Rally-eMag 019 June 2014

Promoting wrc and erc Issue 19, June 2014

Oliver Jean-Baptiste

Ciesla Ley WRC: Poland ERC: Ypres

New! Artwork by Dam Charles Monthly News Wrap-up & For my Friends

mikko looking f

or the limit Image: Bas Romeny

jari matti would make a half decent penalty specialist Image: Bas Romeny

hayden loving h

is time in the Image: Bas Romeny

mads discoverin

g lithuania

Image: Steven van Veenendaal

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Rally-eMag June 2014 / Contents

This month Who made it?

Publisher: Rally-eMag Words: Steven van Veenendaal, Harry van Veenendaal.

Photography: Bas Romeny, Timo Anis

Who helped?

Logo design: Minse Blom Backcover artwork: Dam Charles Distribution: Issuu.com

Who we thank!

PR Photography from: Peugeot Sport, Hyundai Motorsport, Citroen Racing, FIA ERC, Volkswagen Motorsport, M-Sport.

How to reach us?

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Email: info@rally-emag.com Web: www.rally-emag.com Facebook: www.facebook.com/ emagrally Twitter: @emagrally Issuu: www.issuu.com/rally-emag

WRC Rally poland

feature promoting erc & wrc

erc geko ypres rally

For my Friends

Back to Poland

Interviews the ERC and WRC promoters Page 24

To cut, or not to cut

Page 44

Page 11

Page 36

The ‘other’ shots

Rally-eMag June 2014 / News

This month’s wrap up

ku Alén, four-time world champion Juha Kankkunen, four-time world champion Tommi Mäkinen and double world champion Marcus Grönholm. Not a bad lineup hey? The current stars participating in the event were Ogier, Latvala, Ostberg, Hirvonen, Neuville and Hänninen.

New route for 2015 Monte Carlo

The 2015 Rallye Monte Carlo will have a new route with 75% new stages compared to this year’s event. The start will once again take place Thursday afternoon at the Place du Casino in Monte Carlo. From here the drivers will head north towards Gap. On the way they will tackle two new stages at nighttime.

The main service park is once again in the host city of Gap. Friday will see a brand new loop of stages to the north of Gap, which will take the cars high into the Alps in the Hautes-Alpes region.

Saturday’s action is also situated near Gap before the crews head south back towards Monte Carlo.

For Sunday currently only the la Bollene Vesubie – Sospel stage is planned, which includes a passage over the infamous Col du Turini. Opposed the previous years the stage will be run at daylight. The final Powerstage is subject to FIA confirmation on the format of the stage.

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Ostberg ‘Star’ of Helsinki Battle

Another novelty is that the rally will allow teams to restart under Rally 2 rules for the first time in its history.

Image: Bas Romeny

A short street stage through Helsinki provided the venue for this battle in which the legends competed each other as did the stars, before a shootout between the best of the two groups decided the eventual winner. Prior to the event all competitors said it was ‘just some fun for the fans’.

Once they got in the car, they seemed to forget these statements instantly and fought hard for bragging rights in the upcoming Rally Finland. Grönholm was the fastest legend (although Mäkinen would have beaten him if he hadn’t nearly stalled in the final hairpin). Ostberg won in the Stars group.

To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of In the final shootout between Grönholm the partnership between Neste Oil and and Ostberg the Norwegian was fastest Rally Finland the “Battle of Helsinki” was to claim the title of the Battle of Helsinki. held the weekend prior to the rally. In this one day event six of the current WRC The importance of the event was of course ‘Stars’ teamed up against some of Finnot significant, although it did show the land’s finest ‘Legends’. potential of live rally broadcasting. A solid live stream provided millions the opportuFinland’s massive rallying history was nity to view the spectacle. A good move on display as the Legends team was by the WRC, something which we hope made of four true legends indeed. Markto see more of in the near future.

Image: Citroen Racing Media

Rally Poland / Overview 11/47

Rajd polski

Based in: Mikolajki Date: 26-29/06/14 Number of stages: 24 Shortest stage: Super Special Stage Mikolajki Arena, 2.50 km Longest stage: Goldap, 35.17 km Total stage distance: 362 km Surface: Gravel

Rally Poland / Rally Review

back to Poland The half-way point of the 2014 WRC season was Rally Poland, this year for the first time it had some stages in Lithuania, so in this rally a new country was added to the list of “WRC countries�.

It was a rally of mixed feelings especially for Jari Matti Latvala who had very bad memories of the last event here in 2009.

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Bas Romeny

Rally Poland / Rally Review

A lot can happen in 5 years History Although Poland has a long history in the WRC, it’s only the third time that Rajd Polski has been a WRC qualifier. In 1973 the inaugural year the official World Rally Championship, the rally was a qualifying round already. It was a very tough event as out of 62 competitors, only three teams managed to reach the finish. First was Achim Warmbold in a Fiat Abarth 124. He held a lead of almost three hours over runner up Egon Culmbacher in a Warburg.

Third and last to finish the rally was Pole Maciej Stawowiak in a Polski Fiat 125. All other drivers had to retire or were disqualified because they reached the finish much to late. In those days the rally had 55 special stages over more than 700 kilometres.

Another interesting fact about this first edition was the name of the winning co-driver: Jean Todt, who now as acting FIA president is one of the people who recently decided to bring back the rally to the WRC.

ter a five-year pause, Rally Poland is back on the calendar, replacing the Acropolis Rally. One of the main reasons why Poland did come back was that they included a second country in their itinerary. A wish strongly voiced by, amongst other people, Jean Todt. So last year, after the decision to drop Greece as a WRC event had been taken, It was an easy choice to pick Poland.

