s e k a r b d Han s n i p r i a H & he world your insight into t
2009 Issue 104 October
of rallying
Cover
Fekken takes back-to-back Championship titles!
inside this week:
Events
Loeb makes it six Championships!
Features
Breen wins FSTi in Rally GB
Contents / Issue 104 Welcome to H&H! News • • • • • •
Cronin enters Abarth S2000 for IRC Gronholm in Race of Champions 2009 ERC 2010 calendar updated 15 WRC events in 2011? Prokop wins P-WRC Rally GB Coetzee wins Class in Gauteng
Welcome to issue 104 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
Features • Essentials: Stuff • Four Championships in one season • Williams toughs it in Wales
Event Reports • Toyota Dealer Rally - Gauteng • WRC Rally Great Britain REVIEW
Contact To receive your FREE weekly HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS e-magazine, or if you’d like to share this with a friend please send me your e-mail address to evan.hhmag@gmail.com. HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS is not a SPAM e-mail: email addresses are added to the mailing list voluntarily. All content copyrighted property of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, 2007-9.
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Keith Cronin to enter Abarth S2000 for upcoming Rally of Scotland Cronin Motorsport are delighted to announce that the reigning British Rally Champions will be competing on the final Round of the IRC, Rally Scotland, in a hired Abarth Grande Punto S2000. The deal has been on the table with over a week as the final details had to be worked out and is has now been confirmed that is will go ahead. Abarth have been competitive this year and it will be exciting to see Keith and Greg out in a competitive IRC car. They will travel to Northern Italy early next week to have a testing session in the car. This is a fantastic opportunity for the lads to move a step up from the BRC and was made possible by support from Cremin Coaches, Cronin Motorsport Supporters Club and Pirelli, who have agreed to supply tyres for the event. Speaking about the development, today, Keith stated that he was very excited about the prospect and that since the deal was first tabled nearly two weeks ago he has been in daily negotiations about the finer details and that he now can’t wait to drive the car. Cronin was involved in testing a Proton Satria S2000 earlier in the year and although he did not get to actually drive that cat he said that the car felt much more balanced and responsive than the Mitsubishi. Credit: Croninmotorsport.com
Marcus Gronholm invited to compete at Race of Champions 2009 Two-time World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm will return to competition next week when The Race of Champions takes place in the Bird’s Nest Stadium, Beijing – the first time the event has taken place outside Europe in its 22-year-history. The Finnish star, who won rallying’s premier crown in 2000 and 2002, will compete in The Race of Champions – an event he won in 2002 – on Wednesday 4 November, a day after he and Mikko Hirvonen team up to race for Finland in The ROC Nations Cup. Finland has twice won The ROC Nations Cup, the last time being in 2006, when Gronholm was paired with F1 star Heikki Kovalainen. “The Race of Champions is great fun, and I missed competing in it last year,” said Gronholm. “Everyone has a laugh, but you always want to win, and because you’re in the same cars you don’t have the excuses if you don’t. It’s exciting, and I think racing in China will be fantastic.” Gronholm was also full of praise for Hirvonen, who narrowly missed on the World Rally title at the weekend after a dramatic battle with three-time Race of Champions winner Sébastien Loeb.
“Well done to Mikko for his performance this year. He’s very quick and he doesn’t make many mistakes, which makes him a tough driver to beat. I know he won’t take long to get used to the event format in Beijing and when he does, Finland will have a very strong team.” The final slot in this year’s line-up has been filled by Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit, who won the 2009 FIA Cross Country Cup and will join Yvan Muller in France’s ROC Nations Cup team. The ROC Nations Cup will feature a group stage this year, with 10 teams battling in three groups to decide who progresses to the semi-finals. With the draw having been made by officials from the Olympic Stadium, Beijing Sport Bureau and Chinese Auto Federation, Finland will race in Group A, against the German team of Michael Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, the Australian team of Mick Doohan and Jamie Whincup, and the Chinese team whose drivers will be decided in ROC China on Monday 2 November. Group B will feature Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx’s Team Autosport Great Britain, David Coulthard and Giniel de Villiers’ Team All Stars, and the Monagasque team of Emanuele Pirro and Clivio Piccione. The final group will be made up of Tom Kristensen and Mattias Ekstrom for Team Scandinavia, Travis Pastrana and Tanner Foust for Team USA, plus Yvan Muller and Guerlain Chicherit for Team France. Each team will race all the others in their group and the two nations with the lowest number of wins will be eliminated, leaving four teams to progress to the semi-finals. Fredrik Johnsson, President of Event Organisers IMP, is pleased to have put together one of the most diverse Race of Champions fields ever. “This year’s line-up is one of our most varied ever, as we aim to make The Race of Champions a real battle of champions from many different types of competition disciplines. With champions from Formula 1, rallying, touring cars, sports cars, off-road rallying, MotoGP and drifting, plus a new group stage format which means more action than ever before, it will be a great show not only for the fans in China, but also for ROC fans around the world.” - Credit: RallyBuzz.com
