2011 World Rally Championship Season

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mlittle
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2011 World Rally Championship Season

Post by mlittle » Tue Mar 01, 2011 6:52 pm

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2011 World Rally Championship Schedule
--Round 1: 10-13 Feb. 2011, Rally Sweden
--Round 2: 3-6 March 2011, Rally Guanajuato Mexico
--Round 3: 24-27 March 2011, Vodafone Rally de Portugal
--Round 4: 14-16 April 2011, Rally Jordan
--Round 5: 5-8 May 2011, Rally D'Italia Sardinia
--Round 6: 26-29 May 2011, Rally Argentina
--Round 7: 16-19 June 2011, Acropolis Rally Greece
--Round 8: 28-31 July 2011, Neste Oil Rally Finland
--Round 9: 18-21 Aug. 2011, ADAC Rally Deutschland
--Round 10: 8-11 Sept. 2011, Rally Australia
--Round 11: 29 Sept.-2 Oct. 2011, Rallye de France
--Round 12: 20-23 Oct. 2011, RACC Rally d'Espana
--Round 13: 10-13 Nov. 2011, Wales Rally GB

2011 WRC Entry List
Factory Entrants
~~Citroen Total WRT(Citroen DS3): Sebastien Loeb(FRA), Sebastien Ogier(FRA)
~~Ford Abu Dhabi WRT(Ford Fiesta RS): Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN)
~~M-Sport Stobart WRT(Ford Fiesta RS): Mads Ostberg(NOR), Henning Solberg(NOR), Matthew Wilson(GBR)
~~Munchi's Ford WRT(Ford Fiesta RS): Frederico Villegra(ARG)
~~ICE 1 Racing(Citroen DS3): Kimi Raikkonen(FIN)
~~FERM Power Tools WRT(Ford Fiesta RS): Dennis Kuipers(NED), Rene Kuipers(NED)
~~Solberg WRT(Citroen DS3): Petter Solberg(NOR)
~~Brazil WRT(MINI Countryman): Daniel Olivera(BRA)
~~Monster WRT(Ford Fiesta RS): Ken Block(USA)
Privateer Entrants
~~PGA Racing(Ford Fiesta RS): Per-Gunnar Andersson(SWE)
~~MINI WRT(MINI Countryman): Kris Meeke(GBR), Daniel Sordo(ESP)
~~Motorsport D'Italia(Ford Fiesta RS): Arimndo Araujo(POR)
~~Team Quinta do Lorde(MINI Countryman): Bernando Sousa(POR)
~~Team Abu Dhabi(Ford Fiesta RS): Khalid Al-Qassimi(UAE)
Last edited by mlittle on Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by mlittle » Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:00 pm

Current WRC Standings
Event: Rally Sweden[round 1 of 13]

Drivers' Standings(top-10)
1st} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), 25 pts(1 win)
2nd} Mads Ostberg(NOR), 18 pts
3rd} Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN), 16 pts
4th} Sebastien Ogier(FRA), 15 pts
t-5th}[5]Petter Solberg(NOR), 10 pts
t-5th}[6]Sebastien Loeb(FRA), 10 pts
7th} Per-Gunnar Andersson(SWE), 6 pts
8th} Kimi Raikkonen(FIN), 4 pts
9th} Matthew Wilson(GBR), 2 pts
10th} Khalid Al-Qassimi(UAE), 1 pt
Team/Manufacturer Standings
1st} Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, 40 pts(1 win)
2nd} Citroen Total WRT, 22 pts
3rd} M-Sport Stobart WRT, 18 pts
4th} ICE 1 Racing, 8 pts
5th} Team Abu Dhabi, 6 pts
6th} FERM Power Tools WRT, 4 pts
7th} Monster WRT, 2 pts
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Loeb, Citroen Win in Mexico

Post by mlittle » Mon Mar 07, 2011 6:43 pm

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----Sebastien Loeb has now stretched his win tally for Rally Mexico to five in a row for the World Rally Championship. Heading into the final day it looked Loeb would need to settle for second best, but his teammate Sebastien Ogier crashed out of the lead on today's first stage, handing victory to the reigning WRC Champion. Ogier's retirement is a mixed blessing to the Citroen camp. Mexico is their first victory for the next generation DS3 but they might have earned a one, two finish if the day went better for their upcoming ace driver.

