2010 Jordan Rally Shakedown results

The Shakedown has been completed for the 2010 Jordan Rally. Sebastian Loeb has fastest time on the 2.3km (1.4 miles) stage. Petter Solberg & Dani Sordo tied for second place, their time one tenth of a second slower than Loeb's time.

Loeb drove the stage 5 times during the four hour test, setting the fastest time on his third run & then matching it on the fourth.

Loeb said after the test: “Everything went okay, but the road wasn't very representative of the ones we saw on the recce, today's road was fast and there was a lot of grip, while the proper stages are much more twisty and slippery. All we did today was check that everything was okay with the car."

Petter Solberg wrote on his website: “This is the first event for this car, so we needed some extra runs just to get it all set, we did some testing on Sunday, but they closed the road so we didn’t finished with all we needed to test. But the car feels really good, and we have a good starting position for tomorrow, which we will make the most of. We will also “play the game” in the afternoon, and being tactical about starting position for the next day.”

Shakedown times:

1. Sebastian Loeb 1:13.4

2. Petter Solberg 1:13.5

=. Dani Sordo 1:13.5

4. Jari-Matti Latvala 1:13.7

5. Mikko Hirvonen 1:13.8

6. Sebastian Ogier 1:13.9

7. Federico Villagra 1:15.1

8. Matthew Wilson 1:15.2

9. Henning Solberg 1:15.3

10. Kimi Raikkonen 1:16.2

Mikko & Co. to be 'fully competitive' in Jordan

2008 Jordan Rally winner Mikko Hirvonen is hoping that he & Ford will be back to their best after a soul destroying Rally Mexico, where they were left behind by the flying Citroens.

Hirvonen & fellow Finn Jari-Matti Latvala, or any of the Ford drivers could not match the phenominal pace of the French cars, who took their first 1-2-3 podium lock-out since Sebastian Loeb led home Colin McRae & Carlos Sainz at the 2003 Rallye Monte Carlo.

Since the South American event, Hirvonen & Latvala have both completed gravel tests in Sardinia, with Hirvonen covering 778km (483 miles) & Latvala covering 367km (228 miles).

Hirvonen said: "We've analysed the reasons why we weren't as competitive as we had hoped on the last round in Mexico and tried a few options during our test in Sardinia this week. I'm confident we'll be fully competitive in Jordan,"

"The surface is hard and it feels like driving on asphalt. There will be loose gravel on the surface for the first pass through the stages, so the car will need a slightly soft set-up. But when the stages are repeated and the roads are clean the set-up will be harder, almost like we use on asphalt. There are no ditches there and in some bends it's possible to make big cuts, so we can't make the car too low. It's a compromise set-up between gravel and asphalt”

"It's the most difficult rally of the year on which to make pace notes. It's fast and high speed sections are punctuated by small crests. But suddenly the rhythm can change and you come over a crest to find a series of hairpin bends. There are no trees or bushes in the desert to use as sight lines so the notes must be pin-point accurate.

Jari-Matti Latvala completed the rally in seventh two years ago, after being in the top three for most of the rally & fighting with Aussie Chris Atkinson, who drove for Subaru at the time.

"In 2008 the roads had a fine layer of sand lying on top of a hard, smooth base and it made them slippery during the first pass," said Latvala, who hopes to celebrate his 25th birthday in style on the final day of the rally. "The sand was swept away and in the second pass the roads were so hard and grippy that you could see black braking marks from the tyres on the surface - just like asphalt. It has rained hard there recently so I expect the surface might be a little softer and more loose this year.

"The roads are man-made in places and it means there is no natural flow to them so they are difficult to follow. They often turn immediately after a crest and I was nearly caught out on a few occasions two years ago. My pace notes were not accurate enough and I need to improve them on the recce,"

Thierry nets six round IRC programme

Rising Belgian driver Thierry Neuville will replace Nicholas Vouilloz at the Peugeot team on a six event IRC programme with sponsors Peugeot Benelux.

