Mon September 14, 2009

 Skoda delighted to take third IRC win Jan Kopecký and Petr Starý of the Škoda Motorsport factory team have won the Principe de Asturias Rally taking place near Oviedo, Spain, thus making the finish of this year's IRC series really dramatic. Continuing in less than two weeks in San Remo, Italy, with Škoda Motorspor...

Sun September 13, 2009

 Millet takes 2wd win in Spain While there were no challengers from Honda, Skoda or Volkswagen in Asturias, the battle for honours in the 2WD Cup proved tense and extremely competitive between the two men at the top of the points table....

Sat September 12, 2009

 Kopecky takes victory in Spain Skoda Motorsport’s Czech star Jan Kopecky took victory with a measured performance on the Rally Principe de Asturias, his second consecutive win on the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge trail. In a fast and furious two days on the roads around host city Oviedo, Kopecky mainta...

 IRC Principe Asturias: TV Times The Spanish Rallye Principe Asturias is the first of the three remaining IRC rounds of 2009 as the championship front runners do battle on asphalt this weekend. TV times below......

NEWS JUST IN

 E end - PEUGEOT WORLD CHAMPION! @ 02:26 PM - Hevia's puncture means Peugeot can now no longer be beaten to the IRC World Champion 2009. A 5th place for Hevia would have been enough to delay the title. Were N-GT cars allowed, Vallejo Porsche's 2nd place overall would also have delayed the title. Results after SS15:
1st= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, 2h41m51s3;
2nd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2m09s5;
3rd= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +2m46s9;
4th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +2m58s9;
5th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +3m45s;
6th= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, +4m27s2;
7th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +5m58s;
8th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +7m03s8;
9th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +9m26s3;
10th= Vinyes/Mercader, Renault, +10m00s4

 E SS14 - Skoda 1-2 broken!!!! @ 01:44 PM - IRC always exciting till last stage! It's 2nd from last and Hevia has puncture! Before all 3 Kronos Peugeots had punctures and the makes title battle indeed turned Skoda's way! Results after SS14:
1st= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, 2h33m33s4;
2nd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +1m55s;
3rd= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +2m47s3;
4th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +3m01s0;
5th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +3m35s8;
6th= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, +4m29s4;
7th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +5m48s7;
8th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +7m08s;
9th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +9m01s4;
10th= Vinyes/Mercader, Renault, +9m32s8

 E SS13 - Positions seem clear... @ 12:39 AM - But it's the day's longest stage next. Peugeot (Vouilloz, Meeke) 1-2 on the stage, but clear Skoda 1-2 overall. Results after SS13:
1st= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, 2h18m37s7;
2nd= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, +15s7;
3rd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2m04s9;
4th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +2m47s6;
5th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +2m57s7;
6th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +3m12s6;
7th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +5m18s1;
8th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +7m08s6;
9th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +8m14s7;
10th= Vinyes/Mercader, Renault, +8m34s6

 E SS12 - Basso crashes, Skoda 1-2! @ 09:59 AM - This was a very decicive moment! Basso can continue but lost 7min. We now have a Skoda 1-2 with the best Peugeot being over 2min down in 3rd. For the rally a Skoda victory is now almost guaranteed, for the championship this throws the makes battle as far open as could be! Results after SS12:
1st= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, 2h11m11s1;
2nd= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, +9s5;
3rd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2m06s5;
4th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +2m48s8;
5th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +2m57s;
6th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +2m57s8;
7th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +5m02s8;
8th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +7m02s8;
9th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +7m50s2;
10th= Vinyes/Mercader, Renault, +8m04s8

 E SS11 - Shuffle continues @ 09:24 AM - For the main championship contenders, when Kopecky passed team mate Hevia in SS10, now Meeke passed team mate Loix. But on this stage Kopecky could move away from Hevia but gets no closer to Basso. Wilks missing at stage end. Results after SS11:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 2h02m43s4;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +12s4;
3rd= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, +20s6;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2m26s3;
5th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +2m59s3;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +3m02s8;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +3m06s6;
8th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +5m03s1;
9th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +7m29s5;
10th= Vinyes/Mercader, Renault, +7m45s2

