Most liked posts in thread: WRC: Rally Sweden 2012

Steve · Feb 9, 2012

Good point, thanks.

1 - Sordo (MINI)
2 - Ostberg
3 - Tanak
4 - Loeb
5 - P Solberg
6 - Hirvonen
7 - Latvala
8 - Sandell (MINI)
9 - Prokop
10 - Goransson (MINI)

16 - Araujo (MINI)
26 - Nobre (MINI)

Actual times and differentials are here.

Steve · Feb 9, 2012

Sweden SS1: Super night for Sordo (MaxRally.com)

9th February 2012

There's very little chance that he will still be up there when the event gets going properly in the icy forests tomorrow, but in the week that Prodrive found itself distanced from Mini, Dani Sordo gave the Banbury team cause for a wry smile as he took the Rally Sweden lead on SS1.

The Spaniard was quickest around the short Karlstad superspecial by 0.3 seconds over Mads Ostberg, as the long-time leader of last year's Rally Sweden made a promising return to the World Rally Championship after skipping Monte Carlo.

Ott Tanak popped up in third place in another Ford, just ahead of the big guns: Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg, Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.

It was a good night for Prodrive's Minis all in all. Patrik Sandell - this week's occupant of the second 'not quite works anymore' seat - took eighth, while touring car ace Richard Goransson belied his lack of rally miles to sit 10th at the end of the stage.

The full-length stages commence just after 8am local time on Friday.
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Justa Jim · Feb 9, 2012

I can't believe I'm betting against the "factory team" this season. As long as Pro Drive finishes ahead of them, podium or not, I'll be happy.

Jim

Steve · Feb 10, 2012

SS2: Ostberg blasts to the front (WRC.com)

10 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS2, Mitandersfors (27.07 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: "This is the longest stage of the rally and new for everyone: a big wake-up call! The only person who might know it is Petter Solberg, as he has a house in the middle of the stage. It's a really nice and flowing road, which is generally in good condition. I really like the character of this stage. The stage crosses the Sweden-Norway border: on the Norwegian side there is a bit more snow than on the Swedish side. There are a lot of places where you need to tighten your belts and do that thing we call sisu in Finland: bravery!"

How the action unfolded:
Mads Ostberg moved into the lead of Rally Sweden as he shared the fastest time on stage two with Jari-Matti Latvala.

A repeat of last year's Sweden battle between Ostberg's independent Ford and a works Fiesta driver already appears to be brewing, as Ostberg and Latvala set equal best times of 14m13.0s on Mitandersfors.

"It was a good stage for us," said Ostberg. "I took it very steady in many places but I think that's what paid off really.

"It was a clean stage for me, not a big push, just very confident through the stgae. I'm not pushing, we'll just stay on this speed and see how it goes."

That performance gave Ostberg an early 1.9-second lead over Latvala, who is just 0.1s ahead of his former Ford team-mate - and double Sweden winner - Mikko Hirvonen. The factory Citroen driver was third quickest on the stage, and felt there was a lot more to come as his confidence in the car on snow builds.

Petter Solberg thoroughly enjoyed himself on the stage that passes his house, and felt that being only fifth fastest was largely due to others having better road positions.

"It was a fantastic stage, fantastic," said Ford driver Solberg. "I think people behind will be getting much cleaner roads all the time but I'm very happy with my stage and hello to all the people on the farm!"

World champion Sebastien Loeb pipped Solberg to the fourth fastest time, but is only sixth in the overall order behind super special winner Dani Sordo's MINI. Loeb took a 10s penalty first thing this morning for being a minute late out of service.

"It took a little bit too much time to change something on the car so we had this penalty," Loeb explained.

"We decided to put two spare wheels in and it took some time to adjust everything for that."

Ott Tanak's M-Sport Ford was third quickest on last night's super special but went off early on today's opener and lost an enormous 25 minutes getting his car out of the snow.

