Fri July 31, 2009

 Solberg holds 6th after day one Stobart VK M-Sport Ford driver Henning Solberg is occupying a strong position at the end of Day 1 of Neste Oil Rally Finland, the ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, moving up to sixth place after ten stages of fast-paced action around the Finnish lakes and forests. ...

 Mixed day for CJT in Finland On the rapid roads of the first day of the Rally Finland, the Citroën Junior Team has placed two C4 WRCs just outside the points. Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia are currently ninth. They lie in front of Conrad Rautenbach and Daniel Barritt, who are 11th. Having hit proble...

 Finnish duel lives up to it's promise

 Hanninen dominates day one

 Hirvonen controls day one in Finland

 Basso leads at end of day one

 Abarth and Alen for Finnish history

 New version Honda Civic Type-R R3

NEWS JUST IN

 P-M leg1 - Meeke charging @ 07:21 PM - Magalhaes wins the stage, Basso 2nd still firmly in the lead, but Meeke's 3rd fastest stage time means he has now moved 4.1s ahead of Loix and also only 4.1s behind Rossetti! Results after leg1 (SS13):
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h55m28s3;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +16s;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +29s4;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +49s7;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +1m03s6;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m07s7;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +1m11s8;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +3m13s5;
9th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +4m01s4;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +5m05s1

 P-M SS12 - Meeke for a change @ 06:52 PM - Kris Meeke wins his first stage of the event. But the top7 are seperated by just 3sec on this stage, such overall results remain stable. Last stage of the day will be to the East of the island the Campo del Golf stage, which in previous years was the long, twisty final stage. Results after SS12:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h45m43s2;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +17s1;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +26s7;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +47s5;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +1m00s7;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m05s9;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +1m08s5;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +3m01s4;
9th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +3m41s5;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +4m34s4

 P-M SS11 - Battle Loix-Meeke hots up @ 06:20 PM - Loix with brilliant time closes to Meeke within 0.3s, a real ding dong battle. The stage win is however this time for Magalhaes followed by Basso and Camacho, the usual trio. Results after SS11:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h36m58s8;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +17s3;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +25s8;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +46s1;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +1m00s4;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m07s6;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +1m07s9;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +2m45s8;
9th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +3m27s1;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +4m14s7

 P-M SS10 - Same people so close @ 05:56 PM - The same crazy game carries on. This time Basso wins the stage ahead of Magalhaes and Camacho, the 3 seperated by 0.8s! Meeke 4th fastest to retake Loix. Results after SS10:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h30m26s8;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +19s4;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +25s7;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +45s;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +59s5;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m05s3;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +1m07s6;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +2m30s4;
9th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +3m17s5;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +3m56s8

 P-M SS9 - Basso by 0.3s @ 03:58 PM - Stage win number 7 for Basso, but again by less than a second! Loix passes Meeke again. Results after SS9:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h22m02s3;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +19s1;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +24s9;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +41s;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +53s9;
6th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +1m00s3;
7th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +1m03s8;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +2m16s8;
9th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +3m02s4;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +3m05s6

 P-M SS8 - Basso dominance broken @ 03:29 PM - Magalhaes wins this stage. But again how incredibly close, our top3 Magalhaes-Camacho-Basso are seperated by less than 1sec on a 14km stage! Results after SS8:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h12m10s1;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +16s9;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +24s6;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +37s6;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +44s9;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +55s4;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +56s1;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +2m07s4;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +2m37s6;
10th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +2m39s5

 P-M SS7 - Basso-Magalhaes-Camacho @ 02:56 PM - Top3 in this stage is equal to top3 overall. Gaps are very narrow every stage, but Basso has won 6 stages in a row now and on most stages are Magalhaes and Camacho 2nd and 3rd in random order. Results after SS7:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 1h03m16s6;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +17s8;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +25s;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +34s8;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +40s7;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +50s2;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +55s8;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +2m02s;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +2m20s;
10th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +2m23s5

 P-M SS6 - Top3 in point3! @ 02:22 PM - Basso wins again, but Camacho only 0.1s down, Magalhaes only 0.3s down - on a 14km stage this is! Results after SS6:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 56m42s8;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +17s1;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +22s7;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +30s6;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +37s2;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +43s8;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +53s2;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +1m49s7;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +2m02s4;
10th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +2m10s5

