Posts Tagged ‘rally’
Friday, January 8th, 2010
Not much have been heard about PG Andersson lately, but in today’s NWT PG says that his drive in the Norweigan Championship round Sigdalsrallyt this weekend (PG made a late entry) will be used to decide if he’s gonna do Rally Sweden in a Super2000 rental car or in his own Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX. PG will drive the Mitsubishi in Norway along with co-driver Anders Fredriksson, since his regular co-driver Jonas Andersson is busy at the side of Mads Östberg.
The whole competition will be a test where PG tries wether he can keep the speed up with Eyvind Brynhildsen in his Skoda Fabia Super2000. PG says that renting a Super2000 car costs twice as much as doing the home rally in his own Mitsubishi – and if he can, he will save the money for later:
- I’ve got the money it takes, but if I can do two rallies instead of one for them I would prefer that, says PG.
Besides the start in Rally Sweden, which now seems to be totally confirmed, PG is looking at entering the IRC round Rally Italia Sardinia in June. For that rally he would rent a Super2000 car. However, the first thing after Sigdalsrallyt for PG is to do ice notes for Guy Wilks in Rally Monte Carlo later this month. As I revealed yesterday, Wilks is expected to confirm his agreement with Skoda UK today announcing a drive in the 2010 IRC.
Tags: anders fredriksson, eyvind brynhildsen, gravel notes, guy wilks, ice notes, IRC, jonas andersson, mads östberg, mitsubishi lancer, norweigan championship, pg andersson, rally, rally italia sardinia, rally monte carlo, rally sweden, sigdalsrallyt, skdoa fabia super2000, super2000
Posted in IRC, National Rallying, S-WRC / WRC Cup, Silly season, Swedish Rallying, WRC | 1 Comment »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
Since many people seem to have missed the fame of Ken Block and his Gymkhana stunt videos, I decided to post the Gymkhana II here. It’s not really rallying – and of course he has done a lot of tries, but at least it’s a rally car and it’s still quite impressive. Also, it’s a sign of how to do successful marketing with rallying – this video was ranked number four in the Viral Video Chart 2009 by well-known Advertising Age. Here we go:
Tags: 2010, dc shoes, ford, ford focus wrc, gymkhana 2, gymkhana II, gymkhana two, ken block, marketing, monster world rally team, rally, Video, viral, WRC
Posted in General, Rally promotion and media coverage, Video, WRC | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
It’s been rumoured a long time, but finally it’s confirmed. Ken Block will compete the 2010 World Rally Championship with Monster World Rally Team backed by M-Sport. Besides that Ken, who is a big star over in the US, will race the Rally America series with the new Ford Fiesta S2000 as well as compete in the X-Games for his fifth consecutive year.
The charge by Block, who is the first American ever to do a larger assault for the championship, seems to be on a long term, since he says that he’ll not promise any podiums the first year:
- Racing in the WRC has always been a dream of mine, but, I’m not going to promise podiums in my first year. I’ll be going up against the best drivers in the world. My main objective for 2010 is to develop into a competitive driver for 2011, and beyond, says Block.
Sad enough, Block – who is co-founder of DC Shoes and a former snowboarding, skateboarding and motocross star – is set to skip Rally Sweden and start of his WRC challenge with Rally Mexico in March. No matter what, the WRC will really be boosted this year with two superstars in Raikkonen and Block joining the championship.
I’ll get back later on with more info and some reflections on Ken Block and his chances in the championship.
Monster World Rally Team launch video:
More info at: http://monsterworldrallyteam.com/
Tags: 2010, dc shoes, ford, ford fiesta s2000, ford fiesta super2000, ford focus wrc, ken block, m-sport, monster world rally team, rally, rally america, rally mexico, world rally championship, WRC, x-games
Posted in Rally promotion and media coverage, Silly season, WRC | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
Skoda has performed another test for the upcoming Rally Monte Carlo, this time in Czech Republic and on real snow surface.
Thanks to Rigipepa and RallyZone.cz for the video.
Tags: 2010, rally, rally monte carlo, skoda, skoda fabia super2000, test, testing, Video
Posted in IRC, Video | No Comments »
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
Since a few days, the french site PlaneteMarcus has published Google Earth map files for the IRC Rallye Monte Carlo 2010. What a nice christmas present, isn’t it? Maps are also available for use on the iPhone – which is even better. However, the iPhone version – created by StageTimes – cost’s a little.
