Rally d’Italia Sardegna review

Rally d’Italia Sardegna was always going to be special.

Not only was it to be the round of this years World Rally Championship in which we saw the highly anticipated return of Mini, with Dani Sordo and Kris Meeke at the helm, but it was also the weekend that Volkswagen officially announced that they will join the WRC in 2013 – much to the delight of rally fans around the world.

But the real action was on the stages and there was only word to describe it: carnage.

Despite running first on the road for all three days of the rally, and therefore effectively cleaning the road, it was Sébastien Loeb who dominated this weekend and stamped his authority over the rest of the field; eventually finishing 11.2 seconds ahead of second placed Mikko Hirvonen. Although Loeb admitted having to push hard and take a lot of risks during day two, he still finished with very few noticeable mistakes.

Team mate Sébastien Ogier made a steady start to the rally apparently finding it difficult to get into the rhythm of the tight and twisty Italian roads. Some bizarre slowing tactics at the end of day one dropped him down to 4th overall leading into day two and throughout the rest of the rally he battled hard with Hirvonen and Solberg. However he made a mistake (and hit a rock) during SS17 and he finished the rally in 4th.

Mikko Hirvonen took second place in the overall standings after a relatively tidy rally. One small moment during SS6 and a puncture in SS7 ensured he could never realistically challenge Loeb, however a power stage win on top of his second position gave him the best points score he could hope for.

Fellow factory Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala was the first of the front runners to suffer misfortune. An incorrectly called pace note from co-driver Miikka Anttila led Latvala to roll his Fiesta on the opening stage. And by stage two the extensive suspension damage had taken it’s toll and Latvala was forced to retire for the day.
However upon restarting he tallied up a total of 7 stage wins and came 2nd in the Power Stage to secure him 2 much needed points.

Turbo problems and a puncture for Petter Solberg still wasn’t enough to keep him off of the podium. However his brother Henning had a somewhat more disastrous rally.

The older Solberg brother hasn’t had the easiest of runs this year and as he crossed the line to complete SS3 his Fiesta caught alight leading him and Ilka Minor to make a hasty exit from the car. SS5 delivered him a broken drive shaft while SS7 brought an end to his rally.

Fellow Stobart team mates fared no better. P.G Andersson hit a rock on the opening day and suffered a broken steering arm while Østberg and Wilson both had issues with their brakes.

Mini’s first event was full of mixed results. Kris Meeke had two very costly problems in the form of a sticking throttle leading to an off on day one. And after restarting on day two a water leak lead him to pull up in SS10. He did manage some impressive stage times – a promising prospect for the other 5 rounds in which they will contest.
Sordo also experienced throttle problems however he battled hard and brought the car home in an incredible 6th position.

The final top 10 results are as follows:

1. Loeb 3:45:40.9
2. Hirvonen +11.2
3. Solberg +23.8
4. Ogier +1:31.5
5. Østberg +2:42.6
6. Sordo +3:27.6
7. Tanäk +7:10.9
8. Hänninen +7:37.6
9. Wilson +8:00.4
10. Prokop +11:28.2

The support championships led to equally exciting racing.

In the SWRC Ott Tanäk lead the event from the first stage and continued to dominate over the rest of the field. Although Juho Hänninen pushed him hard all the way it wasn’t enough to unsteady Tanäk. The Estonian driver leads the championship by 2 points over Karl Kruuda.

Hänninen and Al-Attiyah rounded off the podium positions although both experienced a myriad of problems. Hänninen with a puncture and brake issues while Al-Attiyah spun, had a puncture and caught fire. Both cars also experienced following in the dust of another car.

Martin Prokop had started the rally looking promising however an unfortunate three fires and a penalty dropped him well down the order. Prokop did well to recover to 4th position.

Gassner, Kruuda and Turán rounded off the finishers but it was not without their issues. Gassner broke his rear differential but was able to continue unlike Kruuda (clutch failure) and Turán (broken exhaust) who both had to restart during day two. The point finishing positions somewhat making the pill less bitter to swallow.

There were three non-finishers this weekend: Sousa who suffered alternator problems in his Ford Fiesta, Brynildsen had to retire with an engine failure and Llovera who rolled his car early on in the event.

