H&H-07

Handbrakes and Hairpins Issue 07

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Welcome to the Loeb Show!

Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena (Citroen Total World Rally Team) recorded their third consecutive WRC Rally Catalunya title. With four events remaining in this year’s season, the World Rally Championship is even tighter than we could have imagined it to be this long into the title chase.

Loeb, an expert at tarmac rallies, didn’t have to push himself or his Citroen C4 too hard for the victory this past weekend. After the first day of the WRC Rally Catalunya, his lead was such that he could settle into a comfortable pace to finish the rally in fine style.

With torrential rain falling during the week leading up to the rally, the teams focused on fine-tuning their wet weather setups.

On Day One Loeb seemed to have the best car under him, and he easily posted the fastest stage times for the opening leg of the rally.

Loeb’s team-mate in the Citroen Total World Rally Team, Daniel Sordo and his co-driver Marc Marti followed Loeb’s example and finished Day One in second place overall, with a lead over third placed Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen

(BP-Ford World Rally Team).

Day Two presented more of the same rally action, as the rain continued to fall steadily. On this leg of the rally, the top ten runners from Day One stayed the same to the end of the WRC Rally Catalunya. This, according to the experts, was because the roads used for the rally were as smooth and fast as a race track, and with near-identical car setups, the teams all took advantage of the high-speed stages. However, Loeb’s unassailable lead from Day One, together with Sordo’s strong performance, proved too powerful for the rest of the WRC field. Most of the stage wins went the way of the talented Frenchman, yet his lead never grew considerably or decreased at any time. This remarkable fact highlights how competitive all the crews were throughout the event.

“The most important thing for me,” said Sebastien Loeb, “was to make up some of the gap that separates us from Grönholm in the championship. Despite the constantly changing grip and the fickle weather on Friday, we ended up winning. On top of that, Dani Sordo put in a great run to finish just behind us, which means we go away with four more points than Marcus. Our C4 WRC was once again extremely competitive on asphalt and that’s encouraging for Corsica next weekend.”

Dani Sordo was acclaimed by his home crowd and very much in demand throughout the weekend, so he was understandably beaming after the podium ceremony. “We had quite a lot of pressure on our shoulders before the start,” he admitted. “Eve-

ryone was expecting us to score a strong result and we were very fired to do our best to finish ahead of Grönholm. We managed to achieve our goal and our C4 was awesomely competitive in all the different conditions we faced. I even led a World Rally Championship round for the first time! That’s a great sign going into the next round which is once again on asphalt.

“We started the Rally Catalunya with the objective of finishing first and second, and that’s what we’ve done. I’m obviously delighted,” said Guy Fréquelin. “The remarkable thing, however, is the way we achieved today’s result. Once again, the C4 showed how strong it is on sealed surfaces and everyone at Citroën Sport put in a fantastic job. We came through all the potential pitfalls and made some top tyre choices which put both crews in an ideal position. Seb and Daniel dominated while Dani and Marc put in a superb run that was both fast and intelligent. We now need to repeat all this again next week in Corsica, but we are all fired up to do just that…”

Marcus Gronholm/Timo Rautiainen had no answer for the Loeb Show on Day Three , and were content with consolidating their third place position ahead of team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Janni Lehtinen.

Francois Duval and co-driver Pierre Pivato, competing in an OMV Citroen Xsara, finished over a minute behind the pace of Hirvonen/Lehtinen, and were 26 seconds ahead of Subaru Impreza of Petter Solberg and Phil Mills. In fact, the Subaru World Rally Team had reason for celebration, as all three of

their crews finished the rally in the top ten! Chris Atkinson and Stephane Prevot finished in eighth overall and Xevi Pons and Xavier Amigo in ninth place, giving the team valuable WRC Manufacturers’ points.

WRC Rally Catalunya Results: 1. S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën C4) 3 h 22 min 50,5 s 2. D. Sordo/M. Martí (Citroën C4) + 13,8 s 3. M. Grönholm/T. Rautiainen (Ford Focus) + 39,8 s 4. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) + 1 min 25,8 s 5. F. Duval/P. Pivato (Citroën Xsara) + 2 min 28,7 s 6. P. Solberg/P. Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 2 min 54,1 s 7. JM. Latvala/M. Anttila (Ford Focus) + 3 min 38,2 s 8. C. Atkinson/S. Prevot (Subaru Impreza) + 4 min 22,4 s 9. X. Pons/X. Amigo (Subaru Impreza) + 5 min 04,1 s 10. H. Solberg/C. Menkerud (Ford Focus) + 10 min 32,2 s WRC Constructors’ Championship Standings After WRC Rally Catalunya:

1) Ford - 170 points.

