Catie Munnings - FIA ERC -Rally Poland

Kent rally driver Catie Munnings crashed heavily while leading the ladies at the latest round of the European Rally Championship in Poland at the weekend. 

"It's been a frustrating weekend and a real blow for us. We were pleased to have taken it very steady in qualifying and still ended up 2nd in the Ladies behind Emma Falcon (Citroen DS3 R3 driver) and 9th in the junior Under 27 section. Four of the stages on Friday were cancelled because there were so many crashes. The stages are just crazy fast on this rally and everyone was really going for it.. We started the stages in full competitive mode but then got flagged down along the way for various incidents. It was the same for most of the juniors but was especially frustrating for us because both Anne and I felt like we we'd reached another level of pace and we were going so much quicker than we ever have before - so we just wanted to actually complete a whole stage to compare our times with everybody else. I was looking forward to the city stage on Friday evening but I stalled on the start line costing valuable seconds!' Said 19yr old Catie. 

Catie competes in the European Rally Championship driving a Peugeot 208 R2 with France based Sainteloc Junior Rally team. She is also Peugeot UK brand ambassador. 

With the next 3 rounds of the championship so close together over the next 2 months a crash at this stage makes regaining her 2016 ERC ladies title an uphill battle although Catie's focus this year was not so much the ladies trophy but more to gain experience and get closer to the front in the ferociously competitive under 27 Junior Championship for 2017. 

" We got unlucky yesterday, caught a bump wrong in a fast narrow section which pitched us off the road, and unfortunately had to retire. We will be back faster and stronger!!"
https://catiemunnings.blogspot.co.uk/