Rally Review: WRC Rally Spain

Rally Review: WRC Rally Spain

by Martijn Kösters

The 2012 WRC Season rapped up in Spain. It will be the final rally for the Ford Factory team and the Mini WRT run by Prodrive, as well as the final rally for the Production WRC (PWRC), WRC Academy and SWRC in their current form. Moreover the Rally of Spain was the last rally for Sebastien Loeb's full campaign, as from next year on he will be driving only his favourite events and no longer challenge for the title. Jari-Matti Latvala drove his last stages for Ford, as he joins VW next year.

The fact that many drivers/manufacturers were going to leave or move somewhere else provided an excellent recipe for a thrilling rally. Helped by changing conditions their was no dominating team throughout the weekend, and the win wasn't decided until the final stage.


Stage two put the field upside down when a downpour during the stage meant that the drivers who ran first found themselves in the best road conditions. These were not the Citroëns, nor the Fords or even the Minis. Both Tanak and Ostberg topped the table after the second stage, setting an equal pace of 15.54.5. Mikko Hirvonen followed 17.5s down, Loeb lost 25s, Latvala 33. More drama on the stage included Solberg and Neuville, who slid off the road and retired. Ostberg and Tanak proved not to be a one-hit wonder after matching the Citroëns pace on stage 3, where Latvala was over-cautious and lost more time even when weather improved.

Stages were still slippery on Friday afternoon, something which caught Tanak and Hirvonen who did not dare to take as much risk as Loeb did, who was fastest by 5 seconds. Where Hirvonen and Tanak dropped to 4^th and 5^th, Loeb closed the gap to leader Ostberg to 27.2 seconds at the end of day 1. Latvala was third on 47s.


Saturday started with Loeb and Latvala hunting on Ostberg, who dropped back after a wrong tyre choice on SS8. “We had some information that the stage was 50 per cent dry, we put some hard tyres on, but for sure it was not. We went off quite early and lost 40s or something.” Ostberg dropped to third, a couple of seconds ahead of Hirvonen. Further down Novikov nursed braking problems, but still made it up to 9^th, allbeit 12 minutes down on the leader.

The afternoon saw a great comeback by Dani Sordo who set two fastest stage times after a great repair by his team. Ostberg had setup problems as his soft setup was less and less suitable for the drying stages, he would find himself in fifth by the end of the day. Latvala couldn't quite match Loeb's up front, for similar reasons as Ostberg, increasing the gap to 27s by the end of day two. Only happy Ford driver was Ott Tanak, who might be in for a podium as he happily kept up with Hirvonen.

A small mistake cost Ott Tanak dearly as he slipped down to 5^th after a spin on Stage 14, but was lucky to still be in the rally: “We went off, it was quite a big crash and I’m surprised the car is still running. We lost at least 10 seconds, it was quite a big accident.” Sordo must have been content with the morning pace of his Mini, setting three fastest times in three stages. Further down WRC Debutee Hans Weijs couldn't complete his debut with a points finish. He ran in sixth but retired with suspension damage.

Latvala started one final charge on sunday's second loop. Taking 4.9 seconds out of Loeb on SS16 he closed the gap to 19.8 with two stages to go. Tanak crashed, granting fifth place to Jarkko Nikara who experienced an excellent WRC debut with Mini. Dani Sordo could not save his weekend by winning the Power Stage, as a fully committed Latvala took another 10.7 seconds out of Loeb's lead and gained three extra points. Yet with only 4 competitive kilometers left it was unlikely any major position changes would take place. Loeb would eventually win the rally by 7 seconds over Latvala, as Hirvonen kept Ostberg at bay for 3^rd. Nikara and Atkinson ended another solid weekend for Mini in 5^th and 7^th, while Craig Breen took the SWRC title by finishing 6^th overall.

Final World Rally Championship Standings:

1 Sebastien Loeb 270pts

2 Mikko Hirvonen 213pts

3 Jari-Matti Latvala 154pts

4 Mads Ostberg 149pts

5 Petter Solberg 124pts

6 Evgeni Novikov 88pts

7 Thierry Neuville 53pts

8 Ott Tanak 52pts

9 Martin Prokop 46pts

10 Sebastien Ogier 41pts


The World Rally Championship starts its 2013 season in the second weekend of January with the Rally Monte Carlo WITH Sebastien Loeb competing.

Rally Review: IRC Cyprus and 2012 season

First of all, we apologise for the lack of content in the past few weeks. But since we are not full-time journalists we do tend to have issues with studying and computers letting you down. Nevertheless we have another Rally Review.

Rally Review: IRC Cyprus and 2012 season

by Martijn Kösters

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge finished off the 2012 season in Cyprus, same like last year. The tricky combination of tarmac and gravel would put a strain on both cars and drivers, as road conditions change frequently. Not only was the 2012 season put to bed, so was the series as the IRC ceases to exist and Eurosport events will organize the European Rally Championship from January next year.

With the championship still open, a good fight for the title would be welcome. Yet the entry sheets revealed that number two in the championship, Jan Kopecký, would not be present in Cyprus. Same for number 3 Juho Hänninen. However defending Champion Andreas Mikkelsen did enter the event, as did Sepp Wiegand and former Dakar-winner Nasser Al-Attiyah.

Rally Cyprus started on Friday with a short special, which provided plenty of action for the great number of spectators, but no surprises. Real Rally action was provided throughout Saturday, as Andreas Mikkelsen was mainly to fight his car. On the first stage of the day he had to change a wheel, throwing him almost two minutes behind leader Al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah showed speed, matching Mikkelsen's times closely throughout the whole day. As Sepp Wiegand made a mistake and Jarkko Nikara had a puncture, Mikkelsen was back in P2 after the first loop, still 1m33 behind Al-Attiyah who suffered a broken drive shaft and alternator issues. Lucky for him this happened on the last stage before service.

Saturday afternoon saw consolidation in the top-4, with Mikkelsen closing slowly on Al-Attiyah. And with Wiegand and Nikara unable to match their pace. Apart from Saturday's last stage in which Wiegand retired with broken steering, Nikara found himself swapping wheels on stage and Mikkelsen nursed a punctured tyre to the finish line. Toshihiro Arai profited by taking 3^rd place, all be it seven minutes behind the leader.

