2010 World Rally Championship Thread

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2010 World Rally Championship Thread

Post by mlittle » Mon Feb 15, 2010 12:39 pm

~~~~2010 World Rally Championship Schedule


~~~12-14 Feb. 2010: Uddeholm Rally Sweden
~~~5-7 March 2010: Corona Rally Mexico
~~~1-3 April 2010: Rally Jordan
~~~16-18 April 2010: Rally of Turkey
~~~7-9 May 2010: Rally New Zealand
~~~28-30 May 2010: Vodafone Portuguese Rally
~~~7-11 July 2010: Rally Bulgaria
~~~29-31 July 2010: Neste Oil Rally Finland
~~~20-22 Aug. 2010: ADAC Rally Deutschland
~~~10-12 Sept. 2010: Rally Japan
~~~30 Sept.-3 Oct. 2010: Rally de France
~~~22-24 Oct. 2010: RACC Rally d'Espana
~~~11-14 Nov. 2010: Wales Rally G.B.
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Hirvonen Wins in Finland!

Post by mlittle » Mon Feb 15, 2010 12:43 pm

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(quoting WRC news sources)
----Ford Focus RS WRC driver Mikko Hirvonen got his quest for the 2010 World Rally Championship drivers' title off to the best possible start today by winning the opening round of the series, Rally Sweden. Hirvonen, team-leader of the BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team, took the lead on Friday and successfully fought off a two-day attack from defending champion Sebastien Loeb, who finished second, 42.3sec behind in a Citroen C4 WRC.

Today's win was the 12th at World Championship level for the Finn, who lost the 2009 title fight by a single point to Loeb. Under the new WRC points system, Hirvonen opened his 2010 account with a maximum score of 25.

After a careful approach through the final snow-covered stage, Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen leapt onto the roof of their car at the finish control to celebrate their win. "It's absolutely fantastic!" said Hirvonen. "And I'm really happy it's over after those last few stages; you can't imagine how nervous I was in there. It’s a perfect start to my year, I've never won the first round before, but after last season I've got one more year of experience. Now I plan to carry on like this. It’s a new game in Mexico and I can't wait to get started again."

Having lost out to Hirvonen in a tyre gamble on Saturday afternoon, Loeb began Sunday's competition trailing by 16.1sec. But after failing to make a big impression on today's opening two stages, the Frenchman took the uncharacteristic decision to give up on the victory challenge after SS18, settling for second, and 18 championship points instead.

"It’s been a tough weekend, and Mikko has done a perfect rally," said Loeb. "We made a little mistake yesterday, but even without it I don't know if I would have been able to beat him in the stages. He was strong and he deserves his victory. I did my best. There's nothing more to say."

Third in Sweden, 33.1sec behind Loeb, was Hirvonen's team-mate, Jari-Matti Latvala, who started his season with a 15 points haul - helping to put Ford in the lead of the manufacturers' contest. "It's not been an easy weekend," said the Finn. "We were struggling on Friday, but the speed started to come right on Saturday afternoon. I'm really pleased to finish in this position on the first round of the season."

Fourth went to Loeb's team-mate Dani Sordo. The Spaniard finished 1min 26.2sec behind Latvala, largely because of a silly mistake on Saturday when a blanking plate wasn't removed from the front of his car, causing its engine to overheat. But after an otherwise strong performance, Sordo put a brave face on the result.

"Fourth place is not bad, but of course third would have been better," he said. "The first day was okay, then we made a mistake, but that's rally sometimes. It’s okay though, we need to look to the future now. And fourth place will give me a good start position in Mexico, where the others will be cleaning the road."

Sebastien Ogier of the Citroen Junior team had a largely trouble-free event to finish fifth on his Rally Sweden debut, 4min 15.3sec adrift of Hirvonen's winning time. "It's a good result for all the team and I want to thank them for giving me a second season - it's a great opportunity. The rally was good for me on day one then got a bit more difficult when we had to conserve our place. So it was less fun that I expected! But the most important thing was to finish and get experience."

Sixth was Stobart Ford team driver Henning Solberg, tackling his first event with new co-driver Ilka Minor, and adjusting to a new English language pace-note system. "I wanted to catch Ogier, and I couldn't do any more, so we have to be happy," he said. "In the car it’s working well with Ilka. You'll see later; this is a winning team!"

Henning's British team-mate Matthew Wilson was seventh in his Ford Focus RS WRC, to collect six championship points. "I'm slightly disappointed by Friday's pace, but once we got the car sorted we improved on Saturday and today. I'm glad to get to the finish."

Norwegian Mads Ostberg was eighth after an up and down event in his 2007 spec Subaru Impreza WRC. The Norwegian had some encouraging stages but lost time in snowbanks and with a braking problem today. "A frustrating time," he acknowledged. "I hoped my bad luck would stop this year but it seems not. I've done some mistakes, and we've had some problems with the car. I guess it evens things out. I hope we'll get out again this season; we're working on some S2000 things."