The next round of the SWRC will be in Greece.

The SWRC results are as follows:

1. Tanäk 3:52:51.8
2. Hänninen +26.7
3. Prokop +4:17.3
4. Al Attiyah +5:22.9
5. Gassner +13:31.6
6. Kruuda +29:53.8
7. Turán +42:18.8

Egon Kaur has won the second round of the WRC Academy after an incredibly action-filled event.

Amazingly only 8 crews survived to the end and for many it was one stage in particular that caught them out.
SS4 caused problems for a total of 9 crews who all unfortunately managed to run into a large rock which no-one had factored into their pace-notes. Extensive sump damage for the majority of them brought their overall rally to an end, however after quick repair work overnight three of the stricken crews were able to continue.

Ward and Niinemäe both rolled on the opening day while a broken steering arm for Černý brought his day to an early end. Upon restarting day two he eventually finished 4th.

Alistair Fisher suffered from engine problems during SS1 and Brendan Reeves had an oil cooler issue. Reeves was able to restart day two, and although he could feel his engine giving up on him as the day drew to an end ,he still finished 5th overall.

Eventual rally winner Kaur had a disastrous start to his rally when he went the wrong way at a junction and spent 4 minutes digging his car out. Although this loss was huge Kaur was definitely the benefactor of everybody else’s misfortune, once again showing that taking risks isn’t always the way to win a rally.

Day two was just as drastic for many of the crews. It was SS10 that caused problems this time for Karyakin, Taylor and Brunello – all three suffered damage to their Fiestas after heavy landings over a jump, each driver with cars beyond repair.

Rounding off the podium finishers was Baldoni and Åhlin in 2nd and 3rd respectively, both also had their problems. Baldoni hit a rock early on in the rally while Åhlin was plagued with damaged steering on the opening morning.

The WRC Academy is really living up to expectations of being a truly exciting and unmissable support championship.

The final results are as follows:

1. Kaur 3:29:39.4
2. Baldoni +1:42.1
3. Åhlin +2:42.3
4. Černý +16:42.9
5. Reeves +17:23.1
6. Crugnola +17:33.9
7. Breen +20:54.2
8. Niinemäe +32:05.2

3 Power Stages down – how well is the concept working?

It doesn’t take a lot to see that the World Rally Championship can be a difficult sport to first discover having fallen out of favour with mainstream media over the years. So it came as no surprise when it was announced last year that new measures would be implemented this year in an effort to push the sport to new audiences. And one of the best ways to achieve this is through live stages.

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge has successfully managed this for the past few years. Tuning into Eurosport earlier this year the prestigious Rally Monte Carlo had extensive live coverage which other sporting fans, who may not have even seen a rally car on TV before, could easily stumble upon while checking the schedule and waiting for the tennis, football, snooker etc…

This year the introduction of the live televised Power Stages mean that the WRC is heading in the right direction in terms of exposure – although on a pay-only channel, the inclusion of it at all on British TV is quite an achievement.

Three of these such stages have been completed (Gustavors in Sweden, Guanajuato in Mexico and Santana de Serra in Portugal) so now is the perfect time to analyse how this addition is really affecting the rally and the overall spectacle.

The Power Stage is the last of the rally and offers an extra 6 points to the top three finishers (3 points for 1st place, 2 points for 2nd place and 1 point for a 3rd place stage finish) therefore giving anyone needing or wanting a points top-up an extra incentive to attack the stage. It also means that any drivers who have suffered set backs, and who’re running well down the order, have the opportunity to bag some much needed points.

Of the three stages we have seen live so far Portugal’s Santana de Serra was the longest by quite a margin, a total 31.04kms, while Sweden’s and Mexico’s stages were 3.16km and 8.28km respectively.

Run slightly different to the rest of the rally weekend, in which road position is decided on previous days’ order, the Power Stage is started in a reverse top 20 order to add an extra element of anticipation as the leading drivers come through faster towards the end. Beating previous splits and smashing overall stage times.

