Posts Tagged ‘WRC’
Friday, January 8th, 2010
Speaking with WRC.com about his split with co-driver Cato Menkerud, Henning Solberg claims that a girl may partner him in the right seat this season:
- If things work out then I will have a girl in the car with me this year. It will be good for me, and for the sport too – at the moment there are no females competing at this level.
Thinking logically there are not much girls to choose from, as Henning is completely right in that no females are competing at the very highest level in the world. I can only think of two girls that are close enough to Henning to be potential, and they are Veronica Engan and Maria Andersson.
However, Veronica Engan is very less likely than Maria Andersson. Maria just quit her cooperation with Anders Gröndal – and the replacement is noone else than Veronica Engan. It seems unlikely that Veronica would quit after just one rally. But more important, I consider Swede Maria Andersson by far more expecienced. She has been doing a lot of drives in the Production World Rally Championship with Patrik Flodin, one or another WRC drive with Flodin, a season with Gröndal in a WRC car and also one or another WRC drive with George Tracey a few years ago. Besides that, she has partnered Mikkelsen in WRC and Brynhildsen in group N occasionally.
Engan has mostly been doing a group N drives with Brynhildsen, and even though I don’t have her complete record I think that the experience of Andersson makes the choice quite easy. In the end of the day, I can’t imagine that Henning talks of anyone else than Maria Andersson for his WRC challenge 2010 – given that it’s a girl.
Tags: 2010, anders gröndal, cato menkerud, co-driver, codriver, eyvind brynhildsen, girl, henning solberg, maria andersson, patrik flodin, veronica engan, WRC
Posted in National Rallying, Silly season, WRC | 3 Comments »
Friday, January 8th, 2010
Reading Autosport’s article of yesterday regarding the manufacturer teams in the 2010 WRC, you can read a number of names that Autosport says “are expected” for the championship. No name is a complete surprise – but it would be interesting to know how good coverage David Evans has for them. He use to know good, but in this case it sounds a lot like speculation on some of the names.
First off, the safe names are Federico Villagra in Munchis WRT, Ken Block in Monster WRT, Petter Solberg in Solberg PSWRT – and the almost safe (?) Matthew Wilson in Stobart WRT. So far no problem. But then comes Henning Solberg as expected in Stobart – and that’s a little bit more uncertain. I know that Henning targets a seat in the WRC again, but I also know that this very much depends on a renewed contract with Expert for 2010. The second questionmark is Gigi Galli and PG Andersson – where one of them or even both are said to be joining the PSWRT. I know nothing about Galli, but when it comes to PG I know he was in discussions regarding the PSWRT early this autumn – but then he has announced that he probably can’t collect the money needed. I’ll get back with a small post on PG’s future later today.
So, it would be really intersting to know what facts are behind the article. If Evans get three right out of three on the uncertain things, it would be like heaven to any rally addict. I guess the future will show…
Tags: 2010, federico villagra, gigi galli, henning solberg, ken block, monster, munchis, petter solberg, pg andersson, rallycross, stobart, WRC
Posted in Silly season, 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 »
Thursday, January 7th, 2010
The world is upside-down for Henning? Cato Menkerud splits with the Norweigan driver and no deal is still signed for the WRC 2010. Photo: Rasmus Bjerén
Henning Solberg and Cato Menkerud splits their co-operation after many years together. According to Norweigan media, the decision was taken this week – and the older brother Solberg now has to find a new codriver for his WRC challenge. If there will be one, this is – nothing is still known about Henning’s plans and rumours have placed him in rallycross instead of WRC this season.
According to Norweigan newspaper VG, Henning and Cato has been dissentient for a long time regarding what the next step should be in their World Championship plan. Cato Menkerud claims that the two are still good friends, but says:
- We’ve worked together for many years, but the cooperations hasn’t been as inspiring lately.
Henning, who has been driving with Menkerud since 2002, says:
- We’ve been keeping on for many years, and there’s nothing wrong.
According to VG, Solbergs plans for the season are still to be decided – and there is no deal signed. Menkerud is looking for a new driver to co-drive, and two different drivers should be more interesting than others.