Neuville's IRC campaign will begin on the Rally Islas Canarias. Sardinia, Ypres, Barum (Czech Republic), San Remo & the penultimate event of the season, the RACMSA Rally Scotland, will be his programme.

The young Belgian will use an ex-Kris Meeke car for the Rally Islas Canarias & Rally Sardinia. He will then switch to an ex-Freddy Loix 207 from the Geko Ypres Rally in June. Kris Meeke will, however, revert back to the car he started his season with.

Neuville will have the 2008 IRC champion co-driver Nicholas Klinger in the passanger seat. Klinger has sat with Vouilloz since 2007, when the pair won three events.

Kronos Racing boss Marc Van Dalen said: “It’s very good news and I have no doubt that Thierry is a very talented young driver. He still has a lot to learn but he can do this by getting to the end of

each rally.

“It is very important that he will have Nicolas with him. He is very experienced but he also knows the team and this will help Thierry to concentrate on his driving.”

Van Dalen said Neuville will probably get a test on the Monday prior to the fourth round of the series.

Colin McRae: DiRT 3 confirmed by Codemasters

Codemasters has comfirmed that there will be a follow up to Colin McRae: DiRT 2. Colin McRae: DiRT 3 has been announced by President of Development Gavin Cheshire.

The game will be the second installment of the DiRT series since the death of 1995 World Rally Champion Colin McRae, his son Johnny & two family friends, Graeme Duncan & Johnny's six year old friend Ben Porcelli, in a helicopter crash not far from his home in Lanark, Scotland.

"There's some great stuff coming from Birmingham that's going into DiRT 3," Cheshire said to the gaming magazine, EDGE.

Cheshire also commented: "DiRT was a complete reboot - we threw away what was going on and redid it completely - and then we rebooted GRID because it wasn't top gun, and then we rebooted DiRT 2. I'm not saying we're throwing all the codebase away, but we're throwing the thoughts away and coming out with something fresh and new. Because if you don't innovate, you're dead,"

"I guess in today's world, every day you're dealing with people from all over the world. So it's a British company and the last bastion of British publishing, and there is some pride in that, but it doesn't take control of your life.

"It's about the culture we've created and making the best games you can. DiRT 2: brilliant game but it's all American accents, so maybe we're a little over the top with those. Maybe we should fly the flag a bit more" he also added.

Cheshire also commented that the latest edition of the DiRT series is likely to be more British based than its predessor, DiRT 2.

DiRT 2 was a massive success for Codemasters, who have been involved with the Colin McRae Rally series since its inception almost a decade ago.

Renewed hope for Rally Ireland

There is renewed hope that Ireland could hold a round of the World Rally Championship in the near future.

The FIA has rejected the draft championship that North One Sport (formerly International Sportsworld Communicators) proposed which was based entirely around annual 'rotation' events, such as the Acropolis Rally, Rally Finland & Rally GB, which would reduce the number of new events on the calander.

Ireland, Jordan & Norway have all agreed to run on a rotational basis replacing different events each year.

Director of Rally Ireland John Naylor said in an interview with the Belfast Telegraph: "It could mean the door is open for us again although I would not expect Rally Ireland to be included in any revised calendar for 2011 at this stage. But I am encouraged by the possibility we could be considered for 2012."

President of the World Rally Championship Commission Morrie Chandler siad in an interview with Autosport.com: "I know North One doesn't want rotation, but there are some obvious candidates. A year ago, I believed we had reached a solution that there would be seven or eight, maximum nine annual events and then eight which would rotate.

"The new events which joined the series, like Norway, Jordan and Ireland all said from day one that they would be happy to run every second year. This provides a bit of colour and allows you to tell a different story each year, while retaining your core events.

"I don't hold that rotation is the solution, but I do see a small portion of rotation as, perhaps, meeting the needs of some countries and adding variety. I've had this debate with North One and they've got good business reasons about why they don't want to do that and I can understand that."