Nasser Al-Attiyah started Sunday with a lead of 1 minute and thirty seconds, a comfortable lead with 6 stages to go. However Mikkelsen closed the gap to 57.8 seconds after stage 9, and 49 seconds after the first loop. Al-Attiyah must have felt more than just the Cypriotic heat. However the IRC was robbed of a great finale when Mikkelsen suffered another puncture on Stage 11. This not being Formula One, Mikkelsen took 2 minutes to change his flat tyre. After this Mikkelsen no longer pushed, and even let his Co-driver Ola Floene experience the power of the Skoda Fabia on their last stage as a team.

Al-Attiyah won the rally, which also counted for the Middle-Eastern Rally Championship. Mikkelsen as said 2^nd but with a championship and Toshihiro Arai finished the year on a high with a podium.


The end of the season kind of reflected the 2012 season as a whole, often dominated by a lack of entries Mikkelsen tried to put up a good show or at least score a good result, accompanied by another driver who could match him. For spectators something simple as a puncture for one driver can take the excitement out of an event, as Al-Attiyah and Mikkelsen were in a league of their own. Unfortunately the 2012 IRC did not bring up any new great talents like Kris Meeke, Thierry Neuville and Andreas Mikkelsen in previous years. Sepp Wiegand never really impressed despite having equal material to Mikkelsen and Herman Gassner Jr. left the IRC after the french round of the championship.

But to end on a positive note, there is a “new” championship coming up, with new events, new and more drivers. Mark the first weekend of 2013, as the Jannerrallye kicks of the ERC.

Ford pulls out, now what about the WRC's future?

Ford pulls out, now what about the WRC's future?

by Martijn Kösters

It must have come as a shock to many rally fans yesterday afternoon, when Ford announced it would not be competing as a works team in the WRC after this year. Ford is the brand with the biggest rallying legacy, being a competitor in rallying since the 1970s. With MINI issuing a similar announcement and Citroën focussing on Touringcars in the future, will there be a WRC to look at in a few year's time?

Reigning constructor's champion Citroën has recently announced it will be competing next year (2013) with a couple of DS3s, yet so far hasn't made any statements on 2014 and beyond. However the brand has hinted at competing the WRC. Given Citroëns poor sales figures in Europe, I can't see them run a WRC program alongside a WTCC program. For 2013 the Citroën team expands to three works cars, driven by Hirvonen, Al-Qassimi and another driver. The Citroën junior team competing as well, probably with Thierry Neuville.

In all grief about Ford leaving, we must not forget that Volkswagen are coming into the WRC next year, fully committed. VW have tested throughout the season, all be it with a Skoda badge on the front, but Ogier and possible colleague drivers Andreas Mikkelsen and Kevin Abbring have shown impressive speed. Their Super 2000 Skodas made it into the top-10 more often then not, and VW will like to keep that momentum in 2013. So far only Sebastien Ogier is confirmed, the seats in the second car have not been filled yet.

Mini also have announced to be stopping their activities as a Works team, but for different reasons than Ford. They entered the sport in order to homologate their car for others to use during WRC events. Them having completed their obligations, there is no need for them to run a factory team. Mini will keep developing the car and give support to any customers. With Prodrive having run the Mini works team, it is not unlikely for them to enter the WRC as a privateer next year.

The big outsider for next year could be Hyundai, who have shown a concept car of a Hyundai i20 WRC and said they could enter the WRC as early as 2013. Unlike European brands, Hyundai is not plagued by falling sales and decreasing profits. Having no further racing activities either means there would be enough money available for them to compete as a factory team.

For Ford, many things will depend on Malcolm Wilson and his M-Sport. Ford would like to see M-Sport provide development and support for customer teams, and although M-Sport have committed to developing the Fiesta R5 Wilson said he needed to think about the future activities of M-Sport. 2013 is a definite yes, but Ford presence after that remains open.

What is also a possibility for the future is the return of another very successful manufacturer, Toyota. Over the summer rumours of them competing in the WRC with a heavily modified Yaris/Vitz emerged and were confirmed by its Motorsport President. Despite the lack of organization in the company at that moment, development on an engine had started and they hoped to be ready for 2014.

Perhaps it won't be so bad after all. With Citroën and VW next year, and possibly Hyundai and Toyota joining at least VW in 2014, there will be at least two works teams competing in the WRC. And customer teams aren't necessarily a bad thing either, as works teams often fail to give young talent a seat a WRC with less involvement of the factory teams could allow young stars to shine brighter.

IRC Rally San Remo

Rally Review: IRC Rally San Remo

by Martijn Kösters


The penultimate round of the final IRC season took place around the Italian city of San Remo. One man was absent: Andreas Mikkelsen, giving title rivals Jan Kopecký and Juho Hänninen a chance to gain some points on the reigning champion before the season final in Cyprus. Though they would get a run for their money as a strong field of Italian drivers was present. Amongst them former winner Giandomenico Basso and Italian Rally Champion Umberto Scandola. Prior to this round Andreas Mikkelsen lead the championship by 43 points over Juho Hänninen and 53 over Jan Kopecký. With only 75 points left in the championship a good result was crucial for both Skoda drivers.

The Rally San Remo uses an interesting format, a total of ten stages is driven within a 24-hour time window, making any mistakes even more costly. This also means drivers have to be careful with their machines, as service opportunities are rare.

Giandomenico Basso was fast in the opening stage, taking the lead by a good 4 seconds over Andreucci, Kopecký and Perico. Stage two saw Jan Kopecký put in the fastest time and climb into second. Further Umberto Scandola had a terrible round of luck with a puncture and a spin, costing him five and a half minutes. He would retire after the stage. Basso increased his lead on stage three when Kopecký gave away seven seconds. Going into service Basso lead, 12.7 seconds ahead of Jan Kopecký, Andreucci in third, 14.2 seconds behind. Juho Hänninen was in fourth, only 14.4 seconds behind Basso.

A possible decider could be the 44 kilometer Ronde stage, driven on Friday night. Basso and Kopecký were superior on this stage and gaining over half a minute on the rest of the field. Though Basso was best of the best as he gained another twelve seconds on Kopecký. Paolo Andreucci took it easy, since his Italian title would only depend on him finishing. Interesting moment on the stage was Juho Hänninen's crash. He went straight of the road in a left hand corner, rolled his car and ended up on the roof of a shed, turning his Skoda into a wonderful roof ornament. Unfortunately for his championship, he had to retire.

