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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Bye Bye Kimi

Kimi Raikkonen and Lotus Renault GP have announced that the man affectionately known as the 'Iceman' will leave rallying and return to F1, the sport that launched him to international fame, in 2012.

"I'm delighted to be coming back to Formula 1 after a two-year break, and I'm grateful to Lotus Renault GP for offering me this opportunity”

Rumours circulated around the Brazilian Grand Prix paddock that talks between Raikkonen and Williams Grand Prix had broken down and he would not be returning to F1 next year. Then, only two days later, Lotus Renault GP announced the Finn had signed a two-year contract with the Enstone-based squad.

What makes the new partnership even more unexpected is that there was a reported falling-out between Raikkonen and Lotus Renault GP team principal Eric Boullier, after the team “used my [Raikkonen's] name for their own marketing”. This came about when, after Raikkonen had been in contact with the team over a possible 2011 drive, the team said they were in discussions with him about a contact. Afterwards, an angry Raikkonen assured media and fans that he would “100 per cent…not be driving for them [Renault] next year [2011]”

Raikkonen said his decision to make the move to Renault was helped my the team's ambitions for 2012.

"It was an easy choice to return with Lotus Renault GP as I have been impressed by the scope of the team's ambition. Now I'm looking forward to playing an important role in pushing the team to the very front of the grid." he said.

Gerard Lopez, chairman of Genii Capital, who co-own the team, said that Raikkonen's signing was the first of “several announcements” that are aimed to push the team back up to the front of the F1 grid. He also welcomed Raikkonen to the squad.

"Kimi's decision to come back to Formula 1 with us is the first step of several announcements which should turn us into an even more serious contender in the future. Of course, we are all looking forward to working with a world champion. On behalf of our staff, I'd like to welcome Kimi to Enstone, a setting that has always been known for its human approach to Formula 1."

Whilst in F1, Raikkonen's stat sheet shows he was no slouch behind the wheel of an F1 car. From when he signed his first F1 contract in 2001 with the Sauber team to the end of the 2009 season, when he made an unusual switch to rallying, he took 18 wins, 16 pole positions, 35 fastest laps and one World Championship in his 157 entries for Sauber, McLaren and Ferrari. His rallying stats don't read so well however.

At the end of the 2009 season, Raikkonen made a shock announcement that he would leave F1 and switch to rallying, driving for the Citroen Junior Team.

Raikkonen had only taken part in two rallies prior to his career change. His first was the Arctic Lapland Rally in 2009, where he took 13th overall in a Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000. His second was the Neste Oil Rally Finland that same year, holding 15th overall and steadily moving up the ranks before spectacularly crashing out of the rally on the final stage of the second day.

Later that year, on the 4th December, it was announced he would join the Citroen Junior Team. Driving a Citroen C4 WRC, sponsored by personal sponsor Red Bull and co-driven by former World Rally Championship co-driver Kaj Linstrom, Raikkonen was in for a baptism of fire. Crashes in both of the first two rounds of the 2010 season were met by 8th, 5th (his best ever finish) and 10th in Jordan, Turkey and Portugal, respectively.

Another crash came in Bulgaria, while he was lying in fourth, and gaining on third. Car problems caused a poor finish at home in Finland, before a further 3 points and his first stage win came in Germany. Retirements in both Japan and France, and a shakedown crash in Spain cost him possible, and valuable, points. He did round out the year with eighth in Wales.

For 2011, the Junior Team was disbanded. Raikkonen instead entered his own team, ICE1 Racing with a new car, the Citroen DS3 WRC. It proved a successful venture, scoring points in all the events he entered, with highlights of sixth in Jordan and Germany. It all fell apart when the team made the decision to skip Rally Australia. ICE1 Racing was thrown out of the Manufacturer's Championship due to the fact that to be eligible for Manufacturers Points, all teams must compete in at least two events outside of Europe. Problems in France, Spain and Wales didn't net him any more points, so he rounded out the season 10th with 34 points.

After ICE1 Racing's exclusion from the Championship, Raikkonen's interest in rallying began to wane a little. The option to SupeRally in France, Spain and Wales was not taken, with SupeRally giving him the possibility of more mileage, thus more experience. Alarm bells began sounding after he tested an LMP1 Peugeot 908 and raced a NASCAR Truck in America. Time and mileage could have solved his teething problems in the WRC, but inevitably he decided that, after 2 years, the WRC and full-time rallying just wasn't for him, so he returned to the sport he knew best.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Ogier signs for VW, gets full 2012 calender

Citroen refugee Sebastian Ogier has signed a new contract with Volkswagen, the latest firm to announce their participation in the WRC from 2013.