It has also emerged that FIA President Jean Todt has asked Chandler to begin investigating a joining between the two top level rallying championships, the IRC & the WRC.

If this merger did get the OK, then the Circuit Of Ireland, which has recently been granted IRC Supporter event status (alongside the Sibiu Rally (Romania) & the Allianz Rally (Hungary)) for the 2010 IRC season, would be at the top of the list for selection.

Rally Director Bobby Willis intends to run the Easter event from Belfast to Dublin, meeting the request of the FIA, which states that they must visit both capitals.

As an extra plus, some of the masterminds of the hugely successful Rally Ireland of 2007 & 2009 are now at the head of the the Circuit Of Ireland.

Perez's 'unexpected' Malcolm Wilson stages win

Kick Energy driver Steve Perez had claimed his second succesive win on the Malcolm Wilson Rally in an 'unexpected' fashion. The Spanish born driver claimed the victory by a comfortable margin of 17 seconds.

On the extremely icy Comb stage, the second stage of the Cockermouth based event, Perez sild wide & off the road at a very icy bend. When the former British National Champion went off, he knew that there was a hard, committed drive needed to claim his second win.

Steve dualy delivered the committed drive needed to win the event. Perez fought up to 3rd by the final loop of stages, in the infamous Grizedale forest close to Coniston. The Grizedale Forest stages appeared to be a jinx for rally leader Paul Bird. Bird was forced out of the rally with a puncture on the penultimate stage. Perez hammered home three stage wins out of four final stages to take the win by some 17 seconds.

Perez paid tribute to the towns people at the Cockermouth High Street finish ramp, whose homes & businesses, less than 4 months ago, where under eight foot of water.

Steve commented at the finish ramp “This has got to be my most unexpected victory ever as after losing a minute this morning; I thought I had no chance of winning. But it just goes to show if you keep fighting, anything can happen and I’m delighted to retain my title. If anything, it’s even more special as everyone knows what the people of Cockermouth have been through just before Christmas so to have an event like the Malcolm Wilson Rally here, and to have the honour of winning it, really means a lot and I hope they can get back to normality pretty soon”.

The win on the Malcolm Wilson Stages is Steve's second straight win in the BTRDA Championship 2010.

Malcolm Wilson Stages results:

1. Steve Perez Ford Focus WRC +00:00
2. Johnathon Greer Ford Focus WRC +00:17
3. Roger Chillman jr. Subaru Impreza WRC +02:31
=. Paul Benn Ford Focus WRC +02:31
5. David Wright Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 +02:53
6. Stephen Petch Hyundai Accent WRC +02:59
7. Owen Murphy Mitsubishi Lancer EVO 9 +05:02
8. Gary Cooper Subaru Impreza WRX +05:17
9. Gary Tomlinson Subaru Impreza WRX +05:45
10. Richard Cook Subaru Impreza WRX +06:26

Rallye Perce Niege 2010 review (CRC)

Bruno Carré & Yvan Joyal have taken their first national win at the first round of the Canadian Rally Championship, the Rallye Perce Niege. Retirements flooded in after the start of the first stage, with mechanical problems & mistakes filling up the retirement ranks. In all, 18 crews bowed out of the rally before the finish.

Mathieu L'Estage turned up at the snow event without the luxary of studded ice & snow tyres. Even without the 'proper' tyres, L'Estage finished the event in 2nd overall, his best finish of his career. Caution was the order of the day for L'Estage & that, coupled with his driving talent, netted him the highest finish of his career.

Patrick Richard, the defending champion, slid off the road on the first stage & lost about 2 mins. Richard fought back with a string of fastest stage times before retiring with electrical gremlins.

Other drivers to come a cropper on the challanging stages included Leo Urlichich, leader for three stages, Andrew Comrie-Picard (North American Rally Cup Champion 2009) & who spun on the Kitigan Zibi stage & lost his 2 min lead over Carré.

