WRC loses Nokia

Nokia and the WRC have today confirmed that the contract between the communication’s giant and the top tier of rallying has been terminated.

Said to be worth around £2.5m per season to the WRC on a long-term contract, Nokia came into the series at the start of the year to help with the complete revamp of the media coverage end of the series. The WRC also became know as the “World Rally Championship, powered by Nokia”. Nokia also re-introduced a WRC app, which, somewhat remarkably, was only available on Nokia devices.

WRC Commission President Jarmo Mahonen said the collapse of the deal was “quite a big loss to the championship”. According to Mahonen, the fiasco over the loss of the WRC promoter at the beginning of the year was partly to blame for Nokia's decision to leave prematurely.

"We didn't see it as just money coming in, Nokia was going to be a partner. It was a very good platform." he added.

However, in a turn of good news for the WRC, a new promoter will be announced in just over 2 weeks time at the World Motorsport Council's meeting on the 15 June. Rumours suggest that the FIA will take the position on themselves.

Rory Galligan 1973-2012

With immense sadness and regret we have learned of the death of former BRC front-runner Rory Galligan, who passed away on Monday (21^st May), aged just 39.

Galligan was an immensely well-liked and talented driver. He was perhaps most well-known for being a Mitsubishi works driver in the 2005 and 2006 in the British Rally Championship. Committed and spectacular, he had pace on every surface.

His rallying career started in 1993, when he took to the stages in a Talbot Samba. After 2 years learning the rope's, the Samba was ditched in favour of a Peugeot 205, a challenge-spec car.

This is where Galligan's talent was really seen. Even though the car was nearly standard, he beat cars far and above his own class, including WRC cars! The opposition couldn't stand his sheer pace, and he took many class wins in Ireland and Britain on the way to winning the British Class A7 Rally Championship in 1998.

He jumped up to a Peugeot 106 to contest the 106 Super Cup, a hotly contested affair. His first year was blighted by crashes, but it was also his first year on gravel, and again he showed his pace.

He spent another year learning the stages and the car, before, in 2001, he blew the opposition into the weeds when he took four 106 Super Cup wins out of 8 rounds, on his way to the Championship.

He was awarded a works drive in a Peugeot 206 S1600 Kit Car for 2002 for winning the 106 Super Cup the year before. Fraught with mechanical problems throughout the year, he finished on the podium in 3 of the 4 events he finished, including a 3^rd place on his very first rally in the car. This lead to a 4^th placed finish in the hugely competitive S1600 Championship.

He made another class jump with a move to the Mitsubishi Evolution challenge in 2004. He spent the season fighting with his old Peugeot rival Paul Wedgbury, claiming the title on the last rally by a single point.

This was when his career really took off. He was rewarded with a Mitsubishi works drive for the full British Rally Championship in 2005. He took 5 Group N wins in his first year as a works driver and took second overall in the Production Championship. He was easily the fastest driver on both gravel and tar.

With WRC cars banned in the BRC for 2006, and Galligan chosen to drive a works car for another year, he was given his first proper shot at going for the British Driver's Title. From the first 4 rounds he took a second, a third and 2 retirements. He also took part in Rally Finland in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo taking a creditable fifth,in the Group N class, showing he had the talent to compete at world level. Things were going from good to great for the Irishman and it was only a matter of time before he took his first BRC win.

Tragically, it wasn't to be. He was struck down with illness part-ways through the 2006 season, and as the illness took hold, he was forced to can his rallying career after his home Ulster Rally. He had spend 13 years in the sport he loved, and 2 years at the very top of British Rallying.

After his premature retirement from rallying, he kept himself in the sport. He was always up-to-date with all the goings on and was willing to help wherever he could.

Rory passed away on Monday from Motor Neuron Disease. His funeral will take place on Thursday (24^th May). A guard of honour will take place before and after the funeral mass as a final salute to Rory.

GRN sends its deepest condolences to Rory's family, wife Treasa, son Charlie, daughter Ella and his many, many friends.


Photo credit: rallybrc.co.uk.

Sense over speed in Greece?

Ford World Rally Team ace Petter Solberg is sure that an intelligent approach to this week's Acropolis Rally will pay dividends in the quest for victory on the Greek classic.

Big rocks, with razor-like edges and searing heat makes the Acropolis Rally a formidable challenge faced by the WRC stars. It is a rally of endurance rather than speed, and Solberg knows what he is talking about.

The Norwegian has taken 5 podium finishes on the rally, including a win in 2004. He also took his first podium here in 2001, whilst in his first full year at the Subaru World Rally Team.

“It’s the roughest round of the season, but we’ll see if it proves to be the toughest. There are many big rocks in Greece and that’s what makes the rally so tricky. I learned a lot about rough road driving when Kenya’s Safari Rally was part of the championship, and that’s useful for Greece. You have to be smart with your driving in this type of event.” he said.

Solberg also noted the hard time the tyres will face this weekend. Rocks litter the roads, most of which would put a gash in the tyre big enough to put your hand in. Survival of the tyres is vital for any sort of chance at winning.

“The rough roads and heat are also hard for the tyres. But Michelin’s tyres have been strong this year so I’m confident they’ll be good here also. I had some bad luck on the last two rounds, but still scored good championship points after driving at 110 per cent to climb back up the order. Hopefully I can have a clean run and keep the points coming.” the 2003 World Champion added.

Sordo claims début IRC win

It is said that in 47 BC the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar wrote the phrase “veni, vidi, vici”, which translates as “I came, I saw, I conquered”. He made this comment after a very brief war with Pharnaces II of Pontus, who lost badly.

