WRC: Rally Sweden 2012

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

More pics here. Only one MINI but still good stuff.

Crashton · Feb 11, 2012

Nice...

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

A few more of the current flag bearer (lifted from Prodrive):

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

SANDELL CONSOLIDATES 8TH POSITION IN MINI WRC
by Prodrive on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at 2:18pm

Rally Sweden â€“ day two report â€“ 11 Feb 2012

8 Stages: 117.76 km

Positions:

8th 52 P. SANDELL +4:31.8

retired 37 D. SORDO

Day two of Rally Sweden has seen Patrik Sandell settle into a rhythm in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC, retaining his eighth position throughout the day. Still in only his first event in a World Rally Car, Sandell has been coming to grips with the extra performance of the car.

Sandell took this morningâ€™s stages steadily and then with his confidence building, increased his speed during the afternoon, securing his highest stage position of fourth in the Hagfors Sprint, the last stage of the day. The Prodrive teamâ€™s target tomorrow is to retain eighth position and to keep ahead of Prokop.

Dave Wilcock, team principal:

â€œWeâ€™ve had no issues with the car today. The Michelin tyres have worked very well despite the lack of ice on todayâ€™s stages and after taking one spare yesterday afternoon and losing significant time on the final stages, we chose to carry two spares today and that certainly proved the right decision. The only hiccup today was when Patrik lost nearly 40 seconds on stage 17 after forgetting to remove some radiator blanking used on the road section, but other than that he has continued to gain confidence. He is now beginning to realise just how much mid-corner speed he can carry in a World Rally Car compared to cars he has driven before and for him, this is the one area he can gain a lot of time. Tomorrow is about consolidating his eighth position, not making any mistakes and gaining experience of the MINI WRC.â€

Patrik Sandell:

â€œWe have had another really good day and I feel I am getting faster and faster. Unfortunately on stage 17 I forgot to remove the radiator blank which protects it during the road stages and had to stop on the stage to take it out. This allowed Prokop to close right up, but I am confident I can grow my lead tomorrow and continue to develop as a driver. I just want to thank the Prodrive team; they are so professional and they are really helping me to get the best out of myself and the car.â
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Justa Jim · Feb 11, 2012

He is doing well, but after taking last season to teach Kris how the car handles, it depresses me to hear them taking about how the new kid is "gaining confidence" and learning how to drive the car. :frown5:

Jim

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

I'm with you there. Of course unless his sponsors decide it's worth the cash to sponsor his ride in other rallies, they're only teaching him how to finish up in Sweden. After that it'll be someone else (IF anyone comes up with the money to pay for the seat) and the next rally is in Mexico (8 - 11 Mar).

Steve · Feb 11, 2012

Sandell continues to lead the battle of the Swedes (WRC.com)

11 Feb 12

Patrik Sandell, now left as Prodrive's sole MINI representative, has enjoyed another great day at the wheel of the John Cooper Works WRC.

The Swede continues to hold eighth place at the end of day two and he is firmly on course to score his best-ever overall result at home, despite a small problem of his own making that risked his car overheating in the after.

Sandell explained: â€œWe have had another really good day and I feel I am getting faster and faster. Unfortunately on stage 17 I forgot to remove the radiator blank which protects it during the road stages and had to stop on the stage to take it out. This allowed Martin Prokop in the Ford to close right up, but I am confident I can grow my lead tomorrow and continue to develop as a driver.

"I just want to thank the Prodrive team; they are so professional and they are really helping me to get the best out of myself and the car.â€

The second-highest placed Swede is still P-G Andersson, who continues to lead the Super 2000 standings in his PROTON Satria with 14th overall. Andersson had a problem with his dampers freezing up in the morning, but a damper change at lunchtime transformed his car in the afternoon.
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Steve · Feb 11, 2012

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dca6KueNOvc]WRC 2012 | Rally Sweden_Day 1 Highlights HD - YouTube[/ame]

Crashton · Feb 11, 2012

Nice find Steve!

Hope you can find the finish of the Swedish....

