Arai says new car will pick up pace

Subaru driver Toshi Arai says that he is sure that the new R4 specification Impreza can pick up pace on his remaining rounds of this year's IRC season.

“This was a very long test session. We were [in Corsica] to learn and to improve the car. We didn’t know so much about this car on Tarmac because we only tested once in Austria. We have done our work on gravel, where we know we can be strong. We are also trying different Yokohama tyre compounds, which gave us a lot of good information.”

Running on Yokohama tyres, the double Production World Rally Champion made the Impreza R4's competitive début on last week's Tour de Corse, which was, in his own words, a “very long test session”. He finished 13^th overall, with limited knowledge of how the car would behave on tarmac, having only tested the car in tarmac trim once before.

Subaru will field Arai and another hugely experienced Japanese driver, Fumio Nutahara, on July's Sata Rally Acores, where the pair will be looking to improve the car on tarmac before their first gravel rally in the new car, RACMSA Rally of Scotland in October.

New road order-deciding plan?

The FIA is reportedly considering using the shakedown practise session before a rally as a 'qualifying' session, for the purpose of deciding the running order on WRC gravel events.

The details of the new running order decider have not been released, but it is hoped that the new system would cut out the use of 'tactics', used to manipulate the current system of whoever finished the day first, starts first on the next day.

Tactics have become a real problem since the abolition of the old system, which entailed that the top 14 drivers would be reversed at the end of every day, at the end of 2007. The problems came to a head in Turkey 2008 when Ford used tactics to their fullest advantage to score a 1-2 finish. The event left Sebastian Loeb, who was demoted to third because of the incident, not impressed with the use of tactics. It also happened in Jordan 2010, when teams told their drivers to drop up to nine minutes, in one case, in an attempt to give their team-mate the advantage.

WRC manager Michele Mouton has said that any new proposal would need to be thoroughly investigated before they can be implemented: "We need to look at this very thoroughly before we can come up with some proposals for changing the regulations. We've already been studying this solution for quite a while and one of the important things is where you draw the line of how many drivers it should apply to."

Any proposed ideas need to have the unanimous support from all the competing teams. Mouton says that something could be brought it before the season close, if everyone agreed, but some have already said they don't agree.

Benzet claims no driver tension

Director General of Citroen Frederic Banzet has said that there is no tension between Sebastian Loeb and Sebastian Ogier.

Rumours began spreading that the relationship between the two drivers started to become strained between the two after Citroen No.1 driver Loeb sensationally declared last July that it would be better for the sport, and for himself as a driver, if Ogier did leave the team to join rivals Ford. (See earlier story here)

However, Banzet seems to think that the two drivers still maintain a good relationship: “I feel there is a very good atmosphere in the team, first. So, whatever you and your colleagues are saying, I feel is not true when I am in the team.”

Nothing ever came of Ogier's rumoured move to the Blue Oval, and staying at Citroen netted him Citroen No.2 position.

Banzet also says that both drivers enjoy equal status within the team and have been told by Oliver Quesnel to “stay on the road”.

“I think they are both professionals and they do their job for the brand. They are on an equal level with the contract and they have been told by Olivier [Quesnel] that their job is to stay on the road." he added.

Loeb and Ogier occupy first and third, respectively, in the WRC Drivers Standings, with Ogier trailing the resurgent Loeb by 19 points. Citroen currently head the Manufacturers Standings on 167 points, 17 ahead of Ford.

Araujo says new car will find pace

Armindo Araujo is sure that he can find some extra pace in his new MINI after his début in the new version of the car.

Araujo, who drives a Motorsport Italia run MINI John Cooper Works WRC, put the blame for his lack of pace on a lack of pre-event testing in the new car. The Portuguese driver is more used to the Super Production version, having débuted the car along side Daniel Olivera of the Brazil World Rally Team on last month's Rally de Portugal. His first run in the WRC-spec car was on the shakedown of last weekend's Rally d'Italia Sardegna.

During the rally, he copied the set-up of the Super Production car onto the WRC machine. With the WRC car's improved aero kit, this set-up proved ineffective, rendering the car hard to drive.

“We arrived in Sardinia without tests so with the new WRC [bolt-on body kit] the car was not working like I like and like the Super 2000 version I drove on Rally of Portugal. I didn’t find the confidence to push and I started losing a lot of time. Now we are preparing to do some tests to be faster and more confident for Greece.” said Araujo.

Despite problems with the car overheating and the set-up problems, which lead to the car becoming unbalanced and the steering not being precise, Araujo survived the three days of the rally to finish 12^th overall.

However, he is hopeful of some testing mileage before his next outing in Greece in mid-June, which he expects to have sorted by the Greek event. He also commented on the aero difference in the Super Production and WRC cars, which he says completely changes the balance of the car.

“Comparing with the car from Portugal with the new aerodynamic, kit the balance of the car changed completely. Sometimes I don’t have the balance and sometimes [I was] without the good steering. As a result the times are not coming. But for sure we have the potential. We need to make more kilometres but it will be good in a few months.”

Araujo is to compete on the rest of the European-based events in this year's calender, with the view to competing on a full programme for next year.