Dani Sordo could be forgiven for chanting this as he crossed the finishing ramp in Bastia. He did exactly as the phrase says, he came to Corsica, he saw the level of competition that the IRC had to offer, and he promptly conquered.

He didn't have it all his own way however. Reigning Champion Andreas Mikkelsen lead at the end of Day 1 from Sordo, by 1.8 secs. Local hero Pierre Campana held a strong third, racking up his first IRC Stage win in an S2000 car. He could have been higher, had it not been for suffering serious tyre wear over the abrasive roads. He was less than 20 secs off the lead, close enough to strike should bad fortune (or a big rain shower) hit the leading pair.

“It’s been a perfect day for us. Sordo is one of the best Tarmac rally drivers in the world and he’s been pushing hard, so I’m really happy with my performance today. I know the stages tomorrow a little better, so I’m glad to finish the first day so strongly. There is a long way still to go, but so far everything is going well.” said Mikkelsen.

European Championship regular Giandomenico Basso, piloting the 1.6 turbo Ford Fiesta RRC, was within 2 secs of Mikkelsen at the end of the day. However, he put his car in a ditch to avoid a member of the public who was driving on the wrong side of the road. The subsequent collision with a rock damaged the steering. He managed another 20 kms before he was forced to stop again, but this time damage to the driveshaft and the engine was discovered. Rally over for the Italian ace.

Day 2 dawned bright and sunny for the crews as they were faced with another five tests today over the Corsican stages. Mikkelsen was on form straight away, blasting into a 7 sec lead over Sordo. The Spaniard might have just been biding his time, but he didn't have to wait to launch an attack on the Norwegian.

Mikkelsen overcooked the entry to a very fast left hander in his works Skoda. The car ran wide and hit a timber telephone pole. The impact inflicted a puncture on the Norwegian, and he and co-driver Ola Floene lost more time changing the wheel when the jack repeatedly failed. Another puncture on the final stage of the day compounded the misery of losing the chance of his first tarmac win in the IRC.

This adventure let Sordo into the lead of the rally, something he would never lose. The other Skoda of Jan Kopecky took over the second spot, and Bryan Bouffier, who was suffering from a medical complaint which sapped him of energy towards the end of the stages, up into third. Pierre Campana was in fourth, 36 secs behind Sordo. A good scrap seemed to be set up for the final day, with second to fourth separated by less than 11 secs. However, anyone brave enough to challenge Sordo would have their work cut out against the Spaniard.

A thrilling fight ensued over second place between Kopecky and Campana, with the Czech driver beating the local to the runners up spot. Kopecky lost confidence in his pace notes over the day's first stage, allowing Campana ahead. But, after going fastest over five of the final six stages, Kopecky got back in front and netted the IRC Colin McRae Flat Out Trophy for his efforts.

Ahead of the scrapping duo, Dani Sordo took his first IRC win on his début in the Series. His MINI John Cooper Works Regional Rally Car (a car that has most probably taken the record of 'longest rally car name' in the history of the sport!) performed faultlessly throughout the rally.

Bryan Bouffier took fourth in his Peugeot 207 S2000, whilst overcoming an energy-sapping illness and handling issues. Fifth went to Andreas Mikkelsen, who fought his way back up the order after his punctures. Driveshaft problems delayed Craig Breen on Day 1, but he took sixth, just ahead of Jean Marc Manzagol in another 207 S2000 in seventh.

Sepp Wiegand continued his promising season with eighth place. Hermann Gassner Jr. took a fourth Skoda to ninth place, with Jean-Mathieu Leandri being dropped to 10^th on the final stage, thanks to a flying Gassner Jr..

Nest of the Irish was Craig Breen in sixth, with Marty McCormick making his S2000 début for PS Engineering. He finished 17^th after 2 consecutive punctures on the same stage lost him buckets of time.

In the Group N Category, Andreas Aigner made his competitive return to rallying with a stunning win in his Stohl Racing-run Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. Toshi Arai came second with rallying legend Francois Delecour took third in a Renault Mégane RS.

Petru Antone Boschetti won the IRC 2WD class, finishing 1 min 22 secs ahead of Delecour's Renault. Harry Hunt took third in his Citroen DS3 R3T.

O'Riordan takes second Killarney win

Darragh O'Riordan took a dominating win in Kerry last weekend at the Killarney Rally of the Lakes.

Following up his breakthrough win last year in The Kingdom, O'Riordan and co-driver Tony McDaid guided their Subaru Impreza S12B faultlessly over the legendary Killarney stages to take a commanding win of over 2 mins, ahead of Championship leader Darren Gass.

It wasn't all plain sailing for O'Riordan, and stiff competition came in the form of reigning Tarmac Champion Tim McNulty. Making his second appearance of 2012 after missing the Circuit of Ireland, McNulty flew into an early lead ahead of O'Riordan. It all fell apart for 'Big Tim', when his Subaru vanished off the road backwards whilst negotiating the famous Molls Gap stage, SS4.

McNulty's adventure let Eugene Donnelly up into second overall, but by now O'Riordan was driving away from the opposition. Donnelly, piloting his Toyota Corolla WRC, was keeping Darren Gass at bay, Gass marking only his second trip to Killarney.

Gass took advantage of an intercom problem for Donnelly on SS10, the Tim Healy Pass, and cut the deficit down to 1 sec before moving into a 3 secs lead. Disaster struck for the 7-times Tarmac Champion, as a piston failure put him out of the rally. This looks to be the end of the road for Donnelly's Championship aspirations.