Member of the Volkswagen Board of Management in the Development division, Dr. Ulrich Hackenburg said: “I am very happy about Sebastian Ogier and Julien Ingrassia joining us. Both of them are important pieces of the puzzle on our way towards building a successful team in the World Rally Championship. It is also a mark of confidence for our team if such a strong pairing opts for a new team in the WRC that is still in the process of being developed.”

News broke last week that Ogier had left Citroen, the team who launched him to prominence in the WRC, to be replaced by Mikko Hirvonen. After the move, there was no word of where Ogier would be going and who would fill the second Ford seat, with the Frenchman was widely expected to go to Ford.

Now Ogier is VW's first publicly announced driver he will have the 12 month development schedule of the new car ahead of him. However, he will also get a full 12-round season next year behind the wheel of a VW supported and run Skoda Fabia S2000. The full complement of rallies will allow him to stay “match fit” and “familiarise myself with those events that I don't know so well”.

The long development programme will allow Ogier to have a say in almost all of the Polo R WRC's development, which will allow him to tailor the car to his style of driving. He will also take some experience of the development of the championship-winning Citroen DS3 WRC, which may come in useful whilst developing the Polo R WRC.

It has also emerged that double-World Champion Carlos Sainz recommended that Ogier be signed to the squad. Sainz works as an advisor for Volkswagen and drove for the team in multiple Dakar Rallies, ultimately winning the mammoth rally in 2010. Sainz says that, for him, “Sebastien is one of the world’s three best drivers”.

Many drivers were linked to the VW seat, with Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, as well as all the young drivers who drove VW-supported Fabia S2000's during the year, were all linked to the seat. In the end, Loeb decided to stay with Citroen and Hirvonen signed for Citroen, leaving Latvala and Solberg available. Latvala is now expected to stay at Ford, leaving only Solberg, who was been long-time linked to the German squad, plus the all the drivers who drove the Fabia's.

VW Motorsport's Kris Nissen said: “We are proud that such a successful and quick duo as Sebastian and Julien have decided to join Volkswagen. The aim of putting a competitive Polo R WRC on the road for them as quickly as possible will additionally drive our team. We look forward to working with them and are hoping for many victories and titles in the future.”

Ogier's first event as an official VW driver will be the Race of Champions next weekend in Düsseldorf, Germany. He will partner GP2 Champion and Lotus-Renault GP test and reserve driver Romain Grosjean under the Team France banner. Ogier's first World Rally event as a VW driver will be Rallye Monte Carlo in January, on which he will drive a Fabia S2000.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Semerad excluded from Wales results

Martin Semerad has been stripped of his Wales Rally GB results due to a technical infringement.

Semerad originally scored a fine second place behind P-WRC winner Patrik Flodin, but at post-event scrutineering, part of his Mitsubishi Lancer's front suspension was found to be different to the homologated version.

Semerad, and technical chief Ivan Matousek, were summonsed to appear in front of the stewards to explain their situation. Semerad and Matousek said they received the front upper suspension plates from the supplier, but failed to check them for compliance with the homologation form.

With the suspension parts in breech of Article 254-7.4.1, which states “It will be possible to use upper suspension plates homologated as a Group N Option Variant”, the Stewards took the decision to exclude Semerad from the final results.

The Czech's exclusion from the rally promoted Michal Kosciuszko up to second in the final results, as well as third overall in the final P-WRC standings.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Latvala lands Welsh win

Jari-Matti Latvala has ended his seventeen rally barren run of victories with a comprehensive win on the season-ending Wales Rally GB.

“It’s a great feeling because it’s been very stressful and frustrating since my last win [Neste Oil Rally Finland 2010]. It’s a great way to finish the season 2011. We now need to push for the world title with Ford next year.”

Latvala went into the final day with a 6.1 sec lead over Sebastian Loeb, and immediately set about taking more time. Winning the first stage of the Day, he extended his lead over Loeb to 7.5 secs. Then something no-one could have predicted happened.

