H&H-293

S E K A R B D N A H S N I P R I & HA

week! e - every in z a g a y eM ated rall ST dedic R I F ’s .me/pkXc d http://wp The worl • 3 1 0 2 r mbe • 13 Septe Issue 293

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Your insight into the world of rally!

Issue 293 • 13 Sept 2013

EDITORIAL INFORMATION

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INSIDE THIS WEEK 05 • Chat with Michal Kosciuszko 06 • Craig Breen back in the seat 08 • ERC LOTOS Rally Poland preview 09 • SARC Toyota Cape Dealer Rally preview 11 • WRC Rally Australia insight

Editor Evan Rothman Favourite rally car? Audi Quattro S2 Current favourite WRC driver? Mads Østberg Favourite WRC rally? WRC Rallye Deutschland Favourite rally? Total Rally, South Africa Tweets too much about rallying, loves nothing more than spectating on a forest rally, and has aspirations of being the world’s greatest rally journalist. He’s also oftentimes seen with a camera in one hand and his mobile phone in the other.

Photojournalist Eva Kovkova Favourite rally car? Citroën C4 WRC Current favourite WRC driver? Mads Østberg Favourite WRC rally? Vodafone Rally de Portugal Favourite rally? White Nights Rally, Lahdenpohja, Russia Likes to walk in the Swedish snow forests or on Portuguese dusty hills, likes to freeze, to get wet in the rain or to melt from the heat during photo hunts for flying cars and smiling faces. Also is known as a press ice bear working for South Africa :)

Handbrakes & Hairpins has created this rally-powered wallpaper for the Apple iPhone 5. To download, simply save the image to your Camera Roll, or click on this link to download: http://wp.me/apkXc-4xU.

OPENING SHOT

The opening two stages of the 2013 WRC Rally Australia has provided intense action at the front, with a surprising battle between Volkswagen Motorsport’s Andreas Mikkelsen and Citroën Racing’s Kris Meeke. This is Rally Australia!

Picture: Andre Lavadinho/Citroën Racing

EVENT

THE OTHER FAST POLE Words by H&H • Picture by ERC Media

We had a chat with rallying’s rising star Michal Kosciuszko, the other fast Pole in the ERC in 2013...

Q: How ready are you for Rally Poland and your first start in this year’s ERC? MK: “Not so much because I have a fracture of one vertebra following a heavy landing on Rallye Deutschland last month. It’s not so easy to drive, but I have a special protective belt for my chest to keep my position upright more than usual. It’s not so comfortable but it makes driving possible.”

Q: Did you fear you wouldn’t be able to take part?

MK: “I’ve had many medical tests and the first reaction was I cannot compete, it’s a fracture and it’s not safe to do it. Then I made check after check after check and finally they decided it’s not dangerous, just painful and I have to

live with that. But I really want to do this rally.”

Q: So not competing was not an option, right?

MK: “Exactly. I couldn’t imagine not being on the start.

It’s a very beautiful rally sponsored by LOTOS, my main sponsor. I’ve put all my energy to be ready. I’ve had only ten days to recover and normally the doctors say it’s six to eight weeks of recovery time. In testing the first feeling was terrible and I couldn’t find my rhythm. I felt really uncomfortable but after a few runs I get used to it.”

Q: You’re driving a Ford Fiesta R5 for the first time.

What are your impressions of the car?

MK: “It’s a very good car, with a strong engine and fivespeed gearbox. You drive it like a Group N car, not sliding as much and you approach the corners not at such high speed and more in a straight line. You then need to throw the car in the corners but you have the power to exit.”

Q: Poland hosted the ERC’s first Qualifying Stage last season and it’s back for this year. How important is road position on this event?

MK: “It’s very important but every driver has a point of view about what works better. It depends on the weather for sure but usually you don’t want to be far from the first place because the ruts will appear quite soon. I have experience of qualifying but this stage is not representative of the rally, it’s on a track with a hard gravel base and the set-up of the car will be different.”

Q: How have you prepared for Rally Poland?

MK: “We will be quite well prepared but I won’t be 100 per cent fit and I will need to check what my limits are when I am driving.” H&H

NEWS

BREEN SET FOR POLAND Words by H&H • Picture by ERC Media

After a two month mid-season break, Peugeot Rally Academy’s Craig Breen makes his return to the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC) this weekend as the ERC travels to Poland for Round Nine of the year.

Breen at the wheel of a Peugeot 207 S2000 has had a strong opening half to the campaign and currently holds second place in the Championship standings.

For the Polish event, Belgium co-driver Lara Vanneste will deputise for Breen’s regular co-driver Paul Nagle, as Paul has linked up with Andreas Mikkelsen in the WRC for the Rally Australia.

Celebrating 70 years in 2013, the Rally Poland spectacular gravel event is not only a familiar fixture on

the European Championship schedule but it is also one of the oldest rallies in the world. This year’s anniversary edition, the final loose-surface round of the season, is set to be a big hit with fans.