Another notable preformance by a certain Jon Nichols, in his 2WD Volkswagen Golf. Nichols, a series veteran, has not sat in a 2WD car since 2006. Nichols put in a skilful rally to finish in sixth overall, ahead of a lot of more powerful, 4WD machinery. Nichols finished over 6 mins ahead of his nearest 2WD competitor.

The Canadian National Rally Championship will continue on the Rocky Mountain Rally, on June 27th - 29th.

Andersson spies full S-WRC programme

PG Andersson is close to commiting to the entire seven round S-WRC season in a Skoda Fabia S2000 run by the Czech JM Sport team.

The Swede, who is a double J-WRC champion (winning the title with Suzuki in 2004 & 2007), has entered the 2nd Jordan Rally in a Skoda Fabia S2000. The car is the same car that used Andersson to win the Uddenholm Swedish Rally, the inaugral S-WRC round.

Andersson hammered the opposition into the ground with a clean sweep of Fridays stages & then wins on some of Saturdays stages, which included SS9 Vargasen 1, SS10 Sagen 1, SS13 Vargasen 2 & wins on SS17 Rammen 1 & on the final stage, SS21, Varmullsasen 2 on the Sunday. Andersson won by 57.3 seconds at the end with Janne Touhino second & Martin Prokop rounding out the top 3.

PG was also the Suzuki No. 2 driver in the 2008 WRC alongside Toni Gardemiester. PG finished in 12th position at the end of the season (with 12 points), with a best finish of 5th on the final two rounds in Japan & GB. The Suzuki World Rally Team finished their inaugral season in 5th with 34 points. The Suzuki World Rally team then suspended its rallying activites for the 2009 WRC season.

PG Andersson also celebrated his 30th birthday on the 10th of March.

Jordan Rally organisers say 'show will go on'

Less than 3 weeks before the start of the 2nd Jordan Rally, harsh storms & flash floods have hit many parts of the rally's 348 Km route.

The fiercest storms in a generation brought 6 months of rain in 72 hours. Flash floods followed & have ruined some of the rally route. The rally route will be tweeked to avoid areas that are unrepairable before the rally begins.

Government agencys are working alongside private companys & the army to repair the stages 'to be' & deliver the biggest sporting event in Jordan.

The biggest problem is that most of that areas are under sea level & the problem is compounded because the flood water rushes down off the mountains & makes everything worse.

Clerk of the Course Khaled Zakaria said “It has been an incredible show of unity, determination & professionalism by all parties invloved”. The COC also commented that “ Even during the horrendous storms, we had people working up to their knees in mud & water determined to restrict the amount of damage caused to the routes. It has been a fantastic national effort & after surveying the damage, we are confident of having everything back on track soon”.

Rally Mexico 2010: Day 3 review

End of Rally Mexico 2010. Sebastien Loeb has won his 55th World Rally victory. Petter Solberg has scored his best World Rally position since the Acropolis Rally in 2008. Sebastien Ogier has finished third & Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen fourth. Jari-Matti Latvala claimed fifth after backing off in the final stages to give his team-mate a better scoring position. Henning Solberg finished sixth, Federico Villagra seventh, Xavier Pons eighth, Martin Prokop ninth & Armindo Araujo finishing tenth.

Day two retirements Ken Block, Dani Sordo & Matt Wilson all SupeRallied & all finished the rally in 18th, 14th & 16th respectively. Matthew Wilson later commented that “ It is a horrible feeling to have to SupeRally”.

The Sunday of the 2010 event brought no casualties to top ten. The only real battle in the top ten was between Petter Solberg & Sebastien Ogier for second. At the start of the day, Ogier was only 2.7 seconds behind Solberg, but after the first stage of the day, SS19 Guanajuatito, that all changed. Ogier put in a very fast time, 4.1 seconds faster than anyone &, crutially, 4.1 seconds faster than Solberg. SS20 Sauz Seco was cancelled before the start of the rally so it was on to SS21, Comanjilla, where Solberg set fastest time by 0.8 seconds to Ogier. Going into the final stage, Ogier held second place by 0.6 seconds to Solberg. Solberg won the final stage by 1.7 seconds & therefore took second by 1.1 seconds to Ogier in third. An estatic Solberg jumped off the bonnet at the finish & then started crying when being interviewed.

