Advantage Conde on Bridgestone FIA ecoRally finale
- ecoDolomitesGT rally brings the 2023 all-electric regularity rally season to a close with a snowy and spectacular two-day event
- Four points separate the top three drivers in the points, with double champion Eneko Conde from Spain holding the overnight lead
- Circuit racer Beitske Visser aims to finish high on only her second outing in the series
The grand finale of the all-electric 2023 Bridgestone FIA ecoRally Cup season got underway during the first day of the breathtaking ecoDolomites GT, based in Fiera di Primiero, Italy. Just two weeks after the extravaganza of the E-Rallye Monte Carlo, the competitors crossed from the Alpes Maritimes to the Dolomites for a short, sharp two-day mountain rally with snow underfoot.
Three crews, separated by just four points, all stand to come away from Italy as this year’s champions, and their three cars were at the top of the starting order before the race. Czech driver Michal Zd’arsky and co-driver Jakub Neblek lead the points standings and left the start line first in their Hyundai Kona.
They were followed by the two Kia E-Niros of their pursuers: defending series champion Eneko Conde from Spain and his co-driver Lukas Sergnese and local hero Guido Guerrini, the Italian being co-driven by Poland’s Artur Prusak.
As an all-amateur series formed of regularity rallies in which the crew’s ability to maintain a target average speed within local traffic laws and speed limits is key, the Bridgestone FIA ecoRally Cup is one of the most accessible international motor sport series ever devised. No modifications are permitted to the cars from their showroom specification, and the challenge is to not only match the target times but also to consume the least energy possible.
It sounds easy but renowned circuit racer Beitske Visser is one driver who knows exactly how great the challenge is. The Dutch former W Series vice-champion and endurance racer made her ecoRally Cup debut in Slovenia back in September on the Mahle Eco Rally, where it took time to adapt to the new discipline.
By the end of the final day, however, her scores on each regularity were well inside the top half of the field and she arrived in Italy as a dark horse for honours in the event. “I really came to it with a clean sheet of paper, zero preparation,” she said of her first event.
“But the community in the series is so great, and by talking to the experienced crews, watching and learning from them, I feel like we can show a little better this time.”
That optimism was well-founded, as Visser and her German co-driver Arthur Kammerer, proceeded to climb to fifth overall on the opening tests in their Volvo Polestar 2. Meanwhile out in front, the three-way battle for the championship title was being played out in the top three positions overall on the rally, with only Visser and the Kia E-Niro of Slovenian star Franko Spacapan, winner of his home event, able to challenge.
Nevertheless, as the crews navigated the mountainous afternoon leg, including the famous peak of Passo Rolle, the order began to change shape in snowy conditions. It was the 2021 and 2022 series champion Conde who came to the fore, ahead of Spacapan with Zd’arsky and Guerrini close behind.
Romanian series regulars Mircea Mester and Socariciu Cornel moved up to fifth in their Hyundai Ioniq 5, with fellow veterans Didier Malga and Anne-Valerie Bonnel right behind them in their Kia E-Niro as they moved ahead of Visser.
The second and final day will deliver regularities reaching out to the border with Austria in the Sud Tirol before returning to the rally HQ in Fiera di Primiero.
Once the regularity scores are finalised, there will be the bigger job of downloading all of the data from the FIA’s measurement equipment in order to divine the most energy-efficient competitors in the field. Only then, when the combined score of regularity and consumption is confirmed, will the final order of the event be decided – and so too will be that of the championship itself.