s e k a r b d Han s n i p r i a H & ld of rallying r o w e h t o t in t h ig your ins
Cover
Four stages in: ADRENALIN!
ISSUE 164 • 06 JAN 2011
Features
http://handbrakeshairpins.wordpress.com Meeke not done with IRC, P9 SSolberg olberg lb aims i ffor Monte win, P11
H&H January Calendar, P10
News
Events IIRC, RC PP9 RRC, DDR, R P12
BRC and Irish rally news USA rallying news and updates WRC and IRC W nnews updates
Contents / Issue 164 04
Editorial Information Editor Evan Rothman Photojournalist Eva Kovkova Contributors RallyBuzz, Motorpics, Liga Stirna, Newspress. All content copyrighted property of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, 200710. This publication is fully protected by copyright and nothing may be reprinted in whole or in part without written permission from the editor. While reasonable precautions have been taken to ensure the accuracy of information from sources and given to readers, the editor cannot accept responsibility for any inconvenience or damage that may arise therefrom.
News
04 05 05
Daily Online Updates Skoda and Red Bull for SWRC in 2011 Fan Foto Framed
06
Features
06 07 08 09 09 10 11 11
For Sale: Citroen C4 WRC Champion in Istanbul Champs active in off-season Meeke not done with IRC Wittmann halts IRC plans H&H’s January Rally Calendar Solberg aims for Monte success Coffs Coasts for Rally Australia
12 12
Events Dakar Rally 2011
Contact E-mail us evan.hhmag@gmail.com Call us +27 83 452 6892 Surf us http://wp.me/pkXc
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Welcome to issue 164 of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, your FREE weekly insight into the world of rallying. As always, I hope you enjoy this week’s exciting edition. Yours in Rallying, Evan Rothman
THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF RALLYING
RallyBuzz.com features European rally championships, British rallying, RallyCar events, international rally results and videos, as well as S2000 and WRC news.
www.RallyBuzz.com
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e world of rallying
your insight into th
Bringing you the latest international rally news, extensive event previews and reviews, indepth feature and technical articles, awardwinning photography and insightful columnists, HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS is distributed to your e-mail inbox each week for FREE in the form of a high-quality 2MB .PDF file. To receive this FREE eMagazine (in .PDF format), please send an email to evanrothman@gmail.com.
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Happy New Year!!! Wishing you the best of luck for the 2011 season
We have a large selection of seats, harnesses, steering wheels, racewear and various other goodies arriving from middle January 2011, so remember to pop in or send us an e-mail with all your requirements and we will gladly assist.
͵Ͳ Ϊʹ ͳͳ ͲͺͶͲͲ Ȁ Ϊʹ ͳͳ ͵ͷͳͺͷ Ǧ ǣ ̷ Ǧ Ǥ Ǥ
News
>>MORE NEWS For even more news, with daily updates, visit http://wp.me/pkXc
HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS
Team & Event News WRC IRC South African Rallying DAILY ONLINE UPDATES For your convenience, here are the news items in this easy-toclick menu page:
• The Mercedes Benz 190 Evo Rally car in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udJ6Qzdn7wU
WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP • Dani Sordo and MIN WRC Team: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2lc • Two Aussie women chase World Championship success: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2l4
• Petter Solberg vs Henning Solberg in Japan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aCIh1iCFKU
BRITISH AND IRISH RALLYING • BRC spells out its future: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2l8 • Four wheel drive; over but not out - British Rally Championship: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2l1 • Rallyday 2011 date announced: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2kZ
• WRC Rally Deutschland 2010 action in HD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIBP9xnUJpM
INTERNATIONAL RALLYING AND OFF-ROAD RACING • SS4 Overall results and stage report - Dakar Rally 2011: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2lg • Dakar Rally 2011: SS3 overall results and stage report: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2kQ • Dakar Rally: SS2 Overall Results and Stage Report: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2kG • Dakar Rally: Stage One’s Overall Results and Report: http://wp.me/ppkXc-2jY
• Barum Rally 2009: Historic rally cars in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT2Y0zOp3HU
• WRC Rally Monte Carlo 2007 - with pure engine sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JsMaZmyOis • Roger Clark - Remembered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SblDEa_tOls • Armindo Araujo at WRC Rally Portugal 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S7RM32oDPw • Barum Rally 2009: Historic rally cars in action (VIDEO): http://wp.me/ppkXc-2kn
RECOMMENDED YOUTUBE RALLY VIDEOS: • Group B Monsters: http://t.co/hbh3VvS • In-Car with Stig Blomqist in Finland in 1988 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbYMZOu0AQA
THIS WEEK’S BEST VIDEO << The Group B era of rallying ended in the second half of the 1980s, but it remains the “Golden Era” of world rallying for many fans. Here is a great video for your viewing pleasure to see why: http://t.co/hbh3VvS At the top of each page, a tabbed section contains video clicks we recommend viewing. In other tabbed sections, we have linked articles posted on our website that will add more perspective and insight into the article it accompanies. Together with the videos, HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS aims to offer readers a fully-interactive reading experience. Send evanrothman@gmail.com your favourite rally-related videos to to be featured in this section. Or, send us a twitter to @Evan_Rothman or a message on Facebook.
THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF RALLYING
RallyBuzz.com features European rally championships, British rallying, RallyCar events, international rally results and videos, as well as S2000 and WRC news.
www.RallyBuzz.com
NEWS
Features
Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
Events
In-Car with Stig Blomqist in Finland in 1988: The Mercedes Benz 190 Evo Rally car in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbYMZOu0AQA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udJ6Qzdn7wU
SKODA AND RED BULL TEAM UP FOR SWRC 2011
FAN FOTO FRAMED
Got a great shot from a rally? Send your favourite rally photograph to evan.hhmag@gmail.com to be featured here! Picture by Daniel Darrall (http://danieldarrall.wordpress.com/)
Words: Staff Writer The Red Bull Skoda team is a result of joint efforts by Skoda Motorsport (factory team), Baumschlager Rally Racing (BRR, a private team) and Red Bull. Shortly after winning last year’s IRC, Skoda has made another big step forward by becoming part of Red Bull Skoda, a new team based on the brand’s partnership with the top-class company Red Bull and its liaison with the private team BRR. Both of the new team’s crews, the IRC champions Juho Hänninen & Mikko Markkula of Finland and Germany’s young hope Hermann Gassner jr and Katharina Wüstenhagen, are going to appear in the 2011 S-WRC. Head of Skoda Motorsport Michal Hrabánek says: “We are really pleased that we can contribute to further growth of the Fabia Super 2000 project as part of Red Bull and BRR. Red Bull is one of the strongest possible partners on today’s sports scene. The BRR team led by Raimund Baumschlager, a nine-times Austrian Rally Champion and the buyer of the first Fabia Super 2000 vehicle we sold, is a guarantee of a highly professional approach and top-class background.“ Hänninen has great memories of Baumschlager’s team, too: driving Baumschlager’s Fabia S2000, he convincingly won 2010’s Finnish Rally in the S-WRC category. Raimund Baumschlager says: “First of all, I wish to thank Skoda Motorsport and also Red Bull, our partner, for their support. We have only the best experience of co-operating with them, and they are both leaders in what they do. Juho has been one of the top drivers over the lat few years. I remember him when he used to appear in PWRC - he was our toughest competitor in the battle for the championship title. At the same time, I know him as an excellent test driver and a great chap, too. I am sure that with him around we can think of the highest ranks. Hermann Gassner has a great opportunity to grow beside Juho and learn from him, in both tests and races. We are planning to appear in about seven Championships events.” H&H
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FOR SALE: CITROEN C4 WRC Words: Evan Rothman Pictures: Eva Kovkova Petter “Hollywood” Solberg is as much a part of rallying as a handbrake is to the rally car. This 2003 World Rally Champion has campaigned two seasons (2009 and 2010) as a privateer, going up against the likes of the factory outfits from Citroen and Ford. With a number of second place overall results under his belt this past season, but still lacking that elusive rally win as a privateer, the Norwegian rally ace has arrived at a career crosspath. Citroen Racing has stated that it will only allow for two customer DS3 WRC cars for 2011, and these cars have already been purchased by Van Merksteijn Motorsport for their 2011 WRC campaign. This then leaves Solberg in a very difficult situation: Ford has not publicly offered
Solberg a drive or a car for hire, and the new Prodrive MINI operation already has its complement of drivers. He will pilot a Peugeot 207 S2000 in the Interncontinental Rally Challenge series’ Monte Carlo Rally 2011 in two weeks’ time. This is a one-off drive, handed to Solberg by Olivier Quesnel, head of Citroen Racing. It is unlikely this to be a “performance test” for a future drive, but Solberg will naturally drive that Peugeot through the asphalt stages as if he had stolen that car. For 2011 Solberg has been offered an opportunity to participate in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). With his wealth of driving skill and sheer determination, I am sure that he will fare rather well in this formula. However, no one wants to see Petter leave the WRC fray… Spotted on a website is
Solberg’s Citroen C4 WRC for sale: http://www.rally24.com/rally-cars-forsale/rally-car-9870.html. To aid his plight, HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS will now plug this car for Mr Solberg. Citroen C4 WRC for sale. One owner. Driven only on weekends. Low mileage. Great fuel consumption. Serviced regularly. New engine and gearbox recently fitted. Unique paint job, mags and engine sound. For only €500,000 it is yours. No matter the outcome, Petter Solberg will remain my World Rally Championship hero; I will continue to closely follow his motorsport activities no matter which formula he enters. Go Petter, Go! H&H
News
FEATURES
Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
Events
Petter Solberg vs Henning Solberg in Japan: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aCIh1iCFKU
Barum Rally 2009: Historic rally cars in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT2Y0zOp3HU
CHAMPION IN ISTANBUL Words: Evan Rothman Picture: Supplied Rallying is male-dominated sport. There’s no doubting that fact. However, a number of very talented ladies have made an indelible mark on the sport and none more so than Michelle Mouton. A country inhabiting both the West and East, with its main city straddling the borderline, in fact, Turkey has stepped up to produce a rally driver of growing stature. Turkey has brought the world of rallying Burcu Cetinkaya, who wowed crowds with her impressive car control and speed in the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge series in a Peugeot 207 S2000.