Steve · Feb 12, 2012

SS19: Latvala makes a break (WRC.com)

12 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS19, Lesjofors 1 (15.00 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThis starts with a very familiar small road. Itâ€™s going to be tricky like all the other stages, as there is packed snow and gravel - meaning that the grip will change quite often. This is one of the softest stages: it goes immediately to gravel as there is no ice under the snow.â€

How the action unfolded:

Jari-Matti Latvala moved a big step closer to Rally Sweden victory as he started the final day with the fastest time on stage 19.

The Ford driver pulled a further 7.6 seconds clear of the chasing Mikko Hirvonen's Citroen, bringing his lead up to half a minute with five stages to go.

Latvala said he knew that a quick start to the last day could make all the difference.

"It gives a bit more of a relaxed feeling now," he said. "I knew that if he was going to come back, he was going to come back on the first one, so that's where I needed to be quick."

Hirvonen admitted that he was less comfortable in his car this morning.

"I was not confident at all and had a couple of big slides, and it's very slippery and was a narrow road," he said. "I took it steady, I didn't want to make a mistake when I didn't have a good feeling.

"We did some changes to the car just to see if we could save tyres a bit more and it wasn't so good. Better to be here than over there [off the road]."

The 'top Norwegian' fight over third place continued to gradually close up, as Mads Ostberg went 1.7s quicker than Petter Solberg to bring the gap down to 9.4s, despite the Adapta Ford driver feeling he could have gone much quicker.

"I tried to push now but it's very, very difficult conditions," said Ostberg. "It seems like a lot of drivers have gone off the road so there's no clean line for me to follow. We did a clean run and I just hope it's good enough."

Solberg reckoned a poor end to the stage had cost him.

"It's not too bad, but I lost everything at the end," said the Ford driver. "We just have to keep on pushing, that's it."

Evgeny Novikov promised yesterday that he would not let Sebastien Loeb catch him for fifth place, and going four seconds quicker than the champion on stage 19 was a good start.

"I won't let him catch us today, for sure," said Novikov. "We will go flat-out. It's fifth position or nothing, that's for sure."

Citroen team leader Loeb reckons Novikov's 48s advantage will probably be enough.

"There was too much snow in the stage, I couldn't get a really good rhythm," said Loeb. "It was too slippery. I tried to stay on the road. I think he will stay in front."
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Steve · Feb 12, 2012

SS20: Ostberg closes on Solberg (WRC.com)

12 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS20, Rammen 1 (22.76 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThis is Sundayâ€™s longest stage so it could be decisive. Itâ€™s either this or Torsby that is the fastest stage of the rally. There are quite a few junctions so the average speeds might be a bit lower, but there are definitely bits of it where your average speed will be more than 150kph. There are no snow banks at all so itâ€™s going to be quite scary. A great place for spectators.â€

How the action unfolded:

Mads Ostberg piled the pressure on Petter Solberg in the third place battle in Sweden as the Adapta Ford driver set the second quickest time behind Jari-Matti Latvala on stage 20.

While Ford Fiesta RS WRC driver Latvala's second stage win of the morning stretched his outright advantage over Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) to 35.3 seconds, Ostberg came through just 0.4s down on Latvala to close to within 6.8s of the Finn's team-mate Petter Solberg.

"It's a good morning, we are pushing quite hard and it's working well, so we are happy," declared Ostberg.

Solberg admitted Ostberg was simply proving faster so far today.

"I'm trying everything I can and he's driving very well," said the former champion. "I made a couple of mistakes in there. We will try."

At the front, Latvala's mood is becoming increasingly relaxed.

"We have a good feeling," he said. "The first part of the stage didn't go so well, and after that I started to get the rhythm."

Hirvonen said his focus had turned to protecting the 23s cushion back to third-placed Solberg.

"It is just about keeping second position now," said the Citroen driver.

"We did some changes to the car in the morning to see if we can help tyre wear a little bit, but now it's quite difficult to drive and I don't have any confidence, so I'd rather keep my place now."

Also settling for his position is Sebastien Loeb. Now 20s clear of Henning Solberg, the reigning champion reckons fifth-placed Evgeny Novikov is out of reach.

"Hopefully we'll just finish this rally in this position now," said Loeb.

The Citroen driver took eight seconds out of Novikov (M-Sport Ford) on stage 20, but the Russian was not concerned as he maintained a 40.2s advantage.

