Rally-eMag 040 November 2016

four for four Unstoppable ogier racks up titles

Corsica Issue 40, November 2016

Behind the scenes

vw exit

across the pond lake superior performance rally

wolfsburg out / wales rally gb wrc / Rally isle of man brc

WRC TV

Spain

mee

ke-n

#da tvie agl e,

cor

sica

w

Image: Erik van ‘t Land

in a p s , r e d l o tanak-m

g n i t n u h e #edg

Image: Erik van ‘t Land

kopecky-dresler, spain

#crowdpleaser

Image: Erik van ‘t Land

ogier-ingrassia, wales

#champs

Image: Erik van ‘t Land

Rally-eMag November 2016 / Contents

This month Who made it?

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

Photography: Erik van’t Land, Andy Crayford, Harry van Veenendaal, Steven van Veenendaal, PR.

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, Red Bull Media Pool.

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 Corsica, spain, gb

feature vw exits the wrc

feature wrc tv

BRC Rally isle of man

Rally america Lake superior

Season winding down

Wolfsburg out.

Behind the scenes of live tv

The three Manketeers

This isn’t your typical colour tour

Page 8

Page 40

Page 46

Page 50

Page 54

Tour de Corse / Review

Che Guevara Energy Drink tour de corse

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based in: Bastia Date: 29/9-2/10/16 number of stages: 10 Shortest stage: Porto vecchio-Palombaggia 10 km longest stage: antisanti-poggio di nazza 53,78 km total stage distance: 391 km Surface: Tarmac

Tour de Corse / Review

Ogier/Ingrassia in a league of their own Since the Tour de Corse is back on the WRC calendar, Sebastien Ogier has not won on the island.

So apart from the fact that he always wants to win, he was extra motivated to take victory here. No surprise then that he was the absolute favourite to win on the Island of Beauty. But the competition was always keen to beat the current champion and possibly to de lay a future championship. But can an Ogier without the burden of road sweeping be beaten?

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Erik van ‘t Land

Tour de Corse / Review

Filling up the gap Though, to put it mildly, the teams were not excited by the cancelation of Rally China, it did give them some extra time to prepare for next year’s cars. Of course most of the drivers were also involved in these tests but in general you can say they prefer to compete rather than to busy themselves with testing. So they were happy to be back in Corsica for some competition. Mads Østberg is not involved in testing duties for the M-Sport Fiësta 2017 so during the weekend, originally intended for the Rally China, he went to Germany to compete in the German championship qualifier Rallye Niedersachsen in his struggle to get some extra asphalt experience. He drove the Fiësta R5 of the Adapta team, the same car that should have been

in China for the WRC debut of Chinese driver Ma Qing Hua. In the German Championship Mads wouldn’t do bad as he finished the rally as a runner up some 30 seconds behind Fabian Kreim in his Skoda Fabia R5 and 18 seconds in front of Christian Riedemann in the Peugeot 208 T16 R5.

In an attempt to maximize his chances on an official 2017 Citroën seat, Craig Breen also tried to get himself some extra asphalt experience. He went to the last BRC round, the Rally Isle of Man in a DS3 R5. Unfortunately he was sidelined early by an engine problem.

It did not bother the Irishman too much as he has ample experience on rough asphalt stages. Still his drive in Corsica will be his asphalt debut in a World Rally Car.

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Marathon Route In comparison to last year the 2016 route had drastically been changed. Rally HQ was moved to Bastia in the northeast, with the service park just south of Bastia airport. The first leg takes the drivers all the way to the west for four stages in the vicinity of Ajaccio. On day two they stay somewhat nearer to Bastia. On Sunday the competitors follow the east coast. On the

way south they first have to tackle the longest (53,78 km) stage of the rally, before reaching the final PowerStage eat Porto Vecchio all the way to the south. Five stages are about fifty kilometres. With the exception of the PowerStage the others are around thirty kilometres.

This adds up to just under 400 kilometres making Corsica the second longest WRC rally after Mexico.

Ostberg got into the car with a new tarmac strategy in mind.

Neuville clips a corner on the way to a good result.

Sunny start On Friday quite contrary to last year’s event, the sun was shining and temperatures were summery.

On the menu were four stages for which the drivers had to cross the island all the way to the west. So there were only few stages, but they were quite long, the total distance being almost 160 kilometres.

For Sebastien Ogier, just like the other drivers, it had been an early morning. But he proved to be wideawake as after almost 50 kilometres on the first stage he was leading the rally. Meeke however did not give in much as he stopped the clock some 4 seconds later. Sordo was only marginally slower losing 0.8 seconds. Ogier simply continued by scoring scratches and consequently was leading the rally by

the end of Friday. Meeke and Sordo by then had lost some time as they both suffered a puncture. Neuville was in ‘full attack mode’ and took second place. The gap however had grown considerably to 44 seconds. The most heard of complaint was brake related. The relatively high ambient temperatures linked to the length of the stages caused a lot of brakes to overheat. Mads Østberg for example was trying desperately to come to grips with his newly acquired asphalt driving style but wasn’t happy. “I don’t feel comfortable, as I’m doing something I have never done before. We’ll just have to wait and see if in the end the new style will bear fruit. But in the course of the day brake pressure dropped to almost zero. Not a very safe feeling if you’re racing down a narrow mountain road.

Concerns for Latvala For Jari-Matti Latvala Corsica had an extra challenge as he had to be extra cautious with his gearbox because he can’t use a spare one. Under FIA regulations only two gearboxes had been allocated for Germany and Corsica. In Germany he broke one of the two gearboxes, and had to fit the spare one. The reason why the gearbox broke however is not

clear. This can only be determined if the gearbox is opened in the workshop. That would mean the seal would be broken. And that is not allowed according to the same rules. So now the Finn had to drive with only one gearbox, while he doesn’t know what broke the first one, so the same problem could rise again, but luckily his gearbox worked properly in Corsica.

On Saturday morning Kris Meeke beat Ogier. The following two stages the Frenchman continued doing what he had been doing on Friday, winning stages. The margins were smaller and at the end of the day he had to bow his head for a charging Neuville. After almost 162 kilometres of competitive stages the gap between himself and Neuville had grown by some 2 seconds. So you could say Ogier was controlling his result.

Though that would not be entirely fair to Neuville who seems to have acquired the right feeling again.

One opponent had left the stage.

Kris Meeke went off due to a faulty pace note. “It’s entirely my mistake, Northern Irishman said. “I put down the note too fast. When I went into that bend it was way longer than anticipated, so I simply couldn’t keep the car on the road. A stupid mistake, but that can happen.” In the afternoon it started to rain first a drizzle but later the rain became quite heavy.

One of the victims was Craig Breen. “Starting quite far back in the running order counted against me,” Breene explained. “Because the rain just got heavier and heavier.” But the Irishman recovered quickly as he posted third fastest time on the next stage. “All in

all, it’s been a positive day”. He said later. He final day included the longest stage of the rally as well as the PowerStage. Meeke was fastest on both stages and consequently won the full 3 points for a PowerStage win. Ogier kept his nerve and didn’t go for PowerStage glory. He was ‘just’ third on that stage. It earned him one extra point but his overall win was more important to him. It won him another 25 points, bringing his fourth championship a little bit closer again.