But has it provided the excitement and spectacle we had all hoped for? Yes, because as rally fans any live coverage is bound to be exciting. To see drivers like Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg driving on the limit through a tough stage only to be beaten live on air by Sébastien Loeb is without a doubt great to watch. The driver’s reactions in these situations are also brilliant to see.
In Sweden we saw an unprecedented move (in modern day rallying at least) by Chris Patterson who piloted Solberg’s car after a speeding incident on a road section a few days before – thrilling to watch – and some seriously on the edge driving in the high altitude of Mexico has left this live stage of each rally a definite to watch.

There is however potentially one downside to the Power Stage which Mikko Hirvonen has pointed out.
By the end of the penultimate stage the overall rally result has pretty much been decided and with this being the case the top drivers are unlikely to be pushing quite as hard as those playing catch-up – which could make this stage slightly subdued over the coming months when consistent overall finishes become even more vital. Hirvonen has suggested finishing the rally on the previous stage (handing out the overall rally points here) and leaving the Power Stage separate to encourage drivers to fully attack for the extra points.

This would definitely provide a more competitive stage but won’t work in the favour of those lower down the order who have nothing to lose and all to gain while chasing these crucial extra points.

Personally I have enjoyed the Power Stage’s a lot. I think it adds a different element to the rally weekend and that can only be a good thing. But I’d like to know your opinion, do you agree with Hirvonen about changing the format? Or should it remain as it is? Is the WRC heading in the right direction with this live stage inclusion?

WRC Academy: Rally Portugal

While Rally de Portugal has given the rallying world the opportunity to watch the Ford Fiesta and the Citroen DS3 World Rally cars go head to head properly without the extreme circumstances of snow and high altitude to deal with, it has also marked the inaugural round of the WRC Academy.

Featuring 18 young drivers (so far, others may join before the next rally), including 6 Pirelli Star Drivers, the Academy is a one mark series held over 6 WRC events this year; Portugal, Sardinia, Finland, Germany, France and Great Britain.

The chosen car for the series is the M-Sport prepared Ford Fiesta R2 and it is forbidden to make any modifications to the car. Although good news for the drivers in the sense that they all have a level playing field in which to prove themselves.

Differing from other championships running this weekend the Academy lasted only two days and awarded points not only for the top 10 finishers but also one point for every stage win. The driver with the most points come the end of the season wins a 500,000 Euro prize scholarship to use towards launching their 2012 career within the WRC.

To ensure that every driver gets as much experience from the Academy a variety of workshops and driver briefings will be held throughout the year. These aim to cover everything from health and fitness to dealing with the media. Guests will also be invited to talk to the drivers – the honour in Portugal went to Ken Block who gave some words of wisdom to the drivers before he made his way home after a nasty accident in shakedown.

While the Academy is a great way to encourage young drivers to the sport there is another aspect that has made this weekend different from most. As part of a brand FIA incentive to encourage more women to get into motorsport (in all areas) one girl from each country the Academy visits get the chance to work alongside the support championship’s communications officer Katie Traxton. This weekend aspiring rally driver Daniela Rodrigues has been in the service park learning all about the championship and blogging about her experiences – they can be read here on the official WRC website. http://www.wrc.com/fanzone/blogs/

I have a vested interest in this Women & Motorsport Commission incentive because, as an aspiring communications officer myself, I have luckily been chosen as the girl to head along to Rally GB – needless to say I have been reading Ni’s blogs and Facebook updates with great interest.

The Academy started on Thursday night with a quick dash through the streets of Lisbon, almost 300km’s away from the Algarve base, with the huge crowds lining the way – 10 people deep in places, a sign of just how popular rallying is in Portugal. Spaniard Jaray Lemes clinched the first point up for grabs and led by 0.6 seconds going into the Friday’s stages.

As Friday morning got underway Irishman Craig Breen set the pace with 4 consecutive stage wins leaving him with an overall lead of 48.4 seconds going into the final day. Egon Kaur and Alastair Fisher picked up wins in the final two stages of the day. Overnight they sat 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Brendan Reeves had the unenviable experience of being the first of the Academy drivers to suffer a set back. As has plagued many a driver in the other championships running this weekend, a puncture in SS3 left him 4 minutes off the place. However after setting some strong times throughout the day he managed to claw his way back up to 11th.

