To kick off Global Rally News' round-up
of the 2011 WRC, we naturally start off with the first round of the
season, Rally Sweden, and what an opener it was.
Ford and Mikko Hirvonen got their 2011
campaign off to the best possible start with victory on the Swedish
spectacular. Indeed, he didn't lead all of the way. Mads Ostberg,
also Ford-mounted, lead after Day 1 and, when Hirvonen took the lead,
the Norwegian kept the Finn on his toes, never straying far from the
works entry on the time sheets.
“I was really nervous before the last
stage but what a fantastic start from the team with the new car. The
car has been quick straight away and after a tough season last year I
am really pleased with this. But I am not taking this feeling any
further. We’ve won here and now we need to move on to the next
round in Mexico where it will be a different game. But I’m very
happy with this and it couldn’t be better to have a Ford
one-two-three.”
Third was Jari Matti Latvala in the
other works Fiesta entry. Having a strong rally, he fought for a
while with Sebastian Ogier over third place, and took it when the
Frenchman filled the Citroen's airbox with snow. In the end up, Ogier
took fourth but went fastest over the inaugural Power Stage, netting
an extra 3 points in the process. Fifth was Petter Solberg, who
managed to get himself banned from driving in Sweden for speeding
between stages. His ban kicked in just before the start of the Power
Stage, so co-driver Chris Patterson stepped up to drive the stage for
Solberg, ensuring they at least scored some points. Patterson dropped
just over 1 min to stage winner Ogier, but considering he had never
driven the car before and is far from used to driving competitively,
it was no mean feat.
Sixth was reigning World Champion
Sebastian Loeb. A puncture and a massive time loss running first on
the road on Day 1 dropped him to ninth. An extra two points on the
Power Stage came as a welcome bonus, with the World Champion saying
he lacked motivation that he would usually get fighting at the front.
After the first event of the year, it
looked as if the Fords would be on par with the Citroens, but the
next few events would prove otherwise.
Loeb did, however, make up for the
disappointment of Sweden with victory in the very next round, in
Mexico. The Frenchman was involved in a fight with his team-mate
Sebastian Ogier up until Ogier crashed out on the final day. Loeb won
by 1 min 38 secs over Mikko Hirvonen, who was in turn 45.5secs ahead
of his team mate Jari Matti Latvala. Hirvonen also took the Power
Stage, and the 3 points it carries.
Petter Solberg, a former winner of this
event, took fourth at the end. Taking only one spare and saving his
tyres throughout the first two stages of the final loop, he went all
out on the Power Stage, hoping the tyres he saved the less weight
would help him. He took second in the end, 2.1 secs behind Hirvonen.
Fifth place went to Mads Ostberg, a Mexico new-comer, in the Stobart
Fiesta. A puncture on Day 1 halted him from a higher place. Sixth
went to Henning Solberg, who fought though braking problems and
power-steering issues to take sixth.
Back to Europe and back to French
dominance. Rallye de Portugal was taken by Sebastian Ogier, the rally
he won a little less than 1 years ago. Leading from Day 2, Ogier was
never really troubled, but his team mate Loeb kept him honest, never
far behind. At the end, Ogier took the winner's trophy by 31 secs
over Loeb. Third, and well over 3 mins behind was the Ford of
Jari-Matti Latvala.
A broken driveshaft and rear suspension
problems slowed Mikko Hirvonen, leaving him 6 mins off the lead and
fourth. Fifth was Matthew Wilson, who dropped from fourth after he
elected to slow on the rain-hit SS16, but it did guarantee him
points. Petter Solberg took sixth from Kimi Raikkonen on the final
stage, after starting the day in ninth.
Jordan brought the unbelievable desert
heat, but the pace of the WRC's young chargers was surely hotter.
Sebastian Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala started the final day
separated by over 30 secs, but with Ogier sweeping the road and
Latvala driving his Fiesta RS WRC up to and over it's limits, it
shaped up to be the closest finish in the WRC's 32 year history.
