RallyBuzz |
- Oliveira to show his best as he debuts with the MINI WRC
- Armchair Guide to WRC Rally d’Italia Sardegna 2011
- WRC: The Van Merksteijns and Solberg head for Italy
- Rally of the Lakes 2011 Results LIVE Online!
- Last minutes issues at the Pirelli International Rally
- Pirelli International Rally, Carlisle – Interim report
| Oliveira to show his best as he debuts with the MINI WRC Posted: 30 Apr 2011 11:12 AM PDT Daniel Oliveira is set to embark on another great challenge in his rallying career when he tackles next week Rally d'Italia Sardegna onboard the WRC version of the brand new MINI John Cooper Works. In his maiden World Rally Championship campaign the BWRT ace driver has left behind two rounds, and before taking this important step forward into the top level class Oliveira recaps his performances and tell us about his expectations for the fifth round of the series. Two races two different challenges. What can you say so far? Well, Portugal was important to settle in with the car and with the whole WRC's atmosphere. It was three days of a smooth run, taking things calmly and trying to familiarize with the roads and the car's handling as well. Regrettably in Jordan we couldn't show anything, however, even in the most unfortunate situations you can learn something. I didn't come to any certain conclusion of my participations, but I'm sure we need to improve and learn more. And it's worked to help PRODRIVE to develop the MINI John Cooper Works. How did you feel with that task? It was difficult. We didn't have the chance of carrying on a proper test prior to our debut, so we are not taking major risks in terms of the car's setup; we are just making minor changes during the races. Nevertheless, I'm confident the car will prove all its potential in Sardinia. It will be a great change for sure. Talking about you jumping to the WRC version, tell us about your expectations. I've great expectations for this rally. I hope everything goes well and we could come with a fair race and a good result for the team. More to know As a first taste of what's to expect, Oliveira accompanied factory MINI driver Kris Meeke during a run at Prodrive's test track in Warwickshire (United Kingdom) early this year, however, his real test in the WRC version will be during the Shakedown. The Brazil WRT flew yesterday to Italy. Daniel Oliveira alongside his Portuguese navigator will start the pre-race activities next Tuesday with the recce, which will continue on Wednesday. The Shakedown will take place on Thursday morning whereas the rally will start at Olbia's waterfront during the evening. Event information This time Italy returns to the World Rally Championship after a one-year gap with the Mediterranean island of Sardinia again playing host to all the action. The base's event will be in the city of Olbia, with stages spread around the provinces of Olbia-Tempio, Sassari and Oristano. The Italian round will be valid for the WRC, SWRC and WRC Academy Championships. A total of 64 drivers have registered their names to take in the event. Frenchman Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) leads the standings with 74 points followed closely by the Finnish Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) with 72. The last winner was Ford Finish driver Jari-Matti Latvala. Photo: Lavadinho - BWRT
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| Armchair Guide to WRC Rally d’Italia Sardegna 2011 Posted: 30 Apr 2011 06:33 AM PDT Welcome to the RallyBuzz.com armchair guide for Rally d'Italia Sardegna, which takes place from 5-8 May 2011 and is round 5 of this year's World Rally Championship (WRC). The rally returns to the WRC after a year's absence and brings with it new roads for next Friday's opening leg close to the island's west coast. Described as technical and tricky, they will require pinpoint accuracy in the preparation of pace notes by drivers, who can make only two slow-speed passes over the stages before driving them flat out. This adds to the excitement of the title battle which so far has seen three different winners in four events, and where the Citroen DS3 WRC and the Ford Fiesta WRC are proving to be quite equal. In the manufacturers' championship Citroen and Ford are joint leaders with 130 points, while in the drivers' series the four works drivers of the two teams are enclosed in just eight points. Loeb is leading with 74 points, followed by Hirvonen with 72, Ogier with 69 and Latvala with 66, followed in fifth place by privateer Petter Solberg with 