WRC: Rally Sweden 2012

Crashton · Feb 10, 2012

As odd as it seems overheating does happen with some regularity on winter rally's. Stuff the nose in the snowbank & presto no air to the rad. Sorry for Dani's bad luck.

Justa Jim · Feb 10, 2012

It looks like they got to keep the numbers "37" and "52". I thought they might go to the new factory team, but I have no idea how the numbering thing works.

Jim

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

Nobre to run first on road (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Paulo Nobre is back at the head of the start list for day two of Rally Sweden, while leader Jari-Matti Latvala gets to run 19th on the road today.

Sweden marks the first time that the new 2012 running order rules have been in place. The leading cars are now reversed at the end of the first and second days, meaning the driver first on the leaderboard overnight no longer gets the worst of the stage conditions next day.

Team MINI Portugal driver Nobre should have been first on the road yesterday too, only to go off on the opening stage. But he is restarting under Rally 2 rules, and having incurred a whole day's worth of penalties, he is last among the World Rally Car drivers in the current results so is at the head of the start order today.

MINI's touring car guest Richard Goransson and Ford protege Ott Tanak - both of whom had dramas on Friday - will follow Nobre onto the stages.
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Steve · Feb 11, 2012

Factory fame for Motorsport Italia (best-of-rallylive.com)

This weekâ€™s announcement that Mini has terminated Prodriveâ€™s status as its official representative in the World Rally Championship seems to have played into the hands of Motorsport Italia. We spoke to the Italian operationâ€™s Team Principal Mario Stagni (photo) and Team Manager Bruno De Pianto about its new role as a factory team.

Motorsport Italia made its World Rally Championship debut in 2011 in order to run a Mini John Copper Works WRC for Portugalâ€™s Armindo Araujo. The people behind it are no newcomers to the sport, however, since the company has run parallel programmes with Mitsubishis under the name Ralliart Italia for 12 years. The group employs a full-time staff of 20 and is based in Inverigo, 20km north of Monza.

â€œWe are delighted, for sure.â€ confirmed Bruno De Pianto. â€œThe good point is that Mini has committed to the carâ€™s homologation until 2018, including the homologation of evolution parts next March. So itâ€™s a long term operation.â€

â€œWe will run two cars for Armindo and Paulo Nobre under the name WRC Team Mini Portugal at all the remaining rounds,â€ added Mario Stagni. â€œFollowing an agreement with the other teams, we will not actually score Manufacturersâ€™ points, however.â€

In its bid to build on recent developments, the team will naturally be counting on the services of its two drivers. â€œArmindo is a two-time Production World Champion who brings his consistency to the table. In his second season in the PWRC, he finished every round,â€ pointed out Katie Traxton, the teamâ€™s PR lady. â€œHeâ€™s more comfortable on gravel, so the Monte Carlo and Sweden are alien terrains for him. He will be at his best from Mexico. He also enjoys a big fan base at home and has a good relationship with Mini in Portugal.

â€œPaulo is slightly â€˜wackierâ€™, but he is 100 percent focused on his own goals,â€ continued Katie. â€œHeâ€™s a great morale-booster for everyone, too, and thatâ€™s important in a team.â€ In addition to his rallying activities, the Brazilian is a lawyer at home in Sao Paolo, and also vice-President of Sociedade Esportiva Palmeirinha, a Paulista soccer club with big ambitions and sponsor of the NÂ°14 Mini WRC. â€œHis involvement with Palmeiinha gives him a good understanding of the sporting psyche,â€ noted Katie.
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minimark · Feb 11, 2012

Yawn...

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

SS11: Latvala makes fast start (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS11, Vargasen 1 (24.63 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œOne of the best stages: everything you would expect from Rally Sweden. The stage starts with a narrow and twisty road then becomes a bit wider and stays like that. This stage is most famous for â€˜Colinâ€™s Crestâ€™ - a place where Colin McRae went off a few years ago. Itâ€™s a very difficult place with a blind crest where your line has to be absolutely right or youâ€™ll have very big problems...â€

How the action unfolded:

Mikko Hirvonen was determined to put the pressure back on Rally Sweden leader Jari-Matti Latvala as day two got underway, but it was the Ford man who set the pace on the leg-opening Vargasen stage.

