RallyRACC - Rally de Espana: Day 3 review

Sebastian Loeb has powered through over 400Kms of mixed surface stages to win the RallyRACC – Rally de Espana for the seventh straight time.

“It was a really good rally for us coming from three bad rallies. We did the perfect race I would say with no mistakes. Mikko has taken a lot of points so we stay very close in the championship but the point for the Power Stage could be very important.” said Loeb.

Loeb went into the final day with a lead of 27.4 secs over Jari-Matti Latvala, who was enjoying his best ever rally on tarmac. Returning to service in Salou, Loeb had extended his lead to 31 secs after going fastest on SS15. Loeb's team-mate Sebastian Ogier went fastest on SS16, slicing 23.1 secs out of Dani Sordo, whom he was desperately trying to catch. Latvala went fastest over SS17, his sixth stage win of the rally, to cut the deficit to Loeb to 24 secs. Dutifully, Latvala dropped over 2 mins and drove at a reduced pace through SS18, the Power Stage, to ensure team-mate Mikko Hirvonen got the necessary points to be in with a shout of the title in Wales.

Dani Sordo took fourth after coming under severe pressure from Ogier, after Sordo suffered a puncture and steering problems on SS14, in the closing stages of the rally. However, in a cruel twist of fate, Ogier's engine expired on SS17, dropping him from the rally and out of the fight for the World Title. Fifth was Kris Meeke, taking his first finish of the year.

Meeke also took his first WRC stage win of his career, winning the Power Stage by 0.2 secs over team-mate Sordo after both MINI men made perfect tyre choices leaving service, sporting two soft tyres and two hard tyres, and carrying two soft tyres as spares. It proved a good choice as the stage proved damp, and the two MINI's flew. Sebastian Loeb took the final Power Stage point with third, nearly 5 secs behind Meeke.

Mads Ostberg's brake gremlins returned to haunt him today, with his brakes overheating today. He took 6^th after Ogier retired, while Evgeny Novikov overhauled Henning Solberg for 7^th, Solberg still struggling with a nasty head cold. Dennis Kuipers added two more points to his 2011 tally, taking 9^th while Juho Hanninen took the final point for 10^th, rounding out a great rally for the Finn.

Ken Block and Armindo Araujo both crash out on today's first stage, and Matthew Wilson did the same thing four stages later on SS17.

Juho Hanninen took S-WRC class spoils and the S-WRC title, to follow up his 2010 IRC title, by 14.9 secs over Nasser Al-Attiyah. Al-Attiyah lost his brakes, and his chances of the rally win, on SS13, allowing Hanninen to pass him for the lead. Martin Prokop took third, with Craig Breen fourth. Hanninen's team-mate Hermann Gassner Jr. took fifth and Ott Tanak took sixth, albeit 30mins off the lead. Albert Llovera took the 'Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally' award.

“At one stage we were really trying and when Tanak made a mistake there was almost 400 stage kilometres to the finish. We were just waiting and avoiding the mistakes so it was not so easy. On gravel it was difficult on Friday but then we went to Tarmac on Saturday morning I formed some sort of rhythm. With that rhythm I was able to fight with Nasser. Today he had a few problems with the brakes so from that moment we got the lead and we were able to keep it.” said Hanninen, 2011 S-WRC Champion.

A tense final day saw Patrik Flodin take his first P-WRC victory of 2011, beating Michal Kosciuszko by a slim margin of 2 secs. Swede Flodin conceded he thought his chances of victory were all but gone after a SS17 puncture, but with Kosciuszko only able to take 0.3 secs out of him on the Power Stage, he secured the win. Benito Guerra took his first podium finish in the P-WRC in third.

“We were really struggling yesterday with the driving on Tarmac. Last night we reset everything and tried to do our best today and the driving was working better. We tried to go a bit smoother, braking earlier and really focus on the exit of the corner. I saw in the fast sections we were faster than him and we could see that on the split times. Without the puncture it could have been quite safe. We did just enough.” said a relieved Flodin.

Only 8 points separate Loeb and Hirvonen going into the final round of the 2011 WRC season, Wales Rally GB in three weeks time. With Sebastian Ogier out of the title fight after his engine failure, it looks like a replay of the 2009 title fight, when Loeb took his sixth world crown after Hirvonen suffered some extreme bad luck.

