Rally Finland: Day 2 review (Top 10)

Day 3 of the Neste Oil Rally Finland is shaping up to be a thriller, with the top 3 drivers all within 2.6 secs of the lead.

Starting number one tomorrow will be 2008 winner Sebastian Loeb, 1.5 secs behind him in second is his Citroen team-mate Sebastian Ogier. Third is last year's winner Jari-Matti Latvala, who must still have Markku Alén ringing in his ears. The rally legend saying it will be a 'catastrophe' if anyone other than a Finn wins the event.

Loeb entered the day's final stage 1.9 secs behind Ogier after Loeb dropped time with a cracked windscreen, caused by stones being flicked up be Ogier's car on the Lahti superspecial. The seven-times World Champion employed the frequently used road-order tactics, coming into a time control 1 min late, handing himself a 10 sec penalty and second on the road. The plan backfired when Ogier realised what Loeb had done, and Ogier himself slowed down enough to drop behind Loeb, forcing Loeb to start first on the road tomorrow. Then both driver's plan backfired spectacularly when it emerged that Jari-Matti Latvala would start the final day in third, 2.6 secs behind leader Loeb.

Best of the rest is Petter Solberg in fourth. His private Citroen suffered severe tyre wear during today's stages, but is less than 30 secs behind leader Loeb. A further half-minute behind Solberg is Mads Ostberg in the first of the Stobart cars, despite a spin this morning. On a charge and in sixth is the other factory Ford of Mikko Hirvonen. Hirvonen lost a vast amount of time yesterday with a lot of problems in his Fiesta, the legacy of clipping a tree on the opening test of the rally. He is 28.6 secs behind Ostberg, and is looking good to catch the Norwegian.

Only 7.5 secs behind Hirvonen is the first of the MINI's. Dani Sordo is sitting 7^th, and is coming under pressure from team-mate Kris Meeke, who is eighth, and 14.8 secs behind the Spaniard. Sordo struggled with a sensor problem and misfire in the MINI, and an extremely rare mistake from Sordo almost put the car in one of the unforgiving Finnish ditches. Meeke has not had all the luck today either, his car refusing to fire up after stopping between stages. This lead to Meeke arriving 2 mins later than planned, thus the 20 sec penalty was awarded. In the confusion, neither Meeke nor co-driver Paul Nagle, who is making his début on the rally, re-secured the rear doors of the MINI, which lead to them opening & closing in the stage.

Meeke has said that he is pacing himself this weekend, to gain experience on an event that rewards experience. Meeke has only sampled the event 3 times, and all, bar 2005, have ended in retirement. His 2005 event netted him 39^th overall after he was forced to SupeRally. His 2006 start ended with a spectacular crash into the notoriously hard Finnish trees.

“I know I can drive faster on these roads. I’m coming to corners and I could have been more committed and faster, but as soon as I do that, there’s going to be a corner waiting to catch me out.”

“I would love to be fighting to win this rally. everybody would love to be fighting to win Rally Finland, but at the same time I have to be realistic. I need the experience, I need to get to know the event. If I go off the road, I have to come back here in 12 months time and start again and I won’t have gone forward for a year, that’s no good. Yes, it is frustrating that I’m not pushing harder, but this is the only way to do it. There will be plenty of time to fight in the future.” said the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Champion.

Rounding out the Top 10 are Juho Hanninen, leader of the S-WRC, and Henning Solberg, 2.1 secs behind the Finn but over 2 mins off the leaders pace.

(Full S-WRC, P-WRC and Academy reports to follow)

Rally Finland: Day 1 Review

Sebastian Loeb holds a slender lead of only 2.8 secs over his team-mate Sebastian Ogier going into Day 2 of Rally Finland.

“I’ve made no mistakes and we will see what will happen tomorrow with the road position,”

Loeb's team-mate Ogier has Loeb in his sights tomorrow, saying that he is the most important driver this weekend for him to beat. Ogier employed tactics on SS2 to drop behind his team-mate, and thus give him a better road position.

Highest of the Finns and works Fords Jari-Matti Latvala is third, just over 4 secs behind leader Loeb. He did admit that he was a little too conservative over SS1, and dropped a little time on SS2 to get himself a better road position for tomorrow.

“I was cautious on the opening stage and made a couple of small mistakes on the final test but nothing that cost time. All I'm concentrating on is tomorrow as I don't want to put extra pressure on myself, because this rally brings enough of that already. There was great excitement and pressure before the start, but now the event is under way I can relax and focus on my driving.” he said.

Jari Ketomaa took a sensational fastest time over SS1, but said he dropped time on SS2 to give himself a better position to attack tomorrow. He starts fourth tomorrow, with Petter Solberg starting fifth in his PSWRT DS3 WRC.

