Sat July 12, 2008

 Kopecky finishes Russia in 6th place Crews battling for points in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge have ventured into Russia, where on the gravel roads they went head to head in the fourth race of the IRC series. The Czech crew Jan Kopecký-Filip Starý with their Peugeot 207 S2000 under the colors of Motorsport K...

 Rally Russia: Final quotes & positions Flying Finn Juho Hanninen has won the Rally Russia commandingly by more than two minutes on his debut in a Super 2000 car. Despite having only tested his Peugeot 207 S2000 for 60 kilometres prior to the start of the event, he took the lead from the very first stage and held it...

 Strong run for Wilks in Russia

 Guest driver saves Peugeot's day

NEWS JUST IN

 RUS SS11 - Novikov loses time @ 11:12 AM - This very short stage could be crucial for Novikov, as he lost time and is now under heavy pressure of Alen. Kopecky won this stage. Mironov out. One very hard, long stage to go. Positions after SS11: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 2h02m05s7; 2nd= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +1m43s8; 3rd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +2m00s3; 4th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m27s3; 5th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +2m54s5; 6th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +4m44s5; 7th= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +5m50s3; 8th= Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +7m01s1; 9th= Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +9m31s3; 10th= Antropov/Sharipov, Mitsubishi, +15m49s8

 RUS SS10 - Basso wins stage... @ 08:12 AM - ...and consolidates 4th place, which was under threat from Loix. Zheludov/Subaru retires from top10. Positions after SS10: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 1h55m22s; 2nd= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +1m09s5; 3rd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m57s4; 4th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m21s9; 5th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +2m54s2; 6th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +4m37s7; 7th= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +5m54s2; 8th= Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +6m46s7; 9th= Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +8m55s5; 10th= Mironov/Denisov, Mitsubishi, +11m52s

 RUS SS9 - no change on short stage @ 07:59 AM - SS9 Perevoznoe was a short stage en route to yesterday's stage area. Although Hänninen was only 5th quickest, he is less than 8sec from the winning time. However Kopecky drops half a min, souprallier Wilks drops over 1min. Positions after SS9: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 1h43m18s3; 2nd= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +59s6; 3rd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m51s1; 4th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m23s; 5th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +2m44s3; 6th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +4m29s6; 7th= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +5m29s8; 8th= Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +6m19s8; 9th= Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +8m03s; 10th= Zheludov/Kolomeytzeva, Subaru, +11m52s

 RUS end - Novikov out on last stage! @ 00:29 AM - Juho Hänninen takes sensational win for Peugeot! Poor 17years old Evgeny Novikov's Subaru retires from 2nd place on very last stage! Full results and championship tables in the according sections soon.

Fri July 11, 2008

 Hanninen extends lead in Russia Juho Hanninen has stretched his lead of the Rally Russia to nearly two minutes, with just four stages left to run during the final leg tomorrow. The action was once more split into two loops of two stages, containing some of the longest – and roughest – stages of the rally. De...

NEWS JUST IN

 RUS leg2 - Hänninen by a minute @ 01:52 PM - Sadly in the last stage of the day Wilks/Honda and Vertunov/Subaru joined Meeke/Renault, Sola/Fiat and Auriol/Fiat on the retirement list. Hänninen set extremely impressive times in this loop. Positions after leg2: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 1h36m26s; 2nd= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +1m01s; 3rd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m54s1; 4th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +2m27s4; 5th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +2m51s9; 6th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +4m28s8; 7th= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +5m02s2; 8th= Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +6m06s8; 9th= Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +7m35s3; 10th= Zheludov/Kolomeytzeva, Subaru, +11m51s6

 RUS SS6 - Crazy time by Novikov @ 08:41 AM - In long SS6 Topolki stunning stage win by 17 year old Novikov, Alen also moves up, Kopecky lost 4 minutes, Russian champ Zhigunov out. Positions after SS6: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 1h02m45s2; 2nd= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +31s3; 3rd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +59s7; 4th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +1m04s; 5th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +1m11s3; 6th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +1m31s; 7th= Vertunov/Troshkin, Subaru, +2m36s2; 8th= Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +3m45s8; 9th= Gavrilov/Zinoviev, Subaru, +3m50s; 10th= Wilks/Moynihan, Honda, +3m53s3

 RUS SS5 - Basso loses 2nd @ 08:32 AM - New day starts with another 1-2 stage time for the Finns Hänninen-Alen. Young Evgeny Novikov moves up to 3rd. Positions after SS5: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 46m00s3; 2nd= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +33s; 3rd= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +49s8; 4th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +54s8; 5th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +58s; 6th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +1m10s3; 7th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m11s6; 8th= Zhigunov/Ter-Oganesiants, Mitsubishi, +1m44s9; 9th= Vertunov/Trishin, Subaru, +1m58s3; 10th= Zheludov/Kolomeytzeva, Mitsubishi, +2m02s9

 RUS SS7 - Hänninen makes his mark @ 00:59 AM - Very wet stage. Getting ever more used to the car, Juho Hänninen/Peugeot is 12s faster than Novikov, 20s faster than anyone else on this stage! Vertunov/Subaru has problems. Positions after SS7: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 1h20m04s2; 2nd= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +43s6; 3rd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m32s6; 4th= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +1m47s8; 5th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +2m20s; 6th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +2m59s7; 7th= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +4m32s7; 8th= Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +4m41s7; 9th= Wilks/Moynihan, Honda, +5m17s6; 10th= Jean-Joseph/Boyère, Citroen, +6m08s8

Thu July 10, 2008

 Kopecky third after leg one On the gravel paths around the Russian town Vyborg and not far from the borders with Finland continues the international circuit Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Initial leg, which was on schedule of Rally Russia on Thursday, was handled very well even by the Czech crew from Mot...

