New champion this year, but that doesn't mean he won't be French
by Martijn Kösters
Okay a bold statement here, 'Sebastien Ogier will be 2013 World Rally Champion'. I am convinced and you may remind me of this quote by the end of the year. But from what I have seen in the first three rallies of the year there is no way (apart from him succumbing to some injury) that anyone is going to beat him this year. He simply has got it all going for him.
First, there is the Volkswagen World Rally Team. New name for this year, but we all know they didn't come completely out of the blue. Skoda (one of VW's daughter brands) have been running S2000 cars with quite some success over the past years, not only were they fast but they were reliable too. So VW has the know-how of putting a decent engine in a more than decent car. Telltale signs were visible last year, when 'test drivers' Ogier, Andreas Mikkelsen and Kevin Abbring scoring regular WRC points in a S2000 car.
Second, the man himself. Without discrediting any of his former rivals, Ogier has been the toughest competitor Sebastien Loeb faced during his career. Perhaps he was helped by the outstanding Citroen C4 WRC of that time, but beating Loeb is quite the achievement. Facing other rivals Loeb always seemed in control, but when Ogier challenged Loeb's supremacy in 2011 by winning 5 out of 13 rallies, it made the 9-time Champion feel uneasy.
Not to play down Ogier's skill and talent, but his competitors are just not up to the job of catching him. Hirvonen finished three and a half minutes down on Ogier in last weekend's Rally Mexico, winning only two stages. Mads Ostberg has the potential to be quicker, and won four stages in Mexico. But gremlins in his Ford machinery prevented him from winning either of three rallies this season, and he now trails Ogier by 46 points. Dani Sordo had solid runs in Monaco and Mexico, but neither he can squeeze enough out of his Citroën to challenge Ogier.
Almost nobody seems to catch this guy, Loeb did beat Ogier in Monaco by a decent margin of 1m40, only to lose out to Ogier by 40s in Sweden a few weeks later. The margin to other drivers is close to or over two minutes most of the time.
Seems like the French supremacy in the WRC continues.
Showing posts with label Citroen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Citroen. Show all posts
Wednesday, 13 March 2013
Wednesday, 23 January 2013
Rally Review: WRC Monte Carlo.
So after nearly four months away, your British rally correspondent is back and ready to take you through the 2013 WRC season.
Now so much seems to have changed from last year. Loeb has gone part time, Ford doesn't exist anymore but sort of does in a weird way, VW are now in and the drivers have seemingly moved about more then the hokey cokey.
But hopefully we can both learn and catch up together.
So last weekend was the start of the WRC season with Monte Carlo being our first host and with this being one of Loeb's four 2013 drives, can Loeb win his seventh Monte Carlo rally?
Day One.
Loeb is the first out on day one and with wintry conditions expected, most of the top ten have opted for the studded winter tyres. The main problem with the winter tyres is that for most of day one was it was dry tarmac, meaning everyone has to take care not to wreck their tyres for the later stages.
One of the first people to suffer with this tyre issue was Sebastian Loeb, meaning that Sebastien Ogier took full advantage and won the first stage for VW on their debut in the sport.
Stage two saw Loeb take control and storm through the field to overtake Ogier on the leader board by 6.7 seconds.
Stage three saw the fight between old team mates Loeb and Ogier intensify but with black ice all over the stage it made conditions tricky for all the drivers. Luckily for all the drivers the stage ends with cake or should I say tart. Tarte du pommes are served to all the drivers after stage three in a tradition spanning 40 years and after a tough stage who doesn't like a sweet treat.
Sadly for stage four. Thierry Neuville managed to again achieve the dubious honour of never finishing day one of the Monte Carlo rally. Sadly for Neuville he clipped the corner and broke his suspension and he was again out of Monte.
So after day one. Loeb leads quite comfortably over Ogier but the battle for 3rd, 4th and 5th is starting to hot up.
1. Loeb 1:39:49
2. Ogier + 1:20:3
3. Hirvonen + 1:46:7
4. Sordo + 2:01:2
5. Latvala + 2:32:2
Day Two.
