Rally-eMag 024 January 2015

Issue 24, January 2015

Allez Seb!

Monte Carlo

J채nnerrallye

Abbring & Marshall Plus: Tech Talk, Autosport International & ForMyFriends

kubica was min d boggingly qui ck in monte car but also over th lo, e limit from tim e to time Image: Steven van Veenendaal

steady as she g oes, mads ostberg took no ri sks, but 4th Image: Bas Romeny

The master was Image: Bas Romeny

back for a one-

off outing

Jari matti latvala Image: Bas Romeny

secured his bes

t monte carlo f

inish ever

Rally-eMag

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Rally-eMag January 2015 / Contents

This month Who made it?

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

Photography: Bas Romeny, Timo Anis, Andy Crayford

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 Rallye Monte carlo

ERC j채nnerrallye

Tech talk The Chassis

Interview abbring & marshall

pictures

The Full Monte

2015 Is go!

Page 31

Chasing Dreams

& formyfriends

Page 17

Page 37

Page 26

Page 45

autosport international

Rally-eMag January 2015 / News 9/48

This month’s wrap up Toyota returns to WRC Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda finally put an end to all the rumors, by confirming that Toyota will indeed return to the WRC. There is still a bit of a wait ahead as the actual return will happen in the 2017 season.

The car of choice will be the Toyota Yaris, a WRC version of which is currently being tested. The bulk of the test work is done by gravel specialist Sebastian Lindholm and tarmac ace Stephane Sarrazin. It’s unlikely either of the two will actually see any competitive mileage come 2017. Young gun Eric Camilli was selected as the first driver of Toyota’s ‘Young driver development program’ but 2017 is still a long ways away.

Toyota’s entry to the sport marks its return after an 18 year absence, having last competed at WRC level in the 1999 season. The company has a long heritage in the sport though, reaching its climax in the 90’s with four drivers (Sainz ‘90 & ‘92, Kankkunen ‘93 and Auriol ‘94) and three manufacturers titles (’93, ‘ 94 & ’99). During that time the company produced some legendary rally cars (specially the various Celica’s and Corolla), creating a global fanbase. Those fans might have had something to do with the eventual decision to bring the brand back to the WRC as CEO Toyoda commented: “During my time there many rally fans asked me when Toyota would come back to WRC. People talked about Toyota’s history in WRC, and I was filled with surprise and gratitude that so many people remembered.”

Abbring gets Swedish opportunity While working out in preparation for Rally Sweden, Dani Sordo fell of his mountainbike with such force that he suffered a broken rib. The incident forced the Spaniard out of the Hyundai line-up for Rally Sweden. With three cars already prepared for the event, Dani’s bad luck caused a drivers shuffle and gave Kevin Abbring the opportunity to showcase his potential in a World Rally Car for the first time. Hayden Paddon is promoted from the second Hyundai Mobis team to replace Sordo and Abbring will take the Kiwi’s spot.

Abbring felt sorry for Sordo, but: “Of course you don’t want it to happen like this. But now that I have the op-

portunity I will take it with both hands. Although Sweden is perhaps the most difficult and most specialist of the year and I have never done the rally before I am confident we can achieve a good result.”

Abbring (L) and Paddon (R) Image: Hyundai Motorsport

Rally-eMag / Feature

2015 season preview Another year has gone by it’s now 2015 and we’re the connection to 2015. Will that be another almost ready to start the new season. We’ll take Volkswagen / Ogier affair or will other drivers and you along all the teams, drivers and cars and for cars try to spoil the Volkswagen party? the last time we take you back to 2014 and make

hyundai shell world rally team

Words: Harry van Veenendaal Images: PR

Last year they were the new kid in town. Everyone was looking at them. It was a typical ‘first season for them. They had some technical issues that were soon fixed, but as team manager Alain Penasse told us halfway the season: “We fix one thing and we don’t get it back, but then another issue develops and we see to that. That is the way it is if you are still developing your car during your first competitive season. And this also brings some good things. We now know where we are in relation to the other teams.”

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Cars and drivers Hyundai started with a team of several drivers.

Neuville of course was driver number one. He was scheduled to drive all rallies. In Monte Carlo Dani Sordo was driver number two. The results were not too promising, or should we say it was just bad luck? Anyway both Neuville and Sordo were sidelined in the very early stages of the rally. Neuville slid off the road and Sordo had a tech-

nical glitch stopping him. During the rest of the season they proved to be a real contender. Culminating in their first victory during ADAC Rallye Deutschland. Perhaps a lucky victory but more than ever the saying “To finish first, you first have to finish” applied. Two other drivers failed to finish throwing away an almost certain victory. Thierry Neuville managed to finish and consequently was first! Dani Sordo also made it to the end and was second; making it the first one two finish of the Korean manufacturer. Add to that the two podium finishes in Mexico and Poland and you can conclude their first season was good. The driver’s line-up apart from Neuville (all 13 events) and Sordo (6) included no less than four other drivers: Juha Hänninen (6 rallies), Hayden Paddon (5), Bryan Bouffier (3) and Chris Atkinson (2).

The drivers accumulated 193 drivers’ points and the manufacturers’ points of the two teams added up to 215.

Rally-eMag / Feature 11/48

2015 line-up Never change a winning team, must have been the team’s idea. Of course Neuville will be leading the team again. We already knew that because he still has a contract. Dani Sordo is driver number two and will drive ‘at least’ ten rallies. Hayden Paddon earned the third seat and will drive twelve events. The team’s choice seems obvious, looking at the driver’s individual results. Juha Hänninen may argue against that as he accumulated 20 points and Paddon ‘only’ 19. However the progress

of Paddon seems to be more significant. This can be seen for example in Finland where the Kiwi had to struggle to reach the finish troubled by technical things. But initially Paddon was faster than Hänninen on his home grounds. The latest addition to Hyundai’s driver’s line-up is Dutchman Kevin Abbring. He was appointed as test pilot for the new i20 that is scheduled to appear later this year, and he will also drive a minimum of four events.

