Global Rally News

GRN's 2011 round-up: World Rally Championship (Part 2)
Part 2 of GRN's WRC round-up kicks off with the summer spectacular that is Rally Finland, known for obvious reasons as the 'Grand Prix on gravel'.

Sebastian Loeb became the only non-Finn in the history of the World Rally Championship to win Rally Finland, or the 1000 Lakes Rally as it used to be known, twice. After pre-event favourite Mikko Hirvonen crashed on SS1, and Loeb's team-mate Sebastian Ogier picked up a puncture on SS17 so it came down to a fight between Loeb and Jari-Matti Latvala. Problems for Latvala and an on-form Loeb denied the Finn the win, but he did show what could have been with an amazing performance in the closing stages of the event, although by his own admission it came too late.

“It feels very good. For sure it was a very difficult race with the other drivers dropping behind me to make me clean the road. But finally we won and in the end it was a big relief and maybe the best win of my career.” said Loeb.

Ogier was demoted to third after his puncture, convinced he could have won the event. Mikko Hirvonen put in probably the best drive of the rally, and possibly of his career too, to fight back to fourth after his SS1 crash. Indeed, such was Hirvonen's pace, that he went from 34^th overall and 2 mins off the lead at the end of Day 1 to fourth overall and just over 1 min off the lead by the end of the rally. Oh yes, and he took 13 stage wins (including the Power Stage) along the way too, more than 50% of the stages of the rally. Fifth was Petter Solberg, who couldn't explain his own lack of pace after his pre-event tests showed all the right things. Fellow Norwegian Mads Ostberg took sixth in his Fiesta, showing some strong times, and sporting a black armband in memory of the victims of the terror attacks in his home county.

Sebastian Loeb was finally beaten in Germany, the rally he has come to dominate in the 8 years it has been run. However, it was another Sebastian in another Citroen that did win the event.

Sebastian Ogier took the lead after Loeb picked up a puncture, one he couldn't explain, on SS14. Dropping 1 min 11 secs to Ogier after the puncture, Loeb wiped over 30 secs out of Ogier, including 15 secs on the rain-hit Dhrontal 2 test. It wasn't enough in the end, with Ogier winning but Loeb won the Power Stage, some consolation at least.

“My team-mate is so strong on this rally so to get the victory and the extra points in the Power Stage is a very good result,” said Ogier. “Mathematically the championship is still possible and I have to believe I have a chance. As long as there is a chance then I am going to try.” said Ogier.

Dani Sordo took third in an excellent display onboard his MINI John Cooper Works WRC, it's tarmac début. Electrical problems halted team-mate Meeke's efforts, but it was nevertheless a good showing from the MINI's. Mikko Hirvonen took fourth, not a bad result considering there were 3 tarmac specialists in front of him, and it's not his favourite surface. Petter Solberg took fifth, plus one point from the Power Stage. Multiple punctures early on in the rally slowed him considerably however. Kimi Raikkonen took sixth in what was a rally with “too many mistakes” for the Finn's own liking.

Citroen's run of 8 straight wins came to an abrupt and embarrassing end when Mikko Hirvonen took the win 'Down Under' in Australia. Both Citroen drivers went out on Friday, with Loeb rolling his DS3 WRC and Ogier having an argument with a tree in his example. Unfortunately the tree won and he too was taken out. Both managed to fight back to 10^th and 11^th respectively, with Loeb winning the Power Stage.

“This is a fantastic feeling and a very important result for the team and for my championship chances. I have to say a big thank you to my team and also to Jari-Matti for slowing down. I’m back in the game but we have to work really hard now to improve our pace on Tarmac [the surface of the next two rounds].” said Hirvonen.

Hirvonen's team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala lead into the final day, but dutifully stepped aside to allow his team-mate to win. Petter Solberg took third, delighted to be “back on the pace”, marking his first podium since Italy. Matthew Wilson equalled his best result of fourth with a controlled drive. Khalid Al-Qassimi took his best ever finish of fifth, thanking his co-driver Michael Orr and his team for supporting him. Newly crowned P-WRC Champion Hayden Paddon took sixth in his Group N Subaru Impreza, marking his fourth win from four starts in this year's P-WRC.

The second tarmac event of the year went to Sebastian Ogier, in France. Sebastian Loeb's engine went 'bang' on Day 1, leaving Ogier the sole remaining Citroen works entry. He duly delivered, although after a fight with Dani Sordo's MINI. Sordo took second in the end up, something he was very happy about, only 6 secs behind Ogier. Mikko Hirvonen inherited third after Petter Solberg was excluded from the rally post-event after a technical infringement.