More dry/snowy conditions for the start of day two. During Ogier's run on stage five we start to see conditions worsen as the snow starts to drive down but even with this setback Ogier is still five seconds quicker the Loeb. Stage five also sees the start of Hirvonen's up and down phase, by this I mean that one minute his confidence is up and by the next stage it's down. But throughout all this he is still super consistent over the stages.
Novikov manages to regain his composure after a slight off down a snow bank, but even this doesn't stop the speedy Russian and Novikov even manages to gain a place in the process.
The start of stage six and seven takes a slightly off turn for the mostly on form Ogier after he spins on track, luckily he gets back to business pretty quickly and doesn't lose too much time.
Sadly for Dani Sordo he hasn't got the best track record on snow and ice but he is still managing to keep up with the leaders for 3rd place.
The new rivalry on stage six and seven is with Jari Matti Latvala and Eugeny Novikov, finally on day two we start to see some of the Latvala of old. With a huge amount of confidence and taking a huge amount of risks Latvala is finally storming on his 2013 campaign. However the winner of stage six and seven was Novikov who took both stages wins and is looking very much in contention for some big points.
Stage eight was a more icy affair after the earlier stage run had took off all the loose snow. Hirvonen and Novikov continued to battle it out for 4th and 5th place but it was Hirvonen who struggled to find a good rhythm with the added problem of chonic understeer, whilst Novikov took the safe approach and chose to conserve his tyres.
At the end of day two both Loeb and Ogier had drama free days and with Loeb being fantastic and consistent as usual. He ends day two on still on top of the leader board. With Novikov taking full advantage of Hirvonen's problems and leaps into fourth place.
1. Loeb 3:16:29
2. Ogier + 1:35
3. Sordo + 2:38
4. Novikov + 2:53
5. Hirvonen + 3:22
6. Latvala + 3:43
Day Three.
Stage eleven started off with Loeb taking no risks as he attempts win number seven at Monte Carlo. Ogier sadly at this point seemed pretty content to sit behind Loeb and go for 2nd place. Ogier finished stage eleven 90 seconds off Loeb's time.
Sordo had more of a trickier time when he nudged a snow bank and spun off, luckily he managed to get back on track and keep hold of third place. Novikov was aggressive in taking time off Sordo whilst he had his problems and shaved another seven seconds off Sordo. Latvala seemed a lot more content in the car after making a few tweaks to the VW, he also gained a place due to privateer Brain Bouffier having a huge off which caused him to lose nearly two minutes.
Stage twelve saw Sordo struggle with poor grip and now with the added pressure from Novikov taking time away from him. Sadly the pressure did indeed get to Sordo with another spin on day three, he was lucky to be going at such a slow speed at the time or he would of easily been out of the rally. All the trouble for Sordo saw Novikov take over third place now 8.6 seconds up on the Spainard. Stage twelve however really belonged to Mads Ostberg who stormed ahead to take his first stage win on 2013.
Stage thirteen saw the toughest stage Sisteron, but considering this. The stage took place without much incident.
Loeb still leads. With Ogier still holding on the second place. Latvala is finally showing signs of improvement after moving into the top five and Novikov takes full advantage of Sordo's problems to move up into the last podium position.
1. Loeb 4:16:41
2. Ogier + 1:47
3. Novikov + 3:19
4. Sordo + 3:21
5. Latvala + 4:04
Day Four.
Stage fourteen threw up a huge amount of problems for many drivers, with conditions being extremely poor. Loeb himself even deemed the stage to be 'completely undriveable'.
Novikov then proved Loeb's point when he lost control and banged into two walls, leaving the car far too damaged to continue. Novikov's exit was Sordo's gain after he sees himself back in third place.
Hirvonen's run was also compromised after marshalls waved for him to slow down after an accident. Turns out that Latvala had also got himself into trouble and he too joined Novikov on the sidelines.
Then in a case of the 'threes' Juho Hanninen who had been relatively quiet for most of the rally, joined Latvala and Novikov after braking his suspension with the wall. The main person who benefited from all this chaos was Ostberg who now jumped three places to sneak into the top five.
Stage sixteen is a rerun of stage fourteen. The same stage that took out Latvala, Novikov and Hanninen. So the rerun in the dark was expected to be even more tricky. Most of the drivers opted to play safe and not to rush and take risks. Sadly for Ostberg that didn't happen, after slipping on some black ice he managed to make contact with the wall, luckily he did manage to limp back to service but not before losing fifth place to Bouffier.
