Mon April 7, 2008

 BFGoodrich take the top 5 in Istanbul Luca Rossetti and his co-driver Matteo Chiarcossi (Peugeot 207 S2000/BFGoodrich) continued their unbeaten run in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge by securing their third victory from three starts in the series. The Italian pair finished the Istanbul Rally ahead of the similar...

 Kopecky finished 5th in Istanbul The Motorsport Kopecký crew comprised of Jan Kopecký-Petr Starý has finished in the opening race of this year's Intercontinental Rally Challenge circuit in fifth place....

Sun April 6, 2008

 Istanbul: End positions, quotes & points Peugeot Italia driver Luca Rossetti has maintained his 100% success rate in the IRC by taking three victories from three participations in the series. Rossetti, who won in Ypres and Sanremo last year, now adds the Istanbul Rally to his list of victories. Although it was only hi...

 IRC Turkey was a thriller IRC round1 2008 proved to be the action we have been waiting for so long. Compared to what we are used from WRC that is. Vouilloz, Rosetti, Travaglia, Loix, Sola, Basso, Kopecky, that is no less than 7 different stage winners. In the first 5 stages the overall lead changed alread...

NEWS JUST IN

 TR end - Rosetti wins! @ 01:21 PM - Again, what a final! Travaglia drops a place with extensive front end damage. Could be from a very deep water splash, that also causes delays for Loix & Kopecky. Indeed Travaglia only 5sec from losing 2 more places. Both FWD Fiat swap positions and pass the Donchev Subaru. Positions after SS15: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 2h24m48s3; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +22s9; 3 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m27s1; 4 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +2m09s2; 5 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +2m13s6; 6 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +2m14s1; 7 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +4m46s8; 8 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4m47s5; 9 - Avci/Alkir, Fiat FWD, +10m28s9; 10 - Kara/Bilge, Fiat FWD, +10m38s4

 TR SS14 - FWD Fiat swap places @ 01:06 PM - Positions after SS14: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 2h16m03s9; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +15s9; 3 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +57s5; 4 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m06s2; 5 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m29s2; 6 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +2m04s3; 7 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +4m06s; 8 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4m26s4; 9 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, +8m08s6; 10 - Kara/Bilge, Fiat FWD, +9m08s8

 TR SS12 - Vouilloz closes in @ 10:18 AM - Mid day and Nicolas Vouilloz has reduced the gap to the leader by 20s. A similar performance in the afternoon will make this a close result! Positions after SS12: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 1h54m50s9; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +29s9; 3 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +52s7; 4 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +59s9; 5 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m16s2; 6 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +1m52s9; 7 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +3m47s5; 8 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4m31s8; 9 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, +6m39s7; 10 - Avci/Alkir, Fiat FWD, +7m20s3

 TR SS11 - First stage w/o major change @ 10:00 AM - Positions after SS11: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 1h46m43s; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +40s6; 3 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +54s3; 4 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +59s8; 5 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m18s3; 6 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +1m50s1; 7 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +3m48s8; 8 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4m39s8; 9 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, +6m04s9; 10 - Avci/Alkir, Fiat FWD, +6m54s9

 TR SS10 - Sola starts day on a low @ 09:35 AM - Up and down on this eventful rally. Sola drops time and position with puncture, while with Jan Kopecky we have again a new stage winner. Last Mitsubishi retired, Basso did not re-start. Positions after SS10: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 1h35m57s1; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +45s; 3 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +50s6; 4 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m00s5; 5 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m17s4; 6 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +1m28s6; 7 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +3m49s; 8 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4m43s8; 9 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, +5m26s8; 10 - Avci/Alkir, Fiat FWD, +6m22s7

 TR SS13 - Its going to be very close! @ 00:30 AM - Vouilloz just took another 11sec out of leader Rosetti on only this stage, the gap is now 19sec with 2 stages remaining - work it out! Battles for 3rd & 10th (Punto S1600 team mate Kara) less than 4sec! Positions after SS13: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 2h05m26s8; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +18s9; 3 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +53s2; 4 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +57s; 5 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m15s7; 6 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +1m51s; 7 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +3m53s5; 8 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4m25s3; 9 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, +7m21s1; 10 - Avci/Alkir, Fiat FWD, +8m16s9

Sat April 5, 2008

 Kopecky kicks off IRC campaign The Turkish Instanbul Rally kicked off the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and with the Peugot 207 S2000 this gravel race is also seeing the participation of the Czech crew from the Motorsport Kopecký comprised of Jan Kopecký-Petr Starý....

