Most liked posts in thread: WRC: Rallye Monte-Carlo 2013

Justa Jim · Jan 11, 2013

Wow, two great drivers. VW is doing this right and going for it. So did MINI, until they dumped everything, so I pulling for VW.

Jim

Steve · Jan 12, 2013

Kosciuszko talks after Monte testing (iRallylive.com)

12.01.2013 18:57

Michal Kosciuszko has been testing with Motorsport Italia ahead of Monte Carlo before starting his Recce. Under the Lotos Team WRC banner, he's competing in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC car for the first time in WRC. Motorsport Italia has issued these quotes:

"A lot will be new for me at Rallye Monte Carlo. Motorsport Italia has a partnership with DMACK for 2013, so as well as a new car, I have new tyres to test! However, Iâ€™m feeling positive about that and one thing that is familiar is the rally stages. It was great to win the PWRC category in Monte last year, but itâ€™ll be a whole new challenge this time around. Anyway, at Monte, what everyone has to remember is to go steady â€“ thereâ€™s no Rally 2, so one mistake and youâ€™re out!"

"Yesterday I did my first test to prepare for â€˜the Monteâ€™. It was a really fantastic day! Iâ€™d never tested the MINI John Cooper Works Countryman WRC on a twisty, alpine stage before, but I feel happy and comfortable with the team, many of whom I worked with on my PWRC project the last two years. This helps a lot. The only new face is my engineer Tomo [Thompson], but heâ€™s been great, helping me to feel familiar with the rally car and find the right set-up."

"We tested on a 4km road. The first 1.5km were clear Tarmac with no ice while the second 2.5km section was classic Monte conditions â€“ a mixture of ice, dry Tarmac and some snowy corners. These are really difficult conditions to tackle, so we made the most of yesterday to test all the tyres â€“ super soft, soft, snow (no studs) and snow-studded tyres, as well as making sure we clocked a few kilometres in the dark to see whatâ€™s possible. I didnâ€™t have too much experience in the dark, so this was really useful and the road looked like something from Star Wars!"

"The MINI feels nice â€“ I like the chassis a lot. It helps the drive into the corners and then you gain on the exit, because the balance of the car is very good. It handles well and Tomo helped me to find the places where I can use my MINI more. Iâ€™m feeling very positive about the car â€“ actually I was surprised that it only took a few kilometres to get into the MINI groove!"

"We headed down to Valence this morning and the next time weâ€™ll be in the car is for Shakedown on Tuesday. Iâ€™m very excited also to be part of the FIA Pre-event Press Conference on Tuesday. Itâ€™ll be great to sit alongside guys like Loeb, Ostberg, Ogier and local driver MichÃ¨le â€˜Bicheâ€™ Espinos. SÃ©b Ogier and I were actually in the JWRC at the same time and have always been good friends, so itâ€™ll be awesome to be competing with him again!"
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Jason Montague · Jan 15, 2013

:cornut: Thanks Steve for keeping us informed.

Jason

Steve · Jan 15, 2013

Crashton · Jan 15, 2013

^^^ Oh boy!!!

Jason Montague · Jan 15, 2013

:cornut: Well the weather outside is frightful but the fire is so delightful..................

Jason

Steve · Jan 15, 2013

:biggrin5:

I read they got 4cm of snow overnight but are expecting more. Could be entertaining, hoping for lots of video this year. :fingerscrossed:

Steve · Jan 15, 2013

This is from the shakedown, looks a bit slippery.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Lw6inZq1uo]WRC Rally Monte-carlo 2013 Touchette Ogier shakedown - YouTube[/ame]

Crashton · Jan 15, 2013

Nothing slipperier than a bit of wet snow over ice. I wonder if he was running studs. Snow & ice are the great equalizer. The power you have really doesn't matter too very much.