 E SS10 - Top3 within 0.6s! @ 09:06 AM - And 2 of them are Peugeots. But with thier punctures yesterday they are not going to intefere with the top3 overall on their own powers. Kopecky passes Hevia for 2nd, Vouilloz passes Fontana, Wilks passes Wittmann. Results after SS10:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h47m47s3;
2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +12s1;
3rd= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, +13s3;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2m27s3;
5th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +2m32s9;
6th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +2m54s9;
7th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +3m02s3;
8th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +4m29s2;
9th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +6m19s6;
10th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +6m28s5

Fri September 11, 2009

 Gardemeister suffered brake failure Spanish IRC Rally de Asturias was a big dissapointment for Flying Finn Toni Gardemeister as he and his co-driver suffered brake failure and dropped into deep ditch in pneultimate stage of final day. At the moment of retirement Gardemeister was in ninth position in overall classif...

 Basso grabs Asturias lead Giandomenico Basso will hold the overnight lead of the Rally Principe de Asturias in his Abarth Grande Punto after a fast and furious final few stages....

NEWS JUST IN

 E leg1 - last stage turmoil, again! @ 07:24 PM - Wow, IRC and last stage excitements! Unfortunately it also hit the newcomers. Gardemeister crashed his Opel from 9th, Wilks and Proton dropped from 5th to 10th and Vouilloz is now the 3rd Kronos driver with a puncture, making this rally an Abarth vs Skoda only affair, keeping Skoda's makes title hopes far alife! Results after leg1 (SS9):
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h40m15s9;
2nd= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, +8s2;
3rd= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +10s4;
4th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +2m15s3;
5th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2m27s3;
6th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +2m50s;
7th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +3m02s9;
8th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +4m09s3;
9th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +6m02s1;
10th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +6m10s2

 E SS8 - Cancelled! @ 06:12 PM - The stage has been cancelled because of too many spectators. I guess they have slightly more than WRC's recent Australia 70,000 - and proud of it....

 E SS7 - New leader! @ 03:37 PM - Basso coming from 3rd takes lead from Hevia with Vouilloz now 3rd and bigger gaps thereafter. Interesting, this is Abarth-Skoda-Peugeot, 3 makes (more than participating in WRC) within 7sec! Wilks in the Proton up to 4th, puncture for Loix. Results after SS7:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h21m54s7;
2nd= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, +3s6;
3rd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +7s2;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +12s5;
5th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +1m32s;
6th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +1m53s5;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +2m46s4;
8th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +3m07s7;
9th= Gardemeister/Tuominen, Opel, +3m12s7;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +3m32s1

 E SS6 - Top6 within 2.5s! @ 02:57 PM - On that stage that is, leading to no major changes overall. But that's unbelievably close for an 11.4km stage! Stage winner is Basso ahead of Meeke. Results after SS6:
1st= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, 1h03m21s2;
2nd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +3s4;
3rd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +7s;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +20s3;
5th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +50s2;
6th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +1m21s8;
7th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +1m27s5;
8th= Gardemeister/Tuominen, Opel, +2m32s;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +2m45s;
10th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +3m13s

 E SS5 - Another stage win for Hevia @ 11:26 AM - Leading from the start and winning his 2nd stage, but Hevia's dominance is only by 2.6s! Wilks overtakes Fontana. Results after SS5:
1st= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, 56m34s7;
2nd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2s6;
3rd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +8s;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +19s9;
5th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +48s7;
6th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +1m14s6;
7th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +1m17s6;
8th= Gardemeister/Tuominen, Opel, +2m18s2;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +2m36s9;
10th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +3m13s5