Top to bottom: A solid performance was rewarded with second for Neuville.

For the first time Ogier won the French round of the championship on Corsica.

A special moment for the Frenchman, who considers this the ‘real’ Rallye de France.

Craig Breen made his tarmac debut in the Citroen DS3 WRC and brought the car home in fifth.

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Volkswagen Motorsport

Corsica was a special rally for Sven Smeets because it was his first rally as the team principal. Sebastien Ogier of course wanted to hand him victory for this occasion, but more important to him was the fact he hadn’t won here before. And especially if your name is Ogier you want to add every rally to your CV. Jari-Matti Latvala, having won here last year was also quite optimistic about his chances. Andreas Mikkelsen had only one aim and that was to keep the gap between him and Ogier as small as possible, to keep his virtual chances for the championship

alive. All ingredients for a successful weekend were there. That being true you do have to deliver and the team did. Ogier was in a league of his own. Latvala wasn’t happy with his performance: “In terms of set-up, we went in a direction that didn’t work,” he explained. “But we will be back in Spain!”

Mikkelsen was happy with his podium finish “it feels like an eternity since the last one in Poland”. His PowerStage result boosted his chances for second in the championship as he kept a 15 points margin to Neuville.

It’s still a mystery who will be Hyundai’s third driver next year. Sordo and Paddon having been confirmed, the logical choice seems to be Neuville. But the Belgian is staying taciturn about his idea’s for next year. Team management is smiling friendly if you ask them about next year’s driver’s line up. “We will tell you when we know,” Michel Nandan told us. Neuville’s result in Corsica is important in two ways. First of all Neuville knows the car has potential. Secondly the team knows Neuville is back on track. Both things have been questions this year. Neuville won-

Hyundai Motorsport

dering if the car was what he really wanted, Tem management whether Neuville was still the boy wonder they thought he would be. At Citroën they are convinced of the Belgian’s capabilities not making it a secret they want him. We expect the answer to the question to come shortly. Tarmac master Sordo lost any chance of a podium finish when he got a puncture. He finished seventh. “A really frustrating weekend for us,” he commented.

Hayden Paddon ended in sixth place. I’d say we’ve made a step in the right direction. That gives us confidence for Spain.”

M-Sport World Rally Team

Being from France Eric Camilli is more or less on home ground in Corsica.

Though he recently told us that tarmac is not necessarily is favourite surface, on Corsica he showed his natural ability to go fast on the sealed surface. However his main focus was on going fast ánd finish the rally in one piece. It’s clear his pace is there looking at the splits of for example stage 5 where he was very close to Ogier, but again for him it was more important to finish the rally unscathed and in this respect he delivered.

He scored an eighth position in front of teammate

Mads Østberg. The gap with rallywinner Ogier was however quite considerable with almost five minutes. Mads Østberg was as we already said busy implementing a new improved driving style on asphalt. Also due to a glitch in his braking system, his new driving style did not deliver yet. So let’s hope that in Spain he will improve.

In WRC2 the Cumbrian outfit was moe successful.

Efyn Evans clearly was the best. He made good use of his asphalt experience and finished over half a minute ahead of Jan Kopecky.

Kris Meeke already has a contract for 2017 so he did not have to proof very much anymore. But Kris Meeke being Kris Meeke he of course did not cruise to the finish. Unfortunately a puncture threw him two minutes down the leader board and so his chances for a podium finish had evaporated. An off, caused by a faulty pace note, threw him even further back on the next day. But on the final day he delivered again by a scratch on the penultimate stage. Victory on the PowerStage was the consolation for th earlier mishaps. Craig Breen showed

his current form again he really competed with the best and showed his capabilities on asphalt. His fifth place was a reflection of that. The big question is will it be enough? Will he get the 2017 Citroën seat? Looking at it from a distance his chances seem better than the ones of Stéphane Lefebvre his big opponent in the 2017 seat race. The Frenchman however is still recovering form his big Germany crash and cannot show his value yet. The question is if at Citroën they can live with two drivers from the British Isles?

Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Overall final classification 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Ogier-Ingrassia Neuville-Gilsoul Mikkelsen-Jaeger Latvala-Anttila Breen-Martin Paddon-Kennard Sordo-Marti Camilli-Veillas Østberg-Floene Tanak-Molder

VW Polo WRC Hyundai i20 WRC VW Polo WRC VW Polo WRC Citroën DS 3 WRC Hyundai i20 WRC Ford Fiësta WRC Ford Fiësta WRC Ford Fiësta WRC Ford Fiësta WRC

4:07:17.0 +46.4 +1:10.0 +1:35.6 +2:18.6 +2:36.1 +3:06.9 +4:53.9 +5:37.7 +6:26.6

Tour de Corse / Standings

2016 FIA WRC Drivers’ Standings 1.

Sebastien Ogier 195 2.

Andreas Mikkelsen 127 3.

Thierry Neuville 112 4.

Hayden Paddon 102 5.

Jari-Matti Latvala 101 6.

Dani Sordo 92 7.

Mads Østberg 80 8.

Kris Meeke 54 9.

Ott Tanak 53 10. Craig Breen 35

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2016 FIA WRC Manufacturers’ Standings 1.

Volkswagen Motorsport 2.

Hyundai Motorsport 3.

Volkswagen Motorsport II 4.

M-Sport World Rally Team 5.

Hyundai Motorsport N 6.

DMack World Rally Team

293 227 136 132 106 66

order the 2017 calendar now! action pictures of the wrc teams driving all over the world!

For â‚Ź15 (ex. shipping order now at info@rallypicture.nl

Rally de España / Review

RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España

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based in: salou Date: 13-16/10/16 number of stages: 19 Shortest stage: Barcelona 3.2 km longest stage: terra alta 38,95 km total stage distance: 322 km Surface: mixed

Rally de EspaĂąa / Review

Title within reach Master Ogier could earn his fourth title in a row in Spain. In 10 events (after the cancelation of Rally China), so before Spain only three rallies were left to accumulate 16 points that would bring him a new title. Only few people believed he would not make it in Spain already. A second place would be enough even if Mikkelsen would win. But somewhere at the back of his neck a small thing must have been nagging him: Last year he went off during the Spanish PowerStage, handing victory to Andreas Mikkelsen.

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Erik van ‘t Land

Rally de España / Review

Mr Cool Ogier was not excited before the race: “It was good we won in Corsica,” he said before the start. “It makes the job here a bit easier. Whether we pick up the title here we’ll have to wait and see”.

The opposition Some people were definitely not prepared to just let that happen.

They all had different motives but they all wanted to win and eager to make use of even the tiniest mistake of the reigning champion and thus delay the inevitable moment he would be the next champion. In this group we first of all see Andreas Mikkelsen one of the few who still had a mathematical chance to this next champion. Also this Norwegian will still remember 2015, when he won his first rally, here in Spain after a rare Ogier mis-

take. But then there is Dani Sordo.

Four times he’s been second in his home event but he never won.

While team orders prevented him from winning the rally earlier he is now free and only has to rely on his own pace in the event he likes so much. Thierry Neuville still remembers Germany where the Spaniard was just a bit faster so he knows he can equal his teammate.