Rally-eMag / Feature

Volkswagen motorsport What can you say about a team that dominated in their first competitive season and simply repeated that in their second? Only in Germany they did not score points. In all other 12 events a VW driver was on the highest step of the podium. Eight times it was Ogier, four times Latvala’s. Needless to say the German team won the title accumulating no less than 447 points. Nearest challenger was Citroën with 210 points. If we would add up the points of the main team and the Volkswagen Motorsport II team we come to a grand total of 480 points! It is clear that the other teams have quite a challenge for the new season.

Cars and drivers As indicated earlier Ogier won eight rallies. Not bad at all but it was one victory less than in 2013 and Latvala scored three victories more! It means the challenge between the two team colleagues intensified. Andreas Mikkelsen was doing well too. He scored five podium finishes (3x2; 2x3) and earned third place in the driver’s championship.

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2015 Line-up No surprises here. “I have the best drivers in the championship, so why change?” said team manager Jost Capito. During summer there were all kinds of rumours about Sebastien Ogier who wasn’t happy with the WRC regulations. Some people thought he wasn’t happy with his team as Capito had been quite clear about his ideas regarding the new regulations and they did not match with his drivers’ views. But quite soon Ogier told us he had been distracted by the discussions about the regulations. Now I have to focus again on the job at hand: winning the championship!” Not very much later he mimicked his team boss by saying: “I’m in the best car in the championship, why change?” Ending all discussions.

Latvala seems to have found a new balance between his obvious driving capabilities and his frame of mind. After his German debacle with some coaching he found himself again and even won his first tarmac event in France. Together with Mikkelsen Volkswagen will be the team to beat in 2015. Again! In their new livery they seem to have reversed the ideas of M-Sport: the Fiesta’s went from dark to light. Volkswagen does the opposite they went from light to dark. You can judge from the pictures what you like best.

Rally-eMag / Feature

m-sport world rally team Malcolm Wilson formed himself a solid team for 2014: a youngster (Elfyn Evans), who got the change to do a whole season on the top level in a top car and an old hand (Mikko Hirvonen) with a lot of experience. Evans performed as expected and collected some 81 championship points, enough for an eighth place in the championship. Mikko Hirvonen did a solid job by earning points in 11 of the thirteen events. The two times he did not have a point’s finish had technical reasons. A faulty alternator stopped him in Monte Carlo and a mysterious fire destroyed his car in

Sardinia. In all other events he finished in the points. Still there were quite a few criticasters who said Mikko had lost it. It was clear Hirvonen was not his usual self. In Poland at the halfway point in the season he told us his season had been shit until that moment, an uncharacteristic firm remark from the Finn. However from then on he only scored fourth and fifth places, not too bad but he wasn’t happy with it. And just before Spain he announced his retirement. The remaining two rallies saw a new Hirvonen. He was smiling again and both times he finished on the podium. He ended his career on a second place in Rally Wales GB. In the championship he was the best non-VW driver so he could leave the WRC world with his head held up high.

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2015 Line-up So Malcolm Wilson had to find a new driver for his squad. The return of Ott Tänäk already circulated and in the end he was the chosen one. Of course Elfyn Evans kept his place and M-Sport has a good line-up and it will be interesting to see who will the faster driver Tänäk or Evans. Even more interesting will be to see where they both are in relation to the other drivers. The car will be the well-known Fiesta WRC in a completely new livery.

Rally-eMag / Feature 14/48

citroen total abu dhabi world rally team

Both Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo had left the Citroën team and so the driver’s line-up was almost completely new. Kris Meeke had been on the team for several occasions in 2013, and, a little bit surprisingly he was back with the team on a full time basis in 2014. Complete newcomer to the team was Mads Østberg. The 2014 results gave us some mixed feelings. It all began surprisingly well with a third place for Meeke in Monte Carlo. Both Østberg and Meeke collected eight podium finishes so that is not too bad but they together also collected eight no point finishes. Biggest disappointment was the Germany result, where Meeke who just inherited first place from Latvala, went off and had to retire. Østberg’s sixth place there was not enough to ease that pain.

2015 Line-up Citroen team boss Yves Matton took his time to communicate his 2015 line-up and built some extra excitement by first announcing Kris Meeke and wait some time before he announced Mads Østberg. But the final result is that he will have the same team as last year. Still he had a surprise in store when he announced that nine time World Champion Sebastien Loeb would be competing in Monte Carlo in a marketing scheme for the festivities around the the 60th anniversary of the DS brand. It will be interesting to see if Loeb can still challenge his arch-rival Ogier. The car will be of course be a DS3. The car changed at several points and the engine is almost new and developed together with the development of the WTCC engine. During the season we will keep you up to date for new changes both in the DS3 as well as in other cars.

Rally-eMag / Feature 15/48

the others You already missed him: Robert Kubica. For a long time he left us in the dark, because for example in Wales he still told us there was a fifty fifty chance he would stay in WRC or move to circuit racing. But just before Christmas he announced he would be in WRC and competing all rounds in a Ford Fiesta WRC. The same applies to Martin Prokop. He found his season

budget just in time for Rallye Monte Carlo and the rest of the season we may expect the Jipocar Czech National Team in all events.

Italian Lorenzo Bertelli steps up from WRC2 to the WRC this year. He will pilot a Ford Fiesta WRC on all rounds of the championship for the interestingly name Fuckmatie team.

