WRC return for Duval possible

Belgian tarmac expert Francois has had a few words with Ford about coming out of retirement to drive a Ford Focus WRC on this year's Rally Deutchland.

Duval has been the only driver to ever head the all-conquering Frenchman on what is known as 'Loeb's event'. Duval has finished second three times to Loeb and had the beating of Loeb at the 2007 event when Duval was aboard a 2006-spec Xsara. A series of spins ultimately denied Duval his second WRC victory, but this reinforced his undoubted talent.

Duval's full-time WRC career came to an end when the Belgian, one of the drivers tipped to become future World Champion, signed a contract for only a one-year with Citroen instead of an extension to his existing contract with Ford. A year of crashes lead Citroen to dismiss him at the end of the year, but one plus was that he claimed a long awaited win at the 2005 Telstra Rally Australia.

Duval has been back in rallying since though. He appeared with the Stobart M-Sport Team for the tarmac rounds of the 2008 WRC and then the rest of the calender when Gigi Galli suffered a broken leg at the 2008 Rally Deutchland. Duval's year then ended when he suffered an off and collided with the end of an armco barrier, breaking co-driver Patrick Pivato's pelvis. Duval competed in the following Wales Rally GB with Denis Giraudet on the notes, but that was his last event.

Duval final rallying adventure was the IRC round Ypres Rally, his home event. The Belgian crashed his Skoda Fabia S2000 into a field and then beached the car trying to get out.

Duval was offered an entry into the IRC with Proton, but refused it and retired from the sport to pursue a career in Rallycross.

Duval would have to pay the full hire price for a Focus, but if he can come up with the cash, he is welcome to hire a car says Technical Director Christian Loriaux.

“Francois has contacted us about hiring a Focus for Germany. It’s a purely commercial deal. We might have a car available and if he can find the budget then maybe we can make it happen. But that’s it, like I said: a commercial deal, not us chasing him.” he said.

Markko Martin has caught the rally bug again

Markko Martin has admitted that he has got his thing back for rallying in the run up to the Mac Croc Rally Estonia.

Martin will use a Ford Focus WRC03, the same model of car that he won his first World Rally in. Originally he was linked to a Subaru Impreza S14, but this never came to fruition.

“The big, big problem is there are not many seats and it’s very limited what people can do. It’s unfortunate [the WRC] has gone downhill but hopefully in the future there will be some new manufacturers and maybe rallying will start again.

"I’m not that old but I have been away from rallying for five years, which is a long time. But when I drive cars again, I really like it and I’ve definitely got the taste for it.” said Martin to maxrally.com.

Martin's last outing was in a Subaru Impreza S14 on the Richard Burns Memorial Stages backed by the Subaru World Rally Team. Martin was Subaru's test driver in 2008 with the short-lived S14 project.

Andersson praised by Wilson

M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson has praised P-G Andersson's 'sensible and quick' drive to seventh position on last weekend's Rally Bulgaria.

Andersson, competing on tarmac in a WRC-spec car for the first time in nearly two years, was under orders to bring the car to the finish in one piece over Sunday's final stages.

The last time Andersson drove a WRC car on tarmac was the 2008 Tour de Corse, where he finished 17^th after mechanical issues intervened and forced him to SupeRally.

The man who Andersson replaced in the Stobart M-Sport Ford Team, Henning Solberg, drove his Fiesta S2000 to 10^th place.

P-G's slowest time, ninth, was on the wet Saturday opening stage. Putting aside that, all his times were inside the Top 8. His quickest time was only 15 secs off Petter Solberg's fastest time on Sunday's first stage, Muhovo 1.

“I’m very pleased with the way things have gone. I know there is more speed to come, but all of the time on this rally I was learning more and more about the car. For me, it was about taking steps, when I got to one level, then it was time to move to the next level. It was a fantastic car to drive and I’m very grateful for this opportunity.” said the Swede.

Wilson praised P-G's drive in what was an older car: “His times were good. Considering that he hasn’t driven on tarmac since whenever - and knowing he was in an older car and didn’t have all the parts which [BP Ford Abu Dhabi drivers] Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala had, he did a good job.”

