Untouchable Weijs streaks to victory in Germany
Dutch Citroën driver Hans Weijs Jnr and his co-driver Bjorn Degandt (BEL) won the fourth round of the FIA 2010 World Rally Championship by over five minutes at ADAC Rallye Deutschland this weekend. The only challenge posed to the young Dutchman came in the form of fellow Citroën drivers Thierry Neuville (BEL) and Mathieu Arzeno (FRA) who were as quick as expected over the tricky narrow stages in the Mosel vineyards on Day One. Even so, Weijs refused to be phased and won four out of five of the day’s competitive stages. Moreover, when Neuville then retired on SS6 after a blade from his cooling fan broke and went into his radiator and Arzeno was plagued by engine troubles only to retire on SS9 when he ran out of fuel, Weijs was left free to streak to victory untroubled by his fellow competitors.

Second placed Aaron’s Burkart’s (DEU) pleasure at scooping a place on his home podium was matched by frustration, because despite not having any serious problems during the rally, he couldn’t touch Weijs’ pace however hard he pushed his Swift. He did however regain the lead in the J-WRC standings from Kevin Abbring (NLD), after his 21 year-old Dutch rival rolled on the opening stage and had to retire, dropping him to third in the Championship.

The final spot on the podium was snapped up by 17 year-old Karl Kruuda (EST), the youngest ever J-WRC driver and the winner of the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally. Ten years younger than second-placed Burkart, he finished nearly six minutes behind the experienced German, but refused to be defeated no matter hard he found it to negotiate the alien German roads and picked up his second podium position after competing in only four world rallies. The 15 J-WRC points Kruuda took home put him second in the Championship standings, but unfortunately his age prohibits him from competing in a full calendar of nominated Junior events, so Germany marks his last round of 2010.

It was German guest driver Christian Riedemann who came home fourth. The large time gaps which separated the top three continued throughout the field and he arrived nearly four and a half minutes behind Kruuda. The German ADAC Rallye Master Champion was thrilled with his result which was much better than he had expected and to pick up 12 J-WRC points.

DRIVER QUOTES
1st – Hans Weijs Jnr (NLD): “I'm really happy, it was a great weekend for us. We tried to put pressure on the others from the beginning, but then when they made mistakes we were able to relax a little. Even so, we always tried to stay focused because it is very easy to make a mistake in Germany. We missed one event because our engine blew up, but I think we are back on track now. I’m really looking forward to the rest of the season and hope to win the Championship.”

2nd – Aaron Burkart (DEU): “What a tough weekend! Second place is actually very good for the Championship. Unfortunately, Kevin [Abbring] rolled on the first day which meant we didn’t get the chance to fight with him, but luckily he and his co-driver weren’t hurt and it helps my hopes of winning the Championship that he didn’t pick up any points.”

3rd – Karl Kruuda (EST) : “We made a lot of mistakes, but I am really happy because I don’t have any experience on tarmac, so third place is really good for me. This is my last event because I'm too young to drive in France and Spain. J-WRC has been a really good experience for me, I learned a lot and I hope to be back next year!”

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