It fitted very well into the former Acropolis slot and another country was part of the rally: Lithuania.

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In the following section we take a look at how things have changed from five years ago. Seb Loeb was still dominating at the time while Petter Solberg was pushing on as a privateer. Ogier was still ‘just a young talent’ in the Citroën junior team and guys like Andreas Mikkelsen and Mads Ostberg where fighting for respect as privateers. Martin Prokop was around in the little Citroën C2 but faltered to Kevin Abbring who won the Junior category in a Renault Clio. Here we provide you whith a collage of how the WRC After the first WRC event, the looked five years ago, the last Poles had to wait until 2009 for time we were in Poland. the second running. And now, afFirst off, Loeb was still part of the WRC and dominating as ever, he would claim his sixth title later that year. He did not win in Poland though, that honour went to Mikko Hirvonen.

Rally Poland / Rally Review 14/47

5 year

Petter Solberg was struggling at the time with an aging private Xsara, he remained spectacular as ever though.

Sebastien Ogier was relatively unknown at the time, running in the CitroĂŤn Junior team, but already he showed signs of great things to come.

Jari Matti Latvala had a fine rally, locking in on a 1-2 for Ford, when disaster struck and he crashed on the closing Super Special stage.

Mikko Hirvonen upheld Ford honours by taking the win. It would be one of the closest seasons ever, eventually he fell 1 point short of the world title.

Images: Harry & Steven van Veenendaal

Rally Poland / Rally Review

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rs ago Mads Ostberg started his carreer as a private Subaru driver. The car had it’s best days behind it at the time, making it difficult for Mads to make an impact.

At the age of 19 Evgeny Novikov was taking the rally world by storm. P9 in Poland, but he really shot to fame by nearly backflipping his car the next rally in Finland.

Poland 2009 was Andreas Mikkelsen’s last WRC rally in a WRC car untill he returned in the VW Polo WRC last year.

Current ERC ace Kevin Abbring was around in Poland in 2009 as well. Here he took his maiden JWRC way, the first sign of his vast amount ot talent.

Images: Harry & Steven van Veenendaal

Rally Poland / Rally Review

The long Friday drive The inclusion of the Lithuanian stages caused quite a few organisational challenges, the biggest one being the itinerary, especially the one on day two (Friday). Just to give you an indication: The morning started at 07:00 a.m. service in, then a 15 minutes service before service out at 07:15. The first stage of that morning was just under a hundred kilometres of nice Polish country roads away. Some of them tarmac, ranging from brand new to very bumpy and in very bad need of repair. Some other roads were a variety of gravel roads.

Consequently the driving time was just under two hours. So two hours and ten minutes after having

driven their car out of the overnight parc fermĂŠ they were at the start line of a 12.89 kilometre Wieliczki stage. Then the crews travel to Lithuania. Though Wieliczki is in eastern Poland they are only halfway the distance to the Lithuanian stages. The liaison route is about 1.6 kilometres shorter than the first liaison of the day but leads over deteriorating roads. Consequently the target driving time is 20 minutes longer. So the first of the four Lithuanian stages (two loops of two stages) starts at 11:25. That is four hours and ten minutes since the start of the day. On Saturday and Sunday by that time they already had three stages and some 35 competitive kilometres behind their wheels.

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The Super Special Stage in Mikolajki was held four times. Good for the fans, perhaps a bit too often according to the drivers.

The rally has potential If people say this, they usually mean: “The rally is not good (yet)�. This time it was Ogier. Like a lot of other drivers he praised the nice very fast stages. But he was less positive about the timetable, stating the days were to long. Starting at 07:00 am and finishing after 10:00pm is a long time to stay concentrated. The team managers added that this was difficult for the service crews.

Having to work till after midnight and to be present again before 7:00 the next morning means a very limited amount of sleep. Especially the SuperSpecial Mikolajki Arena was criticised for being run four times. Two times starting at 10:00 pm.

It did provide a great spectacle though.

Rally Poland / Rally Review

Blasting into the event Juho Hänninen won stage two.

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How the action unfolded The special time schedule for Poland saw the competitors start on Thursday. In the morning they had to tackle the shakedown stage, not unusual but in this case in the afternoon there was of course the press conference, the ceremonial start in the central square of host town Mikolajki and on top of that two serious stages and of course the SuperSpecial Mikolajki Arena. So this was the first full day. Starting at 08:00 in the morning and finishing at 10:00 in the evening.

Andreas Mikkelsen put the pressure on his teammate Sebastien Ogier.

The first skirmishes Again we can talk of a Volkswagen battle. This time it was a fight between Mikkelsen and (who else?) Ogier. The VW youngster made live miserable for his team colleague. This battle started from the word “Go..!” Although starting first Ogier grabbed his first scratch of the rally on stage 1.

Stage 2 saw a surprise winner. Making good use of his starting position Juho Hänninen grabbed the scratch before a charging Mikkelsen who was followed by Ogier with the smallest of margins (0.1 sec) The drivers then proceeded back to Mikolajki for the first run of the Arena stage.

Due to a setting sun the conditions were not easy. This was specially the case for Jari Matti Latvala. He holds some very bad memories to this stage. In 2009 he threw away a solid performance in this stage. Only a few meters left to the finish he smashed into a barrier, making it impossible to reach the finish that, literally, was in sight.