Latvala came through 2.2 seconds faster than Hirvonen to set the fastest time, extending his overall advantage to 19s - despite having been slower than his rival early on the stage.

"It looked like at the beginning of the stage Mikko was already two seconds ahead of me, so I was slightly stressed at that moment," Latvala admitted.

"It was a part of the stage I have never driven very well. But after that I found a good rhythm on the fast, wider roads."

Hirvonen vowed not to let his former team-mate get away, though.

"I'm trying to push really hard but obviously he can see my splits and he's definitely fighting back," Hirvonen said.

"I'll really, really try to keep pressure on him and go as fast as I can."

Going second fastest on the stage did at least allow Hirvonen to pull away from second-place rival Petter Solberg, who was fourth quickest and dropped 11.5s behind the Citroen. That also meant Mads Ostberg's Adapta Ford moved back to within 8.8s of Solberg's works car, as the former responded to some early bad luck by charging to the third fastest time.

"Out of service we had a puncture, just after tyre marking," Ostberg explained.

"I only have a used spare so we are running on the left rear with a previously used right hand tyre. I was a bit angry, so I pushed quite hard..."

Star of the stage was Ott Tanak, who set a stunning fifth fastest time despite being third on the road following his Friday morning calamity, which had left him down in 28th on the overnight leaderboard.

Tanak was slightly quicker through the stage than world champion Sebastien Loeb (Citroen DS3 WRC), and although the Frenchman took 6.3s out of next target Henning Solberg, he admitted it would not be easy to catch the sixth-placed Go Fast Ford.

"It was difficult to find the rhythm in this one, I was not so confident. The grip was changing a lot with the snow," said Loeb.
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Steve · Feb 11, 2012

SS12: Stall hampers Solberg (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS12, Sagen 1 (14.23 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThis is one of Marcus Gronholmâ€™s favourite stages: in fact one of everyoneâ€™s favourite stages. Thereâ€™s a big main road all the way through and itâ€™s fast. Generally the ground is a bit higher so thereâ€™s more snow. Itâ€™s got the best snow banks because of that but the ice on the ground will be thin, so you need to look after the tyres.â€

How the action unfolded:

Jari-Matti Latvala pulled a little further away from Mikko Hirvonen in the Rally Sweden lead battle on stage 12, while Mads Ostberg edged slightly closer to Petter Solberg in their fight for third after the works Ford driver stalled at the stage start.

Latvala (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) was quickest on the stage, adding 0.9 seconds to his lead over Citroen driver Hirvonen, which made the gap 19.9s with two stages to go before service. The leader put his pace down to a more intelligent approach to the stage.

"I remember in the past I have pushed really, really hard on this stage and gone wide into the snow banks, so I tried to be more clever this time," Latvala said.

Hirvonen is confident his Citroen DS3 WRC is quick enough to close Latvala down as he gets ever more comfortable in it.

"I'm very happy with the car, it just needs a little more speed from myself to be able to fight Jari-Matti," he said.

Solberg's lead over Ostberg in the battle for third came down by 0.6s to 8.2s after Solberg stalled at the start - although he recovered several of the lost seconds with a charge through the stage.

"I didn't get in a proper rhythm because I stalled on the startline, so I lost a lot of time there at the start," said Solberg.

Ostberg was third quickest, despite being uneasy with the Adapta Ford's handling as his earlier puncture in service has left him running with what should be a right-side tyre on his left rear.

After setting the fourth fastest time, Evgeny Novikov declared that he was pushing hard with an eye on the recovering Sebastien Loeb, who is two places behind him in seventh. But a quick spin for Loeb on the stage took a little pressure off both Novikov and sixth-placed Henning Solberg.

