Difficult WRC Croatia brought Tristan Charpentier a lot of experience
KMS Racing competed with the French driver Tristan Charpentier in last weekend’s WRC Croatia. Whilst the event was a difficult one, the determination of Charpentier saw the 23-year-old finish P8 in WRC3.
The official M-Sport partner in Finland, KMS Racing, had a three-weekend streak of events throughout Europe culminating with the WRC Croatia Rally last weekend. Competing with KMS Racing is the young French prodigy Tristan Charpentier, who competes in the highly competitive WRC3 category.
The weekend did not go according to plans however. On the opening stage of the rally on Friday, Charpentier and co-driver Florian Barral suffered a puncture and were forced to change a wheel on the stage, dropping the French pair down to 18th place in category. Determined to make up the lost time, the pair was then set back again by another puncture on the opening leg of the rally. By the end of Friday, Charpentier and Barral were running 12th in WRC3.
The last two days were shadowed by mechanical troubles. KMS Racing mechanics did an outstanding job, allowing Charpentier to rise up the standings with a trouble-free drive. By the end of the last stage, a sure drive saw Charpentier finish eight in WRC3. Even after the difficult weekend, there were flashes of light, as Charpentier drove top 5 stage times on four stages, with a career-best WRC stage finish of P3 on Saturday’s SS12.
-It was a really hard weekend for us. After the first puncture, we made a few mistakes trying to get back the lost time. Then we had occasional mechanical issues, which were quickly resolved by the KMS team. Overall it just wasn’t our weekend, but on the stages without any problems we showed that the speed was there. I also gained a lot of experience and learned a lot during this weekend. I’m now looking ahead to WRC Portugal, Charpentier summed up his career-third event in a four-wheel-drive Ford Fiesta Rally3.
KMS Racing and Tristan Charpentier continue their competitive season with WRC Portugal 9.-12.5.
WRC Croatia Rally results in WRC3:
1. Romet Jurgenson 3:02:44,1 Ford Fiesta Rally3 EST
2. Matteo Chatillon +1:33,7 Renault Clio Rally3 FRA
3. Filip Kohn +1:54,5 Ford Fiesta Rally3 CZE
4. Taylor Gill +2:35,1 Ford Fiesta Rally3 AUS
5. Norbert Maior +3:55,8 Ford Fiesta Rally3 ROM
8. Tristan Charpentier +6:59,9 Ford Fiesta Rally3 FRA
Photo: @World