Rallye Monte Carlo / Overview 17/48

Rallye Monte Carlo

Based in: Gap Date: 22-25/01/15 Number of stages: 15 Shortest stage: Col St Jean - St Laurent, 10.16 km Longest stage: Lardier et Valenca - Faye, 51.70 km Total stage distance: 355.48 km Surface: Asphalt/Snow/Ice Image: Steven van Veenendaal

Rallye Monte Carlo / Revieww

the full monte After an exciting end of the season, anticipation starts to grow again after Christmas. The anticipation culminates into the first event and this year again it was clear: this event needs to be the Rallye Monte Carlo. The Monte has everything you could wish for a season’s starter. Glitter, glamour but more than that, a rally that continues to provide challenging surprises for the competitors and therefore, more than anywhere else, the outcome is absolutely unpredictable. The first surprise was the temporary return of Sebastien Loeb, but many more were to follow.

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Bas Romeny

Rallye Monte Carlo / Revieww 19/48

The Automobile Club de Monaco celebrates its 125th birthday in 2015. The organizer of the Rallye Monte Carlo started as the Sport Vélocipédique Monégasque, but in 1925 it was decided: ‘Cycling is becoming less common as a sport’ so the name had to changed into what it still is today: Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM. This anniversary, as well as the start of the 2015 season of course was a reason for some celebrations and so the ACM and the WRC promoter joined forces in organizing the FIA World Rally Championship season opening 2015. The famous Place du Casino surrounded by the Casino, the Hotel de Paris and the Café de Paris formed the elegant setting for this event. Right in front of the Hotel de Paris ‘celebrities from the worlds of sport, entertainment and business’ were invited to board a World Rally Car for a spin of part of the famous Grand Prix circuit.

We recognized David Coulthard codriving Elfyn Evans in his Fiesta WRC and famous actor Idris Elba doing the same for Sebastien Ogier. All celebs were suitably impressed. Meanwhile in Hotel de Paris’ Salle Empire speeches were presented by amongst many others WRC Promoter Oliver Ciesla and FIA president Jean Todt.

Later on Rebecca (Becs Williams the voice of Rally Live hosted a talk show that was broadcast live via WRC.COM. To put it shortly: a good way to start the season.

The rally But let’s not forget why we came here: the ‘celebration’ of the 83rd Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo. As we said earlier the biggest surprise was the temporary (? return of Sebastien Loeb. Fans were happy but in the teams there were some less positive noises: “this could influence the championship…” However he was there with his usual codriver Daniel Elena and everyone was excited to see whether he still had ‘it’. Another surprise that for the first time in the event’s history the Rally2 rule applied. For the rest the route had changed with some 75 percent as the ACM told us. For us it very much looked like a classic Monte with well known stages in the Alps North West and North of Monte Carlo. As we are more or less used to, the rally has two serviceparks. The first one being in Gap in the middle of the higher Alps, some 300-400 kilometers north west of Monaco, the other in the port of Monte-Carlo.

Sebastien Loeb started his one-off (??) return in style by winning the opening stage.

Rallye Monte Carlo / Revieww

Shakedown was on Wednesday in Gap. The next day everyone moved to Monte Carlo for the season’s opening event and the official start of the rally. That Thursday evening two stages had to be tackled en route back to Gap. That was a 700 kilometre drive for some 40 competitive kilometres.

But hey who is complaining? This is Monte-Carlo!

On Friday and Saturday the stages were all situated near Gap. After the classic Sisteron-Thoard stage on Saturday afternoon the teams went back to Monaco again for the last stages and finish ceremonies on Sunday.

At M-Sport Elfyn Evans and Ott Tanak were wearing a completely new outfit matching with the new livery of their Fiesta’s. Citroën also had a slightly changed livery including new sponsor Certina.

The kept their 2014 drivers Meeke and Østberg and for this occasion they hired Loeb who together with Meeke was nominated to score constructor points. The Hyundai line up included Neuville and Sordo, but also present were Haydon Paddon and new recruit Kevin Abbring. They would not be driving here but thanks to the new Hyundai Mobis sponsor deal Paddon will drive the rest of the season. Abbring will be the team’s test driver The teams and will compete ‘on at least four selected rallies.

Not so many surprises here. At Volkswagen they Other regulars included Martin Prokop and Robert had a new livery and a lot of technical tweaks to Kubica who is now running his own team. make the already fastest car around a little faster.

The battle After stage one excitement built up quite considerably. Sebastien Loeb provided an immense blow to Ogier’s chances of winning the event again. He was 22 seconds faster than runner up Tanak and no less than 30.9 faster than Ogier. On the next stage Ogier woke up and won the stage but Loeb had an overnight lead of more than 17 seconds.

Enough work to do for Ogier and the others of course. The next day the battle continues, Ogier getting closer to Loeb. But it takes the younger Seb till halfway the second loop of the day to overtake Loeb. On stage 7 Loeb spins at a hairpin and, for the first time we see Ogier heading the leaderboard.

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Two young drivers have to haul in the points for M-Sport this year in the fresh new livery. Ogier was pipped by Loeb on the opening stage, but soon after showed why he is now a With one full year under his belt, Elfyn Evans is suddenly the ‘ experience’ in the team. double world champion himself.

Rallye Monte Carlo / Revieww

One stage later Loeb slides off the road and bumps into something quite solid, breaking his left rear suspension. He struggles to the end of the stage but after that has to retire for the day. Kris Meeke meets with the same problems so it was no a good stage for the Citroën team. Another victim of this stage was Robert Kubica. Right before the eyes of the Rally-eMag team (See the first image in the magazine!) he ran wide in a slippy corner, this brought him in the wrong position to finalize the bend. The car plunged forward into a ditch on the left hand side of the road. Then Kubica keeps on the throttle and ploughs through the ditch. He was aiming to get back onto the road when a tree stopped him. The collision caused a puncture and quite a bit of other damage. A great pity as the Pole was setting a good pace, winning three stages on the way.

