Maria d wrote:that is such a cool car, i wish they sold them in the states, i would love a test drive. we are looking at the ford fiesta for next year.
Where is your support, Maria
Maria d wrote:that is such a cool car, i wish they sold them in the states, i would love a test drive. we are looking at the ford fiesta for next year.
i dont even drive, and they dont sell kimi cars in the states so i like the ford.Wolfie wrote:Maria d wrote:that is such a cool car, i wish they sold them in the states, i would love a test drive. we are looking at the ford fiesta for next year.
Where is your support, Maria
not much. As Kimi has said, he has many options.Loiste wrote:mmmm.... I don't know what it means for Kimi's fans.... But russian Evgeniy Novikov find money and now speaking with Citroen and Ford about testing new cars for 2011.
Loiste wrote:mmmm.... I don't know what it means for Kimi's fans.... But russian Evgeniy Novikov find money and now speaking with Citroen and Ford about testing new cars for 2011.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/85994By David Evans Wednesday, August 18th 2010, 08:33 GMT
Mikko Hirvonen's crashed Ford in FinlandFord driver Mikko Hirvonen says his massive Rally Finland accident earlier this month won't slow him down on Rally Germany this week.
The Finn crashed out of his home round of the World Rally Championship while leading the Jyvaskyla event. Despite rolling his Ford Focus RS WRC five times in the near-100mph shunt, Hirvonen is already looking forward to the second asphalt encounter of the WRC season.
"I cocked up in Finland, that's all there is to it," said Hirvonen. "It's not going to slow me down or anything like that. The main thing is that in Finland we showed we had the speed. I want to get up there again and start fighting."
Hirvonen has never won an asphalt round of the series and admits that becoming the first man ever to beat Sebastien Loeb on the stages around Trier is a tough proposition this week.
"I have a love/hate relationship with this rally," said Hirvonen. "When it's dry the stages are really nice to drive but when the conditions are wet it makes the roads very tricky with all the mud and water around.
"Of all the three different characteristics we see in Germany, I prefer the vineyards. We have fantastic grip, the stages are not very technical and we can build up a really good rhythm because of the high speeds. The Baumholder stages are a unique challenge. The surface is changing all the time, it's very tricky and the road is bumpy meaning that the right car setup is crucial.
"I was disappointed with the result in Finland but encouraged by our speed. With the all the improvements we've made I'm looking forward to seeing what's possible. I want to be fighting for the podium."
Rally Germany starts from Trier tomorrow evening.
source:Chief of VW Motorsport Kris Nissen spoke about the future. He said that VW was very pleased with Mini entry and that it recently looked very possible for VW to enter WRC for 2013 season.
He also said that he wanted to assure fans of Skoda that VAG would certainly find a solution for both brands to continue rallying in the same time but not as direct competition...
iRally is reporting that Ken Block is confirmed for a full WRC season next year. Hopefully he brings another driver in his team, ala Atko
He seems serious about WRC.By David Evans Friday, August 20th 2010, 08:18 GMT
Ken Block returns to the World Rally Championship for the latest outing in his partial 2010 programme this weekend in Germany, where the American star will tackle an asphalt event for the first time ever.
He talked to AUTOSPORT about his preparations and aims for the daunting event.
Q. How was your test for Rally Germany?
Ken Block: Yeah, it was good. I got to do around 150 kilometres, which was just about 850 too little! Actually, it was good practice. I got to sit in with Jari-Matti [Latvala] and he sat in with me and gave me some good feedback.
Q. What did Latvala tell you?
KB: A variety of things. All my mentality is set to gravel: where to brake. For example, when I hear: 'Right six, 30, right, one,' I know exactly to brake on gravel. On tarmac I have to reset all those levels because I just don't know. It's a really big learning experience that he helped with, telling me when to brake, how hard to brake, what to look for from the set-up of the car, everything like that.
I was really happy with the way the test went. I feel comfortable, but it takes years to develop the speed and it just happens to be my first tarmac event is probably the toughest tarmac event, obviously in the championship, but probably in the world as well. So, I have a lot of respect for these roads and I want to really enjoy myself. But I'm realistic about where I stand. I'm here for some mileage. I expect to be last of the WRC cars, but it's going to be good experience and I'll have a lot of fun doing it.
Q. If you'd gone to an event like Catalunya, you'd have more consistency with the surface and grip levels, wouldn't that have been a better bet for the first asphalt event?
KB: It would probably have been a lot easier, but this is a development year for me and this rally and the next one are in the championship next year - and they're important markets for Monster, so that's why I'm here. It'll be great for next year: I'll have the notes and the in-car [footage]. I'm here to do every mile, but it's a lot of fun.
I really enjoyed shakedown, except that all of my testing was done on the soft tyre and then at shakedown I ran with the hard Pirelli because they wanted to save the softs. It was quite frightening the first time through – I wish I'd done a little testing on the hard, so I had some familiarity with it. The times for me at shakedown were pretty similar to some of the guys at the back, which was okay for me.
Q. And what about the route for this event, what do you think of the stages?
KB: It really is three rallies in one. Each day is so different. Day one has vineyards and stuff through the forests and towns, day two is the open fields and Baumholder and day three all vineywards – it's so distinctly different, but it's really cool. The stages are a huge challenge, it's going to be great.