Rally d'Italia Sardegna: Day 3 review (WRC)

(Part 2)

Behind the Norwegian, Dani Sordo took sixth in what was a near dream début for the new MINI John Cooper Works WRC. Aside from a small sensor issue on Day 2, the car ran faultlessly throughout the rally, showing what might be coming in the months ahead.

"I am happy to finish, the car is good and so is the team.” said Sordo, whose last rally was Wales at the end of last year. “I think the weekend was very positive and after many kilometres on the rally we have learnt more about the car, which is important. Also the team has taken a lot of data and are now working hard for the future. In the fast parts of the stages we were close to the top times. The positive is the chassis is really good and it is really nice to drive on the fast road. If you have a good chassis this is most important."

Dave Richards, Team Principal, said: "I think we have shown the performance of the car. We have proved what we can do and I think it has set the mark and set the standard. I wish Kris could have carried on the way he was in the early stages. If he had carried on like that I think we would have been in a very strong position, but that is life, this is testing and we are learning as we go along. All signs are really encouraging and we have no real reliability problems at all that we are concerned about. We have to take a lot of positives from the event.”

In the other MINI, Kris Meeke was holding an extremely impressive fourth after SS2, but a stuck throttle on the next stage sent the MINI off the road and into the undergrowth. He re-joined on Day 2, only to retire again with a split water pipe. The team took the decision not to re-enter the car on Sunday under SupeRally regulations.

He said: "We said before the rally we wanted to see the speed of the car and we showed we have entered at a very good level in terms of speed. Obviously Dani’s car has worked faultlessly and he has had very good reliability. I have had a minor technical glitch and it appeared on both days and we didn’t want to take the risk running again today [Sunday]. We know the solution for that but we can’t do it this weekend but we will put that right in the coming weeks. Everyone is very positive so we just have to take it from here and go forward."

The MINI World Rally Team were then awarded the Abu Dhabi Spirit Of The Rally award.

The rapid Ott Tanak took seventh and Juho Hanninen took eighth. Matthew Wilson finished ninth after his Day 1 mechanical problems. Nasser Al-Attiyah took the final World Championship point with tenth in his Fiesta S2000.

Rally d'Italia Sardegna: Day 3 review (WRC)

(Part 1)


Sebastian Loeb landed his fourth win in Italy with a masterful performance over the course of the weekend. Mikko Hirvonen took second and Petter Solberg was third.

“Leading from nearly the start that’s really a good job. Mikko was pushing very hard [from] behind so we really had to take big risks all the time. We lost time in some places because of the [road] cleaning but we took it back in some other places. It was really a hard fight but I did not believe at the start of the rally that I could make it like this.” he said.

Mikko Hirvonen finished second, 11.2secs adrift of Loeb, after starting the final day 23.8secs of Loeb. He went faster that Loeb over the Day 3 opener, but, crucially, he overshot a junction on the next stage, and it seemed to give Loeb the win. Then the rally officials amended a timing mistake from SS10, Hirvonen was back in the game. 14 secs split the two going into the final 'Power Stage', and while some would have said it couldn't be done, in rallying it's never over until it's over. In the end, Hirvonen won the 8Km test by 1.4secs over his Ford team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala, it wasn't enough to deny Loeb a 11.2secs win.

“It’s been a really good weekend. Even though we got a puncture earlier in the rally I’m very pleased and it’s great to get these three Power Stage points.” said Hirvonen.

Third-placed Petter Solberg had a very up-down rally, leading after SS1, but a turbo pipe working loose on SS2 cost him 40secs. He fought up to second by SS8, but a slow puncture on SS10 cost him almost 30secs. He then fell behind Sebastian Ogier on SS12, but then he regained the position after the Frenchman collided with some rocks large enough to break his rear suspension. Solberg was then only 5.8secs behind Hirvonen going into the 'Power Stage', but Hirvonen won the stage and so maintained his advantage.

“I definitely could have won this event. We had some small problems but it was impossible because Loeb hasn’t had anything at all. However, a podium is very important for me and for my sponsors.” said the Citroen privateer.

At the time of Ogier’s suspension problem he was leading Solberg by 12secs. However he lost well over a minute struggling along with a broken rear suspension: “We hit some small rocks I didn’t have in my notes and it broke my suspension. I thought it was a puncture so I got out of the car to check in case I had destroyed the wheel and would risk more damage. Finally, the wheel was intact but the suspension was damaged.”

Mads Ostberg took fifth in the first of the Stobart Fiestas. He survived a scary incident on SS16, when he missed a corner completely. Mishearing a pacenote, he turned right instead of left. He attempted to correct it, but he ran wide, collided with a bank on the outside of the corner and spun, losing around 20secs in the process. The incident harks back to Andreas Mikkelsen's similar incident in Finland 2008, when he also misheard a pacenote, but it was a very fast left-hander over a crest. He ended up very far off the road, narrowly avoiding an innocent bystander's house.

“We’re not sure 100 per cent but at least I thought [the pace note] was a short three left over a crest but it was a short three right. I just turned the wrong way basically, came over the crest and saw the road was turning right so I had to try to correct it. But I was too late and we hit the bank on the outside, spun and lost 20 seconds.” said Ostberg.

