Daniel Oliveira finished the second day in Germany with a high performance

RSL Staff

– August 25, 2012Posted in: Brazil WRT, News, WRC

The Brazilian driver bounced back from a mechanical issue in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC and finished the day in high spirits.

The BWRT’s crew members Daniel Oliveira and Carlos Magalhaes had to fight hard to complete the second day of the Rally of Germany. They bounced back from a mechanical issue in their Ford Fiesta RS WRC and finished the day in high spirits.

Weather conditions and tire choice was quite an issue at the beginning of the second day of action of the ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Most of the drivers took a gamble on dry weather and left the Service Park with hard compound tires but as soo n as SS7 got underway heavy rain was reported in the stage. “We had a big moment in fifth gear in a fast section in a long corner. We went completely sideways. It was very difficult“, said Oliveira.

As the next stages took drivers to the East of Trier, weather conditions improved to enable Daniel to start finding a better pace. He set an encouraging 15th fastest time -19,7s off the lead- on SS8 held in the Saarland’s woodland before heading to Birkenfeld for a 15-minute remote service to prepare for the scary 46.54 km of the Arena Panzerplatte stage.

Despite enduring some transmission problems in his Ford Fiesta while running through the Baumholder military reserve he was able to complete this demanding test and return back to the Service Park at Trier placed 38th overall after climbing five positions.

The Stohl Racing team which runs Oliveira’s Ford Fie sta RS WRC made a great effort to repair the damage at the midday service at Trier and the Brazilian driver could continue in the competition but with a 3m40s penalty.

For the repeated stages Daniel enjoyed a trouble-free run through and was able to improve considerably his pace. He edged closer the top-ten fastest times on SS10, SS11 and SS12 which enabled him to climb to the 32nd position overall.

“It was a really difficult day. In the first two stages we were at the mercy of the weather. We almost lost two minutes in the first one. We had another big moment on the first pass through the long stage. We had to struggle to complete it and the team made a great job then. We continued rallying and that was important to us. I really enjoyed the stages of the afternoon. I felt really comfortable“, stated Daniel.

Tomorrow’s route. On Sunday the drivers will tackle back-to-back passes through the 30km Dhrontal test -with a regrouping in between-to finally challenge the Circus Maximus Power Stage in the narrow streets of the ancient Roman city of Trier.

Photo: BWRT|Lavadinho