Rally de Portugal : Tough learning curve for Team ORECA drivers

In its return to rallying, Team ORECA had fixed an objective for its crews : gain as much experience as possible while committing no mistakes in the Rally Portugal. Running in WRC2 and WRC3, the two entries had a difficult event, like many of their rivals, with unexpected parts breakages. Although they showed promising pace in their first appearance in four-wheel drive on gravel, and facing a series of special stages unanimously recognized as difficult, Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas were nonetheless forced to rejoin the Rally 2 ranks in their Fiesta R5, before retiring due to mechanical woes. Meanwhile Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markulla, who were also competitive for their first experience together in World Rally, retired after suffering the same fate as many of their competitors in their DS3 R3 Max with an off.

Hugues de Chaunac : « We must learn from these experiences… »
Learning experiences in auto racing are sometimes tough and that was the case for the two Team ORECA entries this weekend on Rally Portugal’s gravel stages. Not spared from bad luck and reliability issues with two “customer competition” cars, the French and Finnish crews each committed a mistake. Still young and new to this level of competition, they experienced the full wrath of a Portuguese event particularly difficult this year for all competitors.
« This was obviously not the rally we were hoping to have for our two entrants » admits Hugues de Chaunac. « With two retirements, the disappointment is there. Drivers Eric Camilli and Teemu Suninen each showed their level of performance, we have no doubts on that subject. Add to that two surprising mechanical breaks that we suffered greatly from, and the two regrettable offs. We must learn from these Rally Portugal experiences on all levels. Eric and Teemu’s performances in the next rally will be important. We’ve already had a glimpse of their good reactions during the weekend.
« In difficult moments, the team and drivers showed their solidarity. No one gave up and the team took on the challenge with efficiency. Everyone learned a lot from this rally, which showed itself to be a very tough event. There are positive points to be remembered and we must capitalise on those. »

Eric Camilli : « We were able to rebound… »
After an interesting shakedown, Eric Camilli and Benjamin Veillas unfortunately had an off in the super special stage on Thursday night. Restarting the next day in Rally 2 thanks a huge effort by the mechanics late into the night, the French pairing would have a difficult second day. While the first three morning special stages were run without problem, including two 7th places, the start of the afternoon would prove different as the duo’s car was forced to stop due to a broken steering rod.
After another repair session from the team to put the car back in rally shape, Eric and Benjamin headed into the third day with a desire to take in as much experience as possible. But as the pair consistently caught the preceeding car in the stages and were bothered by the dust, their rally experience wasn’t what it could have been. In addition, special stage 9 was neutralised. But the duo persevered and had a convincing afternoon : sixth in SS11 and an excellent third time behind the two WRC2 leaders on SS13, the longest special of the rally !
On Sunday, following the neutralisation of SS14 before their run, Eric and Benjamin were forced to retire on SS15, victims of a broken castor arm despite their careful driving.

« The weekend was rich in experiences » explains Eric Camilli. « We had a mistake on Thursday night and then two mechanical issues after we had decided not to take risks. All of this kept us from running precious kilometers. Overall, the rally was interesting. For our first gravel rally in a four-wheel car outside of France, we were competitive. Our times were close to the category’s top times. We discovered a new type of event, with new types of roads. Mentally, it wasn’t easy, but on the sporting level we were able to rebound with a good day on Saturday. There are good things for the future. »

Teemu Suninen : « We learned a lot »
Teemu Suninen and Mikko Markulla kicked off their debut appearance of the season in WRC3 by signing the second quickest time of the category on on the first special, held on Thursday night. Following SS2’s stoppage on Friday morning, the Finnish duo confirmed their form with the third quickest time in SS3. But at the start of SS4, Teemu and Mikko were forced to stop following a problem with a sensor not concerning the team. Rejoining the action on Saturday morning, the two men fell victim to an off in the day’s first stage, suffering a roll and forcing them to retire due to a car too damaged to continue.

« In the different stages, the feeling was good and I didn’t try to find the limit » explains Teemu Suninen. « I was giving myself a margin on the braking points and trying to be safe with the car…I tried to avoid some rocks and in the following corner I found myself on the inside with a small hidden tree in the brush. This flipped us. I’m disappointed because we didn’t gain all the experience that we wanted to, but that said, we still learned a lot. It was interesting to discover new types of roads, different from what I’ve seen in Finland. We also continued to work on pace notes. It’s only our fourth rally together with Mikko and we keep progressing each time. We get along even better now. Rally Sardenia will be very important: we will have a lot of mileage to cover, so we must take advantage of each kilometer and continue to focus on our work. »

Team ORECA will take part in five more World Rally Championship events with these two entries.