Day two seemed more about everyone consolidating their positions. Giandomenico Basso increased his lead on Kopecký to 52 seconds over the first loop of the Saturday. Perico remained in third, Albertini 4^th, Andreucci 5^th. Craig Breen dropped some time after picking up a puncture on SS7, he is in a distant 6^th. Kopecký did try to launch an attack on Basso later on Saturday, taking the fastest time on SS8, SS9 and SS10. Unfortunately the gap was still 37.7 seconds going into the final stage.

Despite several drivers trying, the second loop on Saturday did not result in any position changes at the top of the table, Giandomenico Basso took his second Rally San Remo win with Jan Kopecký second, Perico third, Albertini 4^th, Andreucci 5^th. For the IRC this meant that Jan Kopecký moves into second at 103 points, 33 behind championship leader Andreas Mikkelsen. With double points awarded in Cyprus, second place for Kopecký and a retirement for Mikkelsen would be enough for the Czech.

WRC France: Home boy, home win

WRC France: Home boy, home win

by Martijn Kösters

Loeb did what many of his fans hoped for, ending his last full-time season with his ninth, consecutive title in front of a home crowd. With the final stage of the rally through his hometown of Haguenau, it must have been like a lap of honour for Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, the most succesful rally duo in history. Loeb replied: “When it’s finished, it’s an incredible moment. In Haguenau, my hometown, it was really a relief and the feeling was incredible!”

It wasn't an easy cruise through familiar surroundings for Loeb at all. Despite what you would expect from a tarmace rally the grip was scarce throughout the whole weekend. With rain and aquaplaining being the main hazards early in the rally, grip did not improve much on the last day. The straights had dried out, but corners were now full of mud after extensive corner-cutting by the crews.

After a short street stage on Thursday, Loeb quickly took the lead on the longer stages on Friday. Conditions were damp, but manageable on dry tyres. Loeb profited from the right tactic to take two soft spare tyres with him, allowing him to adjust to grip conditions, where Petter Solberg did not get the feeling for his Fiesta and was off the pace. At the end of the day all major drivers were still in the rally, with Loeb topping the sheets 13 seconds ahead of Latvala, who leads from Hirvonen.

Day two saw action on the first stage of the day, when Petter Solberg parked his car into a pole, and would be out for that day. His retirement promoted Thierry Neuville up to fourth, closely followed by Dani Sordo in the Mini. Jari-Matti Latvala meanwhile got caught out by a wet patch which still cost him 18 seconds on Loeb. Further behind Neuville, Sordo and Ostberg scrambled for fourth place, with no driver getting the upper hand yet. Behind them Evgeni Novikov found more and more pace throughout Saturday. At the end of Saturday, little had changed apart from Solberg's retirement. Loeb increased his lead to about half a minute with six shorter stages to go. Hirvonen held on to third despite a severe cold.

Would Sunday be a victory run for Sebastien Loeb? It seemed more and more like it on Saturday night, as Latvala almost accepted his second place: “I’m thinking more about preserving second than trying to win, which will be almost impossible unless Loeb makes a mistake. My car is fast enough to win the rally, but it’s the driver that has to improve.”

It certainly would not be overly easy for Loeb to take this victory, as rain struck the early stages on Sunday, Neuville profited with his second scratch of the rally as top drivers controlled their positions rather than attacked. Ostberg was the driver who seemed to struggle most with the rain, dropping from fourth to sixth: “It didn’t feel good at all, I was just too careful with a lot of standing water in the road. I have to take risks to fight for fourth but I didn’t take any risks.”. Ostberg would be handed fifth place as Dani Sordo retired without any power steering, the team decided driving without would be to dangerous.

Second loop of the day brought some excitement with an earlier than normal power stage, which saw none of the top-drivers take additional points. Ostberg came third, taking one point extra whilst Neuville and Tanak went for victory, with the Estonian eventually rewarded three points. Thierry Neuville then went on to win two more stages, but all the attention turned to Sebastien Loeb, who took win number 75, and championship number 9 of his impressive career.

His retirement cost Petter Solberg his third place in the championship, being passed by Latvala and Ostberg who finished second and fifth. Mikko Hirvonen celebrated his 8^th podium of the year by coming third while Neuville had his best weekend of the year with a fourth place. Tanak, Novikov, Atkinson, Prokop and Chardonnet complete the top ten.

Our big announcement of the week

We promised it before, we had some big news to share this week. Because there will be some changes to the Rallycross_ERC you know, good changes.

First of all, the Twitter account started in 2009 and was born out of the interest I had towards the ERC and Rallycross. Yet despite modern media and the internet, my knowledge and experience of Rallycross was very limited. Limited to visiting the Belgian Round of the European Championship each year, finding out who lead the championship, cheering at the winners and going back home to wait for another year. TV coverage didn't/doesn't exist apart from the Scandinavian Countries and Motors TV for digital viewers, and only occasionally would newspapers write about Rallycross.

So after yet another visit in 2009, I created the Twitter page with a official sounding name and (still) to my amazement it caught on to the 800 followers it had now. Since WRC coverage was becoming marginal over time (Eurosport pushed it into midnight slots, or would randomly broadcast it) I started reporting on that as well. Than the Intercontinental Rally Challenge emerged, and was added to the Rallycross_ERC portfolio. This year the Global Rallycross Championship got covered.

More and more the old name of Rallycross_ERC stopped reflecting what the twitter page was about. The twitter page covered much more than the ERC alone. And when your jacket gets too tight you buy a new one, and that is exactly what is going to happen. From this weekend on, @Rallycross_ERC will change to @RallyandCross, a new name with a wider focus on the world of off-road motorsports. The blog was created under this name months ago, and suits the whole combination of blog and twitter rather well don't you think?

The new name allows us to use several media forms under the same flag, where before the twitter account operated under a different name than the blog, it is now all together under one label. This makes it easier for you to connect with what is happening in the world of rally and rallycross and to connect with what we're up to.

