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| RallyeNewsletter 2008 Rally Turkey : WRC Round 8 of 15 : 13th - 15th June In this issue: 1. Final Unofficial Leaderboard 2. Final News 4. Final Team by Team News 5. Championship Points 6. Next Event 1. Final Unofficial Leaderboard 1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 4h42m07.1s 2. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS +7.9s 3. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroën C4 +25.7s 4. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroën C4 +2m25.6s 5. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS +2m33.7s 6. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza +2m48.2s 7. M Wilson/S Martin GB Ford Focus RS +4m24.2s 8. C Rautenbach/D Senior ZIM Citroën C4 +7m46.7s 9. F Villagra/J Pérez Companc RA Ford Focus RS +9m34.1s 10. B Clark/P Nagle GB Ford Focus RS +14m48.8s 2. Final News Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen claimed their second win of the FIA World Rally Championship season in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to move back into the lead of the drivers standings by three points. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were just 7.9sec behind in another Focus RS as Ford extended its lead in the manufacturers' series to nine points. Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) took third but slipped to second in the drivers' standings with team-mate Dani Sordo claiming fourth. Sordo moved ahead of Stobart driver Henning Solberg (Ford) on the opening stage and the gap between the pair was just 8.1sec at the finish. Petter Solberg (Subaru) rounded off the top six ahead of Stobart driver Matthew Wilson (Ford). Ninth and 10th for Munchi's drivers Federico Villagra and Barry Clark (both Ford) was enough for the final manufacturers' points. The championship pauses for a summer break and returns with Rally Finland, one of the year's classic events, on 31 July - 3 August. The gravel rally is based in Jyväskylä. 4. Team by Team News BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Tactics paid dividends for BP Ford World Rally Team as it claimed a 1-2 finish on a thrilling Rally of Turkey today. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen claimed their second win of the FIA World Rally Championship season in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to move back into the lead of the drivers standings by three points. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were just 7.9sec behind in another Focus RS as Ford extended its lead in the manufacturers' series to nine points. The maximum points haul enabled Ford to create rallying history by scoring points on 100 consecutive rallies, a feat never achieved since the WRC was launched in 1973. After dominating Friday's opening leg to hold first and second, Hirvonen and Latvala deliberately eased their pace in the final few metres to drop down the leaderboard to gain better road conditions yesterday. A lower start position meant they avoided the huge disadvantage of being first and second on roads covered by slippery loose gravel. Instead, they benefited from the cleaning process of the cars ahead, who swept stones from the surface to leave a cleaner and faster line on which to attack. Ford's Finns rocketed back to first and second yesterday morning and attacked hard to build as big a lead as possible over championship rival Sébastien Loeb, who swept the roads, in third. Hirvonen and Latvala had the unwanted 'cleaning' role today, but the buffer was big enough to hold off a determined charge from Loeb during the final 31.03km speed test to claim the team's second 1-2 of the season. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: A delighted Hirvonen described the weekend as 'amazing'. "I promised Malcolm Wilson I would lead the championship going into my home rally in Finland next month and I am. It was an incredibly hard weekend for drivers, cars and tyres and a great battle with Jari-Matti, which I'm so happy to win. It was the right moment for a win because we struggled on the last round in Greece and this is perfect timing. It feels very special to beat a four-time world champion in a straight fight," he said. "Our tactics worked so well and I didn't panic this morning when I was first on the road and had to sweep the stages. This is my best result because it was such a big team effort. I was so nervous and drove so carefully in the final stage to preserve my tyres. It looks like it will be an exciting championship battle in the second half of the season. Now I just want to go home and see my sons," said 27-year-old Hirvonen, who felt ill throughout the rally and has been unable to eat. #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: Latvala was happy with second after losing almost a minute with two opening day punctures. "I came here wanting a top three finish so I'm pleased I was able to fight for victory. I lacked experience of these roads but that wasn't as big a disadvantage as I thought. We played good tactics and it was a big risk, but a good decision. I've learned to keep my driving tidy. I was kind on my tyres for the first half of the final stage and that paid off. This has given a major boost to my confidence," he said. Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 he Turkish round of the World Rally Championship at the weekend (13-15 June 2008) saw the Ford team win with a masterful display of tactics by forcing Citroën's Sébastien Loeb to sweep the road on the first two days of the event, leaving the Citroën duo to finish in third and fourth position and, in doing so, Loeb has dropped back to second place in the World Championship title race. With no Turkish round in 2007, Loeb, as reigning World Champion lead the event out into the Turkish countryside on Friday and, as first on the road, had the dubious honour of sweeping the loose gravel off the stages, slowing the Citroën team down and letting the following Fords take the lead on stage two. Had the Ford drivers held on to their lead at the end of the day, then they would have been the road sweepers on day two, so on the last stage of the day, the Ford backed off by just enough - 1.0 and 1.1 seconds each - to hand the lead back to Loeb, forcing him into a second day of road cleaning activities. Before starting the final day, the expressions and gestures betrayed the level of tension amongst the Citroën crews: Loeb was 34.3 seconds behind the overall leader and 18.1 seconds off second place. Sitting just 6.6 seconds off fourth place, Sordo also had a clear objective. The setting was set and there was nothing left but to go for it! #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "As during Legs 1 and 2, we pushed as hard as possible, but it wasn't sufficient," regretted Loeb. "Our set-up was good, our C4 WRC was very competitive and we didn't make any mistakes. Despite running third on the road, we failed to benefit from better conditions. Our rivals didn't need to sweep the road in the same way we were forced to on the previous legs." "I cannot say I'm happy about finishing third and I'm no more pleased to have conceded the lead in the Drivers' Championship," added Loeb. "For three days we have tried everything. We often exceeded our limits, using every bit of the car's potential