Rally d'Italia Sardegna: Day 2 review (S-WRC & Acedemy)

Estonian rocket Ott Tanak continues to lead the Rally d'Italia Sardegna in the S-WRC class. Juho Hanninen is second over 48secs behind, and Nasser Al-Attiyah is third, a further 4mins 57secs behind Tanak.

“There’s still a long way to go. And these are tough roads. Today was good. I have some experience here, but not as much as some of the drivers. Tomorrow I need to look after the car.” said Tanak.

Day 2 is going to be a day to forget for Czech driver Martin Prokop. He caught the failing MINI of Daniel Olivera and losing 10secs in the Brazilian's dust. His car caught fire on SS11 after a leaking power steering pump leaked fuel onto the exhaust, causing the leaked power steering fluid to ignite. He pulled over to retire, but the fire extinguished itself, so he continued, to see if it would catch fire again. It didn't, but it lost him a lot of time.

“The fire was coming into the car. I thought we were going to have to stop. We had decided to pull over and retire, but then the fire went out, so we thought we would carry on and see what happened. See if it went on fire again later in the stage. It did catch fire again, but it wasn’t so bad this time, just a small one. But it cost us lots of time.” said the 28 year old.

Juho Hanninen was fastest out of the blocks after service, but Tanak responded, adding to his perfect complement of fastest times before service. Hanninen went fastest on the final stage, but Tanak still goes into Sunday with 48secs in hand.

“I tried to take time from Tanak but it was tough. We lost some time in the dust this morning, but otherwise it’s been okay. The car is running well, we have no problems, but we have to go faster. He is far away, but I am trying.” said the reigning IRC Champion.

Third is Nasser Al-Attiyah, fourth is Martin Prokop, who suffered a four minute penalty, while fifth is being held by Bernardo Sousa, who is nursing a sore arm, the legacy of overshooting a junction, and finding a large rock with his side of the car.

Hermann Gassner is sixth, Karl Kruda is seventh and Frigyes Turan is eighth. Turan is 40mins behind Tanak.

In the WRC Academy, Egon Kaur took the win on the second round of the Academy.

Kaur looked to be out of the fight for the win, however, when he crashed off the road on SS2 and dropped 4mins. He then produced a mature drive, taking five stage wins and the rally lead on SS10.

“It’s crazy. The plan was to keep going and remain focussed, but I really didn’t think I’d be back in the lead by lunchtime today. To think I’m leading after going off for so long yesterday, and now I might even win two rounds out of two of the WRC Academy is amazing.” he said.

A cautious drive over the final stages left him with a lead of over 1min 42secs over Miguel Baldoni. Fredrick Ahlin took third at the end of the rally, and lead after leader Christian Riedemann retired with drive shaft failure on Saturday's opener. He then fell to fourth, but took third after Sergey Karyakin landed very hard after the infamous Monte Lerno jump.

Jan Cerny, Brendan Reeves and Andrea Crugnola all retired on Day 1, but they returned and took fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively.

Kilkenny driver Craig Breen was another driver to return to competition on Day 2, and took two fastest stage times, fighting his way up to fifth, but a rear hub failure on SS14 lost him 3mins. Breen's Fiesta struggled out of the stage and his co-driver Gareth Roberts had to hang out of the window of the car to balance the car. Breen now sits 8^th in the championship.

Rally d'Italia Sardegna: Day 2 review (WRC)

Sebastian Loeb looks to be well on his way to his second victory of the season, and the third straight victory of the new Citroen DS3 WRC.

“It was a great day, a very hard day also, but a great day. It’s really difficult to accept losing time when you are cleaning the road in difficult conditions but we had to keep concentrated and continue to believe it would be okay. Twenty-eight seconds should be enough but it’s still a difficult day tomorrow.” said Loeb.

Loeb leads the rally into the short final day by 23.8secs over Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen. Road sweeping didn't seem to be a problem today. He was thrown a lifeline after his closest challenger this morning, Petter Solberg, suffered a slow puncture on SS10 and dropped 11secs to Loeb. Hirvonen took second from Solberg over SS11, them set about dismantling Loeb's lead. He started to do just that, taking nearly nine seconds out of Loeb over SS12. Loeb hit back over the repeat runs, gaining back two seconds on SS13. Hirvonen then took 1.5 secs out of Loeb on today's final stage, SS14.

Behind the fight for victory, there is an equally, if not more exciting, fight for second place. Hirvonen, Solberg and Ogier are only separated by less that 16secs. Solberg occupied second after SS9, but a puncture lost him a lot of time, an Hirvonen capitalised on the next stage, taking second place. Solberg made a small mistake on SS12, losing third to Ogier.

Mads Ostberg holds fifth going into the final day, and is 44secs ahead of MINI driver Dani Sordo, who has sixth. Sordo has been sixth all day, but the throttle problem that dogged team-mate Kris Meeke on Day 1 surfaced in Sordo's car during the afternoon.

“We’re very happy with Dani’s performance, he’s pleased with the car and has had nothing negative to say. For him it’s all okay and we’re obviously very pleased.” said David Wilcock of Sordo's pace.

Meeke returned this morning, but only made it to SS10, the second stage of the day. Meeke took ninth fastest time over SS9, but a water leak forced him to stop to save the engine. A split water pipe is thought to be at fault, the legacy of his Day 1 crash. He is expected to restart tomorrow.