"There are not so many kilometres to go and I have split times for Mr Loeb and I can control my speed, so it's okay," said Novikov.
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Steve · Feb 12, 2012

SS21: Ostberg quickest again (WRC.com)

12 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS21, Hagfors 1 (4.66 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThereâ€™s a new start from the centre of Hagfors. The first 1.3 kilometres are all new, then we get onto the ski slope and itâ€™s the same as last year. This isnâ€™t my favourite stage as itâ€™s not typical of any of the other stages and itâ€™s hard to get a good rhythm. As itâ€™s the last stage of the loop you donâ€™t have to worry about looking after the tyres.â€

How the action unfolded:

Mads Ostberg was quickest for a second straight stage as the Rally Sweden contenders had their first run through the Hagfors test that will be used as the Power Stage this afternoon.

The Adapta Ford driver was 1.9 seconds faster than second-quickest man Petter Solberg (Ford), his rival for the final podium spot. The gap between them is now just 4.9s with three stages to go.

Despite going quickest, Ostberg felt the stage conditions had been tough.

"There is a lot of snow in the road, it's very difficult to keep the line, and there are some big rocks in the road," he said.

"You need to follow the lines, but then there is the risk of a puncture. We were pushing quite hard on the last two stages so the tyres are not perfect."

Overall top two Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen - who are now split by 35.6s in the outright standings - both took a cautious approach, though they were still third and fourth in the stage results.

"I just tried to avoid everything and get around the rocks," said Citroen driver Hirvonen. "It's so rough and rutted, so many rocks. It's very tricky."

His Ford rival added: "There are a lot of rocks visible and I tried to take it easy. Maybe my time wasn't the quickest. I tried to be a bit sensible."

After allowing Sebastien Loeb to gain a little on the previous stage, Evgeny Novikov put his foot to the floor again on stage 21.

"On this stage I tried to push a bit, but not maximum-maximum," he said. "I can go faster on the Power Stage. The plan on the next two stages is to take it easy. Loeb does not worry me. Then on the Power Stage I will push to the maximum."

Loeb, who is 41.4s behind Novikov and now a comfortable 20.7s ahead of Henning Solberg was another man to go gently through stage 21.

"It's not only slippery, you have some big stones everywhere on the road," he said. "We will have to go slowly on the Power Stage."
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Steve · Feb 12, 2012

Sunday midday wrap: Hirvonen concedes defeat (WRC.com)

12 Feb 12

Jari-Matti Latvala just has to keep things steady through three more stages to kickstart his 2012 FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia title bid with Rally Sweden victory after his rival Mikko Hirvonen fell back on the final morning and admitted Latvala could not be caught.

Hirvonen had hoped a set-up change this morning would preserve the tyres on his Citroen DS3 WRC better, but instead it left him struggling to find confidence to really lean on the car. Latvala pulled away by seven seconds on the first stage alone, and afterwards Hirvonen conceded that his gallant push for victory was over and he would have to settle for second as he dropped over half a minute adrift.

"I'll just try to save my tyres a little bit, keep my position and then try to attack on the Power Stage," he said.

Hirvonen added that he would keep an eye on the chasing Petter Solberg, but Latvala's factory Ford team-mate looks far too busy trying to resist the Adapta Ford of Mads Ostberg to think about trying to hunt down Hirvonen. The charging Ostberg has inched a little closer to Solberg with every stage today and is now just 4.9 secnds behind.

"I'm trying my best," Solberg promised.

Unless anything dramatic happens on the final loop, Evgeny Novikov looks to have fifth place in the bag for M-Sport Ford. The Russian's decision to keep pushing yesterday in the expectation that the recovering Sebastien Loeb would eventually be chasing his tail seems to have paid off. Even though Novikov had vowed he would rather crash out than lose fifth, having seen that Loeb was still 48s adrift with five stages to go, he started taking it easier and watching the splits, with Loeb admitting that he had no expectation of getting any higher than sixth now his battle for the spot with Go Fast Energy Ford's Henning Solberg seemed resolved.

Another fight now settled is the tussle for eighth. Patrick Sandell had slipped back into Martin Prokop's clutches when he accidentally left a radiator blank on his MINI yesterday when he should have removed it at the end of a road section, but a charge this morning has pulled Sandell 23s clear of the Czech National Ford.