Petter Solberg's first event in his 2009 specification Citroen C4 WRC turned out to be a disappointing one, with the former champion ending the rally ninth after failing to gel with his car. "This rally didn't go our way - whether that's down to me, or something else I don't know," he said. "Something hasn't been right, that's for sure. Things worked well before the rally, and the set-up should be the same as Sebastien Loeb's. What can I say?"

Swedish driver P-G Andersson brought his Super 2000 specification Skoda Fabia to tenth place, to take the class win and collect the final point in the WRC drivers' championship.

Further down the standings, largely as a result of an electrical problem on day two, former double World Champion Marcus Gronholm finished 21st in his Stobart team Ford Focus. The Finn achieved one of his pre-event objectives - winning his beloved Sagen stage on Saturday - but felt he could have done with more time in the car before the rally. "It was good to take the stage win, but the conditions here have been very tough on the tyres, and it's very difficult to drive these cars with no studs. Will I do more events? I don't know. We'll see. But if I do I'll need a lot of practice and more miles in the car."

Despite an off into a snowbank on Friday, F1 star Kimi Raikkonen completed his first ever World Rally Championship event, reaching the finish in 30th place, 37minutes behind the leaders, in his Citroen C4 WRC. "Of course I'm not happy about getting stuck on the first day but I maybe I've improved a lot since," he said. "This is definitely not an easy rally, but we've got a lot more experience of the car and the notes now. Mexico is next. I've never driven the car on gravel before but the grip should be consistent. I'm looking forward to it."
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Post by mlittle » Mon Feb 15, 2010 12:50 pm

Current WRC Standings............

~~~WRC Drivers Standings(top-10)...................
1st} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), 25 pts(1 win)
2nd} Sebastien Loeb(FRA), 18 pts
3rd} Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN), 15 pts
4th} Daniel Sordo(ESP), 12 pts
5th} Sebastien Ogier(FRA), 10 pts
6th} Henning Solberg(NOR), 8 pts
7th} Matthew Wilson(GBR), 6 pts
8th} Mads Ostberg(NOR), 4 pts
9th} Petter Solberg(NOR), 2 pts
10th} Per-Gunnar Andersson(SWE), 1 pt

~~~WRC Manufacturers' Championship................
1st} BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, 40 pts(1 win)
2nd} Citroen Total WRT, 30 pts
t-3rd}[3]Citroen Junior Team, 14 pts
t-3rd}[4]Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT, 14 pts
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Solberg leads after Day 1 of Rally Mexico

Post by mlittle » Sat Mar 06, 2010 10:59 am

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~~~Citroen privateer driver Petter Solberg holds a 15 second lead of Rally Mexico this evening after a sensational performance through the opening day of the competition. The 2003 World Rally Champion made the most of an advantageous start position of eighth on the road, and a racing line swept of loose gravel, to go fastest in his C4 World Rally Car on five of the day's nine stages.

The Norwegian, who took his last rally win on this event in 2005, declined to play any tactical manoeuvres to improve his road position for day two, and will face the worst of the slippery conditions as first car on the road on Saturday. "I didn't want to use tactics; I prefer to go flat out and see where we end up," said Solberg at the end of Friday's final stage. "It’s been a very good day and I'm very happy. This makes up for the disappointment in Sweden. When everything works properly it's good fun."

Second place this evening is Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier, also in a C4 World Rally Car. Also benefiting from a cleaner racing line today, thanks to his position of fifth in the start order, Ogier won four stages outright and was runner up to Solberg on the other five.

"We've made a good start with no problems and the car worked very well," said Ogier. "Yes our good road position helped a lot and for that reason tomorrow will be difficult for sure. But overcoming that sort of thing is part of the game and I have to learn it. It will be hard to conserve my position but I'll try my best."

Defending World Champion Sebastien Loeb is third, 12.5sec behind Ogier, after a day spent trying to make the best of a less than ideal start position. "Obviously second on the road today wasn't as bad as being first, and in the circumstances I don't think we could have done any better," said Loeb. "It’s been a very good day first day for me, and I'm satisfied to be third on the road tomorrow - I think it is going to be okay."

After a trouble-free day, Citroen Total driver Dani Sordo is fourth, 13.3seconds adrift of his team-mate and looking forward to Saturday's competition. "Today has been a very good result - especially for tomorrow's road position," said the Spaniard. "I'm really happy about the way things have gone so far, but I'm still expecting the roads to be slippery tomorrow. There's still a long way to go..."

The BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team duo of Jari-Matti Latvala and series leader Mikko Hirvonen struggled to master the slippery gravel stages in their Ford Focuses and hold fifth and sixth positions respectively. "I can't be happy because we have been a bit too far away from the Citroens today," said Latvala. "I made no big mistakes and didn't nothing silly, so in that sense it's been good, but it's surprising how good the Citroens have been today. I’ve tried to go as fast as I can but it seems they're still ahead of us."