There was bad news for another Ford driver, though, as Ott Tanak's brilliant third fastest time on stage 11 was followed by 21 minutes stuck in a ditch after a mistake on this stage.
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Steve · Feb 11, 2012

There are some great pics from yesterday here.

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

SS13: Hirvonen strikes back (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS13, Fredriksberg 1 (18.15 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œNormally itâ€™s one of my favourite stages but this year will be hard as after the recce itâ€™s already quite gravelly. It starts on a wider road by a lake and then turns into a forestry road. There are a lot of stones and tree stumps and it will be tricky as it is very narrow. There is packed snow in places so the grip is not consistent either. This is one that could catch the less experienced drivers out, as itâ€™s not always easy to stay on the road.â€

How the action unfolded:

Mikko Hirvonen trimmed 1.9 seconds from Jari-Matti Latvala's Rally Sweden lead as the Citroen man went quickest on the Fredriksberg stage.

Latvala's Ford Fiesta RS WRC had been inching away so far this morning, before Hirvonen stepped up his pace and got back within 18s of his rival in the overall standings.

"It's very, very close. But I really love it," said Hirvonen. "It's nice to have a good fight, and in a new car as well.

"I'm trying to take some time out of him and put some pressure on him. I've definitely been pushing really hard this morning. But there's always a little bit more left..."

Latvala said stage 13 just had not been quite to his taste.

"I didn't have a comfortable feeling, it felt very, very slippy and difficult to get the grip on this stage," said the rally leader.

"I took it a bit too steady at the beginning of the stage. I could've improved."

Making the stage even more promising for Citroen, Sebastien Loeb went third quickest, bringing him to within 17.7s of Henning Solberg's Go Fast Energy Ford in the chase for sixth.

After his incident yesterday and spin this morning, Loeb said his ambition for the rest of the day was fairly straightforward: "Hopefully I can stay on the road a bit more now..."

Battle still rages between Petter Solberg and Mads Ostberg in third and fourth, with the Norwegian Ford duo now split by 6.1s after Ostberg went quicker again on stage 13 despite his continuing tyre mismatch issue following an earlier puncture.

Just outside the top 10, Sebastien Ogier arrived at the stage finish with a right front puncture on his Volkswagen Motorsport-run Skoda Fabia, allowing his team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen to get closer in their personal battle.
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Steve · Feb 11, 2012

Sandell came 5th on this last morning stage and is still 8th overall. Araujo moved up to 13th and Nobre is 40th.

SS14: Tanak takes first stage win (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS14, Hagfors Sprint 1 (1.87 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: “What makes this stage difficult is that this is last of the loop as always and this year in particular there will be so many people who have completely destroyed their tyres. Even though this stage is only 1.8 kilometres long, you can lose a lot of time. Last year a Group N car was quickest as he was the only one with studs left. One year we lost seven seconds to Sebastien Loeb there; another year we managed to beat him by 20 seconds. So it’s a short stage but very important.”

How the action unfolded:

The short Hagfors Sprint stage saw a little bit of rallying history, as hotly-tipped Ford protege Ott Tanak took his first stage win in the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

The Go Fast Energy Ford driver is running a long way down the order after accidents both yesterday morning and this morning delayed him by nearly half an hour in total, but his raw pace is certainly not in doubt, as he demonstrated with a series of quick times leading up to his pacesetting run on stage 14.

Sebastien Loeb's Citroen DS3 WRC was second quickest, allowing the champion to carve 5.6 seconds out of Henning Solberg's advantage in their battle for sixth. The Go Fast Ford is now just 12.1s in front.

In the overall lead battle, Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) was 0.6s quicker than Mikko Hirvonen's Citroen on the stage, which means they are now 18.6s apart - to Hirvonen's slight frustration.

"I made a couple of little mistakes on this stage and every tenth of a second counts so this is not good," he said.

"It's just so close all the time - really pushing and on the limit."

Petter Solberg regained a little ground in the fight for third, and now has a 7.2s gap back to Mads Ostberg.