Fastest of the new MINI's, Dani Sordo, is sixth. An intercom issue didn't prevent him taking second fastest over the stage, and is 14.3 secs off the lead. Ott Tanak is seventh, and leading the S-WRC, in his Ford Fiesta S2000. Rounding out the Top 10 are Mads Ostberg, who said he was too cautious over today's stages, Kris Meeke, who, in his own words, is taking part in a 'high-speed recce', owing to lack of experience. In 10^th, and second in S-WRC, is Juho Hanninen. Hanninen is 8.5 secs behind Tanak in the S-WRC and 25.8 secs behind Loeb in the overall standings.

Local hero (literally, he's from Jyvaskyla), Mikko Hirvonen, is 36^th overall and over 2 mins off the lead. He slid off the stage on SS1 & hit a tree. The Fiesta RS WRC lost all power & drive for a moment, but he got going again, albeit with damaged rear suspension and brakes. He has said he will restart tomorrow and will drive 'flat out' to the finish.

“It’s disappointing because it’s the second year in a row that I’ve had problems early in my home rally, although last year was due to a crash. I wanted to fight for a win and after a strong test last week, I felt that was something I could achieve. All I can do now is drive flat out through the final two days and see how far I can climb back up the order.” Hirvonen said.

Matti Rantanen, who was expected to do well on this event, crashed 7kms into SS2. After a fast right-hander, he slid into a ditch but kept going to try to get out of the ditch, but he hit something in the ditch, and rolled the car, severely damaging the front of the car. He is unsure if he will restart tomorrow.

In the support classes, as already mentioned, Ott Tanak leads the S-WRC, with Juho Hanninen second and Martin Prokop is third, over 21secs off the lead. Jarkko Nikara holds the P-WRC lead by 0.5 sec over Patrick Flodin. Hayden Paddon, who broke his differential during Shakedown, is third, 31.1 secs behind Nikara. Alastair Fisher leads the WRC Academy by a comfortable 20secs over, Viktor Henriksson. Our very own Craig Breen is third overnight, 22.7secs behind Fisher.

No pressure for Ketomaa in Finland

Former P-WRC star Jari Ketomaa has said that he is not under any pressure to score a good finish on this weekend's Rally Finland, his home event.

“I haven’t put any pressure on me what will be the position at the end. I’m sure if we can do our normal good driving and we don’t have any technical problems with the car the result will be very good because I’m very happy with the car.”

Ketomaa will contest his home event for the eighth time in his career, but it will be the only time he has ever driven WRC machinery on the rally, after driving a Subaru Impreza WRC in the 2009 edition of the event. The rest have been behind the wheel of Group N spec Impreza's, save last year when he drove a Ford Fiesta S2000, the baby brother of the car in which he will be competing this weekend.

This weekend, he will take part in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, his first time behind the wheel of one of the new WRC cars. Ketomaa's 2009 Rally Finland on-board the Impreza WRC yielded a 7^th place finish at the end. He will be looking for a better result in the Fiesta RS WRC, but a lack of a proper test may hamper him. In all, he only got 75kms of a pre-event test in the car, but he says his prior experience of the event and the Fiesta S2000 will help compensate for his lack of testing.

“I got the whole day and at this point and I have to believe it’s enough. We got 75 kilometres and it could be less, just shakedown, so at least we have some experience, which is very useful. I knew a bit of what to expect from driving the Fiesta S2000. The engine power is good and we made some changes so I have an idea about what to expect.” he said.

Ketomaa will start at number 19 and will be run under the HJ-Autotalo team banner. Sitting alongside Ketomaa will be Mika Stenberg, with whom he has prior P-WRC experience.

Latvala acknowledges need to find limit

Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala has said he must find his limits on his home event, an event known for punishing drivers who take too many risks.

Latvala was forced to SupeRally in 2008 after he hit a rock on SS3, an accident which team boss Malcolm Wilson was not too happy with. When Latvala did return on Day 2, he took three stage wins, and another one on the final day of the rally.

After this, he began to find his limits & thus started taking wins, culminating in victory on his home event last year: “It’s such a quick rally that a driver must know his limits and be sensible. You don't want to be frightened at the wheel, but you must be able to feel the fear and recognise where those limits are.”

Latvala knows that any mistake in Finland will reduce your chances for the win, and that you need to be on the pace from the start. Lost time can be disastrous in Finland, with Colin McRae's former navigator Nicky Grist famously saying '3.5 mins is like 3.5 days in Finland'.

“The pace is such that every error in Finland is magnified, and to win you need to have a perfect drive from the first corner to the last. These are the most difficult gravel roads in the world on which to compete and so much thought has to go into the lines and braking points for jumps. The perfect jump is not too high, with the car landing on all four wheels, like a cat. It requires a higher level of concentration than any other rally.” Latvala said.

This weekend's event will be a special one in Latvala's career, with the Finn starting his 100^th rally at World Championship level, with his first being in Wales in 2002. His career to date has reaped 4 wins, 21 podiums, 385 points and 167 stage wins. An impressive resume for the 26 year old. 

2012 Monte rally route revealed

The route for the 2012 Rallye Monte Carlo has been announced by the organisers of the rally.