Thankfully all 18 cars returned to mid-day service however the afternoon loop was a lot more destructive for the crews. Calle Ward suffered engine problems during SS5 and stopped on the stage and both Lemes and Andrea Crugnola were affected by driveshaft problems in SS6 – all three retired for the day. As did Argentinean Matteo Baldoni whose car was sidelined with broken suspension.

Molly Taylor was a late casualty as she rolled her Fiesta R2 on the final stage of the day, luckily she was able to continue and was lying 13th overnight – unfortunately for Jose Suarez after his roll in this stage, he could not continue.

Heading into the final day and Craig Breen had a huge lead to defend. A fastest time on SS9 meant he extended his lead to 56 seconds however bad luck was to hit him after a consistent day one – his car left the road during SS10. The crew were reported to the OK however the car was stuck and unable to be recovered for him to continue. The only saving grace being the 5 points he picked up earlier for his fastest stage times, so all was not lost. He’ll be hoping the next round fares better for him.

Fisher inherited the lead and took a stage win amidst Breen’s problems. However similar circumstances struck him in SS12 when he rolled apparently due to ‘spectators having caused him to take his eyes off the road.’ The young Brit was able to complete the stage but lost over 5 minutes in the process.

Other casualties in the morning’s loop were Jan Cerny (broken driveshaft), Suarez and Lemes(rear suspension failure) who were all unable to continue. The day had begun with 17 of the 18 Fiesta’s taking to the stages (Ward was unable to SupeRally) however by mid-day only 13 remained.

After Fisher’s misfortune Egon Kaur inherited the rally lead and put in two fastest stages times on SS11 and SS12 missing out on the hatrick as solid second place runner Victor Henriksson set the bench mark for SS13. A steady rally from Christian Riedemann put him on the final podium position.

Frederik Ahlin had been lying in 4th position before his retirement on SS12 and both Sergey Karyakin and, the youngest driver in the championship, Miko-Ove Niinemae also retired on the last stage of the rally.

18 drivers started in Portugal and only 10 finished. All drivers will use Sunday for extensive debriefing and analysis.

The final standings were:

1. E.KAUR 3:30:13.8 25 points
2. V. HENRIKSSON 3:30:30.2 18 points
3. C. REIDEMANN 3:33:45.0 15 points
4. B. REEVES 3:34:57.2 12 points
5. A. FISHER 3:36:09.4 10 points
6. M. BALDONI 3:36:55.2 8 points
7. A. CRUGNOLA 3:42:39.8 6 points
8. M. TAYLOR 3:43:05.7 4 points
9. M. BRUNELLO 3:51:43.2 2 points
10. T. VAN DR MAREL 4:11:05.6 1 points

Stages winners points:

Y. Lemes 1 point
G. Breen 5 points
A. Fisher 2 points
E. Kaur 3 points
F. Ahlin 1 points
V. Henriksson 1 point

Academy standings:

1. E. Kaur 28
2. V. Henriksson 19
3. C. Reidemann 15
4. B. Reeves 12
5. A. Fisher 12
6. M. Baldoni 8
7. A. Crugnola 6
8. C. Breen 5
9. M. Taylor 4
10. M. Brunello 2
11. T. Van dr Marel 1
12. Y. Lemes 1
13. F. Ahlin 1

Shakedown Times – Portugal

Once again Petter’s website comes up with the brilliant shakedown times from this morning’s run through…

Ogier 3.05,0
Solberg 3.06,3
Loeb 3.07,3
Sordo 3.07,9
Hirvonen 3.08,0
Latvala 3.08,4
Henning 3.09,2
Villagra 3.11,1
Wilson 3.12,1
Raikkonnen 3.16,5

Jordan Rally Shakedown Timings 2010

Shakedown times from Petter Solbergs website:

Loeb, Citroën 1.13,4
Petter, Citroën 1.13,5
Sordo, Citroën 1.13,5
Latvala, Ford 1.13,7
Hirvonen, Ford 1.13,8
Ogier, Citroën 1.13,9
Villagra, Ford 1.15,1
Wilson, Ford 1.15,2
Henning, Ford 1.15,3
Kimi, Citroen 1:16.2

Petter’s site is amazing check it out here… http://www.pettersolberg.com/

Rally Jordan Preview

Four long weeks they ask us to wait for Rally Jordan. Four weeks!

