H&H-198

s e k a r b Hand s n i p r i a H & of rallying ld r o w e h t o t in t h your insig

Issue 198 • 29 August 2011

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Cronje claims three from three Start Ramp Service Park Parc Ferme

Petter Solberg speaks out Top ten for Team Total IRC Barum Czech Rally Zlin review

“It was a clean run, not a wheel off the road. The first stage on Saturday really put the nail in after we took 42sec off Johnny [Gemmell]” - Robin Houghton, pg. 8

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Contents Issue 198 • 29 August 2011 04 START RAMP 04 Start Ramp - News Shorts

06 SERVICE PARK 06 Top Ten for Team Total 07 Hat-trick Happiness

08 PARC FERME 08 SARC Garden Route Rally review 10 IRC Barum Czech Rally Zlin review

EDITORIAL INFORMATION Editor Evan Rothman

Photojournalist Eva Kovkova

Contributors Liga Stirna, Patrick Vermaak, RallyBuzz, Motorpics, Newspress.

All content copyrighted property of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, 2007-11. 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.

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Start Ramp 300,000 fans flock to Zlin’s stages for IRC Words: Staff Writer An estimated 300,000 fans watched Jan Kopecký win Barum Czech Rally Zlín yesterday, organisers of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event have confirmed.

The asphalt event, located in south-east Czech Republic, has always attracted huge numbers of spectators with 250,000 attending the rally in 2010.

This year’s huge support was not lost on the IRC’s leading contenders, who praised the fervent backing they’d received from the fans throughout the three-day contest.

Second-place finisher Freddy Loix said: “Coming to the Barum Rally I feel a bit like I am driving at home.

It gives me an extra push to do a good result.”

His co-driver Frédéric Miclotte added: “It’s great to come here and see all the people, all the great fans. On the road section to the podium there was one guy standing with a panel saying ‘1.2s’ [the Belgian crew’s margin of defeat] then he turned the panel and it said ‘sorry’. The Czech people are really amazing.”

IRC title leader Juho Hänninen added: “You could see it on the stages and the road sections that there were more spectators.” H&H

Breen fast in Czech rally Words: Staff Writer Irish rally driver Craig Breen has sent ripples through the IRC Championship this weekend by taking seventh overall in the Barum Czech Rally Zlin in the Czech Republic. Breen, who claimed his maiden victory in the World Rally Academy just over a week ago in WRC Germany, reverted to his Keltech Engineering Ford Fiesta

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S2000 for his first outing the IRC (International Rally Challenge) and gave a tremendous display on the asphalt surface in eastern Europe.

After finishing the final stage, Breen commented: “I’m a young guy from Waterford, Ireland. This is my first IRC event and it’s great to be among the drivers that I saw on TV when I was young. I’m very happy to be here with them at the same level.”

The action in eastern Europe got underway on Friday night and the Waterford ace took a sensible approach over the opening super special stage held in the host City of Zlin by finishing equal 21st overall. The rally resumed on Saturday morning with a double loop of four stages. At midday service Breen had steadily climbed the leader board to 11th place. The afternoon loop was just as rewarding, as by the end of the Saturday schedule Breen has moved up to eighth overall. On returning to the Zlin overnight halt, Breen commented: “I took a steady approach on the Super Special last night to save my tyres, then this morning we gradually increased our pace.”

Over the final two stages of Day One, Breen set the sixth best and fifth best times respectively. “I had a really good feeling over both. I got into a rhythm and the times show our speed.

I’m eight overnight, but tomorrow will be another tough day with six stages.”

Breen, who was placed 11th at the end of the Day One’s stages, immediately gained a place on the resumption on Day Two’s morning on SS10, but reported: “The ride is really dangerous and I’ve had several adrenaline moments. I had to try and focus in order not to make mistakes.

Everybody will have problems here, even if they slow down.“ On to SS11, and Breen held station in seventh by setting eighth best time.

On the final stage of the morning loop, Breen narrowed the gap to Finnish driver Toni Gardemeister who held sixth to 12.1sec, and in service said: “We did quite well at this stage.

We managed without any big mistakes.”

Over SS13 there was change in the order, but on the start line of the penultimate test (SS14), Gardemeister had a jumped start and picked up a

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ten-sec penalty. At the end of the stage, Breen said during his interview: “We won’t speed up, only the final stage left and I don’t want to make any mistakes.”

When informed about Gardemeister’s penalty, Breen quickly answered: “You shouldn’t have told me.

