Asphalt aces aim to rein in Pärn

Runaway leader Sander Pärn faces the biggest threat to his domination of the Drive DMACK Fiesta Trophy when the series switches to asphalt for the only time at ADAC Rallye Deutschland (21 - 24 August).

The Estonian has won all three rounds so far on gravel but has contested only four events on asphalt in his career, including a test outing in Germany last weekend.

“Last weekend we drove on the Rallye Wartburg as a test and the plan for this weekend is to get some more good points,” said Pärn. “There are still two rallies to go and nothing is certain but I hope to maintain my comfortable lead using the same tactics as before, drive carefully and with good feeling and see what happens.”

Sealed surface experts such as Frenchman Quentin Gilbert, Spaniard Yeray Lemes and Belgium’s Ghislain de Mevius will all fancy their chances of toppling Pärn and clawing back points on this fourth and penultimate round of the series.

Lemes lies third in the title race and a strong showing from him or second-placed Brit Tom Cave could see them slash Pärn’s 37-point lead and set up a thrilling final round. Cave has been closest to Pärn all season, but broken suspension last time out in Finland cost valuable points.

“I have more experience on asphalt so, for me, I’m happy we are moving to Germany,” said Lemes. “We still have a chance of winning the championship so it will be important to use my experience and take some good points from this rally so that we can be in a position to challenge when we go to my home event in Spain for the last round.”

Neither José Suárez nor Marius Aasen start having withdrawn from the series.

Contenders will cover the full three-day rally route with 326km of competition lying in wait over 18 stages.