Sun August 5, 2007

 Honda class win in Madeira

Sat August 4, 2007

 IRC official/corrected results & points

NEWS JUST IN

 P post scrutineering - Mitsu excluded @ 10:03 PM - All other finisher move up a place, Miguel Nunes in another Peugeot 206 S1600 moves into the top10. More in the results and championship points article.

 P end - Basso wins, Casier gains @ 05:43 PM - Bruno Magalhaes wins last 4 stages in a row. In last 2 stages Bernd Casier loses and re-gains 6th place. Final (provisional) Positions: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 3h06m13s4; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +1m31s1; 3 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m26s4; 4 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +2m52s8; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m39s; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +5m37s3; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +5m40s6; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +6m03s5; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +6m59s5; 10 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +7m01s1

 P SS18 - Another one for Magalhaes @ 04:36 PM - Fontana now 1.2s ahead of Casier. Last stage will be exciting, a full 22km long and in a completely different area, near Funchal and using some parts of SS3,5,8,10, but completely different layout. Positions after SS18: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 2h52m21s4; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +1m28s3; 3 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m39s5; 4 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +2m46s8; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m46s3; 6 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +5m36s3; 7 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +5m37s5; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +5m56s6; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +6m22s2; 10 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +7m13s6

 P SS17 - Magalhaes wins 16&17! @ 03:41 PM - Bruno Magalhaes is in top form on this last loop of stages and moves past fellow Peugeot driver Enrique Ojeda into 3rd! Watch gap Casier-Fontana! Positions after SS17: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 2h45m04s9; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +1m18s5; 3 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m42s4; 4 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +2m43s6; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m42s4; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +5m29s2; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +5m29s4; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +5m49s4; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +6m15s2; 10 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +7m15s2

 P SS16 - 2nd loop North-West @ 02:54 PM - Travaglia gambled on a full dry set up, while all others use a compromise as the 22km last stage is in a different area and could be wet. But the gamble paid off differently, Ojeda got a big time penalty for service delays and now Ojeda is only 3sec ahead of Magalhaes instead of chasing for 2nd! Positions after SS16: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 2h37m03s3; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +1m12s7; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +2m42s4; 4 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m45s3; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m42s7; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +5m19s1; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +5m23s1; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +5m41s9; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +6m05s6; 10 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +7m16s1

 P SS15 - Basso 1min ahead @ 01:06 PM - (Vouilloz was delayed in starting order, not out, excuses!) Basso's lead ever clearer after another stage win. The fight to watch is Travaglia vs Ojeda for 2nd. It's 15sec and if Ojeda keeps reducing like that it is going to be extremely tight - it also means if Ojeda remains 3rd Navarra will lead the championship, if Ojeda manages 2nd Ojeda will lead the championship! Positions after SS15: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 2h29m54s4; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +1m13s3; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m28s9; 4 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m49s4; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m41s; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +5m11s6; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +5m18s9; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +5m33s5; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +5m49s5; 10 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +7m17s7

 P SS13 - Western Loop, Vouilloz 10th @ 11:33 AM - The main part of this leg consists of 3 stages to the little populated North-Western corner of the island. These stages are repeated again today and kicking off with this SS13. Note how a 206 & a 207 are tied for 10th! Positions after SS13: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 2h14m42s4; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +58s9; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m19s7; 4 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m42s8; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m27s6; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +4m44s2; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +4m56s1; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +5m06s8; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +5m23s4; =10 - Nunes/Camacho, Peugeot, +7m04s4; =10 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +7m04s4

 P SS12 - Vouilloz wins stage... @ 10:27 AM - ...ahead of Magalhaes and Basso, but despite this being a 14km stage the top3 are seperated by less than 1sec! Positions after SS12: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 2h07m32s7; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +57s2; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m20s8; 4 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m44s9; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m22s7; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +4m32s8; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +4m48s8; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +4m57s2; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +5m13s5; 10 - Nunes/Camacho, Peugeot, +6m44s6

 P SS11 - Basso extends lead @ 08:59 AM - 2nd placed Travaglia starts leg2 as he finished leg1 - with a rather slow time. And this is the longest stage of the rally, otherwise drama free. Positions after SS11: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h57m40s8; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +47s7; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m16s2; 4 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m45s; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m10s8; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +4m15s5; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +4m34s9; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +4m40s6; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +4m56s7; 10 - Nunes/Camacho, Peugeot, +6m20s3

 P SS14 - Ojeda vs Travaglia @ 00:32 AM - This is the most Western stage, right along the coast. To watch is how Ojeda eats seconds into Travaglis 2nd place and if Ojeda can pass him it would mean his championship lead too. See seperate full article. Positions after SS14: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 2h22m40s5; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +1m05s2; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m23s; 4 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m45s6; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +3m33s5; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +4m59s1; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +5m07s4; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +5m20s9; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +5m37s; 10 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +7m12s4

Fri August 3, 2007

 Madeira leg1, Basso at service A busy day for rally fans! Unusually we have a WRC, an IRC and an F1 event on the same weekend! Strange schedule since the WRC just had an 8 weeks summer break. The IRC always supplied us gripping action with many stages and close battles in their events so far this season. But f...

