WRC: Rally Finland (2012)

Steve · Aug 3, 2012

MINI driver standing after Day 2: 17 Tahko, 18 Araujo, 60 Nobre...

Friday wrap: Loeb heads close Finland fight (WRC.com)

03 Aug 12

Five seconds will separate Citroen chargers Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen in the race for success on Neste Oil Rally Finland, round eight of the FIA World Rally Championship, which concludes with six ultra-fast gravel stages on Saturday.

Loeb and Hirvonen have fought a close battle for glory throughout day two in their factory DS3 WRCs. While Loeb has remained in front, a rear differential glitch and a rare driving error on todayâ€™s penultimate test have helped to ensure the flying Hirvonen remains firmly in the fight for victory.

â€œItâ€™s a long final day tomorrow and we will see what we can do,â€ said Loeb. â€œThe gap is so small, it will be a hard fight but we have to do it correctly.â€

Hirvonen, chasing his first win for Citroen and his second on home soil, said: â€œI was pushing really hard and so was Sebastien. Little by little I have taken time out of him. It will be a big fight tomorrow but I am confident.â€

Jari-Matti Latvala is the top Ford driver in third overall although the Finn admits his pace has not been fast enough to threaten the top two crews. â€œI did only one mistake but the time is not there and there is nothing else I can do,â€ said Latvala. â€œAnything can happen but I canâ€™t take any more speed anywhere.â€

Petter Solberg, in the second works Ford is fourth after going fastest on the penultimate test. His fellow Norwegian Mads Ostberg is a strong fifth despite set-up issues in the morning and brake issues in the afternoon. Ostberg had been in a close battle with Thierry Neuville until the Citroen Junior driver failed to hear a pace note on the penultimate stage and roll into a retirement.

Ott Tanak is sixth after a cautious run through the afternoon stages after he used his only spare tyre following a puncture on the repeat of the Mokkipera test. Jari Ketomaa has been dogged by a persistent misfire for much of the day but completes in seventh place for Autotek Motorsport. Matti Rantanen is eighth with Martin Prokop ninth and Ken Block climbing to 10th for the Monster World Rally Team.

â€œI was absolutely loving the stages on the second pass,â€ said the Gymkhana star, who moved ahead of Sebastien Ogier when the Volkswagen Motorsport driver was slowed by a front-right suspension failure. â€œI had confidence with the pace notes and after being called a grandma by my engineer for my slower driving this morning I knew I had to do more in the afternoon.â€

Chris Atkinson was in eighth overall, having lost time with an intercom glitch this morning, when he left the road on stage eight after mishearing a pace note. He lost several minutes when his Qatar World Rally Team Citroen got stuck on a tree stump. The Australian eventually retired from the day when he damaged the front-right of his car striking a rock on stage nine.

Evgeny Novikov was also out of luck, rolling twice on stage two. Despite inflicting significant cosmetic damage to his Fiesta he was able to continue although his co-driver Denis Giraudet spent the rest of the day nursing a sore back, the result of a heavy landing on the todayâ€™s opening test.

Riku Tahko is the leading MINI John Cooper Works WRC driver despite spinning at a junction on the penultimate test. Armindo Araujo was able to make improvements to the set-up of his WRC Team MINI Portugal entry. However, his team-mate Paulo Nobre retired on stage 10 when he went off the road and got stuck.
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Steve · Aug 4, 2012

Riku Tahko in Love. (MiniMotorsport.com)

3 August 2012

All is running smoothly for Riku Tahko on the Rally Finland. After the end of the second day the Finn leads the MINI WRC teams â€“ despite not having been able to properly prepare for the event.

Seven of twelve stages as fastest MINI John Cooper Works WRC driver, and a move of seven places up the overall order on Friday: For Riku Tahko, the rookie driving the MINI WRC, the Rally Finland has been a roaring success. While his marque team-mates Armindo Araujo and Paulo Nobre of the WRC Team MINI Portugal were still seeking their respective rhythms in Finland, Riku disclosed: â€œI love driving this car.â€ He was referring to the MINI WRC bearing car number 53, which he is driving in Finland under the banner of Turkeyâ€™s TOK Sport Team.

That he has spent the least time of all in the MINI WRC has not prevented him from posting consistently fast results. â€œI am happy with the car and satisfied with my driving,â€ he reported after the sixth special stage. Having only received approval from his team to contest the Rally Finland a few weeks before the event, he had been unable to test comprehensively. That he would, however, fall in love with the MINI was clear to Riku while the car was still being prepared ahead of the event. â€œ#Dreamjobâ€ was his Twitter message to his fans. While the 27-year-old Finn still faces a wait for his first World Rally points on his home event, he has clearly left his calling card in readiness for further appearances with the MINI WRC.

Early start for the Rally Finlandâ€™s final day.

In the meantime world champion SÃ©bastien Loeb has fought a thrilling head-to-head duel for the overall lead with Mikko Hirvonen. Ahead of the crucial final day of the Rally Finland the two team-mates are separated by just five seconds. Jari-Matti Latvala, Petter Solberg and Mads Ostberg are next up in positions three to five respectively, with each of the trio clearly intent on scoring a podium place.