Steve · Jan 16, 2013

SS2: Loeb wins Burzet to lead at midday service (WRC.com)

16 Jan 13

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS2, Burzet â€“ St Martial (30.60 kilometres)

Stage description:

Burzet has been a Monte-Carlo regular for many years. After a fast start over bumpy valley roads, the stage climbs through a series of hairpin bends before passing through a forest into the village of Lachamp Raphael. The route then becomes much narrower on a spectacular technical descent towards St Martial. This final section is north facing, and exposed to the worst of the weather.

How the action unfolded:

Sebastien Loeb was at his imperious best through todayâ€™s second special stage of Rallye Monte Carlo, setting fastest time in treacherous conditions to move ahead of Sebastien Ogier at the top of the leaderboard.

Around 80 per cent of the test was covered by ice and snow, with only 3km of clear conditions at the start. It demanded studded rubber, but the predominantly dry roads in the previous stage took a toll on the spikes, and drivers had to use two already well-used tyres alongside two new ones.

Grip was at a premium, but Loeb showed all the experience gained by six Monte wins to go fastest by 10.4sec and began the journey back to the Valence service park with a 6.7sec lead in his Citroen DS3 WRC.

â€œI slid a lot in the opening stage and so I had only two tyres with full studs for this stage,â€ he explained. â€œIt was nearly all snow and ice and I missed some traction.â€

Sebastien Ogier showed his opening stage win was no fluke by going second fastest. His Volkswagen Polo R WRC had more studs remaining, and a relaxed Ogier was happy with his work. â€œWe were quite safe and had no moments. I had a good drive and made no mistakes,â€ he explained.

The two Frenchmen are already more than 30sec clear of their rivals, headed by Dani Sordo. The Spaniard was fifth quickest in his Citroen DS3 WRC and said: â€œConditions were unbelievable. Where the snow is disappearing and the asphalt comes though, you canâ€™t judge the grip and it would be easy to make a mistake.â€

Third in the stage and fourth overall is Juho Hanninen at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, but the 31-year-old Finn was a relieved man. â€œAfter 2km I hit a bridge with the right rear. I thought I would have to stop to change the tyre but it was OK. I drove slowly for the rest of the stage and thought I would lose more time,â€

Also going well was Bryan Bouffier whose Citroen DS3 WRC was fourth in the stage, ahead of Sordo and the Fiesta RS WRC of Thierry Neuville.

Qatar World Rally Teamâ€™s Neuville is fifth overall, just ahead of former team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. The Finn was ninth fastest in the stage,37.2sec behind Loeb and could only marvel at his colleagueâ€™s performance. â€œSeb was amazing. Itâ€™s just unbelievable,â€ he said.

Slipping down the order was Jari-Matti Latvala who incurred a 30sec penalty after checking into the stage arrival control late. â€œThe road section was tight. We stopped to change tyres but there wasnâ€™t enough time for that and we were three minutes late,â€ explained the Polo R WRC pilot.

Michal Kosciuszko continued to struggle with a misfiring MINI John Cooper, the Polish driver dropping more than two minutes.

WRC 2

Skoda Fabia S2000 driver Sepp Wiegand holds a 43sec lead of the WRC 2 classification after two stages. The German took the lead from early pace-setter Esapekka Lappi, also in a Skoda, who hit rocks midway through SS1, breaking a wheel and front suspension wishbone. German WRC veteran Armin Kremer is second in a Subaru Impreza, with Yuri Protosov third in another Subaru.

WRC 3

Heading to todayâ€™s midpoint service, Citroen DS3 R3T driver Renaud Poutot leads the two-car WRC 3 classification by 54.3sec. However the Frenchman is likely to face a tough challenge this afternoon from his rival, Sebastien Chardonnet, in another DS3. A puncture cost Chardonnet more than two minutes on todayâ€™s opening stage, but he was 1m13.5s faster than Poutot through SS2.
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Steve · Jan 16, 2013

SS3: Loeb edges further ahead (WRC.com)

16 Jan 13

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS3, Le Moulinon â€“ Antraigues (37.10 kilometres)

Stage description:

A classic Rallye Monte-Carlo stage, which was last used in this format in 1994. It starts from the Ardeche village of Le Moulinon, south west of Valence on narrow, twisty and technical roads then climbs gradually, passing through small villages, until reaching the top of the Col de la Fayolle at the midway point. From there the road widens and itâ€™s a fast descent, on bumpy roads to the finish at the village of Antraigues.