 Russia Leg One - Quotes and positions Flying Finn Juho Hanninen is leading the opening leg of the Rally Russia on his debut in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 car, after four special stages totalling just over 50 kilometres. Following the opening four stages near Vyborg, the crews headed south for a spectacular ceremonia...

 Russia leg1: New Rally, New Generation The Rally Russia is so close to the Finnish border, especially leg1, that a fight between two young Finns was largely expected. Abarth works driver Anton Alen already won this rally last year, while Juho Hänninen, driving what is normally the BFGoodrich car, sits for he first tim...

 Abarth looks good in shakedown! Sure, we keep saying shakedown doesn't mean much, as it is a short stage that can be run as often as you like for testing. Obviously the driver who does 6 runs is faster than the driver who only runs once. Still, the shakedown results that are filtering through must be honey f...

 Rally Russia TV times The fourth round of the 2008 IRC starts on Thursday and although the entry list in Russia is not quite as strong as the other IRC events so far this year it nevertheless looks set to be another interesting event. Abarth driver Anton Alen will be hoping to bounce back from a poor ...

NEWS JUST IN

 RUS leg1 - Clear lead for Hänninen @ 10:18 AM - Now the rally leads for a promotion party to St.Petersburg for the rest of the day. The R-class drivers Wilks/Honda, Meeke/Renault & Jean-Joseph/Citroen are in that order 13th, 15th & 16th. Auriol seems retired from 11th. Positions after leg1: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 28m30s2; 2nd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +21s5; 3rd= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +28s6; 4th= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +37s3; 5th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +38s; 6th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +39s2; 7th= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +1m08s6; 8th= Zhigunov/Ter-Oganesiants, Mitsubishi, +1m12s4; 9th= Vertunov/Troshkin, Subaru, +1m12s8; 10th= Zheludov/Kolomeytzeva, Mitsubishi, +1m18s2

 RUS SS4 - Alen in trouble!!!! @ 10:03 AM - He lost about a minute in SS4 when he picked up 2 punctures!

 RUS SS3 - Loix and Basso try fight back @ 09:56 AM - Same positions but closer gaps. Daniel Sola missing at stage end. Positions after SS3: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 24m08s9; 2nd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +8s; 3rd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +13s8; 4th= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +23s9; 5th= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +26s8; 6th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +31s9; 7th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +34s4; 8th= Zhigunov/Ter-Oganesiants, Mitsubishi, +58s2; 9th= Vertunov/Troshkin, Subaru, +59s; 10th= Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +1m09s5

 RUS SS2 - Finnish battle across border @ 08:33 AM - For 2nd stage Hänninen, Alen, then gap. Auriol got a time penalty of over 9min, reason unknown. Positions after SS2: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 16m54s3; 2nd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +7s5; 3rd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +17s2; 4th= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +21s7; 5th= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +26s; 6th= Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +26s7; 7th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +29s1; 8th= Zhigunov/Ter-Oganesiants, Mitsubishi, +37s7; 9th= Loix/Buysmans, Peugeot, +39s2; 10th= Vertunov/Troshkin, Subaru, +42s8

 RUS SS1 - Strong start for Hänninen @ 08:14 AM - Finnish newcomer Juho Hänninen wins his debut stage in the 207 S2000. 17 years old Russia Evgeny Novikov 5th. Positions after SS1: 1st= Hänninen/Markkula, Peugeot, 8m47s4; 2nd= Alen/Alanne, Fiat Abarth, +4s1; 3rd= Basso/Dotta, Fiat Abarth, +6s3; 4th= Kopecky/Stary, Peugeot, +12s2; 5th= Novikov/Moscatt, Subaru, +13s5; 6th= Sola/Sanchez, Fiat Abarth, +16s5; 7th= Vouilloz/Klinger, Peugeot, +20s1; 8th= Auriol/Giraudet, Fiat Abarth, +22s2; 9th= Zhigunov/Ter-Oganesiants, Mitsubishi, +23s2; 10th= Tirabassi/Gordon, Peugeot, +23s5

Wed July 9, 2008

 Kopecky before the start of Rally Russia The Intercontinental Rally Challenge circuit continues after two weeks with another race and again in Europe. However, this time the complete caravan of this championship has moved from the western part of Europe to the east. Following the Belgian Ypres Westhoek Rally the crews w...

Tue July 8, 2008

 Rally Russia - Preview Round four of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge takes the crews into the heartland of the Russian Federation, for Rally Russia. The ceremonial start takes place in the historic city of St Petersburg, which was the home of the Imperial Tsars for more than 200 years. Nonethel...

Mon July 7, 2008

 Rally Russia layout.

Fri July 4, 2008

 Top Brits to start on Rally Russia Top British drivers Guy Wilks and Kris Meeke will start the 4th round of the IRC in Russia next weekend, both driving 2 wheel drive R3 cars. Wilks will be piloting the Honda Civic R3 of JAS Motorsport whilst Meeke will be behind the wheel of a Clio R3 from Italian tuners Munarett...