Stage 14 also saw a breakthrough for Nasser Al-Attiyah, who was an impressive fourth quickest as he continued to learn more about the Citroen DS3 and snow rallying.
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Justa Jim · Feb 11, 2012

He is hanging in there, but I would feel better if Kris were in the car.

Jim

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

SS15: Nothing to choose between leaders (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS15, Vargasen 2 (24.63 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œOne of the best stages: everything you would expect from Rally Sweden. The stage starts with a narrow and twisty road then becomes a bit wider and stays like that. This stage is most famous for â€˜Colinâ€™s Crestâ€™ - a place where Colin McRae went off a few years ago. Itâ€™s a very difficult place with a blind crest where your line has to be absolutely right or youâ€™ll have very big problems...â€

How the action unfolded:

Jari-Matti Latvala took another stage win on stage 15 of Rally Sweden, but was only 0.1 seconds faster than his rival for victory, Mikko Hirvonen.

Though there has been little to choose between the duo all weekend, their near-inseparable times on Vargasen made things took their closeness to another level.

Both men said they had been taking it easy to conserve tyres for a charge later in the day.

"I tried to save my tyres," said Ford driver Latvala. "I was a little bit worried as there was so much gravel on the road not to destroy the tyres. I preferred to back off a bit."

Hirvonen had adopted a similar plan.

"It went really well, and I tried to be sensible with the tyres as well, so let's see how it's going to go overall," said the Citroen man.

The ultra-tense battle for third place closed up a little more on stage 15, as Mads Ostberg (Adapta Ford) trimmed another seven tenths of a second from factory Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Petter Solberg's advantage, getting the gap down to 6.5s.

Sebastien Loeb's comeback charge has also taken a step forward, as he beat sixth-placed Henning Solberg by 11.5s on the stage to close to within just half a second in the overall standings. Evgeny Novikov, 44s in front of Solberg, will be the champion's next target.

In the best of the MINIs, Patrik Sandell has continued to pull away from Martin Prokop's Czech National Ford and make his eighth place more secure.
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Steve · Feb 11, 2012

A MINI "manufacturer team" driver doing the right thing, very cool. I hope everyone else concerned is as happy about it as Sandell...

Ups and downs for MINI drivers in Sweden (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

The MINI drivers on Rally Sweden have encountered mixed fortunes during the second day.

Patrik Sandell - the leading local driver - had a good run through the 15th stage, Vargasen, but MINI Portugal drivers Paulo Nobre and Armindo Araujo both hit problems.

Nobre - the only Brazilian driver to compete regularly on the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia - went off the road while running first in the order. The team has said that he may rejoin the event tomorrow, once it has had a chance to inspect the damage.

His team-mate Araujo, who started the day 14th, picked up a 70-second penalty for leaving service late at lunchtime following an exhaust manifold change. His problems were compounded by a loss of power, which caused him to push too hard and spin. He then deliberately went off the road a second time to avoid holding up Sandell behind him, losing just over a minute and a half in total.

â€œI liked the stage; it felt like there was a really good flow to it,â€ said Sandell, lying in eighth. "I saw Araujoâ€™s car in the distance: I think he had been off but then he went off again on purpose, putting his car into the ditch so I could get past: it was really nice of him.â€

Sandell, in eighth, is the only Prodrive MINI left in the rally after Dani Sordo went off yesterday and damaged the engine of his John Cooper Works WRC.
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Steve · Feb 11, 2012

When I read a couple days ago that they would only have one type of tire to use I assumed it was because of lots of similar conditions so tires wouldn't play much of a role. If the road isn't covered in snow those soft winter tires get chewed up and the studs pull out.