Also he would like to celebrate his new Hyundai contract binding him another two years to the Korean manufacturer. All in all a scenario for a thrilling event.

Autumn in Spain Drivers, fans and other WRC people, are always looking forward to going to Spain to enjoy the last bit of European summer.

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Mixed feelings Spain is the only mixed surface rally on the calendar. On Friday the teams start on (sometimes very dusty) gravel, on the other days they have to tackle asphalt stages, often referred to as circuit stages due to the usually very smooth tarmac. So on Friday night the mechanics face a major operation changing the cars to tarmac specs overnight. On Thursday the first special stage is in Barcelona

again. All competitors have to drive drove for over an hour to the Catalan capital some 100 kilometres from Rally HQ. Though the stage is on tarmac, all cars were on full gravel settings, because of Friday’s gravel stages. But the thousands of enthusiastic and cheering fans that defied the rain gathering around the stage made up for this minor inconvenience for the competitors.

Dani Sordo fought for victory on his home event.

Expecting a bit of post-summer sun? Not this year, conditions were “Wales-like”.

In the days before this year’s event visitors found something else and reported “Wales circumstances” due to the autumnal weather conditions in the Spanish seaside resort.

These conditions lasted until Saturday morning when the sun was right where it should be: shining brightly in a cloudless blue sky. But until then it had been raining most of the time.

Friday evening at some points heavy showers changed the stage one asphalt roads in the Montjuïc region of Barcelona from a former F1 track into a powerboat track, with aquaplaning cars Though this provided nice pictures of glistening streets, fans had hoped for more favourable spectating conditions. Still they kept on cheering. Being the first starter Lorenzo Bertelli was one of the fastest men around but Ott Tänak, also an

early starter, defied the relatively lack of tarmac competitiveness of his tyres as well as ‘something strange in the rear diff’ and was fastest on the stage.

By the time Dani Sordo reached the finish of the stage the rain was pouring down and his wipers were working full blast. Thierry Neuville who was seventh fastest, best summarized the rest of the stage: “That was hell,” he said. “It’s pouring with rain and getting worse and worse. I aquaplaned near the start but managed to do a clean stage. I couldn’t do much more in these conditions.”

Ploughing through the mud.

The last few years drivers have been complaining with hanging dust in the Friday stages. In 2016 they did not have to complain as the constant rain had transformed the dusty roads into mud tracks.

Rebuilding a rallycar in 75 minutes In Spain the drivers have to adapt to asphalt driving overnight. But they would not be able to do so without a major operation by the service crew: the changing of a high on its wheels gravel car to a low centre of gravity circuit racer.

The Volkswagen engineers who have to perform this task explained it: “We have to replace 1,348 components in 13 modules. We first fit

new front and rear axles. These are some of the most important components that give the chassis an asphalt set-up. Then we equip the car with different brake discs and pads, to finish the asphalt settings we add new spring/damper units.

But who’s complaining? They gave us 75 in stead of the usual 45 minutes to complete this job!”

Sordo unleashed, Ogier in pursuit Rain, pouring down steadily, was the order of the morning. Everyone complained about standing water, no grip and aquaplaning.

During the stop at the tyre fitting zone (today there was no midday service) the weather started to improve, but the stages were still soaking wet. Ogier then was the proud leader of the pack.

As there was no dust to clear he had a slight advantage over later starters. But Neuville Latvala, Sordo and Mikkelsen were still in hot pursuit. By then Meeke had lost any chance to fight for victory as he rolled his car in the morning loop. No real harm done but he lost over 40 seconds. In the afternoon Sordo pushed the pedal to the metal and won two of the three stages. This together with second place on the other stage brought him a 17 second lead in the rally over Ogier.

On Saturday it was very much an Ogier vs Sordo battle. Sordo survived until one stage after the midday stop and then had to let Ogier go. At the end of the day Ogier was leading the Spaniard by 5.8 seconds. Casualties of the

day were Mikkelsen and Breen.

Mikkelsen rolled his car out of the rally and Breen first lost one front drive shaft and later had to remove the other one as well.

So with only rear wheel drive he lost a lot of time. “It’s good I have much experience in old Escorts�, he chuckled. On Sunday morning Ogier found some extra speed and though team mate Latvala beat him three out of four times on the final stages. But his victory was never threatened. He won the rally, was second on the PowerStage, more than enough to secure his fourth world title in a row.

Top to bottom: Despite his experience in running old Escorts, Breen fell behind when he was forced to run with rear wheel-drive only.

Four in a row for the champ.

Sordo emerged as the leader after the muddy gravel stages and had a fighting chance to take victory. In the end though, it was of course Ogier who would take home the gold.

Volkswagen Motorsport

Sven Smeets is of to a flying start. In Corsica the team won their first victory under his reign. Spain brought him his first (driver’s) championship and in Wales he could get the manufacturers title. For Ogier it had been a difficult year. The opposition was growing faster and the despised starting order rules did not help either. But since we left the gravel stages he is back on track again.

But at the end of the Spanish PowerStage co-driver Julien Ingrassia seemed to be more delighted with this 4th championship.

But soon Sebastien Ogier had a bright smile

too and with good reason. He now is in the runner up group of people having four titles.

Tommi Mäkinen also won four titles in a row.

Juha Kankkunen also has four titles but he didn’t earn them in a row. Sebastien Loeb however is still in a league of his own as he was champion from 2004-2012 so nine in a row! Both Mikkelsen and Latvala had their problems. The Norwegian retired from the event on Saturday after a high speed off.

Latvala had an off earlier but came back with especially good results on Sunday.

At Hyundai things seem to be clear now.

Paddon and Sordo had already been confirmed but now Neuville also signed a contract binding him to the team for another two years. For Kevin Abbring this might not be the best kind of news as his chances of getting more WRC drives next year are getting slim. “We still would like to continue with him as a test driver,” said team manager Nandan. “There is still plenty of work to do next year.” But there was no promise for some competitive drives in 2017. In Spain the team did very well. Dani Sordo was re-

Hyundai Motorsport

ally in contention even on the muddy gravel stages. However a determined Ogier is not an easy target. To finally surrender to such an opponent is not a shame. Furthermore second, third, fourth and seventh spot for Thierry Neuville, Hayden Paddon and Kevin Abbring was a good result for the team.

Team principal Michel Nandan agreed: “Of course we would have liked it if Dani’s excellent drive had materialized into a home win. But it just wasn’t to be. Still we can take home many positive lessons y from this rally to make improvements for the future”.

M-Sport World Rally Team

At M-Sport Mads Østberg is continuing his programme of improving his asphalt pace. It’s always good to try something new if you conclude your driving style (in this case on tarmac) is not bringing the good times to be in the top. Obviously this doesn’t happen overnight.

But in Spain the Norwegian’s work seemed to pay dividend. His times were improving and (perhaps more important in this stage of the process) he began to feel more confident with his smoother lines and more precise style. Looking from this point of view his result (5) wasn’t bad. He had anticipated more because of

the usually sandy stages on day one. The rain changed his plans and instead of a good starting position he had, like many others, to adapt to the new situation.

