Already certain to finish first in the championship*, Quentin Gilbert and Renaud Jamoul racked up their fifth
win from six starts in the FIA Junior WRC category.
– They secured victory at the RallyRACC Catalunya – Costa Daurada in their DS 3 R3-MAX, ahead of Terry Folb/Franck Le Floch and Simone
Tempestini/Matteo Chiarcossi.
– The final event of the season, Wales Rally GB, will be held on 12-15 November. After winning Rallye Monte-Carlo, in Portugal, Finland and France, Quentin Gilbert came into the Spanish round aiming for the same result.
At the start of the only mixed-surface event (gravel/tarmac) on the calendar, he was also the first to spring into action. With his DS 3
R3-MAX in gravel configuration, he set the fastest time on Thursday evening’s opening stage held in the streets of Barcelona. Behind him,
the Norwegian Ole Christian Veiby and the Italian Simone Tempestini finished ahead of Pierre-Louis Loubet, Terry Folb, Federico Della Casa
and Mohammed Al Mutawaa.
On Friday morning, the DS 3 R3-MAXs were back on gravel. Simone Tempestini and Ole Christian Veiby took it in turns to top the timesheets,
but Quentin Gilbert remained in first position. On the longest stage of the opening morning, the Frenchman set the fastest time, whilst
Ole Christian Veiby was forced to retire when running in second place after hitting a bridge. With no midday service, the drivers were
only allowed to change tyres before tackling the second loop. The head-to-head scrap between Simone Tempestini and Quentin Gilbert
continued. With three consecutive stage wins, the Italian closed the gap to first position, before Gilbert hit back on the second run on
Terra Alta (35.68km).
At the end of the opening leg on gravel, Quentin Gilbert held a 17.9-second lead over Simone Tempestini. Third-placed Mohammed Al Mutawaa
was over a minute back, followed by Terry Folb, Federico Della Casa and Pierre-Louis Loubet.
On Saturday morning, following the conversion of the DS 3 R3-MAXs to tarmac configuration, Quentin Gilbert had his first issue. He spent
three minutes trying to start his car in order to leave the morning service, handing first place to Simone Tempestini. He then picked up a
puncture on SS11 as he attempted to make up the time lost.
At the half-way stage of the rally, Simone Tempestini held a lead of close to two minutes over Quentin Gilbert, with third-placed Terry
Folb another minute further back.
Quentin Gilbert then set off in pursuit of the leader. He went fastest on SS12 and reclaimed first place in the overall standings after
SS13 when Simone Tempestini picked up a puncture of his own and lost precious time changing the wheel.
Whilst Gilbert looked to be winning the battle for first position, Ole Christian Veiby racked up a series of stage wins. Having rejoined
under Rally 2 rules on Saturday morning thanks to his team’s hard work, the Norwegian grabbed four stage wins, compared with three for
Gilbert and one for Folb during day two.
Quentin Gilbert held first place on Saturday evening, leading Terry Folb by more than a minute. Simone Tempestini was third, followed by
Mohammed Al Mutawaa, Pierre-Louis Loubet, Federico Della Casa and Ole Christian Veiby.
The overall standings remained unchanged after the final leg. Simone Tempestini topped the timesheets on two tests, whilst Quentin
Gilbert, Terry Folb and Ole Christian Veiby all claimed a stage win apiece. Gilbert went on to win his fifth rally of the season, ahead of
Terry Folb and Simone Tempestini. Mohammed Al Mutawaa recorded his best result so far with fourth, finishing ahead of Pierre-Louis Loubet,
Federico Della Casa and Ole Christian Veiby.
QUOTE, UNQUOTE
Quentin Gilbert: “The rally started pretty well, but we lost time due to a puncture. As soon as we reclaimed first position, it was
important to control the race. I’m really pleased with our performance and with our season. The whole team has done a fantastic job. We
have ended up winning five out of six races this year in the FIA Junior WRC!”
Terry Folb: “I’m very happy to finish on the podium, like in Corsica. The results are starting to come, both on gravel and tarmac. We had
a few minor issues, but the team has done an excellent job throughout. With my co-driver Franck Le Floch, we’re improving all the time. I
was really looking forward to this rally, because I used to live in Spain. This result is therefore doubly pleasing. I’d also like to
congratulate Quentin for his magnificent season.”
Simone Tempestini: “I’m not pleased with the final result. The puncture cost us a lot of time and our set-up wasn’t right for the first
day on tarmac. The rhythm was much better today and I was able win a couple of stages. The result doesn’t really reflect our true
potential. We’ll now have to go and win in Wales.”
PROVISIONAL OVERALL STANDINGS
1. Quentin Gilbert / Renaud Jamoul 3:45:52.6 2. Terry Folb / Franck Le Floch +1:37.9 3. Simone Tempestini / Matteo Chiarcossi +2:22.6 4. Mohammed Al Mutawaa / Stephen McAuley +7:30.3 5. Pierre-Louis Loubet / Vincent Landais +11:02.9 6. Federico Della Casa / Domenico Pozzi +25:08.8 7. Ole Christian Veiby / Andres Jaeger +31:24.9
FASTEST TIMES
Quentin Gilbert and Ole Christian Veiby, 7 – Simone Tempestini, 6 – Terry Folb, 2. (1 stage cancelled)
LEADERS
SS1 to SS9: Quentin Gilbert SS10 to SS12: Simone Tempestini SS13 to SS23 (finish): Quentin Gilbert
FIA JUNIOR WRC STANDINGS
1. Quentin Gilbert 131 points 2. Simone Tempestini 68 points 3. Ole Christian Veiby 58 points 4. Henri Haapamaki and Terry Folb 48 points 6. Jean-René Perry 32 points 7. Federico Della Casa, Pierre-Louis Loubet and Mohammed Al-Mutawaa 28 points 10. Yohan Rossel 25 points 11. Christian Riedemann and Osian Pryce 18 points 13. Matthieu Margaillan 12 points 14. Alessandro Re, Kornel Lukacs and Jordan Berfa 8 points 17. Jari Huttunen 6 points 18. Charlotte Dalmasso 5 points 19. Daniel McKenna 4 points
NATIONS TROPHY
1. France 137 points 2. Italy 75 points 3. Norway 73 points 4. Finland 51 points 5. Switzerland 42 points 6. United Arab Emirates 35 points 7. Germany and Great Britain 18 points 9. Hungary 16 points 10. Ireland 8 points * Subject to publication of the official results by the FIA.