Hirvonen, acting as unwilling road sweeper through each of Friday's stages, returned to Leon extremely disappointed. "We lost a lot of time to the Citroen's being first car on the road today, but in the afternoon I still don't understand why we were so slow," he said. "The first two (repeated) stages were very messy and slippery, but the last one (SS7) felt better - it was a perfect stage a really good drive and yet we still lost nearly 10 seconds. If it's like this tomorrow we don't have a chance. I'm ashamed of my driving today."

Petter's elder brother Henning holds seventh place in a Stobart Ford Focus, his colleague Matthew Wilson is eighth, Munchi’s Rally Team’s Federico Villagra holds ninth position and American rookie Ken Block rounds off the top 10. Former F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen retired from the event after a high-speed roll on stage seven. His Citroën C4 is reported to have rolled six times in a fast bend.
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Loeb takes 55-second lead into Sunday in Mexico

Post by mlittle » Sun Mar 07, 2010 5:34 pm

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-----Six-times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb will take an 55.5sec lead into Sunday's third and final day of Rally Mexico after a dominating performance today during which he won eight of nine Special Stages. The Citroen C4 WRC driver began today's competition in third place but attacked hard from the off, making the most of an advantageous road position to spring into the lead by the second stage.

From then on he pulled further ahead with every stage, eventually building a cushion he believes will be sufficient to counteract the disadvantage of running first on the road through the remaining 51.49 kilometres of stage distance.

"It was a perfect day," said Loeb. "No mistakes, I was on the limit all the time, trying to increase my lead. Now we have more than 50 seconds it should be perfect, but we have to stay on the road and avoid any mistakes. That's the plan."

Petter Solberg, also driving a Citroen C4 WRC, is second. Despite a trouble-free run today the Norwegian, who heads his own rally team, was unable to hold onto his Friday night lead because of running first through today's slippery gravel stages. "Even the second time through it's been very, very slippery but I still think we're doing well," he said. "Yes, Loeb has taken a lot of time but we will see tomorrow how we do. I've been trying different things with the car today, some small details here and there and it feels good. It’s good to drive near the front, and to be able to learn how that feels again, you know?"

Citroen Junior team driver Sebastien Ogier ended the day third, 2.7sec behind Solberg, after pulling a tactical move on SS16 he believes will help him catch Petter on Sunday. "We slowed down at the end just to be third tomorrow because it will be an advantage to be behind Petter on the road," he said. "We want to try and finish second. That's the plan. It’s been a good day. We had one spin and one stall but that's okay. Sebastien has been extremely fast, but it was never my plan to fight with him - it’s always been to fight with Petter."

BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team drivers Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen are fourth and fifth respectively, but more than 45 seconds behind the Citroen trio who between them have won every stage so far. "There has been some improvement; we were only five seconds behind the fastest time here and we've had a much better afternoon than the morning," said Latvala after SS16. "At the service we went stiffer with the car set-up because I think we had gone far too soft. Now we're where we want to be."

As the Ford team's number two driver, Latvala accepted he was likely to be asked to swap places with Hirvonen on Sunday. "Let's see what happens tomorrow, but yeah, of course in a normal situation Mikko should finish ahead of me because he needs the points in the drivers' championship."

Hirvonen showed signs of improvement too, finding his most competitive form on SS16. The Finn, however, remained frustrated by his performance.

"The second day wasn’t a lot better than the first," said Hirvonen. "We've been doing all we can to try and find a better set-up. For this stage it was okay - we've always had good confidence with the car here - but other times I'm not so good with it. It’s a bit strange. From the start of the rally it's not been perfect with the car, and once the confidence went it was hard to get it back - especially cleaning the road. But I can't change that now. We just have to look to the future - and finish tomorrow."

Stobart Ford Team driver Henning Solberg rounded off the day sixth, 25.3sec behind Hirvonen. The Norwegian set a string of top five stage times during the day - including a second fastest on SS11 and a third fastest on SS12 - which promoted the factory Ford drivers to adopt his car-set-up in the afternoon. "It felt good today and the car worked very well. We had a few problems though, with the brakes and a couple of stalls in the afternoon, but I've tried," he said.

Federico Villagra of the Munchi's Ford World Rally Team finished the day seventh and the last of the WRC entries after the retirement of Dani Sordo, Ken Block and Matthew Wilson on SS10.
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Loeb wins Rally Mexico

Post by mlittle » Mon Mar 08, 2010 4:18 pm

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-----Citroen C4 WRC driver Sebastien Loeb sealed a crushing victory on Rally Mexico today, round two of the 2010 World Rally Championship, to leap into the lead of the FIA Drivers' standings.

Loeb, the defending and six-times World Champion built up a massive lead of almost a minute during Saturday's competition, and cruised through Sunday's three stages to finish 24.2sec ahead of Petter Solberg who claimed second place in another Citroen C4 WRC.

Today's win was the 55th at World Championship level for Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena and was the pair's fourth consecutive success on Rally Mexico.

