Mon August 20, 2007

 Kopecky delighted with excellent 5th A fantastic result was accomplished by Jan Kopecký-Filip Schovánek crew with the Škoda Fabia WRC car in ADAC Rallye Deutschland, which is a part of the car racing World Championship. The Czech crew was able to defend their fifth place on Sunday, which it gained in the first two l...

Sun August 19, 2007

 Marcus misses podium on final stage BP-Ford World Rally Team extended its lead in the FIA World Rally Championship after a double points finish on Rallye Deutschland today. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished third in this 10th round of the series on the asphalt debut of the 2007-specification Ford Focus RS...

 Excellent 2nd for Francois Duval The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team has every reason to rejoice. The second place of Francois Duval and Patrick Pivato at the “ADAC Rallye Germany” confirms the upward trend of the privat team. On the final day Duval fired off a fireworks display of SS-best-times which put so...

 C4 leads home a Xsara in Germany For the sixth year in a row, Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and Citroën were given a standing ovation by the crowd at the finish ceremony in front of the celebrated Porta Nigra gate in Trier....

 Strong finish for Petter Petter Solberg finished sixth on Rally Germany today, claiming three points in the FIA championship for drivers and four in the manufacturers’ contest. After a difficult start to the rally, Solberg ended the event in excellent form, and traded times with the quickest drivers on t...

NEWS JUST IN

 Marcus spins on the final stage! @ 02:04 PM - Marcus Gronholm spun his Focus on the last special stage, losing 1m 20s and letting Duval into 2nd place. Final results:
1. Loeb
2. Duval +20.3s
3. Hirvonen +1m19.1s
4. Gronholm +1m36.5s
5. Kopecky +3m07.1s
6. P Solberg +3m14.7s
7. Gardemeister +3m37.5s
8. Latvala +5m29.3s

 D SS16 Update - Chirs & Xevi Retired @ 10:24 AM - Gardemeister moves ahead of Jan Kopecky in the 5th/6th battle. Subaru's Xevi Pons (Engine Problems) and Chris Atkinson (Damage) have both retired this morning. Unofficial provisional positions after SS16: 1 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, 3:06:31.4; 2 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +29s; 3 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, +38s9; 4 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +1m06s2; 5 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +2:51.6; 6 - Kopecky/Schovanek, Skoda, +2m57s8; 7 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +3m05s4; 8 - Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +5m15s8; 9 - Wilson/Orr, Ford, +10m05s5 10 - Wilks/Pugh , Ford, +19m21s1

Sat August 18, 2007

 Kopecky moves up to 5th after day 2 The Jan Kopecký-Filip Schovánek crew with the Škoda Fabia WRC car continues in their excellent performance on the special stages of the ADAC Rallye Deutschland. During the Saturday's leg Jan Kopecký was able to move to a fifth place already, as he has decided the outstanding b...

 Loeb in front in Germany Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena completed the second leg of the 2007 Rallye Deutschland on top of the provisional leaderboard at the wheel of their Citroën C4 WRC. The three-time World Champions move ahead after the day's opening stage before pulling clear of their rivals to...

 Latvala on course for points Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila have fought through a tough second leg of the ADAC Rallye Deutschland to be in a strong manufacturers’ point scoring position for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team....

 Duval aims for Gronholm's 2nd The fight between the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team and Ford works driver Mikko Hirvonen in the afternoon of the second day of the “ADAC Rallye Germany” was well worth seeing. In the end Francois Duval remained 5,1 seconds ahead of the Finn. And there are yet things to come...

 Encouraging day for Subaru Today's second leg of competiton on Rally Germany has been an encouraging one for the Subaru World Rally Team. All day Chris Atkinson has demonstrated the Impreza WRC2007's stage winning pace on asphalt. The 27-year-old Australian was in the top three on five of the day'...

 Gronholm climbs to 2nd BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen climbed to second during today's feared second leg of Rallye Deutschland. The Finns won one speed test in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to come out on top in a three-car battle for second place which a...

 Kopecky pleased with 6th after leg one ADAC Rallye Deutschland had its first six special stages in the schedule of the first leg, which were very well managed by the Jan Kopecký-Filip Schovánek crew with their Škoda Fabia WRC from the Czech Rally Team Kopecký. Jan turned in and excellent performance, where five times ...

