Round 11 04 - 07 Oct 12 Categories:WRC, SWRC, WRC Academy Based:Alsace Surface:Asphalt Website:Rallye de France Alsace France’s round of the World Rally Championship was contained on the stunning island of Corsica from 1973 until 2008. But the event’s return to the WRC schedule in 2010 following a gap year wasn’t to the Mediterranean island and its unrelenting mountain roads but to the Alsace region of France in the east of the country. Alsace is Sebastien Loeb country and it was highly fitting that the French ace secured his seventh world crown on a special stage run through the streets of his hometown of Haguenau when the region hosted its first WRC qualifier in October 2010. With a base on the outskirts of Strasbourg, the rally utilised a remote service halt in the town of Mulhouse on day one, which quickly became swamped by enthusiastic spectators who gathered in there thousands. Indeed, the event’s central location - not to mention the Loeb factor - ensured a phenomenal turn out of fans on all three days. While victory for Loeb was never in doubt, the inconsistent stage surfaces, mixture of narrow and fast sections and cold temperatures made for a challenging spectacle. Stages ranged from vineyard-based tests similar to those found on ADAC Rallye Deutschland, undulating forest roads, plus a 24-kilometre test through the Bitche military training area, before the final stage in Haguenau. Last year’s route included several tweaks with the first two stages on Friday’s opening day run in an opposite direction. The remote service halt moved to Colmar, while Mulhouse played host to an exciting street stage. Two new stages were added to the itinerary on Sunday with Haguenau the location for the event-closing Power Stage. Precise details of the 2012 edition of Rallye de France Alsace have still to be finalised although another thrilling battle for victory watched by thousands of fans is virtually guaranteed.
MINIs being prepped for rally. The two on the left are headed for France...one will be driven by three-time World Touring Car champion Yvan Muller (see next post).
Muller testing at Prodrive track ahead of France rally. Looks like they covered the lower sides to avoid damaging the sponsor / advertising wrap during the test.
WRC Team MINI Portugal Rallye de France Preview (RallySportLive.com) [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNbm22MfPUQ]Wicked Ridealong Movie in Chris 'Atko' Atkinson's MINI WRC.mp4 - YouTube[/ame]
Testing for the rally. Dani Sordo: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxtEgFcNR6I]Test Days Dani Sordo Rallye France-Alsace 2012 - YouTube[/ame] Chris Atkinson: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i39bw3OUN0s]Tests Day Chris Atkinson for Rallye de France Alsace 2012 [HD] Rallye-Addict.com - YouTube[/ame]
Meet Chris Atkinson's co-driver Glenn MacNeall: Four questions to Glenn MacNeall Glenn, welcome back, it's been a few years since we last saw you in the WRC outside of New Zealand. What have you been up to ? I'm currently co-driving in the FIA Asia Pacific Rally Championship alongside Indian driver Gaurav Gill and this year we've been team mates with Chris and Stephane. I've actually been working with Gaurav and Team MRF ever since I retired from co-driving for Chris in the WRC back in 2007. Back then Gaurav had just started out - he was previously a race driver. We've worked together for the past five years and he's got better and better. I've enjoyed working with him as he's progressed a lot over these five years which makes it pretty rewarding. We could have won the Championship two years ago, all we had to do was finish an event in China, but unfortunately we retired and he lost the Championship by one point! In a twist of fate the other driver had used two different co-drivers (including me!) so I still won the FIA Asia Pacific Co-driver Championship. I paired up with Chris in the World Rally Championship for two and a bit seasons when from 2005 to 2007 and prior to that I had competed in 2001 co-driving for Japanese driver Toshi Arai. In between all of that I also competed in the Australian Rally Championship for several years before returning to the PWRC with Toshi Arai for several seasons before switching to doing the Asia Pacific with MRF and Gaurav. How did you start out in rallying ? Rallying has been a family thing since I was very young. My parents are involved in the business as well and I have been a co-driver since I was 16 years old. My father is a member of the FIA Rallies Commission. They still live in Perth - an awesome place - which will always be home. I love the weather and the lifestyle there. I did a university degree in Perth mainly so I could keep rallying as much as possible as uni had heaps of holidays and they didn't care if you turned up to class (Shhhh!). I eventually passed my degree in Marketing and PR and never stopped being a co-driver. We all know about your career as a co-driver, but could you tell us more about your daily life ? I am a partner in a car dealership in Dunedin, New Zealand. Where is that you may ask? Deep in the South Island or three hours drive east of Queenstown on the coast. It's a city of only 120,000 people. Nice place but quite cold. I moved here from Australia and am a partner in a business in Dunedin. It isn't a big dealership at the moment, but we hope to grow it. It's a new challenge as we only took over the business two years ago. Do you have any hobbies or things you like to do in your free time ? I like the normal things most people do, hanging with friends, watching movies. I'm nowhere near as fit as I should be, which Chris use to give me hassle about when I was co-driving for him. We'd go running and he'd be off in the distance and I'd be panting behind. He's mellowed over the years though, we could never get him to drink even a coffee before rallies. Now he seems a tad (but just a tad) more relaxed and enjoying himself. I'm a bit of sad individual when it comes to motorsport as I like watching most forms of it. I did a rally as a driver recently. As a birthday present some people organised a car and I drove in a local club rally. It was a bit of fun, I spent 40 mins in a ditch on the third stage, but didn't do any damage so we got pulled out and carried on, was great!
Interesting on-boards. [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBz0slM1ZiI]Atko Test MINI Rallye de France 2012!.m4v - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEEnvPVYpCw]Dani SORDO -Tests day pré France 2012- [HD] Didvidéo - YouTube[/ame]
:lol: [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTwP-NUBJks]Multitasking Miracle: Atko's asked 10 Quick & Dirty Questions while driving a MINI.m4v - YouTube[/ame]
This ONLY makes sense after watching the above.... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7SqSNQeAFM]Roger Ramjet Opening Theme - YouTube[/ame]