Well, we’ll try to beat him then.“ Breen’s final push didn’t reward him with a new position, but he did beat the Finnish driver by 2.9sec over the closing test. H&H

Petter Solberg speaks out Words: www.wrc.com Petter Solberg says fifth place on the ADAC Rallye Deutschland was the best result he could have hoped for running as a privateer against strong opposition from the factory teams.

Solberg has run as an independent since his long-term employer Subaru withdraw from the WRC at the end of the 2008 season.

Although he has set a number of fastest stage times and led several rallies this year, Solberg’s pace has dipped on recent events as the factory teams from Citroën, Ford and MINI up the performance of their cars.

“This was the first Tarmac event with the [Citroen DS3 WRC], so I’m about where I expected to be as the fastest privateer fighting with the works cars,” said the Norwegian. “The works cars have developed quickly over the last events. That makes it even better for us, as a private team, to be keeping up with their speed.”

Also, he suffered a total of four punctures on the second day of the event alone.

“It felt really good to score one extra point at the Circus Maximus just 0.04sec faster than Jari-Matti [Latvala],” said Solberg. “But it was the same in Germany as in Finland where we should have been on the podium.

The development of the manufacturers is going so fast now that it’s hard. We just have to push on, keep fighting and hopefully be back on the pace properly for the next rally.” H&H

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Service Park

Interviews Features

Profiles Technical

Top ten for Team Total Words: Staff Writer Picture: Evan Rothman Forest roads provide rallying with its ultimate challenges. A new route, in a region last used some 17 years ago, with ever-changing weather conditions adding to the excitement, rallying enjoyed an extra injection of excitement this weekend.

The inaugural Garden Route Rally, and this the sixth round of the South African Rally Championship, saw 32 competitors take to the Outeniqua Forest roads on Friday 26 and Saturday 27 August. At its conclusion on Saturday afternoon, only 17 crews were classified as finishers after a treacherous route.

The Ford Fiesta S2000 pairing of Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton claimed their third successive win of the season, dominating the rally from start to end. Finishing behind them were their fierce rivals piloting two Toyota Auris S2000s, Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock and Leeroy Poulter/Elvene Coetzee rounding out the podium positions.

The four-car squad of Team Total, South Africa’s largest privateer rally team, tackled this weekend’s rally with determination, aggression and commitment. After 170km and nine stages of intense competition forests surrounding George and Knysna, Team Total’s pair of Two-Wheel Drive Championship contenders succumbed to mechanical woes that led to their retirement from the rally. Craig Trott and Robbie Coetzee (Toyota RunX S1600) saw their rally come to an abrupt end 7km from the end of the finish line of the final stage. Stefanie Botha and Angela Shields (also driving a Toyota RunX S1600) retired on Day One. After a cautious Day One, Jean-Pierre

Damseaux and Carolyn Swan, who contest the premier Class S2000 in a Toyota Auris S2000, attacked Saturday’s stages to move from an overnight 12th to a solid eight position overall at the conclusion of the rally.

“We picked up the pace on today’s dry conditions,” said Damseaux. “We are happy with our result of eighth, and we also gained further insight into our new car. Our confidence is growing in leaps and bounds, and with this tough event behind us now we are looking forward to the rally in the Cape Town area next month.”

Tenth place overall at the overnight halt, Mohammed Moosa and Grant Martin (also piloting a Toyota Auris S2000 in the premier Class S2000) fought bravely in their car on Day Two’s five stages. An unfortunate gearbox malady at the end of stage nine, the penultimate speed test of the event, meant the pairing had to change their gearbox and incurred a time penalty. Fortunately, the service crew worked fastidiously to put the team back in action without dropping a position to their hard-chasing rivals. Moosa and Martin finished their event ninth overall, showing an increase in speed in their new rally weapon.

Moosa said: “We found some time this morning and we changed a few settings that saw us improving our feeling of the car. The gearbox problems were a hiccup in an other wise strong weekend.”

For news, stage times and photographs live from events, visit Team Total on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/pBFCpZ and on Twitter at http://bit.ly/jBLu4j. You may also find more info at http://www.totalmotortsport.co.za. H&H

Issue 198 • 29 August 2011 • Page 07

Hat-trick Happiness Words: Staff Writer Picture: Motorpics Mark Cronje and co-driver Robin Houghton delivered a sensational performance to claim their third victory in a row by a healthy 91-second margin and took the lead of the South African Rally Championship after dominating the leaderboard of the Garden Route Rally in their Team Sasol Ford Fiesta S2000.