This put everyone behind up a place, including moving Group N leader Garry Jennings into 3^rd overall. Gass maintained second but there was nothing he could do about the leading S12B of O'Riordan.

The order remained the same as Darragh O'Riordan blew the opposition into the weeds with a spectacular second consecutive win in Killarney. Gass took second, maintaining his Championship lead over Garry Jennings, who took third overall and Group N win. Indeed, such was Jennings winning margin in the showroom class that he had his service engineer Colm Grant knock back the power in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo so he could cruise to the finish. Jenning's nearest rival, Sam Moffett, went out from fourth overall with the timing went funny in his similar Evo.

JJ Fleming struggled to get used to his ex-Mikko Hirvonen Ford Focus WRC, but still took fourth, albeit over 13 mins off the lead. Vincent O'Shea took fifth overall and second in Group N to the rapid Garry Jennings. Sixth went to the Citroen Racing Trophy winning Citroen C2 of David Carney and Ray Fitzpatrick.

Aaron McHale made his return to rallying in his usual Ford Focus WRC. The car had been out of action for a few years and a list of problems plagued the car, including clutch, battery and alternator problems. Eoin Doyle had a strong run in his also newly acquired Ford Focus WRC, but went out on the Ballaghbeama stage.

In stark contrast to the International field, there was a massive fight for the win in the National section. Roy White (MG ZR S2000) and Barry Meade (Ford Escort MK2) swapped times throughout the rally, but an electrical problem caused White's MG to stall twice in one stage, and even thought he threw caution to the wind to catch back up, but Meade held on to win by 10 secs. Fergus O'Mara was third, but nearly 3 mins off the leading pair.

Bradley blasts to Sperrins win!

Local knowledge always helps when rallying. Having a good car also helps. As does being a competent driver.

However, give Camillus Bradley his infamous orange MK2 Escort and put him in Davagh Forest, only a brave (indeed extremely brave) man would bet against him not winning. But that is exactly what he did on last weekend's Tour of the Sperrins rally, making him the first 2WD driver to win a round of the NI Rally Championship for over 10 years!

Based this year in Davagh Forest, and not on the usual closed public roads, Bradley was easily favourite to win the rally. Even thought Championship leader Derek McGarrity had entered in a Hyundai Accent WRC, which actually transpired to be a state-of-the-art MINI John Cooper Works WRC, Bradley was still favourite in his equally state-of-the-art MK2.

The 4 mile Stage 1 got under way at just before 11 O’clock with McGarrity fastest out of the blocks, but not much more than half a second faster than Bradley. He continued his space over the next test, extending his lead to 6.4 secs over the bright-orange MK2.

But, on the next stage, Bradley decided to give it the boot. He was fastest on the final four stages, there were only 6 in the rally, converting his 5.8 sec deficit into a 26.1 sec win. It did help that McGarrity dropped 40 secs on SS5, but chances are that Bradley would have caught and passed the MINI with or without the problems.

The time loss put McGarrity down to third, boosting Drew Stewart up to second in another MK2 Escort. Kieron Graffin took fourth in the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 8 with Alistair Cochrane took fifth in his MK2, 10 secs clear of Raymond Mason's Evo.

The two MK2 Escort's of James Kennedy and Gary Price took seventh and eighth, heading a pair of Evo's, piloted by Gerard McFall and Kyle Orr.

Round 3 of the McGrady Insurance Junior 1000 Rally Championship was held in Eniskillen, part of the McAleer's Spar Stages Rally. Adam Bustard took the spoils for the first time, with championship leader and winner of the first two rounds, Ben Crealey, barely one and a half secs back in second. Rhys Bunting survived the slippery conditions to take third.

Latvala to test Fiesta next week

Injury plagued Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala is expected to be back in a rally car as soon as next week, in preparation for the Acropolis Rally in 20 days’ time.

Latvala will test a Ford Fiesta RS WRC next week on the Italian island of Sardinia alongside team-mate Petter Solberg. The Finn will test the Fiesta for two days as he fights to be fit for the rough gravel World Championship classic.

“It’ll be great to get Jari back in the car. He’s had some padding made to go over the area where he broke his collarbone, but he hasn’t been feeling any pain since two days after the accident. We’re 99.9 per cent certain he will be competing with us in Greece.” said Team Director Malcolm Wilson.

Latvala broke his left collarbone in a freak training accident in the Lapland region of northern Finland almost a month ago. Forced to sit out Argentina whilst Dani Sordo took his place, Latvala was always expected to make his return to competition in Greece, but, according to himself, is “90% recovered and ahead of schedule”, therefore being “confident for Greece”.

The Finn will return to the WRC 63 points behind Championship leader Sebastian Loeb. With only two scores to his name out of 5 rallies, Latvala is realistically out of the Championship fight now. Team-mate Petter Solberg is well stuck into the fight, 18 points behind after his steering failure in Argentina.

“Jari-Matti has some trouble for the moment and lost a lot of points in the championship. I think my main rivals now are [Mikko] Hirvonen and [Petter] Solberg. Even before Latvala’s problems they were still the closest drivers in the championship. They are fast drivers, Solberg is very fast in the Ford and Mikko is understanding how our car is working so they will be good rivals.”

Cronin back to winning ways

Keith Cronin showed us why he is a double British Rally Champion last weekend, taking an exciting win in only his second event in the Citroen DS3 R3.

Completing the rally based in the demanding Kielder Forest, Cronin swapped the top spot with team-mate Jarkko Nikara, ultimately winning by 17.2 secs over the Finn.

