2010 World Rally Championship

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Mikko Hirvonen Wins WRC Sweden
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen started the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship in style with victory in Rally Sweden today.
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The Finns won the opening round by 42.3sec in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car after three days' competition in the ice-bound Scandinavian forests. The win moved Ford level at the top of the all-time standings with 74 WRC victories.

Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished third in a similar Focus RS WRC, 1min 15.4sec behind their fellow Finns. The double podium gives the BP Ford Abu Dhabi squad a 10-point lead at the top of the manufacturers' standings after the first of 13 rounds.

Rally Sweden is the only true winter rally in the series. Drivers tackled 21 speed tests covering 345.15km in the Värmland region of central Sweden. Temperatures plunged to -22ºC, but clear blue skies provided picture postcard scenery in the wintry forests. Snow covered the tracks in the barren Scandinavian countryside, but beneath lay a softer than expected ice base. Exposed gravel poked through during the second pass over the roads and posed tough challenges for drivers, as they struggled to prevent stones ripping the tungsten-tipped studs from their tyres to leave little grip.

Hirvonen's tyre management played a crucial part in his victory. After making minor set-up changes to his Focus RS WRC, the 29-year-old ended Friday's first leg with a 6.2sec lead. He stretched that to 16.6sec yesterday when his decision to fit new Pirelli Sottozero rubber to the front of his car in the middle of the afternoon enabled him to blitz closest rival Sébastien Loeb by 16sec in two stages. He measured his pace through today's final leg to secure his 12th WRC win.

"After losing the title last year by a point I knew I had to win more, rather than settle for consistent points finishes, so this is the ideal start," said Hirvonen. "It was a big win for us and I want many more this season. It's the first time I've won the opening round of the year. I tried to be more aggressive from the start in all aspects of my performance. It was a brave decision yesterday to change the tyres when I did but it paid off and those kind of decisions make the difference between winning and losing.

"It was such a hard rally for the tyres on the exposed gravel and you can't imagine how nervous I was driving the final stage. I have a year's more experience of a title battle than this time last year and I think that showed here. I need to continue in the same way for the rest of the season," he added.

Latvala, handed the role of supporting Hirvonen, did his job to perfection. The 24-year-old settled into fourth on the opening day but was frustrated at being unable to find the speed of which he knew he was capable. He made minor set-up changes yesterday and pressured third-placed Dani Sordo into two mistakes to climb into a podium position. Latvala took no risks today and, with the pressure removed, he relaxed into his driving and was fastest over the final two tests to take his tally to five stage wins.

"This result is a great boost to my confidence," he said. "I did what I was asked by keeping my consistency and it's a great start for the team. It wasn't an easy rally because I struggled for speed on Friday. I was frustrated because I was thinking too much about driving carefully but I got over that yesterday, started to relax and my times improved."

Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr finished 13th in the team's other Focus RS WRC. "I wanted to learn over the course of this rally, and I feel I have achieved this. I had little experience in these conditions, but as the rally progressed I have grown in confidence. There were some surprises on the stages, some tight corners and good action, but I enjoyed it," said Al Qassimi.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson hailed Hirvonen's victory. "His drive on the second leg yesterday was by far his best performance in the way he managed both the day and, particularly, his tyres. He is putting his experience to good use. He has progressed steadily over the years to the point that he is now beating the world's best driver. Jari-Matti played the perfect support role to Mikko and I could not have imagined a better start to the season," he said.

Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "It was important to get out of the starting blocks quickly this year and that's exactly what we achieved with a thoroughly professional performance from the whole team in the most arduous working conditions. We lead both championships and this victory puts Ford within one win of becoming the sport's most successful manufacturer."

News from other Ford teams

Stobart M-Sport Ford's Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor finished sixth in a Focus RS WRC, one place ahead of team-mates Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin. Returning double world champion Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen were 21st after a troubled rally, but nevertheless claimed manufacturers' championship points for the team.

Next round

The championship switches to gravel next month for the first of four rounds outside Europe. Rally Mexico is based in León on 4 - 7 March.