 Rossetti leads at end of day one Italian driver Luca Rossetti is leading the Istanbul Rally after the opening leg, with a margin of more than half a minute over up-and-coming Spaniard Dani Sola. Rossetti is competing on only his fifth gravel rally, but he made consistent progress all day to avoid the punctures...

 Rossetti 1st; Basso rolls but recovers Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso arrived at service with his Grande Punto badly damaged, but he was able to continue in the rally. He has now slipped down to 25th place, some 12 minutes behind the leader. Despite the quick work by the Abarth mechanics, the Italian will leave serv...

 Today’s stages explained

NEWS JUST IN

 TR leg1 - Sola ends day on a high @ 04:44 PM - Sola wins last 2 stages of the day and moves past Vouilloz! Positions after leg1: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 1h25m17s5; 2 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +37s2; 3 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +51s9; 4 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +55s9; 5 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m02s7; 6 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m24s3; 7 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +3m52s4; 8 - Besler/Guleren, Mitsubishi, +3m55s6; 9 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, +4m47s1; 10 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4m49s4

 TR SS8 - Sola wins stage for Abarth @ 04:15 PM - Now Sola, we keep having different stage winners. Tirabassi out, Loix moves up. Positions after SS8: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 1h14m53s6; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +41s2; 3 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +50s8; 4 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +54s; 5 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m10s; 6 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m17s2; 7 - Besler/Guleren, Mitsubishi, +3m26s4; 8 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +3m48s4; 9 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, +4m17s1; 10 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +4m21s1

 TR SS7 - Peugeot up, Abarth down @ 03:27 PM - More bad news for Abarth, Basso still suffers, Alen drops half a minute, Peugeot trio Loix-Rosetti-Vouilloz dominate stage. Peugeot back in 1-2 o/a. Positions after SS7: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 1h09m27s6; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +36s1; 3 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +48s8; 4 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +51s4; 5 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m03s5; 6 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m12s8; 7 - Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +2m28s4; 8 - Besler/Guleren, Mitsubishi, +3m06s2; 9 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +3m48s; 10 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, 3m58s6

 TR SS4 - Basso rolls, drops 10min! @ 11:39 AM - Basso rolled! Punctures were the delay reasons for Isik and Loix earlier. Positions after SS4: 1 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 41m20s7; 2 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +5s4; 3 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +22s4; 4 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +25s4; 5 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +40s6; 6 - Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +1m01s6; 7 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m15s6; 8 - Solowow/Baran, Fiat Abarth, +1m23s8; 9 - Besler/Guleren, Mitsubishi, +1m34s; 10 - Kara/Belge, Fiat FWD, 2m25s1

 TR SS3 - Peugeot-Abarth tie @ 10:06 AM - Tie for stage win between Vouilloz & Travaglia. Vouilloz re-takes lead. His team mate Loix drops 4min. Positions after SS3: 1 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 29m55s3; 2 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, +1s9; 3 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +18s6; 4 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +19s; 5 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +20s2; 6 - Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +25s; 7 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +35s3; 8 - Solowow/Baran, Fiat Abarth, +38s8; 9 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +45s1; 10 - Besler/Guleren, Mitsubishi, +56s1

 TR SS2 - Rosetti takes lead @ 09:58 AM - Good stage time for Alen too. Local Volkan Isik, who had his best rally here last year, when he even led, is first victim losing 3min for unconfirmed reasons. Positions after SS2: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 19m24s1; 2 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +1s5; 3 - Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +11s7; 4 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +14s1; 5 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +15s7; 6 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +18s6; 7 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +21s7; 8 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +26s; 9 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +28s; 10 - Solowow/Baran, Fiat Abarth, +28s4

