18 February 2012
Some heart for the Aussie WRC fans - Atkinson (ex Scoobie) is getting his fingers round the streering of a WRC Fiesta backed by his buddy Blocks (I nearly wrote bollocks lol) Monster rally team for Mexico. Block is also taking part.. not that we will notice him much. Has to be the biggest disappointment in WRC. Kimi came in with far less experience and wiped the floor with him! Not sure if Atkinson who is obviously gonna be a rusty nail will do much than prang it early. I still think his effort of carving up an electric pilon was one of the worst pieces of WRC driving ever! Citroen chucked him out after that rubbish show.
20 October 2009
RALLY 2 rules - these are a replacement to Super rally rule from 2011. Not that there is much difference. For me I really dont like this permission to restart after you have rolled out crashed out or mechancially conked out, to be permitted back in. I know its tough, been there and done that, but sorry I just find it hard to swallow, as will a lot of privateers, who gained places only to be robbed again by allowing the big names back in. OUT is OUT and thats it.. even the little big nose froggy agrees with that, and I hope he will make it for 2013 season that OUT means OUT.. that is why he is boss of FIA
By the way - Latvala couldnt continue after his off on the penultimate stage rolly polly because he had compromised the roll cage, which suggests it wasnt gentle, or the cage isnt up to scratch!
20 October 2009
Well as I said - It was Loebs 6-pack and that pairings 69th victory. At least he didnt win the power stage - that honour went to Solberg (good for him) to add to his third overall position. Third on the pwer stage was Mads adding another point to his 4th overall. So another galling (gauling??) Citroen 1-2, which effectively means that only Solberg has a chance of taking the fight to the French cars this season.
What happened to Latvala? Well until the monster 54km stage he was there to take 4th spot - when he made the most amazing error of his career that I can think of. Whilst the accident was not as spectacular as he has been previously known for - it was totally daft and very unprofessional from him. Apparently Novikov crashed (2nd time) ahead of him“I saw from far away Novikov’s car and I was very confused,I first thought the car was on the road and I made a movement to avoid it and
my car went off and rolled. It took a lot to get it back on the road.”
This is Latvala's 2nd non finish out of three ... his worst start that I can remember and must be frsutrating for Wilson that his No1 seed driver has screwed up so majestically. Perhaps this might allow Petter to now be the one to go for the Citroens...
here are the final placings including the power stage
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC 4hours 15mins 32.7secs M2. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC +00mins 42.4secs M3. Petter Solberg Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +02mins 11.4secs M4. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC +04mins 51.5secs M5. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +05mins 02.6secs M6. Nasser Al-Attiyah Qatar WRT Citroen DS3 WRC +06mins 41.4secs M7. Armindo Araujo WRC MINI Team Portugal John Cooper Works WRC +12mins 46.9secs 8. Sebastien Ogier VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000 +14mins 57.8secs9. Ken Block Monster WRT Fiesta RS WRC +22mins 26.8secs10. Ricardo Trivino Ford Fiesta RS WRC +23mins 30.7secs
11. Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +23mins 53.3secs P12. Nicolas Fuchs Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +28mins 03.3secs P13. Thierry Neuville Citroen Junior WRT DS3 WRC +30mins 08.3secs M14. Michal Kosciuszko Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +44mins 40.8secs P15. Gianluca Linari Subaru Impreza STi +58mins 35.4secs P16. Tibor Erdi Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +1hr 14mins 56.8secs17. Rodrigo Salgado Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +1hr 30mins 22.2secs P18. Ramona Karlsson Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +1hr 43mins 56.5secs P19. Luis Orduna Peugeot 206 XS +2hrs 42mins 29.4secs
20 October 2009
Is that an angel sitting on his shoulder?? No its mexican dust!!! I really find it hard to swallow that on the longest stage of any rally for the year - he got through like a gentle breeze, and has taken this rally for himself yet again. Mind you - he wasnt fastest - a whole 0.4 secs adrift (over 54 km stage!!) of his team mate!!!
But what happened further down was nothing short of mayhem!
I will quote this as its late here and I have an early start tomorrow so forgive me
"
Jari-Matti Latvala rolled his Ford Fiesta RS WRC and then stopped to change a
puncture, losing more than seven minutes in the process. Broken front suspension
forced Chris Atkinson to retire his Monster World Rally Team Fiesta. Team-mate
Ken Block managed to complete the test, albeit with a significant loss of time,
while Evgeny Novikov went off the road and retired his M-Sport Fiesta.