On a somewhat sad note, M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson paid tribute to rising MotoGP star Marco Simoncelli, who was killed in a tragic accident on Lap 2 of this morning's Malaysian motorcycle Grand Prix. Simoncelli, 24, tested a Ford Fiesta RS WRC alongside Mikko Hirvonen in Cumbria a number of weeks ago. Simoncelli said he “loves rally and rally cars”, and showed what might have been, throwing the Fiesta around with the same flair that he showed in MotoGP.

Wilson said: "Today has obviously been overshadowed by the tragic death of Marco Simoncelli in the MotoGP race in Malaysia. Marco visited M-Sport just a few weeks ago to test a Fiesta RS WRC. His enthusiasm and delight at being in the car were clear for all to see and we are all extremely saddened at the news. Our sincere condolences go out to his family, friends and colleagues."

RallyRACC - Rally de Espana: Day 2 review

Sebastian Loeb continues to lead the RallyRACC – Rally de Espana after a good day in his DS3 WRC.

Loeb leads Jari-Matti Latvala by 27.6 secs going into Day 3 of the rally. Beginning the day with two stage wins, Loeb extended his lead to 36 secs over Latvala. However, on the very next stage, Latvala began to push and take time out of the seven times World Champion. Victory on SS10 and SS12, plus his SS9 win, took nearly 9 secs out of the rally leader. After the last stage, Loeb acknowledged the pace of the young Finn, congratulating him on his pace.

“Sebastian came up to me after the last stage to shake my hand and congratulate me on my time. It was a great feeling to have the seven-time world champion congratulate me for beating him on his favourite surface.” said Latvala.

Latvala revealed the secret to his new-found tarmac pace, saying: “My driving on this surface is improving all the time. It’s smoother and I used every centimetre of the road. I’ve never driven such a good car on asphalt as this Fiesta. It’s so stable and handled like a racing car. When it feels as good as that I have the confidence to drive as if I was on a race track. That was the best day of my career on asphalt.”

Loeb said he had a good day, and was surprised to find he was coming under pressure from Latvala, on the Frenchman's favourite surface.

“I have a good feeling and my car is going well,” said Frenchman Loeb. “I have a good rhythm but I am having to push because Jari-Matti is surprisingly fast on Tarmac. My lead should be enough tomorrow if I make no mistake.”

Still third, and nearly 2 mins off the lead, Mikko Hirvonen is coming under pressure from local hero Dani Sordo. Sordo narrowed the gap to Hirvonen throughout the day, even taking his first stage win of the rally on SS11, until Hirvonen took back nearly 5 secs on the days final test. 37.4 secs separates 3^rd and 4^th, a big gap ordinarily, but as the saying goes, in rallying it's never over 'till it's over!

Sebastian Ogier's fight for a podium after his puncture yesterday took another heavy blow after he suffered another puncture on the days opening stage. He fell down behind both MINI's, but took Kris Meeke for fifth on the very next stage. He now sits 1 min 12 secs behind Sordo, and 30 secs ahead of Meeke.

Meeke enjoyed a trouble-free day on-board his MINI, finding himself only slightly slower than his team-mate Sordo over most stages. Meeke entered the rally on the back of four retirements from four starts this year. A stuck throttle put him off he road in Italy, a blocked radiator put him out in Finland, electrical gremlins in Germany and a crash in France have so far stopped him from finishing. Before the rally, he was concentrating on finishing in Spain, but took a more balanced approach to the event, taking the pressure off himself. He now sits 6^th, 37.2 secs ahead of closest pursuer Mads Ostberg in 7th.

Ostberg, in what may prove to be his final World Rally of 2011, had been struggling with brake problems throughout the morning, but a visit to service and the M-Sport mechanics sorted that. 8^th and nearly 2 mins behind his Stobart Ford team-mate is Henning Solberg, who has been fighting a fever through the day.

Evgeny Novikov sits 9^th, 37 secs behind Solberg. The Russian suffered a puncture on SS10, and the rubber thrashing around at the rear of the caused a minor fire, which was extinguished rapidly by co-driver Denis Giraudet. Early morning understeer slowed Matthew Wilson, who sits 10^th, on course for more Championship points.

Petter Solberg and Kimi Raikkonen both elected not to restart, saving their cars for the season-ending Wales Rally GB. Raikkonen's SS3 problem was traced to a small fuel leak. Ken Block & Daniel Olivera both re-joined, well down the order in 31^st & 29^th, respectively.