 TR SS1 - Fast start for Peugeots @ 09:50 AM - All close, Peugeot 1-2-3 with last year's winner Vouilloz at the top. Positions after SS1: 1 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, 7m59s3; 2 - Rosetti/Chioarcossi, Peugeot, +1s5; 3 - Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +1s8; 4 - Isik/Ozsenler, Fiat Abarth, +4s8; 5 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +5s5; 6 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +6s1; 7 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +7s1; 8 - Kopecky/Stary, Fiat Abarth, +9s1; 9 - Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +9s9; 10 - Solowow/Baran, Fiat Abarth, +14s5

 TR SS6 - Vouilloz & Rosetti strong @ 00:57 AM - Stage win by Vouilloz ahead of Isik. Rosetti extends lead. Positions after SS6: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 58m10s5; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +26s5; 3 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +34s3; 4 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +34s7; 5 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +45s8; 6 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m08s1; 7 - Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +1m57s3; 8 - Besler/Guleren, Mitsubishi, +2m25s8; 9 - Betti/Barone, Mitsubishi, +3m13s9; 10 - Donchev/Valchev, Subaru, 3m20s3

 TR SS5 - New leader, new stage winner @ 00:35 AM - Vouilloz drops 45s with a puncture. Basso still suffers rom roll damage. We now have 4 different stage winners in the first 5 stages! Positions after SS5: 1 - Rosetti/Chiarcossi, Peugeot, 52m37s6; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Fiat Abarth, +22s7; 3 - Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +24s1; 4 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +39s6; 5 - Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +42s2; 6 - Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +1m22s4; 7 - Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +1m49s3; 8 - Besler/Guleren, Mitsubishi, +2m07s4; 9 - Betti/Barone, Mitsubishi, +2m55s6; 10 - Kara/Belge, Fiat FWD, 2m58s3

Fri April 4, 2008

 Istanbul Rally gets underway The 39 crews registered for the IRC series have begun the 2008 season by crossing the start ramp at Fenerbahce, just outside the city centre of Istanbul. The ceremony got underway at 18:00 (local time) with the cars flagged off by the President of the Turkish Motorsport Federa...

 Vouilloz tops Istanbul shakedown Nicolas Vouillloz topped the shakedown for the IRC season opener in Istanbul today. The talented Frenchman, driving a Peugeot 207 S2000 was 0.1s quicker than former junior world champion Brice Tirabassi, also in a Peugeot. The factory Abarth's of Anton Alen and Giandomenico Ba...

NEWS JUST IN

 IRC Istanbul Photo Gallery @ 11:37 PM - Photos from the shakedown of the Istanbul Rally Turkey are available by clicking here

Thu April 3, 2008

 Turkey pre-rally quotes & TV times! Despite predictions to the contrary, the Istanbul Rally seems set for some wet weather: making the gravel stages an even bigger challenge than they are usually....

 Istanbul Rally Turkey: Preview The 2008 IRC season gets underway with the Istanbul Rally this weekend, based in Turkey’s historic capital where Europe meets Asia. The all-gravel event formed the second round of the IRC last year, but this time it opens the series. The stages consist of some classic gravel road...

Wed April 2, 2008

 Travaglia in Grifone Punto for Turkey Former European Champion Renato Travaglia will compete on the Istanbul Rally in an Abarth Grande Punto run by the well-known Grifone team. ...

 Istanbul Rally: BFGoodrich preview The 2008 Intercontinental Rally Challenge is poised to kick off in Istanbul on April 4, marking the start of the series' second season which is scheduled to end in China next November. This year's IRC promises to be a thrilling affair, with the factory Abarth team looking t...

Tue March 25, 2008

 Basso aiming for Turkish victory Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso (right) – contesting his first full year of the IRC series – says that his lack of experience should not stop him challenging for victory on the Istanbul Rally, which takes place from April 4-6....