52. Azores Airlines Rallye 2017
ERC #1 • ERC2 #1 • ERC3 #1 • ERC Junior U27 #1 • ERC Junior U28 #1 • ERC Ladies #1 • Portugal #3 • Portugal 2L/2RM #3 • Açores #1
30. 3. – 1. 4. 2017, Ponta Delgada • Grupo Desportivo Comercial • gravel 210.20 km • total distance including road sections - 670.83 km • Other years
Info
SS16
Disappointing afternoon after previous drive. We should have won this one.
Yes! I finished the rally for the first time. I'm here, I'm very happy
Unbeliavable stages, foggy, muddy, lot of new things for us. The podium in juniors is incredible.
It was great experience in tyre changing... But we are here and safe in the finish. It was really crazy rally for us.
We never found the setup for the car, all the time problems with brakes, not a good rally for us. The roads were quite destroyed today, it was for a Jeep and not for a rally car.
It wasn't easy after yesterday, but we are back, we won another stage. Thanks to my team for their yesterday work, thanks to Jarek for his hard work in today's foggy day. It was amazing and tough competition.
I really didn't expect that, it's just amazing. Thanks to all for this opportunity, I don't have words now.
The competition here was huge I would never think we could be on the podium. UIt's amazing, we had lot of fun and the car was amazing!
We just tried to keep nice and tidy, we were hoping in fight and action and it was really challenging weekend.
Very tricky, we are happy to be in the end of the rally.
It was very very tough rally. we are here, it wasn't best performance, but the result in Portugal championship is good.
SS15
Problems with brakes
Big rocks on the way, heavy fog and lot of stones we have to go around.
Lot of rocks, we have to pay the attention otherwise we destroy the car. We don't have much fun, but it's OK. It's normal here in the second runs.
There is a lot of rocks on the road, we have to check the car.
I don't know why but the car is sliding a lot. I thought it was puncture but the wheels are OK. I don't know what it is.
It's not easy, we don't have brakes, we just survive.
Amazing rally, this race is a big lesson for us.
Very difficult conditions, fog, mud, everything. I'm trying to keep the position, this car is amazing. So many years I wanted to drive car like this and here it is.
It's hard, but it's OK. Hard to drive in the fog, some places I remember from the first run so it's little bt easier.
Spectators slowed me down at Jan Černý, I think he quite damaged his car.
We just to try to go nice and steady and to bring it home.
Stopped in the stage
The visibility was completely nothing.
Hard work, in the beginning there was really lot of fog, even more than in previous stages. It's not safe, if someone goes out, no one will see him.
SS14
We hit some wall, but OK.
It's been OK, we've change fuel pump and everything.
Very hard for us, there is extremely heavy fog.
We have something with the rear, we have to check.
Damaged front end
We didn't hit anything, I don't understand that.
We still have problems with brakes, we tried to fix it but it's still not good.
Foggy stage, but we enjoy it. We are happy, we have fun and it's important.
In these conditions it's easy to mistake. I'm happy to be here, I'd like to make it to the finish in the same position.
Very difficult, we had the puncture from the start. I'm not happy, little bit upset.
Stopped in the stage
Puncture
The car is good now, we changed something and it's OK. We tried to keep the rhythm.
So difficult in the fog, difficult for everybody.
Heavy fog everywhere, nothing to see.
In the beginning it was really tricky, too much mud. But we are happy.
SS13
Retired in road section
Retired in road section
"I didn't have hand-brake"
Stopped in the stage
"I think I lost the turbo, I have to check"
SS12
Out of road
"We hit a rock and we broke the steering arm"
"Alexey is stopped 7km in the stage, I really lost confidence after that"
Stopped in the stage
Had a puncture and then lost powersteering
Stopped in the stage
SS11
Stopped in the stage
Rear right puncture, "We hit a stone in the first part of the stage"
"Bad drive, not happy, we had two spins"
"Real azorean stage, good feeling"
"Lot of fog, you couldn't see five metres of the stage"
"Really difficult, lot of fog at the start"
"The most difficult stage I've driven"; Overtaken Vieira
Spun
SS10
Mechanical -> Rally2
Retired (Broken window) -> Rally2
Mechanical -> Rally2
"I think this was the most difficult and hardest stage in the world! Many tricky places, but it went OK for us."
"We hit a wall and it was quite hard. But the steering and power of the car are OK."