There was also early disappointment for Team Portugal MINI driver Paulo Nobre, who spun and got stuck in a snow bank early on the stage. The popular Brazilian pulled up and stopped shortly afterwards.
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Steve · Feb 10, 2012

SS3: Latvala takes the lead (WRC.com)

10 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS3, Opaker 1 (20.17 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThe first six kilometres were only used in the opposite direction the first time we were in Norway so this is quite new for everyone. Itâ€™s a really flowing road and very typical of Norwayâ€™s stages. The only problem is that there is just packed snow in some places so there will be some deep ruts after a couple of cars. The current tyre is not so easy to drive on soft snow, but itâ€™s the same for everyone.â€

How the action unfolded:
Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg moved the works Ford team into one-two formation at the head of the Rally Sweden order after stage three, Opaker.

World champion Sebastien Loeb was actually the quickest man on the stage in his Citroen DS3 WRC, but Ford Fiesta RS WRC duo Latvala and Solberg were just a few fractions of a second down on the Frenchman.

Latvala felt he could have done better: "There was one place we were heavily in the snow bank and also near the end of the stage. What it looks like is you have to have a totally clean run, if you touch the snow banks you lose so much time."

Team-mate Solberg was pleased to have done such a quick time given he was one of the earliest frontrunners in the start order.

"Of course it's cleaning behind me, you can see that on some of the splits, but I'm very happy with my performance in the position that I'm in. Everything is absolutely fantastic," said Solberg.

Loeb beat Latvala by 0.2s and Solberg by 0.7s, leaving him 12.4s off Latvala's overall lead in fifth place.

"I've seen Jari-Matti and Petter's times, and it's difficult to be a lot faster than that," Loeb mused. "We are behind and it's not easy at the moment."

Erstwhile leader Ostberg is now back to fourth overall in the Adapta Ford, just behind Mikko Hirvonen's Citroen DS3 WRC.

"Not a good stage for me, very tricky conditons," the Norwegian admitted after going sixth quickest. "I couldn't push, there was a lot of loose snow on the outside."

MINI's Dani Sordo has fallen behind Loeb to sixth, ahead Ford trio Evgeny Novikov, Henning Solberg, and Eyvind Brynildsen, with MINI man Patrik Sandell at completing the current top 10.
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Steve · Feb 10, 2012

SS4: Citroens on a charge (WRC.com)

10 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS4, Kirkener 1 (7.10 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: “This is an artificially made stage, through fields and small forests, created for spectators. What makes it tricky this time is that we have two long stages before with gravel even on the first passage, so this could certainly damage the tyres and remove some studs. The surface on this stage is just sheet ice, as the organisers water the road, so the person who wins this stage will be the person whose tyres are in the best condition.”

How the action unfolded:

Citroen DS3 WRC drivers grabbed the top three times on stage four of Rally Sweden, allowing Mikko Hirvonen to close to within a few fractions of a second of overall leader Jari-Matti Latvala.

Although the Kirkener stage is just 7.1 kilometres long, Hirvonen managed to beat team-mate Sebastien Loeb to the fastest time by 1.9 seconds, and to take 3.5s out of his erstwhile Ford team-mate Latvala, who held on to his outright first position.

"You really need to push hard to fight against those Ford boys," Hirvonen said. "There is a long way to go, but we have to stay in the fight and we're there, so that's good."

Latvala's team-mate Petter Solberg had been second after stage three, but a spin on stage four dropped him to fifth overall behind Mads Ostberg (Adapta Ford) and Sebastien Loeb (Citroen).

"We had a spin and got stuck and lost maybe 15s," said Solberg, who was 11.5s off the fastest time. "We need to just calm down and not think about it."

A superb third fastest time went to Citroen Junior driver Thierry Neuville, as the rising Belgian star belied his lack of snow experience. But running first on the road after Paulo Nobre's earlier incident, Neuville is still back in 17th overall.

Latvala and Hirvonen are now nine seconds clear of the chasing pack overall, with Ostberg, Loeb and Solberg covered by just three seconds in their battle for third.

After briefly taking the lead earlier this morning, Ostberg said the nature of stages three and four had not been in his favour.

"I'm struggling with understeer. This was another field stage and the last one was the same," Ostberg explained.

