Rally de Portugal the
Issue 8, April 2013
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Images: Bas Romeny
Fafe Rally Sprint- The Inside View - Monthly News Wrap-up
Evgeny novikov ente portuguese crow rtained the ds as always Image: Bas Romeny
vw team boss J ost capito seem s happy enough with his golden boy ogie r Image: Bas Romeny
The portuguese fans love their rallying and were out in force aga in Image: Bas Romeny
good to see De nnis kuipers bac k in the wrc to replace absent juho han ninen Image: Bas Romeny
Rally-eMag
Your monthly dose of WRC reports, news and of course the best images of the most exciting sport on the planet. We strive to bring you the best possible emag about the WRC. To be able to do so we need your support!
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Rally-eMag April 2013 / Contents
Ogier, Ogier, Ogier! VW Team boss Jost Capito told us in Monte Carlo that we would not have a good indication of the performance of the VW Polo R WRC until Rally de Portugal. Monte Carlo has its snowy, icy tarmac roads, Sweden is always a blast through full snow and Mexico is run at extremely high altitudes. This makes these rallies unique and very different from all other events. Therefore the fact that Sebastien Ogier won in Sweden and Mexico, and finished second on the Monte was no reason for Capito to stray from his pre-season target of logging experience.
In this month’s issue... Rally Portugal Fafe Rally Sprint The Inside View - Springtime in Portugal
- The classic Portugal stage
Page 10
Page 19
- M-Sport’s Anna Louise Rudd gives us a look behind the scenes of the WRC Page 22
After Portugal however, there is no more denying: Sebastien Ogier is title favourite number one. Despite running with the aftermath of a heavy flue Ogier was once again uncatchable. Sordo and Ostberg proved early on they could match his pace, but it turned out they could not match his consistency. So VW has to step it up a notch and take the burden of running as title favourites already in their first season. Not something too bothersome for the Germans, although they will be surprised to be there already. Our eMag is also stepping it up a notch with the addition of a new columnist. The lovely Anna Louise Rudd, Press Officer of the M-Sport Qatar World Rally Team, will be writing a monthly column (The Inside View) for you in which you will get a peek behind the scenes of a world rally team. We are thrilled to have her on board and are sure she will provide you with some interesting stories that you just don’t find in the regular media outings.
Image: Bas Romeny
Who made it? Publisher: Rally-eMag
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Enjoy reading! Steven van Veenendaal Editor
Words: Steven van Veenendaal, Harry van Veenendaal. Photography: Bas Romeny, Steven van Veenendaal.
Who helped?
Who we thank!
How to reach us?
Logo design: Minse Blom
PR Photography from: Peugeot Sport, Hyundai Motorsport, Citroen Racing.
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Rally-eMag April 2013 / News
This month’s wrap up Kopecky wins ERC Sata Rallye Açores
Image: Peugeot Sport
Loeb’s new ride
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Peugeot has revealed the car Sebastien Loeb will use this year during his assault on the Pikes Peak. The 208 (yes, there is a Peugeot 208 somewhere under those wings) looks rather menacing. The car’s 3.2 liter, twin turbo V6 engine produces 875bhp. Combine that with the car’s weight, 875kg, and you have an awesome 1:1 power to weight ratio. This propels the car from naught to sixty in well under two seconds and to its top speed af 150 mph in around seven seconds. The 91st Pikes Peak International Hill Climb event is scheduled for June 30th, with Loeb certainly the favourite to take the spoils.
The reinvigorated European Rally Championship, a combination of the ‘old’ IRC and ERC is of to a good start. So far the events are proving to be exciting and they have one very big plus on the WRC, good TV coverage. Eurosport is one of the main sponsors of the series and is broadcasting extensive coverage of each round. This enabled millions of viewers to see live how the 48th Sata Rallye Açores unfolded in spectacular fashion. Robert Kubica dominated the rally early on but as the fog settled in the more experienced rally drivers soon took over. Jan Kopecky took the lead in the horrific conditions. Robert Kubica then rolled his Citroen on one of the live broadcasted stages to decide the rally in Kopecky’s favour. After winning three of the opening four rounds, Kopecky holds a healthy 27 point lead over Irishman Craig Breen.
Image: Skoda media services
Hyundai team takes shape
Image: Hyundai Motorsport
Team boss Michel Nandan has announced the signing of Alain Penasse and team manager as well as Stephane Girard as the engine manager and Bertrand Vallat as chief designer. Nandan seemed happy enough saying: “I’m now surrounded by the best people in the business and I’m confident we’ll be ready to meet our ambitious goal to be ready at the start of the 2014 FIA World Rally Championship.”
