughing). Everything was fine, just work-related issues, not boggling the imagination. We went quite calmly, Alexey drove carefully and smoothly, without any extreme. Maybe that’s why we have better results. The fog was strong enough, although after Azores we are much more relaxed about it. But there were places where we saw absolutely nothing. In one place Alexey really braked because he was afraid that the turn would be closer. But then we adapted somehow. We always know that we have correctly marked the distances in the notes, so we rushed through the fog, as usual, and frightened the rivals”.
The second team crew of Sergei Remennik and Mark Rozin could not boast of an excellent result – the power steering of their Mitsubishi Lancer broke at the fifth stage. Hydraulic system, allowing not to apply large forces when turning the steering wheel, remained without technical fluid due to the burst nozzle. This failure became a serious problem – driving the car at the special stage and along public roads – liaisons in a full of turns mountainous area turned into the most unpleasant moments of the race. Even for an athlete and physically trained sportsman it is extremely difficult to steer in such conditions.
Sergei Remennik, driver, “The day started perfectly, there was an opportunity to compete with Tibor Erdi. And we even drove with a normal pace at the end of the first section… But, unfortunately, at SS-4 we broke the hose in the power steering system and to the fifth special stage it failed, so half of this day we drove without it. At the stages we simply lost time, but along the mountain spiral roads it was absolutely awful. My back hurts, my hands had time to relax somehow. Mark encouraged me as he could. There was an idea to change places for the liaisons, but it seemed that it would be even harder for him. Given that we would not succeed to fight for seconds without the power steering, it was not important who will drive the car. If on the gravel surface you can still try to ride without it, on the asphalt with such a fantastic grip of the wheels with the road, in sharp turns, it’s almost impossible.
We didn’t switch the transmission program and didn’t turn on the ALS, so that there was a minimum load, but we still passed sharp turns with difficulty. When the road went down, I could press the clutch and the car moved down itself, I only had to hold the steering wheel. And when it was necessary to go up and slam on the gas, the car still tried to straighten the trajectory with all the locks – so to drive this way and try to keep the steering wheel in corners is just beyond the limits of the human forces capabilities.
I can’t now find literary expressions to describe my feelings, only those that are bleeped (laughing). Now the mechanics will change the whole unit and the steering wheel will move tomorrow. We’ll try to find the motivation to drive quickly and get some points at this round”.
On Saturday, from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, drivers will go to the final six stages of the race, the length of high-speed sections will be just over 100 kilometers; they will determine the leader of the FIA European Rally Championship second round.
After the triumphal finish in Portugal the Russian Performance Motorsport Team crews continue to fight for the titles of European Rally Champions and at the first May weekend plan to take over the Spanish roads.
The European racing series second round takes place in the Canaries – this year the island of Gran Canaria hosts participants not only of the European Championship, but also of the local national championship. A little less than a hundred crews plan to start the race – there are 95 cars, 60 of them will perform in the European Championship. Sergei Remennik and Mark Rozin continue to participate in the ERC-2 Production standings in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. The crew is in the second position in the classification of drivers and co-drivers now and they plan to get a good result from earlier lessons on the asphalt surface.
The island round traditionally gathers a large number of participants and motorsport fans together. The complex track attracts viewers from all over Europe. But the participants here must be especially careful. Increased attention has to be given to the pace notes – there are many turns and twisted areas, uneasy liaisons and different surfaces. Asphalt at the special stages is really different – in the mountain part it has a more abrasive composition with gravel – in the winter months it helps to fight ice. But in the warm season this structure is fatal for tyres of any rigidity.
The organizers “mixed” the special stages and looking at the map you will not immediately understand where the route is. The opportunity to reverse a special stage and use it the next day in another direction, “cutting off” a couple of kilometers from the start and attaching a piece of the previous day route to the finish – it is permissible here on the island.
Sergei Remennik, driver, “It was easier to make the pace notes on these asphalt roads for the second time – we have a conceptual understanding of the notes; there are some “tricks” that help us to make notes easily without blocking them. The fact that we are taking part in this race for the second year allows us to check the recorded information more quickly, we have significantly fewer remarks and corrections than last year. This time the stages and liaisons are reversed, only one part of one special stage is the same, but I think the knowledge of these roads specifics should help us.
