Rally / 06 June 2011

IRC YALTA RALLY: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED FOR THE HONDA RACING CUSTOMER SUPPORT INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

?One can never be sure of the result until the finish line has been crossed?

A true expression in relation to the Honda Civic Type R three teams? line up at the Prime Yalta Rally, the 4th leg of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC). The Hungarian team of Janos Puskadi and co-driver Barna Godor drove a relaxed race, didn?t set a wheel wrong and finished in their Civic Type R 12th overall and in 3rd position in the 2WD category!

?Our sincere congratulations go to Janos Puskadi and the other Honda drivers?, said Alessandro Mariani, JAS Motorsport?s Managing Director. ?Thanks to their performances, Honda scored in Ukraine maximum points and is leading the provisional 2WD manufacturers Cup.?

At the beginning of the race, all eyes were focused on the young 19 year old Estonian driver Martin Kangur who, after the disappointment in the Corsica rally, was anxious to do better in the mountains of the Krim. Unfortunately, during the first special stage, the Catwees Racing Team Civic Type R left the road. The damages and especially the lost time dropped the team to the back of the field. However, Martin and his new co-driver Andres Ost kept their spirits high and never gave up.

?Afterwards we ran into trouble with the power steering and in the last SS we had a puncture but with a few scratch results we were able to demonstrate the Civic Type R?s potential,? concluded Martin. ?I had the opportunity to accumulate a lot of racing miles and to get to know the Civic better. Strengthened with this experience I am looking forward to the forthcoming Geko Ypres Rally with much confidence.?

Martin-Ost having disappeared in front, the Georgian team of Archil Bidzinashvili and Georgi Arjevanidze lead the troops until the last special stage, when a broken drive shaft made them lose one position in the 2 WD ranking to their Hungarian Honda colleagues Puskadi and Godor.

 ?Mission accomplished? exclaimed Janos Puskadi after the finish of the 4th IRC race. ?12th overall and 3rd in the 2WD ranking, my best result ever. I am very, very happy. I wasn?t the fastest during the rally and I could do nothing against colleague Martin (Kangur). But in this type of rally, you must be patient. This attitude paid off. Unless we find an extra budget, we won?t be back in action until the Barum Rally.?

Bidzinashvili-Arjevanidze finished 4th in the 2WD category and gave Honda the victory spoils in Group N. Martin-Ost came home in 6th position in 2WD, beating the Lithuanian team of Kriptavicius-Racas. In the neighborhood of the Black Sea, not far from the town of Yalta, Estonians, Georgians, Hungarians, Lithuanians, Ukrainians and ?. Italians joined Honda forces.

?The battle between four of the six remaining Honda?s was a pleasure to see?, observed Pierernesto Pagani, JAS Motorsport?s engineer, supervising the Honda Racing Customer Support operation in Yalta. ?There were indeed language barriers, but nonetheless there was a great atmosphere amongst the different Honda formations. After their misfortune during the last special stage, we were happy to be able to help the Georgian team to reach the finish.?

The next IRC appointment will be the Belgian Geko Ypres Rally on June 24th-25th.