Nikara took first blood with two stage wins in the first two stages, heading team-mate Cronin by 3 secs at the end of the first day. Elfyn Evans sat second overall, heading the Fiesta Sport Trophy in his slower R2 Fiesta.

Cronin showed his metal on Day 2, waking up with a real fire in his belly. Fastest time over the first two stages of the day sent him into the lead, but Nikara fought back over the next test, re-taking the lead. Cronin went back into the lead on the very next test, but Nikara just about snatched it back after SS8. Cronin went mental over the final four stages, swiping his 17 sec winning margin out of Nikara over the final four stages.

An elated Cronin said at the finish: “It’s been a fantastic battle and a win always feels so much better when you have to fight for it. Once we had settled into the new car and tweaked a few things, we had no problems at all, so it’s been a very enjoyable rally and great to win a round of the British Championship again. Thanks must go to Autosport Technology for getting the car ready, Marshall my co-driver and everyone who has helped me achieve this.”

Such was the pace of the leading pair of Citroen’s, Round 1 winner Mark Donnelly took third nearly two minutes back. Donnelly was still re-building confidence over the rally’s 12 stages after his massive crash last time out in Wales. Elfyn Evans’ slower Fiesta R2 succumbed to the pace of the faster R3 cars, eventually taking fourth, 2 mins 41 secs back. He did, however, have the consolidation of taking the Fiesta Sport Trophy win.

"I am really happy with the result. To be honest I was surprised with our pace and overall position after the Friday night stages. We were able to establish a good lead today [Saturday] and focused on tidying everything up and keeping our position. We had a problem with the gear selector bracket and had to make some roadside repairs to keep going, but thankfully we made it to the end. It feels great to be leading the championship – especially in an R2 specification car! I need to thank the whole team for providing me with a great car and getting me into this position.” said Evans.

Peter Taylor took fifth in the Renault Clio R3, less than 2 secs ahead of Pirelli Star Driver Jukka Korhonen. Armed with a TEG Sport-prepared Skoda Fabia R2, the young Finn is improving his pace rally-by-rally.

"It’s been a really good weekend, and I’ve had no problems. We had some knowledge of the roads from last year and some of the stages are very similar to the nature of the roads back in Finland so that has definitely helped. I’m looking forward to the next round of the championship, we’re not so familiar with driving on asphalt but we’re feeling ready for the challenge.” said Korhonen.

Finnish Ford Junior Team driver Jussi Kumpumaki seventh overall and second in the Fiesta Sport Trophy. He also took the Pirelli star driver award for his efforts.

WRC Academy star Alastair Fisher took eighth overall, losing time when some stones embedded themselves in the rear brakes of Fisher’s Fiesta. Championship leader Tom Cave lost buckets of time in his DS3, as did Jonny Greer in a similar DS3. Both drives were ninth and tenth, respectively.

Loeb takes his South American 70th

Everyone knows Citroen are strong in Argentina, indeed that have won every Rally Argentina since 2004 thanks to Carlos Sainz and Sebastian Loeb.

However, for the first time in many years, Ford ruffled Citroen's feathers, with new team leader Petter Solberg leading up to SS4. That was as far as he got in the lead, a stone on the racing line sent Solberg into the bushes and resulted in a broke steering arm.

Team Director Malcolm Wilson said: “It’s a great opportunity lost again to be honest so we’re disappointed. But we’re confident we can get the car fixed for tomorrow [Leg 2] and we’ll continue and put up a good fight again like in Portugal and get back into the points with Petter.”

This let Mikko Hirvonen into the lead, and his team-mate up into second. This was the start of a close fight between the red and white rockets. Loeb pushed hard through the rutted SS5, overhauling Hirvonen by just a tenth of a second.

“We changed a bit the set-up and I was much more confident in the afternoon,” said Loeb. “I pushed really hard and there were no mistakes. It is very close with Mikko and there is a long way to go.” Loeb said.

It was only a matter of time until Hirvonen would be told to give way to Loeb, and that order came on Leg 2. The Finn won the opening two stages, putting Loeb under pressure and causing the Frenchman to have a big moment. However, team boss Yves Matton called time on the scrap, allowing Loeb his 70^th WRC win.

The final day was relatively relaxed for the Citroen pairing. Loeb carried on to his amazing 70^th win, whilst Hirvonen took second, just 15.2 secs behind. It proved that the super-consistant Hirvonen would have been fast enough to win the rally off of his own speed, but undoubtedly, Loeb would have fought back and Matton may have been faced with having one (or both) of his €400,000 cars converted into pointy balls of metal or wrapped around a pretty solid object, instead of a comfortable 1-2 finish.

Another incredibly consistent run off the back of his breakthrough Portuguese win, Mads Ostberg snatched the final podium place in his highest of the Fiesta's. Only handling issues slowed the Norwegian, but his solid result lifted him up to fourth in the Driver's table.

Both Martin Prokop and Theirry Neuville took their career-best finishes in Argentina, with Prokop fourth and Neuville fifth. What a rally to achieve your best finish on!

Sixth is not what could be considered a fair result for the ever-hard-charging Petter Solberg. After that unforgiving Argentinian rock ruined what seemed to be leading up to his first win in nearly 7 years, Solberg returned under Rally 2 rules. And what a comeback he made.

Beginning Day 2 down in 11^th place, over 14 mins off the lead, owing to his Rally 2 penalties, Solberg began a do-or-die push back up into the points. He began his charge on SS10, winning every stage, bar SS13, from there home. Overall, he won over half of the stages in the rally, getting back to sixth after team-mate Dani Sordo's woes. And, to boot, Solberg won the event-closing Power Stage as well.