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The final two days On Saturday the teams travelled south in the direction of Monte Carlo. On the way they still had to cover four stages. The first one was cancelled due to unsafe situations caused by the large number of spectators.

Ogier was in ‘cruising’ mode. He dropped about one minute but still held some three quarters of a minute advantage on his nearest rival Latvala. It was clear the battle was over. Ogier looked closely at what his opponents were doing and fought the battle accordingly. One man just keeps on going: Robert Kubica.

He wins the first timed stage of today with over half a minute between him and his nearest rival Meeke.

Ogier loses 1min. 49! Anyway before going into the last day Ogier leads by just over forty seconds on Latvala, a fairly comfortable lead, with only three stages of about 52 kilometres in total. No surprises on the last day. Meeke wins two stages, including the PowerStage earning him three extra championship points, Loeb wins one (with two runner up times, showing he still knows how to handle a rally car in tricky conditions. The final leaderboard was one we know from previous years, a Volkswagen 1,2,3!

Top to bottom: Latvala crowned a steady run with second overall, his best finish to date in Monte Carlo.

Kubica was spectacularly fast, racking up 4 stage wins, but also went off the road a few times.

Meeke had a difficult event but proved his pace by winning the Powerstage.

Rallye Monte Carlo / Revieww

Round-up Volkswagen World Rallyteam Within the team all eyes were on Sebastien Loeb and after the first stage the team got a wake-up call Loeb was fastest. Soon Ogier showed he was not prepared to just let someone walk over him. But it took him till the end of day, to finally make a gap. Latvala set himself a clear target: finishing higher than his event’s best result being a fifth place. So second for him felt like good business for his end of year goal: the championship. The same can be said for number three Mikkelsen. He got a lot of good practice and gained third place as well. So what else could a team want?

M-Sport World Rallyteam

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Elfyn Evans did well but was, as many others caught out by Monte characteristics. He was fighting for the best of the rest (=non Volkswagen) position and was fourth but a wrong tire choice got him frustrated and this threw him into a wall in the famous Sisteron-Thoard stage and ended up his quest in seventh. Ott Tanak was surprising everybody by blistering times and a good fourth place. But on day two some gravel send him off the road. It took the spectators a lot of time to get him back onto the road and his rally from then on was a test session in competition circumstances.

Rallye Monte Carlo / Revieww 23/48

Hyundai Shell World Rallyeam Hyundai does not happily loo back at last year’s results. So both drivers were extra cautious. Still Dani Sordo went into a ditch in the early stages of the rally. But apparently co driver Marc Marti, had been training quite well during the off-season and was able to push back the car on the road. It cost the team about a minute though.

Neuville kept on going cautiously and waited till the last stages to impose himself. On the very last stage he passed his teammate and ended up fifth, just before Sordo. All in all a good result for Hyundai, the are now the runner up in the championship for constructors, just behind Volswagen.

RK M-Sport World Wally Team Zero points for Robert Kubica that is not a result cheer for. Still the Pole can look back on a good rally. He set four fastest times and was always in contention. Some mishaps threw him back (and out of the rally). The last one was the finish of the Turini stage. He came blasting down the slope and at the finish found out his brakes did not work. He was stopped by a wall but lost two wheels. A great pity as he had been working quite hard to get ‘the show on the road’. “Running your own team,” he admitted. “Costs quite a bit more effort.”

Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT Yves Matton was not unhappy: “We have shown our car is up to the level of our rivals,” he said, “And Loeb still knows how to make it work. It was a pity both Loeb and Meeke were thrown off the road, but until then they were both doing quite well.” Mads Østberg saved the honor of the French outfit by being best non-VW. Nowadays that means fourth place. Østberg reacted coolly: “in a way this is a kind of victory!” Unfortunately he was not registered to win constructor points…

Rallye Monte Carlo / Results 24/48

Final result 1. Ogier - Ingrassia 2. Latvala - Anttila 3. Mikkelsen - Floene 4. Østberg - Andersson 5. Neuville - Gilsoul

Volkswagen Polo R WRC 3:36:40.2 Volkswagen Polo R WRC +48.0 Volkswagen Polo R WRC +2:12.3 Cintroën DS 3 WRC +2:43.6 Hyundai i20 WRC +3:12.1

6. Sordo - Marti 7. Evans - Barritt 8. Loeb - Elena 9. Prokop - Tomanek 10. Meeke - Nagle

Hyundai i20 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Citroën DS 3 WRC Ford Fiesta RS WRC Citroën DS 3 WRC

+3:12.6 +5:23.7 +8:34.7 +9:54.8 +10:55.6

Rallye Monte Carlo / Standings

2015 FIA World Rally Championship Drivers’ Standings 1. Sébastien Ogier 25 points 2. Jari-Matti Latvala 19 3. Andreas Mikkelsen 15 4. Mads Østberg 12 5. Thierry Neuville 10 6. Dani Sordo 8 7. Elfyn Evans 6 8. Sébastien Loeb 6 9. Kris Meeke 4 10. Martin Prokop 2 2015 FIA World Rally Championship Manufacturers’ Standings

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1. Volkswagen Motorsport 2. Hyundai Motorsport 3. M-Sport World Rally Team 4. Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT 5. Jipocar Czech National Team

43 27 12 12 6

Rally-eMag / Interview

chasing dreams The newest addition to the WRC family is the pairing of Kevin Abbring and Seb Marshall. The DutchAnglo combination joins the Hyundai team in 2015, mainly as test drivers, but with entry to four events guaranteed and the determination to do more. We met Kevin and Seb in Monte Carlo (when they weren’t aware yet that their debut would follow a lot sooner than expected, in Sweden).