After finishing runner-up to his Ford rival Mikko Hirvonen on the series' opening round in Sweden, it springs the Frenchman six points clear at the top of the drivers' standings.

"I had a good lead today and was not going to take any risks with that when I started first on the road,” said Loeb. “I was just breezing through the last couple of stages trying to keep my concentration. It's a good victory; I'm back in the lead of the championship and the points we lost in Sweden we've won back - that's important.

"Okay, it's only the start of the championship but I'm really happy. We had a really good drive yesterday and a good feeling in the car. It’s looking good," he added.

Sunday's gripping tussle for second position eventually ended in Solberg’s favour. He and Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier began the day separated by just 2.7sec and the contest was only decided to the Norwegian’s advantage on the final Super Special stage when he set the fastest time. It marked a fitting end to a terrific three-day battle.

"I'm delighted but absolutely exhausted," said an emotional Solberg, who scored his best WRC result since the 2008 Acropolis. "After what we've been through last year and this year it’s a hell of result. We analysed the time we might lose running first on the road and even though we knew it would be difficult it worked out perfectly. It’s a great feeling to be back on the podium!"

Finishing third, 1.1sec behind Solberg, Ogier was left pondering his decision to deliberately drop time to his rival on Saturday to ensure a better road position today. "Of course it's disappointing but it's been a good weekend anyway," he said. "My team told me not to push too hard today, so this morning I didn't push to the maximum. Maybe it's there that I lost out, or maybe yesterday when I slowed at the end of the stage. I think maybe we could have been faster than Petter if we wanted this weekend, but here we are third and it's a good result."

One minute 22 seconds behind the winning trio of Citroens, BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team driver Hirvonen was fourth, in the first Ford Focus RS WRC. His team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala rounded off the top five positions.

The final stage marked the end of a disappointing event for Ford, who were beaten fair and square over the Mexican gravel by Citroen, although the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team maintained a six-point lead over the Citroen Total World Rally Team in the FIA Manufacturers’ championship.

"It was a very difficult weekend for the whole team," acknowledged Hirvonen. "We never really had the speed and there were lots of small mistakes from my side too. I'm glad in the end we got the points we could. I just want to leave it behind now and move on to the next rally."

Jari-Matti Latvala said: "It’s been a frustrating weekend, but if you look at the positives we did get good points in the manufacturers' championship, which is very important. Also this is my second rally now finishing in a quite good position - and that boosts my confidence ahead of the next rallies."

Norwegian Henning Solberg confirmed sixth overall for the Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team after setting several impressive stage times on day two and Argentina’s Federico Villagra finished in seventh place and gave the Munchi’s Rally Team its first points of the season.
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Post by mlittle » Mon Mar 08, 2010 4:23 pm

Current WRC Standings............


~~~~WRC Drivers' Championship(top-10+).............
1st} Sebastien Loeb(FRA), 43 pts(1 win)
2nd} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), 37 pts(1 win)
t-3rd}[3]Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN), 25 pts
t-3rd}[4]Sebastien Ogier(FRA), 25 pts
5th} Petter Solberg(NOR), 20 pts
6th} Henning Solberg(NOR), 16 pts
7th} Daniel Sordo(ESP), 12 pts
t-8th}[8]Matthew Wilson(GBR), 6 pts
t-8th}[9]Federico Villagra(ARG), 6 pts
t-10th}[10]Mads Ostberg(NOR), 4 pts
t-10th}[11]Xavier Pons(ESP), 4 pts

~~~~WRC Manufacturers' Standings...............
1st} BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, 67 pts(1 win)
2nd} Citroen Total WRT, 61 pts(1 win)
3rd} Citroen Junior Team, 32 pts
4th} Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT, 28 pts
5th} Munchi's Ford WRT, 8 pts
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Latvala leads after Day 1 of the Rally Jordan

Post by mlittle » Fri Apr 02, 2010 11:51 am

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~~~Jari-Matti Latvala will take a 30.2-second lead into day two of the Jordan Rally after winning three of Thursday’s seven special stages.

But despite the Ford Focus driver’s comfortable margin out front, the outcome of the third round of the World Rally Championship is far from settled with the leading drivers set to jostle for position throughout Friday in their tense tactical battle for honours.

The Finn drove without fault all day but must now try to defend his lead on day two despite having to run first on the road. Although road position is unlikely to be a major factor on Friday’s opening stage, a lower starting position is deemed to be advantageous for the next two runs before midday service because there will be less loose surface gravel to contend with.

Ford will hope Latvala has built a sufficient cushion to stay out in front but will also be able to count on team leader Mikko Hirvonen, who starts fifth, to climb the leaderboard. To do that, he must overhaul a trio of Citroen C4 WRCs led by Sebastien Ogier, who is 1.6 seconds up on world championship leader Sebastien Loeb, and Petter Solberg, 0.7 seconds further back in fourth.