Sebastian Ogier impressively took his Skoda Fabia S2000 up to seventh, after team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen retired with suspension failure on SS15. Mikkselsen had the beating of Ogier throughout the rally, only losing out when the right-front wheel decided to do it's own thing.

Evgney Novikov took eighth with Nasser Al-Attiyah ninth, having run higher only to slip into the retirement ranks. Tenth went to Ott Tanak, another driver rescued by Rally 2.

Dani Sordo's one-off drive for Ford was going according to plan, up until the last stage when the alternator belt snapped and put him out whilst running third. Ford hope that Jari-Matti Latvala will be fit for Greece this month, but they now know who to call if he isn't fully fit.

Benito Guerra took an outstanding 4 minute victory margin in the P-WRC section of the rally. Piloting his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X, he survived the 500 gruelling kilometres to finish ahead of Nicholas Fuchs. A dodgy gearbox couldn't deny Valeriy Gorban a third placed finish in the colourful Mentos-sponsored Lancer.

“I’m really, really happy with my second win and my first victory outside of Mexico. There were several times when I felt I needed to race to be faster but not in Argentina. I had to be very calm to keep the car in one piece for the long, long days. I did this and now with two wins I am the leader of the championship and can dream of being world champion.” said Guerra.

McKenna takes mighty Monaghan!

3 WRC crews entered the 2012 Monaghan Stages Rally, and they occupied the first 3 slots on the entry list. They were followed by a trio of MK2 Escorts, flying machines in their own right. Leading the MK2 charge was Daniel McKenna, but he had his work cut out to topple the leading WRC Subaru's, lead by local legend Niall Maguire.

Rally Winner
Daniel McKenna

2nd Overall
Sam Moffett

In the end, however, the WRC cars were nowhere to be found. Seamus Leonard was the first to go, out on SS1. Next was WRC newcomer Donagh Kelly. Kelly, who previously sported an ex-Kevin Lynch Ford Focus WRC but is more accustomed to a Group N Mitsubishi, crashed out on SS3. Niall Maguire was the only one left standing, establishing a 1 minute lead by SS7. One minute is nothing when you gearbox goes bang, which Maguire's did, and out he went.

So cue the MK2 Escort's it seemed. Anyone who ever doubted the sheer pace that a well-driven MK2 Escort can achieve have well and truly been schooled. Daniel McKenna and Gary McPhillips stood up and flew.

3rd Overall
Maurice Moffett

McPhillips was caught off guard by McKenna over the opening loop of stages. He dropped 32 secs to the flying McKenna. It was “shoulder to the wheel” time over the next loop, as Gary fought to gain back the lost time, winning all 3 stages. SS6 saw vast amounts of standing water and McKenna nearly lost it all when an overshoot at a hairpin lead to a the Scanbitz MK2's rear end suffering a God-almighty wallop. McPhillips overshot the same hairpin, but to a lesser extent. Both crews left the scene at the same time, with spectators witnessing two MK2 Escorts fighting to the stage end, side by side.

McKenna got his shortened MK2 repaired in service, and the pair were dead level after SS7. That was as good as it got. McKenna passed the red MK2 of McPhillips, suffering from suspension failure. Gary lost over 6 mins with the failure, dropping him to 14^th.

Group N Winner
Shane Maguire
4th Overall

Sam Moffett took second in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo, and his Dad, the infamous (and slightly mental) Maurice, took third. Shane Maguire won Group N in his Subaru Impreza, taking a fine fourth overall in the process. Maguire was scrapping with the third Moffett in the rally, Josh, and eventually took a 17 sec win over the Evo driver, who also took fifth. Donegal crew Declan and Brian Boyle took sixth, and Class 14, despite an early puncture in their Limelight-backed MK2.

A big thanks must go to another Declan Boyle, of DBPics, who stepped in to sponsor our Monaghan Stages Rally report, as well as supplying the photos in this report. Declan is an outstanding young photographer, and will be supplying more photos to Global Rally News in the future. Cheers Declan!

Best Donegal Result
Declan Boyle
6th Overall

Sordo in for Latvala

Dani Sordo has been announced as Ford's replacement for the injured Jari-Matti Latvala on next month's Philips Rally Argentina.

After falling and breaking his collarbone whilst training in his native Finland, Latvala was ruled out of the South American classic. Initially, semi-works Ford drivers such as Evegny Novikov, Henning Solberg and Ott Tanak were said to be in the running for the seat. Marcus Gronholm and Craig Breen came in as outsiders, then a seemingly rank outsider in Dani Sordo appeared.

The reason Sordo was considered such an outsider was due to the fact he is contracted to the Prodrive World Rally Team. Then Prodrive announced they would miss both Argentina and Greece, leaving Sordo a free agent for both rallies.

Prodrive then granted Sordo a temporary release from his contract, so as he can make the switch to Ford for Argentina. Sordo's switch might even prove helpful to the development of the MINI John Cooper Works WRC, but Global Rally News expects that Ford will have a clause in place that will prevent a transfer of intellectual property from the Fiesta to the MINI, and vice versa.

Malcolm Wilson, director of the Ford WRT, praised the management of the Prodrive WRT for being “extremely gracious” in helping them find a suitable replacement. He said: “We’re fortunate to have a driver of Dani’s calibre to join us. His experience at Rally Argentina was a key factor in the decision, having started the rally five times. The agreement is for one rally only, and I would like to thank the management of Dani’s current team, who were extremely gracious in helping us in such challenging circumstances.”