It wasn’t all bad though, the IRC brought a lot of excitement into my month (where Bahrain’s Formula One race couldn’t) and the Australian GP yesterday was also incredible.

I always think the same when watching IRC on Eurosport, half an hour of coverage a night never seems to be enough to do the event justice. But on the brightside it would appear more live IRC stages will be appearing on our TV screens when we get back to Europe. Thanks to Total Rally for that information.

Huge congratulations to Hänninen who owned the event even with the disadvantage (not that you’d know) of running first on the road during day 2. While I’m on an IRC roll what a complete gutter for Meeke. One stage to go but it just wasn’t to be. But I digress. This was supposed to be a Rally Jordan preview!

Last seen on the WRC calendar in 2008 this is a far cry from the gravel tracks of Mexico and the ice of Sweden. With no real features to define the route, Jordan’s stages offer a massive challenge to any brave enough to take them on.

Jordan enjoys a long history with rallying. The Middle Eastern Rally Championship has been held there almost every year since 1983 with it featuring on the WRC calendar for the first time in 2008 when it was won by Mikko Hirvonen.

Not much has changed for 2010.  21 stages will be run totalling 339.48 competitive kilometres and most of these will be driven well below sea-level – some lower than 400 metres. This not only makes the service park the lowest of the season but the Dead Sea area is also the lowest on Earth, on land at least!

So what can we expect to see this year? Well, a lack of visual points will mean many a car making an ‘off-road’ excursion due to a wrong pacenote or just pure inexperience.
It will also be a swelteringly hot event with temperatures regularly reaching 40 degrees Celsius. Expect many red and sweaty faces and the odd phased look from those struggling the most!

Day two (Friday) will feature ‘Jordan River’ the longest stage of the weekend which at 41.45km will be run as ss10/13 and judging by last year’s times it will take the crews just over 28 minutes to complete.

However it is day three which will have the most historic stage of the weekend. Whether you are religious or not you cannot deny the fascination that remains over this part of the world. Believed to be the place of Christ’s baptism the rally will come to a magnificent end after a second stage run near this area, which is held sacred to, so many.

In 2008 it was Sébastien Loeb who looked the strongest throughout until a freak head-on accident with Conrad Rautenbach put them both out of the rally. When asked recently how Loeb felt about his chances for this year’s Jordan Rally he (fantastically) replied,

It should be OK. Conrad is not taking part in the rally!

Well, how can you reply back to that? He’s obviously feeling pretty confident and thinking he’s got something to prove too.
The Ford drivers will be fighting him all the way though as they aim to recover from a terrible Rally Mexico in which their cars let them down.

It will be a tough battle of the fittest in Jordan so make sure you keep up to date with all the action this Thursday onwards on wrc.com.

Event Information
Date: April 1-3, 2010
Round: 3 of 13 FIA World Rally Championship
Based: Dead Sea, Jordan
Stage surface: Gravel
Total stage distance: 339.48kms
Number of stages: 21
Longest stage: 41.45km Jordan River (SS10/SS13)
Service Park: Dead Sea Centre, Jordan

Picture from www.eurosport.fr

Event info table from Stobart motorsport.

Picture of the Rally – Mexico 2010

I’m actually quite upset because I have spent ages trawling the internet looking for my ‘Picture of the Rally’ knowing exactly what I wanted to find but being unable to locate it!

The picture I wanted to show you was Henning Solberg running the Sport Relief mile in his crocs and socks – lets be honest the mental image alone is enough to make you chuckle!

So as I’m looking desperately for Henning’s funny footwear choice (which by the way if you do find it please, please send it my way – it would make my day!) I found this little gem.

Do I need to explain why I love it so much? I think not. Come on, it’s Seb in the most INCREDIBLE boots, gorgeous hat and sunglasses!

What’s not to love?!

Although the one thing I REALLY want to know is where can I get a patio like that from?