“We had a good road position today and I was very happy with the set-up of my Focus,” said Latvala. “I did a lot of work during the pre-event test and I think we got it right because I was very confident today. The team strategy was to help Mikko and keep the lead, which is what I’ve done. Thirty seconds is not so much and it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

Ogier’s target was to finish the day ahead of Loeb in order to help his team leader gain a better starting position for Friday’s stages. “I am pleased I met my target but I am a little surprised Latvala is so far in front,” said Ogier.

Loeb ran first on the road all day and went fastest on stage seven, the repeat of the Mount Nebo test. He said: “It was difficult today because you never know how much time you are going to lose. The stages were tricky with narrow sections and big rocks so I am happy to be here in third place.”

Solberg was second starting the final stage of the day but slowed to drop down the order to fourth in an effort to take advantage of cleaner road position on Friday. “It has gone to plan because I’m where I want to be,” said Solberg, the 2003 world champion. “I was thinking about dropping another 10 seconds but that would have been too much.”

Dani Sordo slowed considerably on the final stage to slip from third to sixth after being instructed by his Citroen team to drop behind Hirvonen. Citroen hopes that Sordo, who will start behind Hirvonen, will be able to keep the pressure on the Finn by taking time out of him during the day.

Behind Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson, Federico Villagra completed day one in ninth overall, one place ahead of Kimi Raikkonen, who recovered from going off the road on stage three to battle back into a point-scoring position.
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Loeb leads after Day 2 of Rally Jordan

Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 03, 2010 9:49 am

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~~~One cannot truly be surprised to see Sebastien Loeb jump into the lead on the longest day of the hot contest between top five in this weekend's World Rally Championship event in Jordan. Even though it is not what one can term a full tarmac or gravel event, Loeb is the man to beat whatever the fates may bring to himself or his rivals.

"We decided not to slow down and we pushed right till the very end," said Loeb. "I don't know yet if it's the right choice. According to our calculations this gap will enable us to fight for the win, but it's going to be tight, very tight!"

The French ace for the Citroen WRT French-based rally team took four of the six special stages today in a dominant performance. Still Loeb's lag of 31.8 seconds to the first day leader, Jari-Matti Latvala was not surpassed to place him as the leader until today's penultimate stage. It was a good contest throughout the day between Citroen's Junior team Sebastien Ogier, Latvala, Loeb's teammate Dani Sordo and in a privateer Citroen Petter Solberg.

The final day of Rally Jordan will see Loeb sweep the way and might open the door to those who now chase him. Solberg is in a non-works, privateer Citroen and was the only other stage winner on leg two.

Latvala was the sweeper today in the BP Ford Focus and the rocky Arabian desert was a tough challenge but the Finn battled the best he could knowing that Loeb was having a good day. With Ogier also leaping ahead of him, Latvala is confident on his chances tomorrow in what could be the best, if not one of the best, finale in any WRC event this year.

Loeb holds an edge of 24.6 seconds over Ogier who is only three seconds ahead of Latvala. Back in fourth, 15.5 seconds adrift of the Finn is Petter Solberg. Fifth belongs to Sordo with a gap of 5.6 seconds to Solberg. It is the making of a good final five to fight for the victor.
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Loeb expands points lead w/victory in Rally Jordan

Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 04, 2010 5:21 pm

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-----Sebastien Loeb has notched up his first Jordan Rally win after a dominant performance on the final day of the third round of the World Rally Championship.

The 36-year-old Frenchman was fastest on four of Saturday’s eight special stages in his Citroen C4 WRC to take his second victory of the 2010 season and extend his advantage at the top of the drivers’ classification to 25 points over Finn Jari-Matti Latvala, who finished second.

“It’s been a good rally for us and with a 31-point lead over [archrival] Mikko Hirvonen it means it has been a good start to the season,” said Loeb. “I really had to go flat-out because Jari-Matti was going very fast and made me push to the limit all of the time.”

Commenting on the tactics employed by the Citroen and Ford teams to influence the road position order during the rally, Loeb added: “Tactics are part of the game and it’s down to the teams to do what they want with it. I am just the driver.”

Latvala, who is celebrating his 25th birthday today, was the leading Ford Focus runner home in second place after an error-free performance. He had started the day 27.7 seconds adrift of Loeb in third overall but moved into second place when Sebastien Ogier incurred a 50-second time penalty for leaving first service late when the Citroen Junior Team said his C4 refused to start.

“I am quite pleased with second but also a little disappointed we didn’t have the pace to compete with Sebastien,” said Latvala. “What has happened with the tactics on this event is now history.”

Petter Solberg, the 2003 world champion, landed his second podium of the year with a strong showing in his privately-run Citroen. The Norwegian reached mid-morning service with his car missing its front bumper but he was at a loss to explain where it had become detached. He also complained of a bout of understeer on the opening stage of the day.

Dani Sordo achieved his aim of reaching the finish unscathed following his crash in Mexico last time out. He took fourth overall to claim more points for Citroen in its quest for the manufacturers’ championship.