Tests were successful. In the morning it was about + 6⁰C in the mountains, at first it was slightly slippery on cold asphalt and tyres, but, on the other hand, the rubber consumption was less. We were offered last year’s test stage, where our fastest time improved by three seconds compared to last year. But we are not the only ones, who are fast, other participants also improved their times when the temperature of the air and the asphalt warmed up sufficiently. Last year the weather conditions were more comfortable, it was not so windy. We managed to set up the car quite well. Mark reads the pacenotes perfectly!
Now we are going to free practice and qualifying runs. In the evening there will be a nice presentation part for spectators and fans – an autograph session, a press conference and, of course, a Ceremonial start. It is very easy to find us in the service park; the team has again chosen awesome places – Alexey Lukyanuk’s crew and ours stand directly opposite the podium. Logistically it is very convenient!”
Thursday morning will start with “warm-ups” runs and qualifying stage, according to which the first 15 drivers with the best results will be able to choose the starting position for Friday. Ceremonial start will be held in the evening – crews will pass through a podium in the center of Las Palmas. And on Friday a serious fight for seconds will start – eight stages, of which the two final ones will also be held in Las Palmas – along the city streets to the delight of the audience. The most difficult high-speed roads are scheduled on Saturday – six special stages will be held in the mountainous part of the island, where the density of turns and “pins” counting for several racing kilometers will be record high. In total during the rally the drivers will overcome 603 kilometers, 202 of them are competitive ones.
Cast of characters:
Lina Arnautova – press officer, Russian Performance Motorsport team photographer
Olga Eremeeva – press officer, media support of S.Remennik/M.Rozin crew
Well, the crew and the team are ready, but how do you, dear fans, find it out and, in particular, who will write this article for you?
For the media support team, the work on the previous rally flows into support activities for the next one. Work for the Rally Islas Canarias began, approximately, in a month – it was accreditation for the race, the study of the issued documents and the rally route. The future work always depends on the planned information events. Now the media team is preparing the texts of press releases, souvenirs, content for the videos that will be published daily and the texts for them. During the rally days one of the girls performs a large amount of work as a field correspondent and the team photographer, and the second “watches six” – transcribes the interviews, forms the team photo archives, supplies journalists with first-hand information, distributes releases, photos and additional information on available media channels.
Lina Arnautova, RPM team press officer and photographer, “I will come to the Rally Islas Canarias for the third time – I’ve driven the island far and wide and I have tracks of the past years special stages that I made during the recce. In my head there is an idea of what specific points of shooting I will visit. Since the Canaries are very familiar to me, I will arrive a couple of days before the start, and immediately work on the race will begin – it is a photo and video shooting. In the morning I will wake up before the racers, have breakfast, collect my photography equipment and leave for the point of future shooting – it is advisable to arrive there at least two hours before the cars will go, as there are always difficulties with parking; and it may be necessary to get through the crowds of spectators and marshals to the right place. It is always better to come to the first special stage while all the crews are driving, and no one “came out” of the field. In ideal conditions it is necessary to cover a maximum of points for shooting, come to the service park in the evening and have time to interview racers about their day. Usually after the evening service I leave to the hotel to process photos and prepare texts in more comfortable conditions than in the press center. Often after the special stages the first desire is to wash off the dust. Here the main thing is to do everything quickly and rationally: while photos and videos are uploaded and equipment is charged, there is time for a shower. Before going to sleep I collect the equipment and plan the next day.
Those who say that the photographer’s job is to come and press a button in a turn at the stage, have never tried to do it (laughing)! The course of events is usually seen like this: you arrive at the point, pick up the camera, make a couple of shots and leave on satisfied. In fact, everything happens differently – you rush on public roads, trying not to violate traffic rules, but overtaking spectators, come to a track adjacent to the right place at the stage, park the car. Then, as a rule, you go on foot about a kilometer, and sometimes two or three. You have a backpack with a water, a raincoat (just in case), a bag with a copter and my favorite six to seven kilograms of photo equipment – I try to leave the rest in the car, choosing a couple of necessary lenses for a specific point. It is for understanding the list of equipment and perspective at a certain point that photographers often pass through the rally route so as not to be in a situation when the marshals put you behind the ribbon and you can’t take any picture at all, since you do not have a powerful telephoto or vice versa – there is not enough wide angle of the camera. Here’s a sports cross-fit to the point of shooting. There you happily take pictures of passing crews, sometimes in not very comfortable conditions, take your things and make a march to the car to drive to the next point of shooting. Usually my passengers in the back seat fall asleep at this time (laughing)”.
