The Sardinian World Rally Championship is run in temperatures of almost 40 degrees. In the new Rally1 cars, the exhaust pipes run inside the cars and further heat the cars.
Tomi Tuominen,
Matti Lehtisaari
The World Rally Championship in Sardinia starts on Thursday. Pre-moods and EK 1 will start at TV2 and Areena at 6.30 pm.
The World Rally Championship points will be fought this week in the fierce toast of Sardinia. Temperatures are projected to approach readings of up to 40 degrees. Toyota driver leading the World Series Kalle Rovanperä waiting for torturous days.
– The temperatures seem like I wouldn’t want to be in the car, but then there’s nothing for it. There have been a lot of problems with the car’s ventilation, we have tried a little bit of everything in the tests, Rovanperä said.
Rovanperä will be the first to start on the route again. In Portugal, this did not stop a young Finn either, but now the challenges are perhaps even tougher.
– In Portugal, it felt like I was able to patch up when it was still cool in the morning. The roads were different too, there was more room to use the road. But there are narrow and technical roads here all the time, so you can’t make a terrible patch while driving, Rovanperä estimates.
Stable friend Esapekka Lapland has prepared for the heat by wearing overalls on the sauna.
– Seat suit in the sauna. It was definitely a really good thing, because the car is undeniably very warm. Yes, there is a sweat, Lapland said.
Special trade-offs with exhaust pipes
Special compromises have been made on the new Rally1 cars. Exhaust pipes run inside the cars and further heat the cars from the map reader side.
Sports Expert Miikka Anttila sees that such problems will not be resolved very quickly.
– If and when I do, it will be difficult to fix it, at least in no short time. Insulation can be made, but yes the heat will eventually remain in the car’s structures, Anttila estimates.
Anttila expects that the wild heat could bring problems to the hybrid units in the cars.
– There were no problems with car temperatures in Portugal, but now that we are going to extreme conditions, I would not be surprised if there were problems now, Anttila thought.
Anttila reminds that driving days are really long, especially in Sardinia.
– Let’s go really early in the morning and get service late in the evening. If the heat is almost 40 degrees, then there will be really exhausting days, Anttila predicts.