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.

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.

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.

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.