After taking second on SS18, Halfway, Loeb & co-driver Daniel Elena were driving the road section on their way to SS19, when a car driven by a Spanish rally supporter collided with him on a narrow section of road. No-one was injured in the accident, but Loeb's DS3 WRC suffered a damaged radiator, forcing him out of the rally.

“We were on a road section and hit a car front on. I moved to the side [of the road] but we are in [Wales] and he is not [Welsh] so he went on the wrong side and we crashed. It was not a big impact but the radiator is holed, so we cannot go on. That’s it. But okay, we are world champion so no problems.” said the now eight-time World Champion.

Mads Ostberg took second place after Loeb's incident, rounding off the year with the same position he started it with. An ever present engine problem did cause some concern, but it didn't cause problems.

Henning Solberg, also in a Stobart M-Sport Ford Fiesta RS WRC, took third in what was his first podium appearance in over 2 years. Kris Meeke, fourth, put in an excellent drive today to reduce the gap to Solberg from 45 secs down to a scant 1.8 secs going into the Power Stage. In the end a spin denied Meeke a historic podium place, but it did net him his best finish at World Rally level.

The other Stobart car of Matthew Wilson took fifth in what was a largely consistent rally from the Briton. Ott Tanak managed to fight back to sixth place on his début in a World Rally Car. Launch Control problems on SS20 couldn't deny Evegny Novikov seventh place, the best finish of the year for Team Abu Dhabi.

Dennis Kuipers rounded out a largely successful year with eighth. Nearly six minutes back was Ken Block in ninth, the American with a consistent rally. Rounding out the points scorers was Armindo Araujo in tenth, taking his second points haul of the year, after Germany.

Victory on the Power Stage was a small amount of consolidation to Sebastian Ogier, who crashed out on SS1. 11th place was a good fight-back from 73rd place, better known as second-last. Dani Sordo slid into a ditch on Friday and had to SupeRally. 20th place was as high a he got. Second on the Power Stage was a welcome boost for the MINI Team after team-mate Meeke's mistake though.

Just behind Ogier was the Volkswagen Motorsport entrant of Kevin Abbring, driving a good rally to 12th in the Fabia S2000.

Patrik Flodin took the P-WRC class of Wales Rally GB, well over five mins ahead of second placed Martin Semerad. Indeed, it should have been Benito Guerra in second, but the Mexican rolled out of the rally on the final stage. Third was Michal Kosciuszko, a good result after retiring last night & needing to SupeRally.

“It’s very nice to win the last round and finish the season with some good results,” said Flodin. “I’m very, very happy and must thank Timo who did a very good job. The stages were fantastic today, and it was actually quite an easy day keeping our concentration with such a big lead.” said Flodin.

On Thursday, Ilka Minor was chosen as the latest recipient of the Michael Park 'Beef' Trophy, an award presented in memory of Park, who was tragically killed on this rally six years ago, to the co-driver who best embodies Michael's traits, being overall performance, attitude and commitment.

Prior to the rally, Jari-Matti Latvala was awarded the Abu Dhabi Spirit of the Rally award.

Latvala leads Loeb

Jari-Matti Latvala will head into Day 4 of Wales Rally GB with a slender 6.1 lead over newly-crowned eight times World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb.

An overshoot on the Day's opening test saw Latvala lose 5.8 secs to Loeb, but a further four scratch stage times out of the Day's 5 stages saw Latvala rocket into the lead.

“It’s going really well and tomorrow morning I need to wake up with a very clean head. I have good confidence and I’m so hungry for the victory. Sebastien is eight-time world champion now and maybe he doesn’t have the spark to fight completely at 100 per cent. I do.” said the overnight rally leader.

A mysterious engine problem has been causing some concern for third-placed Mads Ostberg, with the Fiesta RS WRC having to be driven more like an S2000 variant, keeping the revs high to avoid the car lapsing onto 3 cylinders. However, with a 2 min 37 sec gap to Loeb in second and a 2 min 51 sec gap to team-mate Henning Solberg in fourth, barring disaster, Ostberg is guaranteed his second podium of the year.

Solberg is coming under pressure from Kris Meeke, with the Dungannon ace only 45 secs behind the Norwegian. Meeke could have caught Solberg, only for an engine mounting to break, which allowed the engine to move around slightly in the engine bay. This movement took a turbo pipe off, dropping him a noticeable amount of power, and it also caused a gear-shift problem.