But there is something extra in store for you as well, RallyandCross is coming to Facebook! Our Facebook page will give an overview of our twitter posts as well as the posts on this blog. Search for "Rally and Cross" and hit that like button!

Above all, enjoy all that is new, and this weekends Rally de France,


The Rally and Cross Team

WRC Rally France Preview - Can Loeb clinch title #9 at home?

WRC Rally France Preview - Can Loeb clinch title #9 at home?


by Martijn Kösters



Just three rounds remain in the 2012 World Rally Championship, and the title chase could all be over on sunday. Only Mikko Hirvonen can beat Sebastien Loeb to the title, but even that will not only come down to him. Loeb goes into his home event with a 61 point lead. With the notion that a maximum of 56 points remain in the championship after the French round (2x 25 for a win, 2x 3 for Power Stage Win), a win for Hirvonen would not neccesarily mean that he could still take the title, as Loeb can comfortably finish second, win the power stage and take yet another title.

The odds are very much against Mikko Hirvonen, not only does he challenge the one man who has been reigning the WRC since 2004. He also takes on Loeb at home turf, who was born in the Alsace region. One factor might give Hirvonen some hope, Loeb did not win here last year due to an engine failure.

Action starts this afternoon (Thursday) with a small stage in Strasbourg, with real stages being driven throughout Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. In total the rally consists of 22 tarmac stages with a combined length of 404 kilometers. Friday will see two equal loops of three stages: Hohlandsbourg(28km), Vallee de Munster(22) and Soltzeren(20), with the Mulhouse stage as added extra to the Friday.


Saturday starts a bit earlier around 8.30 CET with the Massif des Grands Crus-Ungersberg stage of 18km, followed directly by the longest stage of the rally Pays d'Ormont (43.45km). Pays de la Haute Bruche (24) and Klevener (11) complete the loop of four stages, which will be run twice.

The Sunday sees perhaps a different style to which we are used to. Six stages, all be it shorter than the rest, will be run without Service half way through. At 9.23 CET the Vignoble de Cleebourg (17) kicks off, followed by Bischweiler (8) and Sebastien Loeb's home town stage: Hagenau (6). These three stages will be run twice, but without a service.

ERC/GRC Rallycross Review: Action on and off track

ERC/GRC Rallycross Review: Action on and off track

by Martijn Kösters

Double the action this weekend as both major Rallycross series had an outing on either side of the globe. The Global Rallycross Championship had its first of two events in Las Vegas (with a race at SEMA in four weeks time) and the European Rallycross Championship went for its final spin at the Estering in Germany.

Although the Global Rallycross Championship had its final on Saturday evening local time, we will start of with the ERC since important developments took place over the weekend. As you may know, next year's FIA Rallycross Championship is undergoing some changes including a new promoting party, IMG. As IMG basically organises this championship, she has the right to select venues on which to stage events, meaning some tracks might be left out. This has resulted in the formation of a break-away series, going by the name of FIA Rallycross Challenge. The Challenge will use the same Rallycross regulations written by FIA. One issue is that the series has yet to be approved by the FIA, who will not be overly pleased with two European Championship in the same class of motorsport on roughly similar tracks. To Be Continued...


Back to on-track action, the ERC came to Buxtehude for round ten out of ten of the season. All the titles were awarded last week, but championship standings provide enough excitement for 2^nd and 3^rd place in the championship. In Supercars Liam Doran, Davy Jeanney and possible Alexander Hvaal hoped to profit from #2 in the standings Tanner Foust. In Super 1600 Skorupski, Leppihalme, Linnemann and Rakhmatullin had a chance at taking 'silver' for the 2012 championship. Touringcars had less battles still in the championship, although Robin Larsson could reward his great run in the second half of the season with third place in the Championship.

The A-finals on Sunday saw plenty of action, with some of the favourites being caught out in crashes. In Touringcars Anton Marklund and outgoing champion Lars Oivind Enerberg retired from the gravel trap. Robin Larsson took his fifth victory of the season, and his fourth from the second half of the season, giving him maximum points from the second half of the year. Ole Habjorg finished second ahead of Castoral, Enlund and Lundh. Both Koen Pauwels and Derek Tohill were absent from the A-final.
Ch. Result: 1. Anton Marklund 142pt., 2 Derek Tohill 121pt., 3 Roman Castoral 115pt.

In Super 1600 it took a few tries to decide a winner. Jussi Leppihalme caused a red flag in the first take of the A-final, and also had to retire. Take two saw chaos in the first corner, leaving Joni Wiman unable to compete. Eventually Teemu Suninen, who was fast all weekend took the win ahead of this year's champ Bakkerud and Sergey Zagumennov.
Ch. Result: 1. Andreas Bakkerud 138pt., 2 Krzystof Skorupski 114pt., 3 Jussi-Petteri Leppihalme 113pt.

In Supercars, a spectecular crash saw two cars out after the first lap. Peter Hedström hit the armco barrier on the inside, sending his car across the track into the path of Pavel Koutný, who as a result barrel-rolled along the armco, and straight over Hedström's car. After the restart, Liam Doran profited from both Tanner Foust's and more surprisingly Timerzyanov's absence from the final to take the win. Jeanney second, Stig-Olov Walfridsson scored his best 2012 result with third.
Ch. Result: 1. Timur Timerzyanov 148pt., 2 Liam Doran 104pt., 3 Tanner Foust 100pt.



Over in the United States, the Global Rallycross Championship worked off round 5 out of 6, with the Discount Tire-America's Tire Cup concluding already this weekend. Tanner Foust wanted to score here, he skipped the European Rallycross round in Germany (and others) in order to take a shot at the GRC. Foust did not let himself down by being fastest in practice and eventually taking the win. Fellow Rockstar teammate Brian Deegan finished second ahead of 2011 European Champion Sverre Isachsen, Toomas Heikkinen and Stéphane Verdier. Foust's win secured him the Discount Tire Cup, which he also won ahead of Brian Deegan. This result also puts him another step closer to the Global Championship, as he increases his Championship lead on Brian Deegan to 16 points.
The GRC will be finishing at the SEMA centre in Vegas, during the last weekend of October.