"My MINI is perfect," Sandell declared.
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Steve · Feb 12, 2012

SS22: Puncture blows for Latvala and Solberg (WRC.com)

12 Feb 12

WRC.com stage summary

Stage data: SS22, Lesjofors 2 (15.00 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThis starts with a very familiar small road. Itâ€™s going to be tricky like all the other stages, as there is packed snow and gravel - meaning that the grip will change quite often. This is one of the softest stages: it goes immediately to gravel as there is no ice under the snow.â€

How the action unfolded:

The battle for Rally Sweden victory dramatically came alive again three stages from the end as Jari-Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg both picked up tyre damage on their works Ford Fiesta RS WRCs.

Latvala had charged into a 35-second lead over Mikko Hirvonen this morning, but saw that gap slashed to 8.4s with two stages remaining after hitting a rock on Lesjofors.

"There is a rock I've never, ever seen on this stage," said Latvala. "It's just come through the ruts on the big wide road. I only felt it when I hit it."

Though he still thinks his lead will be sufficient, Latvala admitted he was now under a lot of pressure.

"Now we need to push," he said. "It should be quite okay still. I have to go flat-out."

Fellow factory Ford driver Solberg suffered exactly the same problem on the stage, losing half a minute and handing third place to weekend-long sparring partner Mads Ostberg.

"There's just a lot of rocks out there. I touched one and that's it. Very disappointing," said Solberg.

Ostberg had been surprised to see Solberg losing time on the splits, having felt he was taking it easy on this stage. Yet he ended up quickest of all, and is now 25s in front of Solberg.

"I was quite careful there trying to save my tyres for the next stage, so if I can take some time on this stage I'm very happy with that," said Ostberg, before learning of Solberg's puncture.

Behind them, Sebastien Loeb took nine seconds out of fifth-placed Evgeny Novikov, but the Russian said he had it all under control.

"Everything is okay, I'm not pushing at all and trying to save the tyres," said Novikov, who is still just over half a minute in front of the Citroen. "I will push on the Power Stage."

But the stage saw more misery for Novikov's M-Sport Ford team-mate Ott Tanak, as the Estonian parked at the side of the stage with apparent mechanical problems.
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Steve · Feb 12, 2012

SS23: Latvala reasserts his authority (WRC.com)

12 Feb 12

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS23, Rammen 2 (22.76 kilometres)

Stage description:
By Citroen Total World Rally Team co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen: â€œThis is Sundayâ€™s longest stage so it could be decisive. Itâ€™s either this or Torsby that is the fastest stage of the rally. There are quite a few junctions so the average speeds might be a bit lower, but there are definitely bits of it where your average speed will be more than 150kph. There are no snow banks at all so itâ€™s going to be quite scary. A great place for spectators.â€

How the action unfolded:

If anyone thought Jari-Matti Latvala's stage 22 puncture was going to jeopardise his chances of Rally Sweden victory, he quickly dismissed such notions by flying to the fastest time on stage 23 and bringing his lead over Mikko Hirvonen back up to 12 seconds.

But with a tricky Power Stage still remaining, Latvala remained tense and was taking nothing for granted.

"Luckily I managed to take some time from Mikko. This gives a little more margin for the Power Stage," he said.

"I have to be incredibly focused for this stage. We need this win for the team. I made one mistake, I have to get myself together for the finish now."

Latvala's nerves may be unnecessary though, as Hirvonen insisted his victory bid was over.

"I had to give up quite early on this stage. It was so slippery and I had a couple of big moments," he said. "I did the first stage flat-out and destroyed my tyres, and okay Jari-Matti had a puncture, but then his tyres are much better for this stage. I can't fight against him now."

The Citroen driver was also pessimistic about his chances of picking up anything from the Power Stage.

"With these tyres that would be some sort of a miracle, but you never know," said Hirvonen.

After Petter Solberg's stage 22 puncture all-but-guaranteed that Mads Ostberg would finish third, Solberg decided to drive conservatively through stage 23 and save tyres in the hope of grabbing some bonus points.