At the end of the rally, the S-WRC class looked like this. Xevi Pons took the class win by 17.4 seconds to Martin Prokop. Michal Kosciuszko took third, Eyvind Brynildsen fourth & Albert Llovera took fifth.

In the P-WRC, Armindo Araujo ran away with the win after Toshi Arai's problems yesterday. Minguel Angel Baldoni took third, Benito Guerra fourth & Gianluca Linari fifth. The local driver in Rodrigo Salgado fell into retirement on the final day, handing Linari fifth.


End of Rally positions:
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen C4 +00:00
2. Petter Solberg Citroen C4 +00:24.2
3. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C4 +00:25.5
4. Mikko Hirvonen Ford Focus +01:47.5
5. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford Focus +02:15.1
6. Henning Solberg Ford Focus +02:48.0
7. Federico Villagra Ford Focus +10:13.4
8. Xavier Pons Ford Fiesta +18:44.4
9. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta +19:02.0
10. Armindo Araujo Mitsubishi Lancer +21.32.5

S-WRC positions:
1. Xavier Pons Ford Fiesta +00:00
2. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta +00:17.6
3. Michal Kosciuszko Ford Fiesta +33:36.8
4. Eyvind Brynildsen Skoda Fabia +33:59.8
5. Albert Llovera Fiat Punto +35:55.5

P-WRC positions:
1. Armindo Araujo Mitsubishi Lancer +00:00
2. Toshi Arai Subaru Impreza +03:16.7
3. Minguel Angel Baldoni Mitsubishi Lancer +08:53.0
4. Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer +17:49.6
5. Gianluca Linari Subaru Impreza +21:32.7

Rally Mexico 2010: Day 2 review

End of Day Two. In a reversal of yesterdays fortunes Sebastien Loeb is the new leader by 55.5 seconds to Petter Solberg. Sebastien Ogier is third with Jari-Matti Latvala fourth, Mikko Hirvonen fifth, Henning Solberg sixth, Federico Villagra seventh, Martin Prokop eighth, Xevi Pons ninth & Armindo Araujo rounding out the top ten. Some notable absentees from the points scoring places are American extreme sports star Ken Block, Matt Wilson & Spaniard Dani Sordo. All three of the forementioned drivers went out on the same stage.

The first stage of the day SS10, Ibarrilla 1, was to see the demise of Citroen factory driver Dani Sordo, Stobart Ford man Matt Wilson & Monster World Rally Team driver Ken Block. Todays opener & the longest test of the rally at 29.90 Km claimed Citroens Dani Sordo first. The Spaniard hit somthing near the mid-point of the stage & the car stopped dead at the 22.90 Km point of the test. Next to be removed from the top ten was Stobart Ford driver Matthew Wilson. Wilson went off on a left-hand bend & clattered over some stones & beached the Focus on a ditch with only one wheel in contact with the road. Last to go was Ken Block. The American driver was brought to a halt with rear suspension failure on a hairpin bend, 23.67 Km into the stage. All three drivers are said to be re-entering under SupeRally legislation tomorrow, unlike poor Kimi Raikkonen.

With Petter Solberg out first, cleaning the road for the rest of the field, many people expected Sebastien Loeb to take the lead early on, but he diddnt. Instead he took the lead on SS11, Durate 1, by 5.2 seconds to Solberg. Loeb set some phenomially fast stage times over the course of the day. Solberg began to fall back & ended the day 55.5 seconds behind the flying Frenchman.

In the S-WRC class, Martin Prokop holds the overnight lead with Xevi Pons in second. Prokop holds an 4.8 second cushion over the former Citroen factory driver. Pons has been struggling with a clutch problem in the Fiesta. Albert Llovera, using hand controls in his Fiat Abarth Grande Punto, is in third, benefitting from Nasser Al-Attiyah's retirement. Michal Kosciuszko is fourth while Eyvind Brynildsen is fifth.

