The nearly 30-kilometre-long Stańczyki special stage, which kicked off Friday morning, proved to be the downfall for Hyundai’s Ott Tänak. Starting second on the road, Tänak was forced to retire after sustaining damage to the front of his car. According to unconfirmed reports, the Estonian had collided with a deer, causing severe damage to the car’s front end.
Tänak’s journey ended there, and his co-driver Martin Järveoja was visibly furious. TV footage showed Järveoja throwing his pace notes onto the dashboard in frustration immediately after the crash.
Thierry Neuville, who was the first on the road and the current championship leader, only learned at the finish line that his teammate Tänak had retired.
“Good that they are okay. That is, of course, the most important thing,” Neuville said at the end of the stage.
“It’s a massive cleaning. Compared to the recce it is a completely different stage. It’s much drier, it was very humid during recce. No chance,” the Belgian complained.
Toyota’s Kalle Rovanperä’s prospects were not ideal due to incomplete preparation, but the Finn immediately showed why he is a two-time world champion. The Finn beat Ford’s Adrien Fourmaux’s top time by 0.1 seconds at the finish.
“It’s f*cking difficult! I don’t remember anything from the stages, but we’ll go with it,” Rovanperä exclaimed at the finish.
However, Rovanperä’s top time did not last long. The stage cleaned significantly towards the end, and Hyundai’s Andreas Mikkelsen took advantage of his good starting position. The Norwegian achieved a fine result after a long time and set a time 7.6 seconds faster than Rovanperä on the opening stage.
“Of course, this gives confidence, but I also had a good starting position. I need to take advantage of that moving forward. Let’s keep pushing,” Mikkelsen planned.
Then something remarkable happened. Martins Sesks, debuting in M-Sport’s Ford Rally1 car, started Friday brilliantly. Despite his car lacking a hybrid unit, he was only 0.3 seconds off Mikkelsen’s pace.
Sesks only found out at the finish how well he had performed and was left speechless. The Latvian, who had risen to second in the competition, stared incredulously at the interviewer upon hearing his time.
“What? Okay. Why so fast? I have to think now,” a happy Sesks pondered at the end of the stage.
Rally Poland will feature six more special stages on Friday. The competition concludes on Sunday.
Rally Poland Standings after SS2/19:
| POS | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Andreas Mikkelsen | Hyundai | 16:39.0 |
| 2. | Martins Sesks | Ford | +2.2 |
| 3. | Kalle Rovanperä | Toyota | +7.9 |
| 4. | Adrien Fourmaux | Ford | +8,0 |
| 4. | Elfyn Evans | Toyota | +8.0 |
| 6. | Gregoire Munster | Ford | +12.8 |
| 7. | Takamoto Katsuta | Toyota | +19.1 |
| 8. | Thierry Neuville | Hyundai | +21.2 |
| 9. | Sami Pajari | Toyota | +46.3 |
| 10. | Joshua McErlean | Skoda | +49.7 |
| 11. | Kajetan Kajetanowicz | Skoda | +51.3 |
| 12. | Robert Virves | Skoda | +52.3 |
Rally Poland Itinerary (CET):
Thursday 27.6. 10:01 Shakedown: Lubiewo (5.10 km) 19:05 SS1: Mikołajki Arena 1 (2.50 km) Friday 28.6. 08:45 SS2: Stańczyki 1 (29.40 km) 10:20 SS3: Wieliczki 1 (12.90 km) 11:10 SS4: Olecko 1 (13.20 km) 14:05 SS5: Stańczyki 2 (29.40 km) 15:40 SS6: Wieliczki 2 (12.90 km) 16:30 SS7: Olecko 2 (13.20 km) 19:00 SS8: Mikołajki Arena 2 (2.50 km) Saturday 29.6. 08:30 SS9: Świętajno 1 (18.50 km) 09:45 SS10: Gołdap 1 (19.90 km) 10:35 SS11: Czarne 1 (22.40 km) 13:25 SS12: Mikołajki Arena 3 (2.50 km) 16:00 SS13: Świętajno 2 (18.50 km) 17:15 SS14: Gołdap 2 (19.90 km) 18:05 SS15: Czarne 2 (22.40 km) Sunday 30.6. 09:00 SS16: Gmina Mrągowo 1 (20.80 km) 10:05 SS17: Mikołajki 1 (10.73 km) 12:20 SS18: Gmina Mrągowo 2 (20.80 km) 14:15 SS19: Mikołajki 2 (10.73 km) *Power Stage