In a change from the usual 3 day format, the rally will cover 270 timed stage miles, with a further 832 miles of non-competitive road sections. The rally will kick off with a 22.91 mile stage on Wednesday (January 18^th) morning. It will then run through Thursday and Friday, with the surviving crews being awarded a rest-halt on Saturday morning before a 14.52 mile test on Saturday afternoon. On the Sunday, the final day of the rally, the remaining cars will tackle a 3.2 mile 'Power Stage', on which the three fastest drivers will be awarded 3, 2 and 1 bonus Championship points, as per the 2011 norm. After the 'Power Stage' the traditional prize-giving will take place in Monte Carlo itself.

Below is a guide to the stages, however the official itinerary will be released by the rally organisers in due course.

Wednesday January 18

Start Valence 0800hrs

SS1 Le Moulinon – Antraigues (22.91 miles)

SS2 Burzet – St Martial (18.91 miles)

Service Valence

SS3 Le Moulinon – Antraigues (22.91 miles)

SS4 Burzet – St Martial (18.91 miles)

Service Valence

Thursday January 19

SS5 Labatie d'Andaure – Lalouvesc (12.03 miles) 
SS6 St Bonnet – St Julien Molhesabate – St Bonnet (15.95 miles)
SS7 Lamastre – Gilhoc – Alboussiere (13.62 miles)

Service Valence

SS8 Labatie d'Andaure – Lalouvesc (12.03 miles) 

SS9 St Bonnet – St Julien Molhesabate – St Bonnet (15.95 miles)
SS10 Lamastre – Gilhoc – Alboussiere (13.62 miles)

Service Valence

Friday January 20

SS11 St Jean en Royans – Font d'Urle (14.32 miles)
SS12 Cimetiere de Vassieux – Col de Gaudissart (14.99 miles)

Service Valence

SS13 Montauban – Eygalayes (18.57 miles)

Parc Ferme Monaco 

Saturday January 21

SS14 Moulinet – La Bollene Vesubie (14.54 miles)
SS15 Lantosque – Luceram (11.68 miles) 1554

Service Monaco

SS16 Moulinet – La Bollene Vesubie (14.54 miles)

SS17 Lantosque – Luceram (11.68 miles) 2014

Service Monaco

Sunday January 22

SS18 Ste Agnes – Co de la Madone (3.20 miles)

Service Monaco

Finish/Prize-Giving Monaco

New cheaper S2000's planned for 2013

A second-generation of the current Super 2000 cars could be introduced in 2013.

Peugeot Sport's Bertrand Vallat said that both Peugeot and Skoda are in talks with the FIA about the introduction of a new version of S2000 cars, which will cut costs of the cars by half.

Peugeot and Skoda have already built S2000 cars, the 207 and Fabia, respectively. There have been S2000 cars built by many other manufacturers, which have been successful on the world stage, such as Ford's Fiesta S2000 and Fiat's Punto Abarth S2000. Toyota built two cars, the Auris and the Corolla, which have been very successful in South Africa, but have never really been rallied outside of SA. Proton are currently dominating the APRC with their works-entered Satria Neo's too.

This may sound like an impressive list, but at the recent Volkswagen Rally in South Africa, there were 18 S2000 cars in the entry list, but 9 were either works-entered or had a major backer. Skoda Motorsport is funded by Skoda themselves, and Peugeot UK and Peugeot France are funded by Peugeot's UK and French branches. Proton's cars are works run, too.

This shows that for privateers it is very difficult to get an S2000 drive, with either a vast personal wealth or a major sponsor needed to purchase, or even hire, one of these cars, with the cars costing upwards on €200,000 to buy.

If this new set of technical regulations for the S2000 cars, which will be powered by 1.6 turbo engines, similar to today's WRC cars, is ratified by the FIA, it could cut the costs of the S2000 cars to a more affordable €100,000.

“Skoda and Peugeot are talking with the FIA for a new car from 2013. It will be a standard car with a 1.6 turbo based on a future model. We are trying to cut the technical cost by half. It will be a big challenge to reduce this cost but we will be working hard with the FIA to achieve this. The category could be good." Vallat said to respected reporter Colin Clark.

Loeb not pushing for Finnish win

Sebastian Loeb has said that he will not push his limits in order to take a second win on this weekend's Rally Finland.

Loeb says that victory is not an objective that has to be completed, but pushing to win & risking his 17 point lead in the Championship is not an option. How the DS3 WRC handles the fast gravel roads will determine his approach, he says.

“Victory in Finland isn’t an out-and-out objective. Depending on how I feel I’ll see how hard I want to push. So far I’ve felt very much at ease on gravel in the DS3 WRC. If that’s how I feel in Finland, it’ll give my confidence an extra boost.”

The seven-times World Champion won the event for the first, and so far only, time in his glittering career three years ago. He was under attack from Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen right to the end, but held on to the rally lead from start to finish. Hirvonen struck back a year later, leading from SS2, and Loeb had to admit defeat.

However, he says that the super-quick gravel stages don't go well with his driving style, but this a different story for his Finnish rivals, as they know the terrain like 'the back of their hand'.