2) Citroen - 131 points.

3) Subaru - 64 points.

4) Stobart - 57 points.

5) OMV Kronos Citroen - 39 points.

6) Munchi’s - 6 points.

WRC Drivers’ Championship Standings After WRC Rally Catalunya: 1) Marcus Gronholm - 96 points.

2) Sebastien Loeb - 90 points.

3) Mikko Hirvonen - 74 points.

4) Dani Sordo - 39 points.

5) Petter Solberg - 34 points.

6) Henning Solberg - 28 points.

7) Chris Atkinson - 26 points.

8) J-M. Latvala - 19 points.

9) Francois Duval - 12 points.

10) Toni Gardemeister - 10 points.

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Behind the Scenes: 37th Cork International Rally (28 September 2007 to 30 September 2007) To optimise their preparation for November’s WRC Rally Ireland (Nov. 15-18), Citroën Sport entered two cars for the Cork International Rally, which was held from 28-30 September 2007. Victory went to Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena at the wheel of their C4 WRC, while Dani Sordo/Marc Martí finished second in a Xsara WRC. The Citroën crews were pleasantly surprised to be greeted by sunshine for their maiden visit to the asphalt lanes of the south of Ireland. With the exception of the shakedown, which took place in showery weather, the 14 stages totalling 239km were practically entirely dry, with only Saturday morning’s loop still damp from the previous day’s rain. Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena posted practically every fastest time to secure their second win of the year with the C4 WRC in Ireland following their success in Donegal in June.

“In addition to winning,” commented Seb at the finish, “the most important thing about the weekend was the fact that it enabled us to do some excellent work in a competitive context. Thanks to our experience in Donegal, we had a fairly shrewd idea of what we would find here, although I must say I was once again surprised by how difficult the stages were. It really wasn’t easy to make good notes with just two passes during recce.”

“The weekend gave us a valuable opportunity to test with Citroën Sport’s engineers and technicians for Ireland’s WRC round which will be based in Sligo. The stages we contested here on Saturday were apparently similar to what we can expect in the north, so it was very worthwhile coming to Cork. The rally also enabled us to work on certain points and validate our previous work in other areas. We have kept some set-ups, rejected others and also evaluated certain new ideas…”

At each service halt, the atmosphere within the Citroën Sport camp was relaxed but studious. The large crowd of enthusiastic onlookers was able to see the crews and technical staff locked in conversation as they analysed the findings of the previous stages before making adjustments to the set-up for the following tests. The copious notes and observations collected in the course of the weekend promise to be a gold mine of data to help the team prepare for the penultimate round of the 2007 World Rally Championship.

Dani Sordo and Marc Martí opted for a slightly slower pace, although they were consistently in the wake of their team-mates to ensure a one-two finish for Citroën and the Spanish pair was upbeat about its maiden experience of the Irish stages. “As soon as we started recce,” smiled Dani after the podium ceremony, “I realised what a good idea it had been to come and do this event. The stages were very fast but it’s the fact that they’re so narrow and bumpy that makes them such a challenge. It wasn’t easy to make good pacenotes and we occasionally found the car jumping in places where we hadn’t expected it to! It is really very different from anything else I know.”

“More than our actual performance,” concluded the Spaniard, “we concentrated above all on getting a feel for the terrain. I hope the experience and the lessons we go away with will be profitable. I was also able to evaluate the different set-ups that we should be able to use. Last but not least, I was really impressed by the huge popular following rallying enjoys in this country. That was terrific to see…”

Fastest stage times: Leg 1: SS1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8: Sébastien Loeb (Citroën C4).

Leg 2: SS9, 10, 11 and 12: S. Loeb. SS13: S. Loeb and Dani Sordo (Citroën Xsara). SS14: Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus).

Top stage performers: S. Loeb (13 fastest times, including 1 equal fastest), D. Sordo (1 equal fastest), M. Hirvonen (1).

