Sat October 25, 2008

 Nicolas Vouilloz reflects on title Frenchman Nicolas Vouilloz has won the 2008 IRC Intercontinental drivers' title with one round to go, after finishing second on the Rallye du Valais in Switzerland. The 32-year-old Peugeot Belgium driver now cannot be beaten on the China Rally, which is the final event on this...

 Loix wins Valais, Vouilloz takes title Peugeot Belgium has enjoyed an extremely successful outing on the Rallye du Valais in Switzerland, the final European round of the IRC, with Freddy Loix claiming his third win of the year and Nicolas Vouilloz finishing second to claim the IRC drivers' title. Although one round...

 The Valais situation before the finale

NEWS JUST IN

 CH end - Loix Rally, Vouilloz Title @ 02:51 PM - 2 major position changes on last stage. Loix takes win by just 4.5s, but for Vouilloz this is enough for the title! Basso takes Alen in straight fight. Final end positions (SS17, subject to last time control and scrutineering): 1st= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, 2h37m33s5; 2nd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +4s5; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +53s9; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m30s3; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m48s2; 6th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m52s8; 7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +3m24s3; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +6m15s9; 9th= Gonon/Arlettaz, Peugeot, +9m51s4; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +10m07s7

 CH SS16 - Vouilloz back in Lead! @ 02:22 PM - Lead is only 0.4s before last stage. Also Alen ahead of Basso by only 2.4s. Positions after SS16: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 2h31m10s; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +0s4; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +53s1; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m32s5; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m50s8; 6th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m53s2; 7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +3m17s4; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +6m01s4; 9th= Gonon/Arlettaz, Peugeot, +9m41s1; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +9m52s8

 CH SS15 - Change of Lead! @ 01:22 PM - This should be a great showdown - and live on TV too! Loix just took the lead by 0.7s with 2 stages to go! Also tight for 5th place. Radoux takes Heintz. Positions after SS15: 1st= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, 2h25m28s6; 2nd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +0s7; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +51s9; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m34s3; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m48s6; 6th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m51s9; 7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +3m12s3; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +5m50s5; 9th= Gonon/Arlettaz, Peugeot, +9m31s; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +9m37s4

 CH SS13 - tight fight for top10 @ 10:18 AM - Vouilloz's lead narrowed again Good battle for 9th place between a gN Subaru and a gN Mitsubishi, both under attack of Gonon's 207. Positions after SS13: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 2h03m27s1; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4s5; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +58s4; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m30s2; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m43s1; 6th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m53s5; 7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +3m03s6; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +5m13s9; 9th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +8m43s4; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +8m44s2

 CH SS12 - Basso up to 6th @ 10:00 AM - Vouilloz extends lead again, but it doesn't matter, with Basso in 5th, Vouilloz is champion whatever the result. Positions after SS12: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 1h57m03s3; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +8s4; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +59s8; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m29s5; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m38s5; 6th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m53s; 7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +2m55s1; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +4m50s5; 9th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +8m24s7; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +8m26s

 CH SS11 - Loix gets closer @ 09:24 AM - Vouilloz's lead under thread from team mate. Basso attacks Hotz. Positions after SS11: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 1h51m27s5; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +5s3; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +50s7; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m22s8; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m28s8; 6th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +2m44s1; 7th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m47s4; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +4m30s6; 9th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +7m54s7; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +8m02s8

 CH SS14 - Hotz wins stage @ 00:41 AM - 2nd fastest Bouffier. Loix reduces Vouilloz's lead to 4.3s. Best bit is, Vouilloz can fight for win, as Basso is too far down even if Vouilloz should overdo it. Shortest stage of the event has Gonon move from 11th to 9th. Positions after SS14: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 2h09m37s2; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4s3; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +1m00s1; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m27s4; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m45s; 6th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m52s9; 7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +2m59s8; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +5m21s; 9th= Gonon/Arlettaz, Peugeot, +8m51s5; 10th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +8m52s9

Fri October 24, 2008

 Vouilloz sees title within reach Peugeot Belgium driver Nicolas Vouilloz is tantalisingly close to claiming his inaugural IRC drivers' title, after finishing day two of the Rallye du Valais in the lead from his team mate Freddy Loix. Vouilloz claimed the rally lead after the opening 40-kilometre stage of the ...

NEWS JUST IN

 CH leg2 - Vouilloz extends lead... @ 05:25 PM - ...only slightly but this sure is handy for the last day. Florian Gonon will be trying tomorrow to move his 207 S2000 past the two grouPn cars ahead into the top10. Positions after leg2 (SS10): 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 1h35m41s7; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +11s7; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +41s9; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m11s9; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m02s8; 6th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +2m24s4; 7th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m43s7; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +3m45s3; 9th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +6m57s8; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +7m06s3

 CH SS9 - Basso's chances ever slimmer @ 04:40 PM - Col des Planches (a repeat of SS6) does not seem to be Abarth's stage. Aweful times for both Basso and Alen. Positions after SS9: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 1h29m21s4; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +7s4; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +38s; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m06s6; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m51s4; 6th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +2m11s6; 7th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m38s4; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +3m24s4; 9th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +6m27s5; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +6m35s2

 CH SS8 - Basso wins live stage @ 02:50 PM - ...but only just ahead of Vouilloz, who can extend his overall lead slightly. (Hotz time now corrected) Positions after SS8: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 1h15m08s8; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +10s7; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +38s6; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m06s9; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m34s4; 6th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +1m39s8; 7th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m17s7; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +2m57s9; 9th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +5m24s7; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +5m31s4