“But it’s not my favourite terrain. Maybe these roads don’t suit my natural style of driving. On the other hand the Finns are very much at home on them. They probably feel they’re taking fewer risks in an environment they know like the back of their hand. I remember that I had to give 200 per cent to win this rally. The titles at the end of the season are the priority.” he added.

Loeb currently holds a 17 point lead over his chief local rival Mikko Hirvonen. Loeb's team-mate Sebastian Ogier is 22 points behind Loeb, and is confident that he can win the event. However, this may prove a difficult, if near-impossible, task, with seven Finnish drivers WRC car mounted, and all in with a chance of victory in their home event.

Makinen to test new Impreza

Four-times World Champion Tommi Mäkinen is set to showcase Subaru's latest rally car, the Impreza R4.

Mäkinen's last full works World Rally drive was with Subaru in 2003, when he drove an Impreza S9 WRC to eighth in the championship. Mäkinen's final victory was with Subaru too, 2002's Rallye Monte Carlo. His final World Rally, 2003 Wales Rally GB, yielded a third place finish, after fighting with Colin McRae, who was also to retire after the rally. McRae suffered a puncture and ultimately took fourth.

The Finn will test the new car over a stage on his family farm near Puuppola, which is near Rally Finland base Jyväskylä. Nearby the test stage is Mäkinen's rally preparation firm, Tommi Mäkinen Racing. TMR formed a successful partnership with Subaru Technica International and now builds and sells Group N spec Imprezas. Since the introduction of the R4 class, TMR has supplied an upgrade kit to convert Group N Imprezas to R4 spec.

TMR will run PG Andersson on next weekend's Rally Finland in an Impreza R4. The rally will mark the car's World Rally début. Three R4 cars are entered next weekend, with the other two cars being Mitsubishi Lancer R4's for Juho Salo and Paulo Nobre. Salo is gunning for victory this year after crashing out in spectacular style on the same corner that claimed Gigi Galli in 2008.

Latvala tipped for Finland win

Finnish rally legend Markku Alén has tipped Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala for victory on next weekend's Rally Finland.

“I have to say that I think Jari-Matti Latvala is a little bit sharper and hungrier at the moment. Mikko Hirvonen is maybe thinking more of taking points [because of his position in the Drivers Standings], he seems a bit nervous, and that maybe means that he is not driving as naturally as he could.”

During his career that spanned over 20 years, Alén took 19 wins, including 6 wins on his home event. He never claimed the coveted Drivers Championship, he came closest in 1986, but did claim the 1978 FIA Cup for Drivers, driving a Fiat 131 Abarth &, towards the end of the season, the Lancia Startos HF. That year, he won three events, finished second twice and third once. Alén spent most of his career at either Fiat or Lancia, from 1974 to 1989. He left Lancia at the end of 1990, moving to Subaru, where he enjoyed a less than successful time. In his 11 starts for the team, he failed to finish on seven occasions. He joined Toyota in 1992, scoring three fourth places and a podium in Finland. Afterwards, Alén made a couple of appearances, including débuting the then new Subaru Impreza 555.

However, with a healthy local entry of 8 WRC car mounted drivers looking for the win, Alén says that it will be a 'catastrophe' if anyone other than a Finn wins next weekend. It will be an even bigger catastrophe if one of the WRC car mounted Frenchmen wins, as it's a 'Finland vs. France' at this present time. One of the aforementioned Frenchmen is keen to make it Finland 1-France 7 [see the story here].

“Well, if it isn't a Finn who wins, this is a catastrophe. It's a huge source of national pride, as it’s Finland versus France at the moment. I don't mind who wins as long as he is Finnish.” Alén said.

Preparations for Rally Isle of Man hotting up

Organisers of the Rally Isle of Man are preparing the event for it's début as a autumn event, when it rounds out the British Rally Championship for the first time.

The 48^th staging of the infamous tarmac event will now be held at the end of October, instead of the end of July/start of August, as has been the standard for the past decade. But, late last year, the organisers of the event decided to have the event run as the final round of the BRC, as had been before it changed dates over a decade ago.

“We know there are many people asking when the event is on, many who expect it to be in the next few weeks. Our message to all our supporters, old and new, is to gear up for October, and we hope you’ll all be a part of a new chapter for Rally Isle of Man!” said Les Postlethwaite, Rally Director.

Along with the 48^th running of the Rally Isle of Man, it will be the Silver Jubilee of the Isle of Man Historic Rally, the very event that started the very popular historic rallying in Britain.

The Rally Isle of Man will take place over the 27^th -29^th October.

Ogier says Finland win possible

Sebastian Ogier has said he can win next week's Rally Finland, on only his fourth time tackling the event.

The Citroen driver says he knows that victory will be difficult, but not impossible: "Julien [Ingrassia] and I are motivated like never before. We know it's going to be one of the most difficult rallies of the year as we're up against the Finns. But beating them isn't impossible.”