“Kris has had a water leak. In order to save the engine he stopped on the stage but until we get the car back [to the service park] we don’t know what has caused it. It’s probably not a coincidence that he had an accident yesterday. We think it’s a broken water pipe but until we see the car we don’t know.” said Wilcock.

Stobart driver Matthew Wilson is ninth after his Day 1 brake problem, however the problem has not returned to the 24-year-old's car.

Motorsport Italia driver Armindo Araujo had an unusual problem in his MINI today, with a 1L water bottle working loose and rolling into the driver's foot well during SS12. He currently sits 13^th overall, just behind UAE driver Khalid Al-Qassimi in his Team Abu Dhabi Fiesta RS WRC.

Far behind the fight for second, if there was a 'Drive Of The Day' award, Jari-Matti Latvala would have taken it hands down. Fastest on every stage today bar one, Latvala seemed to put his SS1 roll behind him. His fastest time came over SS10, taking 8.7secs out of his team-mate Hirvonen. Latvala's blinding pace has left him in 26^th place overall.

Rally d'Italia Sardegna: Day 1 review (S-WRC & Acedemy)

Former Pirelli Star Driver Ott Tanak holds a lead of 25secs over fellow Fiesta S2000 driver Martin Prokop after a nearly perfect day in the S-WRC. Reigning IRC Champion Juho Hanninen is third, 43.8secs behind the flying Estonian.

Tanak revealed that he has never been to the island, but you wouldn't be able to see with today's performance. He said: “It’s been a tough day,” said Tanak. “I’ve never been here before, so I haven’t been pushing at the maximum. There are so many rocks everywhere, if you go a little bit off the line then they can catch you out and put you out of the rally. We have been careful. The car has worked really well, we’ve had no problems. I was worried after a big hit in the fourth stage, but the car was good. Today has not been the sort of day when you could make the attack.”

Tanak won six of today's eight stages, with only Hanninen and Prokop able to win a stage. The only worry that Tanak had was after he found one of the rather big rocks which line the stages around the Oristano area.

Martin Prokop took one stage win over the infamously difficult Monte Grighini Sud test, said to be one of the hardest of the rally. The Czech driver took second from Nasser Al-Attiyah on SS2, and remained there. He said that he didn't make the most of Day 1, saying that he might be getting old (Prokop is 28!).

“I don’t know what it is. Today has been really hard. All the time, the road is turning, turning, turning. I don’t feel I have made the best of today, maybe it’s me - maybe I’m getting old! With the number of corners coming all of the time, there has been no time to enjoy these stages today.” said the Czech ace.

Reigning IRC Champion Juho Hanninen is 43.8secs behind the flying Tanak. The Finn suffered a puncture on one of the opening tests, then he suffered brake failure, after brake problems all day.

“There is no pedal at the end of the stage,” he said. “We have lost it. I had to slow down in the long stage. The day was not starting so well for us, either, when we had a right-front puncture near the end of a morning stage. I haven’t been fast enough today, we have to push again tomorrow.” he said.

Nasser Al-Attiyah also had on eventful day today. He caught Hanninen's team-mate Hermann Gassner, who was struggling with a front-wheel drive Fabia after a differential failure, on SS7, then one of his dampers exploded, leading to a fire in the Fiesta. He sits over 3mins 30secs behind Tanak and 2mins 46secs behind third-placed Hanninen.

Fifth is Bernardo Sousa, sixth is Gassner and seventh is Karl Kruda. Points leader Kruda has been another driver to suffer problems, the height of which was when his Fabia dropped onto three cylinders, and stayed like that for two stages. “Not nice...” summed up the Estonian's day.

S-WRC drivers who have joined the retirement ranks are Albert Llovera, who rolled out of the rally and Eyvind Brynildsen lost an argument with a rock on SS4.

German driver Christian Riedemann leads the FIA WRC Academy after a day of attrition amongst the junior drivers.

Day 1 knocked 13 of the Day's 18 starters into retirement, leaving only five Fiesta's still running. The same exact rock on SS4 took eight Fiestas out of the rally, busting each of their sumps. One of them was Co. Kilkenny driver Craig Breen, who lead until he found the rock on SS4.

Before SS4, however, four Fiestas were already out. Alastair Fisher's engine blew on SS1, Calle Ward rolled out on SS1, as did Miko-Ove Niinemae and Brendan Reeves also retired with an engine problem. Egon Kaur, the points leader, crashed off the road on SS2, but managed to get back on the road. He then set about regaining lost time, winning SS4, SS5, SS6, SS7 and SS8, gaining an extra championship point for each stage win. He is 1min 22secs behind leader Riedemann in fourth.

“It was more difficult than I expected, there have been so many retirements,” said the Estonian.

Russian driver Sergey Karakin is fifth, 1min 48secs off the lead. Only he, Riedemann, Fredrick Ahlin, Miguel Baldoni and Kaur survived to begin Day 2.

Rally d'Italia Sardegna: Day 1 review (WRC)

Sebastian Loeb has ended Day 1 with only one thing in mind, hold onto first and win the rally. Another former winner of this event, Petter Solberg is 33.2secs behind Loeb after his turbo problems on SS2, where he dropped over 40 secs to leader. Solberg had been leading Mikko Hirvonen by 3secs going into SS2. The Finn is third, 53.1secs behind Loeb after his puncture on SS7.

