Sordo holding out for Ford offer

Citroen refugee Dani Sordo has said that he will hold out for an offer from Ford before he either accepts or refuses the offer WRC newcomers MINI have given him.

Sordo was dropped from the Citroen senior team a few weeks back, and Sebastian Ogier took his place. Citroen Racing boss that Sordo would have to bring a full budget with him to get a seat in the firm’s Junior Team.

Weather on not the Spaniard signs for MINI or not will not affect the test that he will carry out for the Prodrive-run squad before the end of this month.

"I will wait a little bit for Ford, but not long," Sordo said. "It's not fair to Mini. Nothing is decided at the moment, but Mini is a good idea - with a big company like BMW behind it. I would like to develop the car, that's a good thing, but I also need to be driving a lot next year and this is not the full programme." Sordo said.

Kubica class of the field on Rallye du Var

Renault F1 driver Robert Kubica was the class of the field during today’s (Sunday) Rallye du Var, where he beat off opposition from Citroen World Rally Team driver Sebastian Ogier in a Citroen DS3 R3. Ogier, who finished three minutes off the flying Kubica, made his debut in the new car on the rally.

Kubica set the last three fastest stage times on the rally in his Renault Clio S1600. He only finished behind former WRC Peugeot works driver Cedric Robert (1^st), Bryan Bouffier, the newly-crowned French Rally Champion (2^nd) and Stephane Sarrazin, former SWRT factory driver, and current works Peugeot Le Mans driver. Kubica was only nine seconds behind Sarrazin’s Peugeot 207 S2000. The Polish driver also won the 2WD class on the rally.

Also competing in the rally was J-WRC winner Kevin Abbring, who switched from his J-WRC Suzuki Swift S1600 to the Clio R3, to take the Renault Clio R3 European Championship title back to Germany with him. As a result of winning the Championship, Abbring also collects a big prize fund from the French firm.

Kubica will continue with Renault F1 in 2011, and is hoping to go a few places better in the Championship, up from the 8^th place he scored at the end of the season.

Auriol on lookout for Monte sponsors

1994 World Champion Didier Auriol is attempting to put together a drive for January’s 100^th Rallye Monte Carlo.

Auriol drove for multiple teams, including Austin-Rover, Ford, Lancia, Toyota, SEAT Sport, Peugeot and Skoda. He made one-off appearances with both Subaru (Sweden) and Mitsubishi (San Remo) in 1996 after the works Toyota Castrol Team were banned from the WRC because of turbo irregularities, which allowed the team to increase the amount of turbo boost available, an illegal practise in the WRC. He also contributed considerably to the development of the Fabia WRC when he joined Skoda in 2003.

The Frenchman, a former ambulance driver in his native France, won the 1994 World Champion after a tense final round where he suffered from awful luck, with crashes and mechanical problems dropping him well down the order. With his title rival Carlos Sainz sitting comfortably on the podium, it looked like the title was destined for Madrid for a third time. However, on the final day, Sainz made a crucial mistake, clipping a log on the inside of the corner, sending the car across the road, down a dip, into a group of trees, and out of the rally. Auriol passed the scene of Sainz’ downfall, and crossed the finish line in sixth, enough to give him the title.

He also has prior experience of Monte Carlo and the IRC. He has won Monte Carlo on three separate occasions, 1990/1992/1993. He has also competed in the IRC before, on a handful of events since the Series’ inception, including the last year’s Rallye Monte Carlo in a Kronos Racing run Peugeot 207 S2000.

“I am trying to close a deal because I want to do the rally for the 100th anniversary. The problem is I have no sponsor but I try to find one. If I get a sponsor then I will try to have a top level car and if that is possible then I start to try for the podium, which is something I will always do because I always remain competitive.” said the 1994 World Champion.

Should his plans get strung together, he will not be the only former Ford and WRC Monte Carlo winner present at the event. Francois Delecour is due to take part in the event driving a Peugeot 207 S2000.

Raikkonen to mark IRC debut on Monte Carlo?

2007 F1 World Champion Kimi Raikkonen could take part in January’s Rallye Monte Carlo, if speculation proves correct.

Rumours suggest the ‘The Iceman’ could drive a Peugeot 207 S2000, prepared by the same team who prepared his old Citroen C4 WRC for this year’s WRC season, PH Sport.

