Archive for the ‘IRC’ Category
Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
Patrik Sandell and his co-driver Staffan Parmander tested before the Rally Acores this monday. At least the test roads seem really nice and fast. Question is how Patrik will perform after a doubtful start of the season where he has been followed by various problems, not least punctures. The team have now switched tyre brand to Pirelli, which they hope will solve the problem and enable Patrik to go for the win. Personally, I’m not convinced it will be enough to reach all the way to a victory, but maybe he can at least get a step closer…
Tags: patrik sandell, pirelly, rally acores, staffan parmander, test, tyres
Posted in IRC, Rally testing, Video | No Comments »
Monday, February 8th, 2010
Andreas Mikkelsen's test place in Kall, Sweden a few days ago when Marcus Grönholm was testing the car. Today, Monday, it's Andreas' turn to do the testing. Photo: andreasmikkelsen.no
It seems like Andreas Mikkelsen has decided that he will use the Ford Fiesta Super2000 for this years campaign (source: Verdens Gang) in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Earlier, I have reported that Mikkelsen was still in the choice between the Fiesta and the Skoda Fabia Super2000 – a decisiong that now has been made.
First off and as we already know, Andreas will do Sweden in the Fiesta. Then he will follow up with a seven round programme in the IRC with the hope to go back to the World Rally Championship in 2011.
Mikkelsen’s manager, Erik Veiby, says:
- We have been working purposefully to get Andreas and Ola in a competitive car, and a team that can win the IRC series this year.
We’ll see if that’s correct…
Tags: andreas mikkelsen, erik veiby, ford fiesta super2000, intercontinental rally challenge, IRC, rally sweden, s2000, skoda fabia super2000
Posted in IRC, Rally testing, Silly season, WRC | No Comments »
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
A new spectacular video of Kris Meeke’s off in Rally Monte Carlo this week has appeared, uploaded by a spectator standing just meters from the place where Meeke went off at Pont de la Gageyre on the stage Labatie d’Andaure.
Here is the video:
I’ve previously posted a clip of the crash from Eurosports footage here.
Thanks to dbe07 for the video.
Tags: 2010, accident, crash, kris meeke, labatie d'andaure, off road, pont de la gageyre, rally monte carlo, Video
Posted in IRC, Video | No Comments »
Saturday, January 23rd, 2010
Hirvonen’s IRC appearance in Rally Monte Carlo ended up with a win – just as one would expect if the new Ford Fiesta Super2000 delivered without problems. It obviously did, so Hirvonen showed by leading the rally from the first to the last stage that it is a difference – no matter how small or big it might be – between WRC and IRC. Also it was really a flying start for the Fiesta – and it will certainly be interesting to see if the difference Hirvonen managed to held is just because of his skills or also because of the car. A new hint will be given in Rally Sweden in a few weeks, where Andreas Mikkelsen, Martin Prokop, Bernardo Sousa and Janne Tuohino will drive the car.
Sebastien Ogier was 2nd placed going into the last loop, but on his way to the penultimate special stage his car broke down and he had to retire. This gave Juho Hänninen the 2nd place after a solid but not stunning drive throughout the weekend, where many people removed themselves from the chance of winning by making mistakes, including Meeke, Sarrazin, and others.
The standings after SS15 – and most probably the final results – are:
1. Hirvonen / Lehtinen, 4h32min 58.5s
2. Hänninen / Markula, +1min 51.4s
3. Vouilloz / Veillas, +3min 19.1s
4. Sarrazin / Renucci, +7min 25.5s
5. Kopecky / Stary, +8min 48.7s
6. Wilks / Pugh, +9min 24.5s
7. Magalhaes / Magalhaes, +9min 45.4s
8. Vigion / Prevot, +13min 33.5s
Follow the links to read more:
Results
Eurosport videos from Monte Carlo
Rally Monte Carlo 2010 on YouTube
Tags: 2010, andreas mikkelsen, bernardo sousa, bruno magalhaes, ford fiesta super2000, guy wilks, jan kopecky, janne tuohino, juho hänninen, martin prokop, mikko hirvonen, nicolas vouilloz, rally monte carlo, results, s2000, stephane sarrazin, Video, vigion, win, youtube
Posted in IRC, Video | No Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
Sebastien Ogier retired from Rally Monte Carlo 2010 with mechanical problems on the transport to SS14. Really boring news…
Posted in IRC | No Comments »
Friday, January 22nd, 2010
It seems like Skoda UK will add Rally Argentina and Rally de Curitiba in Brazil to Guy Wilks IRC calendar. This means, as far as I understand, that Wilks’ calendar now contains 9 events this year (or out 12 in the IRC). Wilks is currently on 5th place in Rally Monte Carlo with three stages to go tonight before the rally ends.
