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3 TEIN cars come through in troubled rally!
Jereb finishes in 10th place. Flodin retires with a blown turbine.
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 2007 P-WRC (Production car World Rally Championships) 5th Round, “Rally New Zealand” was held in New Zealand, between August 30th to September 2nd. The host city, Hamilton is roughly 100km south of New Zealand’s largest city in the North Island, Auckland. 18 stages were held in the surrounding area made up of beautiful pastures and mountains. The courses included plenty of variations such as high-speed sections, twisting sections and gravel road surfaces with both ends of the road almost caving in.
The rally had a strong field with 23 entries and attracted a lot of interest with Rally Japan following in the next round.
4 of the 23 entrants were TEIN supported cars: E. Vertunov (#42 SUBARU IMPREZA GDB-F) of SUBARU RALLY TEAM RUSSIA, A. Jereb (#43 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX), S.Vojtek (#49 MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO IX), and P. Flodin (#50 SUBARU IMPREZA GDB-F) of STOHL RACING.
New Zealand is at the end of its winter season and the temperatures ranged between 10 to 15 degrees. During rally week, the weather turned for the worst, and from the opening stages, many drivers were forced to retire turning the rally into a race for survival. Up and coming younger driver, Flodin has engine trouble in leg 1 with a blown turbine and retired in the first loop of leg 2. The remaining 3 TEIN cars came through to finish with Jereb finishing in 10th, Vojtek in 11th, and Vertunov in 19th. |
Rally New Zealand kicked off with a ceremonial start on August 30th in Hamilton City. It attracted a lot of attention because the stages and conditions are very similar to Rally Japan, which is the following rally in the series. During the tests held in rally week, all TEIN users reported back with favorable comments. In the shakedown held on the 30th, Flodin ran only once, and Vertunov performed excellently. Jereb, Vojtek and other Mitsubishi drivers were troubled with understeer so TEIN engineers changed the front section to a slightly softer setting, which improved handling feel and top results were expected from the 4 cars.
But Leg 1 on the 31st turned out to be a survival rally. Unexpected events affected TEIN users with Vojtek driving off course in SS1 to withdraw, and 6th placed Flodin suffering a blown turbine in SS2. But Russia’s new star, Vertunov drove constantly throughout the stages and finished Leg 1 in 3rd place. Jereb finished in 13th, Flodin, who suffered turbine trouble in the second loop, finished in 17th, and Vojtek in 20th.
Vertunov started Leg2 on September 1st with high hopes, but suffered transmission trouble during the first loop, then in the first run of the second loop SS10, suffered a puncture and ran off course, eventually having to stop. Flodin suffered more turbine problems and retired after the first loop. Vojtek lost a lot of time because of a puncture in SS6. At the end of Leg 2, Jereb finished in 11th, Vertunov in 13th, Vojtek in 19th.
With all the problems behind them, Jereb, Vertunov, Vojtek and other TEIN users fought hard in Leg 3. Jereb was the top TEIN user finishing in 10th place, with Vertunov finishing one place behind him in 11th place, but Vojtek suffered fuel/gas trouble and finished in 19th place. All 3 TEIN were able to make it through the tough rally and proved themselves.
Comment from TEIN engineer (TEINI R&D Section/ Mr. Ippei Sugano)
Jereb, Vertunov and other Mitsubishi users have adopted the new spec dampers from August in Finland. Vertunov, driving a Subaru, has changed to a softer version, and Flodin has been spec based on the Argentina round with improved micro speed range damping force. The rally had many trouble but there weren’t much trouble with the suspensions and we received valuable information and high assessment from the drivers regarding their vehicle’s handling and traction. With Rally Japan coming up, we want to continue with what we have here in New Zealand, and also conduct tests in Finland to develop the final specs. |
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