Rally de Portugal / Overview
Vodafone Rally de Portugal
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Based in: Faro Date: 11-14/04/2013 Number of stages: 15 Shortest stage: Super Special Stage Lisbao – 3.27 km Longest stage: Almodovar – 52.30 km Total stage distance: 387 km Surface: Gravel Image: Bas Romeny
Rally de Portugal / Rally review
Springtime in Portugal After the cold of Monte Carlo and Sweden and the heat of Mexico there was a short spring break for the drivers in the WRC. That does not mean they’ve been sitting still though.
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Words: Harry van Veenendaal Images: Bas Romeny
Rally de Portugal / Rally review After his Norwegian long-jump specatacular, Ostberg was back in the WRC spotlights.
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Apart from the usual testing there was plenty to do before the next showdown: the Vodafone Rally Portugal in the Portuguese Algarve region. “That is where we can really see where we are,” promised Jost Capito in the beginning of this season. So anticipation was in the air and everyone was fully focused for the fourth round of the 2013 WRC. Jump But first we go to Norway. Mads Østberg could not get enough of the Nordic winters and went to the Trysil Skisenter in his native Norway. Five times he went down a specially prepared snow ramp. After each run adjusting his dampers for more initial speed. On the fifth run, averaging some 145 km per hour, he finally reached his goal. He achieved the longest jump on snow in a rally car with a total distance of 60.48 me-
Latvala explains he has to stop driving like a taxi driver and start driving like a rally driver again.
ters. “A fantastic feeling,” he commented after having reached this world record.
ing like a taxi driver, now I have to start driving as a rally driver again!” In the Mexico Powerstage he already gained this trust in the car and Taxi driver Latvala the extra tests in Portugal, out of the limelight About a week later we finally end up in the Alhad done him a world of good. He now feels garve for the real thing: the 2013 Vodafone Ral- more at home in his Volkswagen and found a ly Portugal! Last year torrential rains influenced set up that suits his driving style. The original the result in a big way. In the weeks before the car had been built around Ogier of course. Not rally this seemed to happen again. But when strange if you realize the Frenchman did almost the rally was there a nice sun was in the air and all the initial set up during a year of testing. The the temperatures were what they should be in car has enough possibilities to tune it to your Portugal at this time of year. It was springtime own liking, but to do that takes some time inin the Algarve. Jari Matti Latvala explained it: cluding a whole lot of ‘seat time’ in the car. Now The rain probably washed away the top layer of that Latvala starts to understand the car he can the stages. This makes them a bit rougher than fine-tune it to his own liking. In the course of the usual. There are more rocks in your perfect driv- year we more and more will see the results of ing line, so you have to be extra careful. Still he that. was in a better mood than we have seen him this year. “The last few rally’s I have been driv-
Rally de Portugal / Rally review
VW concerns In the Volkswagen camp there was still a bit of concern that had nothing to do with Latvala but everything with the health of star driver Sebastien Ogier. He looks awfully pale and says he feels that way. After shakedown the team management allowed him tot take some extra rest so he stayed away from some promotional responsibilities. Other news from the VW camp was Andreas Mikkelsen. In the evening at the ceremonial start he made his first appearance on the starting ramp in the new Polo. “I think everybody in the world wants that VW seat!” said the excited Mikkelsen. On the ramp we also see Dutchman Dennis Kuipers. At the very last minute team principal Malcolm Wilson of the Qatar World Rally Team asked him to take the place of Juho Hänninen who had to cancel his participation due to personal circumstances. Kuipers wasn’t happy with the reason but was delighted to take this chance. “I had a good a result here last year so I would like to repeat that this year!”
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Ogier was not feeling fit at all in the lead up to the rally.
Claiming a reward
interview. In both cases it will be an enorLast year Elfyn Evans won the WRC Acade- mous change with the car he drove last year: my, (now known under its original name Jun- the Fiesta R2. Together with co-driver Daniel ior WRC again). Apart from the usual medals, Barrit he will seek his fortune in the WRC2 cups and certificates there was a far more class. Malcolm Wilson was quite optimistic important prize. This prize offered by WRC about the youngster’s chances: “I am sure Academy promoter M-Sport was a five-round it won’t be long until we see him challengWRC programme in a 4WD car. Initially the ing for results at the highest level.” And the car for this campaign will be a Ford Fiesta youngster himself, what does he think? “ I RRC, but when it is ready and homologated am absolutely delighted, this is the chance Evans will step over to the Fiesta R5. “The of a lifetime!” Competing in this way may be ‘rally car of the future’ as M-Sport boss Mala good inspiration for the other youngsters colm Wilson called it in a recent Rally-eMag starting their JWRC season in Portugal.