So he was quite apprehensive but managed to make it through and did that in a very reasonable time. First was Ogier who really had a blistering speed. On the 2.5 kilometre stage, he was 2.7 seconds faster than anyone else bringing him the provisional first position on the leaderboard!

Rally Poland / Rally Review

The long drive On Friday there is an early start again and the drivers go all the way east. En route they have to tackle one stage before arriving in Lithuania. It’s Mikkelsen who is completely awake and he grabs the scratch as well as the overall lead. Mads Østberg is the first driver to ever win a WRC stage in Lithuania and Ogier is the second. As the two next stages are cancelled they will be the only ones for at least a year. It is very doubtful however if these stages will be used again. The top layer of the roads is simply too soft for a modern 4 wheel drive WRC. The enormous traction sprays the top layer into the adjacent bushes and what is left is a road full of very deep ruts, unsuitable for another passage of the competing cars.

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After having done the last two stages the drivers arrived back in Mikolajki with a marginal lead for Ogier. Mikkelsen is second and a well performing Østberg third.

Ogier in winning mood The battle simply continues on Saturday. Initially Mikkelsen edges closer, closing the gap to half a second, but on the second stage Mikkelsen makes a mistake and overshoots a junction. He loses 10 seconds and probably the possibility to victory in Poland. His second place however was becoming more certain as Mads Østberg who was very determined to steal second place, broke his front suspension by hitting a rock and rolling his DS3. The roll cage was damaged so no Rally 2 for Østberg. Mikkelsen chances got another blow when his brakes started to fade on stage 19. This made him lose more than half a minute to his rival. Who can now look at a comfortable gap of just under a minute behind him. On the final day this did not change and Ogier won again. He also won the powerstage and therefore took maximum championship points. Mikkelsen was second and Neuville brought Hyundai it’s second podium.

Latvala’s mission to grab fourth place, stranded at 0.7 seconds. Leaving fourth to Mikko Hirvonen.

Fighting for second, Mads Ostberg pushed a bit too hard an damaged his DS3.

For the second time since their re-introduction in the WRC Neuville gave Hyundai a podium finish proving the potential of the Hyundai i20 WRC.

Rally Poland / Round-up 19/47

Round-up M-Sport Malcolm Wilson still remembered the last time when he was at Rally Poland, “I arrived here a few days ago and the first ting I saw, was the SuperSpecial. It all came back to me that moment. That must have been one of the more traumatic experiences in my rally live. We were on a good way in the direction of a possible double championship then and this happening changed everything.” Well the 2014 edition was nothing like this. The good thing is that Mikko Hirvonen managed to get back after a very bad start of the rally. “My notes are simply too slow,” admitted Mikko. Together with co driver Jarmo Lehtinen he did manage to change them after working late and watching on board footage. Eventually he ended up in fourth place. Young Elfyn Evans liked the rally a lot. As many other drivers he was a complete novice to the rally but liked the fast stages. However on stage 14 he clipped a hidden rock and a wheel came off. He did come back the next day but being first on the road made it impossible to get a top result. “However,” he said. “It’s good practice for the next event that is also very fast.”

Jipocar Czech National Team Martin Prokop probably wants to forget the 2014 edition of Rally Poland as soon as possible. Still suffering from a pain in the back caused by an incident in Sardinia, he did not feel too well. In the end he was happy to reach the finish in tenth place. At least earning him a point in the championship.

Volkswagen The team was quite relaxed and the FIFA World Championship almost got more attention than the rally. This resulted in a penalty shoot out with the top rally drivers competing.

Furthermore quite a few team members could be seen wearing the championship outfit of the German team, that later won the title. The battle of the day was the Ogier/ Mikkelsen fight. Latvala had a bad start to the rally. Some issues slowed him

down, but his biggest problem probably was his lack of confidence.

His 2009 crash is still in his memory and it was hard to get rid of that.

But finally he found himself again and finished fifth only 0.7 seconds from fourth place.

His third place on the powerstage earned him another driver’s point.

The Ogier/ Mikkelsen one, two brought Volkswagen another step closer to the constructor’s title.

Rally Poland / Round-up

Citroën

RK M-Sport World Wally Team

Mads Østberg had a really good feeling, he said. And his times showed that. But he became one of the casualties of Goldap. “I was doing quite well,” explained the Norwegian. “But then I clipped a rock and lost all steering. A bit further I hit a bank and we started rolling. As the roll cage was damaged we couldn’t come back.”

Expectations were high, especially among the many fans in his home rally.

Apparently the pressures also became too high, as already in the very early stages of the rally he presented his, by now amost normal, first roll. It was an unlucky one. Coming out of a corner he came just a little bit wide and hit something. Very slowly he rolled. Luckily there were many fans around that put him on his wheels again, limiting his loss to less than thirty seconds. But halfway the Saturday stages he again hit something and one of his wheels came off.

He came back the next day and finished the rally in 20th place. Not exactly what he had hoped for in his home event.

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Kris Meeke initially was well on the pace, being third at the end of day one. However in Lithuania he was hampered by his starting position somewhat further back and had to negotiate the pretty deep ruts.

Add to that the puncture he got in the infamous Goldap stage and the only thing he could do was to fight to gain some reasonable points. Finally he finished seventh and was thus rewarded with these points.

Hyundai We spoke to Alain Penasse before the rally. “We are well on the way. We aimed to have a few scratches, and maybe later a podium. But we already have it. Now let’s concentrate on having all three cars at the finish without Rally 2.” He said this before the rally and again the team had some scratches, Neuville achieved a

podium and all three cars were at the finish in point scoring positions, so his last wish also came true.