Matthew Wilson landed his best result of the season so far with fifth place in his Stobart M-Sport Focus. The event marked his co-driver Scott Martin’s 50th start at world championship level.

Ogier started the day in second overall but ran first on the road after being instructed by his team to check in early at the start of the first stage to clear the road of loose surface gravel and help Citroen team leader Loeb. The eight-minute time penalty he picked up meant he could finish no better than sixth, which was poor reward after another strong performance.

Behind Federico Villagra in seventh, ex-Formula One star Kimi Raikkonen bagged his first WRC points of his career in eighth. Henning Solberg and Super 2000 World Rally Championship category winner Xevi Pons took the final points in ninth and tenth places. Despite heavy rain in the month before the rally, the weather remained hot and dry throughout with ambient temperatures approaching 40 degrees centigrade.
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Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 04, 2010 5:28 pm

Current WRC Standings................


~~~WRC Drivers' Championship(top-10)....................
1st} Sebastien Loeb(FRA), 68 pts(2 wins)
2nd} Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN), 43 pts
3rd} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), 37 pts(1 win)
4th} Petter Solberg(NOR), 35 pts
5th} Sebastien Ogier(FRA), 33 pts
6th} Daniel Sordo(SPN), 24 pts
7th} Henning Solberg(NOR), 18 pts
8th} Matthew Wilson(GBR), 16 pts
9th} Frederico Villegra(ARG), 12 pts
10th} Xavier Pons(SPN), 5 pts

~~~WRC Manufacturers' Standings.....................
1st} Citroen Total WRT, 101 pts(2 wins)
2nd} BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, 87 pts(1 win)
3rd} Citroen Junior Team, 48 pts
4th} Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT, 44 pts
5th} Munchi's Ford WRT, 16 pts
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Ogier leads after Day 1 of Rally Turkey

Post by mlittle » Sat Apr 17, 2010 8:12 am

Image

With only tonight's Superspecial to go, Sebastien Ogier leads after the opening day of the Rally of Turkey, having claimed the lead from the third stage of the day.

Ogier reported no problems with his Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC, helped by an advantageous road position of fifth. Tomorrow, however, he has the dubious honour of running first and sweeping the road clean for his rivals.

“Today has been really good: I can’t complain about anything,” he concluded. “As for tomorrow, it will be a big challenge but I like it: if you are first on the road it is because you are first in the rally.”

Leading the field away today was six-time World Champion and Jordan Rally winner Sebastien Loeb, who said that conditions were even more difficult in the afternoon than they were in the morning.

After the first four stages Loeb was fifth, less than eight seconds behind the leader. But in the afternoon, while he remained fifth, the gap had grown to just over 25 seconds. “In some places I had no grip at all,” said Loeb. “I actually think that the road was cleaning more in the afternoon. I just hope that I’ve not lost too much time now. It’s going to be tough for me.”

Instead, it was Dani Sordo who led the factory Citroen charge, ending day one less than three seconds behind Ogier. Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen finished the day third but remains very much in the hunt, less than 10 seconds behind Ogier. Apart from a mistake on the opening stage, Hirvonen had no problems throughout the day. The Finn is hoping to move up the leaderboard tomorrow, on gravel stages that unusually include large sections of asphalt.

One of the stars of the day was Citroen privateer Petter Solberg, who led after the opening test and set three fastest stage times. Having finished on the podium in the last two events, the Norwegian is looking forward to continuing his run of success in Turkey.

“It’s been a very good day,” concluded Solberg. “Some of the stages have been slower than others, but when everything works we are at the top. But tomorrow is so hard that you need to be a little bit careful. I think the whole rally will be like that.”
Stobart Ford driver Matthew Wilson was relieved to make it safely to the finish after bending his steering on SS6. The Englishman ended up ninth: just behind Kimi Raikkonen.

Among the casualties of the opening day were Ford drivers Ken Block and Henning Solberg, both of whom hit the same tree stump on the opening stage. “I can’t believe I did that,” said Block. “The stump was completely hidden. I could understand if I had been going quickly, but as it was I was just trying to take it easy.”

The Pirelli Star Drivers also got off to a fraught start, with only Estonia’s Ott Tanak making it to the end of the day - in an extremely impressive 10th overall. The Pirelli drivers will all be back tomorrow under the SupeRally system; with the exception of Peter Horsey, whose car was destroyed by fire after he rolled in the morning.