Aaron Burkhart relishes Citroen C4 WRC experience in Rally GB Aaron Burkart was entered on the Rally of Great Britain by the Citroën Junior Team through the Citroën Junior Experience programme, as a reward for his second place in the 2008 Junior World Rally Championship. The German driver managed his first experience of the Citroën
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C4 WRC perfectly and was set to finish ninth before making a small mistake. “I lost concentration while I was trying to get past Sébastien Ogier,” Burkart said. “So we got stuck off the road and lost four minutes trying to get the car out of the mud. “I really enjoyed myself throughout this rally. I’d like to thank Citroën for giving me the chance to drive the C4 WRC alongside the best drivers in the world. I’ve learnt a lot from all of the team during this great experience,” he added. - Credit: RallyBuzz.com
WRC promoters to recommend 15-event calendar for 2011 season International Sportsworld Communicators are planning to increase the number of rallies on the WRC calendar from 2011, according to Motorsport Aktuell. Instead of limiting the number of annual world championship rallies, ISC plans to come back with even more events per season. “In the coming weeks we will present a calendar proposal to the FIA with 15 rallies for 2011,” said ISC chairman Neil Duncanson. “From 2012 we plan to have rallies in Africa, the USA, Brazil, Russia and China, and also perhaps in countries like India from 2013,” he added. To heighten competition between event organisers, ISC wants to retain the controversial rotation system between certain events, but in contrast to the current system, a strong base of traditional events will remain part of the annual world championship calendar. New rallies will take place only once every two years. - Credit: Rallye-magazin.de and RallyBuzz.com
Prokop claims P-WRC win in Rally GB after Brynildsen was excluded Martin Prokop (CZ, Mitsubishi) was awarded the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship victory on Rally GB, after the unfortunate Eyvind Brynildsen (N, Skoda) was excluded from the final round of the 2009 series, following post event scrutineering. Brynildsen knew he could challenge for victory in the Welsh forests, having enjoyed a successful test in his René Georges Rally Sport Fabia S2000 the weekend before on the Cambrian Rally (a round of the BTRDA Gold Star series, held in North Wales), and having won Group N in the car on the Rally de España. The car was perfect for his driving style – smooth and precise, with early acceleration and lots of revs – and he exploited this to the full. Co-driven by the vastly experienced Denis Giraudet, Brynildsen set fastest time on the opening stage and led by almost one minute by the end of the first day. When that increased to two minutes by mid-way through Day 2, he eased off and cruised through the second half of
the event – which in heavy rain, fog and mud wasn’t as easy as it sounds. He made no mistakes and had no mechanical problems whatsoever, and celebrated a “perfect” rally with his team on the finish podium. Later at post event scrutineering, the measurements of the car’s rear brake callipers were checked and found not to comply to the homologation papers. The parts were supplied by Skoda and fitted to the car by the team believing they were correct, but upon inspection even the measurement of a spare calliper given in evidence, with the correct homologation number of the box and on the calliper, was incorrect. As a result, the Stewards of the Meeting excluded car number 39. Prokop had held 2nd position for all but two of the 16 special stage event, and despite not record a fastest stage time and could not close the gap on the leader. After a good first day, Prokop punctured two tyres on SS10 and with only one spare had to drive carefully through SS11 and 12 to make sure the ‘flat’ he kept on the rear did not deflate. With a large time gap in front and behind him, Prokop’s aim was to get his Lancer Evo IX to the finish ramp in Cardiff Bay without problems, which he did. P-WRC victory in GB (and 10th in the overall classification) was enough for the talented 26-year old to add P-WRC Vice Champion to his J-WRC title, and brought to a close a fantastic season. “I’m very happy with our result on Rally GB and to have finished runner-up in the Production Car World Rally Championship,” said Prokop. “I lost my motivation a little during after Rally Argentina, but everything has come good at the end of the year. It’s really nice to add vice P-WRC champion to our J-WRC title. It’s been a great season.” - Credit: RallyBuzz.com
Tjaary Coetzee ends debut rally season on a high win Class win Property developer, Tjaart Coetzee only started his national rally career at the beginning of the 2009 season and would never have dreamt that he would end the season with a Class N4 win on the Toyota Dealer Rally in his Midas supported Subaru STi. His season, until the Toyota Dealer Rally, had been a miserable one as he battled with a gearbox that just would not go the distance. However, Coetzee whose belief in him is such that he even managed to negotiate a sponsorship from the automotive spares giant, Midas, was determined to end the season on a high. With his experienced co-driver, Etienne Lourens to assist him, they took the lead in Class N4 from the start and in spite of a puncture that cost them five minutes, they took the class win and 7th place overall. They finished right behind Japie van Niekerk in his Class S2000 Toyota RunX and just ahead of a chasing Mohammed Moosa in a Class A6 Toyota Auris. There was delight all-round in the Coetzee camp as he not only won the class, but also delivered the goodies to his sponsor Midas. It was a maiden win for Coetzee in his maiden season as well as a maiden win for Midas.