Latvala’s woe means his fellow Ford driver Petter Solberg moves into third
place in the overall standings with Mads Ostberg climbing to fourth, despite
taking more than two minutes than stage winner Mikko Hirvonen to complete the
run after delays.
Sebastien Loeb was 0.7s slower than Hirvonen to maintain his comfortable
advantage in the overall classification. Solberg was third fastest with Nasser
Al-Attiyah impressing with the fourth quickest time in his Qatar World Rally
Team Citroen.
20 October 2009
After the final stage - where some more interesting roadworks by drivers took some changes to the lower places below find the final official days standings. Please also note the rather brilliant achievment by the local hero in the Production WRC.. hats off to the guy So Today(Sunday) is going to be the decider. Loeb has a bif cushion to sleep on and can easily afford to take it easy on his tyres. One can only hope he opts to take 1 spare (but I doubt it) and has 3 punctures!! (yea I am a mean SOB) but even so a 54km last stage is awesome, and add the previous 3 and all without service..hmmmmm reminds me of the good old days in the Acropolis! Running out of fuel is another issue, but they will have "friends" in the mountains with jerry cans - just like we used to!! so much pressure and fun
By the way - I am not sure that the result of Atkinson shown here is correct - I think
someone screwed up - I am fairly sure he is "delayed" somewhat - though I read one report that he might restart under superrally rules (which I thought had been disposed of??)
Rally Mexico: Overall standings after Stage 16 (Top 10):
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC 3hours 01mins 10.9secs M2. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC +00mins 28.7secs M3. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +02mins 09.8secs M4. Petter Solberg Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +02mins 22.1secs M5. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC +02mins 35.0secs M6. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +04mins 05.4secs M7. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +04mins 17.6secs M8. Nasser Al-Attiyah Qatar WRT Citroen DS3 WRC +05mins 39.9secs M9. Chris Atkinson Monster WRT Fiesta RS WRC +05mins 42.9secs10. Armindo Araujo WRC MINI Team Portugal John Cooper Works WRC +09mins 03.4secs
Others
11. Sebastien Ogier VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000 +10mins 47.8secs12. Ken Block Monster WRT Fiesta RS WRC +12mins 52.4secs13. Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +16mins 34.4secs P14. Ricardo Trivino Ford Fiesta RS WRC +16mins 53.5secs15. Michal Kosciuszko Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +17mins 17.3secs P16. Nicolas Fuchs Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +18mins 13.0secs P
PWRC standings after Stage 16 - Top 3:
1. Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 3hours 17mins 45.3secs P2. Michal Kosciuszko Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +00mins 42.9secs P3. Nicolas Fuchs Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +01mins 38.6secs P
20 October 2009
Seems everyone (except him of course) is having a great deal of trouble with moving scenery!!
So lets cover the exits :
Novikov is sadly out whilt fighting for 6th doing his version of the musical master Ripsyourwheelov
Ogier in the Skoda 2000 had a near half miss (anyone met her by the way?) avoiding a massive rock and dug his face in the mountain and flattened a tyre but managed to get out of the stage and make repairs. The same piece of Ford was also not much fun for mads Ostberg or Araujo (Mini) who reportedly changed their underwear at the end of the stage!
Atkinson is out with a crash ( whats new) mechanical problems - believed to be brakes (probably got his foot stick on the middle peddle)
So.. with all that fun - one wonders if the angels are driving a certain Citroen who seemed to float by and end the day a very comfortable 35secs or so ahead of his Finnish team mate who admits "cant catch the bugger", Latvala and Solberg arguing about the third step with Ostberg keeping a more than close eye on both of them - just in case one of those trees or rocks "jumped out in front of me officer" !!
Otto tank is an impressive 6th Nasser
Al-Attiyah seventh MINI Portugal ace Armindo Araujo is eighth with Sebastien Ogier
ninth for Volkswagen Motorsport and here comes the joker of the pack Ken Block fighting back to 10th following
his delays on Friday.