Latvala overhauled Ogier on the penultimate stage, going into the
Power Stage half a second ahead. A small mistake on the Power Stage
dropped him 0.7secs, leaving him 0.2 secs behind at the end. Indeed,
such was Latvala's pace on the stage, he was 4.5 secs behind at one
point after the mistake, but reduced it to 0.7 secs.
Behind the Top 2, more specifically
27.7 secs behind, was Sebastian Loeb. Suffering from oversteer
throughout the final day, he bided his time until the Power Stage,
when he blasted through the stage, taking third, and the final bonus
point. Fourth was Mikko Hirvonen, struggling in the conditions took
second on the Power Stage, a welcome bonus. Matthew Wilson took fifth
after fighting with Kimi Raikkonen for most of the rally. A puncture
for the Finn gave Wilson a bit of breathing space, but Raikkonen only
dropped to sixth, 30 secs behind Wilson.
Sebastian Loeb ended his team-mate's
run of wins with a win in Italy. Loeb came home 11.2 secs ahead of
Mikko Hirvonen. A timing mistake was corrected, in favour of
Hirvonen, so the gap to leader Loeb was cut to 14secs, but it wasn't
enough to give Hirvonen his second win of 2011. Third was Petter
Solberg, his first podium of the year, 23.9 secs off the lead.
A broken rear suspension stopped
Sebastian Ogier from making it two DS3 WRC's on the podium, but
nevertheless he still took fourth, albeit over 1 min off the lead.
Fifth was Mads Ostberg, who suffered a big scare on the Monte Olia
stage, hitting a bank and spinning the car after mishearing a
pacenote. Sixth went to Dani Sordo, in the new MINI John Cooper
Works. Sporting an armband in memory of Seve Ballesteros, the golfing
legend, he overcame a throttle problem to take sixth. Team-mate Kris
Meeke ran as high as fourth on Day 1 on his first outing in a World
Rally Car at World Rally level for almost 4 years, until a stuck
throttle sent him into a tree.
Back to South America, to Argentina
more specifically, and victory went back to Sebastian Loeb. Ogier was
in command of the historic event event, only to roll his DS3 WRC on
the opening test on Sunday. He got the car going again, but his lead
had been slashed from 43.7 secs down to 21.5 secs. He hadn't finished
losing time neither, power-steering failure as a result of the roll
dropped even more time and made the car “impossible to drive”.
This allowed Loeb into the lead, somewhere he thought he'd never be
after his 1min Friday penalty, and Hirvonen up to second. Ogier ended
up in third.
Day 2 power-steering failure for Petter
Solberg took his shot at the win away, but a win on the Power Stage
came as a welcome surprise, cementing his fourth as well. Fifth was
Mads Ostberg, continuing to impress in his Fiesta. Local legend (he's
a 10 times Argentinian National Champion) Federico Villagra took
sixth, his best finish for over a year.
Back to Europe again and the Acropolis
Rally's reputation for being a car breaker didn't stop Sebastian
Ogier from winning in the searing Greek heat. Tactics were employed
by Seb Jr. going into Day 2, starting 2.2 secs off his team-mate but
crucially behind him. This frustrated his Citroen team, and
team-mate, but he still went on to win the rally and the
event-closing Power Stage. Mikko Hirvonen came within striking
distance of Sebastian Loeb going into the Power Stage, but had to be
content with third.
“It was a difficult start on Friday
but I managed to find a good rhythm, especially yesterday when we
pushed hard. I am very happy and it’s perfect to get this result.”
said Ogier.
Even though he lead after Day 1, Petter
Solberg came home fourth. Cleaning the road on Saturday slowed him
considerably. Just behind his little brother was Henning Solberg, his
fifth being the best finish of his season to date. Stobart driver and
Solberg's team-mate Matthew Wilson took sixth.
Part 2 to come.
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