31. New for the weekend will be the debut of the MINI WRC team with the John Cooper Works WRC driven by Kris Meeke from Northern Ireland, who will be co-driven by Paul Nagle from the Republic of Ireland in car number 52, and Dani Sordo, with fellow Spaniard Carlos del Barrio co-driving, in car number 37. Another important announcement to be made in Olbia on Thursday, May 5th, will be that of Volkswagen which will unveil in Sardinia its programme for the 2012 World Rally Championship. The FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship and WRC Academy will also feature in Sardinia. Martin Prokop, Nasser Al-Attiyah, Juho Hanninen and the championship leader, Estonian Karl Kruuda, will all be at the start amongst the Super 2000 entrants. Among the WRC Academy drivers another Estonian, Egon Kaur, after his victory in Portugal, will have to defend himself from the attacks of Irishman Craig Breen and Spaniard Yeray Lemes. Source: www.rallyitaliasardegna.com Fact file Where the Citro�n people hangout� Itinerary Friday 6 May: Day 1 Olbia Saturday 7 May: Day 2 Olbia Sunday 8 May: Day 3 Olbia photo: mini motorsport
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| WRC: The Van Merksteijns and Solberg head for Italy Posted: 30 Apr 2011 05:19 AM PDT Photo: Willy Weyens - Rallyworld Three DS3 WRCs run by Citro�n Racing Technologies will start the Rally of Italy in Sardinia next weekend. Taking star billing will be Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson (Petter Solberg World Rally Team) who are aiming for a podium finish. Also driving is is the father and son line-up of Peter van Merksteijn Sr and Jr, co-driven by Erwin Mombaerts and Eddy Chevaillier respectively. The Dutch crews will be looking to maximise their experience of the DS3 on the demanding Italian rally. In order to prepare for the event, Petter Solberg and Peter van Merksteijn Jr took part in a recent test in the south of France. "We were using quite a rough place, which resembles the Sardinian stages," explained Benoit Nogier, who is in charge of Citro�n Racing Technologies. "Our drivers were able to get to grips with terrain that was a little more sandy and dusty than the roads we have seen on the latest rallies. We worked hard on the set-up of the Citro�n DS3 WRC in order to optimise the traction. Petter Solberg and Peter van Merksteijn Jr were able to benefit from the conditions to feel well-prepared for this weekend's action." The three crews will have very different objectives, according to Benoit Nogier. "We'd like to see Petter Solberg on the podium again," Nogier said. "He has been competitive since the start of the season and really deserves a result like this. For Peter van Merksteijn Jr, he just needs to accumulate more and more kilometres that will help him to make progress. His times in Portugal and Jordan were encouraging. His mission here will be to reach the finish. As for Peter van Merksteijn Sr, his sole objective is to enjoy himself on a World Championship round and we will be there to help him get the most out of it." Petter Solberg (Petter Solberg World Rally Team) has been extremely competitive since his very first kilometres in the Citro�n DS3 WRC, but so far has not yet been able to convert that into a podium. The Norwegian, the winner of the very first World Championship Rally held in Sardinia in 2004, will run fifth on the road throughout the opening day with the firm aim of playing a key role in proceedings. Peter van Merksteijn Jr was present in Portugal and Jordan and will continue his programme in Sardinia. Having become more and more consistent with every kilometre, the 28-year-old Dutchman will aim to continue making progress and cover as many stages as possible on his third appearance in the Citro�n DS3 WRC. Peter van Merksteijn Sr will make his Citro�n DS3 WRC debut on the Rally d'Italia. The 54-year-old was unavailable to come to the test session and will only get to drive the car for the first time during the shakedown. The owner of van Merksteijn Motorsport has been driving rallies since 1985 and forms an integral part of the team that also runs his son. Van Merksteijn Sr will be taking part in the 11th rally of his World Championship career, having previously participated in the Le Mans 24 Hours (winning LMP2 in 2008) and the legendary Dakar Rally.
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| Rally of the Lakes 2011 Results LIVE Online! Posted: 29 Apr 2011 08:46 PM PDT
Killarney International Rally of the Lakes 2011 Results Live Online.