 CH SS7 - Loix closes on lead @ 02:00 PM - Positions after SS7: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 1h08m43s; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +8s7; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +36s9; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m02s9; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m26s2; 6th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +1m33s5; 7th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m17s9; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +2m39s6; 9th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +4m58s7; 10th= Radoux/Gregoire, Mitsubishi, +5m04s9

 CH SS6 - Is the title decided here? @ 01:11 PM - Could well be, as Basso dropped around 1m40s with a puncture and looks extremely unlikely now to gain the necessary top2 finish! Positions after SS6: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 1h01m50s1; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +10s4; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +26s; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +1m01s9; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m08s6; 6th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +1m19s9; 7th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m05s4; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +2m17s7; 9th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +4m08s1; 10th= Camandona/Helfer, Mitsubishi, +4m08s9

 CH SS5 - stage stopped @ 10:30 AM - This is unconfirmed, but the stage has been stopped after 3 cars following an incident involving Umberto Scandola. Positions after SS5: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 54m29s4; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +15s2; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +23s8; 4th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +30s4; 5th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +43s7; 6th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +58s1; 7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +1m03s5; 8th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +1m50s1; 9th= Camandona/Helfer, Mitsubishi, +2m58s6; 10th= Heintz/Scherrer, Subaru, +3m02s

 CH SS4 - Scandola loses lead @ 09:18 AM - Great 40km stage, lots of action. Scandola spun and lost his lead, while Vouilloz makes his mark with a daring attack and stunning time. Burri and Gonon ran into problems and dropped outside the top10. Positions after SS4: 1st= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 47m31s; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +15s2; 3rd= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +23s8; 4th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +30s4; 5th= Scandola/d'Amore, Fiat Abarth, +32s8; 6th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +43s7; 7th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +58s1; 8th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +1m03s5; 9th= Toth/Tagai, Peugeot, +1m50s1; 10th= Camandona/Helfer, Mitsubishi, +2m58s6

Thu October 23, 2008

 Valais: news & quotes after day one The Rallye du Valais got underway today in the Swiss town of Martigny with three stages; a taster for the main action that begins at 09:00 tomorrow. A trio of title hopefuls come into the event with the possibility of lifting the IRC crown: Nicolas Vouilloz, the current series le...

 Wrong drivers ahead in Valais! Just a quick round up after a short opening day in Valais. The rally could be the drivers title decider. Only 3 stages on day1, tomorrow will be the main day, starting off with the 40km Les Cols stage at 9:23 local time and totalling 7 stages and 128km. There were no major dramas...

NEWS JUST IN

 CH leg1 - Scandola stars @ 04:33 PM - Scandola wins 2nd stage in a row and takes the lead, while Basso loses 15sec for an unknown problem. Positions after leg1 (SS3): 1st= Scandola/d'Amore, Fiat Abarth, 21m54s5; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +1s1; 3rd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +1s2; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +6s1; 5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +10s9; 6th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +13s7; 7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +15s7; 8th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +17s6; 9th= Gonon/Arlettaz, Peugeot, +33s9; 10th= Burri/Veillas, Fiat Abarth, +35s6

 CH SS2 - Loix ahead of Basso @ 03:42 PM - Loix could be the title deciding factor like this. But Scandola wins stage! Hervé van Dach, Peugeot, 14th, retired on road section after SS1. Positions after SS2: 1st= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, 15m42s; 2nd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +0s8; 3rd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +1s5; 4th= Scandola/d'Amore, Fiat Abarth, +2s6; 5th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +4s5; 6th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +10s6; 7th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +13s7; 8th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +25s5; 9th= Burri/Veillas, Fiat Abarth, +25s7; 10th= Gonon/Arlettaz, Peugeot, +26s8

 CH SS1 - Peugeots chase Basso @ 02:57 PM - Basso sets pace on 1st stage and makes sure all the Peugeots have their work cut out to help Vouillz's title chances. Positions after SS1: 1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 7m16s7; 2nd= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +2s; 3rd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2s1; 4th= Bouffier/Panseri, Peugeot, +3s7; 5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +5s4; 6th= Scandola/d'Amore, Fiat Abarth, +5s8; =7th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +7s; =7th= Hotz/Ravasi, Peugeot, +7s; 9th= Gonon/Arlettaz, Peugeot, +12s4; 10th= Burri/Veillas, Fiat Abarth, +13s1

Mon October 20, 2008

 Rallye International du Valais preview The final European round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge takes place this weekend at the Rallye du Valais in Switzerland, based around the mountain town of Martigny. The all-asphalt route runs over twisty and narrow mountain roads, and one of the main features of the even...

 Live stage action from Rally du Valais! The Rally du Valais, penultimate round of this year's IRC gets underway on Friday. The action is sure to be fast and furious as the driver's championship battle may be settled this weekend. Eurosport have confirmed the following times for live tv and internet broadcasts, in...

Sat October 18, 2008

 Abarth strengthen their squad for Valais The factory Abarth team will field a third car on the Rallye du Valais next week, for up-and-coming Italian star Umberto Scandola. The 23 year-old, who is a protégé of Abarth, made his debut on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge last year and led the last IRC round in Sanremo c...

Mon October 13, 2008

 Rallye du Valais reveals route The Rallye International du Valais in Switzerland, the next round of the IRC from October 23-25, has revealed further details of its route....