Nasser Al-Attiyah still leads S-WRC, but by a scant 0.4 secs over Juho Hanninen. The former P-WRC Champion commanded a 20 sec lead over Hanninen going into SS10, but sliding off the road damaged his car's gearbox and oil cooler. Hanninen could have snatched the lead, but with over 100kms of stages between him and the 2011 S-WRC title, he decided not to push for the lead. Martin Prokop is third, 50 secs behind Hanninen. Craig Breen's fight for the podium was dealt a devastating blow when he broke a driveshaft 7kms into the days first stage.

“It was a very good morning because we won all the stages and progressed a lot on Tarmac,” said Al-Attiyah. “When we went off we damaged the oil cooler of the gearbox and we were actually lucky to come back onto the road. The car was not good after that and the gearbox temperature was quite high.” said Al-Attiyah.

11 secs separates Patrik Flodin and Michal Kosciuszko going into the rally's final day. Flodin has been struggling with his driving throughout the day, while Kosciuszko nearly ran out of brakes near the end of SS12, setting them up for an interesting day tomorrow. Benito Guerra suffered a flat tyre on SS7, losing 3 mins changing it, but he still maintains third. Martin Semerad broke a wheel on SS7, then crashed out on the next stage, SS8.

RallyRACC - Rally de Espana: Day 1 review

Citroen's Sebastian Loeb seems well on his way to picking up yet another RallyRACC-Rally de Espana, ending Day 1 with a 30 sec lead over his nearest pursuer, Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala.

“It’s been a very hard day. Luckily I had a bit of dust on the first stage but in the afternoon the road has been really difficult and I should have lost much more time.” said the seven times World Champion.

Loeb got the rally off to the perfect start, taking a 7.1 sec lead over Latvala after the first stage. The usual disadvantage of running first on the road was less of a worry for Loeb after the first stage, with rivals reporting major visibility reduction due to hanging dust, even with an interval of 3 mins between cars, rather than the usual two. Hanging dust was less of a problem on SS2, thanks to a breeze, but Loeb extended his lead over Latvala to 8.9 secs. Latvala snatched 3.6 secs back out of Loeb on the very next stage, before the crews returned to service.

Latvala came out of service on an absolute flyer, taking 3.9 secs out of his nearest challenger on the stage Sebastian Ogier, and an amazing 13.3 secs out of Loeb, who cited lack of consistent grip. Latvala's advantage went up to 16 secs after managing his tyres well on the tarmac section of SS5, something Loeb didn't do. On SS6, the very dusty night stage, Latvala's charge was dealt a devastating blow, when he first spun at the first corner, then suffered a puncture. Loeb won the stage by 9 secs over team-mate Ogier, giving himself a half-minute lead overnight.

Championship contender Mikko Hirvonen is third overnight, having had a fairly uneventful day. Losing time over the first stage due to the dust causing him to be too cautious was the only major problem for the Finn, who is 54.2 secs behind Loeb. Loeb's team-mate Ogier took third place from Hirvonen on SS2, but lost the advantage on SS5 with a puncture, which he dropped 2 mins changing. He sits fourth now, 1 min 45 secs behind leader Loeb and only 17 secs ahead of local hero Dani Sordo.

MINI-mounted Sordo struggled through SS1 due to the dust, and had an intercom glitch on SS5, dropping further time. Team boss Dave Richards said it may prove difficult for Sordo to make up the lost time, saying the time loss has “taken the wind out of his sails”. 50.1 secs behind his team-mate is Kris Meeke, who also suffered in the dust, except his car filled with it, causing even more visibility problems, as well as breathing problems. Meeke earlier in the day questioned the idea of running the night stage, with the added problem of the spotlights on the cars reflecting the dust, blinding the driver.

Lying 7^th and 8^th overnight, Stobart drivers Mads Ostberg and Henning Solberg have both been having their own problems. Ostberg has been suffering from differential problems today, while Solberg has had to deal with an intercom gremlin, which became a relentless problem throughout the day. Ostberg is 3 mins 3 secs off the pace, whilst Solberg is a further 8.5 secs behind.

Evegney Novikov, who is making his Citroen DS3 WRC début, is 9^th overall, whilst Matthew Wilson, in the other Stobart Fiesta is 10^th, over 5 mins off the lead.

Two big names to be taken out on the first stage were Petter Solberg and Ken Block. Solberg, a pre-event favourite, caught a drainage culvert on SS1, tearing a wheel off his DS3. Block hit the same culvert, breaking the steering in his Monster Fiesta WRC. Solberg and co-driver Chris Patterson were able to warn other crews of the danger, building up some stones in front of the offending culvert, helping warn other crews. Ever the optimists of the service park, Patterson says he, Solberg and the rest of the PSWRT team won't give up, and may return tomorrow.

