Suninen leads Meeke by 0.9s after Ceredigion night stages

Teemu Suninen and Antti Haapala lead the JDS Machinery Rali Ceredigion by 0.9 seconds after Friday’s four night stages, while Max McRae and Cameron Fair hold the British Rally Championship lead by two seconds over Osian Pryce and James Morgan.

Suninen/Haapala (Skoda Fabia RS Rally2) began the FIA European Rally Championship’s sixth round by setting the fastest time in the 6.41-kilometre Pendam qualifying stage. Their time of 3m52.9s secured first road position after earlier rain left the test exceptionally slippery. Suninen said the reverse-direction running could bring “some muddy surprises”.

Miko Marczyk was second in 3m54.4s and Kris Meeke/Noel O’Sullivan (Toyota GR Yaris Rally2) third in 3m55.0s. Meeke, returning to competitive ERC action for the first time in 20 years, said before the start that a top-three finish would be very good. He had already described the tyre choice as difficult in the conditions. Andrea Mabellini/Virginia Lenzi and Simone Tempestini completed the qualifying-stage top five, while Pryce’s left-rear tyre came off its rim after he struck a bank at the water splash.

Suninen turns the night stages

The rally began with two runs around the Aberystwyth super special from 19:05. Meeke/O’Sullivan shared the quickest time on SS1 with Mabellini/Lenzi (Lancia Ypsilon Rally2 HF Integrale), then went 0.3 seconds clear on the repeat pass.

Suninen/Haapala moved ahead by taking 2.5 seconds from Meeke/O’Sullivan on the 6.28-kilometre Elerch stage, SS3, and were quickest again on SS4 Blaenmelindwr. The Skoda crew ended the night 0.9 seconds ahead of Meeke/O’Sullivan, with Marczyk third and Jakub Matulka fourth, 2.4 seconds behind the leader.

“It was super-difficult,” Suninen said. “The battle is really nice, Kris is doing a really great job.” He said he had struggled to read the grip level and would have to weigh up the fight with Meeke against the championship position over the remaining two days.

Meeke said: “What a start to the rally. I think the last time I did a Tarmac stage in the dark was Rallye Monte-Carlo in 2019.” He added that there was “a long way to go” with two full days remaining.

Suninen arrived in Ceredigion with a 25-point FIA European Rally Championship lead. A 36-point margin over his nearest rival at the end of the rally would secure the title before the Portugal finale. Mabellini started the event 25 points behind the provisional leader, with 70 points still available across the remaining rounds, and said: “One person told me never give up until the end and there’s still a long way to go.” The Italian had finished third on each of his previous two Ceredigion starts.

McRae ahead in British championship contest

McRae/Fair were sixth overall despite auxiliary-light problems on SS4. Their road position had been compromised by a qualifying-stage puncture, but the Skoda crew took a two-second British Rally Championship advantage over Pryce/Morgan into the overnight halt.

Junior and ERC3 battles

Timo Schulz leads the FIA Junior ERC category by 4.3 seconds from Ioan Lloyd after the opening four stages. Lloyd, making a one-off return in an Opel Corsa Rally4, won SS3 to take the lead before Schulz regained it on SS4. Tom Heindrichs/Jonas Schmitz are third, completing an Opel Corsa Rally4 top three.

Heindrichs, the ERC4 and Junior ERC standings leader before the start, had received a 10-second penalty after SS2 for what he described as “something not working in the car”. Davide Pesavento rolled from third place on SS4 and is out of contention for a second win of the season.

Casey Jay Coleman leads FIA ERC3 by 0.5 seconds from Ville Vatanen in Ford Fiesta Rally3 machinery, with Kalum Graffin third and 2.1 seconds covering the leading three. Charlie Tuthill took his first ERC3 stage win on SS1.

Saturday begins with the 12.02-kilometre Aberffrwd stage at 08:55, followed by Soar y Mynydd and Cwm Elan before two further runs through Aberystwyth.

For Saturday’s action, see our Saturday day two report.