37th Cork International Rally – final positions: 1, S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroën C4) 2h 2m 9.5s 2, D. Sordo/M. Martí (Citroën Xsara) +2m 21.5s 3, M. Higgins/R. Kennedy (Subaru Impreza) +4m 59.8s 4, E. Donnelly/P. Kiely (Subaru Impreza) +5m 43.2s 5, M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) +7m 29.0s

OMV to quit WRC The end of this season’s WRC championship will mark the termination of OMV’s sponsorship activities in international and national rallying. as the company will be shifting its future focus to the increasingly growing social sector adn renewable energies.

According to OMV, thee respective resources will be concentrated on these areas from 2008 onwards. The commitment by OMV in rallying has been very successful.

OMV states that their current involvment in rallying forms part of an “integrated model package.” The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team, the two OMV BIXXOL Rally Teams, teams in the national rallying championships in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia, as well as sponsorship of events in Austria, Hungary, Germany and Serbia.

“With great ambition we have successfully pursued and constantly refined the rally project. Now we have reached the zenith.

Therefore it is time to tackle new challenges. These lie in the expansion of our activities in the social sector and the ones concerning renewable energies”, explains Brigitte Muhlwisch, Head of Corporate Sponsoring of OMV. According to the new perspective the further assignment of the OMV CNG (compressed natural gas) Rally Team is being evaluated. A decision can be expected within the next weeks.

Numerous parties have had their share in the success of rally sponsoring by OMV. Foremost among those are, of course, the drivers and co-drivers from 15 countries who have gathered 214 points in the last four years alone in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC, P-WRC, JWRC).

Successful history of OMV rally commitment In 2004 a new era in rally sponsoring began for OMV. Three cars were employed in the FIA Production World Rally Championship. Three victories turned the OMV World Rally Team into the most successful team of the series. Additionally, Jani Paasonen (FIN) finished in third overall place in this series. Especially noticed was the rookie-contest which was won by German Sebastian Vollak who then could complete a whole season. Another first was the name sponsoring of a run to the FIA World Rally Championship. With the OMV ADAC Rallye Germany, OMV took a further step to intensify its international activities.

In 2005 Manfred Stohl was able to compete in ten runs in a World Rally Car for the first time. Soon the 35-year-old Viennese in the Citroen Xsara WRC celebrated his first big successes. Second place in Cyprus and third place in Australia meant the first podium places for the OMV Team. Teammate Xavier Pons (Spa) competed in six runs. In group N the OMV World Rally Team was represented by Brit Natalie Barratt, back then the only female driver in rallying. And once again the group was name- and main sponsor of the OMV ADAC Rallye Germany, one of 16 runs to the FIA World Rally Championship.

In 2006 the international rally project was further expanded. Manfred Stohl competed in all 16 runs to the WRC in the OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team. Teammate Henning Solberg took part in ten runs. In the driver ranking Manfred Stohl took four podium places and fourth overall place in the WRC. The best result of a privateer in the history of the Rally World Championship.

Henning Solberg (Nor) also celebrated big successes by finishing third in Turkey and fourth in Finland. In the P-WRC the OMV CEE Team also employed two drivers who scored points. And last but not least there was German Aaron Burkart who proved his talent in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship. The year also marked the last time as name sponsor of the OMV ADAC Rally Germany.

2007 marked the return to Citroen in the World Championship. The OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team celebrated its biggest success when Francois Duval (Bel) held the lead on the first day of the Rally Germany and finally finished the rally in excellent second place. The Production Car World Rally Championship saw an increasing employment of drivers from OMV countries. The two OMV BIXXOL Rally Teams compete with drivers from the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania in this series. Several activities by OMV provided further highlights in the scene. Since the end of March, the OMV Kronos Citroen World Rally Team is the first and so far only team in the FIA World Rally Championship that competes CO”- neutral. In Germany Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor competed in a car that was designed by children which represented the connection to OMV Move & Help, the educational program by OMV. To this behalf OMV donates 20 Euro for each completed special stage kilometre by the team. At the end of the year the final amount will be given to SOS Children’s Village, Caritas and UNICEF for educational programs in Europe and Pakistan.

OMV can also look back on impressive successes in National Rally Championships. During recent years numerous Championship titles in the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Hungary and Slovakia went to OMV Teams. One was furthermore represented as name sponsor at national rally events in Austria, Hungary, Germany and Serbia. For the first time worldwide a natural gas driven Mitsubishi was successfully employed in the Austrian Championship. SOURCE: owrt.com.