“We had a smooth run in spite of the puncture. We also had our moments especially when we got airborne after a jump. Nevertheless, it was a great thrill to be on the podium in a national rally championship and I can hardly wait for the next season to begin. “I have learnt much this year, it has been a great experience in one of the most exciting sporting codes in the world”, an ecstatic Coetzee said after the finish of the rally near Bapsfontein on Saturday.
European Rally Championship releases 2010 event calendar The 2009 European Rally Championship season hasn’t finished yet, but the preparations for the upcoming year are already very high. For 2010, the FIA Championships rules have been slightly modified in order to interest higher number of participants from many different countries. The international rally scene in Europe has great potential. With eleven rallies in many different European regions the competitors will go through many various sceneries with fast tarmac stages as well as technical gravel sections. Like in 2009, the European Rally Championship will be also in the next season organised with separate classifications for drivers and co-drivers, who will be assessed as the European Champion at the end of the year. Each registered driver or co-driver can run the ERC rallies with unregistered crewmember, but despite of this the registered member will be classified. Points from each rally will be counted from the final order of registered drivers and then separately from the order of registered co-drivers. The same system will be applied in the additional European 2WD Cup, which will go in 2010 to its second season. As usual, the eight fastest ERC-registered crews will be given points in compliance with the FIA scheme (10, 8, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1). The number of bonus points given for the single result in separate classification for each Day of the rally will be extended from three to five crews from the fastest as follows: 3, 2.5, 2, 1.5 and 1 point. The number of compulsorily entered rallies to be counted in the final ERC classification has been lowered from six to five events. Then with four European Rally Championship events common with popular IRC serial, the ERC can be more interesting than in the past also for the regular IRC competitors with just one more event ran out of their usual competition ground. The competitors running in 2WD Cup will be also counted in single ERC event results as well as in the general ERC classification. And conversely, when the ERC registered driver or co-driver extraordinarily uses the 2WD machine, he will be automatically counted in 2WD Cup classification. European Rally Championship 2010 Calendar: 01) 22 - 24 April: Rally 1000 Miglia (Italy) 02) 20 - 22 May: Ina Croatia Rally (Croatia) 03) 04 - 06 June: Rally Poland (Poland) 04) 24 - 26 June: Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally (Belgium) 05) 23 - 25 July: Istanbul Rally (Turkey) 06) 07 - 08 August: Rally Vinho da Madeira (Portugal)
07) 27 - 29 August: Barum Czech Rally Zlin (Czech Republic) 08) 10 - 11 September: Rally Principe de Asturias (Spain) 09) 24 - 26 September: Elpa Rally (Greece) 10) 15 - 17 October: Rallye d’Antibes Côte d’Azur (France) 11) 28 - 30 October: Rallye International du Valais (Swiss) - Credit: ERCRally.com
Meeke looks forward to mixedsurface events in 2010 IRC season The Intercontinental Rally Challenge will feature two mixed surface events next season. And Kris Meeke, the IRC drivers’ champion, said he cannot wait to take on the challenge of competing on gravel and asphalt on the same rally. IRC’s provisional 12-event calendar for 2010 will include mixed surface rounds in Italy (Sanremo) and Cyprus. Drivers will tackle one leg on asphalt before switching to gravel for the other leg, with teams required to make alterations to the setup of their cars during the overnight halt. The format will not only test the teams, but will also require the drivers to adapt their driving styles from one day to the next. “It’s an awesome calendar with some classic events,” said Meeke. “I can’t wait to get started and the mixed surface rallies are going to be something really different and really exciting.” - Credit: IRCseries.com
IRC’s Rally of Scotland promises to be nail-bitingly close All but one of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge’s seven manufacturers will represented on RACMSA Rally of Scotland next month, the man in charge of running the event has confirmed. Clerk of the course Iain Campbell said he was pleased with the level of interest showed by competitors so far and added that the variety of different cars would guarantee thrilling action on the stages when the event runs from November 19-21. “Although both the IRC and 2WD Cup titles are wrapped up, almost every manufacturer will be represented and that’s great news,” said Campbell. “It’s fair to say we haven’t got as many entries as we had hoped but the quality is impeccable and it will be good for the British drivers who will get a lot of the attention.” Great news for the fans who have followed the action in 2009 is that Czech hero Jan Kopecky is one of those set to take part. Despite surrendering the battle for this year’s IRC crown to Kris Meeke in Sanremo last month, Kopecky will aim to end his season on a high in Scotland. Kopecky, who cannot be caught for second in the drivers’ standings, is likely to drive a privately-run Skoda Fabia 2000 because the factory team, who whom he has driven all season,