How the action unfolded:

Sebastien Loeb stretched his overall lead of Rallye-Monte Carlo to 26.6sec by setting the fastest time on the repeated Le Moulinon stage, run earlier as SS1.

The Citroen DS3 driver completed the test in 25m16.2s, 12.1sec quicker than Jari-Matti Latvala who was next fastest in his Volkswagen Polo R. Dani Sordo was third fastest, stopping the clock 15.4sec slower than Loeb.

With an allocation of just 30 winter tyres, many drivers elected to run a â€˜crossoverâ€™ choice on the largely dry SS3, typically with a combination of two winter and two asphalt tyres fitted front to back or, like Loeb, on diagonal corners.

â€œItâ€™s not so nice to drive without full studs but I think this is the fastest way to do it,â€ explained Loeb. â€œWe are here. We need to think about how we use our snow tyres. I expect more snow tomorrow and on Friday. We have to take care and think like that.â€

Latvala collected a 30 second road penalty before SS2 when work to try and soften his carâ€™s front suspension on a road section overran. After service however Latvala was far happier with the feeling in his Polo R. â€œI am pleased with that time, after the changes in service the car feels much better,â€ he said.

Sordo, meanwhile, was loving his competitive debut in the DS3. â€œIn the dry sections especially the car is incredible to drive â€“ the way it works is almost unbelievable,â€ he said.

Hirvonen was fourth fastest but didnâ€™t enjoy driving on a mixed set of tyres. â€œOkay, Iâ€™m happy to be here but itâ€™s very difficult to get a good feeling like this,â€ he said.

Fifth fastest Sebastien Ogier was satisfied to have got through the stage cleanly and hold second place overall. â€œItâ€™s okay, not a bad time,â€ he said, before adding that he wouldnâ€™t be chasing Loebâ€™s lead, saying, â€œI donâ€™t care about Loebâ€™s times!â€

At the midday service the problem with Michal Kosciuszkoâ€™s MINI John Cooper Works was traced to a faulty fuel injector. The Poleâ€™s luck showed no sign of improving on SS3 when the replacement injector proved to be faulty as well. Things went from bad to worse when he also picked up a puncture and had to stop mid-stage to change the wheel. He eventually completed the stage 7m14sec slower than Loeb.

After the finish control, crews set off on the 30km liaison section to the village of Burzet and the start of SS4.
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Steve · Jan 16, 2013

End of Day 1: Loeb already in command (best-of-rallylive.com)

16/01/2013 8:47 pm

Although he has no plans to contest the entire WRC in 2013, SÃ©bastien Loeb has clearly lost none of his motivation. The first four stages of the Rallye Monte-Carlo saw the CitroÃ«n driver leave his rivals gasping for breath, their ranks led by Volkswagenâ€™s SÃ©bastien Ogier who trails by 1m20.3s (!) after almost 140km of competitive action. The third man on tonightâ€™s all-Michelin podium is Loebâ€™s team-mate Mikko Hirvonen (+1m46.7s).

The snow that swept over much of France during the early part of the week made way for brighter, drier weather today as the 2013 World Rally Championship got under way with two loops of two stages.

Because of the resulting mixed conditions (clear asphalt, ice and snow), however, especially on the two visits to the awesome â€˜Le Burzetâ€™ test (SS2 and SS4), nearly all the front-runners (including Loeb!) were relieved to survive what turned out to be one of the most complex days in recent â€˜Monte-Carloâ€™ history.