Sadly for Ostberg, service would all be vain after crowd congestion and bad weather made the running the two stages impossible and for safety reasons would be cancelled. So Loeb wins in Monte Carlo for the seventh time.
So here is the final standings for Monte Carlo.
1. Loeb 5:18:57
2. Ogier + 1:39
3. Sordo + 3:49
4. Hirvonen + 5:26
5. Bouffier + 8:13
6. Ostberg +12:03
With Sweden next on the cards and Loeb back for that event. Who knows what the snow and ice will bring.
See you again in three weeks.
And remember you can also follow me on twitter @squiffany
Now so much seems to have changed from last year. Loeb has gone part time, Ford doesn't exist anymore but sort of does in a weird way, VW are now in and the drivers have seemingly moved about more then the hokey cokey.
But hopefully we can both learn and catch up together.
So last weekend was the start of the WRC season with Monte Carlo being our first host and with this being one of Loeb's four 2013 drives, can Loeb win his seventh Monte Carlo rally?
Day One.
Loeb is the first out on day one and with wintry conditions expected, most of the top ten have opted for the studded winter tyres. The main problem with the winter tyres is that for most of day one was it was dry tarmac, meaning everyone has to take care not to wreck their tyres for the later stages.
One of the first people to suffer with this tyre issue was Sebastian Loeb, meaning that Sebastien Ogier took full advantage and won the first stage for VW on their debut in the sport.
Stage two saw Loeb take control and storm through the field to overtake Ogier on the leader board by 6.7 seconds.
Stage three saw the fight between old team mates Loeb and Ogier intensify but with black ice all over the stage it made conditions tricky for all the drivers. Luckily for all the drivers the stage ends with cake or should I say tart. Tarte du pommes are served to all the drivers after stage three in a tradition spanning 40 years and after a tough stage who doesn't like a sweet treat.
Sadly for stage four. Thierry Neuville managed to again achieve the dubious honour of never finishing day one of the Monte Carlo rally. Sadly for Neuville he clipped the corner and broke his suspension and he was again out of Monte.
So after day one. Loeb leads quite comfortably over Ogier but the battle for 3rd, 4th and 5th is starting to hot up.
1. Loeb 1:39:49
2. Ogier + 1:20:3
3. Hirvonen + 1:46:7
4. Sordo + 2:01:2
5. Latvala + 2:32:2
Day Two.
More dry/snowy conditions for the start of day two. During Ogier's run on stage five we start to see conditions worsen as the snow starts to drive down but even with this setback Ogier is still five seconds quicker the Loeb. Stage five also sees the start of Hirvonen's up and down phase, by this I mean that one minute his confidence is up and by the next stage it's down. But throughout all this he is still super consistent over the stages.
Novikov manages to regain his composure after a slight off down a snow bank, but even this doesn't stop the speedy Russian and Novikov even manages to gain a place in the process.
The start of stage six and seven takes a slightly off turn for the mostly on form Ogier after he spins on track, luckily he gets back to business pretty quickly and doesn't lose too much time.
Sadly for Dani Sordo he hasn't got the best track record on snow and ice but he is still managing to keep up with the leaders for 3rd place.
The new rivalry on stage six and seven is with Jari Matti Latvala and Eugeny Novikov, finally on day two we start to see some of the Latvala of old. With a huge amount of confidence and taking a huge amount of risks Latvala is finally storming on his 2013 campaign. However the winner of stage six and seven was Novikov who took both stages wins and is looking very much in contention for some big points.
Stage eight was a more icy affair after the earlier stage run had took off all the loose snow. Hirvonen and Novikov continued to battle it out for 4th and 5th place but it was Hirvonen who struggled to find a good rhythm with the added problem of chonic understeer, whilst Novikov took the safe approach and chose to conserve his tyres.
At the end of day two both Loeb and Ogier had drama free days and with Loeb being fantastic and consistent as usual. He ends day two on still on top of the leader board. With Novikov taking full advantage of Hirvonen's problems and leaps into fourth place.