During the racing day both press officers – Lina and Olga – track the results of the crew online and watch what happened to the rivals – someone punctured a tyre, another one broke the suspension, in order to represent in detail all the movements of the competing crews in the virtual table of ranks. This information, like small notes, will be used in preparation for the press release on the outcome of the day.
P.S. And the press officers are sometimes needed to sew the stripes on the racers’ overalls in time, take them from the Park Ferme to the hotel, book a table in the cafe, so that no one remains hungry, and if necessary, become a recce crew, stopping to perform their direct tasks. But this is only in our team!
Departure to the rally is the result of efforts of many people. A victory is not only the achievement of the driver and the co-driver but of the entire large team, where everyone is infected with the motor sport “virus”.
The previous parts of the trilogy you can read here and here
Cast of characters:
Aivis Egle – engineering director of “Prospeed” technical support team
Martins Druvaskalns – manager of technical support team
Ineta Egle – administrator of technical support team, logistics expert
…. and many mechanics
Aivis Egle, the “Prospeed” team engineering director, plans the rally preparation for the team of technicians that service the racing car. The technical support team manager and the team administrator make another part of the work together. Ineta Egle – the person who makes everything planned possible – she books hotels where they are needed; buys the airplane tickets that are required for the team; makes sure there is always a stock of clothes with team livery for the crew and the team in the truck. Most of Ineta’s work on preparing any rally goes “behind the scenes”.
Aivis Egle, engineering director of “Prospeed” technical support team, “My task is to make everything excellent at the rally. Starting from the car construction from scratch, ending with the driver’s comfort during the race. It is important for them and the mechanics that the team has a convenient, practical and nice service vehicle – a truck from which the service tent is pitched; all the spare parts are stored there and a sports car is also transported in it. It is necessary to make the racing Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X quick and crash-proof, and also to ensure that it meets the technical requirements of the series, where the racers take part. My ideas and directions are realized by mechanics. The car is prepared separately to each rally – for example, for the Canaries the specification of shock absorbers and suspension will be changed, because the tracks and the terrain where the races take place are very different from round to round. Moreover, this year everything is much easier for our team because we gained a lot of experience last season. We begin to prepare such distant trips as the Canaries for two or three months before the rally start. Martins and Ineta are engaged in it. I check my own team and get feedback from the racers about how it went”.
The technical support team manager is responsible for many small issues, of which a single entity is formed. The job is basically to keep track of all the information about the rally, and the changes that take place. He is responsible for all papers relating to the technical support truck movement and allowing it to arrive at the venue of the rally on time. If the team needs sports tyres in the country of the rally, this question is addressed to Martins. He also needs to find a car repair shop or car service in the city of the rally in case the team will have to do special work with the car for which it needs stationary equipment and premises. It is also important not to forget to order spare parts in the right “point on the map”, because repairs are made not only at the team base in Latvia.
Martins Druvaskalns, “Prospeed” technical support team manager, “Our work in the new season began at the end of 2017, when the calendar was announced. Ineta immediately booked several hotels in the cities where the rallies will take place, to be sure that we will live in the closest hotels to the service park of each race. It is important that the mechanics and crew don’t spend extra time getting to the accommodation. If to speak about the next rally in the Canary Islands – the work began on Azores, as I needed to find the contacts of the tyre supplier for the Rally Islas Canarias. And right after returning from the Azores we took a white board and started planning our logistics for the next Rally Islas Canarias: flights, check the reservation and specify the dates for the hotel, make up our schedule and route of travel (someone should drive the truck to the ferry, and someone can fly right to Las Palmas) – all these issues that are not visible to the fans and sometimes are not even obvious to the crew. This is a large amount of work and efforts that must be done to ensure the rally is held”.
Here is a short list of works that should have been done right after returning from Azores Airlines Rallye:
… Replenish the stock of co-driver’s pacenotebooks; buy refill leads for an automatic pencil; remember that Mark took a set of team clothes with him again…
A week ago, the schedule of cargo and passenger ships changed: arrival to the Canaries will take place a day later than planned, so it was necessary to change the dates of accommodation in hotels and shift the departure date of the service vehicle from Latvia.
Some of the communications are on the phone, since the team is in Latvia, and Oleg, Sergey and Mark are in Russia. These negotiations are necessary for the organization of all needs. There are many small details that need to be met in order for the rally to take place, but they cannot be separated in any one category. This is a bunch of minor related issues, but if something goes wrong, it will affect the future of Rally Islas Canarias.
Previous part of the trilogy you can read here