C
20 October 2009
so maybe its the works cars that hold such an advantage
Yes they do because there are only two of them - the others are a tad under par - the same as the old Stobarts that Henning Solberg was driving. Thinking of which - since the untimely death of Stobart - I see they have faded away from WRC !!
Solberg and Latvala were both in front of the Citroens until they hit trouble - as said the Gods are smiling on Loeb as usual - but the last day (tomorrow) will be the killer. 4 stages no service and the last one is over 50kl which is fabulous. It also counts as the super rally stage for extra points. Watch these guys saving tyres! or not - decisions will be very interesting. I think if Loeb in the lead he will take it easy on the last stage not worry too much about the extra points.
3 February 2012
Great updates, thanks. I was never fond of the wrc.com site...
4 seconds separating the top 2 and then almost a minute back to 3rd?? Goes to show the difference between the front running cars/crews and the rest. Latvala and Solberg would probably only be seconds off the lead or leading if not for problems. I'm not having a go at Ostberg, he's a very skilled pilot, so maybe its the works cars that hold such an advantage? (it couldn't possibly be because the extra special tyres would be kept for the works teams........)
20 October 2009
Just got the final positions - which shows Atkinson having moved up on the last two stages due to the rain mentioned (which affected the first cars but then dried out)
I should also mention that the Russian is quietly going about his business !!! doing well
1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC 1hour 20mins 01.5secs M2. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC +00mins 04.5secs M3. Mads Ostberg Adapta WRT Fiesta RS WRC +01mins 02.1secs M4. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +01mins 19.9secs M5. Ott Tanak M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +01mins 30.4secs M6. Petter Solberg Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +01mins 35.8secs M7. Evgeny Novikov M-Sport Ford WRT Fiesta RS WRC +01mins 48.6secs M8. Chris Atkinson Monster WRT Fiesta RS WRC +02mins 39.6secs9. Nasser Al-Attiyah Qatar WRT Citroen DS3 WRC +02mins 56.4secs M10. Armindo Araujo WRC MINI Team Portugal John Cooper Works WRC +03mins 33.0secs
Others
11. Sebastien Ogier VW Motorsport Skoda Fabia S2000 +04mins 14.5secs12. Benito Guerra Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +06mins 50.1secs P13. Ricardo Trivino Ford Fiesta RS WRC +07mins 15.9secs14. Michal Kosciuszko Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +07mins 20.0secs P
20 October 2009
Well I can only say there is plenty to come and you never know till the end.. but its that man again out in front. He seemed to avoid all the drama of the day which saw so many top drivers in trouble.
Both the Ford leaders suffered - The finn with smashed suspension when he clouted a huge rock on the driving line and solberg with a puncture only 4km into a stage losing him 90 secs. Block crashed out after several efforts at doing it earlier! Atkinson still in but a very lowly 11th leaving the end of the day with Citroen looking pretty except for Mads Ostburg doing a fabulous job of mixing it up with the front two. A shower of rain brought out some unusual stage winners - including Nasser Al in his Citroen - a very first stage victory for him in WRC. Further down the fiel Abbring who was always in front of his team mate Seb Ogier sadly suffered mechanical issues and retired (was a fuel issue and couldnt reach the end of the stage) and the flying froggy Theirry Neuville sadly saw his wheel fly off after he clouted something rather solid in the scenery and retired on the spot. The Lady Carrlson is also out of it on stage 5 in the PWRC section which is being lead by a local hero in his Evo X. All in all a bloody rough day for everyone...except that fellah, sheesh he has the Gods smiling on him once again..maybe they will turn against him in Greece, they usually do there!!
20 October 2009
NOT the start Ford wanted at all. Latvala whilst leading had front suspension collapse on him. Pettr Solberg had a puncture which cost him dearly as it happened just after the start of SS4 and he lost at least 90 secs plus a spin due to the flat. Loeb has won only 1 stage and is playing it cool - and now sits quietly in 2nd behind team mate Hirvonen who really has settled well in the Citroen. The big surprises have been Otto Tank and Mads Ostberg and Terry Neuville who are going hammer and tongs at each other and after stage five are all in front of the suffering Solberg and doubtless will get past Latvala if he cant fix his suspension. So I glorious start for Citroen - and I am begining to wonder if team orders might be applied later in the day if the situation remains with Hirvonen in front? Lets see how that unfolds.