â€œThere was less snow on Le Burzet than this morning but there were a number of places where you couldnâ€™t tell whether the road was wet or icy. The damp patches appear to be refreezing but you couldnâ€™t be sure,â€ reported the Frenchman at the end of SS4. â€œI lost grip in a few places, so I wasnâ€™t completely confident. Itâ€™s good to have reached the finishâ€¦â€

The veteranâ€™s closest chaser tonight is his ex-CitroÃ«n team-mate, SÃ©bastien Ogier, who has given Volkswagen an encouraging start to its first full WRC campaign. The Frenchman even led momentarily after SS1 before being passed by Loeb. VW will be pleased that he had a relatively trouble-free run, but Ogier himself spent much of the day repeating that he was concentrating on his own performance and not taking any notice of Loebâ€™s timesâ€¦

CitroÃ«nâ€™s new number one driver Mikko Hirvonen is third overall, but he rarely showed any real speed. â€œI really donâ€™t know why,â€ he said at the end of the day. â€œI hate these conditions!â€

For his first rally back in CitroÃ«n colours, Dani Sordo will be hoping for a strong points finish this week and his careful drive was rewarded by provisional fourth place (+2m01.7s), just behind Hirvonen.

Meanwhile, Jari-Matti Latvala is fifth (+2m32.2s) in the second Volkswagen Polo R and would have been challenging for a footing on the podium had he not taken a 30-second penalty for late arrival at the start of SS2. As a result, he is closely chased by Ford/M-Sportâ€™s best-placed representative, Evgeny Novikov (6th, +2m50.6s).

Tonightâ€™s top 10 is rounded off by CitroÃ«n privateer Bryan Bouffier (7th) and Ford Fiesta WRC drivers Juho Hanninen (8th), Monte rookie Mads Ostberg (9th) and Martin Prokop (10th).

The dayâ€™s chief victim was Fordâ€™s Thierry Neuville who crashed out on SS4, while Michal Kosciuszkoâ€™s first day of competition in a WRC car was poorly rewarded when his Mini picked up an engine problem. He is 21st. For information, the â€˜Rally2â€™ ruling does not apply to the Rallye Monte-Carlo, so a driver who retires cannot re-join the next day.
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Crashton · Jan 16, 2013

Thanks Steve, only 4 minutes or so, but pretty darned cool!

Steve · Jan 16, 2013

Kosciuszko's MINI splutters through Day 1 (iRallylive.com)

16.01.2013 20:12

Poland's WRC crew of Michal Kosciuszko and Maciej Szcepaniak had a troublesome day in their Lotos MINI WRC, dropping almost 15 minutes overall and ending up 21st overall:

"We headed out this morning in our MINI John Cooper Works WRC on snow-studded DMACK tyres and started off well. However, 8km into SS1 we began to have some problems with a fuel injector. When a fuel injector fails, there is no fuel flow. This causes a cylinder to fail and the engine to lose power. For us, it meant that we had to complete SS1 and SS2 on only three cylinders."

"That said, we were pleased to make it safely back to midday service where the mechanics did a fantastic job. They worked on the car flat out to replace the part - alongside softening the set-up a little to improve turn into icy corners - and we managed to get out on time for the second loop (still on our trusty snow-studded tyres)."

'Unfortunately, we had another fuel injector failed early in SS3, this time costing us a different cylinder. Then approximately 22km into SS3 we picked up a front left puncture. We stopped to change the tyre and this lost us just under two minutes."
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Steve · Jan 16, 2013

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiHQH89tWC0]Maximum Attack Juho HÃ¤nninen snow - Rallye Monte Carlo 2013 [HD] - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 16, 2013

Some of this was repeated in the article above, here's the full release.

Motorsport Italia Rallye Monte Carlo Day One (RallySportLive.com)

By RSL Staff | January 16, 2013

â€˜Good evening everyone,

â€˜Well, we always knew that Monte was going to be challenge and today certainly proved that! Most importantly, weâ€™re happy to have completed both loops of stages successfully and be back at evening service. As I said earlier in the week, itâ€™s a rally of endurance. Weâ€™ve made it through the first test and will be fit to fight another day tomorrow!