Cronje has a 4-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship with Houghton enjoying a 6-point advantage on the Co-Drivers’ log with two rounds to go.

“We’ve got the momentum we need after coming a long way with a new car and team at the start of the year”, said the ecstatic winner.

The George and Knysna-based event saw the privateer Sasol Ford pair jump into the lead after setting a storming time through SS2, in spite of the tight and twisty stages being very slippery following pre- and on-event rain.

Another two stage wins saw the Sasol crew build a comfortable 42.8sec lead at the overnight halt in the hills above Knysna.

“Friday’s stages were exceptionally difficult; we adopted the right approach which

worked for us, which was basically to keep it neat and tidy and find the grip where we needed it”, said the new Championship leader.

Saturday saw Cronje and Houghton hammer home their advantage, taking 02sec per kilometre off the second-placed factory Toyota crew of Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock to claiming their fourth stage win some 31sec over the 22km stage.

The only glitch in an otherwise perfect performance was a puncture in SS8 when the Fiesta hit a rock hidden in a puddle of water.

“We had 8km to go to the end of the stage; luckily it was a slow puncture, but the tyre came off the rim completely with 5km to go,” said Cronje. “We dropped about 20sec, but had around 02min in hand so we weren’t worried.”

Houghton added: “We settled into our rhythm and didn’t take too much notice of other teams’ times. It was a clean run, not a wheel off the road. The first stage on Saturday really put the nail in after we took 42sec off Johnny [Gemmell]. It was a great event where we were never living on the edge.”

Jon Williams and Cobus Vrey brought the second Team Sasol Fiesta home in seventh place after another event where luck deserted H&H the young Cape Town driver.

Parc Ferme

Event Reports Results

Cronje wins third rally on the trot Words: Staff Writer Pictures: Evan Rothman

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Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton (SASOL Ford Fiesta S2000) completed a dominant performance in the inaugural two-day Garden Route Rally, which ended in Knysna on Saturday afternoon, winning four of the nine special stages to take their third consecutive victory in the South African Rally Championship. In the process they also moved to the top of the points standings with two rounds remaining.

Cronje/Houghton’s overall time for the 168km of gravel special stages in the George and Knysna forest areas was 02hr 16min 29.8sec. Second, 01min 31.1sec in arrears, was the factory Castrol Team Toyota Auris S2000 of Johnny Gemmell and Scottish co-driver Drew Sturrock. Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee impressed with third overall in the second factory Toyota Auris S2000 in their first season in the premier Class, winning four of Day Two’s five stages.

Defending Champions Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson were fourth and first of the four

Class S2000 factory BP Volkswagen Polos, 03min 17.9sec behind the winners. Red Bull athlete and 2009 Dakar Rally winner Giniel de Villiers, competing in his first season of South African rallying, scored his best result of the season so far when he and co-driver Ralph Pitchford finished a creditable fifth, three minutes behind Kuun and Hodgson.

Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach and French co-driver Nicolas Klinger (Green Fuel Ford Fiesta S2000) lost their Championship lead after a subdued performance which saw them finish sixth overall and 04min 06sec behind Cronje’s Ford. “I wasn’t confident behind the wheel all weekend,” said Rautenbach. “We’re not quite sure what the problem is, but the car just hasn’t felt right for the last two events.”

Making up the top ten places were the S2000 cars of Jon Williams/Cobus Vrey (SASOL Ford Fiesta S2000) in seventh, JeanPierre Damseaux/Carolyn Swan (Team Total Toyota Auris), Mohammed Moosa/Grant Martin (Team Total Toyota Auris S2000) and Nicolas Ryan/Armand du Toit (GrandMark International Volkswagen Polo S2000).

In a tough event run in varying weather

Issue 198 • 29 August 2011 • Page 09

conditions – Friday was rainy with very slippery roads, while the sun shone on Saturday and conditions were a lot firmer – a tight and challenging route with mostly forest stages reduced the original 32 entries to 17 at the finish.

Significant retirements in the four-wheel drive top Class were the BP Volkswagen Polos of former champions Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries (who went out with a blown engine while lying third after completing Friday’s SS3) and former champions Jan Habig and Robert Paisley (who ripped off a front wheel after hitting a log on SS9 while lying seventh).

Also forced out of the event, on the final stage, were top Class S2000 contenders Charl Wilken and Greg Godrich (Basil Read/bizhub Ford Fiesta S2000) with engine overheating problems. They had struggled with rear differential problems throughout the two days of the rally and were well down in the placings when they retired with electrical problems.

