LLARENA WINS IT THEN BINS IT
New European champion hospitalised after high-speed Czech rally crash
Efren Llarena became European champion without turning a wheel last week – then suffered a broken vertebra in a high-speed crash.
The 27-year-old followed Andreas Mikkelsen as the latest ERC title winner when his only challenger, Simone Tempestini, pulled his Barum Czech Rally Zlin entry after he failed to secure enough cash to take part.
But what should have been a highspeed victory parade for Llarena and co-driver Sara Fernandez was cut short when the Spaniards crashed heavily on the third stage of the Tarmac event.
“I hit a pole with the wheel, which caused the steering to break and we went head-on into some tree. Sara is fine, I have a broken vertebra,” said Llarena, who formed part of the Team MRF Tyres line-up.
Of his ERC title success, Llarena, who Motorsport News highlighted as a driver to watch in a 2020 feature, said: “It’s a dream which started four years ago when we were the first crew to compete in the ERC with the colours of Rallye Team Spain. We achieved the ERC3 Junior championship and also the ERC3 championship and now, to get the overall title, it’s fantastic.”
After finishing runner-up to Mikkelsen in the ERC last season, Llarena attracted support from Indian tyre firm MRF for 2022.
After a troubled start to his campaign in Fafe, Llarena scored his maiden ERC victory in the Azores, also a first for MRF.
“This is a very important year for MRF,” Llarena said. “We tried our best and put all our effort into the tyre development, we worked really hard in one direction. It has been great work from everyone: the engineers, the team and everybody who has been involved.”
For Fernandez, who was given the all-clear following a check-up in hospital, this is her second ERC title due to Mikkelsen being partnered by several co-drivers in 2021.
Llarena, the first Spanish ERC champion since Antonio Zanini in 1980, now faces a battle to be fit for the European championship finale, which has been scheduled to run as part of his country’s World championship counter, albeit over three days rather than four, from October 20-22.
ERC boss Iain Campbell said Llarena and Fernandez had “performed exceptionally all season” before revealing that WRC Promoter, which promotes the European championship, had tried but failed to get Tempestini on the start ramp in Zlin in order to prolong the title battle beyond round seven.
“We actively pursued all opportunities to guarantee Simone Tempestini’s participation in the event,” Campbell said. “We did this to ensure our full support for the rally and for the championship.”
Despite missing the trip to Zlin, multiple Romanian champion Tempestini is due to contest Spain’s ERC decider next month.