South African Regional Rallying: KZN Ubizane Rallysprint (06 October 2007)

Bertus Labuschagne and Lou Zietsman rallying hard.

Brian and Kirsty Scott finished fourth overall.

Clyde Victor and Mark Wing in action.

Last Saturday saw the penultimate round of the KwaZulu-Natal Rally Championship held in the Eston area. With rain falling heavily during the preceeding week, crews were expecting a treacherous and muddy stage on Virginia Farm.

This sugar cane farm, with its sweeping roads, humps, tight corners and drop offs, provided drivers and navigators with a fast and thrilling stage.

The rallysprint was run over four stages, and the route was in great conditon considering the weather the week before. The first leg was a learnig curve for all crews, as they took it steady to learn the route. It was on the second leg that the speed and drivers’ skill became evident, as the teams knocked off more than 20 seconds from their previous run through the stage. The third leg, with the drivers now having mre confidence in their machines, the rally action was fast and furious.

The rallysprint was won by Paul Goveia and Tony Ball (Nissan Sentra), followed by Bertus Labuschagne and Lou Zietsman (Volkswagen Golf Mk2) 32 seconds adrift. Chris de Wit and Amon Meyiwa (Toyota Conquest) rounded up the podium places.

Unfortunately, Pietermaritzburgers Brian and Kirsty Scott (Scotty’s Plant Hire Volkswagen Polo) suffered driveshaft problems, and lost 40 seconds on the final leg of the rallysprint, knocking them from third place.

Chris de Wit is now lying second in the KZN Rally Drivers’ Championship at the moment, behind Richard Vaughn. The last event of the season will be a nail-biter!

Ubizane Rallysprint Results: 1) Paul Gouveia/Tony Ball (Nissan Sentra) - 37min 25 sec.

2) Bertus Labuschagne/Lou Zietsman (Volkswagen Golf Mk2) - 37min 57 sec.

3) Chris de Wit/Amon Meyiwa (Toyota Conquest) - 38 min 37 sec.

4) Brian Scott/Kirsty Scott (Volkswagen Polo) - 38 min 45 sec.

WRC Past Master: Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz (born April 12, 1962 in Madrid, Spain) is a former Spanish rally driver. He was World Rally Champion for Toyota in both 1990 and 1992. His co-drivers were Luis Moya and Marc Marti. Constructors’ World Champions to have benefitting from Sainz include Subaru (1995), Toyota (1999) and Citroën (2003, 2004 and 2005).

Sainz Sainz began rallying in 1980. He first appeared in the World Rally Championship with Ford during the 1987 season. He left to join Toyota Team Europe, the Japanese marque’s rallying arm operating in Cologne, Germany. Despite all previous rallying Toyota Celicas having only ever looked a competitive prospect on highly specialised endurance rallies such as the Safari Rally, the new combination of Toyota and Sainz rapidly rose in competitiveness, to the point of winning its first world rally event, the Acropolis Rally, in June of 1990, with Sainz going on to claim his first world drivers’ title later that year and for the first time, breaking the stranglehold on the titles which only the dominant Lancia Deltas team had hirtherto held in the series since the advent of the Group A era of the sport in 1987.

After narrowly failing to defend his title against a resurgent Lancia-mounted Juha Kankkunen in identical Toyota machinery in 1991, his efforts capped by a dramatic roll of his Celica GT4 which left him in a neckbrace, Sainz managed to claim his second overall points victory, aboard the new ST185 Toyota Celica in the 1992 season. In a year that would prove the last for the foreseeable future for Lancia, Sainz managed to score memorable victories on the Safari Rally and on his home asphalt round, the Rally Catalunya, repelling the might of the representatives for the Italian marque, Kankkunen and six-time rally victor, Didier Auriol.

Indeed, Auriol’s retirement on the final round in Great Britain, combined with Sainz’s victory, confirmed the title in favour of the Spaniard.

Such success, however, failed to coerce Sainz into staying with Toyota. Instead, he moved to the private Lancia ‘Jolly Club’ team with which he would go on to endure a sole, torrid winless season in 1993. Meanwhile, the Italian marque’s works refugees Kankkunen and Auriol, switched in the other direction to take his place. The result was a title double for Toyota and Kankkunen in the 1993 World Rally Championship season. Sainz then chose to drove for the then fledgling Subaru World Rally Team in 1994, reaching the unpredecented heights of second in the championship standings for them, behind Auriol. In 1995, he won the Monte Carlo and Portugese rallies and helped Subaru to win the manufacturers’ series, although once again, he would be forced to give best in the drivers’ title race, this time to young team-mate Colin McRae, whom he was to join on later occasions at both Ford and Citroën.