NEWS JUST IN

 D leg2 - Panzerplatte hard again @ 05:24 PM - Abrassive, dry concrete with sharp edges caused many drivers to have tyre problems. For this Hirvonen dropped behind Duval again. Gardemeister looked like overtaking Kopecky until a damper broke a km from stage end. Unofficial provisional positions after leg2: 1 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, 2h48m40s4; 2 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +37s8; 3 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, +50s4; 4 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +55s5; 5 - Kopecky/Schovanek, Skoda, +2m48s7; 6 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +2m51s4; 7 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +3m07s1; 8 - Pons/Amigo, Subaru, +4m16s4; 9 - Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +4m53s8; 10 - Atkinson/Prevot, Subaru, +8m50s9

 D SS12 - Next again Panzerplatte @ 03:41 PM - There seemed to be no major changes in the two Saarland stages now, but next is again 47km of Panzerplatte, brutal concrete surface and hinkelsteins, first time round this caused havoc. Unofficial provisional positions after SS12: 1 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, 2h21m03s2; 2 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +31s; 3 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, +44s2; 4 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +45s4; 5 - Kopecky/Schovanek, Skoda, +2m22s4; 6 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +2m25s3; 7 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +2m50s1; 8 - Pons/Amigo, Subaru, +3m43s5; 9 - Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +3m50s1; 10 - Wilson/Orr, Ford, +7m13s4

 D SS10 - Panzerplatte bites as usual @ 11:18 AM - See compared to last stage times, other than Loeb every single position changed! We lost Stohl for unknown reasons in Erzweiler, SS9, 1st of the Panzerplatte stages and Pons was delayed there too. In the main Panzerplatte, SS10, 33km, Gardemeister has hydraulic problems, Latvala brakes, Hirvonen has an impact. Unofficial provisional positions after SS10: 1 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, 2h01m38s5; 2 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +26s7; 3 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, +41s8; 4 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +42s3; 5 - Kopecky/Schovanek, Skoda, +2m21s4; 6 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +2m25s; 7 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +2m47s5; 8 - Pons/Amigo, Subaru, +3m41s; 9 - Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +3m44s1; 10 - Wilson/Orr, Ford, +6m53s

 D SS8 - Loeb back at front @ 09:45 AM - After the Saarland stages Duval dropped from 1st to 4th, but is only 0.6s off 2nd place! He had a mild off and a spin on the first stage of the day. The next 2 stages are Panzerplatte, a completely different game that traditionally calls for drama. Unofficial provisional positions after SS8: 1 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, 1h33m44s6; 2 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +24s9; 3 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +25s1; 4 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, +25s5; 5 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +1m18s5; 6 - Kopecky/Schovanek, Skoda, +1m42s7; 7 - Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +1m57s6; 8 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +2m24s9; 9 - Pons/Amigo, Subaru, +2m26s4; 10 - Stohl/Minor, Citroen, +2m37s2

Fri August 17, 2007

 Tough opening leg for Stobart It has been a tough start for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team on the opening leg of Rallye Deutschland, round ten of the FIA World Rally Championship. Finns Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila kept things steady to finish the day in eighth position after a slowish start to t...

 1-2 overnight for Citroen Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Citroën C4 WRC are second overall at the end of the opening day of the 2007 ADAC Rallye Deutschland, but the run of their Citroën Sport teammates Dani Sordo and Marc Martí was halted by a mechanical problem on SS5. The banks of the Mosel ...

 OMV Kronos lead with Duval For the first time since the beginning of their WRC rally commitment five years ago the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team leads in a World Championship run. Responsible for this feat are Belgian Francois Duval and his French co-driver Patrick Pivato. The OMV driver wrestled the...

 Mixed leg one for SWRT Today’s first leg of Rally Germany was a mixed affair for the Subaru World Rally Team. The crews of Solberg/Mills and Atkinson/Prevot both produced some excellent performances on the tricky vineyard roads around Trier, but despite stage-winning speed and perfect mechanical reliab...

 Strong start for BP Ford in Germany BP-Ford World Rally Team made a strong start to Rallye Deutschland to hold third and fourth positions after today's opening leg. Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen, leaders of the FIA World Rally Championship drivers' standings, hold third in a Ford Focus RS World Rally C...

NEWS JUST IN

 Sordo update @ 07:09 PM - Our hobby photographer Mike Biehl just reported from the Sordo retirement scene that the damage on his car (Sordo's car, not Mike's) might be quite severe. First diagnosis was a broken radiator hose, not even the radiator itself was damaged. But now the mechanics arrived at the stranded car and found oil where it shouldn't be. Originally it was confirmed Sordo will re-start tomorrow under superally, but the mechanics look everything but optimistic!