and that of the Pirelli tyres which stood up well to the risk of punctures. Except maybe for New Zealand, we should no longer have to worry about the problem of 'road-sweeping' for any of the seven rallies that remain, and that can only be a good thing. We know that we're ready for what's coming, the points differences in the two championships are minimal and there will doubtless be more fights to close these gaps. I can take a break in the knowledge that the rest of the season promises to be very exciting and we'll soon be back in Finland!" #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: Highly motivated, Dani and Marc needed just one stage (SS17) to capture the 4th place they were targeting. "I am very happy that we did it," smiled the young Spaniard. "We then set our times based on those of our opponent. At the end of this difficult weekend, this result is good for me. Our C4 was competitive and we put in some good stage performances. I forced myself to take care of my tyres and I think we made further progress in driving on the loose. Now I'm looking forward to the rest of the season and the prospect of the three asphalt rallies to come!" Subaru World Rally Team http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5 At the finish of the Rally of Turkey, Petter Solberg and Phil Mills sealed sixth position overall, keeping the Subaru World Rally Team in third position overall in the Manufacturers' Championship. As importantly, with two incredibly tricky rallies completed in the new Impreza WRC2008, the team are confident about now putting the many lessons learned into practice during the six-week break in the WRC calendar. Both the Acropolis and Turkish rallies have been demanding to the extreme for what is still a very new car. As was the plan, the crew now have a six-week gap without a WRC event in which to consolidate knowledge from these first two rallies. Having identified various areas for fine-tuning, the type of which are only truly demonstrated in the heat of competition, the feverish pace of work will continue in the UK in preparation for Finland in August. #5 : Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "This weekend has not been bad at all, no real problems" said Petter Solberg. "On lots of stages we've had fastest splits and been faster than anyone else which is very good. The car is very reliable, and it's been a difficult past two rallies but the engineers have learned a lot and have a very good strategy plan. The guys know exactly where to work on the car now so I think it will be no problem to find a lot more in this car. It definitely has so much potential, so we just need to work to make the most of that. We still have some work to do to make it fast on every stage" #6 : Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: "Ok, it's obviously disappointing to have had the small delays that we have had this weekend, but the team are learning all the time with the car" said Chris Atkinson. "It's not been an easy rally and the roads are very abrasive, but it's a good challenge. The long stages today were particularly tough, but we're out there testing so it works well. Petter's car had a perfect run, so it's just bad luck for us. Now we have a six-week break so we're confident of some big steps forward and looking good for Finland." Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 An event of mixed fortunes has seen the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team close in on third place in the FIA World Rally Championship for Manufacturers after round eight in Turkey. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud were the stars of the show finishing the Rally of Turkey in a well deserved fifth position overall. Backing up the Norwegians with yet another solid points finish were Brits Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin who maintained a points scoring position throughout the event to finish seventh. This now sees Wilson ninth in the Drivers' Championship. It was not such a fortunate event for team-mates Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini who retired overnight before beginning today's final leg with Galli falling ill. Under advice from the team's doctor Galli decided not to start today due to exhaustion and dehydration caused by the intense heat and demanding rally conditions over the past two days and has been advised to rest and rehydrate for the safety of his own personal health. #7 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "I'm very, very happy; fifth place here is great and I have been so pleased with my driving. It's been a tough rally and we have had to manage the tyres well for the whole time. The first day felt great and it was a good feeling to set a fastest time. Then we had to make some changes to the car and the feeling just wasn't as good as the first day. But we kept the pace up and got into an exciting battle with Dani Sordo on the last day. This rally has been a big challenge with tough conditions but to be in the top-five and collect more points for me and the team is fantastic." #8 : Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini: "It is a very disappointing end to a tough event that we started really well on. The first day was fantastic for me and we managed the performance well and found a good compromise between preserving the tyres and keeping a fast speed; indeed we would have been leading for the whole day without the time penalty. But the days were long and hard and I was totally exhausted on Saturday evening and needed some treatment from the doctor for dehydration. I didn't feel any better on Sunday and it wasn't possible or safe for me to continue." #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "This has definitely been one of our strongest performances we have had pace-wise and to come here, make new pace notes and set good times right from the very first stage is great. We have taken things step-by-step this year and to have two strong finishes in a row, in Greece and now Turkey, is very encouraging and helps a lot with my confidence for the next event. Again, this was a long, hot rally and my physical training has really proved its worth." Suzuki World Rally Team http://suzuki.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=12 Retired. #11 : Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen: Retired. #12 : Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: Retired. 5. Championship Points Drivers 1. M Hirvonen 59pts 2. S Loeb 56pts 3. J-M Latvala 34pts 4. C Atkinson 31pts 5. D Sordo 30pts 6. P Solberg 20pts Manufacturers 1. BP Ford Abu Dhabi 99pts 2. Citroen Total 90pts 3. Subaru 53pts 4. Stobart VK M-Sport 41pts 5. Munchi's Ford 19pts 6. Suzuki 10pts 6. Next Event Rally Finland is the next challenge for the WRC on 31 July - 3 August. One of the most spectacular rallies of the season for both drivers and spectators, it demands absolute commitment and bravery, and is the one event that every driver wants to triumph over. Starting with the Killeri spectator stage on Thursday evening, the rally totals 24 stages and a shade over 342 competitive kilometres. Incorporating four new stages, notable by its absence is the most famous stage in the WRC - Ouninpohja. Before heading to the rally town of Jyvaskyla, the calendar has its six week summer break. |