Sordo has a good history in Argentina, having competed on the rally for 5 times, scoring one podium whilst driving for Citroen in their all-conquering C4 WRC.

Latvala is hoping to be back fit for the Acropolis Rally in late May, but his championship chances are now realistically over. Wilson added that, although he was disappointed at the fact Latvala would miss Argentina, he said it was the best decision.

“We’re naturally disappointed that Jari-Matti will miss the rally, but ensuring a full recovery as quickly as possible is the most important thing for him and the team.” he said.

Sordo's first test for Ford will take place today (Wednesday) at the team's private testing facility, close to their Cumbrian's headquarters.  

Who will replace Latvala?

More drivers have been put into the ever growing mix of names of who will replace Jari-Matti Latvala on next month's Philips Rally Argentina.

Latvala fell whilst training in the Lapland region of Northern Finland, suffering a broken collarbone and ruling him out of the South American classic.

Ford have a big pool of drivers to choose from, with Evgney Novikov, Mads Ostberg, Ott Tanak and Henning Solberg all available and driving the Fiesta RS WRC. However, if Malcolm Wilson chooses one of these drivers, their respective teams will risk being thrown out of the Championship, fined €16,000 plus the rally entry fee. A gamble worth taking to get a works drive for one rally? No-one will know until the lucky name has been drawn.

Other drivers are also available, one being Marcus Gronholm. The double World Champion Finn ended his career with Ford in 2007, but returned for a one-off Rally Sweden outing in 2010, naturally armed with a semi-works Focus WRC.

A major outsider in the race for the temporarily vacated seat is Craig Breen. The Irishman has been more or less loyal to Ford since switching to rallying from karting a few years back. He has progressed through the ranks with the Blue Oval, winning the Irish Fiesta Trophy, the International Fiesta trophy and the WRC Academy. He also currently leads the S-WRC Championship in, you guessed it, a Ford Fiesta S2000. His only rally to date outside of a Ford was on the Circuit of Ireland Rally, driving a Peugeot 207 S2000 Evo.

Another, more surprising, name was also added to the mix recently. Rumours in Spanish media suggest that Dani Sordo has landed the seat. Sordo is currently under contract with Prodrive, the firm building and developing the MINI John Cooper Works WRC cars. They have elected to miss Argentina and Greece, owning to their lack of money. However, for this to work, Sordo would need to get Prodrive's permission, as he is said to be under a long-term contract with the former World Rally Championship winning engineering outfit.

A decision was meant to be made today (Monday) but nothing has been released yet, with a spokesperson for Ford stating: “We won’t be able to announce a driver until an agreement is finalised and we’re not there,” said the spokesperson. “There are many different options so until we have made a final decision, we won’t be able to make any announcement.”

Latvala injured in training fall

Jari-Matti Latvala's challenge for the 2012 WRC Driver's Title has been given a possibly fatal blow after the Finn broke his left collarbone.

Latvala was skiing in the Lapland region of northern part of Finland when he suffered a heavy fall, handing on his left shoulder. He is no stranger to cross-country skiing, being described as “a good and accomplished skier”.

A spokesperson for Ford said: “Cross-country skiing is part of his regular training programme and he’s a good and accomplished skier,” said a Ford spokesperson. “Unfortunately he suffered a heavy fall and has been withdrawn from Rally Argentina to give himself the best possible opportunity to be fit for the Acropolis Rally at the end of May.”

The Finn underwent surgery on Thursday night to insert metal screws into his shoulder to aid the healing process, but the recovery will require rest and as such he has been withdrawn from Philips Rally Argentina. It is thought he should be recovered sufficiently to return to action on the Acropolis Rally towards the end of May.

“My first concern has obviously been Jari and how best to get his situation resolved so it’s right for him. Now we have taken the decision that it’s best for him to miss Argentina so he’s 100 per cent fit for the Acropolis, one of the most difficult rallies in the championship” said Ford WRT boss Malcolm Wilson.

When asked about who would replace Latvala in Argentina, Wilson gave nothing away, but did say that “a driver of Jari's ability is very hard to replace”.

Ford will have no problem in finding a talented replacement, with Rally Portugal winner Mads Ostberg, rapid Estonian Ott Tanak and Norwegian Champion Henning Solberg all available to partner Petter Solberg in the works Fiesta RS WRC.

Petter Solberg will now become No. 1 driver (for Rally Argentina at least) and will most likely be allowed to fight for the win, and a win would move him into a minimum 3 point Driver's Championship lead.

COI début victory for Hanninen

After his main competition threw his rally away crashing into a bale, and with the feared local challenge succumbing to problems, Juho Hanninen became only the second 'foreign' driver to win the Circuit of Ireland rally.

Rally winner Juho Hanninen

And Hanninen is the only driver ever to win the rally from outside of Ireland or the UK. Pentti Airikkala, born in Finland too, won the rally for Vauxhall in 1979, but he lived in England. Hanninen lives in his native Finland, making him the first properly 'foreign' driver to win the Easter classic.

It was by no means an easy ride, though, for the former IRC Champion and reigning S-WRC Champion. He was pushed all the way by Andreas Mikkelsen, team-mate in a Skoda UK run Fabia S2000. Both drivers pushed 110% throughout the rally, with small mistakes and tyre choice errors making things interesting.

Andreas Mikkelsen

2nd overall

Both drivers swapped tenths for 11 stages. The reigning IRC Champion had his nose ahead on sheer pace, but Hanninen was controlled, and very, very fast too. Mikkelsen was often reporting errors, slip-ups, brushes with the bushes etc. Hanninen rarely did. Both onboards from both cars showed massive risks being taken.

