Simone Tempestini confirms good form in Poland

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Simone Tempestini confirms good form in Poland

Monday, 06. 07. 2015 - 16:01, Public relations

JWRC Arrivée

Following stage wins in Monte-Carlo and Portugal, the Italian Simone Tempestini confirmed his early season form as he took his maiden win in the class at Rally Poland.

He finished ahead of Welshman Osian Pryce and the Finn Henri Haapamaki.
After the three first events of the 2015 calendar, Quentin Gilbert remains the championship leader, ahead of Simone Tempestini and Henri Haapamaki.
One of the nine FIA Junior WRC competitors taking part in Poland, Pierre-Louis Loubet was forced to retire on Thursday. Caught out during the shakedown, he went off the road and was unable to start the first stage.

The rally got underway on Thursday evening, with a super special stage on the Mikolajki Arena track. Quentin Gilbert set the fastest time, ahead of Henri Haapamaki and Simone Tempestini.

On Friday morning, the rhythm changed. On incredibly fast roads, British driver Osian Pryce showed off his turn of speed. In his DS 3 R3-MAX, he went fastest on Gorklo (SS2) at an average speed of over 115kph to grab the overall lead in the class.

With another two stage wins, Pryce dominated this opening morning, before being held up by a driver on the long SS5 test (39.12km). Simone Tempestini therefore moved into first place ahead of Quentin Gilbert and Osian Pryce, who trailed by around twenty seconds.

In the afternoon, Osian Pryce went back on the attack. Two stage wins enabled him to reclaim the class lead, whilst Quentin Gilbert (jammed gearbox) and Simone Tempestini (power steering issue) completed the podium places at that point, ahead of the Finn Henri Haapamaki, the French pair of Jean-René Perry and Matthieu Margaillan, the Swiss Federico Della Casa and the Abu Dhabi driver, Mohammed Al Mutawaa.

Forced to retire on SS10 with a broken clutch, Quentin Gilbert left Osian Pryce and Simone Tempestini to battle it out for the win. The Welshman increased his lead throughout Saturday's leg, before being slowed up by a misfiring engine. Ahead of Sunday's short final leg, Tempestini held a minute lead over Osian Pryce and Henri Haapamaki. Matthieu Margaillan, Federico Della Casa and Mohammed Al Mutawaa completed the standings, whilst Jean-René Perry was forced to retire halfway through the day with sunstroke.

On Sunday morning, Osian Pryce again topped the timesheets on both stages. However, Simone Tempestini managed his lead to claim his maiden FIA Junior WRC win. Osian Pryce and Henri Haapamaki took the two other podium places. Matthieu Margaillan, Federico Della Casa, Mohammed Al Mutawaa and Quentin Gilbert also finished in the points.

With three events completed, Quentin Gilbert now has 56 points in the championship standings. He leads Simone Tempestini by 11 points and Henri Haapamaki by 26 points. In the Nations Trophy, France leads the standings, ahead of Italy and Finland.

Next up for the FIA Junior WRC drivers and teams is Rally Finland on 30 July-2 August.

QUOTE, UNQUOTE

Simone Tempestini: "I'm very happy to win in Poland. I love the fast stages we have had throughout the event here. The team has done a fantastic job. We did our best to win and it worked out for us. The goal will be the same in Finland. It's another very fast rally, although the road surface is different."

Osian Pryce: "We showed that we had the pace to fight for the win. We were near the front on every stage. It's very encouraging for the next few events. I'm just a bit disappointed not to have won. I feel slightly frustrated, but then again if you'd offered me second place before the start of the rally, I'd have bitten your hand off!"

Henri Haapamaki: "I was fairly cautious on some stages. At the start of the rally, I felt that I wasn't driving at the level I know I'm capable of. Simone Tempestini and Osian Pryce were very quick. This second podium finish is a good result before we tackle Rally Finland."

PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS

1. Simone Tempestini / Matteo Chiarcossi 2:47:32.3
2. Osian Pryce / Dale Furniss +47.9
3. Henri Haapamaki / Marko Salminen +1:42.2
4. Matthieu Margaillan / Fabrice Gordon +4:16.1
5. Federico Della Casa / Domenico Pozzi +10:07.0
6. Mohammed Al-Mutawaa / Stephen McAuley +17:47.2
7. Quentin Gilbert / Renaud Jamoul +49:27.0

FASTEST TIMES

Osian Pryce, 9 - Simone Tempestini, 6 - Quentin Gilbert and Henri Haapamaki, 1.

LEADERS

SS1: Quentin Gilbert

SS2 to SS4: Osian Pryce

SS5 to SS8: Simone Tempestini

SS9 to SS15: Osian Pryce

SS16 to SS19 (finish): Simone Tempestini

FIA JUNIOR WRC STANDINGS

1. Quentin Gilbert 56 points
2. Simone Tempestini 45 points
3. Henri Haapamaki 30 points
4. Ole Christian Veiby 25 points
5. Christian Riedemann, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Osian Pryce 18 points
8. Federico Della Casa 16 points
9. Jean-René Perry and Matthieu Margaillan 12 points
11. Yohan Rossel 10 points
12. Alessandro Re, Kornel Lukacs and Mohammed Al-Mutawaa 8 points
15. Charlotte Dalmasso 5 points
16. Daniel McKenna 4 points