Kevin Abbring Sebastian Marshall Are: The latest addition to the Hyundai team Words: Steven van Veenendaal Images: Harry van Veenendaal, Steven van Veenendaal, PR

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KA: Our contract with Hyundai is for two years.

Rally-eMag / Interview

first arrived to the hotel and found all my new team gear I felt like a kid at Christmas! It’s amazing to be part of the WRC circus now. Just little things, like when I walked through the hotel and ran into guys like Meeke, Sordo, Loeb… Wow, it’s amazing to be a part of that group now.

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Here we are, after a lot of rumors and speculation, you signed with Hyundai and are now officially part of WRC manufacturer team.

KA: Yes, it’s like a dream come true, as I’ve always wanted to be a WRC driver. It’s something that is not easy to accomplish, so I’m very happy to be here now.

SM: It’s a bit surreal to be honest. The opportunity to work with a manufacturer team doesn’t come along all too often. When I

Tell us about the deal with Hyundai and how it came about.

KA: Our contract with Hyundai is for two years, so we’ll be here next year too! I had the opportunity to go various other teams instead of Hyundai, but they weren’t at WRC level. There were possibilities to do WRC2 or the full ERC in an R5. But if I had done that I would not have been at the WRC level for at least another two years. I am 26 now, which is a good age to start competing on the WRC stage. It shouldn’t have taken much longer to be honest. If I had gone for any of the other options and did two-year programs with them, I would have been 28 and still not made it to the WRC level. Would any of the WRC manufacturer teams still look at me then? So my decision for Hyundai was made purely from a sporting viewpoint, it was never about money or anything else. I have a dream to be in the WRC and Hyundai offered the best opportunity to realize that dream.

KA: My decision for Hyundai was made purely from a sporting viewpoint, it was never about money or anything else. I have a dream to be in the WRC.

Rally-eMag / Interview 28/48

KA: I will be doing four events in the second half of the season

You are officially test drivers for the team, can you tell us about that role?

KA: I am mainly a test driver at the moment, but my ambition is to drive in the rallies as well. The team knows this of course and I will be doing at least four events in the second half of the season. (Ed: His debut actually came a bit earlier than expected when he was called up on to replace the injured Dani Sordo in Sweden.) But this first year our main focus will be on testing and developing the new car.

Somehow engineers always like working with me and I have quite a lot of experience with testing. I can translate what I feel in the car to the engineers.

That enables us to make many tweaks to the car to improve it. Of course we would rather be doing all the events but I have to know my place. I am not one of the regular drivers, yet I have the opportunity to do a lot of kilometers in testing and to do the recce on all events. And as I really appreciate the testing work I’m very happy to be where I am at the moment.

As you said, it’s not easy to claim a seat at a WRC manufacturer team. How did you manage to do so?

KA: The story of my career so far has been that I showed some potential but couldn’t materialize it. I usually had the speed, but due to various reasons I could never get to the finish to get according results. It is very important to get the actual results; otherwise many people will not notice you. But I have always had faith in myself and perhaps the defining moment was when I took a step back to drive an R2 car in the French championship. I don’t think many other young drivers would have taken that step, going back to a smaller car in a regional championship. But the cup boasted a prize of driving a Peugeot 208 R5 in the ERC, a great opportunity for a young driver like myself. If you have confidence in yourself and are willing to invest in

yourself, sometimes a step back can mean a leap forward later one. It created the opportunity for me to do the ERC in a four-wheel drive car, which was very good for my development.

That ERC year was also the first year the two of you drove together.

SM: It was indeed. Although we actually met for the first time in Turkey in 2010 when I was co-driving for Harry Hunt. He had a couple of nice chats and when Kevin needed a new co-driver a few years later, the phone rang. I was interested in the ERC program of course so I flew to Holland to meet Kevin. We actually did some vigorous testing together in a driving simulator he had helped develop to see if we could be a good team.

Winning the WRC2 category in France was a big boost for Keving and Seb. Image: Steven van Veenendaal

And that worked out rather well?

SM: From day one I always felt comfortable in the car with Kevin. Trust between a driver and co-driver is very important and I fully trust him. He has everything under control and his car control is simply amazing. I don’t really have to coach him very much.

He doesn’t need to be pushed or slowed down.

He is just a very naturally talented driver. Of course we had some small moments last season, but that’s normal when you compete at this level.

It must have been a bit of a switch for Kevin though, going from one co-driver to another but also going from Dutch to English pace notes. It went rather quickly though KA: That happens with a good co-driver!

SM: The first time it all really clicked was

the opening day in Ypres. Everything fell into place and we performed really well.

Was that the defining moment that gave you the edge in claiming the Hyundai seat?

SM: Ypres definitely helped us a lot.

Hyundai team-manager Alain Penasse is involved with the organization. So even though we didn’t finish the event, he noticed our performance there. But Rallye de France last year was also big for us.

While we were doing the first stages we had a feeling it was going quite well but when the split times started coming in “up 8 seconds, up 12 seconds, up 25 seconds”, I felt, “Ok we’re doing pretty well!”

And we were able to control the rally from there on. It was a rather nerve wrecking experience though. It’s true what people say that you start hearing things in the car when you have a big lead. Every little sound I heard, I thought: “What’s that? I something broken?“ But in the end it was a fantastic result for us.

KA: True, and now we are in the WRC, but it will not be easy. You need experience to be competitive. You see that with everyone, Neuville for example is now very fast, but it took him three full seasons to become a top-flight driver. I noticed it myself last year. When I did eight rallies, I really started to get into rhythm, just imagine how that is when you do a full WRC season. So even though we are here now, we still have a long road ahead. And even though this is a great step, getting in the WRC is difficult, but staying there might be even harder.