Vegas showdown to conclude Global Rallycross Championship

GRC Preview: Vegas showdown to conclude Global Rallycross Championship

by Martijn Kösters

After last weeks European semi-finale produced three new champions, there is another championship decider awaiting, on the other side of the pond. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway sees the finale of the Global Rallycross Championship, with six drivers mathematically still with a shot for the title.

The standings prior to this weekend: Tanner Foust leads the championship with 62 points, with a comfortable lead of 12 points on Samuel Hubinette. Brian Deegan is third with 49 points. Further down Grönholm (43 points but absent this weekend), Binks (42), Block (40) and Verdier (39) could mathematically still take the title.

Though it seems most likely the focus this weekend will be on Foust, Hubinette and Deegan. Foust can comfortably start his weekend with the notion that a 6^th place in the Final would grant him the title by default. Surviving the heats and cruising in the final will be his target, but taking the title in style and amusing the crowd is more fun, Foust will now that. Note that Foust's worst result was a sixth place during the X-games which were dominated by Sebastien Loeb.

Hubinette (Saab 9-3) and Brian Deegan (Fiesta) will be trying their best for maximum points, rightaway from the first heats as an extra point are awarded for winning your heat. A win would be absolutely necessary for Hubinette and Deegan, giving them 20 points. Note Hubinette's best result was second place in New Hampshire, and Deegan finished third three times in a row in the last three events.

The sub-championship complementing the Global Rallycross Championship is much more exciting, and far, far from over. The Discount Tire-Americas Tire Cup takes scores from three events (Texas, New Hampshire and Las Vegas) to crown a champion. Because only two race in the DT-AT Cup have been driven so far, there are no less than 12(!) drivers capable of the title. Foust and Deegan are sharing the lead on 32 points, Hubinette follows on 28, Pastrana fourth on 23, with Grönholm, Binks and Block in his wake on 21 points.

Plenty of contenders, and in typical Vegas style a big prize up for grabs, 25000$ for the Winner of the Discount Tire-Americas Tire Cup. All will be decided this weekend, ESPN2 starts coverage at 6:00PM (EDT) on Sunday. Keep posted on our twitter as we expect youtube videos to pop up early next week.

#ERC Finland: New stars shine, but old ones shine brighter

#ERC Finland: New stars shine, but old stars shine brighter

by Martijn Kösters

The European Rallycross Championship came to a wet Kuovola for the penultimate round. In every category there was the possibility of the title race being concluded this weekend, yet this didn't mean the weekend was only dominated by possible new champions. The weekend in Kuovola also saw some future stars trying to outshine the heroes of 2012.

In the Supercar category Tanner Foust was the only challenger to Championship leader Timur Timerzyanov, all be it only mathematically. The title fight was effectively ended by Foust himself when he revealed not to compete in next weekend's German round, as he will try to obtain the Global Rallycross Championship in 'Vegas. Nonetheless Foust started off well by being fastest in Saturday's first heat ahead of Citroën driver Liam Doran and Mats Lysen in his trusty Renault Clio. Timerzyanov concluded Saturday in fourth place.

New boy on the Supercar block represented a more than well-known name. Hansen, Timmy is better known for his outings in formula racing, yet after breaking with his team the son of 14-time Champion Kenneth had time on his hands to try different kinds of motorsport. Given the opportunity to drive a Citroën DS3 Supercar (previously used by Sebastien Loeb to win the X-games) he ended day one in tenth.

Old name, new tricks. Timmy Hansen brings a famous name back.

Super 1600 could see a fight between Andreas Bakkerud and Ulrik Linnemann who were both still in the title chase. Bakkerud supported a ten point lead coming into Finland. Though day one did not see many action between the two, as Linnemann had to deal with a misfiring engine he finished Saturday in 19^th. Jussi Pinomäki of the Set Promotion team had all the reasons to be content after day one, his two Finnish rookies Suninen and Wiman were first and second in the first heat, with fellow Finn Leppihalme in third and Bakkerud in fourth.

Where the Finns dominated Super 1600, the Touringcar division was an all Swedish affair. Robin Larsson continued to show form by beating main championship contender Anton Marklund in the first heat, with Daniel Lundh (in a Volvo) making it three Swedes in the top-3. Marklund's main rival Derek Tohill ended the Saturday in fourth.

On Sunday, the second and third heats saw similar drivers on top of the time sheets. Peter Hedström took Supercar pole by being fastest in Heat 2 and 3, Doran and Timerzyanov were second and third in both of sunday's heats. After three heats Lysen, Jeanney and de Keersmaecker were the other three drivers who qualified directly for the A-Final. Tanner Foust only just qualified for the B-final after P20 in heat 2 and a DNF in heat three. Timmy Hansen had to settle for the C-final, as he didn't make the top 10 in any session on Sunday.

As mentioned before, Joni Wiman dominated in Sunday's quali heats, with a first place in Heat two ahead of Minnikhanov and Färén. Heat three resulted in second place behind Skorupski for the young Finn. These good results meant Wiman would start the A-final from pole, alongside him fellow Finnish rookie Teemu Suninen and Minnikhanov on P3. Skorupski, Färén and Bakkerud complete the A-final. Linnemann didn't overcome his engine issues and would start in the C-final. In Touringcars Robin Larsson and Anton Marklund secured P1 and P2 in the A-final by finishing first and second in Heat Three. Though he won heat 2, Roman Castoral had to settle for 3^rd place on the grid, ahead of Tohill and Lundh.

Wet conditions added extra action into the game

Finals started great for Timur Timerzyanov, not only could he start from third in the A-final, that position also granted him the title as he only needed a single point for the title. Rival Tanner Foust did make it up to the A-final, as did Timmy Hansen all the way from Finale C. The A-final itself was dominated by Timerzyanov in his almost traditional style, he drove to a clear victory, his sixth of the season. Doran and Hedström completed the podium. Lysen finished fourth, only just ahead of Timmy Hansen and Tanner Foust, who ended his year with a mediocre result.

In Super 1600 would become a Set Promotion party. Without Ulrik Linnemann in the A-final, it would be a lap of honour for Andreas Bakkerud who only needed fifth in order to take the title. The race was won by Jussi Leppihalme, ahead of team mate Suninen. Skorupski came third and now holds second in the championship. As Skorupski would need to drop his score of seven points in Austria he can only score an additional 13 points in Germany, not enough to bridge the 17-point gap to Bakkerud.