â€˜We headed out this morning in our MINI John Cooper Works WRC on snow-studded DMACK tyres and started off well. However, 8km into SS1 we began to have some problems with a fuel injector. When a fuel injector fails, there is no fuel flow. This causes a cylinder to fail and the engine to lose power. For us, it meant that we had to complete SS1 and SS2 on only three cylinders.

â€˜That said, we were pleased to make it safely back to midday service where the mechanics did a fantastic job. They worked on the car flat out to replace the part â€“ alongside softening the set-up a little to improve turn into icy corners â€“ and we managed to get out on time for the second loop (still on our trusty snow-studded tyres).

â€˜Unfortunately, we had another fuel injector failed early in SS3, this time costing us a different cylinder. Then approximately 22km into SS3 we picked up a front left puncture. We stopped to change the tyre and this lost us just under two minutes.

â€˜We didnâ€™t really have an opportunity to test our MINIâ€™s limits under these conditions. I did learn a little about how the chassis works, but our focus became the end of the day and making it back to service. After all, tomorrowâ€™s another day and with Monte, if youâ€™re still in the mix, anything can happen!

â€˜There are three days of rally stages to go now. If the conditions are similar to when we did recce, on Day Two weâ€™ll face two dry stages and one snow-covered test. I hope to have a better day tomorrow, especially, because the stage Iâ€™m most looking forward to is Sisteron on Friday. On recce this 36,70km stage was around 30km of dry Tarmac and the rest full snow. That means weâ€™ll probably go for a slick tyre, so that we can push on the asphalt, but weâ€™ll have to be very careful on the ice!

â€˜Before we get that far, we need to conquer Day Two. For updates from the team throughout the day, please visit www.facebook.com/motorsportita or follow @motorsportita on Twitter. And as always â€“ wish us luck!

â€˜Bye for now, Michałâ€™
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Steve · Jan 16, 2013

Significant technical issues...

Timing woe frustrates leader Loeb (MaxRally.com)

by Graham Lister / 16th January 2013

Monte Carlo Rally leader Sebastien Loeb has revealed that the failure of the WRC timing system on Wednesdayâ€™s opening leg meant he couldnâ€™t back off on stages three and four, despite building a handsome lead.

The world championship qualifier, the first for new timing service provider SIT, descended into chaos when erroneous results began appearing for stage three. This followed issues with safety tracking devices in the morning and a dearth of split timings, which remained a problem throughout the day.

â€œI wasnâ€™t measuring my pace at all, because with the official timing system not working, I couldnâ€™t change my rhythm in accordance with that of the other drivers,â€ said Loeb. â€œSo I pushed hard throughout the afternoon.â€

Loebâ€™s Citroen team boss Yves Matton also wasnâ€™t amused: â€œItâ€™s impossible to work like this,â€ he said.

Meanwhile, Volkswagen Motorsport head Jost Capito told Autosport: â€œItâ€™s completely unacceptable what we have seen today. The FIA expects the manufacturers and the teams to be properly prepared and they are charging a high entry fee. The least you can expect is the proper timing.â€

â€œAnd itâ€™s not just the timing, itâ€™s security too,â€ Capito continued. â€œThe FIA is pushing so much on safety, I donâ€™t know how they can run stages where the safety system is not working, where it shows up on the screen that there is an emergency, yet the car is moving. If there is a real emergency, then what will happen?â€

Officials from SIT, which replaced long-term provider Stage 1 Technology for 2013, and the FIA have both vowed to investigate the problems.
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Steve · Jan 17, 2013

The Monteâ€™s indispensable weather men (best-of-rallylive.com)

17/01/2013 11:25 am

They drove out of Valence in the middle of the night in order to be in position before daybreak at Pont de Chirat, roughly in the middle of SS6/9 ('St Bonnet-le-Froid'). The three top WRC teams all have a pool of weather men (see photo!), but we had an appointment to meet up with Nicolas who is working for Volkswagen this week...

