The Junior WRC 2013 championships, which this year are composed of six rallies, offer versatile challenges for all the competitors. All together there are 10 title contenders. Among others there is also one Estonian crew – Sander Pärn and his co-driver Ken Järveoja. A specially designed blue-black-white Ford Fiesta R2 will try to make its way on the podium.
Through the years there have been a number of Estonians competing in the series. Hereby we can name Urmo Aava, Aigar Pärs and Jan Mölder Jun. It´s also worth to notice that in 2007 Aigars Pärs was co-driven by Ken Järveoja. ”It was a very good experience for me at the time. Now I feel far more relaxed and already know what to expect,” said Ken.
Sander doesn´t make a secret about their targets for the upcoming season. ”If we are looking on the season as whole, we are aiming for the top 3 position. To achieve that, we have to get a strong result from every single rally, ”explained Pärn. Sander 21, also noted, that all though it´s important to get valuable points from every rally they also want to show some good speed as well. ”We must find a balance between speed and accurate driving,” said Pärn.
Sander has pretty much made up his mind regarding to the race strategy for Portugal: ”We haven’t rallied against other crews who will start in Junior WRC this year, so therefore we don’t know who is going to be the fastest rivals for us,” explained Pärn. Sander added that it´s clear that the rally Portugal is far from being easy and no one isn´t giving away any seconds easily.
Sander and Ken have also got some knowledge about the rally from previous year when they competed there with a Subaru Impreza. Rally de Portugal is known for its difficult roads and large rocks. ”We had a proper test with a Ford Fiesta in Estonia before the rally. We drove some 200 km, so this was a great help for us before the rally,” said Pärn.
Sander Pärn – Ken Järveoja Ford Fiesta R2 rally car, which is prepared by M-sport, will have its colors taken from Estonian national flag. ”The South-Portuguese hilly terrain is certainly a beautiful sight and a bonus for the fans will be to see a blue-black-white rally car speeding by on its full speed,” said Pärn.
Vodafone Rally de Portugal will start on Thursday morning with a shakedown, followed by official start ceremony on Thursday night. After two days of rallying the juniors will finish their rally on Saturday night.