Would the third champion of the day come from the Touringcar class today? Well yes, Derek Tohill never got in front of Anton Marklund during the final, who 'cruised' to second place and the title in Touringcars. Robin Larsson continued his end of season sprint by taking yet another victory, ahead of Marklund and Castoral.

Timerzyanov still seemed surprised with his title

At the end of the day we had three great champions in the names of Timur Timerzyanov for Russia in Supercars, Andreas Bakkerud for Norway in S1600 and Anton Marklund for Sweden in Touringcars. What Germany will bring? There are no titles left to race for, an invitation for all drivers to drive freely and put up a good show, next week in Buxtehude.

ERC Season Finale Preview

Who will take the silver? - A brief guide

by Martijn Kösters



As the final two rounds of this year's European Rallycross Championship in Finland and Germany are coming up, time for a quick brush up of all standings and title candidates.

Some of you might know that the European Rallycross Championship is divided into three categories. Supercars are four-wheel-driven vehicles fitted with a turbocharged two-liter engine. This might sound like a similar recipe as the WRC cars used throughout the 90s and 00s, but one must note that power output of ERC Supercars easily doubles that of WRC cars. Although exact numbers are kept secret, expect Supercars to put out around 600 horsepower, where WRC cars “only” have about 300 at best. The other two categories are Super 1600 (FWD, 1.6 liter atmospheric engines) and Touringcars (RWD, 2 liter atmospheric engines).

The Supercar category has been dominated throughout the season by one man: 'Czar' Timur Timerzyanov. Out of the seven rounds in which he competed d he managed to win five, of which three out of the last three rounds. Timerzyanov currently leads the championship with 128 points, his closest and only rival Tanner Foust is another 39 points down the road. Foust is the only driver who managed to keep Timerzyanov from a victory, yet as he is competing for the US-based Global Rallycross Championship as well he had to skip the Austrian and Swedish round of the championship. Mediocre results in France and the Netherlands put him only just ahead of #3 in the championship Alexander Hvaal, who is out of the title chase with 82 points.

The way in which the ERC is set up means there is another factor to be taken into account: drop-scores. Of both halves of the season each driver has to drop his worst result. In the first halve of the season, Timerzyanov dropped his non-entry at the season premier in the United Kingdom, where he couldn't enter because of visa issues. Other title candidate Tanner Foust skipped the Austrian round.

Standings at the moment come in two versions: one with and one without drop-scores. With drop-scores Timerzyanov would be on 108 points prior to the last two rounds, Foust would stay at 89 points (non-entry in Sweden). This decreases the gap in the championship from 39 to 19 points, leaving Foust with a chance for the title. On the other hand, a retirement would cost Timerzyanov absolutely nothing, since a 0-score would become his mandatory drop-score. To clinch the title this weekend, Timerzyanov would only need a single point (15^th place), since Foust could only reach a total 129 points.

Prediction: Timur Timerzyanov


In Super 1600 matters are not so clear as in Supercars, since there are many more drivers still competing for the title, five to be precise. Leading the Championship is Andreas Bakkerud, with a 119 points he has a nice but not comfortable lead of 10 points over Ulrik Linnemann. Third is Krzystof Skorupski on 99 points, closely followed by Ildar Rakhmatullin on 94 and Bakkerud's team mate Jussi Leppihalme on 91 points.

Andreas Bakkerud can take the title his this weekend, if he wins and Linnemann would finish no higher than third the scores would be 139 against 124. If Linnemann would then win in Germany he would need to drop his 5 points scored in Belgium putting him on 139 points. Bakkerud would then be champion on four wins to three for Linnemann.

Bakkerud's worst score was 7^th place in Belgium, still an A-final finish. He's great at fighting his way up from a B-final position to the A-final. Linnemann can only try to win and hope Bakkerud doesn't do well.

Prediction: Andreas Bakkerud

In the Touringcar class there are only two title candidates left: Anton Marklund leads on 125 points with 2010 champion Derek Tohill second on 108 points. Marklund has had an absolutely fantastic season with two wins and five second places. Only time Marklund didn't make the podium was in Norway, and that score doesn't count for the championship anymore (dropped). Tohill is on two wins as well, yet finishing 4^th, 9^th and 3^rd in the last three rounds has cost him the lead he held after the first half of the season. Outsider for this weekend could be Robin Larsson, he either did not score or finished on the podium (4 times out of 6 starts).

In order for Marklund to take the title in Finland he would 'only' need to finish second. This would put him on 142 points, whereas Tohill can only reach 140 given he wins twice (drops 8 points from Belgium).

Prediction: Anton Marklund

WRC: Wales rally GB review.

So hello Rally and Cross readers. In case you don't know me I'm Tiff and I usually write about Formula One. But I do have a secret passion for the WRC.
So I was truly honoured when Martijn asked me to write a review for the Wales rally GB.
Now being British. This means I get to start by writing about my home race. Winner.

Now being British also means I get British coverage of the Rally, which sadly now is pretty dire. Ten years ago the WRC used to be on prime time terrestrial TV, then it fell in to the clutches of cable TV and then even more further into almost obscurity by being on to a specialist motors TV channel. Now don't get me wrong Motors TV which covers the WRC do a pretty good job with the limited resources they have. It just means that I'm doing a review based on just ninety minutes of coverage.
But I aim to do my best for you readers of Rally and Cross and hopefully this won't be the last you see of me on the blog.

So we head into round ten with Sebastien Loeb fifty four points ahead of Mikko Hirvonen but with Wales rally GB usually being Ford territory. It will be interesting to see if Citroen can do anything about it.
What will also be interesting is how the weather will affect play. Especially because the UK is notoriously rainy and wet and I personally can testify to this.

And of course it was raining for start of day one.

After Stage One, Ford took the rains. (Take the pun if you will) and it was Petter Solberg who took charge over Mads Ostberg and Jari-Matti Latvala.

Stage Two and Three saw a change of the guard. With Loeb starting to play catch up to a race that he doesn't even need to win. Solberg after a cracking Stage One still kept his foot in the door and seemed confident in Wales. Though Stage Two and Three didn't seem to be fun times for everyone. As Ott Tanak can testify when power steering started to fail on him.
SS3 saw Latvala take the lead of the rally and declare that this was his favourite stage.
It seems that Latvala is finally starting to enjoy himself after a dire few months.