The way is now paved for more ladies in her homeland of Turkey to strive for the international rallying stages, and the most promising to date is Burcu Burkut Erenkul. This 21-yearold driver contested the three-round Istanbul Rally Championship last month, a highly-popular event staged over six demanding speed tests in and around Istanbul’s gravel roads. Having produced very respectable results in the overall classification against the quicker and more powerful machines in the S2000 and N4 Classes, Erenkul’s Ford Fiesta ST N3 did her proud. Of the 16 ladies entered for the series, Erenkul won the Ladies Championship! To boot, she beat more experienced male drivers
to finish second overall in the Junior Championship and was crowned the Class N3 Champion too. With the Turkish Rally Championship kicking off later this season, Erenkul is searching for financial backers to allow her to continue competing in the Ford Fiesta ST N3 of Ford of Turkey for 2011, and she aims to then contest select rounds of the Italian Rally Championship to gain more competitive experience. This young lady is undoubtedly a star of the future… H&H
Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
News
WRC Rally Deutschland 2010 action in HD: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIBP9xnUJpM
FEATURES
Events
WRC Rally Monte Carlo 2007 - engine sounds: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JsMaZmyOis
2011 RALLY AMERICA CHAMPS’ ACTIVE OFF-SEASON Words: Staff Writer Pictures: Andrew Harvey Photography It was an incredible and bewildering 2010 season for the Rockstar Energy Drink Royal Group rally team of Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard. They’re the royalty of North American rallying after winning the Rally America National Championship in the U.S., the Canadian Rally Series, and the North American Rally Championship all with ONE car and no crashes! Think about it! That is 12 rally events in two countries without a single crash while beating better funded teams such as the Subaru Rally Team USA, Subaru Rally Team Canada and the Monster World Rally Team. Perhaps the cherry on top of a delicious season was the bronze medal the team won at X Games 16. No North American rally team has ever had this kind of success in a single season. The secret weapon for L’Estage and Richard could have been rally legend John Buffum, an eleven time American champion and arguably the best rally driver in North American history. Buffum built their 2009 Mitsubishi EVO X and did some mentoring to help put L’Estage and Richard on another level in an already accomplished career. So, in a SportsCenter hyperbolic world, what’s next? “It’s nice to get away from the rush of packing, flying, and preparing for the next race,” L’Estage said. “We are still going full
speed wrapping up sponsorship and car preparations for next season. “I am able to spend more time with my children and family for now. I still have a business (Energie Cardio fitness centers in Montreal, Canada) to run with my two partners and I can keep up with my current fitness routine.” And fitness is genuinely a part of Antoine’s life, but that brought some irony to his off-season. He plays competitively in a hockey league during the winter months and, while celebrating a crash-free rally season, L’Estage shredded his collarbone chasing the puck during a mid-December hockey encounter. L’Estage had a metal plate installed during surgery. Still, L’Estage was amazed with the pace of his recovery five days after the surgery. He expects to be ready to defend his Rally America championship when the season opens at the Sno*Drift Rally the last weekend later thsi month. “Winning the Rally America Championship was a real big deal for us considering that we are a team of just five people with a single car,” L’Estage continued. “We never expected to be in contention the whole year. We were just going to run a limited selection of Rally America events, but we found ourselves at the top of the standings and fortunately found the funding to continue our Championship run. “We have our sponsors for next year, but the money isn’t enough to run both Championships again. We’ll be at the first two American events, at least.”
Winning the 2010 Canadian Rally Championship was particularly sweet for L’Estage. On the last stage of the last event in 2009, he narrowly lost the overall lead to his nemesis and defending Canadian champion Patrick Richard when the car broke leaving Antoine and Nathalie heartbroken by the side of the road. In 2010, however, it was a different story as the team kept the pressure on Patrick all season through the end of that final stage and the ultimate title. L’Estage expects next year’s Championship is going to be more difficult with the entrance of David Higgins, who recently joined the Subaru Rally Team USA alongside BMX legend, Dave Mirra. “Higgins has an impressive rally resume and experience,” said L’Estage. “Subaru continues to raise the bar with their car development and drivers and we are going to try to keep up. Higgins will definitely be the man to beat.” Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard will have targets on their Evo X as the defending Rally America Champions. They’ll be out to prove that the disciplined style that earned them the 2010 Triple Crown was no fluke. The Rockstar Energy Drink Royal Group rally team is a success story of perseverance and commitment. It embodies the press-on-regardless rally spirit. They’re proof you don’t need a big factory budget to be Champions. H&H
News
FEATURES
Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
Events
Roger Clark - Remembered: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SblDEa_tOls
Armindo Araujo at WRC Rally Portugal 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7S7RM32oDPw
WITTMANN’S IRC 2011 PLANS ON HOLD FOR NOW Words: Staff Writer
MEEKE WON’T RULE OUT FUTURE IRC RETURN Words: Staff Writer Pictures: IRC Series Former Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) champion Kris Meeke has said he wouldn’t rule out returning to the series in the future. Meeke, who claimed the 2009 IRC crown on the back of four victories, has completed his two-year stint in the IRC with the Kronos Racing-run Peugeot UK squad. He said: “You never know for the future. For now my focus is with MINI and their programme in the world championship. I’ve had a great time in the IRC but this is going to be a new and exciting project and an opportunity to play a part in a major development programme.