have not included the Scottish round in its original schedule. - Credit: IRCseries.com
Lawless and Sharkey win International Rally New York Author: Thomas Barker, Chief Publicity Officer, International Rally New York Tom Lawless, the 2005 United States Rally Champion, with the Irish codriver Brian Sharkey (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), emerged as the winners of the International Rally New York 2009, a two-day test where the result was in doubt until almost the final mile. Going into the second day, an accomplished Finnish crew of Jani Paasonen/Mika Rajasalo (Subaru Impreza), had a lead of 43 seconds. With a competitive car and more experience than their rivals, United States Rally Championship (USRC) regulars assumed that the visiting Finnish team would be able to cruise to a victory. At the time, Lawless/Sharkey were second, 43 seconds behind, despite a bit of turbocharger and fuel pump trouble on the first day. Seamus Burke/John Buffum were third, but would soon withdraw from the rally due to a head gasket failure. And then the momentum of the event went the other way: Paasonen’s car broke an axle during the final morning, which slowed Paasonen enough to allow Lawless a 13-second lead. Paasonen responded by taking back seconds on each special stage – despite heavy rain, mud, and deep puddles which limited his and everyone else’s speed. The margin was down to about three seconds at lunch time. But as Paasonen should have surged ahead on the final two or three stages, the Subaru broke a differential.
The first three teams in each category are as follows:
All-Wheel-Drive Driver: All-Wheel-Drive Co-Driver: 1. Keith Jackson 1. Mara Estepp (2009 USRC Driver Champion - 2009 USRC Co-Driver Champion) 2. Daniel O’Brien 2. Brendan McCabe 3. Tom Lawless 3. Brian Sharkey Two-Wheel-Drive Driver: Two-Wheel-Drive Co-Driver: 1. Dan Brosnan 1. Shane McCann (2009 USRC Driver Champion - 2008 USRC Co-Driver Champion) 2. Josh Wimpey 2. Jeremy Wimpey 3. Alex Rademacher 3. John Stewart All-Wheel-Drive Production Cup Driver: All-Wheel-Drive Production Cup Co-Driver: 1. Shawn Hudspeth 1. Jennifer Hudspeth (2009 Production Cup Winner - 2009 Production Cup Winner) 2. Matt Gottlieb 2. Austin Gager 3. William Petrow 3. Jeremy Neyhart Two-Wheel-Drive Production Cup Driver: Two-Wheel-Drive Production Cup Co-Driver: 1. Michael Reilly 1. Josh Benthien (2009 Production Cup Winner – 2009 Production Cup Winner) 2. Alex Rademacher 2. John Stewart 3. John Black 3. Kacie Webb
- Credit: USRC Media
Sebastien Ogier has entered IRC Monte Carlo Rally for 2010 Citroen WRC driver Sebastien Ogier wants to defend his Monte Carlo Rally victory by entering the opening round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge next January. Ogier delivered victory at the wheel of the BFGoodrich Drivers’ Team Peugeot 207 S2000 with a mature performance on the world’s most famous rally back in January.
Paasonen/Rajasalo decided to pace themselves and finish, falling to 1 minute and 17 seconds behind the winners. - Credit: Thomas Barker/International Rally New York
Now he wants to return for the spectacular event when it opens the IRC’s 2010 calendar.
United States Rally Championship celebrates 2009 Champions
“I would also have to make sure that I am in a car that I can fight to win. If these two things happen then I would love to do the event because it is very important and a very tough challenge for any driver.”
The Year-End Awards Ceremony of the United States Rally Championship (USRC) was held at the conclusion of the International Rally New York in Callicoon, New York yesterday. Michael Taylor, President of United States Rally Championship, Inc. announced United States Rally Champions and USRC Production Cup Winners. Mr. Taylor also commented on the 2010 USRC Calendar. The 2009 United States Rally Champions are Keith Jackson and Mara Estepp in the All- Wheel-Drive (AWD) category and Dan Brosnan and Shane McCann in the Two-Wheel-Drive (2WD) category. The Winners of the USRC Production Cup are Shawn and Jennifer Hudspeth in AWD and Michael Reilly and Josh Benthien in 2WD.
“I would have to drive a Peugeot again because of my relationship with the Peugeot family through the Citroen brand,” said the 25-year-old Frenchman.
Ogier competes for the Citroen Junior Team on the WRC but has made no secret of his desire to tackle more IRC events. Next year’s Monte Carlo Rally takes place from 19 - 23 January and includes 14 hours of live television coverage. - Credit: IRCseries.com
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FSTi: CRAIG BREEN MOVER AND SHAKER
FOUR CHAMPIONSHIPS IN ONE SEASON!
