Victor Henriksson secured victory on his maiden appearance in the World Rally Championship as he became the third winner this season in the Fiesta SportingTrophy International on Wales Rally GB.
The 19-year-old came out ahead of Rally Catalunya winner Vytautas Baranauskas, who bounced back from an accident on leg one to take second place, with third going to Briton James Everard.
An accident on SS1, Port Talbot 1, meant the stage was cancelled for Fiesta competitors, and Henriksson proved to be the initial pacesetter for SS2, Resolfen 1, and was fastest Fiesta to Baranauskas by 36 seconds over 25 kilometres and fastest in class N3. Giovanni Caposiena's first WRC outing was initially short-lived, after slipping off the road on SS2. Despite no serious damage to the car, he was unable to get back on the road and were thus forced into retirement for the day losing 25 minutes in time penalties.
The battle for the lead was shaping up by SS3, Rheola 1, when Baranauskas took twelve seconds out of Henrksson over 28 kilometres after the Swede picked up a puncture with ten kilometres still to run. Ford Rallye Sport Turkey drivers Emre Yurdakul and Burcu Cetinkaya also suffered with punctures, and the rally claimed a retirement in Everard, who was forced to stop with a broken suspension component, losing 20 minutes in penalties under 'SuperRally' regulations.
Henriksson led Baranauksas by 24 seconds as they arrived at midday service and, having not reached SS4 Port Talbot 2 due to heavy traffic, the leader was allocated a notional time by the stewards which maintained his lead to the end of the day. Baranauskas misjudged a hairpin on SS5, Resolfen 2, losing eight minutes and damaging his driveshaft, forcing him to stop on SS6 and incur a ten minute penalty. Yurdakul also broke a driveshaft on SS5, losing ten minutes under SupeRally regulations.
Despite a brighter start to Leg 2, the stormy weather didn't stay away for long. Henriksson took the first N3 class win of the day on the Epynt military ranges north of Swansea by nine seconds over Baranauskas, but lost his brakes and overshot at a hairpin on SS9, Halfway 1. Teetering on the edge of a cliff, the crew relied on the help of a group of spectators to push the car back into the stage but lost over seven minutes in the process. Henriksson was able to return the car to the midday service halt in Swansea but fell to fourth place in the N3 standings.
The Ford Rallye Sport Turkey crew of Burcu Cetinkaya and Belgian Frederic Miclotte, who were competing in Wales in order to gain experience for their 2008 FSTi campaign, experienced power steering problems, but her i-Cars team worked diligently during the 30 minute service to ensure her return to the stages for the afternoon. Everard had concerns about his driveshaft for morning loop of stages, but managed to attain second position in FSTi on SS9.
Henriksson was fastest in class N3 on SS10 and SS11 on Saturday afternoon, despite picking up a rear puncture on SS11. SS12 was cancelled due to an earlier accident and all FSTi competitors were awarded notional times by the stewards.
The Super Special in Cardiff Millennium Stadium in front of over 26,000 spectators was the closing stage of a long day, again with Henriksson as fastest FSTi driver, finishing the Leg over 12 minutes ahead of second-placed Baranauskas by the time the cars pulled into the final service of the day shortly before midnight. Yurdakul's car suffered a fuel leak on SS11 and eventually ran out of fuel two km from the end of the stage, losing over 15 minutes in time penalties under 'SuperRally' regulations.