"We've just had a very tricky rally," said Loeb. "I had a great scrap with Sebastien Ogier, a few teething troubles with the car, and my victory only came at the end of the race. It's a good result where points are concerned, as we're in second place in the world championship. The season's really begun for us here."

Loeb could have made the same error as Ogier if he was the leader after the second day, meaning he would have been sweeping the road this morning. On Saturday Loeb had taken the lead from his younger teammate but a mechanical problem set him once again into second place. With only three stages left the battle today looked promising until Ogier retired.

Loeb wouldn't have preferred a straight fight, "Seeing Sebastien [Ogier] and Julian [Ingrassia] on the side of the road didn't give me much pleasure. We could have fought till the very end and it's a pity it finished like that. We went back into the lead of the rally with more than 1m 30s in hand over Mikko [Hirvonen]. We just nursed it home."

With no win today, and zero points from the event, Ogier takes the blame square on his shoulders, "I had to push to hold on to my first place as my position of being first out forced me to sweep the roads yet again. In a corner, the car understeered and I went a bit wide. I couldn't avoid a stone on the verge and the left-hand front upright broke. I gambled and I lost, but above all I'm feeling gutted for the whole team. We'd done a great job since the start of the weekend and I didn't manage to make it pay off by scoring precious points for Citroen."

Second place was left to Hirvonen, who never recovered from sweeping the roads clear on Friday, and was consistently off the pace of the Citroens. Still with second on the podium and an extra three points for winning today's Guanajuato Power Stage, the Ford driver leaves Mexico as entered, leading the championship, now nine points ahead of Loeb.

"It's a great result from the championship perspective, especially considering the disadvantage of our road position on Friday," explained Hirvonen. "After my difficulties last season, I feel I've rediscovered my consistency and that's so important in mounting a title challenge. I knew the roads used in the Power Stage well and those bonus points are a big boost."

Jari-Matti Latvala took his Ford Fiesta to third after a frustrating event for the Finn, who suffered two punctures and had dropped back as far as ninth before fighting his way to the top four on Saturday. With Ogier's retirement Latvala earned the final podium spot for his troubles. With Ford taking second and third they have extended their manufacturer's lead to 26 points over Citroen.

"To take a podium after two punctures is more than I could hope for," admitted Latvala. "Our pace improved as the rally progressed and the Fiesta RS WRC felt good all the way through the weekend. I used the same set-up all rally and I was happy with the handling for our first gravel rally in the car. But we can still make improvements, and that's my aim before the next round in Portugal."

The best placed privateer was Petter Solberg in fourth. Electrical and mechanical problems plagued the Norwegian and kept him from fighting in the top five for much of the event. Solberg decided to go for the Power Stage win to maximize his points but was just edged by Hirvonen for second, and was matched to the tenth by Loeb. Two points went to Solberg with one point for third place on the Power Stage going to Loeb.

"It's been a good weekend" says Petter Solberg. "Considering the time loss after the problems on Friday, being fourth today is really good! We have definitely proved we have the speed and bringing home 13 points is good. There have been a few minor issues with the new car but we managed to solve them and know what caused it. Now we are preparing for Portugal."

Fifth went to Mads Ostberg for the M-Sport Stobart team, while Henning Solberg rounded out the top six. Ken Block ended the event down in 12th overall.

Next on the calendar is Rally de Portugal starting March 24th. Hirvonen will once again start the event sweeping the roads, while Ogier will have a better starting position. Unless it rains, Hirvonen and Loeb will be at the disadvantage, allowing Ogier to gain an early lead. How that will unfold for the rest of the weekend will be up to each driver's skill and luck, but rest assured Ogier isn't done trying to surpass the pace of his veteran teammate just yet.
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Post by mlittle » Sat Mar 19, 2011 7:15 pm

