BWRT Rally de España leg 2 summary

Daniel Oliveira completes the second day of Rally de España

Daniel Oliveira and Carlos Magalhaes, Mini John Cooper Works WRC

Photo by: xpb.cc

BWRT crew members Daniel Oliveira and Fernando Mussano cleared the second leg of RACC Rally de España, 12th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, placing their MINI John Cooper Works WRC 29th overall after re-joining the rally in the 36th position under the Super Rally system.

They rounded a good job today; they were able to climb some positions. Daniel is working hard at improving his pace notes and his gravel crew are supplying the crew with lots of good information, which also helps him improve his 'racing line'. Fernando is working very well and has easily fitted into the team.

Featuring a mixed surface itinerary yesterday’s leg was more demanding; however, today this second leg started with an endless 45.97km challenge on tarmac which pushed the drivers to a physical and mental limit.

Also, it turned out to be quite demanding for both the car and mainly the Michelin tyres, that’s why the team opted to use the hard compound tyre today because of the long stages in dry conditions. Today’s action underwent under a blue sky with a pleasant temperature.

After completing SS7 El Priorat, Daniel reported he got a bad vibration from one of the wheels of his MINI which was making a lot of noise and which forced him to stop the car to check whether it was a puncture or not. He lost 2 minutes.

Daniel cleared SS8 Riba-roja d'Ebre 1 (12.27km) with no major trouble. It was a twisty and low average speed test with no rest, really helpful to recover the pace he lost in the last stage. Oliveira dropped 30secs but he settled within the first 20 top times.

The next challenge was SS9 Punta de les Torres 1 (13.53km), narrower than the previous and where there were lots of rocks on the road which made it difficult for the drivers to cut the corners.

In the afternoon’s repeated stages it was difficult for most of the drivers to improve their pace since there was lots of lose dirt and gravel in some places and it was very easy to make a mistake. Nevertheless, in El Priorat stage Daniel was more than two minutes faster than his vain first attempt the conquer this section.

Daniel’s word. “It was a good day; we had just a minor issue in the first stage. We lost some minutes because I thought we had collected a puncture. Then I spoke to the engineer and changed both front tyres between stages; that cured the problem. Then we enjoyed a good run through the next 5 stages learning the stages with my new co driver. I feel confident that tomorrow we will be able to build up the pace”.

Hunting for a point. Daniel is confident that tomorrow he could be able to earn a second point for the BWRT in the Manufacturer Championship. Up to now he is 11th within his division and he needs to climb up to the 10th position.

A tough race to the end. The final day of action will be the shortest one, though there are still 102.62km on tarmac to be tackled and six more stages. This 41th RACC Rally de España will conclude with the Power Stage, a 4.32km section called Coll de la Teixeta.