Ogier will tackle the event for the third time in a WRC car next weekend. His first attempt was in a Citroen C2 R2 Max in 2008, in 35^th overall. He graduated to the Citroen Junior Team for 2009, and thus gaining a World Rally Car drive. He took 6^th at the end. Last year he finished second, 10 secs behind winner Jari-Matti Latvala.

"Last year, I was a bit surprised to finish so close to the winner [Latvala]. And we lost the ten seconds at the start of the rally when we were finding our marks."

The French have a good history in Finland, with two of the four non-Nordics ever to win the rally being French, the two drivers being Didier Auriol and Sebastian Loeb. Auriol had a good history on the event, taking, aside from his 1992 victory, four podiums. Loeb, too, has a good history, taking five podiums and a win in the last six years. Ogier will be looking to follow in the footsteps of the two French rally legends.

Ogier says he will push from the start, something he didn't do last year, something he says cost him victory on last year's event: "My aim is to put myself in a confident frame of mind right from the green light and to really push in the opening kilometres. That's what was missing last year."

The Frenchman knows that victory will be a tall order, especially against the brace of Finns that are taking part in this year's event. Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala, Kimi Raikkonen, Matti Rantanen, Jari Ketomaa, Janne Tuohino and Mattias Therman are all World Rally Car mounted, and all are looking for victory on their home event. Even with this list of possible winners, Ogier is still convinced that he can overcome all of them to win the 'Gravel Grand Prix'.

"I'm going to do everything I can to be on the pace right from the first stage," said Ogier. "It's important to bag a big haul of points in Finland. We know it's going to be a difficult rally against local drivers who are always redoubtable on their home turf. But a victory here isn't beyond our grasp.”

I've still got it, says Atkinson

Chris Atkinson says that he still has the speed to compete in the top echelons of rallying.

"Anybody who thinks I can't drive anymore should think again. This has been a fantastic season so far with Proton; the car's really come good this year, thanks to some fantastic work from the team, and I feel I'm driving better than ever.”

The Aussie is an ex-World Championship star, formerly driving for the Subaru World Rally Team alongside now privateer Petter Solberg. Atkinson's WRC career started in 2005 when he shared his points nomination with ex-Formula 1 test driver Stéphane Sarazzin. Atkinson scored his first podium on the Rally Japan in 2005, Sarazzin was dropped at the end of 2006, with Atkinson taking over the second car full time. Atkinson, and team-mate Petter Solberg had a long run of horrid luck until 2008, when Atkinson took 5 podiums, including one in Finland with the then-new Impreza WRC2008, the car's only third event. Solberg scored a second place on the car's début & fought for victories for the rest of the season. Atkinson ended his career with Subaru on a low note, after crashing spectacularly at the season-ending Wales Rally GB. Days after, Subaru announced their withdrawal from the WRC, leaving Atkinson & Solberg out in the cold.

Atkinson made a one-off appearance with the Citroen Junior World Rally team at the start of 2008, on the season opening Rally Ireland. He took fifth place after a few off's, one spectacular one in which he cut a telephone pole in two. After his Citroen outing, he went quiet for a while before signing with the Proton team. He drove the car in some APRC events in 2010, and in 2011 will take part in 10 IRC events and the entire APRC calendar.

Atkinson, 30, says that driving the S2000 Proton Satria Neo has made him a better driver, citing that you must drive the car hard to extract it's full potential, saying: "Driving a Super 2000 car like the Satria Neo has made me a more complete driver. You absolutely have to commit to everything with these kind of cars and we're doing that. I've got a lot to give in this sport, but right now I'm focused on winning the APRC title with Proton."

Atkinson's next event is the Rally Hokkaido in Japan, which runs from 1st-2^nd October. Atkinson currently leads the drivers standings by 21 points over his Proton team-mate Alistair McRae, and Proton Motorsports currently commands a substantial lead in the teams table, 77 points to be precise. It's a similar story in the manufacturers standings, with Proton holding 14 points over nearest rivals Mitsubishi. Currently, it looks like Proton and the driving partnership of Atkinson/McRae seem to be the one's to beat in this Championship.

Hanninen to drive in Czech Republic

Juho Hanninen has said that he will be contesting Skoda’s home rally, next month's Barum Czech Rally Zlin.

The Finn was originally not expected to do the rally, but last year's winner was given the green light to do the event after his win on the Sata Rally Açores, his third of the current season. However, Hanninen knows that he will be under pressure from fellow Skoda drivers Jan Kopecky and Andreas Mikkelsen. Freddy Loix, last year's winner, is also going to be present.

“I will be there in the Czech Republic and I can win but it will be as difficult as it was to win last time, in the Azores. Jan is very strong over there and also we saw the speed of Andreas Mikkelsen in Ukraine and in the Azores. So I try to win but it won’t be easy.” said the Finn.

Local hero Jan Kopecky lead the rally for 13 stages last year, before crashing out on the 14^th test. This handed the lead to Peugeot's Bryan Bouffier, but Skoda's Freddy Loix took the lead from Bouffier & went on to win the rally.