Raikkonen has competed on snow, ice and tarmac during this year’s season, but not at the same time. Monte Carlo would front a completely new challenge for the Finn, who crashed, but did finish 29^th, on his WRC snow debut and crashed, but finished 10^th, on his WRC tarmac debut in Sweden and Bulgaria, respectively.

He also has no competitive experience of the IRC before, but has prior experience of the S2000-spec cars, to which series is run to. He did make an appearance at the IRC event Rallye International du Valais, where he went to visit his friend, and former Abarth works driver, Anton Alén.

“Actually I don’t have any plans fixed for next year yet but I would like to stay in rallying. Of course Monte Carlo is a really classic event for any rally driver but there’s nothing sorted.” Raikkonen said.

Four DS3s a possibility in Sweden

Citroen’s Oliver Quesnel has said that he feels confident that the multiple title-winning firm will be able to run up to four of the firm’s all-new DS3 WRC. The Citroen Total WRT will field two cars, while Quesnel is confident that two drivers can be found for their Junior Team.

No names have been announced as of yet, but he has expressed an interest in having Petter Solberg in a Junior Team DS3 WRC.

“We will have two teams next year but I can’t tell you who will be in the second team because we need to secure the budget first,” Quesnel said.

Quesnel expressed an interest in acquiring Kimi Raikkonen’s services for a second year. Should ‘The Iceman’ go to Citroen for another year; Red Bull will probably provide sponsorship for the Finn. Dani Sordo, however, would have a bit of a harder task to get a seat in a DS3 WRC for next year. The Spaniard would have to find a full budget, with Santander possibly becoming a sponsor.

“That means for Dani Sordo we would have to find 100 per cent of the budget if he was to continue with Citroen and that is very complicated. It is the same for Kimi Raikkonen.” added the Citroen Team Principal.

Quesnel also added that the drivers who could provide a budget would also need to be fast enough to be able to score points as well. The practice of having a paying driver in a team but is not fast is popular in Formula 1, but does usually take away from any interest in the race.

“We have a lot of demand but we would prefer to have the drivers with the budget who are also very fast. We would be very pleased with Kimi and Petter and I think they would have the priority but in the end we will see.”

“Last year, at this time, we didn’t have any customer so I am not worried. We will just have to wait but I am sure we will have two cars in the second team, even though it is quite complicated [to organise a second works team]." he added.

Rumours that Petter Solberg’s privateer team, PSWRT, would get another DS3 WRC have been ruled out because Citroen Racing announced that the DS3 WRC would not be publicly available until 2012 at the earliest.

On the opposite end of the Channel, Malcolm Wilson’s M-Sport operation is confident that possibly ten Fiesta RS WRCs could be present at the 2011 season opener.

“We’re not there yet but it’s possible,” said Wilson.

Prodrive, MINI’s appointed constructor, have said that there will not be a works MINI Countryman WRC in Sweden, but the car will make its works debut with Kris Meeke in Italy during the summer. No second driver has been announced by the firm but multiple named have been linked to a drive in the WRC’s newest challenger, names such as Kimi Raikkonen, Mads Ostberg, P-G Andersson and Marcus Gronholm.

Gronholm completed the car’s first full gravel test in Portugal some weeks back, but has since stated that he is no longer interested in a WRC-comeback.

Sordo wins Monza Rally Show

Dani Sordo and navigator Diego Vallejo have laid claim to the Monza Rally Show winner’s trophy by winning the 2010 edition of the event, in front of 40,000 spectators, in what looks to be his penultimate event in a Citroen C4 WRC.

“This rally was for fun but I am pleased to have won and enjoyed myself. It is one of the last rallies for the C4 so to win is very important and at such a special venue.” said the Spaniard.

Sordo took the lead on SS3, and held the lead until the end, winning by 5.1 secs over former Audi Le Mans works driver Dindo Capello, who completed possibly the C4’s last 1-2. Capello, a treble Le Mans winner, won the Monza event five-times previously. Double Italian Rally Champion Piero Longhi rounded out the top three, in his Focus WRC.

Not present at the event was treble Monza Rally Show winner Valentino Rossi. The seven-times MotoGP Champion competed at the event last year in a Monster Energy-backed Ford Focus WRC.