The third, final and thus decisive day of the Rally Finland starts at 7:56 local time (CEST -1) with the 14,9 kilometre Surkee 1 test. In total the crews face 138,82 timed kilometres on Saturday, spread over six special stages. Comprehensive information and updates on the Rally Finland are available on Facebook.com/MINImotorsport and Twitter.com/MINImotorsport.

Top 5 (After Day 2):

1. Loeb

2. Hirvonen

3. Latvala

4. P. Solberg

5. Ostberg
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Steve · Aug 4, 2012

Saturday wrap: Loeb strikes thrice in Finland (WRC.com)

04 Aug 12

Sebastien Loeb's incredible run success in the FIA World Rally Championship continued today when he won Neste Oil Rally Finland for a third time alongside co-driver Daniel Elena.

Loeb, whose victory was his 73rd in the world championship and puts him equal with Finnish rallying legend Juha Kankkunen on the list of all-time Rally Finland winners, overcame a stern challenge from Citroen team-mate and local hero Mikko Hirvonen to triumph by 6.1s as the thrilling high-speed gravel event ended with a second pass of the famous Ouninpohja stage this evening.

â€œFor sure itâ€™s very satisfying to win in Finland,â€ said Loeb, who extended his lead of the WRC driversâ€™ standings to 43 points heading to ADAC Rallye Deutschland later this month. â€œI didnâ€™t come here especially to win, I came for points because itâ€™s very difficult to beat the Finnish drivers. It was a great fight with Mikko, a one-two for Citroen and great for the championship.â€

For Hirvonen, the two seconds he dropped with a sensor glitch on Fridayâ€™s final test, coupled with the delay he encountered nudging a tree on stage 13, means his wait for his first WRC win with Citroen continues.

â€œSebastien was just faster and congratulations to him,â€ said Hirvonen, who gained some consolation by winning the Power Stage to bag three WRC bonus points. â€œSecond position in Finland makes it even worse but if you do a perfect rally it is not enough against Sebastien. You have to do more because he is incredible.â€

Jari-Matti Latvala was the leading Ford finisher in third with Petter Solberg fourth in an identical Fiesta RS WRC. It was a frustrating event for the Blue Oval pair, who had been tipped to challenge for victory but ultimately conceded that they didnâ€™t have the speed to beat their Citroen rivals on this occasion.

Adapta Fiesta pilot Mads Ostberg fought back from a mechanical failure on the second Leustu stage to reclaim fifth from Ott Tanak on the first run through Ouninpohja. Tanak, from Estonia, drove without error in his M-Sport Fiesta to end a miserable recent run of form in sixth position.

Matti Rantanen demoted Jari Ketomaa for seventh when the latterâ€™s Fiesta picked up a front-left puncture on stage 15. Martin Prokop took ninth with Sebastien Ogier claiming the final point for Volkswagen Motorsport. The Frenchman had trailed Ken Block starting the final day but when Block retired with a broken control arm bracket and a loss of steering on Saturdayâ€™s second stage, Ogier was left in the clear.

Armindo Araujo dropped back in the battle to finish as the leading MINI John Cooper Works WRC driver after a trip into a ditch left his car with damaged suspension on stage 16 and put him behind privateer Riku Tahko. However, when Tahko crashed on the first Ouninpohja stage, Araujo was able to capitalise.

Several drivers restarted under Rally 2 rules following retirements on day two with Citroen Junior runner Thierry Neuville, Qatar World Rally Teamâ€™s Chris Atkinson and WRC Team MINI Portugalâ€™s Paulo Nobre all reaching the finish.

With co-driver Denis Giraudet nursing a sore back following a heavy landing on stage four, Evgeny Novikov, who dropped out of contention when he crashed on stage five, drove steadily to reach the end.

Sebastian Lindholm, 51, achieved his aim of finishing on his first WRC start since 2007 and his first Rally Finland since 2005.

P-G Andersson clinched FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship honours fopr PROTON with Elfyn Evans coming out on top in the FIA WRC Academy.
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Steve · Aug 4, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6igfuD96KmY]Highlights - 2012 WRC Rally Finland - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Aug 4, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4Mm_7GWIMo]WRC Rally Finland 2012 - Day 1 & 2 - YouTube[/ame]

Justa Jim · Aug 5, 2012

Hummm, the factory team has gone from hotly contending a podium position, to trying to stay in the top 50. :nonod:

Jim

Steve · Aug 5, 2012

Let's see if anyone is still paying attention to this thread.

Those nutty Finns..... :biggrin5:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doqPcfFb2Oc]Rally streakers: Crazy Finns react to Craig BreenÂ´s accident in Ouninpohja - WRC Rally Finland 2012 - YouTube[/ame]

papa-j · Aug 5, 2012

so many trees....

misheard a pace note - 19:11 yipes
...glad they are ok.

I too am bummed about the poor placing of the MINI teams. Loeb is impressive to say the least.

papa-j · Aug 5, 2012

Steve said: ↑

Let's see if anyone is still paying attention to this thread.

Those nutty Finns..... :biggrin5:
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The universal response to high horsepower ditch running is nekkid shenanigans!

Terminal Velocity · Aug 5, 2012

I'm getting real bored watching Loeb win but I'm getting even more bored watching MINI descend further and further! Mini Motorsport news always paints a rosy picture of their standings but ever since they lost the original Sordo/Meeke teams its been downhill....way downhill!

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