 FIN leg1 - Good stage for Citroen @ 02:14 PM - Loeb narrows gap to Hirvonen to 4s. Ogier overtakes Wilson again. Superspecialstage still coming in leg1, but I am not waiting 5 hours for 1 minute of action! IRC Madeira still having 8 proper stages to come today!!!! Unofficial, provisional positions after leg1 (SS9):
1st= Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, 1h02m51s4;
2nd= Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +4s;
3rd= Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +20s3;
4th= Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +29s5;
5th= Rantanen/Lukka, Ford, +1m12s7;
6th= Solberg/Menkerud, Ford, +1m15s8;
7th= Ostberg/Andersson, Subaru, +1m35s6;
8th= Ketomaa/Stenberg, Subaru, +1m37s;
9th= Ogier/Ingrassia, Citroen, +2m13s2;
10th= Wilson/Martin, Ford, +2m17s1

 FIN SS8 - no change in top10 @ 02:09 PM - Loeb wins stage but top4 seem settled. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS8:
1st= Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, 55m47s3;
2nd= Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +6s5;
3rd= Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +17s8;
4th= Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +28s;
5th= Rantanen/Lukka, Ford, +1m06s8;
6th= Solberg/Menkerud, Ford, +1m12s2;
7th= Ostberg/Andersson, Subaru, +1m24s5;
8th= Ketomaa/Stenberg, Subaru, +1m30s3;
9th= Wilson/Martin, Ford, +2m05s3;
10th= Ogier/Ingrassia, Citroen, +2m11s6

 P-M SS5 - Absolute stunner by Basso @ 12:45 AM - Basso posts a stunning time with the gap on this stage 1st to 2nd being as big as 2nd to 7th! Basso doubles his lead to 16.8s. Meeke overtakes Loix Results after SS5:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 48m11s5;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +16s8;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +22s6;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +28s;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +31s5;
6th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +41s4;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +48s6;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +1m39s3;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +1m41s2;
10th= Freitas/Figueiroa, Renault, +1m46s4

 FIN SS7 - Citroen Junior Team struggle @ 12:23 AM - Hirvonen wins stage, but next two stages were better for Loeb first time round. After losing Novikov with a crash on SS2, in SS7 both Ogier and Rautenbach spend a few secs in a ditch. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS7:
1st= Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, 49m09s2;
2nd= Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +7s6;
3rd= Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +17s;
4th= Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +22s1;
5th= Rantanen/Lukka, Ford, +59s8;
6th= Solberg/Menkerud, Ford, +1m06s7;
7th= Ostberg/Andersson, Subaru, +1m09s9;
8th= Ketomaa/Stenberg, Subaru, +1m23s9;
9th= Wilson/Martin, Ford, +1m49s5;
10th= Ogier/Ingrassia, Citroen, +1m59s7

 P-M SS4 - Basso confirms his pace @ 12:03 AM - 3 stage wins in 3 stages for Basso and Abarth!!!! But gaps remain close. Results after SS4:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 34m53s5;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +8s4;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +13s6;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +18s5;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +21s9;
6th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +30s2;
7th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +30s9;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +1m06s5;
9th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +1m07s3;
10th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +1m14s

 FIN SS6 - Rantanen takes Ostberg @ 11:58 AM - Matti Rantanen impresses like last year, faster than Wilson after over 50 starts in an identical car. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS6:
1st= Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, 42m46s9;
2nd= Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +5s2;
3rd= Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +13s9;
4th= Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +19s9;
5th= Rantanen/Lukka, Ford, +51s5;
6th= Ostberg/Andersson, Subaru, +54s2;
7th= Solberg/Menkerud, Ford, +57s5;
8th= Ogier/Ingrassia, Citroen, +1m14s5;
9th= Ketomaa/Stenberg, Subaru, +1m16s2;
10th= Wilson/Martin, Ford, +1m32s3

 P-M SS3 - Basso and Abarth again! @ 10:36 AM - Basso and Abarth extend their lead with yet another stage win. Fastest Peugeots are the locals Magalhaes and Camacho. Meeke drops 2 places, Rossetti in another Abarth gains a place. Results after SS3:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 24m58s3;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +4s1;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +10s6;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +16s;
5th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +18s7;
6th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +24s9;
7th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +26s3;
8th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +50m7;
9th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +52s7;
10th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +56s7

 P-M SS2 - Basso's big surprise! @ 10:02 AM - Peugeot dominated in the first 4 places after last night's short Funchal sea front stage, but in the first stage proper Basso wins and delivers the first event lead for Abarth this season! Results after SS2:
1st= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, 11m33s4;
2nd= Magalhaes/Magalhaes, Peugeot, +0s6;
3rd= Camacho/Calado, Peugeot, +2s3;
4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +3s8;
5th= Meeke/Nagle, Peugeot, +5s;
6th= Rossetti/Chiarcossi, Fiat Abarth, +5s4;
7th= Loix/Miclotte, Peugeot, +6s0;
8th= Nunes/Calado, Peugeot, +17m3;
9th= Fontana/Cassina, Peugeot, +19s5;
10th= Solowow/Baran, Peugeot, +20s5