The same applies to Eric Camilli. He used Friday to find the confidence in these, for him, completely new circumstances. On Saturday he started well on asphalt when a gearbox problem stopped him. The replacement could only be his gravel box with unsuited gear ratio’s. Still his times improved on the second passing of Sunday’s stages. So Spain was all about learning for the team.

At Citroën decisions have been made. The driver’s line up for 2017 will be Kris Meeke, Craig Breen and Stéphane Lefebvre. They will start the season with two cars. In the second car either Breen or Lefebvre will drive. But as soon as a third car is ready all three drivers will compete. At some occasions Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi will also compete in the new team. So just before Spain the tension was taken out of the ‘silly season’. Neuville will not join Citroën. In Spain we found Kris Meeke and Craig Breen who wanted to build further on ear-

lier successes. Both drivers made the usual impression but were side-lined by several mishaps. Already on stage 2, Kris Meeke threw himself out of contention by rolling his car. With the help of Rally2 he posted some good times but on Sunday he had to retire with electronic glitches. Craig Breen had to resort to his experience with Ford Escorts as his car lost front wheel drive.

It began by a broken drive shaft but underway the crew had to remove the other one too. A flight of good times brought them back in the top ten.

Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Overall final classification 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Ogier-Ingrassia Sordo-Martí Neuville-Gilsoul Paddon-Kennard Ostberg-Fløene Tanak-Mölder Abbring-Marshall Kopecky-Dresler Tidemand-Andersson Breen-Martin

VW Polo WRC Hyundai i20 WRC Hyundai i20 WRC Hyundai i20 WRC Ford Fiësta WRC Ford Fiësta WRC Hyundai i20 WRC Skoda Fabia R5 Skoda Fabia R5 Citroën DS3 WRC

3:13:03.6 +15.6 +1:15.0 +1:27.8 +3:24.4 +5:24.9 +7:31.3 +9:05.1 +9:20.4 +9:57.1

Rally de España / Standings 29/62

2016 FIA WRC Drivers’ Standings 1.

Sebastien Ogier 222 2.

Andreas Mikkelsen 127 3.

Thierry Neuville 127 4.

Hayden Paddon 114 5.

Daniel Sordo 111 6.

Jari-Matti Latvala 104 7.

Mads Ostberg 90 8.

Ott Tanak 61 9.

Kris Meeke 54 10. Craig Breen 36

2016 FIA WRC Manufacturers’ Standings 1.

Volkswagen Motorsport 2.

Hyundai Motorsport 3.

M-Sport World Rally Team 4.

Volkswagen Motorsport II 5.

Hyundai Motorsport N 6.

Dmack World Rally Team

322 260 144 136 124 74

Wales Rally GB / Review

wales rally gb

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based in: Deeside Date: 27-30/10/16 number of stages: 22 Shortest stage: Cholmondeley Castle 1.8 km longest stage: hafren 35,38 km total stage distance: 333 km Surface: Gravel

Wales Rally GB / Review

dust in wales?

Wales Rallyg GB is the WRC’s mudwrestling contest. Rain, mist and sometimes even snow always guarantee wet and muddy stages.

Temperatures are usually not of the Mediterranean holiday island kind either. The hardship of of spectating in these conditions is an important ingredient for the event’s attractions.

Rallying is not for the faint of hearted so thos bonkers enough to be actual rally fans, tend enjoy the challenge of trotting through the mud while getting wet and cold. However this year’s weather forecast showed a different picture with relatively high temperatures and very little rain predicted. Luckily nothing is more unpredictable then Welsh weather, so in the end we could enjoy the mud and rain though during shakedown we actually found some dust on our cameras!

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

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Images: Erik van ‘t Land

Wales Rally GB / Review

Traditionally Wales Rally GB is the final round of the WRC season.

But this year (and in some years to come) this honour was reserved for Rally Australia. And with the major championship decided already is there still something to look forward to? Most definitely yes! No disrespect to other events, but Wales Rally GB is one of the highlights of the season. It’s a mixture of a lot of things. Among them the weather conditions, the atmosphere and the scenery. Apart from that, good battles could be anticipated for the manufacturer’s championship and for the runner up position in the driver’s standings. So we crossed the channel and were rewarded with a great rally that had everything in it a WRC event should have. There are some remarks to be made about

the rally’s itinerary though and the timing in particular.

The time schedule Getting up early is a standard feature in rallying but in Wales they take it to a whole different level. On Friday and Saturday the drivers are expected to start around 05:30 while on Sunday they can stay in bed for two more hours (three if you count day light saving time).

On Friday that is not the problem as there are many stages and the last one starts around 5:00 p.m.

With a promotional visit to Chester before going to the Deeside Service park. On Saturday however the last proper stage starts just before 02:00 pm (!) before the drivers head to the Cholmondeley Castle ‘family spectator’ stage.

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British Marshals: possibly the best in the world!

Marshalls are an interesting topic.

They have an important job to ensure the safety of crews and spectators. As many spectators care less about safety than getting close to the action disputes with the marshalls are never far away. In Wales we always have the feeling British marshals are different. Their most important feature is knowing (and loving) their rallying. It’s not a matter of simply following the literal translation of the regulations. Regula-

tions are necessary and important but always apply to general situations. British marshals interpret the rules. So two hours before the start they allow you to cross the stage.

But once they told you the stage is officially closed, they stop you no matter what. Not by just shouting but by explaining why a certain section is off limits or a road can’t be crossed. And a little explanation goes a long way to undertanding and obliging to the rules.

The main battle still to fight in the WRC is that for second between Andreas Mikkelsen and Thierry Neuville.

A tough rally for Kevin Abbring at the i20 R5’s gravel debut.

This however doesn’t really add to the competitive mileage as it’s just 1.8 miles! We understand the necessity of promotional stages. But imagine you’re purchased a World Rally Pass at nearly a hundred pounds. The three initial stages are repeated so you can see two of them. (Although the first one, Pantperthog, is officially not accessible for spectators). With good planning and skipping the backmarkers you might make it to the Aberhirnant stage but the ride to Cholmondeley Castle then would be impossible. On day one it’s a bit better but here too distances and travel time make it difficult to see more than two (max three) stages. Sure the action is great, but is so little action really good value for money? We were not surprised by the relative lack of spectators. A Rallyfest like in Cholmondeley

Castle is a good thing but for the hard-core rally fan there is enough to enjoy in the epic Welsh stages. So it would be nice if the organizers took in consideration their paying spectators too when drawing up the schedule.

A lot at stake Though the drivers’ championship had been decided already, there was still a lot at stake. Most important thing was the constructors’ championship.

Right from the start of the rally Ogier therefore took the lead. Though the weather had been friendly especially if you compare it to other editions of this event, the start of the rally was hampered by typical Welsh weather.

Overnight rain had soaked the stages and a thick fog impeded visibility.

The first victim was Dutchman Kevin Abbring who had a sudden puncture and slid off the road.

eSports WRC finale in Wales While Sebastien Ogier was in the Snowdonia National Park trying to secure Volkswagen’s 4th Manufacturers’ title, a completely different battle took place in the Rally Wales GB service park. A special venue had been built here to accommodate 18 finalists coming from all over the world for the final round of the first eSports WRC competition using the WRC 5 Computer game.

