“Control emotions” in Fafe to avoid accidents – AutoLook

“It is difficult to predict the landing place after the jump” This is what Miguel Correia (Skoda Fábia), a Portuguese driver who has already done the section several times, says.

carlos.sousa@autolook.pt

Pilots participating in the 56th edition of the Vodafone Rally de Portugal must “control their emotions” in order not to “break the paint” and avoid an accident on the jump of a seated stone, in Fafe, on the final special of the race.

The one who says that is Miguel Correia (Skoda Fábia), a Portuguese driver who has already done the section several times, but in the Portuguese Championship race and who, this Sunday, will pass there for the first time in a World Cup race.

“The shaking will be different, the human figure is bigger, it will be more fun. I will try to control my emotions, do things a little more intelligently, because, after the jump, the qualification ends right there. We will try to control the emotions», promised the tests from Braga.

Considered one of the “hardest jumps in the championship” by several riders, this last part of the Fafe section, which also serves as a “power step” (which distributes 15 points for five very quickly), has already destroyed several races theirs.

Let the Portuguese Nuno Pinto (Citroën C3) say so, who was excited the first time he passed there, in 2004, in the National race: «I have bad memories, because in 2004 I jumped a lot and broke the box. It was at a national conference. We have to be careful at first [passagem] and fly higher in seconds,” the pilot said.

Miguel Correia emphasizes that “jumping is too big”: “If we go too fast, we can fall on our nose and damage the front of the car, the radiators. We have to jump a little slower, but with the accelerator at full speed so that the car remains stable», he explains , adding that he prefers to go down “one gear” before arriving on the scene.

“As a rule, I slow down a few meters before, when breaking, and then it’s full speed,” he emphasized. Also not keeping good memories of that time is the Englishman Gus Greensmith (Skoda Fábia), who, in 2019, was taken and destroyed the Ford Fiesta WRC he was driving at the time.

“Fafe Leap? I had a terrible accident here a few years ago,” recalls the Briton, who, however, sees it as “one of the best jumps of the year”.

“It’s not easy, but it’s always a special moment,” says the driver, who now participates in the WRC2 category, with the Skoda Fábia Rally 2: “Because of the public you want to jump big, but in a real rally. car, not in these [WRC2]», he laughed.

The Finnish Esapekka Lappi (Hyundai i20) also has no good memories of going through the mythical part of the world championship: «I jumped in the first year, in 2017, but I don’t want to repeat it. . It was interesting, but the landing was very difficult», he says. However, he continues to say that «you have to break the brakes very hard first».

“If we go four kilometers an hour faster than we should, it will go wrong. It is difficult to predict the landing place. It is better to go slowly, also because there are many spectators. In 2017, since there were many people, I wanted to put on a show, but it didn’t go well», he insists.

Lappi, who is used to jumping many Finnish tracks, assures that this one is quite unique: “This is a bigger jump, and there is a curve after it. In Finland, we also have a lot of jumps, but we don’t go high, we jump more, but not high», he says.

Japanese Takamoto Katsuta (Toyota Yaris), already with little to gain in terms of classification, admits that the pressure to increase points in the “power stage” can be when it comes to putting on a show.

“We cannot go from the nail to the ground. If we go in, we land in the audience area. There are many different jumps in the championship. But in this one, if one jumps too much, he will lose the way, for sure. It looks like a simple jump, but it is not easy to do. It is better to go down in the middle of the song», he warns.

A minor concern is Finn Kalle Rovanperä (Toyota Yaris). The world champion won there last year, and won the Rally of Portugal: “It’s a great jump. It’s amazing with all the fans there. The technique depends on the need we need to force the tempo or not, but it’s always good to jump for the fans», he concluded.

The most experienced is Armindo Araújo (Skoda Fábia), who is already participating in the 18th Vodafone Rally de Portugal and has competed in that section several times in national competitions: «It is a jump that must be taken conservatively, which is wonderful to do, the car has character wonderful. It tends to “stick” forward and does not land well», he emphasizes.

Araújo remembers that «many accidents have happened there and many races have ended». For this reason, he decides, “as a rule, never take too many risks”.

This Sunday, the riders will pass for the first time on the special area of ​​Fafe, with 11.18 kilometers, starting at 8:35 am. The second and last session starts at 12:15 pm.

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