For 19 year old Waterford driver Craig Breen, and his Welsh co-driver Gareth Roberts, last weekend’s WRC Rally GB proved to be a nail biting weekend as they did enough to clinch the prestigious Fiesta Sport Trophy International series, with their 1600cc Ford Fiesta R2. IMAGES: FSTi Media After clinching the UK and Irish Fiesta series on the Ulster International Rally, and then wrapping up the National Junior Championship on the Birr Forestry Stages, two weekend’s before Rally GB, the FST International was Craig’s fourth major title in 2009.
“I thought it was all over to be honest at one point the car just wouldn’t go, and that Patrick Anglade would take the title. We lost eight minutes and dropped from first to last, and we made the decision not to Super-Rally but keep going as the penalties were less.”
Added to this a win in class N3 on the Irish Tarmac Championship, finishing third two wheel drive in the Irish Forestry series, and it’s been an amazing season for Craig, hard to believe his first full season in rallying.
It was a wise decision and the crew’s outright speed in the Dairwood Design R2 Fiesta was to prove pivotal, as twelve fastest stage times over the weekend, provided them extra bonus points, and with other crews falling by the wayside on the slippery Welsh stages, Craig moved up into third in the FSTI rankings.
“Last year we entered the Malton Stages as our first event, and we were 2 seconds a mile off the pace and I thought how are we going to go from this? Then things went up from there, Gareth joined me for the Sunseeker Rally and he really helped lift things. We went to Portugal for the FSTI round just because I wanted to go and drive the same stages as Loeb and Hirvonen, to get experience and we came away with an FSTI result, and then Finland I thought we would get shown up badly by the Finns, but we managed to beat them, and it went on from there.” Acquiring the new R2 Fiesta, and debuting it with a fabulous fourth overall finish on the Clare Stages Rally, Craig headed for Catalunya where an off road excursion failed to halt a good points haul, with points awarded for each fastest FSTI stage time he clocked up. It was to be a system that paid dividends on Rally GB. Craig and Gareth dominated the early stages of Rally GB, fastest on the first four stages and taking a commanding lead in the FSTI runners, until stage 6 when the R2 Fiesta stopped, co-driver Gareth Roberts eventually finding a loose wire on the ECU.
“The final day was agonising, as we knew if we stayed third we would clinch the FSTI crown, and we heard every little rattle. To come back to Cardiff though and have done enough was a superb feeling, and it’s been a year that has been way beyond my expectations.” A win on the final stage sealed the title, on this difficult event, but clinching the National Junior Championship with a fantastic third overall finish on the Birr Stages had provided an ideal test for Rally GB. 2009 is not quite finished for the Tom Gahan Motorsport team yet, as they will wheel out the R2 Fiesta for the IRC Rally Scotland in a few weeks. The IRC will provide another valuable experience for the Waterford youngster, who graduated from kart racing, and so far he has put his experiences to superb use, as Craig has proven to be one of Ireland’s most promising rallying talents in quite some years. - Credit: Issued on behalf of Craig Breen by Andrew Bushe Promotions. For more information www.craigbreen.com
STAR DRIVER: JON WILLIAMS Stuff you never knew you needed
WILLIAMS TOUGHS IT IN WALES
The sixth and final round of this year’s inaugural Pirelli Star Driver scheme finished in Cardiff this past weekend, with all five of the drivers having tasted Rally GB at its best with ever-changing grip levels and weather conditions. TEXT AND IMAGE BY FIA.COM There had been concerns from purists that moving this event forward six weeks could water down what is usually a tough and uncompromising end to the season. They needn’t have worried, the last three days have been as challenging as ever in the Welsh forests. Britain’s round of the FIA World Rally Championship draws to a close the first season of the all-new WRC-based young driver development programme. The five drivers involved have all made significant progress through 2009, none more than Martin Semerád, who ends his season on the highest of highs with his best ever result on a round of the World Rally Championship. The Czech Republic driver was 14th overall and first of the Pirelli-backed Mitsubishis home. This was the strongest showing yet for the five Pirelli Star Drivers, with Jarkko Nikara (Finland) leading Group N and all of the Production Car World Rally Championship runners on the first day, before sliding off the road on the second day. Czech Republic driver Martin Semerád picked up where Nikara left off and completed his best ever result on a round of the FIA World Rally Championship, belying his lack of experience of Wales and its wet conditions to take third in PWRC. Semerád did, however, endure one heart-stopping moment on the final morning, when his Lancer slid off the road on an exceptional muddy surface. He got the car back on the road and continued to 14th overall. Nikara returned on Sunday via SupeRally and registered 35th place overall. All five Ralliart Italy-tuned Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Xs made it to the finish of this final round of the WRC, with only Jon Williams (South Africa) suffering a significant technical problem when his car broke its gearbox on Saturday afternoon. Williams returned, however, to deliver his British co-