Sainz responded by rejoining Ford for the 1996 season. He spent two seasons with the squad, aboard the Ford Escort RS Cosworth and latterly, the Escort World Rally Car. He also won the Race of Champions at the end of 1997. He then departed, once again, for Toyota, helping to further the Corolla World Rally Car project that had been instituted in 1997 as part of the Cologne recovery from the embarrassment of exclusion from the world championship on the penultimate round of the 1995 season. He won on his first outing for them, on the 1998 Monte Carlo Rally, and later in the season, added a victory in New Zealand. The seemingly terminal blow to title rival Tommi Mäkinen’s chances that was his retirement on the first day of the final event of the year, the Rally Great Britain, seemingly gave the initiative to Sainz, who now only had to score the points associated with finishing fourth, in order to ensure the title. However, he too, just 500 metres from the finish of the very last stage, was then forced to retire, with a mechanical problem. As a result, both Sainz and Toyota gifted their respective titles to rivals Mäkinen and Mitsubishi Ralliart.

A subdued season followed for Sainz in 1999, although it did at least culminate in a departing manufacturers’ title for Toyota, by now fostering alternative interests in Formula One. This was the precursor of another, three year stint with Ford, again alongside McRae, beginning with the 2000 season. There, he won the inaugural edition of the Cyprus round of the World Championship, and finished third in the drivers’ points standings. He failed to score victory on any rally during the 2001 season, finishing sixth in the championship. In 2002, he inherited the victory of the Rally Argentina, having provisionally finished third, by virtue of the disqualifications of the two leading Peugeots of Marcus Grönholm and Richard Burns. Effectively frozen out along with McRae at Ford, he moved to Citroën for the 2003 and 2004 seasons, with whom he was to score his final world rally victory, at the 2004 Rally Argentina.

Despite formally retiring at the end of the 2004 season, with a possible view to moving into the World Touring Car Championship, he was to actually find himself invited back to the WRC fold on the request of Citroën, to replace the faltering Belgian driver François Duval. Although Duval was soon to reclaim his seat, Sainz’s two rallies back in the Citroën impressed many, with the now-43 year old Spaniard posting 4th and 3rd finishing positions respectively.

2006 saw a first participation for Sainz at the wheel of a Volkswagen in that year’s Dakar Rally. In 2007, he repeated his attempt with Volkswagen. Following the resignation of Fernando Martin, he even ran, eventually in vain, for the vice-president position at his beloved football club Real Madrid C.F., for which he once trained.

A limited number of 440 Celica GT-Four ST185s, carrying his name on a plaque in the vehicle, and with decals on the outside, were produced in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s, in an attempt to capitalise on Sainz’s two championship successes with the works team. It is been said that Sainz still keeps a Celica GT-Four given to him by Toyota, which he drives to Real Madrid games at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium.

In the WRC hot seat: Petter Solberg Petter “Hollywood” Solberg was born on November 18, 1974 in Askim in Norway. Married to a Swedish beauty, Pemilla Walfridsson (try say that name quickly), the couple have a son, Oliver (a name to most certainly look for in the next two decades in rallying). Pemilla is the daughter of 1980 European Rallycross Champion Per-Inge Walfridsson, and she was rated as being one of the world’s fastest female rally drivers ever.

Solberg’s rallying career started after he won a nationwide RC car championship at the age of 13. Solberg used to help out rebuilding his parent’s bilcross (a Norwegian rallycross vehicle) machine, and entered his own bilcross in 1992. This was three days after his 18th birthday, and only one day after he got his driving licence.

He later became the Norwegian champion in rallycross as well as hillclimb in both 1995 (winning 19 out of the 21 events) and 1996. In 1998, he was crowned the Nowegian Rally Champion, this after his older brother Henning Solberg had won the title five consecutive times between 1999 and 2003.

The World Rally Championship bosses were taking an interest in this Norwegian rally ace, and by the end of the 1998 season, the Ford World Rally Team signed him up. Malcolm Wilson expected Solberg to play a subdued role in his team, but Solberg’s talent and potential could not be stifled. Solberg was nominated for points in each event he was entered into, ahead of his more experienced team-mate Thomas Radstrom. The third member of the Ford World Rally team was none other than rally legend Colin McRae...

