Photo Credit: Hyundai Motorsport Round eight of the 2017 season took the World Rally Championship to Eastern Europe for one of the fastest rallies of the year: Rally Poland. With four men beginning to streak clear in the championship, Poland was all about the leading quartet as Sebastien Ogier, Thierry Neuville, Ott Tanak and Jari-Matti Latvala waded into battle in the Polish countryside.
The expected hindrance of running at the front of the field turned into an advantage as the heavens opened, creating Wales Rally GB-esque road conditions on this frighteningly fast event. Ogier was in the fight until the second loop where road sweeping began to come into play, leaving Latvala and Tanak hot on the heels of Neuville after Friday. The Belgian, who is chasing down Ogier in the championship, was overhauled by Tanak but then re-passed him before losing his lead again in a rally that saw the lead exchange hands an incredible eleven times. Latvala began to lose touch a little on Saturday before his challenge was extinguished for good with a loss of drive aboard his Yaris WRC. Stranded and frustrated, the Finn wasn't only out of the rally, his championship challenge was evaporating with every passing car too. That left Tanak and Neuville squabbling for glory, but neither got through SS16 that sidelined Latvala unscathed Banging through a compression, Tanak's Fiesta shed its rear wing, vitally important this year with the new aerodynamics but even more so on one of the quickest events of the entire season. Neuville meanwhile clipped a bank and got a rear left puncture, slipping 20 seconds behind his Estonian rival. With Tanak still sporting damage but Neuville equipped with new rubber, the Hyundai managed to catch and pass its M-Sport rival to lead by a handful of seconds ahead of the final leg. The scene was set. The man on the crest of a wave having won his first WRC round last time out versus the man who has, with the exception of a couple of major blunders in the winter rallies, had the measure of his rivals throughout 2017. Ott Tanak was the one who seemed hungriest, charging through the first test to blast into the lead. But that was as far as he'd go, as when pushing to extend his advantage the Estonian slid on a muddy turn, got sucked into a bank and ploughed head on into the trees at speed. The Fiesta reached the stage end but would go no further. Neuville arrived to consolidate his rival but demonstrate the balance between speed and sensibility, completing the remaining stages to take his third win of the year and close to within 11 points of Ogier in the drivers standings. Hayden Paddon capped off a great weekend for Hyundai Motorsport by bringing his i20 Coupe WRC home second overall, claiming his first podium of the year and Seb Marshall's first at world level. It was an impressive performance from the Kiwi, who needed to perform after crashing out of the lead in Sardinia. He excellently overcame his road order disadvantage from Friday morning in the afternoon where he overhauled the struggling Ogier, and then hammered home his superiority when Ogier struggled on Saturday, puncturing twice and losing a load of front aero. The Frenchman, the master of recovering a bad weekend, still finished third and beat Neuville in the Power Stage to lessen his points deficit from round eight. Dani Sordo returned to the top five in fourth overall, ahead of Stephane Lefebvre who had a fairly anonymous event in his Citroen C3 WRC to claim a solid result. The young Frenchman was under a bit of pressure given the impressive performances of other youngsters, namely Esapekka Lappi, Teemu Suninen and Pontus Tidemand, but he went about his business quietly to come home top Citroen. Teemu Suninen, making his WRC debut, seemed to have taken inspiration from compatriot and EVEN Management stable-mate Esapekka Lappi by defying his experience, taking his Fiesta RS WRC to a stage win on just his fifth proper stage in a World Rally Car. The result will be bitter-sweet though as the Finn held fifth right up until the Power Stage where a half spin dropped him behind Lefebvre. Mads Ostberg and Elfyn Evans finished seventh and eight respectively, ahead of Andreas Mikkelsen and Juho Hanninen. Esapekka Lappi was running as high as fifth on day one before damaging his suspension. Craig Breen's C3 broke a driveshaft early on making his rally a write off, losing several minutes with two wheel drive on such high speed and slippery stages. Poland was yet another bad rally for Citroen with the possible exception of Lefebvre's result, but even then the French pilot finished three minutes down on event winner Thierry Neuville. It was a good rally for Kris Meeke however, despite the Northern Irishman sitting this one out. Why? Andreas Mikkelsen, a previous winner and consistent front runner on this event, languished down in ninth after firstly struggling with a lower road position in the torrential rain but most crucially, slipping wide and damaging his suspension. The Norwegian had two further lary moments on Saturday, further proving the C3's difficulty to drive. So how much is it Meeke being accident prone and how much is it Citroen making a mess of their 2017 challenger? Finland will reveal more answers. Finland is intriguing not just for Citroen, but in the fight at the front as well. Neuville is the man to beat on current form, and has slashed Ogier's points lead the last two rallies. Tanak and Latvala started Poland in the hunt, but with Tanak taking home nothing and Latvala just five markers for a Power Stage triumph, the championship looks to be between Sebastien Ogier and Thierry Neuville with five rallies to go. At the start of the season I was insistent Ogier would claim a fifth world title and this time last month I would've said the same. Now though, Neuville is moulding into the title favourite with his brilliant form and Ogier's slightly rocky patch. The real test will come if and when Thierry takes the points lead and has to deal with pressure of being hunted and the burden of opening the road for his rivals. The real winner of 2017 is us though. The new regulations and VW's departure have tightened everything up, and generated one of the most compelling title fights we've seen in a long, long time. Up next is rallying's holy trinity, where the prospect of a thrilling battle awaits in the most thrilling of settings.
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January 2018
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