driver George Gwynn a much-appreciated finish on his home round of the Championship. The African-English partnership ended the event 15th in Group N. Jon Williams said: “Never having competed here – or in these kind of conditions before – I was really hoping that I would be able to get a few runs at shakedown to get a good idea of how the car was running and how it would work on the rally. But then the turbo blew on the second run at the stage, which meant our test for the event was over a bit earlier than expected. I think the blown turbo might have caused us some trouble during the event as well; we were down on power through the first day, we just had no power and the anti-lag system wasn’t working. The team thinks that some of the turbo might have gone into the catalytic converter, so that, the ECU and the anti-lag was changed at the end of day one. The first day was tough for me, though. You need to have the confidence in the car and you need to know you have the power there to keep you on the road if you get into a slide. We had a pretty big moment on the stage before lunch on Saturday: there was a fast right into hairpin left and I got it wrong. Luckily there was a gate and we spun through the gate. We’d been having some noise from the front of the car at that point – and then the gearbox went on the first stage out of service which was so disappointing. I was going from fourth to fifth gear when it broke. We were back on Sunday and got the chance to drive those stages which was good, but I really wanted a good finish on this event for George [Gwynn, codriver]. I can’t believe the year is over now. I can’t believe the places I’ve been and the events I have done. It’s really given me something to build on for next year.”
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Evenll etvsent previews and reviews the fu
SANRC: TOYOTA DEALER RALLY - GAUTENG 23 - 24 October 2009
CHAMPS: FEKKEN AND ARRIES WIN AGAIN!
Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries ran out highly popular winners of the 2009 Sasol South African Rally Championship on Saturday, October 24. Second place for the BP Ultimate Volkswagen Polo crew on the Toyota Gauteng Dealer Rally was enough to give them their second consecutive SA Drivers and Co-Drivers title. “This was the one that justified our win last year,” said an elated Arries at the end of the two-day event that ended in the Bapsfontein area. “Last year we had to wait for the result to be ratified in a motorsport appeals court, but this one we can celebrate right away.” Going into the two-day event, the final round on the eightround 2009 rally calendar, the VW pairing were tied on points with arch rivals Johnny Gemmell and Peter Marsh in the Castrol Toyota Auris. At the start of the second day, the supersmooth-driving Gemmell immediately clawed back five seconds of a 20-second deficit he had suffered to Fekken on the Friday, the result of a spin in the Middelburg meailie fields. It looked like “game on” for Toyota with six of the 12-stages in their “home” event still to be run. But in the very next stage, the Toyota’s engine blew. The way that the championship points are structured, with crews counting their best seven of eight results in the season, meant that Fekken and Arries were then effectively the 2009 champions, even if they failed to finish the rally, because they had a one point advantage over the Toyota pair on a count out. The event then turned into a VW benefit, with Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson winning their first event of the season, followed by Fekken and Arries, who never gave up trying for the win, while former multiple champions Jan Habig and Douglas Judd, made it a VW Polo 1-2-3 for the second time this year, with
this first time been at the end of the Volkswagen Rally in July. “We ticked all the boxes for BP Ultimate Volkswagen in this event,” said a delighted Enzo Kuun. “We wrapped up the title for Hergen and Pierre, Guy and myself scored a much-needed win after a difficult season, and VW scored an emphatic team win to end the season on a high, “ said the lanky Kuun. Hergen Fekken said his first reaction to the news that Gemmell and Marsh were out after Stage Six was one of disappointment. “I think that was because Pierre and I had psyched ourselves so hard for what looked like a battle right to the final rally stage of 2009, as we had started the event equal on points. And I felt for Johnny. But then I thought, no that’s part of the game, the same thing had happened to me in 2005. So I allowed myself to enjoy the satisfaction of a second title.” Fekken dedicated his victory to the VW Motorsport team, based in Uitenhage, in the Eastern Cape. “Halfway through the season we had fallen behind Toyota slightly, and their Auris S2000 cars had the edge on our Polo. What’s more, Johnny especially was enjoying an amazing run of reliability. “But our team members, both at the factory and especially on the events, never panicked. In fact they found just a little