-edit… It seems @sackrebleu has this picture as her fave from the rally on her twitpic too! Sorry hun, I didn’t realise you’d posted it. WRC people, you need follow her on twitter for great rally musings! 🙂

Rally Mexico – Day One

Just a quick run down as to what happened yesterday in Mexico. Firstly road position obviously played a huge part in the outcome. It was thought before the rally that Hirvonen would struggle as road cleaner and that running around 7^th on the road would be the ideal place to start. This definitely seemed to be the case. Mikko Hirvonen lost masses of time to his competitors as he cleared the way for everyone behind him. In stage one road position wasn’t his only problem, he hit a rock which didn’t seem to slow him however it may well have knocked his confidence for the rest of the day – as he came to the end of the stage his bumper (as well as team-mate Latvala’s) was hanging off. The Ford seemingly not as quick as the Citroens.

Ken Blocks first stage in the Focus looked to be ok however he did hit something that caused his door to buckle. Although I have to say he is quickly becoming one of my favourite drivers because of his unwavering enthusiasm. After stage one he had this to say,

Damn that was fun! That was one funnest stages of my life: The car is incredible and this was the best stage of my life!

Petter Solberg was running in a race of his own. Somehow he managed to find a teleportation device en route and knock an astonishing 9.8 seconds off of Ogier’s time.

For me Ogier is definitely one of the big stars of the future and personally I think Sordo’s sear next year isn’t safe while Ogier is driving as well as he has been recently.

Stage two was also as dramatic and yet again Hirvonen was right down the order. Loeb faired better than Hirvonen but was still blown away buy Ogier and Solberg. In fact this was pretty much how Mikko’s day continued much to his despair.

Kimi Räikkönen lost 30 minutes stuck on stage after a fuel connection came loose and brought the car to a grinding halt. Eventually he got moving but it put an end to his competitive rally hopes.

Moving onto stage three and inevitably Henning Solberg lost part of his car – let’s be honest that’s his thing isn’t it! And he wasn’t the only Ford with problems (surprise, surprise. Just not their rally) Matt Wilson took the speed bumps with too much speed which resulted in his windscreen caracking.

Next up with the super fast Coca Cola stage. The big surprise here was that all 5 Citroens clinched the top 5 places. Räikkönen in this stage showed real potential for the rallies later in the year.

Räikkönen’s terrible day continued in the afternoon loops with a roll on SS7. Hopefully both he and Kaj are OK, however with recent back issues including surgery it will surely have caused him some discomfort. Kaj is yet to finish a rally Mexico in all his attempts!

The rest of the day’s events carried on as the morning begun. Hirvonen struggled while Petter and Ogier dominated. Although Ken Block hit a cactus which pretty much made my day!

Petter will have the worst of the road positions for day 2 as he turns road sweeper, which may give Loeb and Hirvonen the chance to catch up some. However it would seem that Petter and Ogier are defiantly the ones to watch.

The Motors TV coverage was, once again, a sham with the commentator commenting that we were in Australia instead of Mexico while all the time sounding like he was reporting from the moon. The telephone line was inaudible at times. Motor’s TV get your act together. However, their live updates here http://www.motorstv.com/car/rally/wrc/live/live-mexico-rally-day-1 are rather good!

Rally Mexico Press Conference

I hate to do this (copy and paste) however I just came back from a party and figured I’d post this and maybe analyse anything interesting tomorrow!

Present:
Jari-Matti Latvala, BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team
Sébastien Ogier, Citroën Junior Team
Dani Sordo, Citroën Total World Rally Team
Ken Block, Monster World Rally Team

Welcome to the pre-event FIA press conference.

Shakedown timings for Rally Mexico

If you haven’t already seen the timings for the ‘top’ drivers (I hesitated to use that word) here they are…

1. P. SOLBERG. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:51.7
2. SORDO. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:51.8
3. OGIER. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:51.9
4. LOEB. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:52.5
5. RAIKKONEN. Citroen C4 WRC. 2:54.2
6. HIRVONEN. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 2:55.3
7. H.SOLBERG. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:56.2
8. VILLAGRA. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:56.4
9. WILSON. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 2:59.9
10. LATVALA. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 3:00.1
11. BLOCK. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 3:04.6

Many drivers encountered front end damage including Petter Solberg, Dani Sordo, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.