They competed on six virtual stag-

es of Rally GB. Eventually three players emerged on top for the final showdown for the very first eSports WRC trophy. ATTaX Johnson (Germany), TX3 Yggrasil (France) and GTPL_Kolsa2 (Poland) gave it all but Johnson finally won the challenge and was presented the trophy by Oliver Ciesla managing director of WRC Promoter.

Johnson also won a brand new Hyundai i20 worth 20.000 Euro’s

Ogier did not seem to be bothered by this all. On the first pass of Myherin he was some 8 seconds faster than Tänak, Paddon and Breen. On Hafren and Dyfnant Tänak found some extra speed and won both stages, but Ogier was wide-awake and came back to win the remaining three stages.

By then Mikkelsen and Latvala already had fallen back considerably due to broken drive shafts.

Craig Breen rolled on Myherin 2 and his rally was over. Ogier reigned and led the rally, with all the challengers at more than half a minute.

Tänak attack Ott Tänak attacked strongly on Saturday and won some stages.

But when the distance between him and Ogier had shrunk to some 25 seconds, Ogier released the emergency brake and came back. The balance of the day was that the Frenchman lost some three seconds and was still leading by a comfortable margin of just more than half a minute.

Tänak attack Again it was Tänak who did not give in. he won all of the remaining stages on Sunday. However Ogier had been calculating all day and never allowed him to come too close. In the end the reigning and future World Champion won

the rally. He finished ten seconds earlier than Tänak who proved he is definitely a driver to watch carefully next year. Ogier’s result was good enough to clinch the fourth consecutive manufacturers title.

Third place in both PowerStage and final results brought Neuville some extra points that make him second in the driver’s standings.

His 14 points lead however is not enough to secure the runner up position before the end of the 2016 season. Mikkelsen is closest, but Paddon and Sordo could, mathematically still steal his position, so plenty to look forward to in Australia.

After Wales Rally GB Thierry Neuville holds second in the championship with Mikkelsen (centre) leading the chasing pack. He himself though is still under attack from the other Hyundais of Sordo (top) and Paddon (bottom).

Plenty still to play for in the upcoming final event in Australia.

Volkswagen Motorsport

The VW team did what they came for. In a real champion-like manner Ogier calculated himself to victory. So VW was champion again. However this did not come without some uncertainty. Both Mikkelsen and Latvala were seriously slowed by broken drive shafts. On Friday Ogier too heard some disquieting noises in his transmission, so rather than going maximum attack he chose a more conservative transmission preserving style but he was happy to reach the servicepark at the end of day one. “They were just noises,” Ogier said. “The transmission was working properly. But the kind of

noises it produced made clear it wouldn’t last very much longer, so I was really happy to be back in service on Friday night.

It wasn’t Mikkelsen’s nor Latvala’s rally.

Their transmission problems threw them back so far that the real inspiration wasn’t there anymore. Latvala ended in the points, but it was a small consolation. Only days later it was clear a persisting rumour we heard in Wales, unfortunately proved to be true. The fourth Volkswagen title they earned in Wales will not be followed by a fifth title as after Rally Australia Volkswagen will leave the World Rally Championship.

For the Korean team one goal they had before Wales Rally GB was achieved. The cumulative result in Wales of Thierry Neuville and Dani Sordo brought them enough points too secure the title. A fourth podium in a row (out of a total of six this year) made clear Neuville is completely back on track.

Hayden Paddon was only marginally slower than teammate Neuville but finished just off the podium. “I just wanted to be as close as possible,” said the Kiwi. “To remind him we were there.” For Sordo it was a less rewarding weekend. In Spain he was second but in

Hyundai Motorsport

Wales he ‘only’ finished in sixth. But it kept him within striking distance of third place in the championship. Team principal Nandan was happy with their achievements especially the runner up position in the Constructors’ Championship: “It’s a special moment in our history and confirmation of our most competitive season in the WRC. However there are some areas of performance where we still need to improve. But, the New Generation i20 WRC ran reliably all weekend, and all three crews finished in the top-six - by far our most competitive showing in Wales to date.

M-Sport World Rally Team

The M-Sport tent almost covered a whole street in the Deeside servicepark.

All cars the British company had available were actually competing in Wales. This allegedly was the reason Elfyn Evans could not compete in his home event. In the mainteam as usual we found Mads Østberg and Eric Camilli. Østberg could adopt his usual driving style.

Since Germany he had been busy improving his asphalt skills, but as he told us: The last few month I have been driving against my feeling, that is necessary to go faster on tarmac next year so I have to work on that. So we

will see you back next year?

“Yes I will drive but it is not clear if that will be the whole season. During the coming weeks I will tell you more.”

He finished in eighth. Eric Camilli suffered two punctures, throwing him back on the leaderboard. The top Fiesta driver however was not in the M-Sport team.

Ott Tänak showed Malcolm Wilson that he should be in the main team again. He proved to be the only Ogier fighter and ended in a very nice second place showing very good pace throughout the rally.

At Citroën they concluded their sabbatical year with a four car entry under the banner of the Abu Dhabi World Rallyteam.

There were DS3’s for Kris Meeke, Craig Breen, Stéphane Lefebvre and Quentin Gilbert. Their aim was different. Meeke of course wanted to impress his opponents for next year, Craig Breen wanted to thank his new employer for selecting him for next year’s team and Lefebvre above all to show he was back on track after his big crash. His co-driver Gabin Moreau is still recovering from his injuries but Lefebvre claims to be 100% ready for the

job in Wales. His co driver for this occasion was Gilles de Turckheim. Gilbert just wants to enjoy his ride after a somewhat difficult season in WRC2. Still he feels well prepared before coming to Wales. Kris Meeke couldn’t use his starting position as the rain and following mud made the earlier starting positions the better ones.

On Friday he got two slow punctures and had to settle for fifth place. Breen rolled his car out of the rally on Myherin 2. Lefebvre was ninth proving he indeed was ready again. Gilbert ended his WRC debut in 17th.

Abu Dhabi World Rally Team

Overall final classification 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

Ogier-Ingrassia Tanak-Molder Neuville-Gilsoul Paddon-Kennard Meeke-Nagle Sordo-Marti Latvala-Anttila Ostberg-Floene

VW Polo WRC Ford Fiesta WRC Hyundai i20 WRC Hyundai i20 WRC Citroën DS3 WRC Hyundai i20 WRC VW Polo WRC Ford Fiesta WRC Lefebvre-De Turckheim Citroën DS3 WRC Camilli-Veillas Ford Fiesta WRC

3:14:30.2 +10.2 +1:35.4 +1:54.9 +2:35.2 +4:02.6 +4:28.3 +4:38.3 +7:12.2 +8:19.3

Wales Rally GB / Standings 39/62

2016 FIA WRC Drivers’ Standings 1.

Sébastien Ogier 247 2.

Thierry Neuville 143 3.

Andreas Mikkelsen 129 4.

Hayden Paddon 126 5.

Dani Sordo 119 6.

Jari-Matti Latvala 110 7.

Mads Ostberg 94 8.

Ott Tanak 82 9.

Kris Meeke 64 10. Craig Breen 36

2016 FIA WRC Manufacturers’ Standings 1.

Volkswagen Motorsport 355 2.

Hyundai Motorsport 285 3.

M-Sport World Rally Team 154 4.