SM: Every little sound I heard, I thought: “What’s that?”

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Rally-eMag / Tech Talk

Tech Talk

Jon Scoltock

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Is: A structures engineer in the automotive and motorsport sectors as well as a freelance journalist. Jon will join the team to provide you with a monthly update on all things technical in the world of rallying.

Images: Steven van Veenendaal

At the heart of any competition car is its chassis, and this is no different for a rally car. As well as being the part that every other component bolts to, it must also be tough enough to withstand rocks, jumps and water splashes, as well as forming a safety cell to protect the crew. Unlike a Formula 1 car or Le Mans prototype, a rally car chassis is deeply compromised, as it is converted from a production car, meaning that designers must increase the strength massively, and modify a car designed for travelling to the shops or the school run so it is able to travel over roads that would make many a 4x4 owner weep.

From two to four The biggest challenge when creating a world rally car is the installation of the four wheel drive system. In the old days, the FIA regulations required that a Group A rally car was based on a production vehicle, meaning that manufacturers had to produce 4500 road-going versions of their rally car in order for it to be eligible for the WRC. This spawned a number of homologation specials like the Lancia Delta Integrale and the Subaru Impreza WRX. However, producing such cars was very expensive and, eventually, Lancia, Toy-

ota and Nissan all disappeared from top flight rallying. For 1997, the FIA regulations were updated to allow a manufacturer to enter the WRC without the need to produce a road-going variant. This meant reduced costs, as a world rally car could now be based around a 2WD production vehicle, although it did mean that the base car required much more significant modification to its chassis.

For 2011, the regulations were revised, again to reduce costs, requiring the use of smaller cars than the traditional C-segment vehicles that had been the mainstay of the championship for some twenty years.

At the front of the car, the suspension remains largely standard in its layout; though it is significantly modified to stand up to the rigours of the rough roads that make up the modern WRC. Body panels are modified to help allow for maximum wheel clearance and, under the bonnet, the engine can be moved from its factory position, though the amount that it can be moved is strictly limited. This gives several benefits, as it helps to improve the weight distribution of the car. With the engine mounted at the front, much of the overall weight is at the front of the car. Moving the engine, even slightly, will help to balance the car, improving handling.

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As you move rearwards, the modifications become much more significant, with much of the floor of the passenger compartment replaced to allow the fitment of the 4WD system. The central tunnel is removed and replaced with a custom fabricated item that is large enough for the prop shaft to pass through. The rear part of the floor that would normally be below the rear seats is also heavily modified, helping to accommodate the fuel tank and rear suspension, where the regulations are much less restrictive. The boot floor is another area that is replaced with a custom fabrication, giving clearance for the rear differential, whilst the rear suspension turrets are also replaced with custom sheet metal work to allow for dampers with increased travel to be fitted.

Roll Cage The next significant modification for the chassis is the fitment of the roll cage. Over the years this has developed significantly, from a single roll-over hoop that mounted behind the front seats, up to the complex systems that are seen in modern rally cars. In the past, the roll cage was fitted into a production road car that had been modified for rallying. Today, with so many modifications made to the structure of the car in order to convert it to 4WD, and the roll cage linking all the critical parts of the car together, the car is effectively constructed from sheet metal and tubes, with the cosmetic panels constructed around it. The 2011 regulation changes have restricted the construction of the car much more, requiring much more of the original sheet metal to be retained than in the older WRC cars of the early 21st century.

The roll cage itself is constructed using steel

tubes that are welded into the vehicle chassis.

The types of steel that have been used have evolved over the years, developing from mild steels, through to high strength types such as T45 and, more recently, Chrome Moly steels, which offer very high strength and good ductility, meaning that they can be formed into the required shapes, whilst being strong enough to withstand the heavy impacts that rally cars are at risk of. The design of the roll cage is critical and it should be constructed so that the energy of an impact is absorbed by the structure, protecting the occupants. The main safety cell is formed by the traditional roll hoop that runs behind the front seats, with additional structure running along the roof and down the A-pillars to the floor. From here, significant tubing is added to support this safety cell.

The approach is to create triangles where possible, as this offers the most stiffness, and gives the distinctive cross shapes that can be seen in the door apertures and the rear part of the roll cage.

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As well as maximising safety, an additional benefit of the roll cage is that it increases the stiffness of the chassis. Whilst a purpose-built race car can be designed for maximum stiffness from the outset, the basis of a rally car is a production vehicle that must be designed for easy passenger access and good visibility, meaning large window and door apertures.

These large open spaces cause a loss of stiffness, and the introduction of the roll cage can help to combat this lack of stiffness. If the chassis is not stiff enough, the suspension mountings are able to flex, which can mean the suspension geometry changes as the chassis is loaded. This can make the handling of the car unpredictable, which is the enemy of the rally driver, where there is already so much unpredictability due to the changes in road surface and weather conditions. In order to help prevent this, the suspension mountings are often integrated in to the roll cage structure, with tubes linking the main roll-over structure to the suspension mountings.