Helmar, coordinator of the German makeâ€™s â€˜weatherâ€™ team, told us yesterday evening where we would find Nicolas and warned him that we would make contact. Two hours before the stageâ€™s scheduled start time, the nearby village of St Bonnet le Froid (â€˜froidâ€™ = â€˜coldâ€™) fully deserved its name. It was -10Â°C and there were tentative snowflakes floating in the icy air.

Like SÃ©bastien Ogier, Nicolas comes from Gap, in the French Alps. He first met the VW driver during the French Federationâ€™s â€˜Find a Young Driverâ€™ programme. After that, he did â€˜gravel notesâ€™ for Seb on the Rallye Hivernal des Hautes Alpes at the beginning of the latterâ€™s career. They clearly worked well together, since the event produced Ogierâ€™s first outright win. Soon afterwards, Nicolas spent a year in England to perfect his English and has now been recruited by the German team for this type of work.

â€œThis morning, I had to be in place for a first contact with the team at 6:55am,â€ Nicolas told us. â€œThat meant leaving my hotel in Valence at 4:45am because I wanted to give myself plenty of time. After parking up next to the stage at Pont de Chirat, I walked about a kilometre in both directions to see what the conditions were like. After that, I switched on my equipment, which essentially comprises a portable weather station. The team has given me pre-prepared forms to complete with information such as air and ground temperatures, in the sun (if there is any) and in the shade, as well as the atmospheric pressure, cloud cover, humidity levels and any other indications that might help the crews when to comes choosing the ideal tyres for the group of stages.

â€œAfter communicating all this data, my mission is to remain in place to monitor any changes and report back once an hour. On top of that, I am asked to call the team if there are any sudden changes in the weatherâ€¦

â€œOnce the stage starts, I note the split times and gaps between the top drivers. That information can be very useful if ever there is a problem with the official timing system. We also report back if we see one of the drivers in difficulty, or running at slow speed, etc.

â€œToday, I will stay at St Bonnet for this afternoonâ€™s visit, too. Some days, however, we need to travel to another stage. At the end of the day, I will return to the service park for a debriefing with the team, and then get in some welcome res and sleep. Because I will need to wake up early on Friday, tooâ€¦â€
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Steve · Jan 17, 2013

VW wins the first stage of the day again. Not bad for their debut.

SS5: Ogier fastest on Thursday’s opener (WRC.com)

17 Jan 13

Stage data: SS5, Labatie D'Andaure - Lalouvesc (19.08 kilometres)

Stage description:

This is an uphill challenge all the way, starting from just outside the village of Labatie D’Andaure at 500 metres above sea level and finishing at Lalouvesc at an altitude of 1086 metres. The opening five kilometres are on a wide, fast and flowing road, which climbs gently up the side of a valley. From there, until the halfway point, the road narrows and becomes more twisty and technical. After that it’s a much steeper climb on a twisty road that snakes its way through woodland to Lalouvesc.

How the action unfolded:

Having started Rallye Monte-Carlo with a fastest time on Wednesday’s opening stage, Sebastien Ogier did the same this morning, taking the second stage victory for the new Polo R on the 19km snow-covered SS5.

Ford Fiesta RS driver Evgeny Novikov was second fastest, 2.9sec slower than Ogier, with rally leader Sebastien Loeb 5.4sec off Ogier’s pace in his Citroen DS3.

Weather conditions in the Valence service park were clear and crisp with a temperature of -3 degrees Celsius as teams carried out the pre-stage 20-minute service. Sixty-four kilometres away at the start of SS5 however the temperature had plunged to -10 degrees.