“It’s fair to say I would not have the opportunity I have now without the IRC. It was a breath of fresh air for me. It’s a big step from a national championship but not so big that you can’t be competitive. The cars are the same specification and we’ve seen on events where you have 26 Super 2000 cars and at least 10 of them are genuinely capable of winning. It’s highly, highly competitive.” Meeke finished third in the 2010 IRC standings, winning Rally Internacional de Curitiba in Brazil in the process. A short interview with Meeke appears in the Q&A section of http://www.rally-irc.com. H&H
Up to the last moment, Franz Wittmann had been hoping for a Christmas miracle regarding a further IRC season. But it has become bitter truth: the first event in Monte Carlo will take place without the Austrian’s participation. “We had a meeting with the responsible persons at Interwetten to sort things out,” said Wittmann. “Thereby I was unfortunately told that they plan to set different marketing activities [this] year for business policy reasons. This cancellation creates a budget hole that proves too large to be filled without a main sponsor. I am nevertheless extremely grateful to Interwetten, and especially Wolfgang Fabian, for these two years. This cooperation enabled me to perform rally sports on the highest level and thereby to introduce myself internationally.” What the future holds for Franz Wittmann remains to be seen. It is obvious that one will have to withdraw the entry for the season’s premiere in Monte Carlo for the above mentioned reasons. “From this moment on I will naturally try to find partners who could help me to successfully continue my rally career in some form”, says Wittmann. H&H
Download H&H’s FREE January Rally Calendar: http://bit.ly/fdrmsh
Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
News
Download H&H’s FREE January Rally Calendar: http://bit.ly/fdrmsh
FEATURES
Events
In-Car: J-M. Latvala in WRC Rally Japan 2010: http://bit.ly/hGF8KX
H&H PRESENTS “THE JANUARY RALLY CALENDAR” Words: Staff Writer Pictures: Evan Rothman In a bid to promote the world of rallying, HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS has created, designed and managed this fully interactive rally calendar. With January a slow start to the rallying season, with only two events (the Dakar Rally 2011 and The IRC Monte Carlo Rally) that draw incredible support this month’s
calendar is not as busy as the calendar for February with the start of the World Rally Championship. For February, there will be a link to download the “retrospective” January 2011 calendar. In this calendar, will be videos, highlights of the month’s events, etc. How this calendar works is as follows: Click on the day of the week, and it will take you to the event’s home page. The dates of events are on the
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your insight into th
e world of rallying
bottom of the calendar, as well as dates of when HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS’ editions will be made available. In future months of the calendar, you’ll see videos and articles and photographs all linked from this calendar… This project is a work in progress, but HANDBRKAES & HAIRPINS hopes you thoroughly enjoy this new and unique concept. Click the below image to download your FREE rally calendar or via this link: http://bit.ly/eaR4Su
Bringing you the latest international rally news, extensive event previews and reviews, indepth feature and technical articles, awardwinning photography and insightful columnists, HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS is distributed to your e-mail inbox each week for FREE in the form of a high-quality 2MB .PDF file. To receive this FREE eMagazine (in .PDF format), please send an email to evanrothman@gmail.com.