Volkswagen Motorsport Ii 138 5.

Hyundai Motorsport N 136 6.

Dmack World Rally Team 92

Feature / Wolfsburg out

Volkswagen left us Words: Harry van Veenendaal Images: Erik van ‘t Landt

During Wales Rally GB the first rumours emerged. Volkswagen will leave the WRC in 2017. Of course we asked Sven Smeets but he said, “We never react to rumours.” He did however not vehemently reject the idea. So we were a little worried. Un-

fortunately this proved to be right, because only days after Wales Rally G,B confirmation came via a press release. “Volkswagen realigns motorsport programme”, the caption ominously read. The release started by three bulleted lines:

- New technologies and customer sport activities get top priority - Commitment to the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) ends after winning twelve world championship titles in a row - Employment guarantee for employees

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Jobs guaranteed!

To begin with the good news, there is a job guarantee for all employees. It would have been an enormous waste of investment to let this group fall apart. In that respect the first line was necessary of course. Having some 200 employees and not having to do something for them would not exactly be good management. But it was clear the new business model of VW Motorsport is making money by selling racing cars to customers. At the same time they hint at the new general policy of the company.

They want to be the good guy again.

They are concerned with the environment and after their huge mistake with Dieselgate they want to show the world they changed their attitude; they are the good guys again. They go electric!

End of WRC commitment Unfortunately for the fans this means the commitment to the championship ends.

So that’s what it is. After four years of winning almost everything there was to win they leave. It was argued a lot that his was because of the enormous fines the US government imposed. $ 16.billion. Do you think that a mere 50 million euro’s (the cost of a year of ‘WRC Commitment’) make any considerable difference? No finance has not been the idea behind this. It’s a huge PR offensive to clear the name of the German brand.

To be honest whether we like it or not, we can understand this decision. There are however a few decisions that raise questions.

Wolfsburg out.

Customer racing “Volkswagen is going to focus more on customer racing. As well as the Golf GTI TCR on the circuit track and the Beetle GRC in rallycross,” the press release says. Here we’re a bit confused.

These cars are very successful in the US market and isn’t it this market that almost brought down Volkswagen? US focussed marketeers can probably explain this, we can’t. Another line from the release is less confusing but still: “we also want to offer customers top products and will develop a new Polo according to R5 regulations.” Good news they stay involved in rallying and can put the vast knowledge their rallyteam has gathered in the last years to good use. The big question is what are the implications to the sister company Skoda who already have a successful R5? We’ll have to wait and see. We can’t see Skoda pulling out all of the sudden. So probably the two cars will live together. Another possibility is that Skoda stops further development of their R5 after 2018, the year the Polo R5 will become available.

The drivers The people employed by the team will still have a job in 2017. This is different however for Sebastien Ogier, Jari-Matti Latvala and Andreas Mikkelsen, the three highly successful drivers of the team. Speculating on who goes where is a very popular pas time these days. The social media exploded so all possibilities have been mentioned. Quite a few are very unlikely, but for the rest all reasonable thoughts. Just looking a these discussions we can tell you that Sebastien Ogier will go to Citroën, Latvala will go to Toyota and Mikkelsen either to M-Sport or Toyota. But like everyone knows these polls don’t tell very much

over the actual outcome so we’ll simply wait till the press releases start dropping n our mailbox.

Then we will tell you.

Our preferred line up Ok because you insist we give you our preferred line-up: Ogier to M-Sport. It seems a bit odd. Malcolm has proven he can build a good car. (Well actually it was Ott Tänak who showed it by fighting for the win in Poland and GB) On the other hand everyone knows Wilson uses his WRC activities to showcase his company. He therefore invests a small fortune in the team but he needs to have drivers with a budget. Still there might be chances to acquire these funds in case Ogier would join his outfit. If it’s the quadruple world champion we are talking about purses get opened more easily.

The most attractive option would be if Ford came back. It would be a very good chance to get a whole lot of exposure, not in the least because the Fords will carry number one on the side of the car at least for one year but also the possibility that this number continues in 2018 if Ogier would win his fifth title in the Ford. There are other options to obtain money but this definitely is one of them. For Latvala we see a sunny future at Toyota. Being part of a team based in Finland with Finnish management perhaps would give him the state of mind he needs to perform at the best of his abilities. A nice option for Andreas Mikkelsen would be an all Norwegian Adapta team with Mads Østberg in the other car, most probably a Fiësta WRC 2017. The problem is how fast MSport can build the new spec Fiësta. Both Hyundai and Citroën already have their own preferred team so why change that?

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WE’re

live!

WRC TV A look behind the scenes of live TV in the WRC Latvala to start in 10, says the lady on the right-hand side of the control board. Director Marko Viitanen, in the middle of the control board is watching several feeds coming in.

“Heli, follow Camilli, Jouko prepare for Camilli, Switch to camera 2 in three, two, Now!!” and he snaps his fingers. The switchboard controller on the left presses some buttons and on the ‘snap’ the image on the main screen instantly changes from a helicopter shot to a fixed camera one following Camilli. “Change to on board 3 Now!” While this is happening the lady on the right continues counting “5, 4, 3, 2,” the director tells camera 1 to be prepared and on 1 from his assistant he snaps his fingers again. On the screen we see Latvala start the stage….

In the control room We’re in the control room of the live TV coverage of the PowerStage in Rally Germany.

We’re here to see what it takes to provide an exciting broadcast of the PowerStage. Live television of rallying has always been a challenge and there are only few people who know it better than Marko Viitanen. He was present at the very first attempt of live tv in his home country Finland. “Yes, I can still remember that, we were in Ruuhimäki and it was quite a challenge.” A lot has changed since those

days in the late nineties. Viitanen is now head of production at NEP Finland Oy, a television production company that does quite a few things among them the live broadcasts of the FIA World Rally Cross (WRX) but in this case being a rallying magazine we will be talking about the World Rally Championship (WRC).

More specifically we look at the special demands of live broadcasting. One of the most important features of the WRC+ subscription channel, bringing fans, media, and even the teams closer to the action.

Feature / We’re live: WRC TV

We have an appointment to meet the crew in their little TV village set up not far from the finish of the German PowerStage. The ‘village’ consists of several trucks, mostly to transport the equipment some have satellite dishes and other antenna’s aimed at the sky and one large truck has an extension that can double the width of the truck. A small staircase leads to a door and it’s there that we meet Marko Viitanen. He shows us into the control room, because that is what is inside the truck. “This is not our own truck,” explains the Finn. “That one, just like a lot of other equipment is now in Rio de Janeiro at the Olympic Games.”

NEP So we have to hire equipment wherever we can get it, this truck is good but a bit tight.”

48/62

The lion’s den When entering the truck one feature jumps into sight. An enormous wall completely filled with monitors. Several ones show a blue screen others show pictures of the several spots of the stage where there is a camera. While talking to Viitanen we see blue screens coming to live as new feeds come in. “As I said it’s a bit tight, but you can best sit there. He points to a desk with three seats. A technician behind a computer screen occupies one of these seats. He gets all the telemetry data that come from the cars. Looking at this it looks like jibberish. An endless stream of figures and strange words fills the screen. He seems to recognize them and sometimes talks into a microphone attached to his headset, asking a technician to tweak this or that. We sit next to him arranging our stuff in such a way as not to disturb him.

his head and gets himself an overview. He is talking to one of the cameramen and discusses strategy.

