Ken Torn and Kauri Pannas guided their Ecoboost-powered Fiesta Rally4 to their second 2020 ERC3 and ERC3 Junior victory on Rally Liepaja, the second round of the FIA European Rally Championship. An M-Sport Poland built Fiesta Rally4 occupied every position on the ERC3 and ERC3 Junior podium, the first Rally4 car to claim such a feat on a major international rally. The next highest placed ERC3 car was another M-Sport Poland car, the 2019 Fiesta R2T, underlining the successful platform the Fiesta Rally4 was developed on.
The new M-Sport Poland Fiesta Rally4 was dominant throughout, setting the fastest time in every timed session of the rally in ERC3, taking every stage win along the way to locking out the podium. Martins Sesks and Renars Francis gave the Estonian crew of Torn and Pannas a close fight for the lead on the opening day.
Torn and Sesks continued to trade stage wins throughout Sunday at a blistering pace, separated by just 1.1 seconds at the end of stage eight. Stage nine saw the battle rage on with both charging hard until Sesks’ hard work ultimately came undone by over jumping and damaging his front end. Sesks brought his Fiesta Rally4 home to take second on the stage but would retire his car on the road section due to radiator damage. By the finish on Sunday, Torn and Pannas took victory ahead of Radstrom and co-driver Johan Johansson who claimed a well deserved second on their fist visit to Liepaja with clean stages throughout the weekend.
Torn and Pannas have now scored maximum points in the ERC3 and ERC3 Junior Championship so far this season making them championship leaders with 80 points and a 34-point advantage over Radstrom and Johansson in second.
Rounding out the podium in his Pirelli-shod Fiesta Rally4 was World RX star, Reinis Nitiss, on his first international event since making the switch to rallying.
M-Sport Poland built Fiestas were a cut above the rest on Rally Liepaja, a 2019 Fiesta R2T driven by Gregor Jeets was the next highest placed car outside of the top three Fiesta Rally4s. Jeets was able to fend off competition from other Rally4 cars highlighting the strong foundations from which the new Fiesta Rally4 was born.
Maciej Woda, M-Sport Poland Team Director: « I cannot think of a better or more deserving result for our fantastic Fiesta Rally4, locking out the podium and taking the fastest time on every stage in ERC3 including qualifying and practice! Ken and Kauri have once again proved themselves to be a cut above the rest and delivering exactly what was needed to take victory. Martins and Renars really showed some great speed on Liepaja too which makes the return of the Junior WRC Championship in Estonia a very exciting prospect. I am really happy to see Dennis and Johan finish on the podium too, after a puncture cost them everything in Rome, they have proven their raw pace here in Liepaja. We have gone from being locked down at home to locking down the podium on the Fiesta Rally4’s second international outing in the space of only a couple of months. This result is a resounding endorsement for all of the hard work and effort by the team in Kraków that were working flat out behind the scenes since we started development on the Rally4 car. We are seeing the rewards now and so too are our customers, with Reinis Nitiss taking his first ERC podium in his Fiesta Rally4. »
Ken Torn (1st in ERC3 and ERC3J): « We are happy to win, this morning was quite tough and I didn’t think it would be our day but step by step it got better and ended really nice. We did it again and won the rally, everything was brilliant, the M-Sport Poland Fiesta Rally4 was working well and we were really happy with our driving. We are really thankful to the team and our sponsors who helped us to get here, we enjoyed the weekend a lot. »
Dennis Rådström (2nd in ERC3 and ERC3J): « We had a really good weekend in the Fiesta Rally4 car, some ups and downs for me with my driving. It is my first time here and there is a lot to learn, we span too much on some junctions and lacked of confidence. Martins and Ken were really flying this weekend, but we scored some really good points here and next year we will be more confident. »
Press release M-Sport
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