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News
FEATURES
Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
Events
Download H&H’s FREE January Rally Calendar: http://bit.ly/fdrmsh
Action from the Rally Isla Gran Canaria 2010: http://bit.ly/enHxvV
BEAUTIFUL COFFS COAST TO HOST RALLY AUSTRALIA Words: Staff Writer
PETTER SOLBERG AIMS FOR WIN IN MONTE CARLO RALLY Words: Staff Writer Pictures: PSWRT Petter Solberg has vowed to fight for victory when he makes his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut on Rallye Monte-Carlo this month. The former world rally champion will drive a Peugeot Sportrun 207 Super 2000 on the asphalt classic, which he has contested on eight previous occasions. “For sure there are many drivers doing the event who have much more experience in Super 2000 cars while I have none,” said Solberg. “But I have a lot of experience on the rally and I know what can go wrong so I will be prepared. Like every other rally I do I
will be thinking to push and to win and I will come up with a proper plan and strategy to do that.” The 36-year-old from Norway continued: “I like the rally a lot even though I have not always had the best result. Because it will be the 100-year anniversary the rally will be very, very special.” Solberg and Northern Irish codriver Chris Patterson will be among 120 crews taking part on the event, which runs from 18-22 January and will be televised live on Eurosport. They will get their first experience of the 207 they will use on the event during a test in France early this month. H&H
Following the announcement that Rally Australia has relocated to the stunning Coffs Coast region of New South Wales, 500km north of Sydney, the organisers are very pleased to advise that progress on preparation for the event is proceeding at a great pace following a number of meetings in Coffs Harbour over recent weeks. Rally Australia can advise that most key locations are now confirmed with Rally Headquarters being located at Opal Cove Resort and the Service Park being at the northern end of the Coffs Harbour Airport, less than 10km away. Plans are also underway for the Media Centre to be located at a spacious venue very close to the Service Park. The proposed itinerary for Rally Australia will be finalised soon however crews can expect a compact yet challenging event using a combination of public and forestry roads. It is anticipated that the event will have around 360 km of Special Stages and 750 km of liaison. Crews will return to the central service park once during each of the three competition days. Opal Cove Resort, the location of Rally HQ, is situated 7km north of the city of Coffs Harbour, with a beachfront position and magnificent ocean views and boasts all the facilities of a 4 star resort including a 9 hole golf course, huge outdoor swimming pool, gymnasium and Horizon’s Bar & Restaurant. Visit http://www.rallyaustralia.com.au for more information. H&H
Events
Interviews Exclusive columnists In-depth articles
FOUR STAGES IN: ADRENALIN Words: Evan Rothman Pictures: Volkswagen Motorsport/DPPI Here is HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS’ first four stage reports from the Dakar Rally 2011. In each category, intense racing action and slim margins are the order of the day in this the world’s toughest and longest marathon off-road rally! SS1: Victoria to Cordoba Road Section: 566km Special Stage: Bikes: 192km, Cars and Trucks: 222km. Bikes: The Portuguese rider Ruben Faria claimed the honour of winning the first
stage of the 2011 edition of the Dakar Rally, and giving him his second stage win in his event’s career. Interestingly, Faria claimed the final stage of the 2010 Dakar Rally… His duty is to offer support to KTM’s number one rider, Cyril Depres, as he had offered in 2010, and with the pair finishing 1-2 at the finish line last night their Dakar Rally campaign has started off strongly. Marc Coma, also on a KTM, finished third overall after the long 192km route for the bikes with a gap of only 01min 15sec behind Faria. His wingman, Juan Pedero Garcia took fourth position, to already establish the battle lines for this 2011 epic. Cars:
It was another masterful display from the Spaniard Carlos Sainz in his Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 to win the opening stage of the Dakar Rally 2011. Behind him, Stephan Peterhansel (BMW X3CC) was unable to catch him, and was forced to settle for second place overall with a deficit of 01m 31s. Sainz was well supported by fellow Volkswagen crews of Nasser Al-Attiyah (third overall and 02m 16s behind), Mark Miller (fourth and 04m 17s behind) and Giniel de Villiers (in fifth and 05m 06s behind). The fast De Villiers always starts his rallyraids slowly, following the pace before attacking for the lead. Remember, this is a 9,500km race! Sadly, the rally got off to a poor start for Robby Gordon (Hummer H3),
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EVENTS
Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
Download H&H’s FREE January Rally Calendar: http://bit.ly/fdrmsh
as his two-wheel drive monster battled through the slippery and muddy sections on this stage, to lose over ten minutes to the leaders. Guerlain Chicherit (MINI) suffered early on the stage with mechanical problems. His MINI lost over an hour on the side of the road as Chicherit tested and ran fixes to his new machine. Trucks: In the trucks category, Wulfert van Ginkel somersaulted his truck endover-end on the highway to the start of the stage, and is already ruled out of the rally. Gerard de Rooy, master of this class, withdrew from the rally after 72km. He hit a jump and landed heavily, damaging an already injured back. The usual challengers of Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) and Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) will take on the might of the Tatra brand with Ales Loprais at the wheel. These behemoths are separated by only 05m 52sec after 222km of racing. It will be a thrilling battle! Classification after SS1:
Bikes: 01) R. Faria (KTM) – 01h 58m 02s 02) C. Depres (KTM) + 29s 03) M. Coma (KTM) + 01m 15s 04) J. Pedero Garcia (KTM) + 02m 13s 05) P. Goncalves (BMW) + 02m 18s 06) J. Street (Yamaha) + 03m 07s 07) F. Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) + 03m 14s 08) H. Jose (KTM) + 03m 23s 09) J. Viledoms (Yamaha) + 04m 11s 10) F. Verhoeven (BMW) + 04m 23s Cars: 01) C. Sainz (VW) – 02h 18m 32s 02) S. Peterhansel (BMW) + 01m 31s 03) N. Al-Attiyah (VW) + 02m 16s 04) M. Miller (VW) + 04m 17s 05) G. De Villiers (VW) + 05m 06s 06) K. Holowycz (BMW) + 07m 07s 07) O. Terranova (BMW) + 10m 11s 08) R. Gordon (Hummer H3) + 11m 04s 09) G. Spinelli (Mitsubishi) + 12m 00s 10) L. Novitsky (BMW) + 13m 41s Trucks: 01) V. Chagin (Kamaz) – 02h 44m 22s 02) A. Loprais (Tatra) + 04m 41s 03) F. Kabirov (Kamaz) + 05m 52s 04) E. Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 09m 16s 05) A. De Azevedo (Tatra) + 10m 35s 06) M. Spacil (Tatra) + 13m 18s 07) F. Echter (MAN) + 15m 04s 08) P. Vila (Iveco) + 15m 13s 09) M. Behringer (MAN) + 19m 07s 10) M. Van Vilet (MAN) + 20m 04s
SS2: Cordoba to San Miguel de Tucuman Road Section: 440km Special Stage: Bikes: 300km, Cars and Trucks: 324km. The second stage of the 2011 Dakar Rally saw the two favourites in the Bike and Cars categories continue to set the leading pace, both winning their second consecutive stage. The Trucks category saw a change of lead, and already a fierce battle for mere seconds is taking place.