The Czech round will take place over the weekend of 26th-28^th August, only a week after the ADAC Rallye Deutschland, a counting round of the S-WRC, on which Hanninen is focusing his 2011 efforts. It is for this reason that Skoda are putting their weight behind Jan Kopecky, in an effort to get the Czech driver to the top of the IRC Driver's Standings. He currently sits third on 70 points, 13 behind his team-mate.

Sata Rally Açores: Day 3 review

Juho Hanninen moved to the top of the all time wins standings with victory on this week's Sata Rally Açores. Andreas Mikkelsen dropped to second after leading at the end of today's first stage. However, Hanninen showed why he is reigning Driver's Champion, taking 13.9 secs out of Mikkelsen over the 22Km stage. Mikkelsen finished the event trailing Hanninen by 42.3 secs.

“It’s been a good weekend and thanks to the team. We had three ŠKODAs on the podium so that’s a great result. We had a good fight with Andreas, especially yesterday and this victory feels very good.” said Hanninen.

Completing yet another Skoda podium lockout, Jan Kopecky inherited third after Peugeot's Bruno Magalhaes retired at the start of SS14, the rear differential support breaking left the rear differential nearly dragging on the ground. Kopecky 1 min 46 sec behind his flying team-mate.

Reigning French Rally Champion Bryan Bouffier took fourth at the finish. The Frenchman was hampered by running first on the road for all three days, but still remains in the title fight with his solid fourth place finish on his début on the event. Just behind Bouffier was former Junior World Champion Patrick Sandell. The Swede was hampered by a 1 min penalty yesterday for clocking into a time control early, but he took his first fastest stage time in the IRC by going fastest on the final stage.

From sixth down to ninth were the Group N runners, with run-away winner Ricardo Moura taking sixth, 3 mins 45 secs ahead of his nearest challenger, Vitor Lopez. Moura finishing over 6 mins behind overall rally leader Hanninen. Third in Group N was Vitor Pascoal, 6 mins 40 secs behind Moura. Taking ninth overall and fourth in Group N was Sérgio Silva in his Impreza.

Rounding out the Top 10 & taking 2WD honours was Paulo Maciel. The Portuguese driver took his Citroen Saxo to a 1 min 33.7 sec winning margin over his nearest challenger, and IRC 2WD Championship leader, Jean-Michal Raoux. Carlos Costa managed to take third in his Citroen C2 R2. He was over 5 mins behind Maciel. Harry Hunt retired again today after he beached his Citroen DS3 R3T on SS13.

Fumio Nutahara drove a fairly clean rally to finish in 11^th position in his Subaru Impreza R4. Toshi Arai, in the other Impreza R4, rejoined today after electrical problems put him out yesterday. The Japanese driver was under orders to drive as hard as he could today, but a puncture on SS14 put him well down the order.

Sata Rally Açores: Day 2 review

Reigning IRC Drivers Champion Juho Hanninen continues to lead the Sata Rally Açores as Leg 2 of the rally draws to a close. Things are very tight at the top, however, with fellow Skoda driver Andreas Mikkelsen, second, has slashed the Finn's lead to only 1.3 secs after he stalled on the day's final stage.

Third is last year's winner Bruno Magalhaes is third, 49.8 secs off the lead. He said he's happy with his performance today, but had some problems with his rear dampers on the final loop of today's stages.

The Portuguese driver, who will start 3^rd on the road tomorrow as part of the ICC’s road-order deciding plan, said: "Our competitors are too strong and, for our part, we are doing what we can. We are moving very quickly, we maintain our place on the podium, a goal that is far from easy. For us it is an excellent result in this second day of the rally and we are very pleased with our performance."

Skoda Motorsport's other driver, Jan Kopecky, is fourth overnight. The Czech is 54.7 secs off his team-mate's pace, citing some confidence issues as his problem. He has a good cushion over Championship leader Bryan Bouffier, a 1 min 25.4 secs cushion to be exact. Bouffier maintains a 52.7 sec lead over Group N leader Ricardo Moura, who is sitting in sixth.

Patrick Sandell would be in sixth, but a first-time timing error from co-driver Staffan Parmander, dropping the pairing to seventh. They clocked into SS9 early, giving themselves a 1 min penalty. Sandell now sits 8 secs behind Moura.

The rest of the Top 10 is filled with the second, third and fourth placed Group N drivers, Vitor Lopez, Vitor Pascoal and Sérgio Silva. Second in Group N, Lopez, sits 1 min 36 secs off the pace of the flying Evo X of Moura.

Fumio Nutahara is 11th in the sole-surviving Impreza R4. His team-mate Toshi Arai was 10^th overall overnight before master switch problems on SS4 lead to his retirement. He will restart tomorrow, and is under orders to 'show the pace' of the car. Nutahara is now 7 mins 45 secs off the lead and is over 1 min 30 sec off a Top 10 position.

Peugeot UK's Guy Wilks crashed out of sixth place on the final stage of today's opening loop, SS 6. He broke his front right wish-bone in the impact, and it is not known at this present moment whether of not he will rejoin the running tomorrow.