Come Sunday, Sordo continued his winning streak by winning the Master Show. It took place on the 1500m start/finish straight of the infamous Grand Prix circuit. Alessandro Perico scored second fastest in his Citroen Xsara WRC.

Italian Rally Champion and Rally d’Italia Sardegna Paolo Andreucci, European Rally Champion Luca Rosseti and P-WRC Champion Armindo Araujo all made appearances at the events.

The event proved popular this year with MotoGP stars Marco Simoncelli, Marco Melandri, Toni Elias and Andrea Iannone.

Stefano D’Aste won the GT section in his Lotus Exige GT Cup. Armindo Araujo won the Concept Car section, albeit unchallenged. Paolo Andreucci won the S2000 section onboard his Peugeot 207 S2000.

Sordo’s final confirmed appearance in a C4 WRC will be at the Solberg Extreme Motorsport Show in Norway thus weekend (27-28 Nov). 

Great future predicted for Neuville

Kronos Racing boss Marc Van Dalen has predicted a great future for Peugeot Benelux driver Thierry Neuville.

The young Belgian succeeded Freddy Loix when his fellow Belgian driver retired, until he returned for selected one-off events in the IRC, with ‘Fast Freddy’ winning three out of the four events he contested, coming third on the other. Neuville only competed on six events, but did score third on only his third event, the GEKO Ypres Rally.

“Thierry is very good and is improving all of the time. There’s still a lot for him to learn, but he is 22 years old and clearly a star for the future. At the start of Rally of Scotland he was around 1.7s per kilometre slower than the drivers at the front, but then he soon got that down to less than one second per kilometre slower, which is very impressive. He did not know Scotland but he learned the event and the surface very quickly and it was not an easy rally to learn. Okay, he made a mistake at the end, but this can happen.” said Van Dalen.

Neuville has no 2011 calendar confirmed, but it is thought that he will contest the entire IRC series next year with Peugeot Benelux.

Rising star earns WRC star's praise

2010 IRC 2WD Champion Harry hunt has earned the praise of World Rally Star Mikko Hirvonen, when the young British driver tested a Ford Fiesta S2000 on an especially laid-out tarmac test stage at Carlisle Airport.

The 22-year-old from London won the drive after winning the International Fiesta Sport Trophy. Mikko Hirvonen sat with Hunt in the Fiesta S2000 as he took the car around the course.

Speaking after the test, Hirvonen praised Hunt, saying: “Harry really impressed me today – he’s got a lot of potential behind the wheel and considering this is only his first full year competing he’s done extremely well.  He’s still very new to the sport but [is] a very determined individual who is eager to succeed.  He also set some very fast times in the [Fiesta SportTrophy International] Shootout so I’m sure with more experience he will only get better.”

Also present at the test were Fiesta Shootout winner Stephen Barker and Stobart driver Matthew Wilson. Wilson coached Barker on driving the Fiesta S2000, a very different machine to the 2WD Fiesta that he is used to.

“Matthew gave me some great tips on car handling, smooth gear change and throttle position. I think I’ve got as much out of it as I possibly could. This has been such a fantastic week.” Barker said.

Monte a possibility for Breen

Craig Breen has decided to place entry the 100^th running of the Rallye Monte Carlo in January of next year.

“At the moment we’ve put an entry in but that’s all. It’s an event I’ve always wanted to do but I don’t know if it will be something we do next season. We’ll have to see.”

However, the 20-year-old from Co.Waterford says that nothing is confirmed, but if he did enter the event, he would probably use his usual Fiesta S2000.

Breen used the new car to great effect in the Irish Tarmac Rally Championship, scoring second in the final drivers standings, scoring three Group N wins. He has competed further a field in the Fiesta S2000, competing in some British Championship events, winning on the Ulster Rally, and he competed on Rally Finland and Wales Rally GB, finishing 12^th and 19^th, respectively. In Wales, he finished second behind Skoda UK driver-to-be Andreas Mikkelsen, and ahead of S-WRC Champion Xevi Pons.

Breen has never driven on the event competitively, but has been part of Daniel Barry’s ice-note crew on this year’s Rallye Monte Carlo.