Current World Rally Championship Standings
Event: Rally Guanajuato Mexico[rd.2 of 13]


~~~WRC Drivers' Standings(top-10+)
1st} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), 46 pts(1 win)
2nd} Sebastien Loeb, 37 pts(1 win)
3rd} Jari-Matti Latvala, 31 pts
4th} Mads Ostberg(NOR), 28 pts
5th} Petter Solberg(NOR), 23 pts
6th} Sebastien Ogier(FRA), 15 pts
7th} Henning Solberg(NOR), 8 pts
t-8th}[8]Per-Gunnar Andersson(SWE), 6 pts
t-8th}[9]Mikhail Prokop(RUS), 6 pts
t-10th}[10]Kimi Raikkonen(FIN), 4 pts
t-10th}[11]Juri Hattinen(FIN), 4 pts
~~~WRC Team/Manufacturer Standings
1st} Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, 73 pts(1 win)
2nd} Citroen Total WRT, 47 pts(1 win)
3rd} M-Sport Stobart Ford WRT, 36 pts
4th} Petter Solberg WRT, 13 pts
5th} ICE 1 Racing, 8 pts
t-6th}[6]Abu Dhabi WRT, 6 pts
t-6th}[7]Munchi's Ford WRT, 6 pts
t-8th}[8]Monster WRT, 6 pts
9th} FERM Power Tools WRT, 4 pts
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Latvala Leads Day 1 in Portugal