The largest gap between the two was only 9 secs, but the rally ended up on it's head. Mikkelsen went sideways at high-speed into the bales on the Lisburn 1 stage, dropping over 40 secs to Hanninen. Slightly dazed, Mikkelsen knew his bid for his second win on the island of Ireland (his first being the Fastnet Stages in 2007 driving a Ford Focus WRC) was over. Hanninen cruised to a 44.2 sec win after Mikkelsen's troubles.

Jan Kopecky

3rd Overall

Uncomfortable with Irish Tarmac, Jan Kopecky was never on the pace throughout the rally. He spent the whole rally in third place, aside from leading after the Titanic Super Special. He dropped 10 secs as soon as the rally hit proper roads, and finished the rally 1 min 39 secs off the lead. Nevertheless, he holds third in the Championship, and will be back onto smooth tarmac at the start of May for the Tour de Corse.

Mathieu Arzeno

4th overall

Mathieu Arzeno took fourth on his first visit to Ireland. Highest of the Peugeot's, the young Frenchman was over 4 mins off the lead at the end. His Sainteloc 

Craig Breen
5th Overall

Racing team-mate Craig Breen overcame fuel pump failure and a 90 sec penalty to take fifth. Robert Barrable took his Fabia S2000 to sixth. Barrable went gate crashing on SS6, blasting through into a field. He then belted into a ditch getting back out of the field and stalled the car.

Robert Barrable
6th Overall 

Sepp Wiegand took seventh in the fourth Fabia S2000 in the Top 10, over 6 mins off the lead but learning plenty on the way. Eighth went to Garry Jennings, Group N winner in his Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. Jennings encountered an unusual problem when he burnt his gear-change hand when he mistakenly grabbed his Lancer's hot exhaust. Nevertheless he fought through the inevetible pain to win Group N and take maximum IRC Group N points.

Garry Jennings
8th Overall
Group N winner

Donagh Kelly and Sam Moffett took ninth and tenth overall, second and third in Group N respectively. Both were armed with Mitsubishi Lancer Evo's, but couldn't live with Jenning's pace, which, as ever, was rapid.

Marty McCormack
Colin McRae IRC Flat out Trophy winner

The ever rapid Marty McCormack won the 2WD class in his Citroen DS3 R3T, and the “Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Trophy”. Surviving a gearbox failure, alternator problems and not one but two punctures, he still finished 20 secs ahead of Tommy Doyle's Renault Clio, who also survived brake problems and a gear indicator glitch. Jonny Greer took his DS3 to third 2WD.

National review to follow.

Latvala "offered to step down" as Ford No. 1

Ford World Rally Team boss Malcolm Wilson has admitted that his No. 1 driver Jari-Matti Latvala was ready to step down from his position after his Rallye de Portugal crash, his third in four rallies.

Wilson revealed that the Finn had approached him with the intention of stepping down, but Wilson declined his offer, instead putting his full support behind the Finn, who is currently running though rough patch.

Wilson said: "Jari did actually offer [to step down as number one driver]. He said he accepted that maybe the time had come [for a change of tactic]. But the way out of this is to give him as much support as I possibly can - and that's what I intend to do. For me, he's the only driver in a straight fight who can take the fight to Sebastien and beat him. And, for us to win championships, we have to win rallies.”

The former British Rally Champion acknowledged that Latvala's crash-to-rally ratio is not good, but he did liken Latvala's situation to Colin McRae's 2001 season. The flamboyant Scot crashed too many times to count during his Ford years, but he came back from a win-less streak in 2001 to win three rallies on the bounce and challenge for the title right up until the final round.

"Granted, three mistakes from four rallies is not good, but again he has proved he's the quickest guy at the moment and I've been in the sport long enough to know that it's coming. There's nothing to say he's not going to win the next four rallies – it's happened in the past. Remember when Colin [McRae] went a very long time without finishing a rally and then, bang, he won three rallies on the trot in 2001." he said.

Ford began the season with the plan of Solberg joining to support Latvala, but now, with Solberg only 4 points off the Driver's Championship lead and having finished each rally this year so far in the Top 4, things may change unless Latvala does as McRae did.

Wilson added: "The strategy doesn't change," he said. "If we do [get to the mid-point of the season] and the situation is the same then of course we will change."

GRN announces new sponsorship tie-up!

Global Rally News would like to announce a sponsorship tie-up with Philip Greenlee Rallying for this weekend's Circuit of Ireland Rally. Philip, and co-driver Jonathan Dinsmore, have enjoyed some excellent exposure recently and Global Rally News couldn't say no to such an excellent opportunity.

Global Rally News logo will adorn the side and front bumper of Philip's, so if you get and photos with Global Rally News' logo prominently displayed, be sure to post them on our Facebook page (link on the right) or email them to globalrallynews@gmail.com for a chance to see them here!

Ostberg wins unusual Rallye de Portugal

The unbelievable drama that surrounded the 2012 Vodafone Rallye de Portugal wasn't even finished after the final car had left the final time control.

Mikko Hirvonen had won the rally on stage times, well over a minute ahead of second placed Mads Ostberg. However, as reported on Global Rally News' Facebook page, rumours began to circulate that Hirvonen had been excluded from the final standings due to an illegal clutch. These rumours were proved true, and Mads Ostberg was declared winner.

Everything about this rally was strange, a super consistent driver ending up down a ditch, an amazing fight-back to points and small dips turning into rivers. We will talk about these rather strange things now.