"I haven't tested in these conditions and it seems like the set-up doesn't work. Now we'll go back out in the forests on the nice stages again so hopefully we can take some time back."

Dani Sordo (MINI) and Evgeny Novikov (M-Sport Ford) are close behind the lead group in sixth and seventh, while a good time from Patrik Sandell moved the second MINI past Henning Solberg (Go Fast Energy Ford) and Eyvind Brynildsen (Adapta Ford) to eighth place overall.
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Steve · Feb 10, 2012

SS5: Hirvonen deposes Latvala (WRC.com)

10 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS5, Finnskogen 1 (20.97 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: “I just hope that we have some tyres left for this stage, as for me this is the nicest stage of the whole rally. It’s really nice and flowing, with Finland-type roads. Only the last five kilometres or so are tricky; it’s packed snow and so there will be deep ruts after a few cars. But the first 15-16 kilometres are fantastic. I’d expect the snow banks to be quite damaged the second time round.”

How the action unfolded:

Mikko Hirvonen leads a round of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia in a Citroen for the first time after winning stage five and moving ahead of Jari-Matti Latvala's Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

Hirvonen had edged onto Latvala's tail by going quickest on the preceding stage, and he maintained that pace to win Finnskogen by 1.9 seconds and take a 2.9s overall lead.

"We are maybe finding a little bit of feeling with the car," smiled the Finn, as he continued settling into the Citroen DS3 WRC. "It's good, the stages are in surprisingly good condition and I enjoyed that one. I'm having a good time."

Latvala felt he was costing himself time with small errors, having only been fifth quickest on the stage.

"I'm not completely happy, I'm losing the rear and it's making me angry because I can't get clean runs - every stage I make little mistakes," he said. "I'm trying to get a balance with the driving. We'll have a think about it at service and see if we can do anything."

Second quickest time for Mads Ostberg ensured his Adapta Ford stayed just ahead of Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) and Petter Solberg (Ford) in an extremely tight battle for third. The trio head for service covered by just 4.3s.

"It was a good stage for sure, we tried to push back here," said Ostberg, who had felt his set-up was not quite so good for the fields of the previous two stages and had been eager to return to forest roads.

"Hirvonen is going very well so it's difficult to keep up with his pace. I didn't want to take any risks - I'm sure I can give a little but more but then it's not guaranteed I will finish."

Dani Sordo is also still in podium contention, hanging on behind that group in his MINI - 7.2s behind Solberg, and 8.7s ahead of Evgeny Novikov's M-Sport Ford.
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Steve · Feb 10, 2012

SS6: Latvala closes onto Hirvonen's tail (WRC.com)

10 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS6, Opaker 2 (20.17 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThe first six kilometres were only used in the opposite direction the first time we were in Norway so this is quite new for everyone. Itâ€™s a really flowing road and very typical of Norwayâ€™s stages. The only problem is that there is just packed snow in some places so there will be some deep ruts after a couple of cars. The current tyre is not so easy to drive on soft snow, but itâ€™s the same for everyone.â€

How the action unfolded:

Mikko Hirvonen's lead over Jari-Matti Latvala in Sweden is down to 0.4 seconds after a resurgence from the Ford driver on the first stage after the lunchtime service.

But it was Sebastien Loeb who was fastest of all on the second run through Opaker, moving the world champion past a perplexed Mads Ostberg into third place.

Latvala had been frustrated that he kept losing time with the rear of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC sliding this morning, but felt set-up changes at service had paid off.

"The car feels better than it did this morning, it has more grip to the rear so I was happy with that," he said. "It's going to be an interesting fight."

Hirvonen was third quickest, losing 2.5s to Latvala, but remained calm.

"It is a very close fight," said the Citroen DS3 WRC driver. "There is a lot more gravel now and the car feels like it is understeering a lot, so I took it a little bit easier."

Even Latvala could not match Loeb's time, as the champion fell to the stage win with a 3.3s cushion over the Ford - and admitted he had been pushing hard.

"It's a good time, I'm really happy with this time for a second pass of the stage," said Loeb - who is now just 6.9s off the lead.