Post by mlittle » Sat Mar 26, 2011 3:01 pm

---GMM/World Rally Championship
Day 1 News, Rallye de Portugal

~~~Jari-Matti Latvala will take a lead of 11.5 seconds into day two of Vodafone Rally de Portugal following six action packed stages on the gravel roads of the Algarve on Friday. Driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, the 25-year-old from Finland narrowed Sebastien Ogier’s advantage on Friday’s penultimate test and moved clear with the fastest time on stage seven, his third fastest time on day one, as Ogier dropped back to ensure he wouldn’t run first on the road on Saturday.

After completing the final 21.31-kilometre Felizes stage - the scene of his terrifying crash on this event back in 2009 - Latvala said: “Of course there was a possibility to also slow down and maybe that would have been the best thing but this is how it is.”

Latvala will now be saddled with clearing the road of the loose surface gravel on day two, a prospect that does not concern him, even though road cleaning is expected to be more of a factor on day two than it was on Friday. “Okay, it’s not maybe the ideal position but it is what it is and I’m not afraid of the conditions and what will be happening tomorrow,” he said.

Ford team-mate Hirvonen, who started the event with a seven-point lead in the drivers’ standings, was satisfied after completing day one in second overall having run at the head of the field since Friday’s first stage. “I am really happy how the day went,” said Hirvonen. “The car is working really good and is proof we did a good test. It doesn’t matter on this stage, tomorrow will be absolutely flat-out and we will attack from the start. I’m feeling good, everything is fine.”

Seven-time world champion Sebsastien Loeb also slowed on the final stage to gain a more advantageous starting position on Saturday. He will start third overall, 13.7s behind Latvala. “I slowed to make sure I wasn’t at the front,” said Loeb. “Mikko was very fast today first on the road and I couldn’t get a gap to him. I think Ford is very dangerous here - they are going very fast. This afternoon, they were quicker than us. We have to find a solution.”

Ogier had led Latvala by 1.8s starting the final stage today but decided to reduce his pace to slip down the starting order on day two. “Nobody knows exactly what will happen tomorrow so we will see,” said the Frenchman. “You need to have a big gap to stay in the lead but it was not possible to take that today because conditions were similar for everybody.”

Petter Solberg started the event as one of the favourites for victory in his Citroen DS3 WRC but dropped out of contention after suffering the first of four punctures on stage two. When he depleted his supply of spare tyres following a fourth deflation on stage seven, he elected to retire from the day. Although he will pick up a 10-minute SupeRally time penalty as a result, he reasoned the time loss caused by the sequence of punctures would have been greater had he limped to the finish of the stage to record a time. With no spare tyres to complete the 58.22-kilometre road section back to service in Faro, Solberg was left with no option other than to retire.

The former world champion’s misfortune elevated his elder brother Henning into fifth overall after the veteran Norwegian lost time in the morning with a misfire. He starts day two 4.7s ahead of M-Sport Stobart team-mate Matthew Wilson, who reported a power glitch on his Fiesta but otherwise impressed.

Armindo Araujo marked the competition debut of MINI’s John Cooper Works Super 2000 by completing day one in seventh place. The Portuguese said there’s more pace to come from the Prodrive-developed car after admitting he had been concentrating on learning the machine rather than pushing for fast stage times.

Federico Villagra holds ninth overnight in his Munchi’s Fiesta. Kimi Raikkonen suffered a rear-left puncture on stage five but said the set-up of his Citroen DS3 WRC wasn’t to his liking in the afternoon. Khalid Al Qassimi completes the top 10 in his Team Abu Dhabi Fiesta, which suffered minor cosmetic damage when the Emirati went off into a ditch on stage two.

Bernardo Sousa’s impressive run came to an end when he went off the road approximately 5.6 kilometres into stage seven. The Madeira driver had been on course for a points finish on his debut in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC at the time of his accident.

Dutchman Dennis Kuipers made up for his roll on Rally Guanajuato Mexico earlier this month by steering his FERM Power Tools World Rally Team Fiesta to 11th at the overnight halt. Countryman Peter van Merksteijn Jr is 14th overnight on his debut in a DS3 WRC. Brazil World Rally Team’s Daniel Oliveira is 17th in his MINI John Cooper Works, which has been hampered by a handful of mechanical glitches.
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Post by mlittle » Thu Jun 02, 2011 6:49 am

Current World Rally Championship Standings
(updated after 6 of 13 rounds)

WRC Drivers' Standings(top-10)
1st} Sebastien Loeb(FRA), 126 pts(3 wins)
2nd} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), 113 pts(1 win)
3rd} Sebastien Ogier(FRA), 96 pts(2 wins)
4th} Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN), 74 pts
5th} Petter Solberg(NOR), 61 pts
6th} Mads Ostberg(NOR), 48 pts
7th} Matthew Wilson(GBR), 28 pts
8th} Frederico Villegra(ARG), 20 pts
9th} Kimi Raikkonen(FIN), 18 pts
10th} Henning Solberg(NOR), 10 pts

WRC Manufacturers' Standings
1. Citroen Total World Rally Team 207pts(5 wins)
2. Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 174pts(1 win)
3. M-Sport Stobart Ford Rally Team 75pts
4. Petter Solberg World Rally Team 49pts
5. Munchis Ford World Rally Team 32pts
6. Ice 1 Racing 26pts
7. Team Abu Dhabi 19pts
8. FERM Power Tools World Rally Team 10pts
9. Monster World Rally Team 8pts
10. Brazil World Rally Team 1pt
11. Van Merksteijn Motorsport 0pts
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Post by mlittle » Sat Jun 25, 2011 7:57 am

2011 WRC Event Winners
--Rally Sweden 10 - 13 Feb 11 Winner: M. HIRVONEN
--Rally Guanajuato Mexico 03 - 06 Mar 11 Winner: S. LOEB
--Vodafone Rally de Portugal 24 - 27 Mar 11 Winner: S. OGIER
--Jordan Rally 14 - 16 Apr 11 Winner: S. OGIER
--Rally d'Italia Sardegna 05 - 08 May 11 Winner: S. LOEB
--Rally Argentina 26 - 29 May 11 Winner: S. LOEB
--Acropolis Rally 16 - 19 Jun 11 Winner: S. OGIER


Current 2011 World Rally Championship Standings
WRC Drivers' Standings
1st} Sebastien Loeb(FRA), 146 pts(3 wins)
2nd} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), 129 pts(1 win)
3rd} Sebastien Ogier(FRA), 124 pts(3 wins)
4th} Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN), 76 pts
5th} Petter Solberg(NOR), 73 pts
6th} Mads Ostberg(NOR), 48 pts
7th} Matthew Wilson(GBR), 36 pts
8th} Kimi Raikkonen(FIN), 24 pts
t-9th}[9]Henning Solberg(NOR), 20 pts
t-9th}[10]Frederico Villegra(ARG), 20 pts
WRC Manufacturers Standings
1. Citroen Total World Rally Team 250pts
2. Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 195pts
3. M-Sport Stobart Ford Rally Team 87pts
4. Petter Solberg World Rally Team 61pts
5. Ice 1 Racing 34pts
6. Munchis Ford World Rally Team 32pts
7. Team Abu Dhabi 19pts
8. FERM Power Tools World Rally Team 14pts
9. Monster World Rally Team 8pts
10. Brazil World Rally Team 1pt
11. Van Merksteijn Motorsports 0pts
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