One area where significant development has occurred is in side impact protection. Like a road car, this is the most dangerous type of impact for

a rally car, as there is only a small distance between the door and the crew in which the impact can be absorbed. Over the years, the roll cage has changed a lot in this area. Early side impact protection comprised of a single tube running between the main hoop of the roll cage and the A-pillar tube. In order to bolster this, a second tube was added, but this has now developed further. The latest developments have seen the twin tube approach adapted so that instead of the second tube being cut and joined around to the first, both tubes are bent and welded together, reducing the chance of failure at the welded joint. In addition, the tubes have now been angled outwards into the door, rather than running straight across the door aperture. This is a significant step as, in the event of a side impact, rather than the load trying to simply bend the tubes, much of it is transmitted down the length of the tubes into the rest of the structure, making much better use of the stiffness. This is supplemented by energy absorbing foam fitted into the doors themselves. These tubes are often supplemented by additional gussets which are made from folded steel sheet and welded to critical parts of the roll cage and other parts of the shell to reinforce suspension mountings and areas that are susceptible to impact.

Rally-eMag / Tech Talk

Body and Aero The exterior modifications of a modern WRC car are striking to say the least, transforming the looks of the production hatchbacks on which they are based. The most obvious change is the width of the car, with large wheel arch extension fitted at the front and rear. These give much improved clearance for the wheels and tyres, which is necessary to allow the increased suspension travel for gravel events, whilst allowing the ride height to be dropped and 18� wheels to be fitted for tarmac events. On the older world rally cars, the new wings were often made from carbon fibre, as this offered a high level of strength as well as low weight. However, the 2011 regulations heavily restricted the use of expensive composite materials, and now only one layer of carbon or Kevlar may be used, with the rest of the panels made from glass fibre. This still offers low weight, but makes the panels much cheaper to produce.

The front bumper is significantly redesigned, with the large openings added to improve colling, both for the engine and the front brakes. It is also designed to increase aerodynamic performance.

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Apart from there performance enhancing properties, the body and aero kits also add to the excitement that the cars bring.

Whilst this is less important on gravel, where ground clearance is much higher, for tarmac events, the low front spoiler helps to create downforce and increase grip and traction. At the rear, a large rear wing is fitted to create further downforce, which is especially useful on gravel events, where traction can be severely limited.

Next time...

In the next instalment, we’ll look at the suspension, covering everything required to help a family hatchback meet the demands of some of the roughest roads in motorsport.

ERC: Jännerrallye / Overview 37/48

Jännerrallye

Based in: Freistadt Date: 04-06/01/2015 Number of stages: 18 Shortest stage: Arena Königswiesen 7.79 km Longest stage: Bad Zell - Tragwein - Aisttal – 21.10 km Total stage distance: 237.80 km Surface: Asphalt/Snow/Ice

ERC: J채nnerrallye / Review

2015 is go!

The 2015 rally season kicked off in traditional fashion with the running of the 32nd J채nnerrallye. As the rally is held high up in the Austrain Alps in the middle of winter one thing is guaranteed, snow will be aplenty!

Words: Steven van Veenendaal

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Images FIA ERC

ERC: Jännerrallye / Review 39/48

Craig Breen is one of the favourites to claim the ERC title this year. The Peugeot 208 T16 has a year under its belt and should be more reliable.

The man to watch this year, Stephane Lefebvre will have a very busy schedule this year competing in the ERC and WRC.

The Line-up Actually there were two Jännerrallyes this year as the event was split in a national- and European rally. Great for the entrants of course, as they got to pick the version that best suited their needs.

Not so great for the fans though, who would have loved to see local hero Raimund Baumschlager challenge Europe’s finest in a head-to-head battle. Instead Baumschlager competed in the national event, leaving 10th ranked Hermann Neubauer to defend Austrian honours in the European event.

rently developing the all-new R5 version of the Fabia and is likely to return to the series halfway through the season. One of the two Peugeot boys from last year, Kevin Abbring, is also not around anymore this year. The Dutchman opted to take his chances as a test driver for the Hyundai World Rally Team and is expected to make his WRC debut for the team later in the year. Finally, last year’s winner Robert Kubica was busy in another part of the Alps preparing for his assault on the WRC, starting with the Monte Carlo Rallye.

He would be facing stiff opposition, despite the departure of some familiar names. Reigning European Champion Esapekka Lappi did not take to the start in Austria. The Skoda team is cur-

So were does the opposition come from then?

First ranked is Craig Breen, the Irishman who has his eyes on the ERC title in 2015. He returns for a full season with the Peugeot Rally Academy

team, which also boasts Charles Martin and Diogo Gago although both will not be participating yet at the Jännerrallye. Breen was quick, though somewhat unfortunate last year and is eager to capitalize on his hard work this season. Right behind Breen on the starting list is Stephane Lefebvre. The young Frenchman is taking the rally world by storm at the moment as he clinched three main titles last year (ERC Junior, WRC-3 and Junior WRC) and is looking to expand his winning ways on the Austrian roads. Finally the far more experienced Kajetan Kajetanowicz returns as well. The Pole was in the ERC championship battle right till the end last season and is determined to take to glory this year. An interesting trio up front then, with a combination of youthful eagerness, and experienced determination.

ERC: Jännerrallye / Review

We’re off!

Unfortunately for Craig Breen, that is quite literal. With snow falling and temperatures around 0 degrees, conditions were very unfriendly on the opening stage of the rally and Breen suffered immediately. He went off the road about five kilometers before the finish of the first stage and got stuck in a trench. With no way of getting back on the stage, this brought an abrupt and disappointing end to Breen’s hopes of success.

Right behind Breen, Stephane Lefebvre fared a little better, but he too was caught out. The young French ace spun his car in the stage and picked up a large amount of snow, blocking his radiator. Lefebvre and co-driver Stephane Prevot had to stop in the stage to clear some of

the snow to prevent the car from overheating, but were able to continue. They lost a minute though, not the best of starts either. The main difficulty of the stage was that there was ice beneath the snow, invisible to the crews due tot the snow on top! While everyone was struggling and complaining about the difficulty of just keeping the car on the road, one man was embracing the moment. “Unbelievably difficult stage with a lot of soft snow. It was fun but difficult.” Said Kajetan Kajetanowicz who set the fastest time.