Running through Poland’s stunning Masurian Lake District, the event Head Quarters, Service Park and Super Special Stage are housed in one part of host town Mikołajki. The two-day rally begins on Saturday 14th and includes the opening seven special stages. The event then concludes on Sunday 15th with the remaining six stages.

For the second time this year after Açores, the Peugeot Rally Academy squad is full. Breen and Jérémi Ancian are driving Peugeot 207 S2000s and Stéphane

Lefebvre in a 208 R2.

Craig’s comments as he looks ahead to the event: “It has been a very busy schedule this year to date but over the past few weeks I’ve had the biggest mid-season break of my career. I know that this year is a learning season in both terms of new events for me and my test programme with the new 208 T16. From the outset back in February I knew I would have this time off but when you’re programmed to compete it’s hard not to be involved. Sitting at home following Rally Romania and Zlin was tough. I can’t wait to be back in the thick of the action.” H&H

EVENT

POLISH DELIGHTS FOR ERC

Words by H&H • Picture by ERC Media

There’s no rest in the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC). Less than a fortnight after title leader Jan Kopecký stormed to glory in the Czech Republic to signal the start of ERC Super September, there will be more serious competition ahead when Poland hosts Round Nine this weekend.

Based in Mikołajki in the northeast of the country from 13 - 15 September, LOTOS 70 Rally Poland is one of the oldest international rallies still in existence.

Formula One race winner Robert Kubica is back on ERC duty for a rare appearance in his homeland. The 28-year-old, who hails from Kraków to the far south of Poland, has led all three ERC events he has contested this season, clocking the fastest stage time on 16 occasions in his turbocharged Citroën DS3 RRC. Kubica has never competed on Rally Poland before so will be relying on the experience of his co-driver Maciej Baran, who has tackled the event on seven occasions since its relocation to Mikołajki.

With as many as eight drivers tipped as genuine contenders for victory, there will be serious competition ahead on LOTOS 70 Rally Poland. Of the bulging 85-car entry, 15 drivers will be in S2000 or RRC cars, with four competing in new-generation R5 machines. The ERC Production Car Cup and ERC 2WD Championship both feature entries full of quality and quantity, while three drivers will chase success in the ERC Ladies’ Trophy including newcomer Joana Survilaitė from Lithuania.

LOTOS 70 Rally Poland features six repeated stages plus a super special in host town Mikołajki on the opening afternoon, which has capacity for 15,000 spectators. High speeds are achieved on the all-gravel tests in Poland’s stunning Masurian Lake District although this is no Rally Finland with few jumps and lots of wide open areas maximising viewing opportunities for fans.

Tall grass lines sections of the route, which can limit visibility on the approach to corners. Corner cutting is best avoided due to hidden rocks. There are two new stages

this year, Mrągowo and Biskupiec. The action begins with the Qualifying Stage on the 2.50km Mikołajki stage from 16h00hrs on Friday. The results will be used to help determine the starting order of the leading runners.

The second oldest rally in the world, the first Rally Poland – or Rajd Polski – took place in 1921 with a route starting and finishing in the capital Warsaw. A mainstay of the ERC for many years, the event has also featured in the WRC on a handful of occasions, including in 1973 when FIA President Jean Todt co-drove Achim Warmbold to victory. In addition to sponsoring the event, oil company Grupa LOTOS is backing the cars of Kajetan Kajetanowicz, Michał Kościuszko and Robert Kubica. It is also supporting Eurosport’s live coverage of four stages. Frenchman Bryan Bouffier is a three-time Polish champion, while his codriver Xavier Panseri lives in the country after meeting his partner during his time competing in Poland. H&H

EVENT

READY FOR WESTERN CAPE’S SHOWDOWN Words by H&H • Picture by Evan Rothman

South Africa’s Western Cape rally fans will get their first opportunity this year to see the top contestants in the South African National Rally Championship on home ground when the sixth round, the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally, takes place this weekend.

Competitors are expecting wet weather conditions, rain-soaked ground and the traditional tight and twisty gravel roads in the Malmesbury and Moorreesburg areas, 70km from Cape Town.

With three rounds remaining including the Western Cape event defending champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton (Ford Dealer Team Fiesta S2000) remains the combination to beat after winning four of the first five rounds. They enjoy a 25-point advantage over secondplaced former champions Jan Habig and Robert Paisley (Basil Read Ford Fiesta S2000), the only others to have won a round so far.

Local favourites Jean-Pierre Damseaux/Hilton Auffray (Team TOTAL Toyota Auris S2000) lead the S2000 Challenge for older specification four-wheel drive cars by

just three points from defending champions Gugu Zulu/ Carl Peskin (Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo Vivo S2000).