SS16: Fords fly on Sagen (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS16, Sagen 2 (14.23 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThis is one of Marcus Gronholmâ€™s favourite stages: in fact one of everyoneâ€™s favourite stages. Thereâ€™s a big main road all the way through and itâ€™s fast. Generally the ground is a bit higher so thereâ€™s more snow. Itâ€™s got the best snow banks because of that but the ice on the ground will be thin, so you need to look after the tyres.â€

How the action unfolded:

Stage 16 of Rally Sweden was a spectacular one for factory Ford duo Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg, as first and second fastest times saw them pull away from their rivals for the lead and final podium spot respectively.

Latvala's outright lead advantage over Citroen rival Mikko Hirvonen is now up to 23.6 seconds. Hirvonen still hopes he can strike back on the next stage, having conserved tyres on Sagen.

"Let's see, there's one [full-length] stage to go and I've tried to save my tyres a little bit so let's see what we can do in the next one," he said.

But Latvala reckoned a flat-out push on Sagen was the better option.

"We had a really good feeling, we were really enjoying this stage," he said. "Now it's going to be interesting in Fredriksberg, let's see how our tyres are.

"I wanted to come here fast because I felt this was a very important stage - I believe it's so gravelly on Fredriksberg that studs don't make such a big difference if they are moving or not."

Fourth-placed Mads Ostberg (Adapta Ford) also said he was taking it easy on his tyres through Sagen, but falling 14.2s behind Solberg in the podium fight also seemed to be due to the former champion's increasing confidence in the Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

"I have a set-up like Jari has now - much more grip in the chassis so I can push harder," said Solberg. "It's a little bit of a learning curve, it's all a bit of testing."

Sebastien Loeb was third quickest behind the two works Fords on the stage, allowing him to move past Henning Solberg's Go Fast Energy Ford for sixth. Now Loeb's Citroen is 40.6s behind fifth-placed Evgeny Novikov's M-Sport Ford, but Solberg has vowed to try and take the fight back to the world champion and reclaim his top six spot.
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Steve · Feb 11, 2012

Video!

I love the shopping cart on skis idea (around 12 seconds in).

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1wkJWNaitE]Leg 2 highlights - 2012 Rally Sweden - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Nathan · Feb 11, 2012

Sven there is a tree in the way of a viewing angle...good thing we brought the chain saw Lars...

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

This says Sandell came 5th but the official list at WRC.com shows him tied for 4th.

This is the last stage today. Sandell still stands 8th, 15th Araujo, 41st Goransson, 44th Nobre.

SS18: Loeb and Tanak share the spoils (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS18, Hagfors Sprint 2 (1.87 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œWhat makes this stage difficult is that this is last of the loop as always and this year in particular there will be so many people who have completely destroyed their tyres. Even though this stage is only 1.8 kilometres long, you can lose a lot of time. Last year a Group N car was quickest as he was the only one with studs left. One year we lost seven seconds to Sebastien Loeb there; another year we managed to beat him by 20 seconds. So itâ€™s a short stage but very important.â€

How the action unfolded:

Ott Tanak and Sebastien Loeb were equal fastest as day two of Rally Sweden was rounded off with a second visit to the Hagfors Sprint stage.

The first visit to the stage earlier today had seen Tanak claim a maiden World Rally Championship fastest stage time, but this evening Loeb equalled his pace as he continued his recovery drive after delays from a trip off the road, a spin and a puncture.

Citroen man Loeb's performance on the stage allowed him to edge ahead of Henning Solberg and end the day in sixth position, but for Tanak (Go Fast Energy Ford) - having lost nearly half an hour in incidents so far this weekend - only pride was at stake.

At the front of the field, Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala's lead over Mikko Hirvonen stands at 23 seconds going into day three after the Citroen - which had little grip left on its tyres - dropped a couple of seconds on the very icy stage.

Petter Solberg was able to add half a second to his advantage over Mads Ostberg, meaning 11.1s now separates them in their battle to be third and top Norwegian.

Once again, drivers further down the order thrived on the short Hagfors stage, with Citroen's newcomers Nasser Al-Attiyah and Thierry Neuville third and fourth quickest, and Patrik Sandell showing well in fifth for MINI as he edged away from Martin Prokop in the battle for eighth.
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