Robert Consani was enjoying himself out there too and very happy about his tyre performance.

He set the second fastest time, just six seconds behind Kajetanowicz. The gaps grew larger very quickly further down the leaderboard. Third placed Tarabus was already one and a half min-

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While others fell to the treacherous conditions, Kajetanowicz stayed out of trouble and was able to ‘cruise’ to victory.

ute behind Kajetanowicz and Fischerlehner in fourth gave up two minutes.

With Breen out and Lefebvre nearly four minutes behind, Kajetanowicz had already almost won the event. Now just to survive seventeen more stages of these grueling conditions… Kajetanowicz decided that rather merely driving to survive, it would be better to keep the accelerator pressed down hard and keep up the pace.

Driving hard is usually better for the focus, than driving too carefully. As a result he stunned the opposition and won all three stages of the opening loop, his lead growing to half a minute in the process.

A solid drive saw Consani claim an excellent second place.

ERC: Jännerrallye / Review

Just cruising With his main rivals out of contention so early one, Kajetanowicz found himself in the situation of being able to cruise to victory, from stage two onwards. Of course Consani wasn’t too far behind, but the Frenchman is using a somewhat outdated Peugeot 207 S2000 and hasn’t yet shown the ability to really fight for top honours.

Although the conditions made it very tricky indeed, Kajetanowicz could eventually cruise home safely to take his first win of the season. Mind you, he won all but one of the stages despite Breen running the second day under Rally 2 rules and Lefebvre trying to claw his way back up the leaderboard, so he wasn’t exactly taking it easy.

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Clawing back Behind Kajetanowicz there was enough excitement to follow. Another one to fall victim to the conditions on the opening stage was Alexey Lukyanuk. The young Russian who saw limited, but very impressive outings last year in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X has a Ford Fiesta R5 to play with this year. He suffered overheating issues on the opening stage and had to stop for some time to let the car cool down. This dropped him down the leaderboard but throughout the event he showed his true potential by consistently setting second-fastest stage times. All the more impressive given that the car is entirely new to him and conditions was far from easy.

By stage 4 he had already overtaken Lefebvre and Fischerlehner to take fourth, but was still nearly three minutes behind third placed Tarabus. By the end of the day that gap was down to one minute.

Warm shoes At the start of the second and final day Lukyanuk looked ready to continue his performance and make quick work of Tarabus for third. However, a somewhat odd problem hindered him in his progress. “I am very frustrated because I forgot to take off my warm shoes before the stage and had to do the stage in them instead of my racing shoes!” Tarabus capitalized immediately and took back some seconds.

From then on though, Lukyanuk started nibbling away at Tarabus’ lead again on every single stage, although he was not yet fully comfortable in the car “I am not ready yet to push in this car to catch Tarabus. We are pleased but now it is about luck and fate.” Whatever it was, it was enough as Lukyanuk pipped Tarabus to third on the very last stage of the rally!

Lukyanuk made a succesful switch from the group N Mitsubishi Lancer to a full blown R5 car this year.

Despite a good drive Tarabus was robbed of the podium on the final stage of the rally.

ERC: J채nnerrallye / Results 42/48

Final results

1. Kajetanowicz-Baran 2. Consani-Vilmot 3. Lukyanuk-Chervanenko 4. Tarabus-Trunkat 5. Fischerlehner-Unterweger 6. Hirschi-Landais 7. Tlustak-Kocera 8. Stajf-Rajnoha 9. Botka-Mihalik 10. Raoux-Escartefigue

Ford Fiesta R5 Peugeot 207 S2000 Ford Fiesta R5 Skoda Fabia S2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Peugeot 208 T16 Skoda Fabia S2000 Subaru Imprexa WRX Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Ford Fiesta R5

2:50:52.6 +7.07,4 +8.28,1 +8.48,8 +22.38,6 +27.26,9 +27.29,6 +28.18,6 +30.38,5 +35,00,5

ERC: J채nnerrallye / Standings 43/48

Championship standings 1. Kajetanowicz 2. Consani 3. Lukyanuk 4. Tarabus 5. Fischerlehner 6. Hirschi 7. Tlustak 8. Stajf 9. Breen 10. Botka

Ford Fiesta R5 Peugeot 207 S2000 Ford Fiesta R5 Skoda Fabia S2000 Mitsubishi Lancer E. IX Peugeot 208 T16 Skoda Fabia S2000 Subaru Impreza WRX Peugeot 208 T16 Mitsubishi Lancer E. IX

39 pts 28 pts 25 pts 22 pts 14 pts 8 pts 8 pts 4 pts 3 pts 2 pts

Rally-eMag / Feature 45/48

Autosport international The annual Autosport International show is a great way for motorsport enthusiasts to kick off the year.

Packed with the newest racing and rallying cars but also with a few blasts from the pasts there is something for everyone. Don’t believe us? Feast your eyes on a small sample down below.

Images: Andy Crayford - Crayfordmedia.com

Rally-eMag / ForMyFriends

Formyfriends The WRC is all action, but there is so much more to see around the rallies.

Our photographer Bas Romeny shares his ‘other shots’ with his friends.

Pfff... I think I’m in the wrong place here...

How the TV and I look at Ogier In the years, I made thousands of pics of Loeb, but I have never seen this expression of him.

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Oja, kids taking pics, super

And this one is more interested in me than in the action...

Hmmm suspicious?

Four flashes in one picture... I am glad I have sharp pictures as well

Nicely stitched doc

No kiss please Jost!

Can you park my car please?

Just in time I protected my lens from the sticky spray

Hot and sweaty after walking up to the palace. Too hot with my jackets.

see you next time...