The broadcast hasn’t begun yet so there is a kind of loose atmosphere. But the clock is ticking and we see the start time of the stage approach. Then the director’s assistant on the right starts counting, indicating the imminent start of the stage. Then like the conductor of an orchestra Marko starts to wave his hands and calling his directions. The result of these gestures can be seen on the ‘live’ screen in the middle. Every time he snaps his fingers the picture changes, from a fixed camera at the start, to an aerial view from helicopter or drone to an on board view of the stage. He keeps on doing this for about an hour and then the tension lessens. He relaxes into his normal self. His symphony is over for now!

Equipment Before Viitanen can start conducting his orchestra a lot has to be done. It starts by getting all the equipment, in this case that was an extra challenge because as we stated earlier a lot of the high tech stuff was in Rio for the Olympics. Let’s look at what we’re talking about. We start with 8 to 10 fixed camera’s, ten on board camera sets have to be prepared. An airplane has to be orWe’re live ganized. It flies at a stationary height of some 8 Marko now walks to the other half of the truck kilometers to relay the signal from the onboard and sits behind the middle desk facing the wall cams back to the control room. Of course the of screens. He stretches with his hands behind plane cannot stand still in the air, so it flies fig-

ures roughly following the shape of the stage.

DJI provideds the drones plus the crew but of course their actions have to be coordinated with the broadcast. Talking about aerial views there is also the helicopter with the cineflex camera, operated by Lieven Hermans a very famous name in aerial filming. Apart from rallying he provides all kinds of aerial views ranging from Tour de France cycling to Formula 1. Apart from the images we also need sound picked up by several microphones in the competing cars, the fixed cams and other sources. All this material has to be brought to the control room. As we said quite a bit goes through some kind of wireless connection but also cables are needed. In Germany some 14 kilometres of cable have been rolled out to provide these connections. This all adds up to some 10.00 kilo’s of equipment. This all provides footage to a growing audience that want to see moving pictures of the spectacle. Apart from WRC+ that provides Internet access to all this material some 55 television stations show the material in 150 countries

inside the booth While walking around the small TV village we also meet Jon Desborough one of the voices of WRC TV. Of course he also needs equipment including a sophisticated commentary booth. Upon us asking him if we can see it. He answers “No,” somewhat bluntly. You can ask me anything but you can’t watch my booth, that is sacred, but I now have to go to prepare myself.” he smiles. A bit later someone in a WRC outfit approaches us. “Jon asks if you are still interested in looking at his booth?” Of course we are and we follow him.

He stops in front of one of the large trucks. Here it is. We’re expecting to see a fixed booth with sound insulating walls in the truck. But at that moment one of the cabin doors of the truck opens. A smiling Desborough greets us. “Look you can see it but if you write about I’ll deny everything.” Inside the truck cabin we see two laptops and Jon Desborough with a headset including a microphone. “This is where we are. Normally Julian Porter (aka The Rallyguru) is sitting next to me but he will join me later. He is still collecting data for the commentary during the live stage. He knows everything; he is more or less a talking rally encyclopedia.

So this is where everything comes from. In Sweden we are freezing here and in Mexico we almost melt here. Probably a bit less glamorous then you thought? But it works well. We’ve got everything we need, so why bring all kinds of other stuff that only weighs extra?” When watching the replay of the Powerstage we couldn’t help but envisioning Desborough sitting in the crammed space of the cabin.

But hey it works so why do it differently? And honestly, isn’t this also what makes the WRC the most likeable sport in the world? As we said Desborough will deny all this. But who would you rather believe? Your faithful REM reporters or a man who uses a truckseat as his commentary booth?

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B The three Manketeers

Isle of Man British Rally Championship

WRC podium finish at last month’s Rally Finland. His performance earned him a spot in the 2017 Citroen WRC This year’s Rally Isle of Man saw one of the strongest driver line-ups team where he will compete in one of the brand new 2017 spec WRC cars. of the BRC season. Headlining the event was recently crowned BRC He switched back to the R5 version of champion Elfyn Evans. After grabthe DS3 during the Manx. ‘Hometown’ hero and five-time winner of the event, bing the title at the Ulster Rally Evans was freed of title worries and Mark Higgins was drafted by the DMACK team to help clinch the team could go all out in his pursuit of title as well after Evans’ driver’s sucvictory. It wouldn’t be easy though as two very capable guest drivers cess. Higgins hails from the island and made their appearance on the event knows these roads like the back of his hand. The last couple of years he has too in the form of Craig Breen and Mark Higgins. mainly been competing in the Chinese Rally Championship in an R4 Subaru but given his experience on the island Craig Breen was clearly the man of the moment coming of his maiden the switch shouldn’t be too difficult.

British RC / Ulster Rally 52/62

First blood Despite mainly running Chinese rallies Higgins has been competing on Man earlier this year when he set a new record for cars around the 37+ mile TT circuit.

The trickiest part will be switching to R5 machinery, having only competed in such a car at the 2013 Wales Rally GB. Higgins struggled a bit on the opening night’s three stages and found himself in third already over 12 seconds behind overnight leader Evans. It had been Craig Breen who took first blood on the opening spectator stage but Evans countered on the second stage to open up a lead. Breen then hit trouble on the third stage when the oil pressure dropped. It forced Breen out of the event almost before it really started. Breen’s demise provided opportunity for Tom Cave who was rewarded with second after a strong start to the event. Fredrik Ahlen was struggling when his power steering failed but still managed to slot into fourth ahead of BRC2 champion Matt Edwards who stepped up to R5 machinery for this event.

Evans hits trouble Throughout the second day Evans showed why he is the new BRC champion as he dominated the opposition. Mark Higgins couldn’t really keep up with the Welshman due to a lack of top end speed in his Fiesta, blaming his gear ratios.

Tom Cave had held second but

eventually succumbed to Higgins’ terrain knowledge and slipped to third where he was locked in battle with Fredik Ahlin and Desi Henry.

Ahlin saw his chances of second place in the championship vanish.

After power steering problems on the opening day, he was picking up the pace on day two before his intercom failed, shortly after which engine problems finally ended his rally. This left Cave and Henry to duke it out for third As the day drew to a close Evans hit trouble.

He damaged his driveshaft and had to run the final two stages of the day with rear-wheel drive only.

Luckily for the champion the final stage was cancelled and he ‘only’ lost 45 seconds. It dropped him 17 seconds behind new leader, Mark Higgins.

True class Undaunted by his problems Evans set out on the final day with a mission to reclaim his lost lead from Higgins. With little time to do so Evans proved his class by blitzing through the stages to reel in and eventually overhaul Higgins to take a well deserved win and put a fitting end to his BRC campaign.

Winning most events this year he showed the world that he has the potential and is worthy of a WRC seat for the coming season. Unfortunately for him, those seats are rather scarce after VW announced its withdrawal from the WRC. Despite his driveshaft problems Evans fought back to take the win.