That doesn’t mean the team will be world champion this year but at least they show some very good improvement one that gives a very healthy feeling for the future.

Rally Poland / Result 21/47

Final Result 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Ogier-Ingrassia Mikkelsen-Markkula Neuville-Gilsoul Hirvonen-Lehtinen Latvala-Anttila

Volkswagen Polo R WRC 2:34:02.0 Volkswagen Polo R WRC +1:07.7 Hyundai i20 WRC +2:13.5 Ford Fiesta RS WRC +2:32.4 Volkswagen Polo R WRC +2:33.1

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Hänninen-Tuominen Meeke-Nagle Paddon-Kennard Solberg-Minor Prokop-Tománek

Hyundai i20 WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Hyundai i20 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC

+2:49.9 +4:27.9 +4:32.1 +4:59.0 +6:11.3

Rally Poland / Standings

Championship standings (Drivers) 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Ogier Latvala Mikkelsen Ă˜stberg Hirvonen Neuville Meeke Evans Prokop Solberg

166 points 116 83 66 52 46 38 36 31 24

Manufacturer standings

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1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Volkswagen Motorsport CitroĂŤn Total Abu Dhabi World RallyTeam M-Sport World Rally Team Volkswagen Motorsport II Hyundai Shell World Rally Team Jipocar Czech National Team RK M-Sport World Rally Team Hyundai Motorsport N

262 points 115 90 82 80 34 19 8

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Rally-eMag / Interview

There is a lot going on in the world of rallying. A crucial point seems to be television.

But a whole lot of other things are at stake. In a small series we’re diving into this subject and we’re trying to talk to some of the major stakeholders. For this first part we have been talking to the promoters. First we went to see Jean Baptiste Ley during Rally Ypres. A week later we met Oliver Ciesla in Poland.

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Words and Images: Harry van Veenendaal

Rally-eMag / Interview

the erc promoter

Jean-Baptiste Ley

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Is: European Rally Championship Coordinator for Eurosport Events.

We met Jean Baptiste Ley in the Mediaroom of teasers in other programmes. Furthermore we Rally Ypres. Our main aim was to talk about the provide small news items during the day so that European Rally Championship (ERC). fans don’t have to wait for the highlight show to know what is happening. Hopefully we also atWhy did you choose to promote ERC and to tract other people who might otherwise have fordrop IRC? gotten about the rally. In this way we attract some 8 to 10 million viewers per rally show. During the We initiated IRC some years ago and it was quite whole year that adds up to 200 million viewers successful. But it was a bit difficult to situate it. for the whole year and that is only via our own It had some good competition but it was not an channels. I have to be honest motorsport is not FIA championship. So when FIA was looking for attracting the biggest audience. It is no snooker a promoter we started talking to them. Then we or Tour de France but still rallying is very imporformulated our strategy, which most importantly tant for Eurosport was to be a kind of stepping stone between local championships and the WRC. The gap was What ideas do you have about televising an very large on all accounts. And with the ERC it ERC event? is possible for the competitors to learn about big international events in rallying. So we don’t want We think live coverage is very good. Only it is to compete with WRC we want to cooperate but difficult to produce with on-board cameras, fixed at the same time keep our own identity. cameras, helicopters and all the connections.

Also you are depended to the weather and some other aspects, making it a real challenge to proWhat is your strategy in achieving your goals? duce and a lot more difficult and consequently more expensive than for instance covering an When we took over ERC it was a bit ‘old’ and it event on a racetrack. Also you have to be a litwas a real challenge to make it better. Of course tle bit lucky that you have all the action. In the we had our TV strategy of IRC and we wanted Azores we had everything: It was good weather to implement that in ERC. So our first aim is to and we had an exciting battle plus we had all the produce a show with the best possible way to tel- important action of the fight between Kevin Abevise ERC. At this moment that means several bring and the later winner Bernardo Sousa. That highlight shows during the week and also some is why we will continue with three or four events

“We formulated our strategy, which most importantly was to be a kind of stepping stone between local championships and the WRC.”

Rally-eMag / Interview 26/47

Beginning as a professional rally driver is not just about driving fast, you have to please the fans as well...

“Rallying is not a track race. It is all about discovering new exciting places.

Just focusing on the action is not good enough.

You have to tell a story.”

And what about the other events?

We’re lucky to have Gilbert Roy, he is an excellent director who is responsible for all the broadcasts. His philosophy is: Rallying is not a track race. It is all about discovering new exciting places. Just focusing on the action is not good enough. You have to tell a story. That includes the action but also the places in which this action takes place, the scenery, the special conditions etcetera. Roy does that but we also have another thing. We show all the competitors. For example in our junior championship we have a standard package including TV coverage for ALL the teams also the smaller ones. They can buy extra coverage but they don’t have to, as their car will always be on TV. That is extremely important for their sponsor and their team members.

story, you don’t need a shoot out stage. Or something like that. The fuel for our fire is the competitor! So no we are not considering that.

With a larger budget what would you change to the ERC? We would not change very much to the television format but we would try to see if we can make it even more attractive for the competitors. At this moment it is almost impossible for a team to do all the events.

So we have to find a way to reduce costs. First of all there are too many events. Furthermore we can reduce the number of tyres that you can use during an event and of course we can reduce stage mileage. This would also make it a lot more affordable for the competitors. All this will take effect In WRC they are talking about a shoot out stage are as soon as possible so that in 2015 more teams could be you considering that too? competing the whole championship. If we wouldn’t do this I told you for us it is important to tell the story. To tell the the future of the whole championship would be jeopardized.