Paulo Maciel holds a comfortable gap of 1 min 15.5 secs over Jean-Michal Raoux in the IRC 2WD standings. Carlos Costa is a further 58 secs behind Raoux. Harry Hunt is fifth overnight in his DS3 R3T, 5 mins 35 secs off the lead. He dropped 6 mins on the fog-stricken SS6 when he slid off the road.

Sata Rally Acores: Day 1 review

Reigning IRC Champion Juho Hanninen has taken the lead on the Sata Rally Açores today in his Skoda Motorsport Fabia S2000.

Last year's winner Bruno Magalhaes is second and early leader Andreas Mikkelsen, in the Skoda UK car, is third. Power-steering failure on Mikkelsen's Fabia 4kms from the end of SS2 and having to fight his car through the final, twisty, super-special stage dropped him to third. He sits just 5 secs off the lead, and 1.4 secs behind Magalhaes.

Skoda Sweden's Patrick Sandell's pre-event prediction of the Skodas being quick seems to be ringing true as the first day draws to a close. Sandell and works driver Jan Kopecky are fifth and fourth, respectively, in their Fabia's, which makes it four Fabias in the top 5.

Moura Ricardo is sixth in his Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X, making him fastest Group N pilot. He holds an 18.9 sec lead over Subaru Impreza driver, Vitor Lopes, who is currently sitting ninth.

Seventh & eighth are Peugeot drivers Guy Wilks and current Championship leader Bryan Bouffier. Wilks sits 29.3 secs behind leader Hanninen after electing to play road-order tactics in SS2, while Bouffier is 7 secs behind Wilks, the legacy of being first on the road.

Toshi Arai is quickest of the R4-spec Imprezas. He spun then stalled the car on the final stage, dropping him to tenth, 56.2 secs off the pace. Team-mate Fumio Nutahara is fourteenth, 1min 18.8 secs off the lead.

In the IRC 2WD section, Paulo Maciel leads the category in his Citroen Saxo, with Harry Hunt, on-board a Citroen DS3 R3T, in close pursuit, 6.5 secs behind. Ruben Rodrigues is third in a Citroen C2 R2 Max. He is 11.6 secs off the lead.

No Estonia for Meeke

Kris Meeke will now not be competing on this weekend's Rally Estonia after a testing accident.

The MINI WRC Team driver is believed to have hit a rock on Monday during testing for Rally Finland. The car was repaired, allowing himself to complete the day's testing, and allow team-mate Dani Sordo to continue testing for the next two days.

However, it later transpired that the car would need more work than could be carried out on-site during the test. This, coupled with the big push on for Prodrive to complete the four other cars for their customers, led to the team taking the decision to pull Meeke's entry for the Estonian event.

“Obviously, I’m disappointed to be missing out on competitive event mileage before Rally Finland, but it’s the team’s decision.” said the 2009 IRC Drivers Champion.

Pulling out of the event, however, allowed Meeke to complete some testing after Sordo's test ended. David Lapworth says that the Meeke's problem on Monday hasn't caused any problems for the team's Finland testing programme, saying both drivers, collectively, ran 750Kms of testing.

He said: “Both drivers have done more then 350 kilometres of testing. In total, across the three days, we have done around 750 kilometres, I think that’s a pretty good test.”

Skoda drivers expected to be quick in Acores

Skoda Sweden driver Patrick Sandell has said he expects the Skoda Fabia S2000 drivers on this week's Sata Rally Acores to be very quick when the Challenge returns to gravel.

Skoda are due to field four Fabias S2000's, two Skoda Motorsport cars for Juho Hanninen & Jan Kopecky, one Skoda Sweden car for Patrick Sandell & a Skoda UK car for Andreas Mikkelsen.

All of the Skoda drivers have prior experience of the Acores event, except Sandell. Last year's event proved a small disaster for the Skoda team,however, with Jan Kopecky crashing out on the last stage and Juho Hanninen losing a enough time to lose him the lead and drop him to third. Despite last year's calamities, the Skoda drivers, who prefer gravel events, are expected to be the pace setters of the rally.

“Andreas is fifth on the road, just one place ahead of me, and this will be the almost ideal road position for the first day of the rally. I wouldn’t be surprised if myself and Mikkelsen are at the top on Thursday night but Juho is very strong as well. Either way they will be the strongest guys to race against.” said the two-times Junior World Rally Champion, Sandell.

Endurance format for 2012 Monte

Rallye Monte Carlo will return to the WRC Calendar next year after a three year absence, and it will bring big changes.

“The ACM general commissioner’s office has worked out a concept which remains faithful to the reputation of the winter road rally, so that competitors, manufacturers and spectators can rediscover the elements that forged the legend of the Monte Carlo Rally, allowing amateurs to compete with professionals.” a statement from the organisers, the Automobile Club de Monaco, said.