Kevin Barrett leads the Irish Tarmac series heading into the Rally of the Lakes. Photo: Roy Dempster (www.roydempster.com) Rally of the Lakes 2011 Results: http://results.shannonsportsit.ie/results.php?rally=KY11 Day one of the 2011 International Rally of the Lakes will consist of 4 stages, Molls Gap, Beallaghbeama, Caragh Lake and Shanera, each of which will be used twice. First car will start Molls Gap at 8.03 and will arrive back to overnight Parc Ferme at 18.15. Service throughout the day is centralized at Liebherr Container Cranes on the main Killarney to Killorglin road. Rally of the Lakes 2011 Results: http://results.shannonsportsit.ie/results.php?rally=KY11 Cartell.ie International Rally of the Lakes - top 10 entries Rally of the Lakes 2011 Results.
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| Last minutes issues at the Pirelli International Rally Posted: 29 Apr 2011 08:20 PM PDT By John Evans (i2ipix.co.uk) A walk around the paddock and servicing area this afternoon before the International and Tour of Cumbria events kicked off, revealed some last minute gremlins that needed attention. Conor Flynn (BRCC) having successfully negotiated scrutineering found himself in a tight jam after the bonnet restraint pins were not replaced properly following scrutineering and the bonnet flew open on the road back to the servicing area, smashing the windscreen. Connor and his team managed to source a replacement screen from Preston and that vital bit of kit was winging its way to Carlisle to save the day. In the International Rally, Louise Cook initially failed scrutineering with her seats apparently being out of date. A hasty deal to acquire new seats followed and Louise made it to the stages at Newcastleton this evening, finishing 25th overall and 13th in class. Following issues with drive shafts during the week and a last minute replacement supply of these, Louise said she was just pleased to start the event and was looking forward to getting on with the rally. BRC Challenge leader, Matt Edwards had fueling issues with the MGZR, the refueling cap getting jammed with what is believed to be some grit. Some hasty spanner work resolved the issue and allowed the cap to be removed enabling the car to be fueled and the Swift Group backed driver along with co-driver Sambo Collis are eager to start the event, which for the Challenge series will be on Saturday, starting at the Tower Knowe Information Cente at Kielder Water. Phil Scholes (BRC Challenge) has had the Fiesta reliveried by FX Motorsport Graphics in time for this event and the car now sports a matt black finish. Scholes' team stated that he is keen to continue his fight with Edwards for the Championship title. Russ Thompson and Andy Murphy will be contesting the BRC Challenge event in the Clio after having an off at the Bulldog Rally and not finishing. Other minor tweaks and adjustments were in evidence in the servicing area which goes to show that rallying is never that straight forward and there always seems to be something that can be improved or repairs effected!
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| Pirelli International Rally, Carlisle – Interim report Posted: 29 Apr 2011 04:51 PM PDT 2011 Pirelli International Rally - Elfyn Evans on Newcastleton 1 battling through the dust. Photo: John Evans (i2ipix.co.uk) By John Evans Despite light rain showers at lunch time on Friday 29th April, the opening two stages of the rally, Newcastleton 1 and 2 were trobled by dust clouds. The stages were of 7.02 miles in length, each running the same layout except that stage 2 was run in the dark following a "met, greet and autograph" session in Newcastleton itself. . . Overall positions based on information released by rally control (unofficial classification) are as follows: 1. David Bogie (GBR), class R4, SS1 % SS2 combined stages times of 0:13:20.1 In class R3, McCormack (GBR) leads Donnelly (GBR) by just 0.6 of a second. Class R2 was hotly contested and Craig Breen (IRL) has a 2.6 second advantage over Jukka Korhonen (FIN). It was interesting to see that McCormack faired far better in the dark than in the light, shaving nearly 17 seconds off his first run. If the weather remains dry, then Kielder will once again give rise to dusty conditions, reducing visibility to folowing drivers unless the winds increase to assist in dispersing these clouds.
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