... and equally important, you have to handle the press as well. ERC provides young drivers with the opportunity to gain these skills as well.

Then there is another idea we are looking into. And that is that, in order for a team to be eligible for scoring championship points, they should register and pay a nominal fee.

This is very good for the organizers as they know beforehand how many teams will be coming The feedback from the teams was good, depending a bit on the height of the registration fee. But we keep on telling the teams that they are the ones that will benefit from this rule. Furthermore we will not introduce it with a big bang. Competitors can register any time during the season. They don’t have to do it at the first event. In about three years, when we have been able to convince the teams, registration before the start of the season will probably be mandatory. Of course it will be a FIA registration.

If you compare TV with internet what would be more important?

Oh there is no doubt about it: Internet is the future so we are doing a lot of research in that field. But at this moment TV is still more important.

Collaboration with WRC As I said before ERC should diminish the gap to WRC. Thierry Neuville is here in Ieper and h told the drivers this morning that ERC is a very good training ground for WRC. The ideal mix for a young driver would be to compete in ERC and to do the recce for (a selected number of) WRC events. “It’s a very good way to learn how it work with international competition.

Finally I would like to emphasize that we have a very goof What kinds of teams do you want, privateers or factory working relationship with FIA and the WRC promoter. We teams? have a ten year contract for the ERC, so that shows that FIA We know the importance of the privateers. But some four to trusts us completely five manufacturer teams would be nice.

“There is no doubt, internet is the future...but at this moment TV is still more important.”

Rally-eMag / Interview

Oliver Ciesla is one of the two directors of WRC Promoter GmbH, the company that is responsible for the promotion of the WRC. We met him in Poland where he invited us to come to the big studio where all the content for the different channels that WRC now operates is being prepared. Everything is done here on site and after every rally everything is packed in special cases and flown into the next event. Roughly there are three departments.

Internet, Social media and last but not least: television.

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Words and Images: Harry van Veenendaal

Rally-eMag / Interview

the wrc promoter Before we start he points out a few men in motor gear. “Look at these guys, they are bringing the television material. The helicopter pilot throws it out of the helicopter; they catch it, jump on their motorbike and bring it here. That’s rallying!” He says broadly smiling.

Oliver Ciesla

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Is: Managing Director for WRC Promoter GmbH

events. Our quality requirements as a world championship are reasonably high. So it is not so easy to say: ‘we want to host a rally in a country like Brazil or China’ and expect that it happens on the best level from the first day. So it is also part of our activities to identify a good spot for a WRC event and then help the local event organizer to organize Can you explain what the WRC promoter does? a rally on the highest level.

Ok let me tell you about my work. We are a liaison between all the stakeholders including the FIA, the How do you find new rallies? regulatory body. When we talk about stakeholders First of all we need to clearly know our own objecwe refer to the manufacturer teams, private com- tives. These objectives include the growth of the petitors, local event organizers and also the fans number of fans on site. Fans on site have always and the commercial partners that we have. been important to WRC. To give you an indication in 2013 we had some 3.5 million fans visiting the So we have to look into the fields of each of these 13 events that we were hosting. This is a tremenpartners, sometimes going in the same direction dous number and to grow beyond hat level will be often also individual interests that we try to take quite demanding. But the function that we have is: care of. So under the cooperation that we have choose the right places like we did with Poland. with the FIA we shall take care of building the feel And we are pretty sure that the average number of competitors making sure that those teams that of visitors per rally can be higher so this accounts are engaged in the WRC find a good commercial for the total growth through the years. This certainenvironment and can use the WRC both for their ly applies for China and Brazil and maybe other sport in the best possible manner on the highest countries. world championship level but also as a commercial platform of course. In the end it is also about selling So one of the objectives is to go where the people cars. are but of course there is more. We want to have all the different turfs. This is special about rallies. The The calendar events are not always on the same underground.

Part of our role is also to build the calendar. Of We drive on snow, on ice, on sand on tarmac and course we have the intention to be globally visible, on gravel so there are a lot of stories that you can if possible, on all of the continents. But it is a very tell. And this is what we also consider when we are challenging task to organize such big and complex selecting a place.

“In 2013 we had some 3.5 million fans visiting the 13 events that we were hosting.”

Rally-eMag / Interview

A complete portable TV studio is shipped to each event.

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“Another dream of ours is having back a proper Safari Rally on the calendar.

At the moment China and Brazil are very concrete rallies we are looking at..”

China and Brazil You can understand we look for markets that are important for the teams involved. Which includes, as everybody knows, Mexico, Brazil and China. Not only are they important, as a market to sell the cars but also because they have factories where cars are produced.

So we have quite a few elements to consider, always bearing in mind we want a high quality event on the sporting level. It is the peak of world rallying so it must be very demanding and also it must be a global event with regards to spectacle, entertainment and show. At the moment China and Brazil are very concrete rallies we are looking at and where in close cooperation with the local motorsport federations we identify the opportunities. Another dream of ours is having back a proper Safari Rally on the calendar, a nice dessert rally and maybe another

real snow and ice rally. We’re looking for these kinds of extremes that belong to the WRC. So we look for an an environment that gives us this extreme sporting challenge but also the great stories to tell and pictures to show.

Are there any specific rally’s you’re looking at in Brazil and China?

