After a steady Day Two at Rally Poland for Italian Ralliart Italy driver Max Rendina, he holds second place heading into Day Three a full 32 seconds ahead of third placed Ramon Torres. In rallying, anything can happen at any moment. With only a one minute gap to first placed Juan Carlos Alonso, Rendina’s biggest rival in his campaign to win the 2014 FIA WRC 2 Championship Group N Cup, the Italian is by no means out of the running for the series victory. Only one puncture on the tough Polish gravel could hold up Alonso, but Rendina needs to find the right balance of speed and caution on the remaining 210 competitive kilometres of the event to ensure it isn’t him who falls foul of the treacherous conditions.
Rendina put in a solid performance on Day Two of Rally Poland, picking up two stage wins and coming second on the remaining three tests which ran. With SS7 and SS8 cancelled due to inappropriate conditions, the total itinerary consisted of five stages on Day Two and Rendina approached each one carefully, determined to reach the end of the day unscathed. His strategy of survival paid off, because he achieved his primary goal of completing all the stages without any major troubles. The tough conditions of the Rally Poland stages were not suited to Rendina’s tyres and he again suffered problems with grip stopping him from attaining the traction he needed to push any harder.
r1Even so, he’s pleased to have reached another evening service and to be in a strong position heading into Day Three: “It wasn’t any easy day. It was interesting to cross the border into Lithuania and see the fans there, but it was a long trip and there’s always a tension when we start a day with a remote service in the itinerary, because you know that if you have any big problems, it’ll be tough to be competitive in the afternoon. Lucky for us all went well – now we’re focused on tomorrow!”
Ralliart Italy Team Manager Bruno De Pianto is pleased to see Rendina back in a podium position: “I just hope that Max can hold his position until the end of the event. The conditions here are alien to him and they aren’t easy to navigate for even the most experienced of drivers, but I think he’s doing a good job and I hope he keeps it up!”