2012 possible for Loeb, says Quesnel

Citroen Racing boss Oliver Quensel has said that their star driver Sebastian Loeb could possibly stay in the WRC until the end of 2012, if the new DS3 WRC campaign proves to be successful.

Rumours circulated earlier this year that Loeb would retire from the sport at the end of 2011, but Loeb stated that he hadn’t confirmed that he would retire next year, but instead said that he did not know what he was doing himself.

“I don’t know, we will have to see. The one thing I can say is that I won’t continue for a long time from now, that’s for sure. I don’t know what is the plan, the plan is to drive next year and if I enjoy and still have some fun, then who knows.” said the seven-times World Champion.

Quesnel says that it is strongly possible that he would continue into 2012, if the all-new DS3 WRC proves to be as successful as its predecessor, the all-conquering C4 WRC.

“You can be sure that, if Seb is going well next year, he will stay for 2012. But if he has some problems or if he thinks he is not the best then he will stop. Right now, he doesn’t know himself when he will stop, but he is certainly still enjoying it” Quesnel said.

Failed sponsor deal forces Solberg to use own money

PSWRT team owner and driver Petter Solberg has said that he used some of his own money to drive on Wales Rally GB, where he finished second.

Solberg’s sponsorship agreement with an un-named firm fell through just before the event, so he was forced to either use his own money or not enter the event.

Solberg’s private PSWRT campaign for 2011 still hangs in the balance. Finishing third in the Drivers table, with six second places to his name, is a major plus for prospective sponsors.

“I paid for the last one and a half rallies myself from my own pocket so it’s not easy. Things just happen when you get a factory seat but when you are a privateer it isn’t easy. Now I have done all the work myself with my team and I’m just knackered.”

However, even with third in the series to his name, he says running your own team from the driver’s seat is very difficult. Even with an almost works spec car, he says his team is almost at its limit.

“Honestly, we can’t do better than this. The team has worked flat-out all year and if people think it’s easy to just get a proper car and go fast then let me say, it’s not easy. There is so much work behind the scenes that goes on and everybody is very pleased to get podiums in the world championship. Second or third, it doesn’t matter, as long as you are on the podium that is the main thing.

“Personally speaking, I haven’t seen my wife and son that much for two years because I’ve been flying all the time and in meetings with sponsors and testing, and then each rally. So it’s maybe lucky I am still married! Okay, we have the same passion luckily.”

However, he says that he is happy with he and his team’s performance this year.

“I’m very happy because it’s been hard work and a long way back to the top. We have been fast on every rally but as a privateer it’s difficult I can tell you.”

Wilks' successor confirmed at Skoda UK

Andreas Mikkelsen has been confirmed as Guy Wilks’ successor at Skoda UK.

Mikkelsen became the youngest points scorer in the WRC during the 2008 Swedish Rally, when he came in a superb fifth place. He is no stranger to the Fabia, however, as he competed on the Rally Alsace this year in the car and will compete in the car on this weekend’s Wales Rally GB.

“My goal is to win the championship in 2011 – no more, no less. This is a fantastic new step in my rally career, and it’s great to be in a Skoda seat with all the experience from Skoda Motorsport.”

Wilks’ signed for Peugeot UK after their star driver Kris Meeke left the team for a works MINI drive in the WRC in 2011. Wilks scored three podium finishes at the wheel of a customer spec Fabia S2000 in 2010, but broke bones in his back during the Rally d’Italia Sardegna after crashing off the road and into rocky undergrowth.

The Norwegian will get a works spec Fabia, the same as works Skoda drivers Juho Hanninen and Jan Kopecky.

Skoda UK’s director Robert Hazelwood is confident that the team will be transformed into a rally-winning, possibly championship-winning, team for next year.

“The combination of Andreas’s driving talent, his international rally experience, a championship-winning Fabia S2000 and our close relationship with the Skoda Motorsport factory team is a very exciting proposition. We are confident that the package we have created for 2011 will allow us to compete for victory on the IRC next year.”

Super 2000 still in IRC in 2011

Eurosport Events has stated that the IRC will continue to run to the Super 2000 regulations for 2011, and not the new 1600cc turbo engines that will be used in the WRC next year.

