Rallye Deutschland : Team ORECA revs up, Teemu Suninen in WRC2 !
Less than three weeks after the Rally Finland, the Team ORECA is about to come back to the World Rally Championship. First all-asphalt round of the season for the team, the Rallye Deutschland will also stand as another first. Two cars will be entered, but as opposed to the preceding competitions, both will compete in WRC2 this time! Indeed, with co-driver Mikko Markkula, Teemu Suninen will move up from WRC3 to WRC2! Just like his teammate Eric Camilli together with co-driver Benjamin Veillas, he will be at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R5. With two identical cars, the two members of TMG’s Junior Driver Development Program will nevertheless have a different set of objectives.
Teemu Suninen promoted to WRC2!
Having competed in the first three rounds of its programme with a Fiesta R5 and a DS3 R3 Max, the Team ORECA now revs up and will enter two Fiesta R5 from now on, a decision which was made following on the Rally Finland. It will remain this way for the upcoming challenges of their programme, namely the Rallye Deutschland, Tour de Corse and Rally Catalunya. “Right from the beginning of the season we set clear objectives: to learn and to improve. Moving on to two entries in WRC2 fits in the line of this philosophy” explains Chairman of ORECA Group, Hugues de Chaunac. “Eric Camilli has shown his level of performance on each of his participations with the Fiesta R5. He continues to learn and is about to come back to a surface that he is quite familiar with. We trust him and this challenge in Germany comes at the right time for his potential to be realized. Teemu Suninen has demonstrated his competitiveness in WRC3. We decided to make him compete with a four-wheel drive, in WRC2, to give him the opportunity to learn even more. He needs to gain in strength but most of all, he has to keep in mind the primal objective which is to gain as much experience as possible through a very technical round.”
With good performances in Portugal, Sardinia (WRC3 winner) and Finland (eight best times in WRC3), Teemu Suninen is about to climb up a real step in Germany. Though the young Finnish driver has been on board of a four-wheel drive before, and made a “one-shot” in Poland in WRC2, it will be his first time at the wheel of a R5. Moreover, it will only be his second participation in a rally entirely held on asphalt.
“It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to compete with of a four-wheel drive” he says very enthusiastic. “I feel like I’m going to learn more, faster and better than with a two-wheel drive. To be honest, I was hoping for such a change to happen but not that early. The aim is now clearly to drive as much as possible, acquiring a maximum of experience and having good feelings.”
Teemu is aware that ahead of him is a true challenge which he first approaches with much humility. As he confirms: “We have to keep in mind that moving up a class right in the middle of the season isn’t necessarily an easy thing. I think that I can go fast on a clean tarmac but when I’ll have to cut through, encountering dirty roads, it’ll become more challenging. And I know that the Rally Deutschland comprises many dirty sections. Anyway, I want to gain experience so I can aim for the podium next year.”
Eric Camilli on his favorite surface…
Member of the 2015 FFSA French Rally Team, Eric Camilli returns to asphalt just a few miles from the French border, in the Rhénanie-Palatinat vineyard. He kept good memories of the 2014 Rally Deutschland: competing in J-WRC, he made his debut in the World Championship there and even took the class lead at the end of the first day. “I got noticed internationally with this rally. I felt comfortable there. Roads are very narrow, with many turns, changing direction lots. Despite that, you have to maintain high speed. Reactivity is key, all the more since there isn’t much visibility at times, because of the vines which are very high. It’s an unusual rally but one of my favorites” he says.
Despite many pitfalls, and with the surface changing depending on the special stages, the French driver is very much looking forward to this challenge. “I had a good top speed in Finland, that’s encouraging, I don’t have much experience at the highest level therefore I still have a lot to learn” he explains. “I’m constantly discovering new situations. I’m improving, I’m working… I know that it takes time, I need to go through each step one after the other. I’m aiming to finish within the WRC2 top 5 and I’m going to do everything to play one of the main roles, but I’m also aware that the first mission is to get to the end of the rally. I want to show the team that they can count on me and to reward them for all of the work they’ve done.”
379.03km of timed sections are awaiting the Team ORECA’s drivers at this 2015 Deutschland Rally where, for the first time, two identical cars will be entered for Eric Camilli and Teemu Suninen.