“I was particularly pleased on Saturday afternoon when he was really close to Mikko and Jari: six seconds off on one and seven or something like that behind on the other. This was good. He has acquitted himself very well and driven a mature rally. He told me he knows where the speed is, which is always a good thing for drivers to know how they can go faster.” said Wilson.

Wilson says that he is keeping an open mind about P-G in the future, but says nothing is confirmed.

WRC the game release date announced

Black Bean Games have confirmed the release date for the official game of the World Rally Championship. 'WRC' will be released on the 8^th October 2010 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC platforms.

The game features all the licensed cars, teams, drivers and co-drivers from the 2010 season as well as the support classes of the WRC: P-WRC, S-WRC and J-WRC. The game also features 78 stages across 13 countries world wide, 550 kms of different weather conditions.

A new feature in the game is the 'Road to the WRC', which is a career mode, similar to the career mode of MotoGP 09/10. In this mode the driver competes for 50 different trophies, starting your own team and competing in regional rallies to beginning to compete in the WRC and then signing a contract with a WRC team.

Other game modes in the game are time trial and online multi-player gaming where a player fights with other players from around the world with one goal in mind, to become virtual World Rally Champion.

The website of the game can be found at www.wrcthegame.com

Burcu Cetinkaya to drive 00 car on Acores Rally

Burcu Cetinkaya is to drive the 00 car on the upcoming Rally Acores.

The Turkish driver was on the entry list is her Peugeot Turkey Sport 207 S2000, but the car cannot be repaired in time to make the start ramp, so she will drive the 00 car on the IRC round.

The car was heavily damaged during the Geko Ypres Rally, after Cetinkaya crashed out of the event, keeping her run of Ypres crashes intact.

“Unfortunately we cannot make it to the Azores [with the 207]. But the car will be ready for [round eight of the IRC in] Madeira [in August].” said the Istanbul resident.

Check out rallyacores.blogspot.com for news on the event.

Rally Bulgaria 2010 review (J-WRC)

Rising Belgian star Theirry Neuville has claimed his first win in the J-WRC with a commanding performance on the third round of the 2010 J-WRC.

Putting the disappointment of retirement on the opening two rounds behind him, the Belgian stormed in front and to victory when early leader Matheiu Arzeno punctured and broke the suspension on SS8.

Holding a lead of 51 secs, all Neuville had to do was bring the car home intact (much like P-G Andersson).

“It’s a fantastic result and I’m very, very happy. It’s taken a long time to get our first victory. Each race so far we were in first position but we retired, one time mechanical and one time through me making a mistake. Now we are really happy to be at the finish because it was difficult to stay concentrated with such a big lead. It’s good for me, the team and for my co-driver Nicolas Klinger because we came here for the victory and we pushed very hard.” said in Peugeot Benelux driver.

Hans Weijs Jnr. landed second in his C2 S1600. The young Danish driver had a pretty strange morning of Day 2 when navigator Bjorn Degandt lost his voice.

“You always want to be in first place but this result is not bad for the championship because we now have some points. The car was quite okay today but it was quite a big gap to Thierry so there was not much I could really do but try to finish.”

Local hero Todor Slavov fought with many mechanical problems in his Renault Cilo R3 to finish third. Slavov had a hard job getting to the podium in his Clio R3, with the car running smaller diameter brake discs and weighing 105 kgs more than the S1600s.

Fellow Clio R3 driver Kevin Abbring had to restart on after alternator failure forced retirement. Fighting back to sixth after acquiring over 10 mins of penalties putting Abbring 6 points clear of Burkart at the top of the table.

Rally Bulgaria 2010 review (Part 3)

The Top 10 positions were more or less settled before Leg 3, but one position had to be settled.

The fight for second was definitely on between Petter Solberg and Dani Sordo. Five seconds separated Solberg and Sordo at the start of the day, and was whittled down to 3.8 secs after the first stage of the day, but Sordo just took the runner-up position by 6.8 secs. Sordo took only one stage win while Solberg took two, but the final nails in Solberg's coffin was when Sordo beat Solberg by 2.7 secs when he won SS12 and 1.3 secs over the final stage.