In 2000, Solberg left Ford’s rally team prematurely to sign with the Prodrive Subaru World Rally Team, headed by Richard Burns and Juha Kankkunen. Solberg’s first podium finish came in at the Acropolis Rally in Greece in 2001, and he even voluntarily dropped places from fourth to fifth overall in the WRC Rally San Remo so that Burns could eke out a few more points to add to his title fight.

In 2002 Solberg clinched his first WRC event win, the WRC Rally of Wales (Wales Rally GB), after displaying his massive talent and driving prowess. The following year, Solberg ended the 2003 WRC season off as WRC Drivers’ Champion.

His form of late has been marred by his bad luck and reliability issues with the Subaru Impreza he rallies.

With a highly-likeable personality, often referred to as the Valentino Rossi of rallying, Solberg has a strong following with rally fans the world over. Once his car’s reliability issues are sorted out, and his bad luck has turned, Solberg will be able to mix it with the Citroen Total drivers more competitively.

WRC Past Master: Markko Martin Markko Märtin, born on November 10, 1975 in Tartu, Estonia, competed in the World Rally Championship from 2000 until 2005.

Märtin, as understudy to then-team mates Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz, shot to prominence with the Ford World Rally Team in 2002. He was on target to notch up his first victory on that year’s Acropolis Rally Greece until suffering two punctures and instead being forced to concede to the more experienced McRae. Nonetheless, Märtin still impressed during his time as pilot of the Ford Focus WRC. He won the equivalent event in Greece the following year as well as being only the third driver in the history of the WRC to break the Scandinavian stranglehold on the Neste Rally Finland. In addition to this, Märtin was the inaugural winner, again with Ford, of the Corona Rally Mexico in 2004. He also won the Tarmac rallies of Corsica and Catalunya in the same year.

These victories happened to be the last for the Märtin/Park partnership.

For 2005 Märtin departed the team for former constructors’ champions Peugeot and their 307 car. Sadly, in comparison to the heights of previous seasons, initial promise was to give way to grief. Although 2005 was by no means an exemplary season by Märtin’s standards, he and co-pilot Michael Park had still notched up four podiums for their new employers by the time they had arrived in Wales to contest the Wales Rally Great Britain.

However, on Sunday, September 18, 2005, the final leg of the event, two kilometres from the start of Stage 15 at Margam Park, Märtin’s Peugeot crashed heavily into a tree. Although the Estonian driver was left unhurt by the shunt, co-driver Park was immediately killed in the accident, the first fatality for a competitor at WRC-level for over a decade. As a result, Märtin announced that he would pull out of the last four events of the 2005 season.

Understandably shaken by the passing of Park, Märtin effectively left the WRC stage. He went on to manage a junior rallying team in the Estonian rally scene, indicating that he would likely refuse any offers to drive at the top level again. He has since spoken out against the FIA’s treatment of the WRC, claiming that the series had lost much of its lustre and calling for a far-reaching rules overhaul.

However, Märtin made a limited return to competitive rallying in March 2006 at the 2006 Rally of Portugal. The invitational event was held as a candidate for full WRC status. Markko competed in a Subaru Impreza, his first outing in an FIA-spec Group N car in nearly a decade. He was co-driven by David Senior, who formerly worked with Alister McRae. Märtin also partook in the 2006 Danish Touring Car Championship with Hans Hartmann’s Honda Racing.

WRC Career Results 1997 - NC - 0 points - Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD 1999 - 18th - 2 points - best finish 5th - Ford Escort WRC, Toyota Corolla WRC 2000 - 21st - 1 point - best finish 6th - Toyota Corolla WRC, Subaru Impreza WRC 2001 - 19th - 3 points - best finish 5th - Subaru Impreza WRC 2002 - 9th - 20 points - best finish 2nd - Ford Focus WRC 02 2003 - 5th - 49 points - 2 rally wins - Ford Focus WRC 03 2004 - 3rd - 79 points - 3 rally wins - Ford Focus WRC 04 2005 - 5th - 53 points - best finish 2nd - Peugeot 307 WRC (season unfinished) Markko Martin in brief: Nationality: Estonian Active years: 1997 - 2005 Teams: Subaru, Ford, Peugeot World rallies: 84 Championships: 0 Wins: 5 Podium finishes: 18 Stage wins: 101 Points 207 First world rally: 1997 Neste Rally Finland First win: 2003 Acropolis Rally Last win: 2004 Rally Catalunya Last world rally: 2005 Rally Wales.