Eurosport Events’ managing director Geraldine Filiol said at the IRC awards ceremony in Limassol, Cyprus last week that the Challenge will continue to be run to the same regulations as per this year, but the 1600cc turbo variant will probably used in 2012.

“Regarding the type of cars that will be competing next year we will continue on a similar basis. New regulations for the S2000 will start to apply in 2010 for the regional championships.”

Lisbon Superspecial for Rally of Portugal 2011

Rally of Portugal organisers have announced that they will run a Superspecial Stage on the streets of Lisbon next year.

The crews will recce the stage at 1:00pm on the Thursday of the rally. As a way of promoting green motoring, they will recce the stages in electric cars. An autograph session will commence after the recce session, which will be followed by a parade of the drivers and their cars. The competition will be run in a pursuit race format with at least three cars on the stage. The whole day will be run around the Praca do Imperio.

The Praca do Imperio will use the roads between the Jeronimos Monastery, Centro de Belem and the Museum of the Navy. The 3km street circuit will comprise of roundabouts, chicanes and even a jump.

“Lisbon was directly involved in the early editions of the Rally TAP [the original Rally of Portugal name], with Parque Eduardo VII serving as a stage that drew fans from across the country. Since then, Lisbon has lost any connection to the sporting side of the event. However, now Automóvel Club de Portugal (ACP) has redressed that situation, as the WRC begins a new phase in its history, with new technical regulation and cars.”

“The current trend implemented by the promoter of the championship - NorthOne Sport - and supported by the manufacturers, means organizers are encouraged to provide every event with greater contact with the public, particularly in populated areas. Therefore, the ACP has launched this project to bring the WRC to Lisbon, an initiative that has generated enormous enthusiasm across the board.”

On completion of the Superspecial, the whole rally will make the move back down south to the Algarve, 300kms south, where the rest of the rally will commence.

Testing crash forces Block to switch cars

Rumours have been confirmed that Ken Block has suffered a ‘significant’ accident in his Ford Focus RS WRC while testing on Monday for this weekend’s Rally GB.

Block & navigator Alex Gelsomino were OK; however the same could not be said for their Focus, which had its roll cage damaged. The test took place in near-freezing conditions at a test stage in Greystoke.

A close source said that: “It was a pretty big crash. The roll cage was damaged, which meant it would be really tight to get the car turned around and ready for the start in Cardiff in a couple of days. As it is, the M-Sport boys are going to be flat-out getting the spare car ready.”

The Monster World Rally Team confirmed that a new car would be brought in from M-Sport’s base in Cumbria.

Block began the recce session along with other WRC competitors yesterday.

Meeke wins inaugural Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy

Outgoing IRC Champion Kris Meeke has been awarded the first edition of the Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy for his driving in this years IRC season.

Mechanical problems and some notable crashes denied the Irishman a second consecutive IRC title, but his epic drives against the, seemingly, much faster Fabias warranted the award.

Meeke was chosen by Colin’s dad Jimmy, a five-time British Champion, Jean-Pierre Nicolas, former Lancia works driver and Eurosport Events’ Gilbert Roy after a unanimous decision by the three at the IRC awards ceremony in Limassol, Cyprus.

“Without the support Colin offered I’d never have been able to progress my career and it means a great deal to me to receive this award in Colin’s memory.” Meeke said.

Meeke was taken under McRae’s wing in 2002. Meeke won the British Junior Rally Championship and scored third in the British S1600 Championship. Under McRae’s guidance, Meeke progressed to the J-WRC in a Super 1600 Opel Corsa. High points in the 2003 season were running as high as second in Italy and Wales, but Meeke crashed out of both events. Consolation followed in the form of British S1600 Championship.

3^rd at Monte Carlo started the year off on a high. 1^st followed third when he won a round of the British S1600 Championship. Mechanical failures in the next two rounds, Turkey and Greece, were followed by an epic crash in Finland whilst leading. Electrics halted his challenge for J-WRC win, but he scored second, after fighting for the runners-up spot with seven fastest stage times.

Meeke signed for Citroen for 2005/2006 driving a works C2 alongside Citroen works driver to-be Dani Sordo. In 2009, Meeke signed for Peugeot UK and stormed to the title after scoring six wins. 2010 wasn’t as successful, but it was announced that Meeke would become a MINI works driver in 2011 in the WRC.

