GRX Taneco take Silverstone performance 'on the chin'

PHOTO CREDIT: GRX Taneco.

Gronholm RX Taneco had a difficult outing at the World RX of Great Britain this weekend. Joni Wiman finishing 8th and Timur Timerzyanov 11th at the purpose-built Silverstone World RX track.

After a dominant outing at Spa-Francorchamps, with a win and a third-place finish. The Finnish squad did not have the weekend that they had expected in Silverstone.

“Rallycross weekends are always full of emotions. Sometimes it’s joy, sometimes it’s disappointment," said GRX Taneco Team Manager Jussi Pinomäki. This is one weekend where we experienced both. We know we are in a position to fight for the lead, but this weekend we were not able to fully capitalize on that." 

Joni Wiman struggled with the setup on the first day but found pace on Sunday. Timur Timerzyanov also had some mixed results in the qualifying heats getting tangled in several close on-track battles.

Wiman received a late call-up to replace Niclas Gronholm who is still recovering from an appendicitis operation. “It was a late call for me to step in for Niclas and I tried to do my best but struggled with rhythm and set-up for this track," he said.

"Eventually, I must say that the front row for the Semi-final was a satisfying result.”  

The Finn had a reasonably good start in the semi-final but got pushed to the outside on the run to turn two, where Baumanis and Doran where fighting for position. Baumanis lead into the corner after the jump but pushed Doran wide. Wiman tried to slip on the inside of the RX Cartel driver, but he shut the door and Wiman hit the tyre barrier causing him to roll the i20 Supercar bringing out the red flag and damaging the front right suspension. 

“In the Semi-final it all got very messy, very fast. Baumanis and Doran were fighting hard for the position and after the big jump, I saw an opportunity and went for it. Unfortunately got squeezed on to the tyre barrier and rolled the car,” he concluded.

After the superb performance at Spa-Francorchamps, Timur Timerzyanov expected to have another strong performance in Silverstone but he was caught up in racing battles that cost him valuable time. 

“I was concentrating on my own race, but this weekend my result was not entirely decided by me," said Timerzyanov. 

"Next-up is race in Hell, Norway, and that is one of my favorite tracks in the championship so we need to focus on that now."

TEXT - Junaid Samodien