Tags: 2010, cato menkerud, co-driver, henning solberg, WRC
Posted in Silly season, WRC | No Comments »
Wednesday, January 6th, 2010
With two new stars coming into the championship, I thought it would be a fun thing to compare their driving styles – so I found one onboard video of each driver. Ken Block on the Concord Pond stage in the New England Forest Rally 2008 in America driving a Subaru Impreza and Kimi Räikkönen driving the Abarth Grande Punto in WRC Rally Finland 2009 on the Leustu stage.
Compare the driving styles yourself!
Ken Block, Subaru Impreza, New England Forest Rally 2008, Concord Pond stage, onboard:
Kimi Räikkönen, Abarth Grande Punto, WRC Rally Finland 2009, Leustu stage, onboard:
Tags: abarth grande punto, concord pond, driving style, ken block, kimi räikkönen, new england forest rally, onboard, rally finland, s2000, subaru impreza, super 2000, Video, WRC, youtube
Posted in National Rallying, 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 »
Monday, January 4th, 2010
Patrik Flodin had a hard 2009 P-WRC season in the Russian Uspenskiy Rally Technica team, but scored an important success to the team by winning the Russian championship. However, the Russian win doesn’t mean much outside of Russia – and as the team has taken a time off from rallying because of the financial crisis – it looks a bit dark to Flodin.
Flodin admits that times are tough, but still shows a glimpse of optimism:
- Currently I’ve got nothing to announce. For a full WRC or IRC campaign it looks dark, but I’m trying to get together a start in Rally Sweden and then we’ll see. Nothing is decided about the car, but I’m looking at renting a Subaru or Mitsubishi grp N. I’ve got some local sponsors onboard but nothing is finalised with the big ones.
Even though a larger programme looks dark to the Swede, he underlines that things may happen later in the season. Many drivers are switching for IRC, but Flodin is still looking primarily for the World Championship:
- I’d like to do the World Rally Championship, and the dream would be a Super2000 car… The new class [S-WRC / WRCCup] would be perfect for me.
So, I guess we just have to wish Patrik good luck and hope we’ll see him in Rally Sweden and more rallies during the year.
Tags: 2010, entry, IRC, patrik flodin, rally sweden, russia, super2000, URT, uspenskiy rally technica, WRC
Posted in IRC, S-WRC / WRC Cup, Silly season, WRC | 2 Comments »
Monday, January 4th, 2010
Argentinean driver Federico Villagra will do 7 rounds of the 2010 WRC season and also one outing in the IRC event Rally Argentina. The WRC rounds are Mexico, Jordan, New Zealand, Portugal, Catalunya, Japan and France, which he will do in a Ford Focus WRC from the Munchis team. The Rally Argentina entry is in the Ford Fiesta Super2000 – a drive he says he’s invited to for free. According to himself, Villagra is trying to extend the invitation to cover even the Brazilian Curitiba IRC-event. Last but not least, Villagra has confirmed that he start off the WRC season by doing tests in England in February.
Tags: 2010, brazil, curitiba, england, federico villagra, ford fiesta super2000, ford focus wrc, IRC, munchis, rally argentina, test, WRC
Posted in IRC, Rally testing, Silly season, WRC | 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
The TV-coverage of the World Rally Championship in Scandinavia is now officialy in box. The discussions with Viasat has been known for a while, but now is even the formal agreement signed with the promotor, ISC. The agreement covers nothing less than three years of coverage, which means Scandinavian events and teams can now plan their sponsor deals on a longer term.
According to Bertil Klarin, m.d. of Rally Sweden, it means that both the Swedish Championship and the WRC event will get a lot of coverage.
Exact details regarding the coverage of Rally Sweden is not know, but the plan is TV broadcasts for four days during the rally, including live coverage of the Karlstad Super Special Stage in the start of the rally and also the finish at the new, spectacular Värmullsåsen stage in Hagfors.
(Source, in Swedish: SR)
Tags: bertil klarin, coverage, isc, karlstad super special stage, live, motor, rally sweden, scandinavia, swedish championship, tv-coverage, värmullsåsen, viasat, WRC
Posted in National Rallying, Rally promotion and media coverage, Swedish Rallying, WRC | No Comments »