In-Car with J-M. Latvala in New Zealand: http://bit.ly/h28bt3
Bikes: As it stands, Cyril Despres (KTM) now holds a lead of 02min 35sec over the hard-charging Marc Coma (KTM) with Despres’ teammate Ruben Faria (KTM) in a close third place on the overall leaderboard. After SS1, officials of the Dakar Rally penalised Faria one minute for breaking the speed limit on the road section, thus handing the stage win to teammate Depres and dropping him off the overall lead. With navigation not as critical as on upcoming stages, Despres was able to hold his KTM 450cc’s throttle to lead from start to finish on the 300kmlong Special Stage. This was also his 25th Dakar stage victory of his career. Coma, in a somewhat comfortable second place overall, is eyeing the top spot of the Bikes standings. The predicted duel between Coma and Despres is drawing ever nearer in these opening days, and it will be interesting to see how these to grand masters play out their tactics over the next few days of this rally. Interestingly, David Casteu (Sherco) was the quickest of the nonKTM factory riders on SS2. He is now up to sixth overall in the classification, but 10min 01sec off the lead pace. This wily character, on a machine that is largely an unknown quantity on an event of this nature when compared to the BMW and KTM machines, may yet rise to a podium position this week. While the mighty KTMs sprint for the horizon, Sherco, BMW and Aprilia are fighting for the remainder of the top ten rankings. The top Aprilia rider is Francisco Lopez in fourth (06min 51sec behind) and the top BMW entry is now in fifth place thanks to Paulo Goncalves (09min 28sec off the lead pace). Cars: In the Cars category Carlos Sainz (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) was harried by Frenchman Stephane Peterhansel (BMW X3CC) on this stage, but Peterhansel could not close the gap to Sainz. Sainz enjoys an overnight lead of 03min 05sec heading into SS3. The Cars category was fought out over a 324km route, similar to a World Rally Championship stage with its long straights, high-speed corners and bends and sweeping roads. This was the natural hunting ground for Sainz, and he won the stage albeit with an overall margin of 03min 05sec over Peterhansel. Sainz should have dominated this stage, and so should his Volkswagen Race Touareg 3 teammates, but it was the BMW X3CCs of Peterhansel, Holowycz, Terranova and Novitsky that impressed with their speed and handling. This
stage is most definitely a warning for the Volkswagen crews to be on full alert for further BMW advances over the remaining 14 days of competition… Sadly, Mark Miller and South African co-driver Ralph Pitchford (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) suffered problems on SS2. They rolled 45km into the test and were hampered by smaller glitches throughout the remainder of the stage. In total they lost 50min to Sainz. With better luck on SS2 it was Guerlain Chicherit (MINI) who powered to a seventh fastest stage time to put SS1’s woes firmly out of his mind. He is still outside the top 20 overall, but closing in fast. Trucks: As expected, the Trucks category provided close rally action: Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) is now the overall leader by a slender 09sec from Ales Loprais (Tatra) and only 22sec ahead of Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz). Overall Classification after SS2: Bikes: 01) C. Despres (KTM) – 05hr 17m 42s 02) M. Coma (KTM) + 02m 35s 03) R. Faria (KTM) + 06m 13s 04) F. Lopez Contardo (BMW) + 06. 51s 05) P. Goncalves (BMW) + 09m 28s 06) D. Casteu (Sherco) + 10m 01s 07) J. Street (Yamaha) + 10m 14s 08) J. Pedrero Garcia (KTM) + 10m 50s 09) D. Fretigne (BMW) + 11m 26s 10) F. Verhoeven (BMW) + 12 06s Cars: 01) C. Sainz/L. Cruz (VW Race Touareg 3) – 05hr 30m 02) S. Peterhansel/J-P. Cottret (BMW) + 03m 05s 03) Al-Attiyah/Gottschalk (VW) + 03m 19s 04) G. De Villiers/D. Von Zitzewitz (VW) + 10m 49s 05) K. Holowycz/J-M. Fortin (BMW) + 16m 04s 06) O. Terranova/F. Palmeiro (BMW) + 18m 25s 07) L. Novitsky/A. Schulz (BMW) + 28m 23s 08) G. Spinelli/Y. Haddad (Mitsubishi) + 29m 47s 09) C. Lavielle/J-P. Forthomme (Nissan) + 33m 32s 10) J. Roma/M. Perin (Nissan) + 35m 45s Trucks: 01) F. Kabirov (Kamaz) – 06hr 41m 00s 02) A. Loprais (Tatra) + 09s 03) V. Chagin (Kamaz) + 22s 04) A. De Azevedo (Tatra) + 09m 59s 05) F. Echter (MAN) + 14m 21s 06) P. Vila (Iveco) + 21m 33s 07) E. Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 22m 43s 08) M. Van Vliet (MAN) + 25m 08s 09) H. Duisters (Iveco) + 27m 23s 10) I. Mardeev (Kamaz) + 33m 36s
SS3: San Miguel de Tucuman to San Salvador de Jujuy Road Section: Bikes and Cars: 231km; Trucks: 408km Special Stage: Bikes: 521km; Cars: 500km; Trucks: 226km This the longest stage of the Dakar thus far proved to be a challenge for all competitors. The leaderboard of the Cars and Bikes remains the same, but Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) has leapfrogged two competitors in the Trucks category to now lead his class.
Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
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Bikes: Now entering more testing terrain and requiring more navigational skill, SS3 saw Cyril Despres (KTM) hiccup in his stride: he made several navigational errors on the route, allowing Marc Coma (KTM) to close the gap in his lead and to claim the stage victory. In fact, a quarter of the way into the stage Despres was more than 04min behind Goncalves (BMW) who now lies in fourth place overall. Despres managed to find his rhythm and salvage his lead from the clutches of Coma. The gap between Coma and Despres is now only 14sec! Cars: Nasser Al-Attiyah (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) claimed this stage victory, to also jump ahead of Stephane Peterhansel (BMW X3CC) into second place overall in the classification. AlAttiyah wowed all in the bivouac with his pace on this arduous 500km stage by gaining on overall leader Carlos Sainz
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EVENTS
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(Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) in the stage, but the talented and experienced veteran that is Sainz outfoxed Al-Attiyah to not allow the Qatari to pass. At the end of the stage, Al-Attiyah only gained 25sec on Sainz. Peterhansel is now 04min 19sec behind Sainz in the classification, and this still places the Frenchman well within striking range of the leading two Volkswagen Race Touareg 3s. Behind Peterhansel, the 2009 winner Giniel De Villiers (Vlkswagen Race Touareg 3) is driving strongly, but losing stage time to his two leading teammates, dropping 16min 57sec behind Sainz. De Villiers will need to keep an eye on the hard-charging BMW X3CC of Krystof Holowycz who is only five minutes behind… Orlando Terranova (BMW X3CC) continues his impressive performance in sixth place overall, and is increasing his speed on each stage as he gains in confidence in his new car.
Trucks: Returning to the top of the leaderboard is Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz), who not only won the stage but also regained the lead of the classification. His stage win was dominant: 06min 45sec quicker than his fastest rival, Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz). Chagin now leads the field by a whopping 06min 23sec, and remember this category has fought over mere seconds on the previous two stages. Ales Loprais (Tatra) is now in third place, but still only 14sec adrift of second-placed Kabirov and 06min 37sec behind Chagin. The rest of the field is led by Franz Echter (MAN) in fourth place, but this crew is already trailing Chagin by over 35min. Classification after SS3: Bikes: 01) C. Despres (KTM) – 09hr 38m 58s 02) M. Coma (KTM) + 14s 03) R. Faria (KTM) + 09m 38s 04) P. Goncalves (BMW) + 10m 43s 05) D. Fretigne (BMW) + 16m 07s 06) O. Pain (Yamaha) + 16m 21s
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Issue 164 • 06 Jan 2011
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07) 08) 09) 10)
F. Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) + 18m 21s H. Rodrigues (Yamaha) + 19m 21s J. Pedrero Garcia (KTM) + 19m 22s J. Street (Yamaha) + 20m 50s
Cars: 01) C. Sainz/L. Cruz (VW) – 09hr 12m 05s 02) N. Al Attiyah/T. Gottschalk (VW) + 03m 34s 03) S. Peterhansel/J-P. Cottrett (BMW) + 04m 19s 04) G. De Villiers/D. Von Zitzewitz (VW) + 16m 57s 05) K. Holowycz/J-M. Fortin (BMW) + 21m 49s 06) O. Terranova/F. Palmeiro (BMW) + 29m 07s 07) L. Novitsky/A. Schulz (BMW) + 39m 05s 08) G. Spinelli/Y. Haddad (Mitsubishi) + 48m 22s 09) J. Roma/M. Perin (Nissan) + 54m 33s 10) C. Lavielle/J-P. Forthomme (Nissan) + 57m 55s Trucks: 01) V. Chagin (Kamaz) – 09hr 38m 58s 02) F. Kabirov (Kamaz) + 06m 23s 03) A. Loprais (Tatra) + 06m 37s 04) F. Echter (MAN) + 35m 00s 05) E. Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 38m 58s 06) P. Vila (Iveco) + 44m 41s 07) M. Van Vliet (MAN) + 49m 00s 08) A. De Azevedo (Tatra) + 50m 58s 09) H. Duisters (Iveco) + 54m 11s 10) I. Mardeev (Kamaz) + 55m 29s