The hotly-contested S1600 Championship for twowheel drive cars is led by Matthew Vacy-Lyle/Schalk van Heerden (Fragram Tools Toyota RunX), but with only 9,5 points separating the top five and three different winners in the past five rounds, this contest is still wide open.

The two-day, 780km Toyota Cape Dealer Rally will start from Imperial Toyota CapeGate in Brackenfell at 11h00 on Friday 13th and finish back at Imperial Toyota around 15h00 on Saturday. There will be five special stages on each day covering a total of 175km of timed flat-out racing. Rally headquarters and the event’s single service park, which will be used twice on Friday and three times on Saturday, will be at Brackenfell High School.

The route will take competitors from the start in Brackenfell to the opening Imperial Toyota 12km gravel special stage on Friday in the Durbanville area, where the first car will be flagged away at 11h35. Three more gravel stages in the Malmesbury and Moorreesburg areas

will be followed by the day’s final 2km spectator-oriented special stage on tarred roads in the area of the CapeGate shopping complex. This final stage will start at 19h05 and promises to be a highlight of the day for spectators.

Saturday’s programme gets underway at Imperial Toyota CapeGate at 05h45 with the first of the day’s three service parks at Brackenfell High School. SS6, the fast Wolfgat 17km sprint some 83km from Brackenfell in the Malmesbury/Moorreesburg area, will open the day’s competitive proceedings at 07h20.

The second day’s five gravel stages are a challenging mixture of technical, tight tests – like Langgewens 1 and 2, at 26km the longest of the event – and fast stages like Wolfgat and Nuwedam. The action ends with a repeat of Friday’s opening 12km stage in Durbanville at 14h27. The podium ceremony and champagne spraying will take place at Brackenfell High School at 15h30. H&H

EVENT

MIKKELSEN ON A MISSION

Words by H&H • Pictures by Volkswagen Motorsport, WorldRallyPics, Citroën Racing

Volkswagen Motorsport has much to smile about Down Under. Putting their disastrous performance on their home event behind them, they have underlined their determination by taking three of the top four overnight positions after two stages of the WRC’s Coates Hire Rally Australia.

Andreas Mikkelsen claimed the early lead in the FIA World Rally Championship’s tenth round on the New South Wales Coffs Coast on Thursday afternoon.

Mikkelsen was quickest through the two opening runs over the ARMOR ALL Super Special Stage, set on a former cycling track in Brelsford Park in the heart of Coffs

Harbour.

Norwegian Mikkelsen came home 01.5sec ahead of team-mate and Championship leader Sébastien Ogier who was fourth fastest. Citroën Racing’s Kris Meeke, who won the Qualifying session in the morning, was secondfastest while third Volkswagen driver Jari-Matti Latvala was

third overall. All the leading drivers complained of slippery conditions on the 01.6km Super Special Stage after it had been watered to control dust.

“I expected it to be difficult, but it was a fun stage,” said Ogier. ”It’s already quite rough but also slippy – I just have to avoid making mistakes.”

Ogier, who has won five of the nine FIA World Rally Championship rounds run so far this year, leads the standings by 75 points from Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team’s driver Thierry Neuville. To secure the WRC Drivers’ title this weekend, he must pick up nine points more than Neuville and one more than his Volkswagen team-mate Latvala. Ogier stated he would approach the rally just like any other, despite the pressure of the Championship on his shoulders for this event.

“I just want to get another good result if I

can,” the Frenchman said. “It could be good for the Championship but also we need the points for the Manufacturer’s title, because it is getting close, and that’s so far also on target, so definitely I will try to do my best if I can.”

For the first full day of action, Friday comprises of six stages across 133km on the so-called Central Leg, to the north of the hinterland town of Bellingen in Tuckers Nob State Forest and to the south-west of coastal Urunga in the Newry State Forest. Stages vary from high-speed shire roads to tight and technical forest tracks. H&H

Official Classification after SS2: 01) A. Mikkelsen/P. Nagle Volkswagen Polo R WRC - 02m 45.3s 02) K. Meeke/C. Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC + 0.9s 03) J-M. Latvala/M. Anttila Volkswagen Polo R WRC + 01.4s 04) S. Ogier/J. Ingrassia Volkswagen Polo R WRC + 01.5s 05) M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen Citroën DS3 WRC + 01.9s 06) T. Neuville/N. Gilsoul Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 02.7s 07) M. Ostberg/J. Andersson Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 4.6s 08) E. Novikov/I. Minor-Petrasko Ford Fiesta RS WRC + 06.5s 09) K. Al-Qassimi/S. Martin Citroën DS3 WRC + 08.1s 10) N. Quinn/G. MacNeall MINI Cooper Countryman WRC + 10.3s

CLOSING SHOT This is a road sign not to be seen anywhere else in the world...

WRC Rally Australia is GO! Picture: Andre Lavadinho/CitroĂŤn Racing