- Tristan Bailey takes second consecutive win
- Bob de Jong finishes fourth in Belgium and now leads championship
- Raimonds Kisiels finishes third overall in Latvia
Last weekend gave the team at MML Sports plenty of reasons to celebrate, thanks to excellent results for three drivers competing in their MML Sports-prepared cars on events spread across Europe. Tristan Bailey built on his recent form, securing his second consecutive win in his Mitsubishi Lancer WRC on the UK-based TSH stages. Raimonds Kisiels completed the Talsi Rally in Latvia in third overall, also in a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC while Bob de Jong completed the Belgian Sezoens Rally in fourth position in another Lancer WRC, earning him the championship lead to boot.
There was tough competition throughout the UK-based TSH Stages for Tristan Bailey and co-driver, James How. However, Bailey continued to build on the experience of his previous two seasons and show the same winning form that he’d shown at the previous event, taking the stage win some five times over the course of the weekend.
Bailey also secured top three finishes on the stages in which he narrowly missed out on winning, which added up to an impressive and event-winning pace over the course of the weekend, finishing the event 1m33s ahead of the nearest driver, Josh Payton.
In Latvia, Raimonds Kisiels completed the Talsi Rally in third overall, just 31.4s behind the event winner and FIA World Rally Championship regular, Ott Tanak. It was a difficult event, with heavy downpours on stages three and four causing the screen of the Lancer WRC to mist up quicker than the car’s demister could cope with, leaving Kisiels driving almost blind for two stages.
He suffered more misfortune on the final stage of the event, being held up by the car in front that was suffering a puncture. Kisiels was confident he could have secured second overall but was happy with third, given the challenges he faced over the weekend.
In Belguim, Bob de Jong completed the Seozens Rally in fourth position. He showed fantastic pace throughout the event, consistently bringing his MML Sports-prepared Mitsubishi Lancer WRC over the stage finish in a top three position despite facing tough competition.
The overall result was hampered by de Jong suffering a puncture on the eighth stage though, resulting in the car crossing the finish 43rd. He was back on form for the final four stages though, finishing three in third and one in fourth and despite the puncture on stage 8, now leads the championship overall.
Commenting after the weekend, MML Sports Managing Director, John Easton, said: “We’re really happy with the results from the weekend. All the drivers finished and finished well. We’re really happy for Tristan, who’s really starting show very good pace and put his experience to good use. He’s consistently proving himself as a quick driver and we’re looking forward to seeing him progress further.
“Raimonds’ pace in Latvia was also excellent, especially considering the unchangeable factors he was faced with, like the sudden heavy rain and being held up. He seems to be really happy with the car which is the main thing and we’re confident he’ll be able to get back to winning ways before long.
“We’re also happy to have a championship leader in Bob. He had a great rally with his usual consistent pace throughout the event – it was only the puncture that slowed him down really. But again, we’re very happy that he is now leading the title fight in Belgium.”