"The feeling was really good. The set-up is good now and I pushed really hard. It's also important to stay on the road, but at this speed you have to take some risks sometimes."

That time moved Loeb past Ostberg into third. The Adapta Ford driver was only sixth quickest on the stage, dropping 6.6s behind Loeb, but remaining 2.7s in front of Petter Solberg's works Ford.

Ostberg was at a loss to explain his relative lack of pace.

"I don't understand," he said. "We are not doing anything different and we are losing a lot.

"I just can't believe it, I don't understand anything."

Behind the front group, a fourth fastest time from Evgeny Novikov brought the M-Sport Ford closer to Dani Sordo's sixth-placed MINI. They are now five seconds apart.
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Justa Jim · Feb 10, 2012

Very cool. Dani in good position and the factory team in a snow bank. :lol:

Jim

Steve · Feb 10, 2012

SS7: Disaster for Loeb (WRC.com)

10 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS7, Kirkener 2 (7.10 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThis is an artificially made stage, through fields and small forests, created for spectators. What makes it tricky this time is that we have two long stages before with gravel even on the first passage, so this could certainly damage the tyres and remove some studs. The surface on this stage is just sheet ice, as the organisers water the road, so the person who wins this stage will be the person whose tyres are in the best condition.â€

How the action unfolded:

Sebastien Loeb has tumbled out of the Rally Sweden top 10 after going off the road on stage seven of the event.

The reigning world champion went off at the second corner of the short Kirkener stage and his Citroen DS3 WRC was stuck for nearly two minutes.

Loeb had just closed to within 6.9 seconds of the rally lead by winning stage six, but his incident on the next test dropped him to 2m03.0s from the front in 11th place.

Rally leader Mikko Hirvonen was quickest on the stage, despite not enjoying its condition.

"It was okay, lots of gravel and now it's starting to be very, very hard for the tyres," said the Citroen driver.

That result stretched his lead over Jari-Matti Latvala's Ford to a still close 1.1s, with Latvala pleased with his performance on the stage even though he dropped a little time.

"I was not happy with how this stage went in the morning so I tried to improve and now I was quite happy - it was quite a good performance," said Latvala.

Loeb rejoined after his incident just ahead of Mads Ostberg's Adapta Ford. The Norwegian was slightly irked to have to follow the champion through the stage but was still third quickest and is back up to third overall.

"Not so nice, he just got out in front of me," said Ostberg.

"We had the dust from him so it was not so easy. I took it steady. There's nothing we can do with that.

"It's not a long stage so it's not too bad, just a little bit difficult to see some corners."

Ostberg is now 6.1s ahead of Petter Solberg, who took the first two stages of the afternoon carefully to save tyres for later after being concerned he was losing too many studs this morning.

Evgeny Novikov was an impressive third quickest in the M-Sport Ford, and with Dani Sordo having a brief spin in the MINI on the stage, the Russian is now just half a second behind the Spaniard.

Sebastien Ogier delivered his first giant killing performance of the weekend on stage seven, going seventh quickest in his Volkswagen-run Super 2000 Skoda Fabia and moving up to 12th overall.
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Steve · Feb 10, 2012

Why Jim, why would you want to jinx him like that? (just kidding) Dani is now listed 18th. I don't know what happened to him yet but it looks like he didn't finish the stage (#8).

----------------

Strike that, he's still dropping down the order as more drivers finish the stage. Hoping for an update soon.

Steve · Feb 10, 2012

Sandell is 7th, 14th Araujo, 20th Sordo. I think Goransson and Nobre both stopped a few stages back.

SS8: Latvala retakes the lead (WRC.com)

10 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS8, Finnskogen 2 (20.97 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œI just hope that we have some tyres left for this stage, as for me this is the nicest stage of the whole rally. Itâ€™s really nice and flowing, with Finland-type roads. Only the last five kilometres or so are tricky; itâ€™s packed snow and so there will be deep ruts after a few cars. But the first 15-16 kilometres are fantastic. Iâ€™d expect the snow banks to be quite damaged the second time round.â€

How the action unfolded:

Fastest time on the repeat of Finnskogen put Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Jari-Matti Latvala back in the Rally Sweden lead by 2.6 seconds over Mikko Hirvonen, as the former team-mates' ferocious contest in the snow continued.