"It's tough event. In the beginning of this stage there was a jump where I touched a wall. Scary moment, we lost rear window."
"We did this loop with destroyed spare tyre, the times were bad."
"We had third puncture today so we stopped and changed it. We need to go to service and prepare the car for tomorrow."
"Perfect stage, incredible. Now the tyres werent't correct, we were on softs, mediums would be better. We are happy."
"I entered one corner too fast and we crashed. I hope team will repair it for tomorrow."
"Maybe three times we hit the bank. We have to check the suspension."
"We missed a junction, I had to reverse and lost a lot of time. I didn't enjoy it today."
"This stage was really really good, I'm happy with my pace here."
stopped in the stage
stopped in the stage
SS9
"We hit the stone which was on the road and was forced to stop in stage and change the wheel. We have lost a lot of time."
puncture
"I'm not very happy, The pace is not so good."
"Little bit better because I didn't puncture this time, but I'm not in a good rhythm. We have to try."
"Having so muich fun with the Škoda, the car is very good. Now we are going to difficult stage, it wasn't easy in the morning."
"We tried to fix the handbrake before the stage, but we didn't manage it. It's blocking all four wheels."
"I see improvement in my driving but other guys improve as well, so the time is not so good."
"We didn't do big mistake on the previous, just the pressure was low so the tyre went off the rim. Now we drive without spare, we are looking on the road to avoid any sharp things driving calm and focused."
"We had a puncture on previous stage and had to put used tyre in the car so it's hard to control."
"For the moment I'm happy with my speed and performance."
"Without puncture it's much better. We have normal speed now, it's OK."
"We had one mistake when we had to stop, it took maybe three seconds. But the stage was quite OK."
"It was a good stage, I'm quite happy. Everything is OK."
"I hit a stone and cracked the wheel but I don't know where exactly. Stones are everywhere, it's part of this rally."
"We keep learning."
"Better, but not perfect."
SS8
Broken turbo -> Rally2
"I was too fast and rolled. It was on same place like Catie in the morning."
rolled
"We changed the gearbox in the service, but there is still big noise."
"We changed the gearbox in the service, but there is still big noise."
"We made some changes in the car, but it's not good enough. We have to try further to have better feeling with the car."
"I like very much this stage, it was very fast."
"I misunderstood the pacenotes and hit a bank, but it should be OK. Only lost some time."
"Not happy, we have no handbrake."
puncture
"We made another changes as we test the car in the rally and it's not so bad, we are in good feeling and we will try to push more in the next one."
"Now it's better with no puncture. Good grip, we want to take it more safely."
"OK, good stage, no problems."
"It was better than first time. The road is cleaner now, we keep the pace."
"It's much better, we did some changes on the car and it'good. We changed springs, the traction and springs are better now. We are looking forward to next stages."
SS7
"I'm not happy very happy with our pacenotes, sometimes it's too optimistic, sometimes we brake early. It's difficult."
SS5
Accident -> Rally2
SS4
"This is a great stage for spectators. We were sliding a lot, but we were also pushing a lot. It was big fun, I'm happy with our leading, but the rally will be long."
"So far so good, we enjoy good weather today. It's exciting battle with Kajto being so close."
"Quite OK, today it's finished."
suspension damage
"It was really good. Nice stage for spectators, some jumps and slides. But I like more proper stages."
"It wasn't good day for us, we didn't catch the right rhytm. I hop tomorrow will be better."
"Not perfect, we were sliding too much."
SS3
"It was good, we tried to learn and improve stage by stage."
"We have problems with engine, no power, we will see in service."
off the road
"It's difficult, I think the tyres are done."
"At the beginning of the stage bonnet opened up and broke the window so we had to stop and to lock it. Then we saw the car behind us so we stopped again to let him go."
"We lost some time because the car before us was blocking us few kilometers."
"Very difficult, but it's all OK. We were just little bit struggling with the tyre choice and grip."
"It's OK, we missed one corner in the end, but no problem."
"Not bad, but it's very slippery, sometimes the traction is really poor."
"Everything OK, good stage, but very difficult."
"All OK, no problems or issues."
"More or less OK. We had a puncture on previous stage and we had a different compound on the spare, so the drive was quite funny."
"We have completely wrong tyres, we were expecting more rain."
problems with brakes
"It's really good, good driving. I'm happy, we have the feeling of finding the right rhythm after several months of not driving on gravel."
