With the 2019 season now two thirds complete, the FIA European Historic Sporting Rally Championship heads to Italy for Round 7 of 9, the Rally Alpi Orientali Historic on 30/31 August. The battle for the four category titles is now even more intense following the results from the only gravel rally on the calendar, round 6 which was the Lahti Historic Rally in Finland.
Category 1: Parisi and Graham now neck and neck
With Antonio Parisi and Giuseppe D’Angelo (Porsche 911S) electing to miss the Lahti Historic Rally, Ernie and Karen Graham (Ford Escort Twin Cam) had the opportunity to close the gap to the Italians. It was an opportunity the British crew didn’t squander and duly took the win in Finland. After six rounds the two crews are tied on 89 points each, with Parisi and D’Angelo classified as first due to the countback on finish positions in previous events. Elias Kivitila and Timo Tuominen (BMW 2002 Ti) are third on 71 points.
Category 2: Mylle fails to finish in Finland but still leads the championship
Carlo Mylle (Porsche 911 RSR) still holds the upper hand in the Category 2 battle. The Belgian driver only claimed 1 point in Finland after going off road early on Day 2. Anders and Ingrid Johnsen (Porsche 911 RSR) was leading after the first day but the Swede’s bad luck continued when they went off road on stage 9 trying to avoid the stricken Audi Quattro of overall leader Ville Silvasti, who had rolled the car.
The top EHSRC points scorer in Finland was Villu Mattik and Arvo Maslenikov (VAZ 2101), which moved the Estonians up to 5thin the drivers championship and 4thin the Co-drivers standings on 42 points.
Carlo Mylle is leading on 67 points, 8 points ahead of Paolo Pasutti and 12 ahead of Laslo Mekler.
Category 3: Peltonen and Saarto win in Finland and take championship lead
An overall victory for Esa Peltonen and Jyrki Saarto (Toyota Starlet 1300) on the their home event in Lahti propelled the Finish duo to the top of the championship standings with 78 points. Italian driver ‘Zippo’ (Audi Quattro) finished second overall and moved up to second place in the Category three standings on 72 points. Pentti Veikkanen and Timo Jaakkola (Porsche 911 SC) are currently on 70 points with Karl Wagner and Gerda Zauner (Porsche 911 SC) just behind on 68 points.
Category 4: Will Graham closes the gap after Lahti class victory
Will Graham and Michael Johnston (BMW M3) took maximum points in Finland to close the gap to the leaders with Graham, on 72 points after Lahti, now just one point behind ‘Lucky’ in the Category 4 standings, with Sweden’s Mats Myrsell (Ford Sierra Cosworth) on 56 points in third place.
Michael Johnston is on 47 points in the Co-Driver championship, 26 points behind Fabrizia Pons on 73 points, with Esko Juntilla on 56 points in second place.
Team Trophy: Historic Rally Club Finland extend their lead
Historic Rally Club Finland continues to lead in the Team title competition. The Finnish team are on 199 points after six rounds, with Rododendri Historic Rally on 154. The Flexifly.co.uk Rally Team move up to third on 130 points, going ahead of 2018 Team Champions Scuderia Coppa Amici on 114 points.
CLICK HERE for the current championship classifications after Round 6.
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