Often we can look at existing rally’s that form part of a national championship or of an FIA continental championship that then can be developed to the level of the WRC with more mileage and respective requirements that we have.

Do you have those at the moment in Brazil or China?

Yes it is not a secret that in Brazil we are visiting the Rally Erechim and at this very weekend there is a rally in China north of Beijing we’re looking at.

It’s important that when visiting countries like China, it is very clear that the rally is indeed in China

Do they meet the requirements?

Yes they do. We need a minimum of 300 kilometres that is our standard. Furthermore it shall be in an area accessible for the fans and finally it shall be a turf that we don’t have yet. And of course if we’re in China we want the pictures to show we’re in China. Our catalogue of requirements for the ideal place is quite long and in the end reality shows that sometimes you get more, sometimes you get less. But that is part of the job.

TV and digital platforms Another part of the function, as you can see here is to provide the fans with a TV signal. So TV production, distribution of he TV signal and selling The TV signal into the world. And then of course the second most important platform: the digital environment. Creating the digital platforms like the new website, the new app and the new videogame that is already on the market.

So we started by building the platforms and then fill them with the proper content. With what content do you fill the platforms?

Well the three most important things that we have for the fans

are attractive cars, heroes and an attractive competition format.

And this is what we are working on now.

The new cars The FIA are setting all the rules and regulations. Now we work together with them to see if it is possible, for the new cycle starting in 2017 to have a new shape, and new requirements to the cars.

Can they be bigger, can they be more powerful and what else can we develop to increase the attraction of this sport in the eyes of the fans. Secondly what can we do to build up the competition of man against man a bit more then we’ve been used to in the past. At the moment it’s one car after another. To build up heroes, battling against each other is currently quite a challenging thing, but it is our strong desire to make the drivers more visible with more exposure. I’m sure you will agree that these guys have outstanding skills and outstanding courage and it is my desire to push that, much more than it is now, because this is unique also if you compare it to other motorsports.

“Can new cars be bigger?

And more powerful?”

Rally-eMag / Interview 32/47

“To build up heroes, battling against each other is currently quite a challenge”

Drifting We want to increase the emotions you experience when you see and hear a car passing by. But how can we achieve that? That could be done for example by more drifting. The way they are driving at the moment is a driving style introduced by Loeb and copied by the others now, if I may say so. This is the most efficient line and so the less drifting the better.

Technically speaking, if you want to be as fast as possible that is correct. But this is not exactly the best way if you want to sell and emotionalize the rally. Drifting is just fantastic to see and everyone is just cheering when you have the opportunity to see the guys drifting around the corner as fast as possible. How can we combine this? Is Power an element, is sound an element? Of course it is. You don’t need to ask the question we know that! And does size matter? Yeah! Is a bigger car that more impressive? Or does a bigger car give the different manufacturers the opportunity to work with a variation of body shapes so that the look and feel is not so similar as it is, let us just say, with smaller cars.

These are just elements that are under discussion as preparation of what a new car after 2017 could be, but the overall objective is to increase the emotional element, increase the popularity, increase the passion!

How do these changes come about?

Under the roof of the FIA there is a group of people that is called the WRC commission, and in this WRC commission you find representatives of the event organizers, the manufacturer teams even of smaller teams, technical experts of the FIA and of course also representatives of the promoter. So it’s a group of experts that meets regularly and that puts these things on the agenda, Once it is on the agen-

da it goes to working groups where these things are further developed and taken forward.

Actually this is quite a democratic system and we contribute basically with points of view from the promoter’s angle: what is good for selling the rally, what is good for promoting the event and bringing it to more people, what is the feedback from the fans, that should be considered for any changes. This is our expertise. Then there is people who have the expertise of how do I implement it on site what do I need to consider for organizing my event best in the best possible way? Other experts sit at the table and they discuss security, which is a main issue with everything we are doing. And then the teams see it from their angle representing also the drivers.

What have we got to consider in regard of fairness what do we have to regard in safety also for them.

So everybody can contribute from his perspective and then a proposal is worked out jointly and this is approved by the commission and whenever it is a subject needing a change of regulations we take this forward and present it to the World Motorsport Council for final approval and then we move along!

Then to another issue, you seem to Focus on TV Yes that is true. Apart from highlight shows we wish to establish a twelve o’clock show on Sunday. It will include the last, decisive, stage of the day, live on TV. Producing such a show is demanding but we know it is worth it, because we’ve been doing it since the beginning of this year in selected markets and the feedback is very good. Our objective is to double the TV audience and the digital contacts on Internet and mobile in three years.

Television still reigns supreme in medialand.

Rally-eMag / Interview 35/47

“Follow WRC.COM and in the near future you will see some exciting things”

Fan survey In 2013 we had an audience of more than 600 million over 13 events and that is without live coverage. Introducing live gave us another 200 million only after the first three rallies, so that is a clear indicator for taking further live coverage to give the fans what they want. A recent fan survey said: after the Internet coverage, live TV is the most important for them. But for that it is essential that we have a regular transmission in a fixed time slot for the live coverage. In central Europe that would be 12:00 noon

There is a lot of talk about return of investment. Can you bring that?

Well of course all the manufacturers are in it, eventually to sell cars. For that you need exposure. But another aspect is proof of quality. We can offer that. The cars have to perform in very difficult conditions. Ranging from icy snow to hot dessert roads. This is the excellent platform to show the product is fit for that. And what is more we cover the whole world. So the products can prove their quality everywhere.

That proof cannot be shown in any other way.