Stage Five saw Loeb start to lose time to the Ford's meanwhile team mate Hirvonen had a case of the Jenson Button's and started to complain about a lack of grip. A gripe that would continue for most of the rally.

The last stage of day one bought one of only a few hairy moments throughout the whole rally. With Solberg almost falling off the road, even though the track was starting to dry off.
Latvala started to put consistency together to bring the Ford home and keep the lead of the rally at the end of day one.

1. Latvala 1:25:05
2. Solberg +12.1
3. Loeb +21.3
4. Ostberg + 32.6
5. Hirvonen +53.8

Day Two of the rally started off a bit like my eyesight. Foggy. Though for Thierry Neuville the start of Day Two ended up more soggy then foggy, when water started coming into the car. Even at one point ending up on the pace notes. Hirvonen was still massively frustrated with his lack of traction and grip, which still hadn't been sorted from the previous day. The start of Day Two was great for Ostberg though who took his first stage win on Stage Seven, his first stage win for three years.



The second half of Day Two was finally clear of fog and also for once stayed dry. Stage Eleven and Twelve saw Loeb attempt to catch Solberg. Loeb trying to take every point out of anyone he can, but sadly for Loeb Solberg responded to Loeb's advances and held on to second place at the end of Day Two.

1. Latvala 2:18:05
2. Solberg +24.5
3. Loeb +30.9
4. Ostberg +49.9
5. Hirvonen +1.22

Day Three saw the start of the battle for the minor placings with Evgeny Novikov and Ott Tanak. Tanak started to make a charge on Novikov but then sadly made a mistake, never truly recovered and ended up losing out on a chance at sixth place.
Talking of struggling. Ostberg started Day Three with a continuing mis-fire problem, which meant he struggled going fast uphill. Sadly this isn't good in Wales as it is pretty hilly.
In Stage Fifteen and Sixteen we started to see Loeb take charge to try and take second place away from Solberg. Sadly Solberg started to crumble and slowly started to lose small increments of time which led to Loeb taking Second place away from him.

The second half of Day Three saw Ostberg still struggling with his mis-fire from earlier in the day, but he still kept up the pace to safely secure a great fourth place in Wales. Loeb managed to keep hold on to his position and retain second place.
So we see Latvala strike an impressive performance to win the Wales rally GB. Not only with style but also with bags of confidence.
I literally can't wait to see what the next three rounds will hold.

So the Wales rally GB Top Ten ended like this.

1. Jari-Matti Latvala 3:03:40
2. Sebastien Loeb +27.8
3. Petter Solberg +28.7
4. Mads Ostberg +1.10
5. Mikko Hirvonen +1.29
6. Evgeny Novikov +3.37
7. Thierry Neuville +4.11
8. Matthew Wilson +6.00
9. Martin Prokop +6.58
10. Nasser Al Attiyah +9.32



Hope you enjoyed my review of the Wales rally GB.
If you like Formula One as well then you can also read my blog here.
You can also follow me on twitter @squiffany

Rally Review - IRC Yalta Rally

Stars shine in their absence

by Martijn Kösters

The Intercontinental Rally Challenge set up camp around Yalta in the Ukraine for the 10^th round of this year's championship. A major disappointment came at that start of the Rally, when an inspection of the entry list learned that none of the big names in the IRC (as there are Mikkelsen, Kopecký, Hänninen or even youngsters like Wiegand) took part in this year's event.

Instead the field consisted of three Fiesta S2000s, a Fabia S2000, a 207 S2000, an Impreza R4 and two Lancer Evo R4s. A total of 8 cars would compete in the major class of this event. Further look at the entry list reveals a lot of Citroën C2 and Fiesta in R2 regulation, and old Citroën Saxo and more curiously a VAZ 2112 and 11193, which I would love to see in Rally trim. 

 

Even though the amount of entries was limited, this would not necessarily have to stand in the way of an interesting Rally, yet there were two drivers who were clearly superior to the rest. Mikko Pajunen (Fin) and Yuri Protsarov (Ukr) (both in Fiestas) could comfortably beat the rest of the field by a margin of 30 seconds on a 20 kilometer stage, which meant that after a combined hour of timed stages the gap to third was over 100 seconds, and fourth place was 3,5 minutes down the road.

When Pajunen had to retire after a stage 5 crash this left Protsarov lonely at the top of the standings, and most excitement seemed gone from the Rally. Further down Yagiz Avci was in second, 2.29 behind Protsarov and 2.03 ahead of Romainian Tempestini. Protsarov picked up a puncture on SS7 which cost him three minutes and the lead, which he retook after a storming drive on SS8, winning the stage by a full minute. Troubles on sunday morning put him out of the Rally. Stages on sunday afternoon saw only 14 teams left, Avci initially lead the Skoda S2000 of Hungarian Vicin, but a great drive of Robert Consani in a 2WD (!) Renault Mégané was rewarded with second place at the end of the rally.

The Prime Yalta Rally again showed a trend of inflation ongoing in the IRC, where in previous years a three-way battle between top-level drivers was guaranteed at every event, the 2012 IRC is a championship where many stars disappeared, and the few left are acting on a part-time basis. The fact that a 2WD car made it to the podium is partly due to Consani's driving capabilities, but mostly down to the lack of competition.

So far, Championship leader Andreas Mikkelsen was the only driver to compete in every Rally until this weekend. Juho Hänninen, thanks to three victories and a second place, is second in the standings. Note that he only had to compete in four rallies to secure 2^nd in the championship. Comparing the IRC to its big brother WRC, we see that the WRC has 15 drivers who have taken part in two-thirds or more of the events in the championship. In the IRC, only four drivers achieve this criteria, compared to ten last year. The Intercontinental Rally Challenge really needs to step up its game in order to remain the biggest championship behind the WRC. It is already not Intercontinental anymore, and it is now risking losing its appeal as a major championship.

Special Announcement: We're back!

I admit freely, after setting up this blog in March I failed to provide infromation beyond the 140 characters on @Rallycross_ERC.