Thursday evening's four stages were the start of a series of events that would shake up the order of the rally something shocking. Petter Solberg won the opening Super Special Stage again to lead into the dark of the next three stages. Solberg extended his lead on the next stage over team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala. Then, on the next stage, something not even Paul the Octopus could have predicted.

Sebastian Loeb misheard a vital pacenote from co-driver Daniel Elena, indicating a right-hand turn immediately after a crest. Loeb didn't follow the note, according to Citroen Racing Team Principal Yves Matton, and turned left, and straight over a drop. The car rolled heavily, albeit at slow speed, but neither Loeb now Elena were hurt. However, the car's roll cage had been damaged, and under FIA Regulations, he couldn't continue.

Explaining the crash, Loeb said: “I just didn’t hear well the note. I thought left it was right. It was like that, I went on the wrong side so I was off the line. It was just over the crest so I couldn’t see the corner. Finally when I was off the line it was too late but luckily it happens not so often. It was a completely blind corner in the dark so for sure it was more difficult. It was a misunderstanding.”

Latvala took the lead after SS3, and held it overnight with Solberg in second. Mikko Hirvonen held third in the other Citroen. Ott Tanak managed to take his first stage win too, winning SS4 by 1.4 secs over Hirvonen.

Ford may have wished the first two stages of the day never ran, as both of their drivers crashed out of the lead on successive stages. Latvala slid down a drop on the opening stage, losing a potential Ford 1-2 and win. Solberg then ruined any chance of a win when he did the same thing on the very next stage, annulling a 25 sec lead over Hirvonen.

Loeb's co-driver Daniel Elena was surprised by the Blue Oval's issues, saying: "It was unbelievable what happened [with Ford] yesterday. Incredible," said Elena. "The drivers have just to drive to take points for the championships - don't take the risk. And when Jari-Matti crashed then there is less risk, but then Petter crashed as well!"

This let Hirvonen into a lead that he would never lose. Evgney Novikov ended the day second, consistency leaving the 'new' Evgney 36 secs off the lead. Mads Ostberg held third overnight, 5 secs off the Russian.

Safety became a concern on Friday afternoon, with the organisers deciding to cancel all of the afternoon's competitive rain and fog-lashed stages. A river burst it's banks near a liaison section, flooding a watersplash and leaving half of the field stuck on the wrong side of it. After the cancellations, everyone was ordered back to the Faro service area, and fuel was rushed out to allow all crews to return to service.

Perhaps the shock of Friday was Dani Sordo. Back after the Prodrive Team decided to miss Mexico to concentrate on getting the new uprated MINI John Cooper Works WRC ready, Sordo retired on Thursday with lighting problems. He returned on Friday and taking advantage of his favourable starting position, Sordo won all of Friday's three stages. Most amazingly, the Spaniard took back 2 mins 7 secs with these stage times.

Petter Solberg must have done as his team-mate did for the Qualifying Stage and “left his brain in the service park” for the day's stages. Sordo won the day's opening stage, but the Norwegian won the next four stages, and Sordo the final test. Solberg rocketed up the order, going from 13^th to 5^th in 6 stages. Getting as high a fourth, his power steering failed on the final test, and dropped a minute. At the stage end, physically exhausted, he downed a bottle of water faster than his pace on the previous tests.

Heading into Sunday, Hirvonen had almost doubled his lead to 1 min 11 secs. Ostberg still held second and Novikov a career-best third. 57.54 kms of competition remained on Sunday, with the longest stage of the rally still remaining, the 31kms of Santana de Serra.

Sunday was Ford's day in terms of stage wins, with both Solberg and Latvala taking 5 wins between them. Dani Sordo won the most crucial stage, winning the Power Stage. Latvala took second for some much-needed championship points and Ott Tanak took third, and his first Power Stage point.

Hirvonen crossed the finish ramp to win the rally, but as mentioned above, his clutch was deemed illegal in post-event scrutineering and he and his DS3 WRC were excluded, handing Mads Ostberg his first World Rally win in six years of trying.

A surprised Hayden Paddon took the S-WRC spoils in his Skoda Fabia S2000, helped no end by Yazeed Al- Rajhi's retirement. The Saudi Arabian driver had built a 9 min lead in his RRC-spec Fiesta, but when the front cross-member snapped, as his co-driver Michael Orr said, “not even a nine-minute lead is enough.”. Maciej Oleksowicz took second and Pedro Meireles completed the Top 3, and the S-WRC finishers. Championship leader Craig Breen exited the rally after his engine was drowned in one of the oversized watersplashes.

“We wanted to come here to win, but we didn’t win it like we wanted to. We’re happy though and I’ve always said to finish first, first you have to finish. There’s a lot more to come from the car and from me. We’re looking forward to New Zealand for the next round.” said Paddon.

Alastair Fisher took his second FIA WRC Academy win in Portugal after 13 faultless and consistent stages. After early leader Fredrik Ahlin ended up in a ditch on one on Friday morning's soggy stages, Fisher put the boot down to take two stage wins and take the lead. When Friday afternoon's stages were called off, Fisher only had to consolidate the 59 sec lead he had accrued in 2 stages. By the end of the rally, he had won by 43.6 secs.

“We’ve worked very hard and it’s paid off. We won the rally in the wet conditions yesterday and it worked really well. It’s a very positive start but I’m under no illusion: it’s going to be a very tough year. The quality of the entrants is even higher than last season.” said the delighted Fisher, nephew of legendary Irish driver Bertie Fisher.

Brendan Reeves took second, with Pontus Tidemand in third. Tidemand also won the Rookie Award, a newly introduced scheme.