Our own channels For countries where there is no live coverage we are thinking of using our own channels. Why not make it available for a fan maybe against a small contribution. These models are being studied. For the fans this would bring extra opportunities like the use of several on board cameras, telemetric data and you can even select on a map where you want to see your driver. And according to this fan base research, one third is prepared to pay. And it can be soon, follow WRC.COM and in the near future you will see some exciting things.

Will Internet be more important than TV? In interacting the answer is yes but further it is definitely not. Perhaps in future but even then you must produce the content and the production of that is no different from what we are doing already so we are prepared. But an important aspect is mixing your devices. Look at the popularity of Becs in WRC live. Each rally she and her team attract 50.000 listeners and this radio station together with the live result service and the video’s gives you an excellent mix to follow rallies, also if you’re not on site.

What do you think about the shootout stage?

It was an idea that was produced some time ago. It was very good as it caused a lot of discussion that enabled a new way of thinking. But of course we have to be very careful. It could touch the DNA of rally and that is NOT what we want. So we are looking into it now and see if it can bring us something. And if not? We don’t do it.

In the end it’s all about reaching and pleasing the fans!

ERC: Geko Ypres Rally / Overview

geko ypres rally

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Based in: Ypres Date: 19-21/06/2014 Number of stages: 20 Shortest stage: Westouter 7.25 km Longest stage: Hollebeke – 27.56 km Total stage distance: 295 km Surface: Tarmac

ERC: Geko Ypres Rally / Rally review

To cut, or not to cut Every year the Ypres Rally attracts an impressive entry list. The fast tarmac rally has always been a magnet for the best European drivers and this year proved no different. Peugeot entered two of the new 208 T16’s for Craig Breen and Kevin Abbring while Skoda fielded their ERC regulars Lappi and Wiegand.

Italian star and three times European champion Luca Rossetti held the first seed. Despite this star studded foreign line-up, the man to beat was still a local boy. Freddy Loix has already won the event eight times and came in search of a ninth win.

Words: Steven van Veenendaal

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Images:Harry van Veenendaal, Steven van Veenendaal

ERC: Geko Ypres Rally / Rally review

Confident, relaxed and all smiles. That’s what being 8 time winner of an event does.

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Long but short With nearly 300 stage kilometers the Ypres Rally is by far the longest rally in the ERC, with most other events hovering around 240. Despite its length though, it is a very compact event. Most stages are in close proximity of the historic town itself, apart from the one stage across the border in France. Uniquely, there are actually more stage kilometers than there are on the liaison, perhaps one of the reasons so many drivers love this event so much. Due to this compactness the organizers can run a rather short timetable as well. The rally didn’t start until late Friday afternoon, finishing the next day.

Confident Loix Being interviewed under a clear blue sky at the

Kevin Abbring stormed into an early lead.

start podium Freddy Loix was confident and relaxed. The Belgian was all smiles but had to admit that the turbocharged R5 cars might have a slight advantage over his normally aspirated Skoda Fabia. Then again, their surplus of power should merely off-set his surplus of experience and create a level playing field at best. Because even though the stages might look rather simple and straightforward at first, they are some of the trickiest in the world to drive fast on. The key issue is, knowing when to cut, and how far to cut.

As you are in sixth gear a lot and jolt the car from the tarmac onto grass and back on the tarmac again it is very difficult to maintain a solid line through the corners. Unless of course your name is Freddy Loix, then apparently it’s child’s play.

As the action got underway it was however not Loix who topped the timesheets. Dutchman Kevin Abbring powered his Peugeot over the stages to set fastest times on the opening three stages. Although Abbring claimed he was just driving smoothly, he looked very aggressive out on the stages and the times showed. Not only did he win three out of four stages on the opening loop, he opened up an eleven second lead over Loix. The gaps between drivers are always small on fast stages, making his performance all the more impressive. The experienced Rossetti was in a solid third early on after being the surprise winner of the qualifying stage on Thursday. He edged out ERC leader Esapekka Lappi by five seconds.

ERC: Geko Ypres Rally / Rally review

Trouble Abbring’s teammate Craig Breen got off to a disastrous start. A puncture on the first stage cost him time, but even worse, the flailing rubber damaged the brake line of his Peugeot. There was nothing left to do for Breen but to nurture his car through the next three stages to the first service halt. He never fully regained his confidence throughout the evening though and found himself down in seventh, two minutes adrift after the opening day.

Luca Rossetti suffered a similar fate when he too suffered a puncture. It cost him around four minutes and he dropped well outside of the top ten as a result. The unluckiest man of the opening day though was Bernd Casier. The local ace was looking for a good result in his Fiesta R5 and was

eleventh on the road. Just after leaving the service park to start the rally, his mechanics were cleaning up the service area and finally took a breather after having worked hard to prepare the car for the event. Just as they sat down and relaxed in the sun the team manager got a phone call and the look on his face immediately told the story. Casier crashed on one of the very first corners of the rally and ripped a front wheel off. It would force him to retire after having barely started the event. He would return on Saturday but was of course out of contention for a good result.

Game, set and match?

After the service break Kevin Abbring got right back to doing what he had been doing earlier in the day, winning stages. The remaining stages all fell prey to Abbring as he more than doubled his

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After a troublesome event, Craig Breen was eventually forced to retire with technical problems.

lead over Loix to nearly half a minute, nearly providing an early knock-out punch. Abbring praised his car, stating that it was really nice and reliable to drive on the limit, but really it was Abbring who deserved the praise. Going that much faster than Loix, in any car, is something quite special, as Loix recognized too. “Kevin is doing a great job, he seems to be a little bit too fast for me at the moment, I am impressed.” The ever-present smile was still on Loix’s face as he clearly appreciated the challenge the young Dutchman presented. The question now, was whether Loix would be able to stage a comeback or if he would have to face defeat.