Yet, Although, But and Also.... We are back, and properly back that is.


This weekend the Iconic Wales Rally GB is driven oncemore, and there will be a report, yes. But not any ordinary report, we have got our own "local correspondent". A good friend of mine Mrs. Tiffany Fletcher (And do read her blog here) has taken an interest in the World Rally Championship. And what way to complement the British round of the WRC than with a British entry on the blog.



For now, enjoy the Rallies (IRC Yalta Rally this weekend too) and look forward for posts this weekend.


The @Rallycross_ERC TEAM

WRC: World- or Western Rally Championship?

An interesting story that came up today, it is believed that the World Rally Championship manufacturers (Citroën, Ford and Mini) have proposed a calendar for 2013 in which no Rallies will be held outside Europe and the Americas. A curious case, in many ways.

First of all, why would these car manufacturers limit the scope of publicity they get via the WRC? Teams are in there to be on TV, and find customers in markets around the world. With Asia quickly becoming the largest car market in the world, it makes no sense to leave that continent behind by not rallying there.

Also, although the teams aim to get more attention in North and South America, this is also very limited, as their desire is to have ten European rallies, together with two in South America, and one in central America (Mexico probably). The WRC would become a European Championship, which would mean it would lose prestige in the world of motorsports and would also lose interest to non-European manufacturers, as they would have nothing to celebrate in their HQs in Asia, as less people would pay attention to the rallying in Europe. Subaru and Mitsubishi would be spinning in their proverbial graves.

Ironically one source said this: "The value in the American markets is enormous and we need a calendar which will reflect that. What we need now more than ever is value in return for every Euro we spend."Why leave Asia, North America and Australia out of the picture and stick with a 80% European championship?


Second, why do the teams propose a calendar prior to the FIA? The FIA does not present a calendar till May, and will probably not change that moment after the teams proposal, which leaves the rally world and fans outside Europe in doubt for another two months, not good for a championship. The only clue we have is that FIA boss Jean Todt talked about a 50/50 championship in January, with half the races in Europe, and the other half somewhere else. Something which definitely makes more sense.

The Final point I want to make is questioning if we need so many Rallies in Europe? Comparing the WRC to, say F1 we see that Formula One has 8 out of 20 races in Europe, 40% of total seems enough and fair towards other parts of the world. It covers 5 different continents, a true world championship in which the champion can really be called best of the world. WRC plans to do 10 out of 13 rallies in Europe, and will cover 2,5 continents (Central America being debatable). With some European rounds awfully close to oneanother. France's Alsace round is held a good 20 miles from the Deutschland Rally, and the Monte Carlo Rally used to be around the corner of that other French round: the Tour de Corse, which happens to be next door to the Rally of Italy at Sardinia.

Issue for a world championship is that transport costs increase for teams if they want to cover more continents, but if that is such an issue, why does the 2012 calendar feature 'Air Miles' bonus trips such as the Rally Mexico - Portugal - Argentina trio? Two long trips to America back to Europe and to America again in six weeks does not make sense.

But let's not forget, the season is only two rallies underway now, we don't have a champion yet, and the next season will not kick off for a good 10 months. Enjoy the Rallies outside of Europe, and hope they'll be there next year too.

Sata Rally Azores - Day 1

Mikkelsen and Hänninen set the pace

A rather modest turnout for the first round of the season, with mostly Portuguese drivers completing the field for the Sata Rally Azores. Only defending champion Andreas Mikkelsen, and strong contenders Juho Hänninen and Bryan Bouffier made the trip to the Azores, where drivers like Jan Kopecký, Freddy Loix and Tony Gardemeister chose not to take part in the first IRC meeting. Together with IRC expert Bruno Magalhaes the podium spots seems to be something for these four drivers. But it doesn't have to be like that.

The IRC proved for some close rallying in various Rallies last year, yet nobody from the mostly unknown drivers seems to keep up with 'the big four' after day 1.
Immediately after stage 1 it was clear that Mikkelsen and Hänninen were up for it, Mikkelsen taking the scratch, Hänninen 3.2 seconds behind on the 8.25km Coroa da Mata stage. The two were followed by Bryan Bouffier (+10.1 seconds), Bruno Magalhaes (+15.8) and Sepp Wiegand (+23.6).

Stage two saw Juho Hänninen taking his first scratch of the 2012 season, yet he missed out on the lead by 1.2 seconds. Problems were in Bruno Magalhaes' way, a problem with the handbrake forced him to back up a little after missing a corner, despite this he set the fourth time on stage 2, a mere 13 seconds behind Hänninen.
Standings after SS2: 1 Andreas Mikkelsen, 2 Juho Hänninen+1.2, 3 Bryan Bouffier+20.4, 4 Magalhaes+27.3, with Wiegand holding on to fifth, 47 seconds back.

Stage 3 was one for 2011 champion Mikkelsen, just. On the 2,2km long stage he managed to take two tenths of a second on Juho Hänninen. So the game will still be one when day 2 starts.
Standings after day 1:
1. Andreas Mikkelsen Skoda UK 13m53.7s
 2. Juho Hanninen       Skoda + 1.4s
 3. Bryan Bouffier       Peugeot + 23.0s
 4. Bruno Magalhaes  Peugeot + 29.9s
 5. Sepp Wiegand      Skoda Deutschland + 52.0s
 6. Ricardo Moura     Mitsubishi + 53.7s
 7. Hermann Gassner Red Bull Skoda + 56.1s
 8. Oleksandr Salyuk  Iurii Chemezov Ford + 1m17.5s
 9. Rashid Al Ketbi     Skydive Dubai Skoda + 1m37.2s
10. Oleksii Tamrazov Iurii Chemezov Ford + 1m42.9s

Day two starts at 10.20 GMT, or 11.20 in the center of Europe.



Martijn Kösters,
Rallycross_ERC

Prologue

Hi there, and welcome to the yet to be constructed Rally and Cross blog. After running the @Rallycross_ERC for some years I felt it was time for something extra, as not all the news can be brought and explained in 140 characters. That's why we have this blog!

Here you can expect Rally reports, updates or extended stories on important issues in Rally and Rallycross. Perhaps some preview and reviews as well. So get yourself ready, strap yourself in, and get your dose of dust, dirt and Rallying.