"It was too bad. I'm very, very disappointed," he said of his tyre blow. "In this stage I just took it very, very calm. I'll try to get the three points on the Power Stage. It's good for Mads, he has done a very good job."

Fifth-placed Evgeny Novikov also has an eye on scoring on the Power Stage, but Sebastien Loeb said his priority was just to survive it without delays, as he feels the number of rocks on the deciding stage will be an issue so concentrated on pulling clear of Henning Solberg now to give himself a cushion of 45.8s.

"For me there is a 90 per cent chance of a puncture if you push there," said Loeb of the Power Stage. "I've tried to increase my lead over Henning as much as possible."
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Steve · Feb 12, 2012

Colin's Crest video

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nO2kv6UWEuU]Colin's Crest jump - 2012 Rally Sweden - Best-of-RallyLive.com - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Feb 12, 2012

Extreme conditions for the mechanics, too! (best-of-rallylive.com)

Rally Sweden is reputed as one of the toughest rounds of the World Rally Championship, but it isnâ€™t an easy event, either, for the mechanics who have to work on the cars in freezing temperatures.

It was exactly 10 years ago that CitroÃ«n discovered Swedenâ€™s unique conditions for the first time. I can still remember the two Xsara WRCs parked up under insufficiently heated tents, and SÃ©bastien Loeb shivering at the sight of his Swedish team-mate Thomas RadstrÃ¶m with his race suitâ€™s sleeves pushed up to the elbows!

Things have moved on a great deal since, of course, and we went to find out what has changed for the mechanics. Best-of-RallyLive had a chat with Laurent, the guy in charge of the DS3 WRCâ€™s gearboxes. He was involved from the start of the French teamâ€™s WRC adventure.

â€œThe conditions in which we work have evolved significantly in the space of 10 years. Today, we work on the cars in closed, well-heated tents. We also lay a wooden floor instead of the plastic sheeting we used in the past. So thatâ€™s more comfortable, too.

â€œCitroÃ«n has always provided us with appropriate clothing, but this year we have the added benefit of boots with heated soles, so thatâ€™s nice. Before, we used to stuff them with newspaper to keep our feet warm.

â€œOur work is a little more complex here, if only because of all the bulky clothing we have to wear. Even so, we soon forget the cold when the cars come into service and we donâ€™t take any longer to do the different jobs. On Saturday, for example, we changed a gearbox and clutch assembly in the same time as we do on other rallies.

â€œAt each service halt, we begin by removing the ice that has built up under the cars [between 10 and 20kg!], but that doesnâ€™t take any longer than removing mud from the cars on, say, RallyGB. In Sweden, the cars are actually fitted with less underbody protective shielding than on gravel. They are nearly in asphalt trim!â€

Laurent remembers working for the team in 2004, the year SÃ©bastien Loeb won the event, when the thermometer dipped to minus 37Â°C. The conditions were marginally warmer when the test team mechanics had to cope with minus 30Â°C while they were here last week, before looking after Hirvonenâ€™s car on the Rally Finnskog. The WRC mechanics who are here this weekend were back in the cosily warm workshops in VÃ©lizy, France, putting the finishing touches to the DS3 WRCs that will compete in Mexico.
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Steve · Feb 12, 2012

A bit on tires and studs from Petter Solberg's blog:

This weekend there has been a lot of talking about taking care of tyres. Drivers can bring with them two spares in the car out on the stages. It is always difficult to decide when to put them on.

It is all about keeping the studs on the tyres. During driving, the tyres gets so warm and the studs starts to move, and they are not working as good as they should anymore. Worst case, the studs fall off.

Regulations limit the team to just one tyre from partner Michelin. The X-Ice North will be equipped with 380 studs to provide maximum grip in the snow and ice. Each stud is 20mm long and 4g in weight. However, just 7mm are exposed, with 13mm inserted into the tyre to provide a strong anchor.
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Steve · Feb 12, 2012

Sandell is still holding 8th and is 25 sec ahead of 9th place Prokop with only the 4.66km Power Stage to go. Looks like that's how it will end but I'll be back on later to post any other info I can find.

minimark · Feb 12, 2012

Thanks Steve for the great coverage!!! Wish the Minis were nearer the front but 8th is still respectable!!!!

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