Loeb's team-mate Sebastian Ogier took the decision to drop time on SS8 to give himself a more favourable road position for Day 2. The Frenchman says he won't be able to fight for the win because of a lack of 'feeling' in the DS3 WRC. He said that he dropped the time to “try and help the team”. He starts tomorrow fourth, 55secs off the leader.

PSWRT driver and team owner Petter Solberg is looking to be going to push hard tomorrow after his Day 1 problems. He sits over 30secs behind Loeb, but he has a more favourable place in the running order. He said: “I’m fed up with tactics so I just wanted to push and I’ll push again tomorrow.”

The works Fords had two completely different days today. Team leader Mikko Hirvonen won SS2, SS5 and SS8 and lead for two stages in the morning. A puncture slowed him on SS7 but he is still third. Team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala rolled on SS1 after Miikka Anttila called a wrong note. He damaged the suspension in the roll, and stopped on the next when the suspension wishbone snapped.

“I don’t blame Miikka. I've made plenty of mistakes behind the wheel and every co-driver has made an error at some point. We all try to be perfect, but we're only human and I feel disappointed for Miikka also.” he said.

Mads Ostberg is fifth after some brake problems today. He is one place ahead of MINI driver Dani Sordo, but only has a lead of 29secs over the ever improving MINI John Cooper Works.

“Honestly I’m really happy with the performance of the car. I pushed the car in the afternoon, slid more and was more aggressive with the car. The car really is not bad for the first time and we did not have any problems.” he said.

Sordo's team-mate Kris Meeke went on a flyer over the first few stages before a stuck throttle put him off the road on SS3. He was seventh after SS1 and an amazing fourth after SS2, only 15secs behind then-leader Hirvonen.

“We’ll just go out, get to the start line of the first stage, find our feet and go again just like we did on Friday. There are no tactics to go on a big push or anything like that. We just have to drive and see where we are. It’s doubly frustrating that we had a problem because we had the pace with absolutely no heroics, dramas or anything. I’m just looking forward now to getting kilometres on the car.” he said.

Meeke did say that he isn't able to lead a rally yet, but it wasn't expected that he would be fourth after two stages in a brand new car, which hasn't ever competed on a rally, let alone a WRC qualifier.

“It’s not an easy place to come and learn a new car as it proved but there is a lot more to come. I’m not at level where I can lead a rally yet, I have so much to learn but it’s brilliant to know when I haven’t done a rally in seven months, in brand new car, brand new everything that after 40 kilometres we were lying in fourth place.” he added.

The Italian stages have claimed many victims, some very high profile. Jari-Matti Latvala, Evgeny Novikov, Henning Solberg, PG Andersson, Kris Meeke and a host of others. 28 crews are due to restart on Saturday under SupeRally rules.

I have a good chance of the title: Loix

BFO Skoda Rally Team driver Freddy Loix is still sure that he can claim the IRC title this year.

Loix sits third in the drivers title, one point behind Peugeot driver Bryan Bouffier and three points in arrears of fellow Skoda Fabia S2000 driver Juho Hanninen, who leads the series.

The Belgian ace was only due to compete on seven events this year, and has already competed on two, Rallye Monte Carlo and Rally Islas Canarias. He finished second on the Monte and fourth in the Canaries.

Competitors have only to count their best seven scores out of the 12 events, but as Loix is only due to contest seven events, he cannot afford a mistake. Another addition to his challenge is that points-and-a-half are awarded in Scotland and double points are awarded in Cyprus, but he is not scheduled to contest either event, which could prove an opportunity to any possible rival for the championship.

“Definitely [will] I try to win the championship but I know as well with seven rallies only on my schedule [my chances] will be quite limited because the last two events in Scotland and Cyprus are very important for the points. I hope I can leave Sanremo [which is currently scheduled to be his last rally in the IRC this year] close to the front of the points and that I can get some help from Skoda.” He said.

On the limit from here on out: Solberg

2003 World Rally Champion Petter Solberg has said he will start next week's Rally d'Italia Sardegna, and the rest of the events in this year's WRC calender, with one thing in mind. That one thing will be that he is now driving only for wins.

At the start of the year, with the new cars being introduced, many people thought Solberg would recover his winning form. These thoughts were reinforced when he was running in a strong position for most of the rally, until an incident with the local police lead to a driving ban which forced Solberg to switch seats with his navigator Chris Patterson. The pair finished fifth a the end of the rally.

Their luck was not to change, however. An electrical problem, more specifically the wiring loom coming loose, was to blame in Mexico.

With Portugal came a remarkable four punctures, with two of them on the same stage, and in Jordan he crashed out. All of Solberg's problems came whilst he was fighting for a podium spot.

“It’s flat-out everywhere from now on. It’s got to be. It’s frustrating that we’ve had such a tough start to the year. In Portugal, we were in a good place without strategy and then we got the puncture[s], the same with Mexico, everything was looking good. Now the strategy is to be fast, that’s it.” he said.