Armindo Araujo leads the P-WRC class for Group N4 cars to Toshi Arai. The Japanese driver had some mechanical issues with the N14 spec car. Minguel Angel Baldoni holds the bottom step of the podium in the Evo XI. Benito Guerra is fourth overnight with Gianluca Linari fifth. Local man Rodrigo Salgado is in sixth in his Evo XI.

End of Day 1 positions:
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen C4 +00:00
2. Petter Solberg Citroen C4 +00:55.5
3. Sebastien Ogier Citroen C4 +00:58.2
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford Focus +01:43.9
5. Mikko Hirvonen Ford Focus +01:59.9
6. Henning Solberg Ford Focus +02:25.2
7. Federico Villagra Ford Focus +09:11.8
8. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta +16:28.0
9. Xevi Pons Ford Fiesta +16:32.8
10. Armindo Araujo Mitsubishi Lancer +18:04.7

S-WRC postions:
1. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta +00:00
2. Xevi Pons Ford Fiesta +00:08.2
3. Albert Llovera Fiat Punto +32:40.5
4. Michal Kosciuszko Ford Fiesta +32:50.3
5. Eyvind Brynildsen Skoda Fabia +34:05.0

P-WRC positions:
1. Armindo Araujo Mitsubishi Lancer +00:00
2. Toshi Arai Subaru Impreza +03:39.8
3. Minguel Angel Baldoni Mitsubishi Lancer +08:14.3
4. Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer +19:28.6
5. Gianluca Linari Subaru Impreza +19:42.9
6. Rodrigo Salgado Mitsubishi Lancer +31:36.3

Rally Mexico 2010: Day 1 review

End of Day 1. Petter Solberg leads the Citroen 1-2-3-4 with Sebastien Ogier in second, Sebastien Loeb third & Dani Sordo rounding off the Citroen lock-out of the top four spots. All the Citroens performing well today, all except one. 2007 Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, on his debut season with Citroen, had a rally, all be it a short one, to forget. The former Ferrari star hit a rock on the opening stage of the rally, Alfaro 1, which apperantly caused some minor suspension damage, & then on SS2 the C4 ground to a halt for around 35 minutes when an electrical connector came loose in the fuel pump. Kimi said afterwards that “It was a simple problem to fix, but it took us a long time finding it”. Later on that day, on SS7, the stage that would decide the running order on Day 2, Raikkonen clipped a bank on the inside of a fast right-hander & rolled the car several times into retirement. Citroen Racing later announced that the C4 was too badly damaged to continue under SupeRally rules.

Outside the top four places, Ford dominated the rest of the top ten. Jari-Matti Latvala held fifth ahead of factory team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. Henning Solberg was in seventh, Matt Wilson eighth, Federico Villagra ninth for the Munchis Ford World Rally Team & Ken Block, on his debut with Ford held a respectable tenth. Mikko Hirvonen was complaning about the sandy surface on the road which ment the first car out took most of the sand off the road surface, leaving it easier for the rest of the field to get down to the gravel base. This was, apperantly, the reason he had such a deficit to Solberg. Mikko also reported a huge moment on one of the opening stages, where he hit a concrete post which then bounced him into a ditch. Hirvonen got out of the ditch without too much time being lost.

In the newly formed S-WRC, Xevi Pons leads Martin Prokop by a shade over eight seconds. The two drivers, both in new Ford Fiestas, have been battling it out over the course of Fridays nine special stages. Over a minute back in third is the Qatari driver in Nasser Al-Attiyah, driving a Rene-Georges Rallysport Skoda Fabia.

In the P-WRC Armindo Araujo leads Toshi Arai by 5.6 seconds. Miguel Angel Baldoni is in third, over two minutes & fourty two seconds off the pace.