Nasser Al-Attiyah leads S-WRC overnight, with Juho Hanninen in second, and Craig Breen in third, the top three being separated by only 24.6 secs. Ott Tanak, who was expected to be fighting for S-WRC honours, went out on SS1, while Bernardo Sousa had been having brake problems and Karl Kruuda broke the cross-member on a rock on SS1

“It’s been very hard finding the right pace and the right consistency after Tanak stopped. You can’t take risks because you can make a mistake but you can’t not push completely because you lose the rhythm. We are trying to stay focused.” said Hanninen, who seems to be on his way to the S-WRC crown.

P-WRC is being lead by Patrick Flodin, who, despite his Subaru dropping onto 3 cylinders on SS6, commands a 35.9 sec lead over Michal Kosciuszko. Kosciuszko reported smashing a rear window against a tree on the day's second stage, which let a lot of dust into the car. Benito Guerra holds third, 4 mins 14.6 secs off the lead. 2011 P-WRC Champion Hayden Paddon failed to make the first stage, electrical problems stopping his Subaru. Production Champion Harry Hunt crashed out in the afternoon, after crashing in Shakedown prior to the rally.

Abbring, Wiegand get Welsh VW drive

Volkswagen has chosen which drivers will get a drive in a Skoda Fabia S2000, run by the German automotive giant, for Wales Rally GB.

Former J-WRC round winner Dutchman Kevin Abbring will drive one of the Fabia's on the Welsh classic, while Sepp Wiegand will pilot the other Fabia.

Abbring needs no introduction. The 22 year old took wins in the J-WRC before the category was scrapped in favour of the new-for-2011 WRC academy. He is a member of the FIA Institute Academy, a driver-training programme run by the governor of world autosport. He is seen as a very promising driver in the WRC at the moment.

Wiegand is less well known at World level. He took over Christian Riedemann's Academy drive after German Riedemann was being assessed by VW on Rallye Deutschland. Wiegand only made his rally début last year, jumping ship from motocross. Since then, he has taken class wins in national rallies in Germany, as well as fourth in the WRC Academy in France.

VW Motorsports boss Kris Nissen says that Wales Rally GB is a rally VW “must experience the rally in competitive conditions” before they commit to the WRC in 2013.

"The Wales Rally Great Britain is one of the most challenging events in the World Rally Championship. The fast gravel tracks, narrow forest trails and the unpredictable weather have made it a classic. Therefore, it is a must for our team to experience this rally in competitive conditions.”

On all of the events VW have entered this year, they have fielded a native driver, with Joonas Lindroos driving in Finland, Christian Riedemann in Germany and Yeray Lemes in Spain.

However, for Wales Rally GB, VW have taken the decision not to run a local driver, with Nissen saying he didn't see any local driver who deserved the VW drive. Nevertheless, he defended their choice of drivers.

"At the same time we're giving two young drivers the opportunity to get to know our team and to show their skills. Sepp Wiegand is very young but has already caused a sensation on numerous occasions. Kevin Abbring has a little more international experience but also has to adjust to a new car and a new environment. Both teams have our full support."

Lack of experience may hurt Neuville

Belgian star Thierry Neuville is afraid his lack of gravel experience may stop him from fighting for victory on this weekend's RACMSA Rally of Scotland, round 10 of the 2011 IRC season.

“My experience on gravel is quite little, I didn’t do so many times with four-wheel-drive on gravel. In fact, Scotland will only be the third loose-surface rally of my career in a four-wheel drive car.”

Neuville, joint-second in the IRC Driver's standings, has only ever competed twice before in a 4WD car on gravel, in Sardinia and Scotland last year. He took fourth in Sardinia but crashed out of Scotland.

Indeed, Neuville has a better history on tarmac, having won in Corsica & San Remo this year, with San Remo, he says, being the last rally he was sure he could take the fight to the Skoda's for the win.

“I don’t know for the moment but San Remo was the last rally where I knew we could really fight for the victory. We have moved on from San Remo and I can’t really see myself challenging for the lead. I will focus on being as consistent as possible in order to come away with a strong result.” he added.

Neuville took part in a two-day test in the north of England, close to the Scottish border. He will get another test some time this week before the rally begins on Friday.