Solberg has a good history on the next event, though. He won the inaugural Rally d'Italia Sardegna in 2004, came second in 2005, 5^th in 2007 and 3^rd in 2009. He says he is happy that the event will mark its return to the WRC this year.

“I like the event,” said Solberg, who will be co-driven by Northern Irishman Chris Patterson. “It’s always a tough rally, but the roads are good. It’s going to be an exciting one and we have always gone well there in the past. I want some results from these rallies now.”

Solberg will be navigated by his regular navigator Chris Patterson and will drive his PSWRT Citroen DS3 WRC in partnership with Citroen Racing Technologies.

Subaru to run works backed cars in IRC

Subaru have confirmed that they will enter two Impreza WRX STi's on six events in this year's Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

The Impreza's will conform to the new R4 specification, which was brought about to close the gap between the Group N and S2000 cars. The R4 cars feature uprated suspension, better engine performance, enhanced cooling and a lower overall weight.

Subaru have selected two highly experienced drivers in Toshi Arai and Fumio Nutahara to head the new campaign. Arai, a double P-WRC Champion, made his IRC début on last years Geko Ypres Rally and Nutahara, multiple P-WRC event winner, débuted on last year's Barum Czech Rally Zlín. Both drivers will run on Yokohama tyres.

Their calendars will comprise of:

Tour de Corse (Arai only)

Sata Rally Acores

Barum Czech Rally Zlín (Nutahara only)

Mecsek Rally (Arai only)

Rally of Scotland

Cyprus Rally (Arai only)

Subaru are no strangers to the IRC, however. They registered as a manufacturer in 2010, and again in 2011. They also started up the Subaru Individual Award, which was awarded to the highest placed Subaru mounted driver on selected rallies.

Loeb sure Sordo will impress

Seven-times World Rally Champion Sebastian Loeb has said that he expects his former team-mate Dani Sordo to impress in his new surroundings.

Sordo, who signed for MINI in January, completed five seasons as team-mate to Loeb in the Citroen World Rally Team. He was brought into the Citroen-backed Kronos Racing WRT in 2006 after a successful run in the J-WRC, which he won. Citroen retained him for 2007, where he impressed on the tarmac rounds, most notably completing a 1-2 finish for Citroen behind Loeb on the début of the C4 WRC. He improved with multiple gravel podiums in 2008 and 2009 before a dip in performance led to him being demoted to the Citroen Junior squad for gravel rallies, being replaced in the No.1 team by Sebastian Ogier, who would eventually take Sordo's vacated seat.

The Spaniard somewhat enjoyed a No.2 status at Citroen, never really being able to compete with his all-conquering team-mate Loeb. Sordo did show enough pace at times to be able to better Loeb, most notably taking four straight stage wins, six throughout the rally and leading throughout Day 1 on his home event in 2009 and on the 2008 Jordan Rally, where he lead for most of the rally, only relinquishing the lead after a hard fight with Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen.

“He will have the freedom to fight for himself now and maybe he can be stronger because it’s a different situation for him,” said Loeb, the current WRC title leader. “I think it’s good for him to have this position in the team now he has a lot of experience. He was working for a manufacturer for a long time and for sure he can do some good things.” said Loeb.

Loeb said that Sordo did a good job in Citroen No.2, regularly scoring points and always doing his best: “I always was in front of him immediately at the start of the season and he accepted easily to be the second driver and score the points and do what the boss was telling him to do. He accepted I was faster than him and he didn’t try [to beat me]. He was doing his best but I was always in front.”

Sordo and new team-mate Kris Meeke will now mark the début of the new MINI John Cooper Works on next week's Rally d'Italia Sardegna. Meeke and Sordo have been team-mates before, back in the Kronos Racing J-WRC team in 2005, when Sordo took the title.

Circuit of Ireland 2011: Review

Four times became five times today after Derek McGarrity took victory on the 80^th anniversary of one of Ireland's most famous rallies, the Circuit of Ireland.

McGarrity was involved in a titanic fight with Banbridge preparation ace Kenny McKinstry throughout Day 1 and into Day 2. When Day 2 dawned in Service in Armagh City, it was bright and sunny, unlike out on the Day's opener, the 8 miles of SS11. Rain greeted the top crews, and became heavy in some places. Both McGarrity and McKinstry spun, but the difference was that McGarrity found the right direction quite quickly, McKinstry did not. His S8-spec Impreza stalled and he could not get going for 30 secs. McGarrity pushed his S11 example to it's limits for the rest of the stage, and was shaking at the end of the stage, describing his recovery drive as a 'crazy run'. McGarrity's run was so quick that he bettered McKinstry's dry time on the repeat stage, SS14

“It was a very good rally. Yesterday was tricky for us learning the car all over again. Today was brilliant, the Pirelli tyres worked well and the car was good. My mechanics Paul and Jim did a fantastic job getting the car ready and fitting Niall Maguire’s engine – they wouldn’t give up. I am really grateful to Niall for lending me the engine” said the now 5-times Circuit winner.

Eight WRC-spec Imprezas started the rally, and two didn't arrive at the finish.. Darren Gass' machine caught fire on SS1 and Next out was Stuart Biggerstaff on SS3. Kevin Barrett was on the verge of retirement quite a number of times with multiple problems in his Impreza. Derek McGarrity nearly didn't start the rally after a serious engine problems during pre-event testing, but Niall Maguire came to the rescue with a spare engine. George Robinson was competing in the NI Rally Championship section, so he did not compete on Day 2.