Elvyn Evans claimed his WRC Academy prize to drive the first of five rallies in a 4WD Ford.
Rally de Portugal / Rally review
The rally After shakedown and qualifying, things really started the next day. It was a special day because service was only planned at the beginning and the end of the leg. In between, the competitors could refuel their cars at some remote refuelling stations but that was it. The programme started with a loop of two stages that was repeated later. After that the cars had to go to Lisbon for the super special in the country’s capital. Folowing this stage everyone had to get back to the Algarve for the (by then) muchanticipated service. In order for them to compete the 3.72 kilometres stage the competitors had to cover a distance of some 400 kilometres vice versa form the Algarve to Lisbon. But it was worth the trouble as thousands of very enthusiastic spectators lined the streets cheering their heroes. How the action unfolded Dani Sordo proved his Fafe form by winning the qualifying stage. But the distance between the first four drivers was less than one second. The drivers following him were: Ogier + 0,7, Latvala + 0,8 and Østberg +0,9. As a consequence he had the first choice for a place in the starting order. Though Ogier was still not feeling 100% OK he opened the day by winning stage 1 with Østberg trailing close behind. The next stage Østberg takes a four second lead; to lose it again on the re run of the Míu stage. He rolls his car and has to leave the rally. “It was my mistake,” admits Østberg. “In my notes it said 4+ but when I reached the corner I was driving flat out in fifth. This was way too fast so I rolled off the road. Luckily the roll cage stayed intact so I can start again tomorrow.” As a result of Østberg’s mishap, Ogier is back in first. But Dani Sordo, showing his present form takes over as Ogier challenger. At the end of the day Ogier, Sordo and Latvala form the provisional podium followed by Hirvonen and Neuville. Top to bottom: Hirvonen was never realy challenging in Portugal, but got a second place reward for his perseverance.
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Long road sections can be a nuisance, as Martin Kosciucsko found out when he had to crab down the road after hitting a rock. Latvala seems to have switched off ‘taxidriver-mode’ and is back at true rally speed.
Rally de Portugal / Rally review 15/25
Sordo showed he has the outright pace to challenge Ogier, now he needs some reliability to go with it.
Sordo off Perhaps he was not fully awake yet, but on the first stage of day two Sordo went off. “I misheard a note and went over a crest way too fast, the rear of the car slid wide touching a tree. That caused a wheel to break off and so that was it.” But Sordo kept on smiling. “The car felt much better than during he former rally’s. The set up is a bit harder now and that suits me very well. It also improves my self-confidence. I know I can go fast now and if I don’t it is me and not the car.” Meantime Ogier’s main challenger now is his teammate Latvala, who is a lot happier
nowadays. He is even faster than his rival. But Ogier might still be a bit ill, he is not holding back on the throttle. At the end of the day Ogier is back in front and the 30-second lead seems enough for another win, but of course there is still the monster Almodovar stage. 52 kilometres long and run twice tomorrow, the second time as Power stage.
Despite a last minute scare with an unwilling clutch, Ogier once again let his rivals eat some dust.
of the stage something snapped,” he says. “After that the car slid al over the place, it must be a drive shaft or something.” Somewhat later they found out the car only had rear wheel drive as the front wheels were not driven anymore. As careful as possible Latvala tackled the next (52 kilometre long) Almodovar stage. But this was not the only VW problem as Ogier crossed the finish VW in trouble? line looking far from happy. “It’s the At the end of Sunday’s opening clutch,” is the only thing he can say. stage everything seems to go wrong Telemetric data show the car was for Volkswagen. Latvala is the first losing a lot of time over the greater to hit trouble finishing the stage part of the stage but the final split with a bad time. “In the third corner times showed he was fast again.
The mysterious problem seemed to have solved itself. After midday service VW brings back their cars in tiptop shape. Østberg is very fast in the final stages but in the end Ogier takes the Powerstage ensuring his third win of the season and three extra bonus points for winning the Powerstage. All is well that ends well for the German manufacturer. Ogier wins, Latvala is on the podium for the first time in his Volkswagen career and Mikkelsen’s maiden VW drive is rewarded with a sixth place. Hirvonen saves Citroën’s honour. Without much ado he is second.