The event, which formed part of the IRC for the past three years, will feature a much longer route and a tweak to the format. The shakedown will take place on Tuesday, four stages on Wednesday, six stages on Thursday and two stages on Friday morning before teams appear in Monte Carlo itself in the evening. Action resumes on Saturday afternoon with four stages and the 'Power Stage' on Sunday morning, a three mile run which is to be televised live. The trophy presentation will take place on Sunday afternoon, at the traditional Place du Palais.

The new route will boost the competitive distance to over 430kms, up on 2008's 365kms. The last time the rally was run at such a length was in 1995, when the rally ran to over 500kms. Spanish legend Carlos Sainz took with win driving for Subaru that year. The rally will also feature an added 240kms of road sections, upping the road section distance to over 1200Kms.

“With a total of 17 stages, including 433 kilometres timed and 1246 kilometres connecting roads, this Monte Carlo Rally is certain to uphold the long tradition of a highly challenging course, requiring great endurance on the part of drivers and vehicles alike.”

Famous stages such as Le Moulinon-Antraigues, St Bonnet le Froid and the epic stage that is the Col de Turini, over which two runs will be taken. The rally is set to be the opening rally of 2012, and as such will continue to feature it's trademark conditions, snow and ice, which can change to dry tarmac mid-stage.

Martin back for Rally Estonia

Reigning Rally Estonia winner Markko Martin has placed his entry for Rally Estonia, which will run next weekend, 15-16 July.

"Markko Martin's participation in Rally Estonia is very good news for the rally fans. For the organisers this means bigger publicity, good competition and a great opportunity to introduce Estonia in Europe. As Markko is starting in Rally Estonia, there is a very big possibility that victory of Rally Estonia will come to Estonia." said the event director, Urmo Aava.

Martin stormed to the win on last year's event, driving his own MM Motorsport run Ford Focus WRC03, a car which he says is his favourite world rally car. The 2010 event marked the return to competitive driving for the Estonian, who took five wins and drove for three manufacturers, Subaru, Ford & Peugeot, during his 5 year WRC career. More recently, he has taken part in tests for Ford and Subaru.

The Estonian is seen as a good event for pre-Rally Finland testing in a competitive environment. This year's event will see Kris Meeke take part for the MINI WRC Team, Mads Ostberg for the M-Sport Stobart Ford Rally Team as well as René & Dennis Kuipers for FERM Powertools World Rally Team. Meeke and Ostberg will drive the cars in which they will take part in Rally Finland in. It will be interesting to see how Martin's older 2.0 Turbo car will stack up to the new 1.6 Turbo cars. WRC Academy drivers Alistair Fisher, Craig Breen, Molly Taylor and Egon Kaur will also take part in their Ford Fiesta's.

Mads Ostberg, Ford Fiesta RS WRC, said: "Markko Martin starting means this will be a good rally, and we are going to fight for the victory for sure. We are working with different set-ups, though, and our goal is to get a good feeling before Rally Finland."

Martin's MM Motorsport team will run four cars, two Focus WRC's, a Group N Impreza and a Ford Fiesta, for Martin himself, Georg Gross, Sander Parn and Egon Kaur, respectively. Latvian Ivars Vasaraudzis will take part in a Mitsubishi Lancer WRC for the Skandi Motors Rally Team, the same team under which Jari Ketomaa will drive a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X R4.

Meeke eager to get back to competitive driving

MINI WRC Team driver Kris Meeke says that he is eager to get back to competitive World RallyChampionship driving on this month's Rally Finland, after a non-competitive lay off of three months.

Meeke, who returned to the WRC full-time for the first time in 2006, when he drove for the works Citroen J-WRC team. He was dropped from the team at the end of 2006, and drove in various national rallies, and a few international ones, until 2009 when he was picked up by the Peugeot UK for an assault on the IRC. He stormed to the Driver's Championship, winning the championship one round early in Italy and by 11 points. He was signed by the MINI WRC Team at the end of 2010 for six WRC events.

Meeke will contest the rest of the WRC season, with the exception of Rally Australia. He has already took part on the Rally d'Italia Sardegna in May, and held fourth until a throttle problem sent him into retirement. He will take part in the Rally Estonia next weekend in practice for Rally Finland, where he doesn't have the best finishing record in Finland.

“There’s been a three-month gap between Sardinia and Finland. But once Finland starts, we’re doing five from the last six rallies – I just can’t wait to get going again. Before Rally Finland we’re going to Rally Estonia, which is a brilliant way to get back into the car again.”

Between Italy & Finland, the MINI Team have been completing an extensive testing programme on tarmac, in preparation for the three upcoming tarmac events, Germany, Spain and France. Meeke and team-mate Dani Sordo took part in the tests, and Meeke is impressed with how the car has been performing on sealed-surfaces.

Of the tests, he said: “We believe now we have a complete package. We’re turning up the tests and getting quickly into the nitty-gritty, we’re not hitting any small problems which would slow us down.”

Meeke and Sordo are both due to take part in Rally Finland, sporting numbers 52 and 37, respectively. They are not the only MINI's entered in the rally, with Daniel Olivera, Armindo Araujo, Matti Rantanen and Mattias Therman all taking part in a MINI John Cooper Works WRC.