bit more power out of our engines which put us right back in contention. But I must say, with just seconds separating me and Johnny on stage times all year long, it was great to be part of such an intense title fight and end up winning it.” Toyota had some compensation for losing the big prize, as it clinched the overall rally manufacturers’ championship for a 17th time, ahead of Volkswagen, Subaru and Ford. Evan Hutchison and Elvene Coetzee took the Class A7 title in their Motorite Toyota RunX, adding to the Class A6 title already won by Mohammed Moosa in their Team Total Toyota Auris, while Dave Compton and Pierre Jordaan had likewise earlier clinched the Class N3 championship in their Sasol RunX. Hutchison and Coetzee dominated the A7 class on the Toyotasponsored final round, after being shaded for speed earlier in the season by their championship rivals, Stevan Wilken and Greg Gericke in a VW Polo. The VW pair was unfortunately disqualified after receiving outside assistance, after being stuck in the mud on what turned out to be very muddy conditions in the Bapsfontein area. However, the mud played havoc with transmissions of many of the cars, and Hutchison and Coetzee were lucky to finish running with severe clutch problems in the final stages. The final title battle decided at the Toyota Gauteng event was a straight fight between BP Ultimate VW team mates Gugu Zulu/Carl Peskin and André Cleenwerck/Des de Fortier, running in the 1400 cc Class A5 CitiGolfs. A broken transmission towards the end of the event for Cleenwerck and De Fortier decided the title in favour of Zulu and Peskin, after a thrilling season-long battle. The other major winners in 2009 were Charl Wilken and Greg Godrich in the Sasol Konica/Minolta Subaru STi, who had already won the N4 Class for turbocharged production cars and the overall SA Production Car title after five rounds. Unfortunately this car was destroyed in a tragic road accident en route to the BP Ultimate Rally in Cape Town a month ago and Wilken and Godrich were unwilling spectators at the season finale in Gauteng. FINAL Toyota Dealer Rally Gauteng CLASSIFICATION: 01) 02) 03) 04) 05) 06) 07) 08) 09) 10)
Enzo Kuun/ Guy Hodgson (Volkswagen Polo S2000) Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries (Volkswagen Polo S2000) Jan Habig/Douglas Judd (Volkswagen Polo S2000) Schalk Burger/Armand du Toit (Toyota RunX S2000) Fernando Rueda/Dave Lewkowicz (Toyota RunX S2000) Japie van Niekerk/Robin Houghton (Toyota RunX S2000) Tjaart Coetzee/Etienne Lourens (Subaru impreza STi N4) Mohammed Moosa/Grant Martin (Toyota Auris A6) Evan Hutchison/Elvene Coetzee (Toyota RunX A7) Nico Nienaber Jnr/Gert Nienaber (Toyota Corolla)
2009 South African Sasol Rally Championship Winners:
• SA Rally Champions: Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries (BP Ultimate Volkswwagen Polo S2000) • SA Production Car Rally Champions: Charl Wilken/Greg Godrich (Sasol Konica Minolta Subaru N4)
Class Champions: • • • • • •
S2000: Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries (BP Ultimate Volkswagen Polo) N4: Charl Wilken/Greg Godrich (Sasol Konica Minolta Subaru) N3: Dave Compton/Pierre Jordaan (Sasol Toyota RunX) Class A7: Evan Hutchison/Elvene Coetzee (MotoriteToyota RunX) Class A6: Mohammed Moose/Grant Martin (Total Toyota Auris) Class A5: Gugu Zulu/Carl Peskin (BP Ultimate Volkswagen CitiGolf)
WRC: RALLY GREAT BRITAIN 21 - 25 October 2009
01 MIN 06 SEC FROM A WRC TITLE!
The WRC Rally GB was anti-climatic. Going into the final round of the 2009 World Rally Championship this past weekend, the two protagonists of this year-long drama were separated by a mere single point in the Drivers’ Championship standings. Two manufacturers, the unpredictable Welsh weather and both rivals with the same purpose: Rally GB had the making of an epic battle, WRITES EVAN ROTHMAN. After 16 slippery yet terrifyingly high-speed stages (watch in-car footage on WRC.com’s YouTube channel), I was left with a few “What Ifs” after reviewing this grueling rally. Only 01min 06sec lay between Mikko Hirvonen (BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Ream) and Sebastien Loeb (Citroen Total World Rally Team). Expecting a nail-biting, back-and-forth battle between these two rally impresarios, the WRC Rally GB made me grumble “Oh No!” “Pity about that!” “Drive around the problem” and then “Better luck next year, Mikko.” The two drivers (both fraught with different difficulties throughout the weekend) never seemed to settle into a rhythm. Although both drivers dominated the first two positions atop the rally leaderboard, the rally action lacked a sparkle. I was hoping for a ping-pong battle, hoping for Loeb and Hirvonen to fight for tenths of a second in stages, but alas that duel never materialised. For Hirvonen to win the Championship he had to finish ahead of Loeb. No matter where on the leaderboard they were positioned, Hirvonen had to be one up on the Frenchman. The Rally Gods were not smiling on the Flying Finn this past weekend, I feel, as he stuttered through the first loop of stages on Day One. Loeb, with this cool and collected manner, attacked the tricky and treacherous Welsh gravel roads with style. Positioned at the top of the leaderboard from Day One, Loeb’s hold on the rally looked unshakeable. Hirvonen’s team-mates both struggled through Day One of the rally with mechanical woes, and Khalid Al-Qassimi retired his Ford Focus RS WRC. With this in mind, and a mechanical scare heading to Service Park, Hirvonen’s confidence was