NEWS JUST IN

 P leg1 - Suddenly a clear lead! @ 07:38 PM - Travaglia drops time and such all the sudden hands Basso a clear lead on the very last stage! But as sudden as this came, and as previous IRC events developped, there will be more surprises tomorrow. Also do I note a tradition here, Sola's Honda losing a very good result on the last stage of the day?! In 2WD battle Jean-Joseph and Camacho split by only 11s. Positions after leg1: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h40m14s9; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +27s1; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m11s7; 4 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m36s3; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +2m53s9; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +3m47s3; 7 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +4m03s6; 8 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +4m07s4; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +4m15s5; 10 - Czopik/Wronski, Fiat Abarth, +5m02s8

 P SS9 - First normal stage @ 06:50 PM - Normal as in not so much surprising gaps and incidents. On stage leader Basso wins but followed by Ojeda, Vouilloz, Travaglia, Magalhaes all within 5sec. Positions after SS9: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h28m08s; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +13s4; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m04s; 4 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m29s9; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +2m33s5; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +3m17s9; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +3m38s6; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +3m40s3; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +3m47s2; 10 - Czopik/Lukasz, Fiat Abarth, +4m23s

 P SS8 - Peugeots flying @ 05:04 PM - While in Finland WRC leg1 has finished, on Madeira we still have 3 more stages of 19km, 14km & 19km. SS8 is a shortened reverse version of previous SS3&5. Magalhaes wins stage by 10s, followed by Vouilloz, however both these Peugeot drivers were heavily delayed in the morning. Positions after SS8: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h18m01s4; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +10s2; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m02s6; 4 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +2m23s4; 5 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m25s; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +3m03s4; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +3m21s3; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +3m22s7; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +3m30s; 10 - Czopik/Lukasz, Fiat Abarth, +3m59s

 P SS7 - Magalhaes on the move @ 03:51 PM - Bruno Magalhaes had to cover the morning stages on 3 cylinders thanks to a coil problem. Now he sets fastest times, up to 6th already while Casier looses just gained 4th. Positions after SS7: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h05m40s6; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +7s8; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +1m01s6; 4 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +2m21s5; 5 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +2m32s5; 6 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m35s4; 7 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +2m52s8; 8 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +2m59s9; 9 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +3m12s8; 10 - Czopik/Lukasz, Fiat Abarth, +3m25s9

 P SS5 - Long stages @ 01:22 PM - The Madeira stages are way longer than those in Finland today, often double the length. But still the huge gaps between top10 drivers are very, very unusual for what we have seen of IRC so far. Iliev moved into top10 on SS4 and out of the rally (gearbox) immediately after. Next loop starts with 2 new, single run stages, while SS8&10 will be a shortened and reverse version of dramatic SS3&5. Jean-Joseph moves up big and takes S1600 lead, but note once again that Peugeot of Alexandre Camacho is a 206 S1600, not a 207 S2000! Positions after SS5: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 50m55s; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +18s8; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +59s6; 4 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +2m05s2; 5 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +2m08s9; 6 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +2m10s4; 7 - Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +2m34s7; 8 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +2m39s1; 9 - Magalhaes/Grave, Peugeot, +2m46s6; 10 - Czopik/Lukasz, Fiat Abarth, +2m47s

 P SS3 - Dramatic Madeira @ 11:36 AM - That the gN Mitsubishis are so strong on asphalt is maybe reasoned by strong rains. Also the for IRC surprising big gaps in stage times may be for that. Tho Basso now takes lead, but 4th placed driver (Fontes) on SS3 is already 50s down! Peugeot drivers Magalhaes and Vouilloz are delayed, Loix reports transmission problems. Amazing in all this: The Peugeots in places 9 & 10 are 206 S1600! Positions after SS3: 1 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 26m37s; 2 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, +12s8; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +43s8; 4 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +1m14s; 5 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +1m26s9; 6 - Sousa/Babo, Mitsubishi, +1m37s; 7 - Loix/Chevaillier, Fiat Abarth, +1m39s2; 8 - Fontes/Prata, Fiat Abarth, +1m40s; 9 - Nunes/Concalves, Peugeot, +1m43s7; 10 - Camacho/Abreu, Peugeot, +1m45s3

 P SS2 - Madeira also starts with bang @ 11:18 AM - After SSS last night Travaglia in the Mitsubishi surprisingly won 2nd stage in a row. Bad start for Fiat. Series leader Andrea Navarra retired before the 1st proper stage when his engine refused to start in parc fermé. Fiat team mate and Madeira's local hero Victor Sa crashed out! Positions after SS2: 1 - Travaglia/Granai, Mitsubishi, 12m15s; 2 - Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +3s; 3 - Ojeda/Barrabes, Peugeot, +24s5; 4 - Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +25s1; 5 - Fontana/Casazza, Fiat Abarth, +25s7; 6 - Loix/Chevaillier, Fiat Abarth, +26s; 7 - Casier/Miclotte, Peugeot, +31s6; 8 - Sousa/Babo, Mitsubishi, +44s2; 9 - Anjo/Calado, Mitsubishi, +45s6; 10 - Nunes/Concalves, Peugeot, +46s6