First car home in the Two Wheel Drive Championship was the Class S1600 React Ford Fiesta R2 of Ashley

Haigh-Smith and James Aldridge who were gifted the win when the Team Total Toyota RunX of Championship leaders Craig Trott and Robbie Coetzee retired on the final stage with a broken gearbox just 7km from the finish of the final speed test. Haigh-Smith and Alridge finished an impressive 11th overall. Second, and 12th overall, were Tjaart Conradie and Kes Naidoo (Silverton Engineering Toyota Auris S1600), 35.6sec in arrears and 19.6sec ahead of third-placed brother-andsister combination Christoff and Celeste Snyders (Sabertek Volkswagen Polo S1600).

Megan Verlaque and Hilton Auffray (BP Volkswagen Polo S1400) emerged victorious in Class S1400 in their first outing together after a rallylong battle with the similar Q8 Oils car of 17-year-old rising star Henk Lategan and Pierre Jordaan. A total of four minutes of penalties for lateness, two on Friday and two on Saturday, was the undoing of Lategan/Jordaan and they eventually finished second in class and 16th overall, 43.6 sec and one place behind Verlaque/ Auffray.

The next round of the Championship is the Toyota Dealer Cape Rally in the Western Cape on 23 - 24 September. H&H

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION 01) M. Cronje/R. Houghton Ford Fiesta S2000 - 02h 16m 29.8s 02) J. Gemmell/D. Sturrock Toyota Auris S2000 + 01m 31.1s 03) L. Poulter/E. Coetzee Toyota Auris S2000 + 02m 06.1s 04) E. Kuun/G. Hodgson Volkswagen Polo S2000 + 03m 17.9s 05) G. De Villiers/R. Pitchford Volkswagen Polo S2000 + 03m 21.0s 06) C. Rautenbach/N. Klinger Ford Fiesta S2000 + 04m 06.1s 07) J. Williams/C. Vrey Ford Fiesta S2000 + 06m 09.4s 08) J-P. Damseaux/C. Swan Toyota Auris S2000 + 07m 18.4s 09) M. Moosa/G. Martin Toyota Auris S2000 + 10m 34.3s 10) N. Ryan/A. Du Toit Volkswagen Polo S2000 + 12m 14.9s

Issue 198 • 29 August 2011 • Page 10

Kopecky wins in Zlin in Skoda 1-2-3 Words: Staff Writer Pictures: IRC Media

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Jan Kopecký has claimed his first victory in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge for more than a year after triumphing on a thrilling Barum Czech Rally Zlín. The ŠKODA Motorsport ace, roared on by approximately 300,000 home fans, beat Freddy Loix by 1.2sec, the closest finish in the history of the IRC. Team-mate Juho Hänninen took third to make it a Škoda podium lockout.

Kopecky started the final stage with a 02sec margin over Loix. Despite the BFO-Skoda driver going fastest through the closing test, Kopecky was able to hold on to first place and trim Hanninen’s title lead to three points with four IRC rounds remaining.

Team Peugeot Belgium-Luxembourg’s Thierry Neuville was the leading Peugeot 207 driver in fourth after Bryan Bouffier crashed his Peugeot France entry on Day Two’s opening stage. However, Neuville faced strong opposition from Skoda UK Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen, who slashed his margin to 6.1sec with a succession of stage wins.

Kopecky, whose last win in the IRC was on Rally Islas Canarias El Corte Ingles in May 2010, thought his hopes of victory were over when his car’s powersteering faltered on Day Two’s first stage, which resulted in his overnight lead of 19.7sec being slashed to 5.6sec.

Although he and co-driver Petr Stary were able to fashion makeshift repairs by using a spare

pipe to bypass the oil cooler to the powersteering pump, they were unable to prevent the advancing Loix from closing to within one second at the midday service halt in Otrokovice.

In a tense finish, Kopecky held his nerve to win and banish the memories of 2010 when he crashed out of the lead of his home event on the final day. His efforts earned him the prestigious Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy, awarded to the driver whose performance best embodies the spirit of the rallying legend.

Hanninen began the final day equal on time with Loix in second but dropped out of contention when he slid wide on SS12 and lost a few precious seconds in the mistaken belief that he had a puncture. Anxious to preserve his Championship lead, the Finn settled for third rather than pushing for a fourth win of the campaign.