undoubtedly knocked. He admitted to not being able to extract the maximum from his rally machine and not being comfortable in his car to attack the stages with the aggression needed to launch an attack on the rally’s leader. Loeb’s rally was also not going as smoothly as he had anticipated, but his lead was unchallenged. Stage times from both Hirvonen and Loeb were consistently fast, but Hirvonen was unable to produce the magic that took him to victory in the WRC Rally Greece-Acropolis, WRC Rally Poland, WRC Rally Finland and WRC Rally Australia. To add to Hirvonen’s challenges this past weekend, was a highflying Spaniard. Dani Sordo (Citroen Total World Rally Team) gained in confidence and speed throughout the weekend and closed on Hirvonen, with just one second the margin Hirvonen was able to muster ahead of the young charger. With Sordo closing in on Hirvonen on each stage on Day Three, he was forced to drive defensively to maintain second position overall. Had Hirvonen had the support from his Finnish team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, would he have been able to charge for the lead on Day Two and Day Three? If his Ford Focus RS WRC was not blighted with mechanical troubles on Day Two, would he have been closer to Loeb to launch an attack? It is these such “What Ifs” that remain in my mind. Had Mikko Hirvonen won the title this weekend, he would have been a very deserving Champion. Let’s not take anything away from the mastery of Sebastien Loeb, for he drove his Citroen C4 WRC to the most victories in 2009 and showed his supreme speed to all nay-sayers this year.
Most impressive drive of the weekend? Petter Solberg stole the limelight form his Citroen Junior Team colleagues when he drove the Citroen C4 WRC to fourth position overall in his first gravel rally outing in his team’s new car. Given an up-to-date specification WRC car, the factory drivers Loeb, Hirvonen and Sordo will need to keep their eyes on their rearview mirrors for this Norwegian. He looked every part the four-times winner of Rally GB this past weekend, and once again highlighted his impressive rally abilities. Hats off to Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena clinching their sixth fantastic World Rally Championship trophies and to their 54th world class victory. “There was so much pressure right up to the end of the rally,” said Loeb. “We had a good start to the year, but then encountered a few problems. However, we got back on top of things just before this rally. Finally, we’ve managed to win the title again, on the penultimate stage. Mikko didn’t give up and I had to push right to the finish. It’s never easy to compare one title with another, but I think this is the best one in terms of the sporting battle we had. When you win a title with three rallies to go, the pressure isn’t the same because you’ve always got another opportunity to do it. This was the final rally and we couldn’t afford to get it wrong. Everybody expected us to win, but I can tell you that nothing was certain until we reached the finish. That’s why it means so much to us.” FINAL WRC Rally GB CLASSIFICATION: 01) S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroen C4 WRC) - 03hr 16min 25,4sec 02) M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS WRC) + 01min 06,1s 03) D. Sordo/M. Marti (Citroen C4 WRC) + 01min 07,1s 04) P. Solberg/P. Mills (Citroen C4 WRC) + 01min 28,1s 05) H. Solberg/C. Menkerud (Ford Focus RS WRC) + 06min 28,0s 06) M. Wilson/S. Martin (Ford Focus RS WRC) + 07min 46,0s 07) J-M. Latvala/M. Anttila (Ford Focus RS WRC) + 12min 11,9s 08) C. Rautenbach/D. Barritt (Citroen C4 WRC) + 14min 27,8s 09) E. Brynildsen/D. Giraudet (Skoda Fabia S2000) + 22min 22,7s 10) A. Araujo/M. Ramalho (Mitsubishi Lancer N4) + 24min 18,8s FINAL WRC Drivers’ Championship STANDINGS: 01) S. Loeb - 93 pts 02) M. Hirvonen - 92 pts 03) D. Sordo - 64 pts 04) J-M. Latvala - 41 pts 05) P. Solberg - 35 pts 06) H. Solberg - 33 pts 07) M. Wilson - 28 pts 08) S. Ogier - 24 pts 09) F. Villagra - 16 pts 10) C. Rautenbach - 9 pts FINAL WRC Manufacturers’ Championship STANDINGS: 01) Citroen Total World Rally Team - 167 pts 02) BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - 140 pts 03) Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team - 80 pts 04) Citroen Junior Rally Team - 47 pts 05) Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team - 23 pts
Another thrilling season of World Rallying has come to an end. Already the focus has turned to 2010 for many drivers, and plans are hatching from certain teams to bring in a new World Rally Champion come November in 2010. HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS will be carrying all news, event previews and reviews, as usual. Keep reading your favourite FREE rally eMagazine!