Gracious in defeat, Solberg was happy with his rally and new navigator Chris Patterson's job: “When we started the rally, both myself and Chris were quite nervous. But I have to say he did an excellent job.”

Sebastian Ogier had a rather lonely drive home to fourth, completing a Citroen 1-2-3-4. The other Citroen Junior driver Kimi Raikkonen was on course to finish 10^th, but he went off on the final stage and beached the C4 on a bank, losing just under a minute in the process.

Ford closed out the rest of the Top 10, more or less. Frigyes Turan finished eighth in his 307 WRC. BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala came home fifth and sixth respectively. Stobart Ford drivers P-G Andersson and Matt Wilson finished seventh and ninth. Andersson was under strict orders to bring the Focus home intact, which he did very well. Henning Solberg, in his Fiesta S2000 debut, finished tenth. Solberg described driving the Fiesta as 'put the foot down and have fun!'.

“We have to keep working hard to improve. We just tested a few things for future rallies today. I think we learned something that will help on the remaining asphalt rallies.” concluded Hirvonen.

Rally Bulgaria 2010 review (Part 2)

Sebastian Loeb continued his dominance of the Rally Bulgaria, extending his lead to 40.5 secs with one day left. Dani Sordo still holds second and Petter Solberg still holds third. The only change in the Top 10 is that Sebastian Ogier has displaced Mikko Hirvonen from fourth.

Early weather indications showed that rain was on the way, so the Citroen Total drivers Loeb and Sordo both went out with soft compound tyres, except that Sordo ran hards on the front through the loop of stages. But the rain failed to materialise, so Sordo lost 24.1 secs to Petter Solberg while Loeb's lead stayed intact.

Even after the tyre choice mistake, Loeb seemed relaxed about the situation: “Everything is perfect. The tyre was not the right choice, but it was the safe choice for me this afternoon. It made sense to do this. The tyre worked well, it was moving about and that changed the handling of the car a little, but it was okay, I could adapt to it.” he said.

Sordo was quite the opposite to Loeb's mindset, seeming slightly stressed: “Everything is perfect,” he said. “The tyre was not the right choice, but it was the safe choice for me this afternoon. It made sense to do this. The tyre worked well, it was moving about and that changed the handling of the car a little, but it was okay, I could adapt to it.”

Solberg seemed to be looking forward to the future fight over second, due for the next day: “I’m looking forward to the battle, it’s always interesting to fight.”

“We’ve got to remember that a podium result is the thing I am chasing here. I’m not going to go mad - but it’s been a good afternoon. We made some changes to the suspension at service mid-way through today and I have the real confidence in the car now. I could go fast before, but now I can fly.”

Jari-Matti Latvala was absolutely shattered at the end of the afternoon loop, siting that the power steering had gone and he had to fight with the car, which left him with no power in his arms at the end of the loop.

“In the long corners, I had no power in my arms to hold on to the steering wheel. It was better in the less twisty, faster sections. My priority now is to see the physio. It’s frustrating because I feel I was driving well - before this problem my times were closer to Mikko than on previous asphalt rallies.” Latvala said.

Hirvonen, still fastest of the Fords, was now 2:50.4 off the lead, but had a better time aboard his Focus than Latvala. P-G Andersson was still impressing in his Focus in 7^th, with Wilson 9^th and Henning Solberg 10^th. Hungarian driver Frigyes Turan splitting the Focuses in eighth, where he had been for most of the event.

Ogier was on a charge after landing in a ditch after a misheard note caused him to go off. The Frenchman gained two places, passing both BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team drivers Hirvonen and Latvala, but was still 2:05.7 off the lead.

Rally Bulgaria 2010 review (Part 1)

After taking five stage wins and leading for the entire rally, Sebastian Loeb has tied up his and navigator Daniel Elena's 58^th win with victory on the 2010 Rally Bulgaria. Loeb has won the last 15 pure tarmac rallies and proved that he is still the No.1 tarmac driver in the WRC over Friday's 118 Kms, taking all the stage wins of the day.