Rally de Portugal / Final results 16/25
Final result 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Ogier-Ingrassia Hirvonen-Lehtinen Latvala-Anttila Novikov-Minor Al-Attiyah-Bernacchini Mikkelsen-Markkula Prokop-Ernst Ostberg-Andersson Al-Qassimi-Martin Lappi-Ferm
VW Polo R WRC 4.07.38,7 Citroen DS3 WRC +58,2 VW Polo R WRC +4.04,5 Ford Fiesta WRC +5.27,7 Ford Fiesta WRC +7.43,5 VW Polo R WRC +9.39,8 Ford Fiesta WRC +15.04,2 Ford Fiesta WRC +15.43,6 Citroen DS3 WRC +15.56,9 Skoda Fabia S2000 +16.21,0 Image: Bas Romeny
Rally de Portugal / Standings
Championship standings 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.
Sebastien Ogier Mikko Hirvonen Sebastien Loeb Mads Ostberg Jari-Matti Latvala Dani Sordo Thierry Neuville Martin Prokop Nasser Al-Attiyah Evgeny Novikov
VW Polo R WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta WRC VW Polo R WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta WRC Ford Fiesta WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Ford Fiesta WRC
102 points 48 points 43 points 32 points 31 points 27 points 25 points 20 points 20 points 15 points
Manufacturer standings
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1. Volkswagen Motorsport 121 points 2. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 107 points 3. Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team 55 points 4. Qatar World Rally Team 36 points 5. Abu Dhabi Citroën Total World Rally Team 27 points 6. Jipocar Czech National Team 22 points 7. Lotos WRC Team 12 points 8. Volkswagen Motorsport 2 10 points Image: Bas Romeny
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Rally de Portugal / Special Stage
Special Stage Fafe Rally Sprint
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Andreas Mikkelsen was fast in the sprint and does the rest of the championship for VW.
‘F1 Star turned rally diver’ Robert Kubica is impressing many with his pace. Images: Bas Romeny
Fafe A week before Rally de Portugal we find many of the WRC drivers in Fafe. Once a very famous special stage in what was then called the TAP Rally Portugal. The Vodafone Rally of today has moved to the south, but as a warm up to this event there is now the Fafe Rallysprint. Here the elite of the World Rally Championship meet before the actual WRC event. This year Volkswagen would be present for the first time. But some time before the event it was clear Jari Mati Latvala would not be there, having his own preparation programme. Just a few days before the sprint a VW press release announced that Ogier would not be there either. The young Frenchman was suffering from a severe attack of influenza and the doctors told him to stay calm in order for him to be fit before the big event. So that left Andreas Mikkelsen on his competitive debut in the Polo R WRC as the only representative of the Volkswagen Motorsport team. The other teams were all there: The Qatar M-sport World Rally Team with Mads Østberg and Evgeny Novikov, The Qatar World Rally team with Thierry Neuville and Nasser Al Attiyah all in their usual Fords Fiësta RS WRC’s. In the same car we find Martin Prokop of the Jipocar Czech National Team. Last but not least we saw, driving a Citroën DS 3 WRC for the Abu Dhabi World
Rally team, Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo. After a thrilling battle Dani Sordo claimed his maiden victory in the DS 3. Will this give him the strength to do the same in the Algarve? Just one second behind him we find Mads Østberg and Martin Prokop surprisingly follows him. A spin in the last running of the stage prevents Andreas Mikkelsen from being the hero of the day. But his fourth place is still a good sign of things to come. Kubica Also in a DS3 but this time the RRC version was Robert Kubica who swapped from Formula 1 to rallying following his horrific accident in a rallycar two years ago. The Pole seems to have made the switch to rallying more or less permanently as we can see him in the ERC championship as well as in the WRC2 class in the WRC. To enable this the FIA had to grant a special dispensation. This was necessary because Citroën technicians included a specifically designed gearbox in Kubica’s car with a paddle-shift on to the left of the steering wheel. In this way he can spare his right hand that is still suffering from the injuries. His results in Fafe are promising as he finished in fifth just 0.9 of a second behind Mikkelsen.
Rally de Portugal / Who’s hot?
Who’s hot? Mads Ostberg Ford Fiesta WRC Qatart M-Sport World Rally Team
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At the high altitude Rally Mexico it was Thierry Neuville who took his driving to unknown heights. A mistake-free rally took the young Belgian to his best result ever as he finished third overall. It may have taken the last minute demise of his teammate Mads Ostberg to actually make the step unto the podium, but that is rallying. Things happen and you are never save until you are actually standing on the bonnet of your car with a trophy in hand. In the WRC it was the first time for Thierry and probably not the last. The sweetness of the result will certainly boost his confidence and provides a base for even greater things to come.