Top-10 after Day 1.................
1} Sebastien Ogier(FRA/Citroen), 55min.,32.7 sec
2} Daniel Sordo(SPN/Citroen), -5.5 sec
3} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN/Ford), -12.2 sec
4} Petter Solberg(NOR/Ford), -18.5 sec
5} Sebastien Loeb(FRA/Citroen), -24.9 sec
6} Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN/Ford), 27.5 sec
7} Frederico Villegra(ARG/Ford), -1:42.9 sec
8} Kimi Raikkonen(FIN/Citroen), -1:50.6 sec
9} Matthew Wilson(GBR/Ford), -2:04.6 sec
10} Ott Tanker(EST/Mitsubishi), -4:59.1 sec
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What else is new........Loeb takes rally lead in Turkey

Post by mlittle » Sun Apr 18, 2010 6:22 am

Image

The second day of Rally Turkey spelt disaster for Friday's leader, Sebastien Ogier. The Citroen Junior driver was able to hold on to his lead for most of the day until stage 15 where a puncture at high speeds knocked him out of the running. The lead was handed off to the other Sebastian in the Citroen camp, Loeb. The reigning champ moved up the order all day, making the most of the tarmac sections. Loeb closed out the second leg over 16 seconds ahead of Petter Solberg. Ford's Mikko Hirvonen sits third, a mere one second behind Solberg.

Even with being first on the road Ogier was able to win a morning stage and kept the charging field at bay. Dani Sordo, who started second on the road had a much more difficult time and fell behind first Hirvonen and then Solberg. By the midday break Solberg had moved pat Hirvonen. Meanwhile Loeb overtook Sordo for fourth and was 15 second off Ogier's time.

On stage 14 the gap was closed to 8 seconds between the two as Loeb took the stage win and blew past both Hirvonen and Solberg in the order. It looked like a fight between the two Sebastien was forming until Ogier ran over a piece of metal on stage 15. The puncture was immediate at high speed and the Frenchman could do little as the car plowed off the road. Losing over three minutes Ogier rejoined the fight in fifth with damage to the left of his car; while Loeb went on to inherit the lead.

"We at last managed to open up a good gap and take first place, said Loeb. "Our lead is anything but comfortable as the third day will be long and difficult. The weather too could play a role in the outcome of the rally. If it rains, being first out on the road could be an advantage. In the opposite case, we'll just have to push very hard to stay in front."

The Junior driver was very impressive on the next stage, taking the win right after such an unpredictable crash. But with a gap over three minutes to Sordo, it looks Ogier can do little to improve his position.

"In a very quick part of the stage, when we were travelling at around 180kph the front-left tyre just exploded, even though we did not hit anything," explained Ogier. "We were able to change the wheel and get going again. Now we need to rediscover our motivation and get to the end of the rally."

Solberg was also on a charge today and was able to avoid any issues to move into second. On the morning loop Solberg went with new tires while the Citroen team picked worn rubber for Loeb. It seemed the right choice was fresh tires and Solberg went from fourth to second in four stages. Having learned their lesson the main Citroen team switched to new tires and Loeb easily dominated the afternoon stages. Solberg isn't out of the fight yet, but he'll have to stave off Hirvonen, who will start tomorrow with better road position.

"I'm so happy about the day and the rally so far," said Solberg. "I'm not going flat out all the time, these stages are so rough on the car that I need to back off a little. We are a small private team, with limited resources so I need to be careful. Had a puncture 7km before the finish on SS16 today and that probably cost me some time, other than that everything has been perfect. And it is so great to actually be fighting in the lead with the big manufacturer teams."

Hirvonen seems ready to take on tomorrow's challenging stages, "I'm excited about tomorrow. I have a good road position and I want to go out and win. I'm really enjoying the close fight."

Fourth is Sordo, the Spaniard wasn't able to keep the pace he demonstrated Friday. Sordo is only five seconds away so the top four order can easily change in any direction on tomorrow's six stages.

Further back Kimi Raikkonen sits in sixth, his best result so far since making the switch from Formula One to the World Rally Championship. Federico Villagra is seventh for the Munchi's Ford team, over five seconds off Raikkonen's pace. Mathew Wilson rounds off the top eight for Stobart.

Notable names making mistakes included Jari-Matti Latvala and Ken Block. Latvala rolled off only 1km into today's first stage, the conditions were a bit more slippery then his pace notes had estimated. The Finn struggled on and sits 12th after a day of major repairs.

"The first corners were slippery so I was cautious," commented Latvala. "Then we came to a long, fast right bend over a crest, which was flat out in my pace notes. It tightened and the car started to slide. The rear left hit a bank and the impact pulled the front into a ditch and we rolled. The car ended on its roof and we couldn't open the doors to climb out. Spectators helped us out and pushed the car onto its wheels. My pace notes were too optimistic for the bend."

Block was still recovering from a mistake yesterday and set impressive times within the top ten of most stages. Unfortunately the Monster Energy driver went off on the final stage of the day and was forced to retire after becoming stuck.

There are six stages left tomorrow, with enough distance to make being first on the road a tricky situation. If Loeb losses too much time his lead will be gone in an instant. Then the question will be which of the other top four were able to have the best pace? Solberg will have to hold off Hirvonen while being second on the road, while Sordo will have a cleared path and be able to chase both down. By the afternoon if Loeb isn't far behind he might be able to attack back, so expect all four to be flat out in the final stages at Rally of Turkey.

