Posts Tagged ‘stephane sarrazin’

Hirvonen wins Monte as expected – Ogier out just before the penultimate stage

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

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Posted in IRC, Video | No Comments »

Video: Peugeot 207 Super2000 test in Col du Galibier and Bourget du Lac

Wednesday, January 13th, 2010

Heavy Peugeot 207 S2000 tests were going on last week with both Kronos Racing and PH Sport. The first three days of the week in the snow of Col du Galibier and the last two days in Bourget du Lac, with just slightly dryer conditions. During the days, Stephane Sarrazin (fr), Bruno Magalhaes (pt) and Kris Meeke (uk) – all entering the Rally Monte Carlo later this month – tested the car.

Here is the video:

YouTube Preview Image

Thanks to poupondu34400 for the video.

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Posted in IRC, Rally testing, S-WRC / WRC Cup, Video | 1 Comment »

Sebastien Ogier and Stephane Sarrazin to drive Peugeot 207 S2000 in Monte Carlo

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Sebastien Ogier, winner of Rally Monte Carlo 2009

Picture: Sebastien Ogier in last years Rally Monte Carlo, photo: ircseries.com

According to French site Auto-Hebdo, last years winner of the Rally Monte Carlo Sebastien Ogier will drive a Kronos Racing backed Peugeot 207 S2000 in this years edition of the rally. Also the French asphalt ace and mixed rally/circuit driver Stephane Sarrazin will join the team in the same type of car. Not very much information is available, but for sure is that the Rally Monte Carlo will be a true joy for anyone interested in rallying considering the impressive lineup of drivers the event is starting to collect.

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Posted in IRC, Silly season | No Comments »

Challenging first day of Monte

Wednesday, January 21st, 2009

The first day of Rally Monte Carlo 2009 can be summed up as a tricky and challenging but also very entertaining day. SS1 started at 8:45 CET and the rally immediately proved tricky with both Abarth driver Luca Rosetti and Peugeot driver Didier Auriol thrown straight out of competition – Rosetti crashing out and Auriol with broken suspension. Reigning champion Nicolas Vouilloz (Peugeot 207 S2000) took the lead with Skoda works driver Juho Hänninen in second position and Toni Gardemeister with his Abarth Grande Punto in third.

As always in Monte Carlo, tyre choices have proved important throughout the day – something that a lot of drivers got to experience in SS2. Stephane Sarrazin in his Peugeot 207 seemed to do the best choice going into the downhill-running stage, and set fastest time moving him to second position in the rally. Nicolas Vouilloz lost out a bit and went into third position while Juho Hänninen continued to impress and took the lead of the rally.

SS3, the first stage with live coverage on Eurosport, became a tricky mix of weather. Starting on low altitude the surface was dry, but going higher the amount of snow and ice increase – as well as the snowfall. Most cars in the top 10 did at least the last 10-15 km’s of the stage in heavy snowfall, probably making both notes and tyre choices a bit wrong. Kris Meeke, running Peugeot England’s 207, set fastest time on the stage, followed by Stephane Sarrazin and Freddy Loix. Juho Hänninen in fourth place and Stephane Sarrazin in fifth made Hänninen overtake Sarrazin in the overall standings making the first day of Rally Monte Carlo end with Hänninen in the lead, Sarrazin in second and Vouilloz in third place.

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Rally Monte Carlo – an open affair in an IRC stronger than ever

Monday, January 19th, 2009

The IRC started as a small baby when the FIA decided to wait before switching to Super 2000 regulations a few years ago. With smart decisions and a strong media partner the championship has now grown into a teenager or a young adult, and soon it may be a full-grown beast seriously challenging the WRC in many ways. This year the season opens with the Rallye Monte Carlo – a mythic event full of history and legends.

Rally Monte Carlo has for years been the season opener of the World Rally Championship, but with the WRC stepping down to 12 events per year Monte is now in the IRC calendar for 2009 – and it will for sure be great. In 2009, IRC will have seven manufacturers commited to go for the championship – compared to WRC’s two. Abarth is the old guys in the game running their Punto Super 2000, while Skoda is the latest addition running two Fabia Super 2000 with Juho Hänninen and Jan Kopecky at the wheels. Besides them, also Honda, Citroen, Mitsubishi, Peugeot and Volkswagen are going for the IRC title.

With a number of new drivers, the 77th Monte Carlo Rally should be an open affair. Reigning IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz is of course one of the favourites – but he will for sure be challenged by Abarth’s Basso, Skoda’s Kopecky, Peugeot’s Freddy Loix, Didier Auriol and Stephane Sarrazin as well as Kris Meeke in the brand new Kronos/Peugeot UK-run Peugeot 207. But maybe the biggest danger to Vouilloz in Monte is his own countryman, upcoming youngster Sebastien Ogier. Ogier has been awarded the Monte Carlo start in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 in the BFGoodrich Drivers Team but is set to compete in the Citroen Junior Team in the WRC the rest of the season.

No matter what happens, the event will be a huge show to the public. It’s run in three legs during Wednesday to Friday and four stages will also be run in night conditions – like in the good, old times. Everyone having access to Eurosport should be happy, since the event is covered probably better than any previous rally, counting both the WRC, IRC and others. Rally Monte Carlo will get no less than 6h 15min of live television and added to that 2×15 minutes of short highlights from day one and two. More about that (including TV times) in my post regarding Eurosport TV coverage.

More info about the 77th Rally of Monte Carlo (external links)

Entry list
Itinerary
Stage maps
IRC Official website

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Posted in IRC, Rally promotion and media coverage | No Comments »