Final positions
1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen
2. S Loeb/D Elena
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila
4. D Sordo/M Marti
5. S Ogier/J Ingrassia
6. H Solberg/I Minor
7. M Wilson/S Martin
8. M Østberg/J Andersson
9. P Solberg/P Mills
10 P-G Andersson/A Fredriksson

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MEXICO 7th Mar 2010 - Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena grabbed their fourth consecutive win in Mexico at the weekend - taking the lead in the 2010 Driver’s World Championship in the process. http://www.australiancardirectory.com.au/upl_images/A_WRC%20Mexico_1b.jpg
Petter Solberg (second) and Sébastien Ogier (third) occupied the other places on the podium - both of them driving a Citroën C4 WRC.
Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing Team Principal said, “They did a fantastic job on the second day and that’s where they consolidated this mind-boggling victory. The C4 WRCs have dominated this rally as they set all the quickest times. They also scored the first triple by a French manufacturer in a gravel rally. I’d also like to congratulate Petter Solberg and Sébastien Ogier for their great duel in the best possible sporting tradition.”
”This victory’s done us a power of good,” Loeb confirmed before stepping up onto the podium. “We controlled our race well and I think that we can look forward to the next events with confidence, as they’ll be run on similar surfaces. Thanks to this victory we’ve taken the lead in the championship and opened up a small gap over Mikko Hirvonen. It’s a good situation even if we’ll have to sweep the road in Jordan.” The next event is Rally Jordan from 1^st - 3^rd April.
<table summary="table" border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="2" width="441"> <thead> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <th id="th0F0E3DF00000" colspan="2">FINAL LEADERBOARD ON RALLY Mexico*</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">1. Loeb/Elena (Citroën C4) </td> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">3h42min 41.7s</td> </tr> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">2. P.Solberg/Mills (Citroën C4) </td> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">+ 24.2s</td> </tr> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">3. Ogier/Ingrassia (Citroën C4) </td> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">+ 25.3s</td> </tr> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">4. Hirvonen/Lehtinen (Ford Focus) </td> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">+1min.47.5s</td> </tr> <tr align="left" valign="top"> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">5. Latvala/Anttila (Ford Focus) </td> <td headers="th0F0E3DF00000">+2min 15.1s</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVER STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2 OF 13*
1st Loeb, 43 pts; 2nd Hirvonen, 37 points; 3rd Latvala, 25 pts; 4th Ogier, 25 pts; 5th P. Solberg, 20 pts
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP MANUFACTURER STANDINGS AFTER ROUND 2 OF 13*
1st BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT, 67pts; 2nd Citroën Total WRT, 61 pts; 3rd Citroën Junior Team, 32 pts; 4^th Stobart M-Sport Ford, 28pts; Munchi’s Ford, 8pts
*All results subject to FIA confirmation.

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Loeb takes his 56th career win in Jordan


JORDAN 3rd April 2010 - Citroen And Sebastien Loeb are firmly in control of 2010 World Rally Championship after Loeb took his 56th career win in the Jordan round of the WRC at the weekend.
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The win gives the six time world champion a powerful lead in the driver’s title chase, a position which is matched by Citroen in its pursuit of the manufacturers’ prize with a fourth position for Citroen’s Sordo adding to its points haul from the Dead Sea event.

Even by the world championship standards, this was a highly tactical event as drivers and teams coped with conditions that are unique in the World Rally Championship, from driving hundreds of metres below sea level to using roads that have a high salt content giving them a surface akin to tarmac.

As ever, road sweeping came for the fore as an event decider. It took Ford’s Latvala out of contention at the start of the event and at the end of the event, Citroen’s Junior Team Driver; Sebastien Ogier took penalties on the final day so he would sweep the road for an all conquering Loeb.

With two runs through a 4-stage loop, the final leg of Rally Jordan looked as difficult as those of the previous days. Sébastien Loeb led the overall classification with 27s in hand over Jari-Matti Latvala, but he was not first on the road.

“We asked Sébastien Ogier to check in early to sweep the road,” explained Olivier Quesnel, the Citroën Racing team principal. “We had a technical problem with his car in the service park, which dashed his hopes of a podium. We reckoned that this strategy would give Sébastien Loeb a better chance of defending his first place.”

Loeb banged in three quickest times in four stages and confirmed that he was the fastest driver in the rally. When the six-time world champion arrived back in the service park beside the Dead Sea, he was feeling pretty happy about the final stages:

“For sure, the team’ strategy made things a bit easier for me, but I’m not sure I really needed it. Despite a position that was not as favourable as Jari-Matti’s, we were able to open up the gap a bit more. Now, we’ll just have to watch out and avoid the traps of the second part to win the rally.”