At the end of the day, Loeb lead team-mate Dani Sordo by 28.1 secs over the mixed Bulgarian stages. Petter Solberg held on to third, although 38 secs off the lead.

Loeb said: “The feeling for me has been very good today. There was some gravel in some of the corners this afternoon, but nothing too bad. I tried to drive the same as this morning and the times were close [to what he set through the morning]. But, there is still a long way to go in this event, and the weather could make it difficult tomorrow. I will try to be confident again tomorrow, but today has been perfect for me and the car.”

Citroen Junior Team drivers Sebastian Ogier and Kimi Raikkonen both make mistakes on the third and fourth tests respectively. Ogier ended up in a ditch after understeering but only managed to get back on the road after losing just under a minute.

“It took some time for me to get back on the road. It’s quite frustrating, but that can be the rally some times.” said Ogier

Raikkonen fared much worse, braking on some sand and sliding into a ditch. The car rolled only once but was stuck too far down the bank to be able to reverse back onto the stage. Raikkonen was running in fourth after setting some really competitive stage times, and was only fourteen seconds behind Petter Solberg before his off.

Top of the struggling Fords, Mikko Hirvonen wasn't happy with his pacenotes on the first leg, but was the fastest Ford in fourth, with team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala fifth. P-G Andersson seventh is on his Ford debut with Stobart Ford team-mate Matthew Wilson sitting ninth. Henning Solberg holds tenth and leads Group N4 in his debut in the Fiesta S2000.

“This hasn’t been a good day. I wasn’t so confident in the pace notes this morning, sometimes they were too fast and then in some corners too slow. Like this morning, when the road was dirty or technical, I felt we were okay and the pace was good, but in the fast sections we were not really there. We made some changes at lunchtime and this helped the car, it was definitely better this afternoon.” commented Hirvonen.

Ogier considering Citroen split for 2011

Sebastian Ogier is considering a switch to Ford after he was presented with an offer by M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson to drive for the Blue Oval in the 2011 WRC.

After yesterday's shakedown stage, Wilson said that he would like to see Ogier driving a Fiesta in 2011.

"We were approached by his management team a while ago, I have had meetings with then since [the] Portugal Rally and yes, we have made Sebastien an offer. We're obviously always looking at ways to strengthen and improve our team performance and Sebastien is a driver without a signed contract.” said Wilson.

Wilson wanted to make it clear that if the talented Frenchman did decide to switch teams, Mikko Hirvonen's and Jari-Matti Latvala's team positions would not come under fire.

"I want to make it very clear that Mikko and Jari-Matti will still be the main drivers at the BP Ford Abu Dhabi team for 2011. We're looking at other ways to incorporate him [Ogier] but we're not in a position to disclose those just yet." he added.

Ogier has also been given an offer by Citroen, but declined to discuss the details of either contract.

"For the moment I don't have much more to add - I prefer to stay concentrated on this rally and this season - but yes I have a proposition from Ford, and I'm happy with that because it proves I've had a good drive this season and a good progression."

Ogier hopes to make the decision on which offer to take by the next round, the Neste Oil Rally Finland.

"It’s good for me to see that both manufacturers want me - that's good. We will know soon [which offer to accept]. It's difficult to say when but I hope it will be arranged by Finland." he added.

Meeke won't concede defeat in title chase

Kris Meeke will carry on the fight to retain his IRC Championship, despite his fourth DNF at the Geko Rally Ypres.

The Irishman, who suffered a high speed crash after clipping a ditch, is undeterred and wont concede defeat, despite being 27 points behind series leader Juho Hanninen.

Meeke, who won the Sata Rally Acores last year on his debut at the event, has vowed to hit the ground running when he attempts to retain his Rally Acores trophy.

“It’s getting more difficult [to defend the title] and maybe we’ll have to change our approach a bit because we can’t carry on pushing to the limit in every corner and on every rally. But Açores is another rally and we go there hoping to hit the ground running.” said Meeke.

Meeke also turns 31 tomorrow, July 2^nd.