WRC Tour de Corse Preview The event After a quick trip east from last weekend’s event in Catalunya, the Subaru World Rally Team has arrived on the Mediterranean island of Corsica for the French round of the World Rally Championship.

Corsica, situated off the south-eastern coastline of France, is well known for its picturesque, unspoiled countryside, which is dominated by forests and mountains. On the abrasive asphalt road surface tyre wear is high, and the rally is amongst the most punishing of the year. The narrow roads hug the sides of the mountains, and drivers are often faced with sheer rock face on one side and steep drops on the other.

Absolute precision is crucial at this event. Similar to Catalunya, drivers need to adopt a clear racing line throughout the stage to carry speed through the corners. There is no margin for error and the concentration levels are at their highest as drivers wind their way through the ‘Rally of a Thousand Corners’. Characterised by the hard acceleration and heavy braking that comes with each twist and turn on the island roads, the g-forces generated are the highest in the championship.

The Corsican weather can be as dramatic as the landscape. Within an hour bright sunshine can give way to heavy rain as warm sea air meets the cool mountain breeze. There can be heavy localised showers – it’s not unusual for drivers to leave the service park in dry conditions and come across rain at the stage start or during the stage, so weather crews have a very important role.

The thirteenth round of the World Rally Championship is based in Ajaccio, a port on the west coast of the island. This year’s event will be busier than usual, including 16 special stages as opposed the 12 used last year, while more than half of the route will be completely new for all the crews. The rally will also venture further south than in recent years, going as far as the city of Sartene, about 50km south of Ajaccio. Legs one and two will each feature six special stages, while Sunday’s final leg includes just four.

The event kicks off with a ceremonial start at the Place Foch in Ajaccio on Thursday night, with the competitive action starting on Friday 12th October at 0838hrs with the 18.10km Monti Rossu – Pila Canale stage.

Entries The Subaru World Rally Team has entered three Impreza WRC2007s for the thirteenth round of the 2007 World Rally Championship. The pairing of Petter Solberg and Phil Mills will drive car number seven, Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot will drive car number eight, while Xevi Pons/Xavier Amigo will be in car number 17.

Richard Taylor, Subaru World Rally Team managing director: “Corsica is a very different rally to Spain, and the nature of the stages cannot really be compared. We feel that our car will work well there and suit the surface better. We learnt quite a bit from Rally Catalunya and look forward to applying that in Corsica, where our objective will be to get all three drivers in the points.”

Paul Howarth, Subaru World Rally Team operations director: “While Corsica is the second round of this asphalt double header, we approach both rallies very differently. While on the face of it they may seem similar, the road surface in Corsica is very different to that of Spain. It is much more bumpy and rough, and the asphalt older and more abrasive. Although the roads are narrower, speeds remain high as there is a lot more grip. There is always a possibility of rain on the island so tyre choice will be critical. The nature of the event is different too as there are fewer corners, and they are all slower and shorter. There will not be any of the long corner loading on the tyres we experienced in Spain.”

Petter Solberg: “We finished the last leg in Spain by making some changes I felt made the car a lot better, so I hope we can take this knowledge to Corsica and start well. The surface is very different, but like Spain the weather can play a large part with the chance of unpredictable showers. Tyre choice will be very important, so there is more to the rally than just fine-tuning setup. But the surface in Corsica suits the car so I hope we will be fast from leg one.”

Chris Atkinson: “With Spain only last weekend, Corsica is the second asphalt rally in two weeks which is great for us. It is tough having two events next to each other, as we pretty much have one day off in two weeks, but for the last few weeks I’ve been training harder to counter this. In general October is a tough month which means I have been exercising more to build myself up. On the plus side, it means you can develop more of a rhythm between the rallies. I’m hoping for a good result and a strong end of the season.”

Xevi Pons: “I am looking forward to France next weekend and hope we can be fast there. The Impreza WRC2007 is quick on that type of surface, so I hope we can have no problems and a good weekend. Spain was a busy weekend for me with media interviews and live TV slots; it was a fantastic experience! Following that Corsica will be quieter, but I hope that means I can focus 100 per cent on my driving and deliver a good result for the team.”