Latvala had led until the final stage before service this morning, when Hirvonen slipped ahead.

But after set-up changes at service, Latvala came back with a vengeance this afternoon, and on stage eight he took 3.7s out of the Citroen and reclaimed first position - despite feeling he could have handled the icy conditions better and being distracted by cars stopped on the stage.

Hirvonen was not surprised to lose the lead, having made set-up changes that did not pay off.

"That was not the best one," he admitted. "I did some changes to the car and it was not as good as before, so I took it a little bit steady.

"Jari-Matti will be in front of me a little bit now, but it's okay, there's still a long way to go."

One of the stopped cars that Latvala was worried he had been too distracted by was Dani Sordo's MINI. The Spaniard, who had been running fifth, was parked on the stage with his car's bonnet open, according to following crews, having been losing fluid from the John Cooper Works WRC before the stage start.

Mads Ostberg coped with brake issues to come through sixth quickest and maintain his overall third place - albeit now by only 0.9s over Petter Solberg, with the pair 26s off the lead.

Sordo's exit mean Evgeny Novikov (M-Sport Ford) picked up fifth with less of a fight than he expected, and elevated Henning Solberg (Go Fast Ford) and Patrik Sandell (MINI)'s close battle to a contest over sixth.

After his disastrous stage seven mistake, Sebastien Loeb was third quickest on stage eight, bringing his Citroen DS3 WRC up to eighth already as he passed Martin Prokop (Czech National Ford) and Eyvind Brynildsen (Adapta Ford). But the world champion said he had not been going flat-out.

"I didn't have any reason to take big risks," said Loeb. "We lost too much in the stage before.

"We had a good rhythm. We'll try to catch the drivers in front, but the task is now very big. It's not maximum attack."
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There's a bit of a break before the next stage.

Justa Jim · Feb 10, 2012

That is not great news, but it was due to a problem with the car and had nothing to do with his driving skills. Same thing kept happening to Kris last season (except for that one flip). Clearly the Prodrive car and its main driver are are very competitive.

Jim

Steve · Feb 10, 2012

Engine problems strike Sordo (WRC.com)

10 Feb 12

Dani Sordo, the winner of the opening superspecial stage in Sweden last night, is battling engine problems - which have almost certainly cost him the chance of a good result.

Having run comfortably in the top five, the Spaniard could only manage 27th fastest on the Finnskogen 2 stage and is now down to 19th overall. The drivers behind him reported seeing him stopped with the bonnet open and some fluid under the car.

When he got to the end of the stage he said that he was at a loss to understand what the problem was with his MINI John Cooper Works WRC - but that he feared he might not be able to continue in the event after a promising start.

He was not the only one with problems on the stage: Jari Ketomaa, in a Ford Fiesta WRC, was also struggling to finish and has dropped to 24th, having stopped very close to Sordo near the end of the stage following an excursion into the scenery.
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Justa Jim · Feb 10, 2012

".........following an excursion into the scenery."

Now that is a great description, if ever I heard one.

Jim

Steve · Feb 10, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Am5zfGVS1Uc]Day 1 Highlights (Loeb's crash) - 2012 Rally Sweden - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Feb 10, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49dlaFDXGrU]Super Stage - 2012 Rally Sweden - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Feb 10, 2012

According to Prodrive:

"Dani hit snowbank & knocked off alternator belt causing engine to overheat so he stopped on stage."

Justa Jim · Feb 10, 2012

Steve said: ↑

According to Prodrive:

"Dani hit snowbank & knocked off alternator belt causing engine to overheat so he stopped on stage."
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OK, looks like I have to take back what I said. Great clips Steve. Love the lights.

Jim

Steve · Feb 10, 2012

Sordo must have pushed his engine way past overheating, he is retired from the rally.

MINI standings:
8 - Sandell
14 - Araujo
38 - Goransson
45 - Nobre

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