SS4: San Salvador de Jujuy to Calama Road Section: 554km Special Stage: 207km Into Chile went the Dakar competitors, flat-out and with their rooster dust-trails taller than the trucks that followed them. The bike race hotted up, Carlos Sainz (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) claimed his 20th Dakar Rally stage victory and Vladimir Chagin extended his lead in the trucks category. Bikes: With seemingly no intention of playing out their strategies, Marc Coma (KTM) and Cyril Despres (KTM) have entered into a full-throttle battle. In SS4, the victory went to Coma but only just: 02sec separates the two dueling masters. In fact, after 1,220km of
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special stage distance now completed, the two riders are separated by just the 02sec and both have two stage victories to their name in 2011 thus far. The remainder of the field, led by Chilean Francisco Lopez (Aprilia), finished 02min 05sec behind Coma to highlight the two top KTM riders’ hot pace. Lopez is now in third place overall, up from seventh after SS3, but 20min 12sec off the lead pace. An intriguing battle for third place is now in full swing with five riders within 07min of each other (which in Dakar Rally history is but only a handful of seconds in a WRC event, in comparison). Cars: The wily Spaniard Carlos Sainz and co-driver Lucas Crus (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) can be relieved that the attack from Stephane Peterhansel (BMW X3CC) has abated for now, but they cannot rest easy as his Qatari teammate Nasser Al Attiyah is still ever-present. Peterhansel suffered a puncture on this stage and was thereby slowed by that, but his forte (the dunes) are still to come… Giniel de Villiers (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3) is still in fourth place overall after this long stage, and now enjoys an 08min advantage of Krystof Holowycz (BMW X3CC) in fifth position, but De Villiers is nearly 20min off Sainz. Robbie Gordon (Hummer H3) withdrew from the event on this stage, suffering major mechanical woes. Another USA driver not enjoying the best of Dakar Rallies is Mark Miller (Volkswagen Race Touareg 3), who is nearly an hour off the lead already. Guerlain Chicherit (MINI) is the biggest mover in the Cars category, jumping from 76th to 14th overall after
his troublesome start to the event on SS1. Trucks: Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) has put the hammer down to win his third stage of 2011 and to extend his overall lead in the category by a further 02min. Ales Loprais suffered a puncture, but still managed to set the third fastest stage time. This young driver will undoubtedly be hounding Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) for his second place spot in the coming days. Classification after SS4: Bikes: 01) M. Coma (KTM) – 11hr 43m 12s 02) C. Despres (KTM) + 02s 03) F. Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) + 20m 12s 04) P. Goncalves (BMW) + 25m 40s 05) H. Rodrigues (Yamaha) + 26m 02s 06) J. Pedrero Garcia (KTM) + 26m 23s 07) R. Faria (KTM) + 27m 07s 08) D. Fretigne (BMW) + 27m 16s 09) J. Viladoms (Yamaha) + 30m 11s 10) D. Casteu (Sherco) + 30m 20s Cars: 01) C. Sainz/L. Cruz (VW) – 11hr 09m 14s 02) N. Al-Attiyah/T. Gottschalk (VW) + 04m 24s 03) S. Peterhansel/J-P. Cottret (BMW) + 05m 41s 04) G. De Villiers/D. Von Zitzewitz (VW) + 19m 14s 05) K. Holowycz/J-M. Fortin (BMW) + 27m 45s 06) O. Terranova/F. Palmeiro (BMW) + 33m 11s 07) L. Novitsky/A. Schulz (BMW) + 49m 40s 08) G. Spinelli/Y. Haddad (Mitsubishi) + 59m 45s 09) J. Roma/M. Perin (Nissan) + 01hr 08m 32s H&H36s 10) M. Miller/R. Pitchford (VW) + 01hr 08m Trucks: 01) V. Chagin (Kamaz) + 11hr 49m 16s 02) F. Kabirov (Kamaz) + 08m 41s 03) A. Loprais (Tatra) + 12m 36s 04) F. Echter (MAN) + 46m 08s 05) E. Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 51m 46s 06) A. De Azevedo (Tatra) + 01hr 04m 20s 07) P. Vila (Iveco) + 01hr 06m 31s 08) I. Mardeev (Kamaz) + 01hr 12m 10s 09) H. Duisters (Iveco) + 01hr 14m 09s 10) M. Van Vliet (MAN) + 01hr 17m 57s
Happy New Year!!! Wishing you the best of luck for the 2011 season
We have a large selection of seats, harnesses, steering wheels, racewear and various other goodies arriving from middle January 2011, so remember to pop in or send us an e-mail with all your requirements and we will gladly assist.
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