“I’m disappointed but realistic. Any fight there was going to be disappeared with that spin this morning. To be fair to Derek his time in the wet this morning was faster than my time over the same stage this afternoon in the dry” said McKinstry.

In the Showroom class, Donagh Kelly inherited the lead after Garry Jennings crashed out on SS11. Kelly occupied 4^th o/a after Jennings' exit, but fell to 6^th o/a after both John Dalton and Phil Collins both passed him. This was only a minor thing, as he slowed down to protect his massive lead. Indeed, he had such a lead that he was able to drop around 12secs to Brendan Cumiskey. His final winning margin was 42.8secs.

Welsh visitor John Dalton won the Modified Class in his Darrian T90 GTR. Phil Collins was 1.8secs behind Dalton at the finish. Early leader Wesley Patterson crashed on the final stage of Day 1, bending the MK2's cage. Wesley was taken to hospital with a pulled muscle in his back, but co-driver Martin McGarrity is okay. Wesley later apologised for blocking the stage, and thanked everyone who helped him.

Rising star Amy Cox won Class 6 in her G3 Escort. She finished ahead of Shane Cullen in another Escort, 32.3secs ahead to be exact. She also finished 23^rd o/a.

Steve Perez retired on SS1 after he snapped the gear stick off in his Stratos. He had it repaired and completed 'OO' duties. He SuperRallied on Day 2 and finished the rally.

MINI to début at The Rally Show

Cornbury Park will play host to the first British appearance of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC, when the all-new car arrives at the Rally Show.

"We are looking forward to giving British rally fans their first opportunity to view the new Mini John Cooper Works WRC in action.” Campbell Roy, Team Manager said “We know that everyone is very eager to see the car on home soil and we can't think of a more fitting event than The Rally Show at Cornbury Park, just a few miles from where the car is built.

The car will make a run over the 1.1 mile course, but it is yet to be confirmed who will drive it, Kris Meeke or Dani Sordo. The event takes place only one week after the car's international début on the Rally d'Italia Sardegna.

"The team will only just have returned from making its WRC debut on the Rally of Italy in Sardinia the previous weekend, so there should be plenty of interest and excitement generated in advance of this outing." Roy added.

Managing Director of The Rally Show, Malcolm Neill, said that he was delighted to have the car's British début at the event, saying: "The new Mini WRC is one of the biggest news stories in rallying for years, and we are delighted to be able to offer the first chance to see it. The fact that Minis are built in Oxford and that the rally car has been designed and built by Prodrive in Banbury, close to the Cornbury Park Estate, makes it all the more exciting."

The Rally Show will also host the British début of the Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

Circuit of Ireland 2011: Preview

Four-times Circuit of Ireland winner Derek McGarrity will lead the 100-strong entry list for the 2011 Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland away from the ceremonial start this Saturday at 12:00.

McGarrity, a two-times Tarmac Champion, will revert to WRC power for this weekend, instead of the Evo X, in which he contested the Galway International. He will use an Impreza S11 from his personal stable and will have regular navigator James McKee on the notes.

McGarrity is not alone in the WRC ranks, however. Darren Gass, Emma McKinstry, George Robinson, John McGaffin, Kevin Barrett, Kenny McKinstry, Ray Brammer and reigning Hankook Northern Ireland Champion Stuart Biggerstaff are all WRC-spec Impreza mounted. Kenny, a two-times Tarmac Champion in his own right, will be looking for his first Circuit trophy.

Aaron MacHale will switch from his regular Ford Focus WRC to an Evo 9 for the rally as will Garry Jennings, who will return to his usual Evo 9, after experimenting with an Impreza S10.

This year’s Circuit entry holds the biggest World Rally Car entry for quite some time, but it also has a very strong Group N and 2WD contingent, with around 20 Group N's and many 2WD cars vying for top honours.

Donagh Kelly could take top spot in the Sunoco Group N standings if he manages to get a solid result, but he faces a tough time with drivers such as Philip Morrow, Alan Carmichael, Neil McCance and Garry Jennings all fighting for top Showroom Class spot.

The 2WD Class again features a host of MK2's, with Wesley Patterson, Adrian Hetherington, Phil Collins, John Waring and Camillus Bradley all capable of taking the 2WD honours. The MK2's will not have it all their own way, though, with English businessman Steve Perez wheeling out his pristine Lancia Stratos. Perez is hoping to do what Billy Coleman and Cahal Curley were never able to do, take home the winners trophy from the Circuit of Ireland.

Multiple winner of The Rallysport Association's Summer and Winter Series' Amy Cox will mark her International début at the wheel of a Ford Escort G3. She will be navigated by Emmet Sherry.

“I am expecting the rally to be fun and enjoyable with some tight and twisty stages. I hope that everyone enjoys the event and the atmosphere should be good. Also, thanks to everyone who has helped me reach the Circuit!” She said.