Overall final classification 1. Evans – Parry 2. Higgins – Garrod 3. Cave – Morgan 4. Henry – Moynihan 5. Edwards – Rogers 6. Greer – Riddick 7. Bogie – O’Reilly 8. Laffey – Roughead 9. Duggan – Conway 10. McDonald – Falconer

Ford Fiesta R5 Ford Fiesta R5 Ford Fiesta R5 Skoda Fabia R5 Ford Fiesta R5 Citroen DS3 R5 Skoda Fabia R5 Ford Fiesta R5 Vauxhall Adam Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9

2.06.14,3 +5,9 +1.22,3 +1.33,9 +3.35,9 +3.57,0 +5.23,2 +9.23,2 +13.06,0 +13.41,7

2016 British Rally Championship Drivers Standings 1. Elfyn Evans 2. Tom Cave 3. Jonathan Greer 4. Fredrik Ahlin 5. Josh Moffett 6. Desi Henry 7. David Bogie 8. Matt Edwards 9. Marty McCormack 10. Rhys Yates

Best of the rest was Tom Cave who claimed second in the championship.

Ford Fiesta R5 Ford Fiesta R5 Citroen DS3 R5 Ford Fiesta R5 Ford Fiesta R5 Skoda Fabia R5 Skoda Fabia R5

185 pts 101 pts 75 pts 65 pts 52 pts 49 pts 46 pts Mitsubishi Lancer/Ford Fiesta R5 26 pts Skoda Fabia S2000 18 pts Ford Fiesta R5 17 pts

B

Lake Superior Performance Rally Rally America National Championship

Round 8

Words and images: Tara Hurlin

American RC / Lake Superior Performance

A Houghton This isn’t your typical colour tour

MI; 100 Acre Wood in Salem, MO; Oregon Trail in Portland, OR; Olympus in Shelton, WA; Susquehannock Trail Rally in Wellsboro, PA; and of course LSPR. The unforgettable Lake Superior Performance Rally takes place during peak foliage season in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, which means that this rally is one of the most picturesque. The unpredictable fall weather could mean conditions anywhere from dry and sunny, to heavy rain and mud, to accumulating heavy snow. The rugged terrain of the Keweenaw and Lake Superior shoreline makes LSPR the meanest, toughest rally on Rally America’s 2016 National season consist- the circuit. ed of 8 events: the Sno*Drift Rally in Atlanta, 55/62

A melody of enthusiastic chattering was heard during each Parc Expose on Friday, October 14 and Saturday, the 15th, before the Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) races in Houghton, Mich., began.

The great rally conditions were apparent by the sparkle in each competitor’s eyes and the energy radiating from the spectators. Just like every rally I have been to, it was an experience like no other. Although the theme is similar, the varying conditions form each event into a different adventure.

American RC / Lake Superior Performance 56/62

While co-drivers battle the routes with their drivers, spectators scurry from stage to stage just to catch another glimpse. It’s a game of hurry up and wait, until the distant hint of an engine revving tickles your ears. Fans cheer when their teams drift around corners, kicking dirt in their wake, then disappearing with a backfire. The teams and their cars came out mostly unscathed aside from the usual blown transmissions, overheating issues, busted axles, a few missing bumpers, and plenty of popped tires.

The cars got dirty early during the first stage, where a muddy .23-mile course was roped off on the Fairgrounds. With each car’s passing, the ruts dug deeper, but everyone made it out at full throttle. After the mud war was over, racers headed to the winding woods for the rest of the day, until they emerged to reach the city stage, new to LSPR this year.

The course was formed with concrete barriers in downtown Houghton, Mich. The energy radiating from thousands of excited onlookers was immense. Some folks had to get creative to catch a glimpse of the action, going as high as the city’s rooftops and balconies. On the ground level, exhaust backfires and rev limiters echoed between the tall brick buildings while the erotic perfume of race gas whirled in the air. The cement walls looked intimidating: Squealing tires and intense body roll action around

the sharp corners confirmed it was a challenging course.

Autumn colours in the Ottawa National Forest of the Michigan Upper Peninsula provided a stunning backdrop for the event.

Subaru announced they’ll be strengthening their position in the RANC next year by running a two-car team for Higgins and Pastrana and stepping up as a sponsor.

Claudia Barbera-Pullen took first in the co-driver Championship standings with 265 points, all in a badass 1987 BMW 325. “I love every aspect of rally: the camaraderie, the adrenaline rush, the family feeling. I’ve been racing since 2007 and can’t get enough. It’s been a great season!” Meanwhile, Marianna Langosch placed second in the co-driver championship standings with 176 points. By the end of the rally, she was exhausted but glowing. “LSPR was a blast,” she exclaimed. “Friday’s conditions were great, but we quickly discovered soft and slippery areas on Saturday’s stages, which led us off the course and stuck on a tree. Once we were pulled out and back on the stage, the rest of the day went smoothly.” Subaru America pro-driver Travis Pastrana and co-driver Robbie Durant took 2nd place in the season’s National Championship. “The vehicle’s setup was spot-on and we were running with no mechanical issues, which put us in a good position for the final day,” reflected Pastrana. No matter how good the setup was, Pastrana was no match for his team mate David Higgins. The Manxman set the pacet of the stages to claim a dominant win.

Overall final classification 1. Higgins – Drew 2. Pastrana – Durant 3. O’Sullivan - Putnam 4. Djordjevic – Hall 5. Miller – Miller 6. Lagemann – Richard 7. Steely – Osborn 8. Krolikowski – Krolikowski 9. Rooney – Gelsomino 10. Short – Norkus

2016 Subaru Impreza WRX STi 1:32.06,8 2016 Subaru Impreza WRX STi +1.32,5 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STi +11.33,3 2009 Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +12.41,8 2008 Subaru Impreza WRX STiC +12.56,1 1991 Porsche 911 +15.47,3 2015 Ford Fiesta ST +16.00,9 2000 Subaru Impreza +20.47,6 2015 Subaru Impreza WRX STi +21.13,5 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX STi +24.21,1

2016 Rally America National Championship Drivers Standings 1.

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David Higgins 2016 Subaru WRX STI Troy Miller 2008 Subaru WRX STI Seamus Burke 2006 Mitsubishi Evo 9 Cameron Steely 2015 Ford Fiesta ST Ryan Millen 2016 Toyota RAV4 SE Travis Pastrana 2016 Subaru WRX STI Lauchlin O’Sullivan 2009 Subaru WRX STI Agatino Fortunato 2016 Subaru WRX STI Jeff Seahorn 2005 Subaru WRX STI Piotr Fetela 2007 Subaru WRX STI

128 points 84 points 64 points 61 points 60 points 58 points 56 points 35 points 30 points 28 points

A

Rally-eMag / Erik’s Epic Encounters

Erik’s epic encounters When travelling the world to snap the WRC, our photographer Erik van ‘t Land comes across many interesting scenes, sometimes concerning rallying, and sometimes just the finer things in life. Here are his finds from Corsica, Spain and Wales.

All sorts of fans...

Nice parking spot

Noses that still demand respect.

That looks even better

60/62

Everyone’s a photographer these days....

2 Blondes, one trunklock... ;-)

A man can dream right?

O M G The champ!

Hey Mr. Policeman!

Hmmm nice, looks like a lollipop

What’s that smug grin about?

A bit cold outside

See you next time...

see you next time...