Vatanen on a championship hunt in Rali Ceredigion
KMS Racing sets out for the penultimate event of the ERC with Ville Vatanen as the Finn hunts for the ERC3 championship in Wales.
The penultimate round of European Rally Championship is held this weekend in the tarmac roads of Wales. For the KMS Racing’s promising young Finn Ville Vatanen and co-driver Joonas Ojala, the Rali Ceredigion marks the chance to secure the ERC3 title.
Vatanen and Ojala have already won the M-Sport Fiesta Rally3 Trophy, contested over the first five rounds. Whilst this marks the opportunity for Vatanen to compete with the Fiesta Rally2 machinery, the Finn aims to secure the ERC3 title first, which is the clear goal for the upcoming event.
-Fourth in category is enough to score us the championship. We’ve feeling confident heading into Wales, it’s yet again something completely new, Vatanen said.
International rallying in Wales has been all about the gravel events of the past, but the ERC championship has brought the challenging tarmac roads into highlight. For Vatanen, the fast roads will provide another unique opportunity to learn.
-The roads here seem to be fast and really narrow, with sharp crests. In the recce, we have to make sure that the lines over the crests are correct. The different surfaces will affect the grip, and possible rain amplifies this, so we have to be careful. In our pre-event tests we were able to drive both on dry and in rain, so the feeling is good, Vatanen explained.
KMS Racing Team Principal Jussi Kumpumäki has his own history with the local roads, and the whole team is keenly anticipating the event.
-Fourth is enough for Ville to secure the championship, and that’s the goal. The tests were successful, and the whole team is excited. It’s nice to be here personally as well, as I drove here for two years. Now we’re back, same sport but different approach for me, Kumpumäki commented.
Team’s other driver for the ERC season and ERC3 winner in Rome, Irish talent Craig Rahill, is not present at the Rali Ceredigion.
-Craig has to focus on his Junior WRC -program, which continues next weekend in Chile, and has to be there already on Sunday, Kumpumäki said.
Raili Ceredigion is held from 4th to 6th of September in Aberystwyth, Wales. The event consists of 16 special stages and 170,7 special stage kilometres. The rally is shown live via Rally.tv streaming service.
Photo: Taneli Niinimäki