Check the maps out here: http://planetemarcus.free.fr/googleearthmap.htm (link to iPhone app to the left on the page)
Tags: google earth, iphone, IRC, maps, rally, WRC
Posted in General, IRC, Rally promotion and media coverage, WRC | 1 Comment »
Thursday, December 17th, 2009
Anders Gröndal tested his Subaru Impreza WRC today in Norway. The conditions seemed to be really snowy and the temperature was at -17 degrees celcius. Watch for yourself:
I know that Mads Östberg tested with Gröndal earlier this week, but still there seems to be no dedicated video available from that test.
Gröndals test didn’t went very good. He had damper problems from the beginning – and something happened during the test that forced the team to cancel, and that also jeopardizes Gröndal’s scheduled local event Romhjulsrallyt, a few days after christmas.
Tags: anders gröndal, norway, rally, subaru impreza wrc, test, testing, Video, winter test
Posted in Rally testing, Video, WRC | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
The excellent Norweigan site Motorsport.no quotes Eyvind Brynhildsen in an interview where the young Norweigan states that it’s more difficult to become World Champion in the P-WRC than in the WRC. For sure I get his point about the P-WRC having more competitors able to challenge for wins, but I certainly doubt that Mikko Hirvonen or any other top WRC drivers would agree with him on the rest. Until the WRC loses the world’s by far best rally driver, Sebastien Loeb, quotes like that should be handled with care in my opinion.
Another interesting note from Norway is that Petter Solberg loses one of his main sponsors, the John Lunde Marine group. The company made a loss of 90.3M NOK last year, so why they had to pull the plug to their sponsorship seems quite obvious. However, I hope and I think that Petter has a good plan.
Tags: eyvind brynhildsen, john lunde marine, norway, p-wrc, petter solberg, pwrc, rally, sebastien loeb, sponsor, world champion, WRC
Posted in Silly season, WRC | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
The Skoda tests continue and now Juho Hänninen has done his drive in Col de l’Able. Here is the video:
Thanks to rallyelange for the video.
Tags: col de l'able, IRC, juho hänninen, monte carlo, rally, skoda, skoda fabia super2000, test, testing
Posted in IRC, Rally testing, S-WRC / WRC Cup, Video | No Comments »
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009
Patrik Sandell lost his chances of winning the Production WRC this weekend in Acropolis. His engine broke down in the very same turn as Loebs crash, and with Nasser finishing second, Sandell’s chances of gold are now totally lost. Depressing to lose the big goal of the season already before the summer break…
Sandell himself says it was the worst day in his career, and I can’t stop thinking that he haven’t been through so much then. 
I know a lot of drivers that would consider it more of a summer breeze. Anyway, at the same time as I think it sounds a little bit silly, it also underlines Patrik’s dedication. Of course you’re allowed to have some kind of breakdown after such a thing, and it’s now the interesting things start. We’ll get to see his real strength, if he can come back re-motivated and do good results during the rest of the season. Time will show…
Read more (Swedish) in Aftonbladet:
http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/motor/svenkkollen/article5388257.ab
Tags: acropolis, engine, failure, greece, lost, patrik sandell, pwrc, rally, skoda fabia super2000, title, WRC
Posted in WRC | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
Spent the night yesterday writing the lovely press release about Daniel Carlsson coming back to rallying. I wont tell you the whole story now, but there is so much regarding his mistake and the behaviour by different actors after it that haven’t been discussed in media and that are not really nice stories (at least to those ones involved) if they come out into the light.
One day I’ll take the time to write that story to you guys reading this blog. It isn’t really the time yet, I guess, but it’s certainly coming closer. Until then I’m just really happy about the comeback and the strength Daniel is showing. His mistake was unacceptable, he can’t blame anyone – and he let everyone down. But… He let himself down more than anyone else – and he has been knowing that every day since then. Now he’s back – and just the fact that he makes the comeback is just amazing. Hope the rally makes it even better!
The scene of the comeback will be South Swedish Rally (part of the Swedish Championship) on May 15-16 2009. The car, a Ford Focus WRC05, will be engineered by AP Däckservice Engineering Team in cooperation with the guys at Tätab and Dom Buckley Motorsport.
Read more (in Swedish) at www.danielcarlsson.com
If you don’t speak Swedish and still wonders something, feel free to ask me questions in the comments and I’ll try to answer them!
Tags: ap däckservice engineering team, comeback, daniel carlsson, dom buckley motorsport, ford focus wrc, ford focus wrc05, rally, south swedish rally, swedish championship, tätab
Posted in National Rallying, Silly season, Swedish Rallying, WRC | 1 Comment »