 D leg1 - Sordo radiator, Duval lead @ 05:29 PM - Duval takes the lead of Rallye Deutschland at the end of leg1. Loeb 1.3s behind now, but even worse for C4s, Sordo is stranded in SS6 with a split radiator hose! Unofficial provisional positions after leg1: 1 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, 1h14m10s9; 2 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +1s3; 3 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +17s4; 4 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +22s7; 5 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +1m04s2; 6 - Kopecky/Schovanek, Skoda, +1m26s6; 7 - Pons/Amigo, Subaru, +1m37s2; 8 - Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +1m40s7; 9 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +1m50s7; 10 - Stohl/Minor, Citroen, +2m10s3

 D SS4 - weather gamble @ 03:43 PM - Stage was wet, and with mud on the road extremely slippy! But the next 2 stages may be dry without chance for tyre change. In SS4 Solberg had front damage, Sordo a big spin, Hirvonen wins stage, Duval closes gap! Unofficial provisional positions after SS4: 1 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, 48m17s4; 2 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, +3s; 3 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +16s1; 4 - Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +17s; 5 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +22s5; 6 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +29s1; 7 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +47s1; 8 - Pons/Amigo, Subaru, +58s4; 9 - Kopecky/Schovanek, Skoda, +1m09s7; 10 - Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +1m13s7

 D SS1 - Duval sensational! @ 10:30 AM - Ford's step forward not as big as promised, asphalt = Citroen domination. Duval 2nd fastest, putting shame on Sordo. Especially considering Duval had bad road position, dirty road and the car ahead of him spilling oil! Unofficial provisional positions after SS1: 1 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, 11m04s2; 2 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, +3s; 3 - Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +3s8; 4 - Atkinson/Prevot, Subaru, +4s9; 5 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +6s7; 6 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +8s4; 7 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +10s2; 8 - Pons/Amigo, Subaru, +12s8; 9 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +16s7; 10 - Stohl/Minor, Citroen, +19s4

 D SS3 - Duval wins stage @ 00:24 AM - After Bosse dropped 10s to Loeb on SS1, the next 2 stages both were very close together. But Duval in the Xsara wins SS3 despite being 17th on the road! Unofficial provisional positions after SS3: 1 - Loeb/Elena, Citroen, 36m39s9; 2 - Duval/Pivato, Citroen, +5s8; 3 - Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +8s5; 4 - Grönholm/Rautiainen, Ford, +14s; 5 - Solberg/Mills, Subaru, +22s2; 6 - Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, +25s8; 7 - Gardemeister/Honkanen, Citroen, +41s9; 8 - Pons/Amigo, Subaru, +54s3; 9 - Kopecky/Schovanek, Skoda, +1m00s2; 10 - Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +1m00s5

Thu August 16, 2007

 Citroen Ready to Seal another surface The 2007 WRC calendar's recent sequence of six consecutive gravel rounds has come to an end as the championship's regulars move on the Rallye Deutschland, the second asphalt fixture of the season for which Citroën Sport has entered Citroën C4 WRCs for Sébastien Loeb/Daniel ...

 OMV Kronos Citroen WRT plans to surprise The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team has an extremely competitive team for the “ADAC Rallye Germany”, the tenth run to the FIA World Rally Championship. Besides Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor the Belgian pair Francois Duval and Patrick Pivato is eager for their first assignment ...

 Henning Tops 50 in Germany Henning Solberg will reach a milestone next week when he rolls over the start ramp at ADAC Rallye Deutschland, round ten of the FIA World Rally Championship, based in Germany. This will be the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team driver’s 50th WRC start, his first was back in 1998 ...

 Ford look to transfer winning to asphalt After dominating the last three rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship on gravel, BP-Ford World Rally Team takes its lead in both the manufacturers' and drivers' series to Germany next week for the first taste of asphalt since January. Rallye Deutschland (16 - 19 Augus...

 Subaru Deutschland WRC Preview Just two weeks after a flat-out blast through the forests of Finland, the Subaru World Rally Team is heading south to an equally tough, but vastly different challenge. Nineteen stages will take competitors along 356.27 competitive kilometres of asphalt roads in the Mosel region i...

 Good shakedown for Kopecky On Friday August 17th the racing crews will head out into the initial kilometers of the tenth race that is part of the World Rally Championship circuit, which is the ADAC Rallye Deutschland. Typical for the special stages around the historical town of Trier is the variation of ta...

Mon August 13, 2007

 Kopecky tests for Deutschland The caravan of the World Rally Championship participants has moved from Finland to the German south, where two weeks following the Rally Finland the world championship continues with its tenth leg....