Images: Bas Romeny
Rally de Portugal / Who’s not? 21/25
Who’s not? Thierry Neuville Ford Fiesta WRC Qatart M-Sport World Rally
Thierry Neuville had a very difficult Rally de Portugal. The young Belgian showed good pace, but unfortunately also suffered a couple of hard encounters with the Portuguese scenery. After the first day of competition Neuville found himself in a solid fourth spot. He failed to materialize on that good start though as he hit a rock on the opening stage of the second day. This meant retirement for the day and the end of all hopes of a good result. The only thing left to do was complete the final day to log some mileage and at least take some experience from the event. He seemed to succeed in doing so until he rolled out again at the final stage of the event. Lying in 18th place with nothing to gain it really is quite a waste to make these mistakes, but Theirry is still young and has to learn from these experiences. Let’s hope he does, so he can produce some more reliability during the remainder of the season.
Images: Bas Romeny
Rally-eMag April 2013 / The Inside View
The Inside VieW By: Anna Louise Rudd Images: Bas Romeny
Anna Louise is the Press Officer of the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team. she is the one who knows what’s going on with anyone in the team, from the drivers to the bosses, to the mechanics and the engineers. In her monthly column she will give you a peek behind the scenes of a world rally teaM As Press Officer for the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Teams, it’s fair to say that I am a pretty busy girl. But not as busy as our technicians at the moment – with just four days to transform our fleet of Ford Fiesta RS WRCs for Rally Argentina, the workshop has rarely been busier!
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The cars got back from Portugal towards the end of last week, and that brings me nicely onto Rally de Portugal. It was a busy one for us – the busiest of the year in fact with six Qatari-liveried Fiestas to support.
I even had time for a lesson in linguistics en route to the FIA’s official photo shoot as Nicolas [Gilsoul, co-driver to Thierry Neuville] taught me how to pronounce Thierry’s name with a proper Belgian accent. I’m pretty sure I have it perfected now, but whether it compliments my Cumbrian accent is another story all together!
Once all the preliminaries were out of the way, the real action got underway as our Fiestas embarked on the first stages of the weekend. With no midday service, Friday was a day of endurance for the crews and when My rally started about two weeks before they finally made it back to the serthe action kick-started. Upon returning vice park I learnt that some of the from Rally Mexico I was straight into the drivers had let their co-drivers drive PR and photograph schedules for the next the long road section back from event and – to the delight of the crews – Lisbon – naming no names. That there was a lot to do. wasn’t the case for Nasser [Al-Attiyah] though. When I asked him why Between press conferences, photo shoots, Giovanni [Bernacchini, co-driver] autograph sessions and VIP welcomes, didn’t drive back he responded with the crews were flat out. Luckily all of the the simplest and truest statement drivers and co-drivers I work with have of the weekend: ‘his feet wouldn’t the full package – lightening quick on the reach the pedals.’ The ‘PR savvy’ group of M-Sport. stages and PR savvy out of the cockpit.
Rally-eMag April 2013 / The Inside View
Unfortunately for the team, Friday’s leg didn’t end the way we would have wanted it to. Whilst leading the rally, a misheard pacenote forced Mads [Østberg] and Jonas [Andersson] out of the day’s competition. When something like that happens it’s so easy for your emotions to take over, but that’s when I need to work my hardest – take emotions out of the equation, find out what’s happened from Malcolm [Wilson, Team Principal] and the engineers and then relay the team statement to the world’s media as quickly as possible. First point of call is always the lovely Becs on Rally Live. When the stages are live we’re rarely out of contact. I don’t know how she does it – in constant contact with all the PRs, examining the stage times and tracking map whilst speaking to the world all at the same time. I’ve come to what I see as the only logical conclusion – she must be ‘Wonder Woman’!
All in all, luck was not on our side in Portugal but there were still a lot of positives to take from the event. Nasser secured another great result in fifth and Evgeny [Novikov] got some strong points on the board with a fourth place finish. Most poignantly however, and despite his early mistake, Mads has proven that he has the pace to win rallies and I am confident that it won’t be long before we see him on the top-step of the podium. Next up for the team is the vibrant Rally Argentina. This will be my first time to the Argentinean event and I am thoroughly looking forward to it – and to hopefully reporting on a fantastic result for the team in my next column.
Top: Ostberg proved in Portugal he has the pace to win rallies.
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Bottom Dennis Kuipers made a cameo appearance, as a stand-in for Juho Hanninen.
Rally-eMag April 2013 / And now... 24/25
And now for something completely different... Words & Images: Bas Romeny
Precision steering in the new Citroens...
Everybody wants a piece of Ogier, from Miss Portugal (left) to former great Carlos Sainz (right). Who would you choose?
A sign of things to come? Hyundai gravel car...
Next issue mid May covering Rally Argentina. See you there!
The winner takes it all as Sebastien Ogier gets to enjoy the fireworks with Miss Portugal 2013, Elisabete Rodrigues. Image: Bas Romeny