Davy Jeanney made good use of his older Citroën C4 SuperCar to claim a second fastest as well as a fastest time, placing him on top of Saturday’s following order, ahead of Alexander Hvaal and Liam Doran in a tie.
Saturday started with Petter Solberg clearly setting the pace. In early timed “Free Practice” the 2003 World Rally Champion was more than a second faster than his opponents, till it was Timmy Hansen who was able to give his make-colleague some competition. The Swede was for a while ahead of the Norwegian, but when the two and a half hours of practice came to an end it was “Hollywood” who topped the time-keeper’s list again.
Jeanney: It doesn’t look as if the young Frenchman needs urgently one of the newer DS3 SuperCars. With his older C4 Davy Jeanney is still well prepared and playing with the music. In the 1st heat he finished as runner-up to Liam Doran, but in the 2nd heat he set the fastest time of the day. “The day ended much better than it began, seen that my engine broke in this morning’s practice after only three laps.” Since the team replaced the collapsed motor Jeanney needs to collect a lot of points in Hungary, as he gets 15 of them dropped as the penalty for changing a motor during the event.
Hvaal: The Norwegian is becoming a stronger force of Hansen Motorsport, today scoring a 3rd and a 4th fastest time to place himself on 2nd place of the Saturday standings. “After Day 1 we are 2nd overall. A great day for us here in Hungary! Will give it 100% tomorrow,” expressed the Citroën DS3 SuperCar driver his joy after racing was done.
Doran: Liam was in top form during the 1st qualifying heats, powering his Citroën DS3 SuperCar to an impressive fastest time. The Brit was more than a second faster than runner-up Jeanney and another second quicker than third placed Hvaal. However, in the 2nd runs Doran Junior was too eager to repeat his success. He jumped the start and, therefore, was penalised to do a second Joker Lap. With the result that he found himself back only in 6th place after the race, but in a very good 2nd position after the day. Both, Doran and Hvaal are currently in a tie with 7 points each.
Solberg: After his perfect practice result the 1st heat finished with a poor 6th place, due to suspension problems. “The left front hub broke in a first corner fight. The car was very difficult to drive after that,” claimed the Rallycross returnee later on. However, the 2nd heat ended even worse with 10th place in the race and 8th overnight position. Petter Solberg: “The main problem we faced today was obviously the engine misfire, which has been affecting us from the start. Tonight we need to go through absolutely everything on the car to try and find the basic cause of the problem. I know that everyone will be trying their very hardest to solve it because we have the very best guys in the business in our team. Once we’ve done that we’ll come back fighting tomorrow. Nothing is lost yet and you know me – I never give up!”
In the 2nd heat the trio Bakkerud, Hedström and Scott went into a fight for the first corner that resulted in a bad crash and the immediate retirement of all three drivers. The re-start saw only Stig-Olov Walfridsson and Michaël De Keersmaecker racing again, but not for long. After a short tussle with the Belgian Peugeot driver the Swedish Renault campaigner chased the 208, but crashed his Clio Mk3 so hard against the track wall that even the rollcage of the car was damaged and is now due to an inspection by the FIA scrutineers.
Austrian Klaus Freudenthaler drove his Škoda Fabia Mk1 to the fastest time of the 1st heat in Super1600s. The best time of the 2nd heat was claimed by Swedish youngster Kevin Eriksson. But at the top of the S1600s following order is currently Latvian Reinis Nitišs to be found, who scored a 3rd time in Heat 1 and a 2nd time in Heat 2. The TouringCars category was under full control of Irishman Derek Tohill who bagged twice the fastest time here. Before qualification continues tomorrow at 10.15 CEST the Ford Fiesta Mk7 man tops the overnight standings with the minimum score of 2 points, ahead of the two Swedes Robin Larsson and Daniel Lundh. The JRX category started its shorter European season today in Hungary with just four competitors. Swedish teenager Magda Andersson teached her three male opponents quite a lesson, the girl drove her “Mercedes A-class” vehicle to twice the fastest qualifying time.
More pictures to be found in our Gallery here.
Situation in SuperCars after Day 1 here.
Situation in Super1600s after Day 1 here.
Situation in TouringCars after Day 1 here.
Day 1 video highlights.