"It's really pleasant for me. First proper of the rally. We lost some time because of tyres, but we are learning here and we want to push."
"Very slippery, the tyres are gone."
"Quite difficult stage, for me, also for co-driver. We have to do some changes to the pacenotes, maybe the second run will be better."
"It was little bit slippery in some places, but I'm happy, we are here. I love Peugeot!"
"I changed the tyres from front to rear before the stage, but we had a lot of oversteer. We took too soft compound."
"Very narrow stage, we had some little mistakes. But it's only Thursday and there is much more in front of us."
"The beginning of the rally has been almost perfect for me. The times look quite good. We had a lot of lose gravel, guys behind us will be much faster."
"Big fun, nice weather, it's the real Azores rally."
"Not very good stage for us. Very slippery, we tried some changes to the setup, but it wasn't good."
"We have a problem with the car, I don't know actually what it is, we have to check it in service."
"Difficult stage for the beginning. I was quite careful, the grip was changing often."
"There is downhill with heavy braking in the end. There is something with the car, we have absolutely no grip on the rear ." (puncture)
"There is downhill with heavy braking in the end. There is something with the car, we have absolutely no grip on the rear ."
SS2
"Very good, I liked the stage. I have much more experience on fast gravel stages than on the narrow technical ones, so we will see on the next one."
"Trying to improve the rhytm. It was second stage of the rally, it will be better."
"We were maybe too aggressive on the tarmac parts."
"Nice stage, very fast, we enjoyed it. Looking forward to the next stage."
"Not so nice stage for me." (has damaged the rear of the car)
"Everything is OK, but the stage is very slippery."
"Everything is good, great."
"It was superfast, we like it."
"We got a puncture in the middle of the stage, I don't know where."
"It was OK, I have the car too soft, but on the next stage it should be better."
"We hit a wall and had a small crash. But there is no problem."
"It was a good run, really fast stage. On soft tyres it brought a lot of emotions, it was sliding a lot. The time is good, we wait for next stage. There is wet road, that's why we have soft tyres."
"Definitely the tyre wear is enormous, now I tried it do it little bit more calm."
"It was OK, but the tyres are too damaged. I don't know how do have it other guys, but we probably pushed too much."
"It was OK, enjoyable stage."
"It was nice, short one, but we start the season and the rally and we have to go step by step."
"It was OK, for this stage the tyres were too soft, but for the next one they should be good."
"It was fast stage, I liked it. Now there starts the proper Azores rally."
"Everything OK, the car is working very well. I'm happy for the moment."
"Quite good warm-up, still not 100% gravel, again tarmac parts."
"Not very happy, not good for us. The road was very slippery."
"Now we had less parts on tarmac so it was better. Good experience, we enjoy it."
"Also here lot of tarmac, the line on gravel is getting clear. We look forward to next stages."
"It was OK, the road is very dirty, we are cleaning and losing lot of time. We had a little impact with a rear left wheel."
"Great stage, very fast, very enjoyable. We are cleaning the road, so sometimes it's surprising, but we are having fun."
"It was quite good. The tyres are getting warm, we are first on the road so the grip is not perfect."
SS1
made mistake in turnaround
hit small tree
"I want to be quick on this rally, but it's not so important to be quick on this stage. Half of the stage is on tarmac and we are on soft tyres, it's easy to destroy them."
"Very short stage, not so nice. We will push, let's see what Kajto can do."
"I can try to win, but it will be tough, there is a lot of fast drivers."
"It was great, no mistakes, very clear. Sometimes I could brake later but there is nothing to risk at this stage."
"It was really good. We took it carefully, there was a lot of tarmac so we saved tyres. Now begins the action."
"It was OK, this stage is not so important. We lost some seconds, we went too much sideways in few places."
"Funny stage with lot of tarmac, so not good for the tyres. But now start gravel stages so it will be good. I will try to win!"
"I want to improve step by step. I don't know this car and I didn't drive on gravel long time."
"It's fine, quite short stage, but with tarmac, so we tried to save the tyres for next stages."
"Just a warm-up. The gravel here si not good, but we are in the beginning and it's normal that there is no traction."
"We can't push, I didn't enjoy it much. We need to concentrate."
"It was fun, we tried to not to go sideways, we wanted to save tyres. We have soft tyres and they warm easily on tarmac parts."
"I'm happy to be here on this rally. We want to stay trouble free and get some experience here."