1. Loeb 3:16:29
2. Ogier + 1:35
3. Sordo + 2:38
4. Novikov + 2:53
5. Hirvonen + 3:22
6. Latvala + 3:43
Day Three.
Stage eleven started off with Loeb taking no risks as he attempts win number seven at Monte Carlo. Ogier sadly at this point seemed pretty content to sit behind Loeb and go for 2nd place. Ogier finished stage eleven 90 seconds off Loeb's time.
Sordo had more of a trickier time when he nudged a snow bank and spun off, luckily he managed to get back on track and keep hold of third place. Novikov was aggressive in taking time off Sordo whilst he had his problems and shaved another seven seconds off Sordo. Latvala seemed a lot more content in the car after making a few tweaks to the VW, he also gained a place due to privateer Brain Bouffier having a huge off which caused him to lose nearly two minutes.
Stage twelve saw Sordo struggle with poor grip and now with the added pressure from Novikov taking time away from him. Sadly the pressure did indeed get to Sordo with another spin on day three, he was lucky to be going at such a slow speed at the time or he would of easily been out of the rally. All the trouble for Sordo saw Novikov take over third place now 8.6 seconds up on the Spainard. Stage twelve however really belonged to Mads Ostberg who stormed ahead to take his first stage win on 2013.
Stage thirteen saw the toughest stage Sisteron, but considering this. The stage took place without much incident.
Loeb still leads. With Ogier still holding on the second place. Latvala is finally showing signs of improvement after moving into the top five and Novikov takes full advantage of Sordo's problems to move up into the last podium position.
1. Loeb 4:16:41
2. Ogier + 1:47
3. Novikov + 3:19
4. Sordo + 3:21
5. Latvala + 4:04
Day Four.
Stage fourteen threw up a huge amount of problems for many drivers, with conditions being extremely poor. Loeb himself even deemed the stage to be 'completely undriveable'.
Novikov then proved Loeb's point when he lost control and banged into two walls, leaving the car far too damaged to continue. Novikov's exit was Sordo's gain after he sees himself back in third place.
Hirvonen's run was also compromised after marshalls waved for him to slow down after an accident. Turns out that Latvala had also got himself into trouble and he too joined Novikov on the sidelines.
Then in a case of the 'threes' Juho Hanninen who had been relatively quiet for most of the rally, joined Latvala and Novikov after braking his suspension with the wall. The main person who benefited from all this chaos was Ostberg who now jumped three places to sneak into the top five.
Stage sixteen is a rerun of stage fourteen. The same stage that took out Latvala, Novikov and Hanninen. So the rerun in the dark was expected to be even more tricky. Most of the drivers opted to play safe and not to rush and take risks. Sadly for Ostberg that didn't happen, after slipping on some black ice he managed to make contact with the wall, luckily he did manage to limp back to service but not before losing fifth place to Bouffier.
Sadly for Ostberg, service would all be vain after crowd congestion and bad weather made the running the two stages impossible and for safety reasons would be cancelled. So Loeb wins in Monte Carlo for the seventh time.
So here is the final standings for Monte Carlo.
1. Loeb 5:18:57
2. Ogier + 1:39
3. Sordo + 3:49
4. Hirvonen + 5:26
5. Bouffier + 8:13
6. Ostberg +12:03
With Sweden next on the cards and Loeb back for that event. Who knows what the snow and ice will bring.
See you again in three weeks.
And remember you can also follow me on twitter @squiffany
Monday, 12 November 2012
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 4th and 5th, 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 9th, allbeit 12 minutes down on the leader.
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 4th and 5th, 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 9th, 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 5th
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 3rd.
Nikara and Atkinson ended another solid weekend for Mini in 5th
and 7th,
while Craig Breen took the SWRC title by finishing 6th
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.
The World Rally Championship starts its 2013 season in the second weekend of January with the Rally Monte Carlo WITH Sebastien Loeb competing.
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
Ford pulls out, now what about the WRC's future?
Ford pulls out, now
what about the WRC's future?
by Martijn Kösters
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.
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.
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.
Monday, 8 October 2012
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 8th 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.
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 8th 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.
Thursday, 4 October 2012
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.
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.
Wednesday, 19 September 2012
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
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
Tuesday, 6 March 2012
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.
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.
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