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| RallyeNewsletter 2008 Rally Turkey : WRC Round 8 of 15 : 13th - 15th June In this issue: 1. Leg 1 Unofficial Leaderboard 2. Leg 1 News 4. Leg 1 Team by Team News 5. Remaining Event Schedule 1. Unofficial Leaderboard 1. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroën C4 2h02m35.2s 2. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS +1.0s 3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS +1.1s 4. G Galli/G Bernacchini I Ford Focus RS +2.2s 5. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS +6.9s 6. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza +49.1s 7. M Wilson/S Martin GB Ford Focus RS +1m05.9s 8. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroën C4 +1m06.8s 9. T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FIN Suzuki SX4 +2m27.0s 10. C Rautenbach/D Senior ZIM Citroen C4 +2m50.0s 2. Leg News Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) set two fastest times en route to an unwanted lead, just 1.0sec ahead of Henning Solberg (Ford). Behind Latvala is Stobart driver Gigi Galli (Ford), the Italian also slowing on the final stage to gain a better position. He won three stages. Petter Solberg (Subaru) holds sixth despite broken front right suspension this afternoon. Dani Sordo (Citroen) was fifth until a rear left puncture and suspension damage on stage seven cost nearly a minute and he is eighth. Urmo Aava (Citroen) was fastest on today's opening stage but retired after damaging his car's suspension on the next test while Chris Atkinson (Subaru) retired from ninth this afternoon with broken front suspension. Day two of the Rally of Turkey consists of seven stages, including the second running of the 2.6km Antalya spectator stage in the heart of Turkey's southerly tourist destination. At a total of 137.66 competitive kilometres, it is the second longest of the event. The stages take crews into the same area of the Anatolian mountains as other days, stretching down the coast to the town of Kumluca. 3. Event links " Entry List " Event News " Event History " Event Photos " Tipping 4. Team by Team News BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team controlled today's opening leg of the Rally of Turkey with a masterful blend of speed and strategy. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila held the top two positions in Ford Focus RS World Rally Cars throughout a tough day's driving in the south of the country. Both then deliberately eased their pace in the final few metres to drop down the leaderboard to earn a more favourable start position tomorrow. Hirvonen, who led for most of the day, dropped to fifth while Latvala lies third. Each will be handed those positions in the start order tomorrow and so avoid the huge disadvantage of being first and second over roads covered by slippery loose gravel. They will benefit from the cleaning process of the cars ahead, who will sweep the stones from the surface to leave a clearer and faster line from which Hirvonen and Latvala hope to benefit. Hirvonen was second in the start order and built a 6.9sec lead over Latvala on the opening loop of three stages. Although Latvala moved ahead briefly during the second loop, Hirvonen moved back into top spot and the 27-year-old led his colleague by 2.0sec going into the final 22.40km test. As soon as championship rival Sébastien Loeb, running first in the start order, reached the finish, the team advised Hirvonen of the time in which he needed to complete the stage so as to drop behind the Frenchman on the leaderboard. The Finn slowed just before the finish line and watched almost 20sec pass before completing the test. Four drivers moved ahead of him, to give Hirvonen a perfect position from which to attack tomorrow. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "It's a risk to do this because we haven't won anything yet and there are only two stages for Loeb to clean tomorrow, but these are better circumstances for me than being first on the road," he said. "If I had been leading tomorrow, I don't think I would have been able to keep him behind me because my 14sec advantage wouldn't have been enough. The plan now is to attack hard and build a big enough lead to take into the final day. I'm sure Loeb will fight hard, but I feel confident. "He drove well in his start position and there's a lot for me to learn from him today. Even though my driving style is more sideways than his, there was still a cleaner line for me to follow. I was able to both drive quickly and control the situation when I needed to tonight. My only problem was dust in the car. About 7km from the end of the third stage there was a large impact under the car and it quickly filled with dust. The impact made a hole under the floor behind Jarmo's seat and it was hard to see. We needed to block it up because it was like a sandstorm!" #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: After lying fourth overnight, Latvala punctured a front right tyre on the opening stage to lose 30sec and slip to 14th. However, he set a stunning fastest time in the next Myra test, more than 15sec quicker than his closest rival, to climb to third and amazingly took second on the next stage. "I hit a sharp loose rock about 12km after the start and the tyre went down immediately," said Latvala. "There are many loose rocks and it's important to leave a safety margin in the bends, but I slid wide coming over a crest into a right corner and clipped the rock," he explained. Latvala blitzed the Myra stage for a second time this afternoon to take the lead but another front right puncture in the following test cost 15sec and allowed Hirvonen back in front. The 23-year-old Finn copied Hirvonen's tactics on the final stage to drop from second to third, just 1.1sec behind Loeb. "The team strategy was to not be first in the order tomorrow. It's not easy there in these conditions, I don't like it and I didn't want to be there. You need experience to perform that role well and I don't have that. The plan was to be in front of Mikko and I feel very satisfied tonight," he said. #19 : Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr: [...Insert Quote...] Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 The first full day of competition of the 2008 Rally of Turkey turned out to be extremely long and punishing, but Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena checked into this evening's service park in Kemer on top of the provisional standings after magnificently coping with the handicap of having to run first on the road throughout the day. Dani Sordo/Marc Martí also put in a good run and follow in eighth place with the second Citroën Total C4 WRC. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were quickest over yesterday evening's spectator stage and never lost sight of their objective today: "Our aim was to drop as little time as possible," explained Seb who calculated that the most ground he could afford to lose on Day 1 was about a minute. "With road-sweeping duty to do on five of today's stages, plus three repeated stages - on which there was a good chance that the conditions wouldn't be ideal - that's what I reckoned we were likely to lose." To keep the gap as small as possible, there was really just one option: "Maximum attack," as Daniel Elena put it! #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: That tactic effectively paid dividends since the N°1 Citroën C4 WRC figured in fifth place after the first loop, just 10.2 seconds behind the leader. The second pass over the same three tests saw the Citroën pair drop just 3.3 additional seconds, which enabled Sébastien and Daniel to gain two places. The day's last two stages saw Seb take command. "Our C4 was quick, reliable and its set-up was perfectly suited to the conditions and we were able to make the most of the little grip that was available," he reported. "We are now in the lead, and tomorrow's leg is shorter, so being first on the road should be less of a disadvantage. We won't have so much 'road-sweeping' to do. It promises to be very close, but we will do everything in our power to defend our lead!" #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: Dani Sordo and Marc Martí had a mixed day in the second Citroën Sport C4 WRC. "On the one hand, we had a good position on the road," pointed out Dani. "Our car handled perfectly, too, and we also had good notes. We span on SS4, though, and then we swiped a rock on SS7 which bent a tie-rod and lost us a few seconds. That said, the gaps aren't all that big tonight, and running eighth on the road tomorrow should enable us to benefit from an ideal surface to try to close on the competitors ahead of us on tonight's leaderboard." Subaru World Rally Team http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5 After an intense day of action on the Rally of Turkey, the number five Impreza WRC2008 of Petter Solberg and Phil Mills completed the day in a hard-fought sixth position. Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot were less fortunate however and, like many others, felt the sting of the rubble-strewn mountain roads. Both Subaru World Rally Team crews made a promising start on the event's opening spectator stage on Thursday night. The head-to-head blast in the nearby city of Antalya saw Solberg and Mills grab second position overall, and team-mates Atkinson and Prévot carry sixth place into Friday's restart. On the very loose surface of Friday's stages, the large rocks that had been cleared to the roadside were invariably dragged onto the narrow mountain tracks by each passing car. The afternoon's second running of the tests was particularly demanding as the surface deteriorated, claiming the hopes of many crews including Atkinson and Prévot. Nearly two thirds of the 16 World Rally Cars felt Turkey's bite in just three stages, demonstrating precisely how the challenge of this rally cannot be underestimated. #5 : Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: With a carefully measured drive to avoid falling foul of the increasingly treacherous conditions, Solberg and Mills produced a steady performance to finish in sixth position overall. "Sixth is good today, and I'm happy with our progress" said Petter Solberg. "We were just trying to take it a little bit carefully today, but it was so, so tough, you know. I know things can happen here, and I don't want to hit rocks or have any problems. We just need to take things step by step; it's still a new car, so I'm quite happy with today." #6 : Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: "We weren't pushing too hard this morning, and things were looking good" said Chris Atkinson. "We would have been in the points by the end of the day. The plan was to make no mistakes and we did that, so it's a shame to be stopped by something that's out of our hands. We'll use tomorrow to do a little bit of testing and see how the car feels, and then see how quick we can push." Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 All three Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team members have finished the opening day of Rally Turkey occupying positions inside the top-seven on round eight of the FIA World Rally Championship. Intelligent driving on the final stage today has left both the Stobart squad and its big brother, the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team, in prime road positions for tomorrow's leg. Leading the way are Norwegians Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud who occupy an incredible second position just one second behind current leader Sebastien Loeb. With road sweeping duties required tomorrow the pair will be looking to go one better come Saturday evening. Closely following the Norwegians are Italians Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini who occupy fourth position just 2.2 seconds off the leader. As the team's other nominated point scoring crew, things are now looking positive for both strong driver and manufacturer points' hauls. Brits Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin round off a great start for the Stobart side as they occupy seventh. Wilson's top-10 fastest stage times on every test today have been the key to his positive performance and this was capped off with the 21-year-old's third placed finish on the final test today. Galli was on fire today setting three fastest stage times as he and his Stobart team continued to back-up the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team with four Fords in top-five spots after day 1. He was literally smoking this morning when his Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 caught fire at the rear when part of the back bumper began rubbing against the hot exhaust at the end of stage 2. #7 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "It's been a hard day as the stages have been tough and I have been in a battle for most of the day. We lost some time with our problem earlier and the dust getting into the car effected my concentration but it's been a fantastic finish to the day getting a fastest stage time and moving up into second place just one second off the lead. The stages are not too bad and not cutting up as much as I thought they would on the second pass so this could be good for us tomorrow." #8 : Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchi: "It's been a long day today with more stages than what we are normally used to. We had a problem getting the jack into the car today and weren't able to change the tyres between some stages. The second pass over the stages was quite hard as we had to find a good compromise between preserving the tyres and keeping a good speed but I think we did a good job. It seems that we are now in a perfect position for tomorrow."ni: #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "They have been really tough stages today and I have been feeling quite tired with my cold. We had a big impact just on the last stage there and I've definitely bent something in the suspension which cost us some time for sure. But we still managed to finish off the day with a third placed time which is a great way to finish what has been an improved day of driving. I'm very happy with our start today and the car is feeling really good." Suzuki World Rally Team http://suzuki.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=12 Both Suzuki drivers Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson enjoyed a thrilling day on the Turkish stages, as they hurled their SX4 WRCs along some of the twistiest and roughest roads around. Andersson moved into the top 10 on the fourth stage and remained there with some stunning times - including fourth fastest on the day's penultimate test. Toni Gardemeister's SX4 WRC ran without any technical faults through the opening day's nine stages. Gardemeister's only car-related problem came with a puncture on the day's opening test. The sister Suzuki of P-G Andersson was hit by a minor hydraulic glitch for two mid-day stages and then suffered broken suspension for the majority of SS9. #11 : Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen: "About five kilometres from the end of the stage [SS6] I was turning in a right-hand hairpin. I hit a rock and the steering wheel was ripped out of my hand; the impact dislocated my left shoulder. The pain was incredible. The shoulder went back in after a couple of seconds. The doctor worked on my shoulder in service and it wasn't so bad in the last two stages. It was really good to come through the last stage with a good time." #12 : Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Anderss"I felt really happy with the car today. The handling was good after we had made some changes with the dampers ahead of this event. On the whole, the times we have set today have been very good. We had a puncture and a small hydraulic problem this afternoon, but otherwise the car has run without any problems. The last but one stage of the day was really good, we set fourth fastest time and we still weren't taking big risks. But then on the last stage, the rally hit us back. We dropped some time with a broken suspension part. That was a disappointing way to end what has otherwise been a great day in the SX4 WRC."on: 5. Remaing Event Schedule Saturday 31 May: Day 2 Athens - Athens Serv C Tatoi (15 mins) 08.30 SS8 Aghii Theodori 1 32.16km 09.58 SS9 Pissia 1 16.60km 10.41 SS10 Aghia Triada 1 10.80km 12.09 Serv D Tatoi (30 mins) 13.27 SS11 Aghii Theodori 2 32.16km 15.10 SS12 Pissia 2 16.60km 15.53 SS13 Aghia Triada 2 10.80km 17.21 Serv E Tatoi (45 mins) 18.21 Finish Tatoi 19.06 Sunday 1 June: Day 3 Athens - Athens Serv F Tatoi (15 mins) 05.50 SS14 Avlonas 1 20.00km 06.48 SS15 Assopia 1 17.87km 07.27 SS16 Aghia Sotira 1 15.20km 08.30 Serv G Tatoi (30 mins) 09.59 SS17 Avlonas 2 20.00km 11.12 SS18 Assopia 2 17.87km 11.51 SS19 Aghia Sotira 2 15.20km 12.54 SS20 SSS Tatoi 2 4.60km 14.30 Serv H Tatoi (10 mins) 14.45 |