Colin would have been proud of Kris’ achievements in the last few years.

2011 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship calender announced

The 2011 Irish Tarmac Rally Championship calendar has been released, subject to approval by Motorsport Ireland:

Galway International Rally  (5-6 February)

Circuit of Ireland Rally  (23-24 April)

Rally of the Lakes  (30 April-1 May)

Jim Clark International Rally  (27-28 May)

Donegal International Rally  (17-19 June)

Ulster International Rally  (19-20 August)

Cork ‘20’ International Rally  (1-2 October)

The TROA have reduced the number of counting rounds to 5 from 7 due to Easter falling very late next year, a consequence of which is that the Circuit of Ireland and Rally of the Lakes being separated by only one week.

The Jim Clark International Rally will be re-instated as a counting round of the ITRC, after all events outside of Ireland were removed from the 2010 calendar, due to increased costs and a ban on all WRC cars entering events within MSA jurisdiction.

FIA elects new World Rally Championship Commission President

Jarmo Mahonen has succeeded Morrie Chandler as President of the World Rally Championship Commission of the FIA.

Mahonen replaced Chandler at the FIA’s General Assembly which was held yesterday in Paris. He then announced that he would elect 2001 World Champion navigator Robert Reid as his vice-president.

“I am very happy to be in this new job, but I am going to take my time to talk to the stakeholders and everybody involved in the sport before I talk about specifics. We have a common goal, though.” Mahonen said.

Mahonen stated that although he would not make any quick decisions, he said that the commission would have to seek out the weak points of some events in the calendar, stating “We need to improve the quality of some events”.

Mahonen is no stranger to rallying, he is managing director of AKK Sports, the company who organise and run the infamous Rally Finland.

Below are the current rally-related motorsport commissions:

Commission                                          President                    

                                                             Vice-President

Rally Commission                                   J. Ashman

                                                             A. Barfull

World Rally Championship Commission    J. Mahonen

                                                             R. Reid                                                                             

Cross-Country Rally Commission             N. Khalifa Al-Attiyah

                                                             F. Gallagher

Women & Motorsport Commission           M. Mouton

                                                             R. Nabulsi

Todt says longer rallies will save money

Jean Todt, President of the FIA, the governing body of all motorsport, has stated that the WRC could cut costs by organising more endurance-type rallies across the world, similar to the Circuit of Ireland and the Safari Rallies of the 1980’s.

The Frenchman, a former Talbot works co-driver, has tabled a new plan for the WRC, to run over 5 years. It includes moving away from the now standard 3-day, ~300 KM rallies centred in Europe.

“The move to endurance rallies will cut costs. It will reduce the number of parts which can be changed on the car and even on the tyre wear, it will reduce the costs – maybe we can begin to use set of tyres per day and just allow the cars to refuel. This is something we are studying.

“I am not saying this format of rallies will suit all events. Some event[s] have a long history [of events in the current format] and it works for them, but who says the format in Europe works in Latin America or in Australia? I feel the format has been imported to all of the rallies. We are studying this more.” he said.

Team switch for Sordo getting more likely

Dani Sordo has stated that his future may veer away from Citroen, the firm who brought the Spaniard into the WRC. Instead, he says that as time passes, Ford is are more attractive.

Sordo’s Citroen deal came off the back of a J-WRC title in 2005. Sordo signed to Citroen to partner then double World Champion Sebastian Loeb. Since then, though, Loeb has scored 41 wins and 5 World Titles, while Sordo hasn’t scored a single win, but has finished runner-up to his all-conquering team-mate 13 times, and has scored third in the Drivers table twice, 2008 & 2009.

Malcolm Wilson has tried to sway him from the French marque, but has thus far failed to sign him. A plus point for Sordo would be Ford need a really fast tarmac driver, and the young Spaniard fits the bill. Ford have struggled on tar for a few years now, in fact their last tar win was Markko Martin’s Rallye de Espana win in 2004.

“At Ford, I have not talked about money. They are looking for a sponsor. In addition, we will try to contact a sponsor this week.”

Citroen have presented him an offer, but it would demote him to the Citroen Junior Team. Sordo’s seat at the full Citroen WRT has been taken by Sebastian Ogier. Sordo is still adamant that the team has been good to him.