Neuville found Day Two’s faster and flowing stages more to his liking, which increased his confidence and ability to push, despite heavy overnight rain leaving the roads damp in places. His capture of fourth completed an encouraging showing on his second appearance on the demanding asphalt event following a handful of set-up issues on Day One. Mikkelsen’s bid to make up lost ground following his puncture on Saturday began with a brace of stage wins in his Skoda UK Motorsport Fabia. SS12 proved less successful for the Norwegian when he went off the road and then overshot a junction. But two further stage wins in the afternoon underlined the 22-year-

Issue 198 • 29 August 2011 • Page 11

old’s huge potential on his way to fifth position.

Finn Toni Gardemeister overcame two clutch failures and a ten-second time penalty for a jumped start in his TGS Worldwide Skoda to fend off Craig Breen for sixth position.

Both drivers impressed on their first appearances in Zlin with Breen’s performance particularly noteworthy.

Seeded 20th, the 21-year-old from Ireland was the highest-placed M-Sport Ford Fiesta driver at the finish following an error-free outing.

Guy Wilks, languishing in 12th at the start of the day following his costly puncture on Day One on Saturday, battled back to eighth position in his Peugeot UK 207 after posting several impressive stage times. But his frustrating visit to Czech Republic ended with alternator failure prior to the 13th stage.

Roman Kresta’s eagerness to secure maximum Czech Championship points after rivals Pavel Valousek and Vaclav Pech both hit trouble on Saturday meant he was happy to settle for eighth.

His only major concern during the rally was his puncture on SS5.

Swede PG Andersson survived a spin and a broken propshaft on SS12 to clinch his first IRC points in his PROTON Motorsports’ Satria Neo in a highly encouraging ninth place. Estonian teenager Karl Kruuda rounded out the top ten in his Skoda with Pole Michal

Solowow 6.3sec behind in 11th in an M-Sport Fiesta.

Skoda Sweden’s Patrik Sandell was 12th after upping his pace and confidence on his first visit to the Zlin stages. Irishman Robert Barrable charged a wall on Sunday morning but kept his composure to finish 13th in his privateer Fabia, one place ahead of Proton driver Giandomenico Basso.

Skoda Auto Deutschland duo Mark Wallenwein and Matthias Kahle were 19th and 20th on their Zlin debuts.

Bryan Bouffier was in the thick of the battle for a podium finish entering Sunday’s opening test only to go off the road 2km from the end of the stage. Impact with a boulder ripped two wheels from his Peugeot France 207 and resulted in his instant retirement.

In the fight for the IRC Production Cup Jaroslav Orsak, in a Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX R4, triumphed by a healthy margin over Subaru Impreza driver Daniel Behalek.

Martin Bujacek finished third in a Lancer with Vaclav Arazim next up in another Lancer. Vaclav Pech had been leading the class when he dropped out with suspension failure on SS6. He returned under SupeRally regulations on Sunday.

Fumio Nutahara, in his Yokohamasupported Impreza R4, crashed into retirement on SS5.

Stefano Albertini shone on his Zlin debut to clinch IRC 2WD Cup spoils for the first time in his Clio R3. The

young Italian edged Czech rising star Vaclav Dunovsky, who struggled with rear suspension problems for much of the event in his Ignis. Jean-Michel Raoux boosted his IRC 2WD Cup title hopes in third position after overcoming an exhaust failure on his Clio. Overnight leader Petr Zednik, in an M-Sport Fiesta, dropped back to fourth following intercom and engine problems on the final day. Martin Kangur was the leading Honda Civic finisher in sixth place. H&H

OVERALL CLASSIFICATION 01) J. Kopecky/P. Stary Skoda Fabia S2000 - 02h 15m 51.7s 02) F. Loix/F. Miclotte Skoda Fabia S2000 + 01.2s 03) J. Hanninen/M. Markkula Skoda Fabia S2000 + 37.4s 04) T. Neuville/N. Gilsoul Peugeot 207 S2000 + 01m 59.6s 05) A. Mikkelsen/O. Fløene Skoda Fabia S2000 + 02m 05.7s 06) T. Gardemeister/T. Suominen Skoda Fabia S2000 + 03m 43.2s 07) C. Breen/G. Roberts Ford Fiesta S2000 +3m47.4s 08) R. Kresta/P. Gross Skoda Fabia S2000 + 04m 21.5s 09) PG Andersson/E. Axelsson Proton Satria Neo S2000 + 04m 41.1s 10) K. Kruuda/M. Jarveoja Skoda Fabia S2000 + 04m 54.4s