45.6 secs behind Meeke is Stobart's Matthew Wilson. Understeer on the re-run of the Myherin stage, losing him some time. But, with 50 secs to seventh place Dennis Kuipers, who suffered a slow puncture on SS15, Wilson looks to have sixth place all sewn up, barring any problems, of course.

Ott Tanak is eighth in his Fiesta. Repairs in service after his SS14 problem ran a little longer than anticipated, giving him a 20 sec penalty. Mechanical problems dropped the Dmack tyres-shod car to eighth.

Evegny Novikov is ninth, filling in for Khalid Al-Qassimi, who has commitments at the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Tenth is Ken Block, 13 mins off Latvala's pace.

Petter Solberg, who was running fourth, retired after a small fuel fire in the engine bay. It was traced to a broken fuel line, and the team decided to withdraw the car. Indeed, Solberg had already made the decision to skip Wales Rally GB, but after his SS1 retirement in Spain, and some extra help from his sponsors, he elected to compete. A Day 3 retirement is not what he would have been looking for. Kimi Raikkonen rolled on the Day's opener, but managed to get going again. However, he retired not far down the road. Neither will re-enter under SupeRally tomorrow.

Sebastian Ogier is 15th after coming back from third-last after his SS1 crash. Dani Sordo is just outside the Top 30, fighting back well after sliding into a ditch yesterday.

Patrik Flodin holds a 4 min lead over Martin Semerad in the P-WRC leaderboard. Flodin has been on “safe-mode” for most of the day, but reported a big scare after hitting a hole just after a jump, nearly rolling his Subaru. Third is Benito Guerra is third, receiving a scare on SS16 after damaging his car's radiator.

“We’re on safe mode and don’t want to take too many risks. It’s difficult to stay focused when you are not fighting so we can’t lose the concentration as we’re eager to get this win. I’ve been really enjoying it but I had a really scary moment [on stage 16] and we nearly rolled after hitting a hole after the jump.” said Flodin.

Michal Kosciuszko is seventh after holding second after last night's final stage. However, an electrical fault causing retirement on the road section forced the Pole to SupeRally, dropping to over 12 mins off Flodin.

Craig Breen has won the first WRC Academy, and the €500,000 prize fund it entails. With fastest stage times offering points too, Breen needed to win the rally and win as many stages as he could to overhaul the 20 point deficit to Egon Kaur. Breen's rally win was confirmed once he crossed the finish line of SS17, the final stage for Academy crews, but he had to wait for Kaur to complete the test before he knew his fate. Kaur crossed the line, Breen discovered he had won the stage, and the celebrations from Breen's family and supporters began.

“I can’t find words to describe this moment,. For sure it’s the most amazing feeling to finally get here after all the effort we’ve put in all year, all the ups and downs we’ve made it to the finish. We’ve finished level on points but we’ve got it on stage wins so we’re absolutely thrilled.” said Breen.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Loeb leads as Hirvonen falls

11/11/11 has been said to be the luckiest day of the year, for some at least. It wasn't for a certain Ford-mounted Finn though.

Mikko Hirvonen went into Wales Rally GB only 8 points behind title rival, seven-times World Champion Sebastian Loeb. Indeed, it shaped up to be a thrilling fight between Loeb, Hirvonen & Jari-Matti Latvala, in the other works Ford. The commitment from all three drivers was a sight to behold, but Hirvonen dropped out of the fight, the rally and the fight for the World title with a spin on SS7. A spin is innocent enough sounding, however when you hit a hidden tree stump and damage your radiator, it can and did spell disaster. Hirvonen retired on the road section after the stage, and even after efforts by the Ford mechanics to repair the Fiesta, it was discovered the overheated engine was 'dead', spelling retirement for the Finn.

“It was very tricky in the morning and the grip level was changing quite a lot. On one braking [point] it was very slippery and I was too fast into the next corner. There was a big slide and the rear touched the bank. I spun and it pulled the front of the car into a bank where there was a tree stump. The wood came through the radiator. There was no real damage but we lost all the water in the engine. We carried on for five-six kilometres but that was it.”

“Like you said it’s over for sure. I have to thank the team for a really good effort and all the help. Unfortunately we have to look to the future and see what we can do in the future.” said Hirvonen.