“I can not blame the team of my situation. They offered me in Finland a project that included three rallies outside Europe. After [that] the offer was cut. I know that everything has come up.”

MINI still seems to be a possible route, but the team will only run 6 rallies next year. However, the seats at Citroen and Ford do require him bringing along a personal sponsor, or €1,000,000 from his own pocket. Possible sponsors could be Grupo Santander, a multi-billion euro Spanish banking group, or Puente San Miguel, a beverage company from the Philippines.

“I have to put money down as I would like a change. In Ford they told me that before doing anything.”

Loeb & Sordo switch disiplines for a weekend

Citroen World Rally Team drivers Sebastian Loeb and Dani Sordo switched disciplines for last weekend’s International GT Open Series round at the Circuit de Catalunya, four hours north of where the Rallye de Espana was based in Salou.

Loeb is no stranger to closed circuit racing, as he has competed in two Porsche Carrera Cup events in 2008. During Race 1, which was run in wet track conditions, the Frenchman spun off the track on the second lap. Undeterred, he ripped through the field to get back to 7^th from 22^nd, after qualifying 12^th. In Race 2, he was taken out of the race after being hit up the rear by another competitor.

Loeb’s racing exploits haven’t only been limited to two outings in the French Porsche Carrera cup, however. He took part in the fourth event in the French GT3 Championship this year, onboard a Ferrari F430 GT run by Pro GT, partnering Jean-Pierre Champeau. The all-French crew finished 14^th in the Race 1 and 9^th in Race 2.

His most renowned performances in closed-circuit racing, however, lie at Le Mans. Marking his debut at the infamous endurance event in 2005, Loeb set times equalling his team-mate Soheil Ayrai, who lead the event for a time. The Pescarolo in which they were driving, #17, suffered an eventful race, crashing into a Panoz, damaging the rear bodywork after a puncture, then being forced to retire.

2006 was more successful. Loeb, still in #17, finished second overall, only four laps behind the dominant Audi R10 TDI. Loeb drove one of the two Pescarolos that stormed to fastest in a rain-swept session.

Sordo, however, hasn’t got as much experience as his team-mate. In fact, he has no circuit-racing experience in cars at all. His only experience was karting in his native Spain when he was younger.

“It took some time to get used to running around the same track! And the braking was incredible from the car, it’s very different from rallying, but we had a lot of fun.” said Sordo

Nevertheless, the French-Spanish crew finished in fifth in Race 1, but Loeb was taken out of Race 2 by another competitor who spun in front of and then collided with Loeb.

“It was good,” said Loeb. “Both Dani and I were setting lap times which really the same, which was good for us. We were pleased with the way things were improving through the weekend, and we had the car going in the right direction. It’s a shame for the race [on Sunday], but I had a damaged wheel and couldn’t continue.” Loeb said.

Ogier to enter Rally du Var

Citroen World Rally Team No.2 to be Sebastian Ogier is to enter the 56^th Rally du Var, which is due to take place on the 25^th-28^th November.

But Ogier won’t be entering the event in a C4 WRC as a last ‘hoorah’ for the all-conquering rally car (that honour goes to Wales Rally GB), but he will be instead be taking a step back in his choice of car, and he will be stepping forward at the same time. Confused?

Ogier will be taking part in the rally at the wheel of the 2WD Citroen DS3 R3, the base of Citroen’s future WRC challenger. This event will mark his competitive debut in the car, but he will be up against another driver with more experience of the car.

The Frenchman will be up against Belgian Thierry Neuville in another DS3 R3. Neuville is a Peugeot Benelux works driver in the IRC and has been a major force in the J-WRC this year.

Neuville made his debut in another DS3 on last weekend’s Rallye International du Valais, based east of Geneva, winning class R3 outright, taking two overall stage wins and finishing third overall. Neuville finished ahead of four S2000 cars and many more experienced ERC drivers.

“The roads were really tricky and we encountered snow, a lot of damp and also some mud. But we are delighted with this fantastic result and at the same time sad to get out of DS3 R3. We had a lot of fun driving it, and the car showed itself to be extremely competitive and reliable throughout the rally.”

“We knew that we faced a tough task this weekend, thanks to the snowy and icy nature of the roads. But the work that we did during the recce was very useful.” said the Belgian.