Dani Sordo, who was running fourth behind Loeb, Latvala and Solberg, knew exactly what was expected of him – hang on to his position to score points for the Manufacturers’ World Championship.

“We’re in pussy-footing mode this morning,” joked the Spanish driver. “It’s not easy as there are still plenty of traps on the stages. As Petter Solberg isn’t scoring points for the manufacturers’ title and the fifth car is way behind us, we don’t have to push. We’ll continue like that till the end.”

As the gaps were fairly big, there was no final twist in the last 4 stages. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena scored their 56th victory in their twenty-first different rally.

“I’m delighted to have won such a tough rally,” smiled Seb before going up onto the podium. “Our second victory in three events has helped us to open up a twenty-five point gap, the equivalent of a victory, over the second-paced driver. We can now tackle the next rally in a reasonably relaxed frame of mind.”

Thanks to Dani Sordo’s and Marc Marti’s fourth place, the Citroën Total World Rally Team has taken the lead in the Manufacturers’ World Championship. Frédéric Banzet, the make’s general manager, who was there to cheer on the Citroën crews, underlined the performance of the C4 WRCs in this rally:

“Our cars had to cope with particularly difficult road conditions in hot weather, and they again showed bullet-proof reliability. Our crews combined speed and intelligence to give Citroën a status-enhancing result.”

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SS1: Petter Solberg takes an early lead

SS1: Petter Solberg takes an early lead
But Henning Solberg and Ken Block both hit trouble on Rally of Turkey opener
Citroen privateer Petter Solberg moved into an early lead of the Rally of Turkey after setting the fastest time through the event's opening stage.
After the 15.66km Darlik section, Solberg heads Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala by a slender margin of 0.1sec. Sebastien Loeb is third, 0.5sec behind Solberg.
Darlik exterminated the challenges of two of the leading WRC crews: Stobart Ford driver Henning Solberg stopped at the 13.75km point with a broken steering arm on his Focus RS World Rally Car, while Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block, in a similar car, stopped 300 metres earlier with the same problem.

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The final morning’s action on the Rally of Turkey was cut short considerably by the cancellation of two special stages in the morning, as the event organisers considered them to be too rough to use.
The decision was on the whole welcomed by drivers and team bosses, who had already complained that some of yesterday’s stages were too hard on the cars.
This left just the 19.22-kilometre Ballica stage remaining this morning, amid rumours that this would be the only stage run this afternoon as well to conclude the rally.
Any worries Citroen star Sebastien Loeb had about his position of first on the road affecting his pace were dispelled when he set fastest time by just 0.3 seconds from Petter Solberg.
“The stage was clean: there were some big jumps and I really enjoyed it,” said Loeb. The Frenchman was helped by overnight rain that made the stages degrade rapidly, effectively cancelling out the disadvantage of running first. The two cancelled stages were run through forests: meaning that they took longer to dry out.
While Loeb’s prospects of victory increased with every cancelled stage, Ballica was a disaster for Mikko Hirvonen - who was forced to renounce his hopes of challenging for a win. The Finn slid wide on a slippery right-hand corner 1.5 kilometres into the stage and his left-rear tyre delaminated after 10 kilometres. This also punched a hole in the wheel arch of his Ford Focus WRC, filling it with dust. “I was pushing hard because with the two cancelled stages this was my only chance to make up ground,” he said. “When you really push, these things can happen.”
Hirvonen slipped back to fourth behind Dani Sordo, who struggled to get to grips with the tricky conditions, but seems assured of a podium place with a 35-second margin over his Ford rival.
Sebastien Ogier maintains his fifth place overall with a stage time just 0.7 seconds off Loeb, leaving him to wonder what might have been had he not lost more than three minutes with a front-left puncture yesterday afternoon.
Former Grand Prix Champion Kimi Raikkonen admitted that he was taking no risks at all as he aims to secure sixth place - which would be his highest-ever finish at World Rally Championship level.
Ott Tanak’s hopes of topping the Pirelli Star Driver contingent ended in spectacular fashion when he rolled close to the start of the stage. The young Estonian had been ninth overall at the time of the crash, which left his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X badly damaged.
Aaron Burkart continues to lead the Junior World Rally Championship division in his Suzuki Swift S1600. The German spent the only stage to have survived he morning cull doing all he could to avoid any errors. “With the lead I have it would be stupid to make a mistake,” he said.
Alessandro Broccoli is a comfortable second in his Renault Clio R3 with Kevin Abbring third in a similar car, despite losing his rear brakes with three kilometres of stage 20 left to run.
Todor Slavov’s Clio has been restored to full working order after exhaust and starter motor problems last night. He holds fourth ahead of Briton Harry Hunt in a Ford Fiesta R2.
Karl Kruuda restarted following his retirement due to a broken driveshaft yesterday. However, he lost time on stage 20 when he caught Adil Kucuksari’s slowing Clio and had to back off due to the dust.

