Pryce ‘close to perfect' in Junior WRC
Welshman wins five stages to head Poland standings
Tempestini capitalises on Pryce engine drama
Simone Tempestini held a comfortable lead in the Junior WRC category at 72nd LOTOS Rally Poland as long-time leader Osian Pryce struck trouble.
The Italian ended Saturday’s penultimate leg with a 60.1sec advantage after an engine misfire delayed the Welshman this afternoon.
Tempestini won the opening two stages to close the overnight gap. Pryce retaliated with two wins of his own to stretch his lead to almost 30sec before the misfire started in SS15 and continued throughout the following test – costing almost 90sec.
Henri Haapamaki was third, 32.9sec behind Pryce, with Matthieu Margaillan, Federico Della Casa and Mohammed Al Mutawaa completing the top six. All drivers are in Citroen’s DS 3 R3-MAXcars.
Championship leader Quentin Gilbert was an early retirement. Yesterday’s gearbox problems damaged his clutch but his team were unable to replace it in the time allowed. They hoped it would survive the day but it broke in SS11.