Ogier said: “It’s a very good feeling. It was difficult at the end because there was a lot of pressure after the problem for Seb [Loeb]. It’s very important for the championship but now I must do two good rallies.”

Jari-Matti Latvala took fourth after electing to drop behind his team-mate to aid him in the Driver's Championship. His sportsmanship was rewarded with 3 extra points on the Power Stage. Dennis Kuipers took his best finish, which was coincidently the best finish for a Dutch driver as well, in the WRC with fifth. Henning Solberg inherited seventh when Armindo Araujo crashed his MINI into a wall, and then seventh became sixth when his younger brother Petter was excluded.

Sebastian Loeb returned to winning ways 3 weeks later with a commanding win in Spain. His comfortable gap of 2 mins over Mikko Hirvonen didn't tell the entire story though. For most of the mixed-surface event, Ford's Jari-Matti Latvala scrapped with Loeb over the top spot, and Latvala only really relinquished the lead when he lost a lot of time in the hanging dust during the rather unpopular, with the drivers anyway, night stage. He then, as in France 3 weeks ago, dropped time to let Hirvonen, fighting for the Championship, up into second.

“It was a really good rally for us coming from three bad rallies We did the perfect race I would say with no mistakes. Mikko has taken a lot of points so we stay very close in the championship but the point for the Power Stage could be very important.” said event winner Loeb.

Dani Sordo failed to live up to pro-event expectation from his home fans, owing to a puncture and steering problems, but a strong fourth place in the end was surely deserved. Team-mate Kris Meeke gained his first points with a solid drive to fifth place, winning the Power Stage too. Ironically, Meeke had never taken part in a Power Stage, and was shocked to see he had beaten Sordo to the extra 3 points. Mads Ostberg continued to put in strong drives with a fine sixth place in the Stobart Fiesta.

With Ogier going out with an engine failure, it shaped up to be a tight finish to the season. Ogier was now mathematically out of the running, so it came down to just 8 points between Loeb and Hirvonen, an almost re-run of 2009. 8 points may have seemed like a lot, but with 7 points between first and second places and an extra 3 points for the Power Stage, it was as tight as you like.

Loeb and Hirvonen knew that neither of them could afford a slip-up and had to hell for leather to win the rally, and the Power Stage, and thus the title. The lead changed hands between the pair for the first 6 stages, never far apart. SS7 more-or-less handed Loeb the title after Hirvonen spun, hit a tree & did terminal damage to the engine. He tried to continue, but the engine gave up. Championship over for the young Finn.

Latvala, the sole remaining Ford, set about denying Loeb the Welsh win. He put in an amazing charge against the Frenchman, taking fastest time after fastest time, to knock Loeb's lead out from under him. Loeb wanted to finish the rally, so he duly backed off, and let the other young Finn rocket off into the distance. By the end of the rally, Latvala had taken 11 stage wins, and had a rather comfortable 3 min 42 sec cushion over second place. But it wasn't Loeb in second.

Leaving the Halfway 1 stage, Loeb was involved with a minor collision with a road car on the road section. No-one was injured in the accident (except maybe the pride of the Spanish fan driving the car, who was left with the unenviable title of being the man to have taken Sebastian Loeb out of a rally), but the DS3 WRC's radiator was holed, and he didn't go any further. That gave Latvala a bit of breathing space over second placed Mads Ostberg, who rounded out a consistent but cash-strapped year with a solid second place. Henning Solberg took third, his first podium since Poland 2009, after coming under immense pressure from Kris Meeke in the MINI. Starting the final day 35 secs behind Solberg, Meeke reduced the deficit right down to 1.8 secs. A spin on the Power Stage ultimately prevented his breakthrough podium in the WRC, but it is a sure sign of things to come. Indeed, such was Meeke's pace, Solberg was sure he'd lose his third spot to the flying Meeke.

Matthew Wilson took fifth in his Fiesta, rounding out a very consistent year for the young Briton. Sixth went to Ott Tanak in the DMACK Tyres Fiesta, impressing on his début in World Rally Car machinery.

So that's it for our review of the 2011 WRC Season, a close fought affair between the usual suspects, with a few new names thrown in for good measure. The new era of the WRC is shaping up to be an exciting time, with the arrival of MINI and the imminent and anticipated arrival of Volkswagen, and surely other will follow.

Keep a close eye on Global Rally News over the festive season, we'll be bringing you an equally in-depth review of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, an even more closely contested affair. After which we will be bringing you a team-by-team review of the WRC and IRC, to make sure nothing has been missed and you get to read about everything that went on within the two biggest rally championships in the world.

But for now, Global Rally News wishes you a very Merry Christmas, and an equally Happy New Year!