Junior WRC in Poland: Solans leads the way
Nil Solans’ strategy worked to perfection on Friday as the Spaniard headed the FIA Junior WRC standings at Orlen 74th Rally Poland.
Solans, who won the opening two rounds, opted for a cautious approach on the rain-soaked gravel roads this morning before stepping up his pace this afternoon to end with a 25.1sec advantage in his Ford Fiesta R2T.
There were four different leaders in the opening four speed tests and rookie Dennis Rådström headed Solans by 7.7sec at the midpoint of today’s first full day. Three stage wins this afternoon promoted Solans to the top of the field.
“This morning, when we didn’t know how bad the conditions were, we were cautious,” said Solans. “When the stages were repeated this afternoon, we pushed hard but were still careful to avoid the ruts. That strategy paid off for us.”
Rådström maintained a strong pace to hold second ahead of championship newcomer Emil Lindholm, who surprised by leading after SS3 on his WRC debut. The gap between them was 17.6sec.
Terry Folb also topped the standings and remained in contention in fourth place, only 8.4sec behind Lindholm. Nicolas Ciamin and Julius Tannert completed the top six.
Head to WRC+ to see the latest onboard and video reports from Orlen 74th Rally Poland.