 E SS4 - Problems for Meeke @ 10:39 AM - SS4 as a repeat of SS2 is the longest stage of the rally and Meeke lost near 3min with a puncture, which could bear on the drivers title. Vouilloz wins stage. Results after SS4:
1st= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, 49m45s9;
2nd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +0s6;
3rd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +4s4;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +13s3;
5th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +44s9;
6th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +59s2;
7th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +1m05s4;
8th= Gardemeister/Tuominen, Opel, +2m00s9;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +2m14s;
10th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +2m41s7

 E SS3 - Skoda 1-2 on SS3 @ 09:39 AM - Kopecky fastest ahead of Hevia. Strong time for Wilks. Basso and Loix gain places. Results after SS3:
1st= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, 29m23s1;
2nd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +3s9;
3rd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +4s9;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +9s3;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +14s;
6th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +33s9;
7th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +38s;
8th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +38s9;
9th= Gardemeister/Tuominen, Opel, +1m18s2;
10th= Burkart/Köhlbach, Suzuki, +1m28s3

 E SS2 - One Abarth out already @ 08:09 AM - Miguel Fuster, 5th last year, crashed so badly (crew OK) that the stage had to be cancelled before leader Hevia came through. Good championship battle between Kopecky and Meeke, 0.2s! Results after SS2:
1st= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, 24m59s;
2nd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +1s4;
3rd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2s5;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +10s1;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +10s3;
6th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +28s3;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +29s5;
8th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +31s6;
9th= Gardemeister/Tuominen, Opel, +1m08s5;
10th= Wottmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +1m10s1

 E SS1 - Hevia 1st pace setter @ 07:38 AM - Alberto Hevia, last year 8th in a gN Mitsubishi, wins stage for Skoda, but Maurin in another Skoda crashed. Strong start for Proton too. Gardemeitser in the Opel is 5th. Results after SS1:
1st= Hevia/Iglesias, Skoda, 4m20s5;
2nd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2s5;
3rd= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +4s8;
4th= Kopecky/Stary, Skoda, +7s;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +7s7;
6th= Fuster/Medina, Fiat Abarth, +9s4;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +11s7;
8th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +12s;
9th= Wilks/Pugh, Proton, +14s;
10th= Wittmann/Ettel, Mitsubishi, +24s7

Thu September 10, 2009

 Gardemeister aims for test kilometres In forthcoming weekend Flying Finn Toni Gardemeister participates in Spanish IRC Rally de Asturias event with new Opel Corsa Super2000. British MSD team car has been in competitive use only in few rallies before and therefore the main goal for Gardemeister is to gain maximum amou...

 Hevia tops shakedown Local hero Alberto Hevia took the shakedown for the Rally Principe de Asturias by storm this morning, posting the fastest time through the stage in his Skoda Fabia S2000....

 Sordo impressed with IRC Spain´s leading rally driver, Dani Sordo of the Citroen World Rally Team, paid a visit to the Rally Principe de Asturias this morning and was looking forward to that action ahead....

Wed September 9, 2009

 Fuster drives works Punto in Spain Spanish asphalt ace Miguel Fuster will partner Giandomenico Basso in the works Abarth line-up on Rally Principe de Asturias from September 10-12....

 Title battle continues in Spain The Intercontinental Rally Challenge is counting down to the Rally Principe de Astorias this weekend, 10-12 September. The Spanish asphalt event, based in the city of Oviedo, promises mouthwatering action in the title race for overall honours and the 2WD Cup....

Mon September 7, 2009

 Three Fabia S2000s at Principe Asturias Altogether three Škoda Fabias Super 2000 are going to appear at the Principe de Asturias Rally, the ninth event of this year's Intercontinental Rally Challenge series (IRC) that is to take place near Oviedo, Spain on 10-12 September....

Wed September 2, 2009

 Gardemeister returns to IRC Former Ford, SEAT, Skoda and Suzuki factory driver Toni Gardemeister will return to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge in an Opel Corsa S2000 on next week's Asturias Rally....