Top-10 after Day 2....................
1} Sebastien Loeb(FRA/Citroen), 2hrs., 19:13.5 sec
2} Petter Solberg(NOR/Citroen), -16.2 sec
3} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN/Ford), -17.3 sec
4} Daniel Sordo(SPN/Citroen), -22.4 sec
5} Sebastian Ogier(FRA/Citroen), -3:21.0 sec
6} Kimi Raikkonen(FIN/Citroen), -4:37.5 sec
7} Frederico Villegra(ARG/Ford), -5:10.1 sec
8} Matthew Wilson(GBR/Ford), -6:16.6 sec
9} Ott Tanak(EST/Mitsubishi), -14:33.6 sec
10} Dennis Kuipers(NED/Ford), -17:16.2 sec
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Loeb wins Rally Turkey

Post by mlittle » Mon Apr 19, 2010 4:32 am

Image


-----Sebastien Loeb won Rally of Turkey by nearly a minute to extend his lead of the World Rally Championship to 40 points over privateer Citroen driver Petter Solberg, who finished second.

Citroen now has a 15-point lead over Ford in the manufacturers’ rankings. “It was good to be able to fight from the front and not have to think about the tactics,” said Loeb. “It was not easy because I really had to push from the start.”

Solberg claimed his third consecutive podium to move up to the championship runner-up spot, making good on his promise to be a genuine title contender in 2010.

The Norwegian led the event after the opening stage on Friday and remained at the sharp end of the field right to the finish.

“This result is so special because we don’t have the budget of the top teams but we proved we could fight,” said Solberg. “We tried for the win but in the end it was not possible, although I am very, very happy.”

The first two of today’s six stages were cancelled after overnight rain made them too muddy to use. On the remaining stage of the morning loop Mikko Hirvonen came to grief when he slid wide into a rock and subsequently picked up a puncture.

The Finn dropped to fourth after losing more time when his Ford Focus filled with dust after the flailing tyre tore a hole in the left-rear wheel arch.

He eventually finished third but only after Dani Sordo, Loeb’s Citroen team-mate, hit trouble. “We got there in the end,” he concluded. “I’m a little bit disappointed because right up to this morning we had a chance to win, but it wasn’t a complete disaster. It was actually a very tough rally, which you can see from the number of people having problems.”

One of them was Sordo. The Spaniard lost a near-certain podium place when he slid off on a very muddy corner 14 kilometres into SS21 and broke his front suspension. The incident occurred in a very narrow place, which meant that a number of cars clattered into Sordo’s stranded C4 WRC as they tried to get past.

This promoted Hirvonen to third and the Citroen Junior Team’s Sebastien Ogier to fourth. “It was less than we deserved,” concluded Ogier, who had led the event in style from SS3 until he picked up a puncture on Saturday afternoon that cost him more than three minutes.

The other key beneficiary of Sordo’s retirement was the 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, who put in a solid performance setting top 10 times on every stage to finish fifth overall: his best result in a World Rally Car. “The feeling is coming now,” said Raikkonen. “We weren’t pushing too hard but we were still able to set times that were not so bad.”

The Pirelli Star Driver scheme got off to a fraught start in Turkey, with only one car making it to the first service on Friday. Ott Tanak emerged as the class of the field, but he rolled out of a brilliant ninth place overall on the final morning. New Zealander Hayden Paddon was consequently the top finisher.

Top-10, Rally Turkey.................
1} Sebastien Loeb(FRA/Citroen), 3hrs.,01:38.7 sec
2} Petter Solberg(NOR/Citroen), -54.5 sec
3} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN/Ford), -1:43.4 sec
4} Sebastien Ogier(FRA/Citroen), -3:46.0 sec
5} Kimi Raikkonen(FIN/Citroen), -6:44.3 sec
6} Frederico Villegra(ARG/Ford), -7:56.7 sec
7} Matthew Wilson(GBR/Ford), -8:29.8 sec
8} Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN/Ford), -19:44.2 sec
9} Dennis Kuipers(NED/Ford), -23:22.2 sec
10} Aaron Burkart(GER/Suzuki), -27:04.7 sec
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Post by mlittle » Mon Apr 19, 2010 4:37 am

Current WRC Standings...............


----WRC Drivers' Standings(top-10)................
1st} Sebastien Loeb(FRA), 93 pts(3 wins)
2nd} Petter Solberg(NOR), 53 pts
3rd} Mikko Hirvonen(FIN), 52 pts(1 win)
4th} Jari-Matti Latvala(FIN), 47 pts
5th} Sebastien Ogier(FRA), 45 pts
6th} Daniel Sordo(SPN), 24 pts
7th} Matthew Wilson(GBR), 22 pts
8th} Frederico Villegra(ARG), 20 pts
9th} Henning Solberg(NOR), 18 pts
10th} Kimi Raikkonen(FIN), 14 pts

----WRC Manufacturers' Standings................
1st} Citroen Total WRT, 126 pts(3 wins)
2nd} BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, 111 pts(1 win)
3rd} Citroen Junior Team, 75 pts
4th} Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT, 56 pts
5th} Munchi's Ford WRT, 26 pts
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