 FIN SS5 - Loeb edges closer @ 09:58 AM - 2 stage wins in a row have Loeb put Hirvonen under pressure. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS5:
1st= Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, 32m21s7;
2nd= Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +3s6;
3rd= Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +11s6;
4th= Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +15s5;
5th= Ostberg/Andersson, Subaru, +38s7;
6th= Rantanen/Lukka, Ford, +40s5;
7th= Solberg/Menkerud, Ford, +43s4;
8th= Ketomaa/Stenberg, Subaru, +51s8;
9th= Ogier/Ingrassia, Citroen, +1m01s3;
10th= Wilson/Martin, Ford, +1m12s

 FIN SS4 - Petter crashed out! @ 09:53 AM - Quite some bad fortune. Petter collects a puncture, then goes off because of it just before the stage finish and damages another wheel. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS4:
1st= Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, 25m12s1;
2nd= Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +6s5;
3rd= Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +7s4;
4th= Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +13s5;
5th= Ostberg/Andersson, Subaru, +28s8;
6th= Rantanen/Lukka, Ford, +32s9;
7th= Ketomaa/Stenberg, Subaru, +34s1;
8th= Solberg/Menkerud, Ford, +35s3;
9th= Ogier/Ingrassia, Citroen, +51s5;
10th= Wilson/Martin, Ford, +55s3

 FIN SS3 - Petter on a charge! @ 09:48 AM - Amazing 2nd fastest stage time for Petter Solberg in the old Xsara has him swap positions with Loeb. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS3:
1st= Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, 18m27s3;
2nd= Solberg/Mills, Citroen, +7s1;
3rd= Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +7s9;
4th= Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +9s1;
5th= Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +11s5;
6th= Ostberg/Andersson, Subaru, +21s3;
7th= Rantanen/Lukka, Ford, +28s2;
8th= Solberg/Menkerud, Ford, +28s6;
9th= Ketomaa/Stenberg, Subaru, +30s5;
10th= Ogier/Ingrassia, Citroen, +33s8

 FIN SS2 - Hirvonen takes lead @ 09:39 AM - Mikko Hirvonen takes the lead on the first proper stage after Séb Loeb won last night's superspecial. Evgeny Novikov already crashed out.
Unofficial, provisional positions after SS2:
1st= Hirvonen/Lehtinen, Ford, 11m57s4;
2nd= Loeb/Elena, Citroen, +2s;
3rd= Sordo/Marti, Citroen, +4s4;
4th= Solberg/Mills, Citroen, +5s7;
5th= Latvala/Anttila, Ford, +8s2;
6th= Ostberg/Andersson, Subaru, +12s;
7th= Rantanen/Lukka, Ford, +14s;
8th= Ogier/Ingrassia, Citroen, +16s4;
9th= Solberg/Menkerud, Ford, +19s3;
10th= Ketomaa/Stenberg, Subaru, +25s7

Thu July 30, 2009

 Ford extend WRC commitment Ford of Europe today confirmed its commitment to the FIA World Rally Championship by announcing its continued participation for the next two seasons. Ford, together with long-term partner M-Sport, will continue its successful WRC programme in 2010 and 2011....

 Citroen to continue in WRC Having racked up an impressive total of four manufacturers’ titles, five drivers’ world championships and 58 victories, Citroën will continue its participation in the FIA World Rally Championship for the 2010 and 2011 seasons. Citroën, which is currently leading the manufactur...

Wed July 29, 2009

 Rali Vinho Madeira - TV Times Eurosport, Eurosport2 and Eurosport Asia-Pacific will broadcast daily highlights from Madeira plus a review show the following week. Read on for the broadcast times (please note times are CET)...

 Rali Vinho Madeira - Preview More than 70 crews will contest the 50th running of Rali Vinho Madeira, round seven of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, next week. The all-asphalt event starts on Thursday July 30 and draws to a close on Saturday August 1 and features a total of 21 stages....

Tue July 28, 2009

 Hanninen teams up with Red Bull Skoda Skoda factory driver Juho Hänninen is relying on BRR in the great Finnish duel against Formula 1 world champion Kimi Räikkönen....

Mon July 27, 2009

 CJT aim higher After a month-long summer break, the FIA World Rally Championship heads to Finland for the ninth round of the series from 30 July to 2 August. The Citroën Junior Team will be running three C4 WRCs: for Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia, Evgeny Novikov / Dale Moscatt and Conrad...

 Title fight begins in Finland! Sébastien Loeb, who will begin Rally Finland with a one-point deficit compare with Mikko Hirvonen, believes that the Drivers' World Rally Championship will really start in Jyväskylä! The five-time World Champion and his co-driver Daniel Elena will be hoping to repeat their ...