First Fessman lost nearly a minute and half on SS9, the first stage of the day, when he stopped to help a fellow competitor allowing Vallario to move in front and dropping the Ralliart Italy driver to third. However, Trivino then started to lose time on the afternoon loop allowing both Vallario and Fessman to move past him. The three drivers lie in 41st, 42nd and 43rd overall with only 40 seconds dividing them.
Fessman needs to make up under 10 seconds to take the victory in the Production Cup on his first WRC Tarmac event and is delighted with his progress this weekend: ”_It was a long and tough day. I really enjoyed it and feel I’m improving stage-by-stage, but there’s a new challenge every corner! I’m happy to be second, but it’s a pity I lost nearly a minute and a half when I stopped to help another crew on SS9, because victory would have been in my sights! Still we’ll try our hardest tomorrow and hope for the best.”_
Team Manager Bruno De Pianto is impressed with Fessman’s untroubled pass through the thirteen competitive stages run so far: ”It was a difficult day. Baumholder is one of the hardest tests in the WRC and Carlos passed through the stage without any problems. Of course the rally isn’t over until the final Time Control, but so far so good. It would be fantastic to see Carlos get a good result in the Production Cup here in Germany – I really think he deserves it! He’s a doing Venezuela proud, let’s hope he can seal his position tomorrow.”