Luca Rossetti surprised by winning the qualifying stage and was on the pace early on. A puncture dropped him back before a ditch ended his rally all together.

ERC: Geko Ypres Rally / Rally review

The final day of a rally often feels a bit obligatory, with few stages remaining and most of the drama already having occurred. Not in Ypres though. Despite the fact that the opening day had indeed been full of drama, the drivers were nowhere near home yet. The final day comprised over 190 kilometers of competitive action, so about two thirds of the entire rally still remained.

More drama Like the first day, the second day would be no walk in the park. Craig Breen continued his miserable event with technical issues haunting him on nearly every stage until eventually the Peugeot would go no further after stage 13. At least for Breen it wasn’t his fault. Many other front-runners were caught out by the tricky stages in a flurry of crashes. Former S2000 World Champion Xevi Pons ended his rally in a ditch, just like Pieter Tsjoen. Meanwhile Neil Simpson and Antonin Tlustak both crashed out of the event as well. The most spectacular crash was that of Esapekka Lappi after which he and co-driver Janne Ferm had to be taken to hospital for precautionary checkups. Thankfully they were both uninjured.

maintained it throughout the second. Stage 13 would prove to be his Waterloo though. A technical issue forced him to stop and although he tried to apply emergency repairs the team advised it was best to park the car and retire from the event. The Dutchman was absolutely gutted.

Afterwards he spoke in a professional manner about how good the car and team had been up until the retirement but his body language and tone of voice told a completely different story. Before us stood an ambitious young man who felt he had just been robbed of the most important victory of his career.

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Abbring is not blessed with deep pockets like some other drivers, and being from Holland he only has a small sponsor market to rely on.

In other words, Abbring needs these wins; he has to show that he is one of the best rally drivers out there.

That is the only way he can be successful in the sport. A win in Ypres would have looked great on his resume, but unfortunately it wasn’t to be. Afterwards Loix praised Abbring for his performance and he really meant it when he said he felt bad that Abbring retired, he had been enjoying the battle. As consolation The ultimate drama took place near Abbring was awarded the Colin the French border though. Kevin McRae Flat Out Trophy, let’s just Abbring had been brilliant and was hope a lot of people noticed. in complete control. He built his lead over Loix on the opening day and

Kevin Abbring stole the hearts of the fans and was the moral winner of the rally... ...but Fast Freddy prevailed in the end and as usual, had everybody eating dust

ERC: Geko Ypres Rally / Results 41/47

1. Loix (B)-Gitsels (B) Skoda Fabia S2000 2. Cherain (B)-Leyh (B) Ford Fiesta R5 3. Wiegand (D)-Christian (D) Skoda Fabia S2000 4 .Kobus (NL)-de Wild (NL) Ford Fiesta S2000 5. Rossetti (I)-Matteo (I) Skoda Fabia S2000

2:43:13.7 + 1:09.9 + 2:14.2 + 2:32.5 + 3:47.5

6. Vanneste (B)-Snaet (B) 7. Lefevere (B)-Vangheluwe (B) 8. Duquesne (B)- Cuvelier (B) 9. Debackere (B)-Cokelaere (B) 10. Orsak (CZ)-Smeidler (CZ)

Peugeot 207 S2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X Ford Fiesta R5 Peugeot 207 S2000 Skoda Fabia S2000

+ 5:25.4 + 6:11.5 + 6:53.2 + 6:59.7 + 9:01.4

ERC: Geko Ypres Rally / Standings 42/47

Championship standings 1. Esapekka Lappi 2. Craig Breen 3. Sepp Wiegand 4. Vasily Gryazin 5. Kajetan Kajetanowicz 6. Robert Kubica 7. Kevin Abbring 8. Robert Consani 9. Bernardo Sousa 10. Freddy Loix

Skoda Fabia S2000 Peugeot 208 T16 Skoda Fabia S2000 Ford Fiesta RRC Ford Fiesta RRC Ford Fiesta R5 Peugeot 208 T16 Peugeot 207 S2000 Ford Fiesta R5 Skoda Fabia S2000

103 70 70 53 48 39 38 37 37 37

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag

Bas’ ForMyFriends Bas Romeny travels the world to watch the WRC. Between his eyes and the rest of the world he usually holds a camera. You can see the results of that throughout this magazine.

During events he often he sees ‘other things’ than rally cars going over crests. He decided to send a selection to his rallyfriends. And this section he shares them with all his friends at Rally-eMag. Here he shows you his observations and his thoughts at the moment he took the pictures.

Mikolajki, the epic center of the rally.

As I noticed in 2009, many couples watched the rally.

And they picknick!!( I think we forgot to do this anymore..)

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Dancing drivers.

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag

Oi, red tape is forbidden area, green is a go area..

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First Superspecial was a tad dusty. And at 22.00 hrs, quite late..

At the Mikolajki hotel: the Martini colors on the floot! Fred Gallagher was the only who noticed this as well.

In the end Germany won and Holland became third..

ForMyFriends / Rally-eMag

Uhhh, stop rally?

As 2 drivers rolled on this point (the first run), they wealthily taped the corner To be sure that all drivers noticed...

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Capito could have used this mold to ‘sign’ his head..

see you next time...