Heroes from past and present to star at Goodwood

This years Goodwood Festival Of Speed promises to deliver an amazing list of stars and their cars from past and present.

Ken Block, Kris Meeke and Markko Martin will represent the modern day brigade. Block will drive his Monster Energy Ford Focus WRC at the event and will debut his 600bhp Ford Fiesta, which will be used in his next Gymkhana video, due to be released later this year.

Reigning IRC Champion Kris Meeke will be in attendance with his Peugeot UK team, run by Kronos Racing.

Former Ford and Peugeot driver Markko Martin will take to the famous forest stage in an MG ZR S2000, as will his protege Ott Tanak, current Pirelli Star Driver.

“Goodwood is fantastic. It’s a very English day out and it’s just the most amazing event to see so many different cars and drivers in one place at one time. I love to come and just wander around, taking in the sights and sounds. The gravel stage is also a good one now, I’m looking forward to getting out in the MG and seeing what we can do. Obviously, it’s good for Ott to come along and see what Goodwood is all about as well.” said the Estonian.

Representatives of the early days of rallying are to be present too. The first World Rally Champion Bjorn Waldergaard will be in attendance, driving different Toyotas. Former works Mini driver Rauno Aaltonen will drive his 1965 RAC rally winning Mini Cooper S. Double World Champion Miki Biasion is to drive the most successful rally car ever, the Lancia Delta Intergrale, up the forest rally stage.

Scottish rally legend Jimmy McRae will drive his late son's Subaru Legacy RS at the famous Festival. Scotland's only World Rally Champion, Colin, gave Subaru their first win (and the legacy's only win) on the 1993 Rally New Zealand.

The Richard Burns Foundation will be present at the Festival with a stand displaying his rally suits and driving boots as well as technical drawings from Burns' school days and his hand written notes.

Cetinkaya looking for luck before Rally Acores

Burcu Cetinkaya is looking for better luck when she tackles the Sata Rally Acores in mid-July.

Cetinkaya crashed out of the Ypres Rally and suffered mechanical failure in Sardegna. She is looking for her first finish in the Peugeot Sport Turkey 207 S2000. Her crash in Ypres this year is her third in as many Ypres appearances.

Despite this, she is confident that she can score points before season close and that her confidence is still intact.

“It was my mistake that we had the accident. Ypres has never been my most favourite event but I was actually starting to enjoy it and build up my speed when the accident happened on stage 14. Our goal is still the same: to take some points in the IRC and I am still on target to achieve that.” said the Istanbul resident.

Solberg announces Mills replacement

Chris Patterson has been announced as Petter Solberg's new co-driver.

Patterson was chosen as the new navigator after the shoot-out proved Patterson's potential. The test involved writing and then reading the notes at competitive speed.

Patterson has an unending list of drivers who he has navigated for, such as Kris Meeke, Alistair McRae, Gwyndaf Evans, Niall McShea & Nasser Al-Attiyah. Patterson has also won the Middle East Championship 5 times.

This is only the second time Solberg has been co-driven by someone other than Phil Mills, the first time was on the 1999 Safari Rally with Fred Gallagher, another Irishman.

“I am very happy with Chris as my new co-driver, and I am confident that our partnership will be good in the car. We did a really tough test yesterday, and Chris delivered perfectly all the time. He has a long experience as a co-driver, and that was really important to me. I know it will be a challenge in Bulgaria, but we are both more than ready for the rally there and to fight in the lead.”

“It’s not going to be easy. It will take some time to settle in with Chris on the first rally, but I’m sure it will be good. Chris has some big shoes to fill.”

“Chris was the best for me,” said Solberg. “I knew him from before, but that didn’t make any difference; I decided from what I saw and felt during the day. He’s a good guy, very motivated, honest and calm, he’s what I need. I want him to get into that winning feeling as soon as possible.” said Solberg

Patterson commented: “It feels like a big task to be asked to replace a codriver like Phil Mills, but when the offer came from Petter after the test yesterday, I knew I just had to do it. I’ve been a codriver for 12 years, and hopefully my experience will help me now, as the first rally is coming up in a few days. I so look forward to this job, and is 110% ready for the challenge! ”