Tags: brazil, guy wilks, intercontinental rally challenge, IRC, rally argentina, rally de curitiba
Posted in IRC, Silly season | No Comments »
Thursday, January 21st, 2010
Here is the clip from Eurosport where Kris Meeke crashed his Peugeot out of Rally Monte Carlo 2010 on stage 5, the first stage of the second day. Kris told that he was breaking well in time for the right turn, but thought he braked a little bit too much, released the break for a while and then went into the start of the bridge before dropping off in the ditch on the left side of the road. Luckily both Meeke and co-driver Nagle escaped unharmed.
Thanks to dragracing3 for the video.
Tags: 2010, accident, bridge, kris meeke, off, off road, paul nagle, rally monte carlo, retire, retirement, Video
Posted in IRC, Video | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, January 20th, 2010
Many people following the rally reports from Rally Monte Carlo today have probably noticed and wondered about the fact that Ogier was so angry after going off the stage – and how the hell spectators can come to the idea to put snow on the road just to sabotage for the drivers (If you don’t know what I’m talking about – watch the video!). I can’t answer that question, but it’s certainly a big problem for the Rally Monte Carlo organisers that they need to solve. This has been going on for quite some years now, and I have a feeling they’ve already tried – but I’m not sure they have tried as hard as they should…
It doesn’t even need to be explained how dangerous it is to throw snow on the road when a car potentially going on slicks are approaching assuming conditions are like they were just a few hours before when the ice note crew went through. In road traffic you should have margins for such things – but not in rallying. That’s what rallying is about… Driving without that extra margins, using the skills and the interaction between driver and co-driver to get the car through the stage as fast as possible… The spectators doing those things have no interest in rallying, they are just losers. But in the end – if the spectators can’t handle it themselves, it’s the responsibility of the organiser to get it solved.
With that said, I love the Rally Monte Carlo and that has been even more clear to me in 2009 and 2010 with the beautiful live TV coverage. But I can actually say I’m happy the event is out of the WRC as long as this problem stays as big as it is (=more of standard than exception during the rally). Get guards out to the important twists, damn organisers. I know it’s quite many but what else can you do? If you can cover everything live on TV, you can probably find one guard per turn too. This makes the rally both dangerous and a farce for crews, spectators and marshals.
I really hope this gets better!
And as a note… Mikko Hirvonen leads the rally with 41.9 seconds over last years champion Kris Meeke and 1.04 before Juho Hänninen. The action continues tomorrow – and everything is broadcasted live. Just hope the morons have been sent home then, the rally is too good to be disturbed by such shit..!
Tags: 2010, accident, live coverage, off road, rally monte carlo, safety, sebastien ogier, snow, spectators, tv
Posted in IRC | 3 Comments »
Tuesday, January 19th, 2010
Malcolm Wilson’s problem solving capabilities payed off: the decision is to let the Ford Fiesta S2000 start in Rally Monte Carlo, which means that Mikko Hirvonen and Julien Maurin can start the rally. What the exact problems were is still unknown, but it will be interesting to hear M-Sport’s approach to avoid the same problems later on in Rally Sweden and other rallies. It’s obviously very embarassing that such a thing can happen at all.
Now, let’s look forward to a bright Rally Monte Carlo with hopefully difficult conditions of tarmac, melting snow and ice – and hope that this doesn’t mean discussions and speculations if a Fiesta wins the rally.
Tags: 2010, ford fiesta super2000, julien maurin, m-sport, malcolm wilson, mikko hirvonen, rally monte carlo, s2000
Posted in IRC | No Comments »