In contrast to the mixed dry and ice-covered stages of day one, SS5 was more consistent, with seventy percent of the stage covered in packed snow. The studded winter tyre was the preferred choice, with many drivers electing to ration their supply of 20 by reusing some of the ones they had used on day one.

“That’s a great start,” said Ogier. “Very good conditions. Very slippy but fun to drive.”

Novikov, whose car was shod with a full set of brand new studded tyres, felt a more aggressive driving style had paid off. “I was a bit too careful yesterday so today I decided to push a bit harder on the snow where I feel comfortable - I’m happy with this time,” he said.

With a rally lead of 1m14.9s, Sebastien Loeb, was happy with his driving but concerned about his start position of first on the road. “These are proper Monte-Carlo conditions,” he said. “The end was full of snow, it was bright and sunny so really nice to drive. I’m not sure its good to be first of the road in the morning but we’ll see.”

Loeb’s team-mate Dani Sordo was fourth fastest, with Mads Ostberg rounding off the top five times.

Finns Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) and Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) were eighth and ninth fastest respectively, and both were unhappy with their driving. “I don’t know what the problem is but I just don’t have the speed here,” said Hirvonen. “It must be me because the car is fine.”

Latvala, who clipped a roadside pole on the stage, said: “I’m struggling on the snow and can’t get the feeling. I’m not going very well and that’s not good.”
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Steve · Jan 17, 2013

SS6: New studs pay dividends for Novikov (WRC.com)

17 Jan 13

Wrc.com stage summary

Stage data: SS6, St Bonnet – St Bonnet (25.45 kilometres)

Stage description:

St Bonnet is a Monte classic. The start and finish are in the village of St Bonnet le Froid, which comes alive as fans flood into the streets to provide a crackling atmosphere. The test comprises a high altitude clockwise loop north of St Bonnet, on predominantly wide and fast roads, but even the narrow sections are quick.

How the action unfolded:

The stage lived up to its name –‘froid’ it certainly was. Strong winds blew snow from the fields onto the roads and an air temperature of -11Â°C felt more like -30Â°C in the wind chill. Conditions were likened to those found in Sweden, and full studded tyres were the only sensible choice.

Evgeny Novikov took full advantage of his decision to fit a new set of studded rubber to his Ford Fiesta RS this morning and duly delivered the first stage win for the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team.

The young Russian was fastest by 4.9sec from team-mate Mads Ostberg and said: “I was on the limit. I was very careful in the braking areas. It was a difficult stage but I enjoyed it.”

Ostberg made some changes to the car before the stage and they clearly paid off for the Norwegian. “It worked better but I’m still not pushing,” he explained. “I didn’t want to push and I’m losing a lot of time in the high-speed areas.” Not that much though….

Juho Hanninen made it a Ford 1-2-3 in the stage, 8.3sec behind Novikov, although the Finn was slightly rattled after briefly sliding off the road on a fast right corner.

Fourth fastest was the Volkswagen Polo R of Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn was happier with his driving and realised that his brush with a roadside pole in the opening stage had actually punctured a tyre.

Those at the top of the leaderboard tackled the stage first and were hampered by snow on the road. Conditions improved as they swept the road to leave a cleaner and faster line for those behind.

Consequently Dani Sordo was fifth in his Citroen DS3, but that was sufficient to move the Spaniard into third overall, relegating Mikko Hirvonen. The gap between the two is just 5.0sec.

Rally leader Sebastien Loeb and Sebastien Ogier were just behind Sordo, Ogier losing a few seconds after spinning. As first on the road, Loeb endured the worst of the conditions.

“It started to snow and in some places there was a lot of snow in the road. I was making the line and there was no grip. It wasn’t as enjoyable as the first stage - more stressful than enjoyable,” he explained.

Bryan Bouffier spun his Citroen DS3 while Martin Prokop escaped unscathed after hitting a bank with his front left wheel in a high-speed section. Michal Kosciuszko’s troubled event continued when the Pole bent the right rear wheel on his MINI John Cooper Works and lost about a minute.
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