With Hirvonen out of the picture, Jari-Matti Latvala will be going all out to score Ford's first win in Wales since 2007, when, ironically, Hirvonen took the win & Loeb came third. Latvala cut Loeb's 17 sec advantage after SS7 to just 1.1 secs after SS11. It could be argued that Loeb is just cruising, but the real racer within him will be trying to overcome his brain and fight Latvala. The next 2 days will tell if Loeb decides to cruise or take his eighth World Title in style.

Behind the battle for first, Mads Ostberg was thrown a life-line before the rally when an anonymous backer stepped in and produced the necessary funds for Ostberg to compete. He currently lies 3rd, over 1 min off the leading duo. Fourth is four-times winner of Wales Rally GB, Petter Solberg. The Norwegian is 7.8 secs behind countryman Ostberg, but 40 secs on SS7 with a puncture and broken damper.

Fifth is the older of the Solberg brothers, Henning. He currently lies fifth, with Ott Tanak showing great pace in sixth. Tanak is also the only driver in the Top 10 on Mack tyres, with the rest on Michelins.

Only 5 secs separates Tanak, Kimi Raikkonen (seventh) and Kris Meeke (eighth). Meeke lost time this morning with an issue with the alternator, which he and co-driver Paul Nagle were forced to stop mid-stage to rectify. The 2009 Intercontinental Rally Champion is sure he could have been third had it not been for his problems. Nevertheless, he took his second fastest stage time of his MINI WRC career on SS9. Team-mate Dani Sordo's car made an unexpected trip to a ditch on SS5, a very uncharacteristic error, owing to the conditions.

Matthew Wilson lost well over a minute because of the conditions on SS11, dropping him to ninth whilst Dennis Kuipers is tenth.

A combination of mud, rain and fog have caused major headaches for some drivers. Sordo went out, as mentioned above, on SS5. Peter Van Merksteijn Jr. crashed out too, and Matt Wilson lost a lot of time on SS11.

Patrik Flodin leads P-WRC comfortably by over 2 mins after rally leader Jarkko Nikara crashed out on SS11. Flodin himself lost time with a spin too on SS7, but the 9 deficit was nullified when Nikara crashed out. Flodin is also sporting a new co-driver in Timo Alanne, due to Goran Bergsten's work commitments. Michal Kosciuszko is second, 20 secs ahead of Martin Semerad in third, who was slowed by an engine problem.

“It was quite okay today but the conditions were tricky. We still need to get used to each other and build a good relationship but it’s working well so far.” said Flodin, who is looking to cement second in the P-WRC table.

In the WRC Academy, Craig Breen commands a 4 min lead over Egon Kaur, who is in turn holds a 33 sec lead over Alastair Fisher, who slid off the road on SS11. Breen began the event with 20 points between himself and Kaur, but with his pace he has narrowed the gap to 13 points. Provided he can hold the lead of the rally to the end, and win seven more stages, he could become the first winner of the WRC Academy, and the €500,000 scholarship prize it entails.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Mikkelsen flies in Cyprus

Skoda UK's Andreas Mikkelsen leads the 2011 Cyprus Rally after an exceptional display of driving over the 3.2km LTV Super Special Stage.

“It’s a good start, a good stage and hopefully we’ll keep it this way for the whole rally. We won’t go flat out everywhere but if I drive fast and consistent I’ll be really happy.”

Mikkelsen won the short opening stage by a staggering 3.1 secs over Skoda Motorsport's Juho Hanninen, with the other Skoda Motorsport entry of Jan Kopecky in third, a tenth of a second behind his team-mate. Hanninen made the decision to bolt on a set of scrubbed gravel tyres, to improve the grip of the tyres.

Freddy Loix is fourth, with Theirry Neuville (who's surname sparked a debate on IRC Rally Radio) in fifth, 3.6 and 4.1 secs off the lead, respectively. Sixth is Toshi Arai in the Subaru Impreza R4, 8.9 secs off Mikkelsen's pace. Arai has been testing on gravel/tarmac stages in his homeland of Japan, in order to gain a better understanding of the car on mixed-surface events.

Patrik Sandell described his driving as “shit” during the stage, completing the 3.2km run nearly 11 secs slower than Mikkelsen. Eighth is last year's winner Nasser Al-Attiyah, 12 secs off the lead.

The stage proved a success, drawing in thousands of supporters. Spectator access to the stage was free of charge for members of the public. Several drivers noted the vast turn-out of spectators in the stage.