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Rally of Turkey final result wrap

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.

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Citroën scores a triple in Portugal


PORTUGAL 31st May 2010 - For the second time this season after Rally Mexico, Citroën scored a triple in a round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
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Behind Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia, the two Citroën Total World Rally Team crews completed the podium. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena finished in second place increasing their lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Thanks to their third place Dani Sordo and Marc Marti helped the team open up a gap over its rivals in the Manufacturers’ title chase.
The third day of Rally Portugal was much shorter than the first two days, but its outcome was much less certain. At dawn, Sébastien Ogier and Sébastien Loeb left the service park separated by only 21.1s. Olivier Quesnel, Citroën Racing Team Principal, gave the Citroën drivers clear instructions: “They can fight for victory but they have to stay on the road!”
The day consisted of a loop of two stages to be covered twice and the rally finished with a second run through the super special stage in the Algarve Stadium. Sébastien Loeb was second on the road and he knew that he had to pull back the maximum number of seconds in the first run. He set the fastest times in SS14 and 15, and the six-time world champion returned to the service park having pared down the gap to 11 seconds! “We had a good run this morning but it’ll be difficult to win the race,” he acknowledged. “Even though he has to sweep the road, Sébastien is going very quickly and he isn’t making any mistakes. We’re still in with a chance of snatching victory, and as long as that’s the case we’ll continue to push.”
Dani Sordo was fourth at the start of the third leg but he got back up into third after the first two stages of the day. “I didn’t feel at ease in the first stage as there was a lot of dust hanging in the air. In the next one I was able to push hard and I felt good at the wheel. The gap to Petter Solberg is very small and I’ve got to keep up the same pace to score my first podium finish of the season,” said the Spaniard in the service park at midday.
Loeb was again quickest on the second passage through the two gravel stages, but he did not manage to make enough in-roads into Ogier’s lead to go for victory, so he just made sure he held on to second place in the super special: “It was a great, evenly-matched fight. We lost a lot of time sweeping the road on the first day. We never gave up pushing to claw back the time lost but we lacked that little bit of extra speed. In hindsight, I think that my driving wasn’t aggressive enough. Whatever the case, it was the quickest driver who won today, and our second place is a very positive result as we now have a 38-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship.”
Thanks to Dani Sordo’s third place, Citroën also bagged the full total of points in the Manufacturers’ World Championship, and the gap to the second-placed manufacturer has stretched from 5 to 26 points. “I’m proud to give this result to the team,” said a breathless Sordo after the finish. “We could have been a bit closer to the two Sébastiens, were it not for a few minor problems, but the most important thing was to score the maximum number of points for Citroën. I’m happy to have finished the first half-season on a high note and I can’t wait to race in the rallies on asphalt.
Frédéric Banzet, the Director General of Citroën: “I shared Olivier Quesnel’s choice which was a sporting one. We let two great drivers battle for victory and we’ve scored a magnificent result. Sébastien Ogier and the Citroën Junior Team deserved to win a rally after helping the Citroën Total World Rally Team to score victories in other circumstances. Sébastien Loeb’s and Dani Sordo’s second and third places have allowed Citroën to open up a cushion in the Manufacturers’ World Championship so the outcome is very positive.”
Provisional overall general classification
1. Ogier / Ingrassia Citroën C4 3h51’16’’1
2. Loeb / Elena Citroën C4 +7’’9
3. Sordo / Marti Citroën C4 +1’17’’6
4. Hirvonen / Lehtinen Ford Focus +1’32’’0
5. P. Solberg / Mills Citroën C4 +1’35’’7
6. Wilson / Martin Ford Focus +7’10’’1
7. Ostberg / Andersson Subaru Impreza +7’28’’3
8. Villagra / Perez Companc Ford Focus +10’36’’1
9. Al Qassimi / Orr Ford Focus +10’55’’8
10. Raikkonen / Lindstrom Citroën C4 +11’34’’3