The Circuit of Ireland evolved from the Ulster Motor Rally, which was first held in 1931 and was won by Jimmy McCaherty in an Austin 16 saloon. The proper 'Circuit' Of Ireland was held in 1958, which was won by Paddy Hopkirk, driving a Triumph TR3A. Over the past 53 years, the Circuit has been altered to reflect the changing times, first running from Belfast to Waterford (and back, via Galway and Donegal), instead of Killarney, and latterly, being run as a more compact two-day rally. This year's event comprises of 113 competitive miles, instead of the 500+ competitive miles of the 70's and 80's.

This year's event will begin at 12:00 midday at the Armagh City Hotel, the Rally HQ, before the crews head off to tackle the day's first test. The Armagh City Hotel will also act as service area for the rally. Lisburn will host the aptly named 'Lisburn Power Stage', the first time a town centre has been closed for a special stage. The crews will make two runs over the stage, SS6 and SS7. SS6 will start at 6:00PM. The National B rally will only incorporate Leg 1, while the rest will tackle both Legs. The winners of their respective classes will be presented with their trophies at 4:35PM on Sunday.

MINI WRC Team is go!

The MINI WRC Team was formally launched at the MINI plant in Oxford today.

The all-new team was launched by team drivers Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo, with former Mini drivers Paddy Hopkirk and Rauno Aaltonen also present. Hopkirk and Aaltonen drove the 60's Cooper, in which they won the Rally Monte Carlo in 1964 and 1967, respectively, onto the main stage.

The new MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

Hopkirk, Aaltonen and Timo Makinen, also known as the 'Three Musketeers', were synonymous with the Mini Cooper in the 60's, taking the Monte 3 times between them. Today's drivers, Kris Meeke and Dani Sordo are hoping to follow in the 'Three Musketeers'' footsteps.

“On the one hand, MINI can look back on a unique success story. On the other hand, MINI is the epitome of excitement for millions of fans around the world and thrills them with its energy. This is precisely what we are able to authentically represent through our motorsport involvement in the World Rally Championship. Thrilling rally events, ultimate performances by man and machine, and as much success as possible, of course: motorsport is pure emotion – just as MINI is for its fans.” said Ian Robertson, who sits on the Board of Management of BMW AG for Sales and Marketing.

Dave Richards, Chairman of Prodrive, who will prepare and run the MINI WRC Team, is very confident in the abilities of the new team, saying: “We have been working towards this moment for more than two years and it is truly exciting to be launching the MINI WRC Team and what I believe is the most stunning car in World Rallying, the MINI John Cooper Works WRC. We have an experienced team, a talented driver pairing and, most importantly of all, a strong partnership with MINI. We are now eagerly looking forward to demonstrating the performance of the car on its début in Sardinia in just a few weeks.”

Dirk Hollweg, head of MINI Motorsport, says that the aim of the MINI WRC Team is to continue to please long-term MINI supporters as well as to communicate with new supporters: “The excitement of everyone involved in the comeback of MINI to the rally stage is building with every day we get closer to our maiden rally appearance,. With the MINI WRC Team we not only want to please the loyal fans of the MINI brand, but also aim to address new motorsport enthusiasts. We want to thrill them with fascinating pictures, technical know-how and pure performance. In addition, the special MINI lifestyle is always part of the equation. For us, it’s always about a bit more than just motorsport. I think the rally fans will love it.”

The new MINI John Cooper Works WRC has already been put through thousands of kilometres of testing to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the new car, as well as to assess the speed of the car. Most of this distance has been covered by Kris Meeke.

“This launch is the next milestone on the long way to our first rally,” said Meeke following the presentation of the car. “I cannot wait to get the season started.. It’s nice for everyone in the team to see the result of their work presented in such a spectacular way. The heritage of MINI in motorsport is fantastic. Now we want to make sure we play our part in adding some more chapters to the success story.” he said.

The MINI driver line-up. L-R: Carlos Del Barrio; Dani Sordo; Kris Meeke; Paul Nagle.

Meeke's team mate Dani Sordo has covered substantial mileage in the new car as well, and is looking forward to returning to full time driving, on next month's Rally d'Italia Sardegna: “It’s about time we get the ball rolling. The break since my last rally has been long enough, now we want to show how good we are. Everything is new for me this year. Bearing this in mind, the additional time to get accustomed to my new environment has definitely been helpful. Now I’m really looking forward to the new challenge and to fight for strong results with the MINI John Cooper Works WRC.”

The assembled media were briefed on the new car's spec sheet. It is fitted with a 1.6 turbo engine, which has already seen action in BMW's Touring Car machines. The turbo has a 33mm restrictor fitted. The Super 2000-spec MINI's are fitted with a 30mm restrictor, so as that it will comply with the Super 2000 regulations. Armindo Araujo's MINI is a S2000 variant.

“This Team Launch is really perfectly timed for us.” said David Wilcock, who gave the briefing to the assembled media and guests. “We look back at some extremely demanding and busy months. Now we are entering the crucial phase of our preparation programme for the first rally. We started the development of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC early. It was important to make sure the ratio between development and actual building of the car was right.”

“Our goal was to maximise every area of performance we could get from the technical regulations. Our first rally appearances will show how well we achieved this. In any case I can say that the partnership between MINI, Prodrive and BMW Motorsport on the engine side is running exceptionally well, everyone is contributing to the project with a lot of enthusiasm.”

(Photo credit: MINI Motorsport)