I think it's going to be quite humbling when I have to look at my times compared with some of the other guys, but I'm realistic about where I sit. I've just got to get out there, take it easy and then build up some speed.
Q. What about the 48-kilometre stage in Panzerplatte?
KB: It's amazing. It took us almost an hour to recce it. It's a huge challenge. There are so many variants on the grip level, the corner gradients, the road conditions, you know you just have to give a lot of respect to that place. I'm looking forward to it, but I've seen some of the crashes in there – particularly Petter [Solberg]'s – and I know it's a stage you have to give a lot of respect to.
Q. How much more do you have to do in America this year?
KB: The big thing for me in America now is the Gymkhana invitation event we have in December. We're inviting guys like Travis Pastrana, Tanner Foust and a few others to make a nice show. The course is in the middle of an oval with a mirrored track, so we go off the line together, but then one turns right and the other goes left. The courses will be identical in length, which makes it real easy for the crowd to see who's winning. It's a lot about car control, speed and fun.
Q. You're not doing anything in America next year, will it be difficult to leave all of that behind and come to Europe lock, stock and barrel?
KB: The most difficult thing is that I would have loved to have won the championship with this being my last year, but the car had some technical issues and you can't win a championship when you go out three or four times with technical issues. Out of six events we had four DNFs which were largely mechanical and one crash, so I had five DNFs and one win. Unfortunately, you can't win like that.
Q. Would you like to go back?
KB: I would, yes. But the WRC is where I want to be. If I only have the time and focus on the WRC then my performance will definitely improve. You know, I've been here in Germany for five days and my sleep is just barely getting to normal, working on four or five hours sleep a night is really difficult. So to focus on one car, work on the WRC, live in Europe, I know my performance will improve. And, WRC has always been the goal. I loved competing in America, but this is where I want to be.
Q. Has this year been harder than you thought?
KB: Yeah, I would say so, the schedule has been tough. If all I had to do was race and there were no sponsorship commitments between and various other events, it would be a lot easier. But the schedule is so busy, it makes it extremely difficult. Next year, if I can reduce some of that stuff, and focus on the racing and developing the new car it would make a huge difference for me.
We've always said from the beginning this is a development year for me. In Turkey, with the top six times, I'm way further ahead on the speed than I thought I would be, my notes are improving and I'm about to get the experience on tarmac rounds – so I'm setting myself up well for next year.
One thing is sure: the season 2011 will be a very boring one. Citroen has not driven a real rally with it´s S2000 for one reason; They know by now the time difference between Ford´s WRC and S2000 and been developing and testing their 2011 car compared to C4. They will blow Ford and others out next season. Mark my words.Wolfie wrote:Loiste wrote:mmmm.... I don't know what it means for Kimi's fans.... But russian Evgeniy Novikov find money and now speaking with Citroen and Ford about testing new cars for 2011.
So far Citroen has used these drivers to test: Loeb, Sordo, Ogier and Kris Meeke.
The whole season 2011 just doesn't open up properly and nobody knows how fast the cars are.
Mikko Hirvonen won Monte Carlo -rally with Ford's raw version of next year's S2000-car so they might be really good next year.
But so might the others too
http://www.wrc.com/news/duval-aiming-to ... ?fid=13534Duval aiming to return on Rallye de France
Francois Duval is hoping to start Rallye de France in six week's time, despite a crash on Rallye Deutschland that left him with a bruised back and his co-driver with two broken ribs.
The Belgian rolled his Stobart team Ford Focus near the end of the 48km Panzerplatte test on Saturday, but said the experience had not affected his plans to make a comeback to the WRC series after two years away.
Duval began Rallye Deutschland with an impressive track record on asphalt rallies, but his chances of a good result this week took a dive when he picked up a broken driveshaft on stage 3. But in a blog update on wrc.com, Duval said he had taken plenty of positives from the rally and had been encouraged by his speed on some stages.
“Two years away from the WRC is a long time to be off but I feel I still have the speed to compete with the best drivers. When the car was going well my times were good. In fact on the first pass though the Panzerplatte I was the fastest Ford driver. So I’m still going to try and do more rallies this year,” he said.
“I’m working with my sponsors to try and put together two more Ford drives in France and Spain. So if things go well I hope my next rally will be in about six week’s time. My back feels a bit sore today, and Denis [Giraudet, co-driver] has two broken ribs, but we’ll both be okay for that.”
http://www.wrc.com/news/block-takes-pos ... ?fid=13542Block takes positives from Germany disappointment
Ken Block says he was able to take plenty of positives away from Rallye Deutschland, despite his late retirement due to an alternator belt failure.
Block started the final five stages of the asphalt event in ninth overall but stopped on the road section heading to Sunday’s first test when his car’s alternator warning light came on and his Monster World Rally Team Ford Focus began to overheat.
“It’s just devastating,” said Block, who was co-driven by fellow American Alex Gelsomino. “We weren’t even out of town, no more than eight kilometres from service. It wouldn’t have been so bad had it happened going into parc ferme because I could have slept in that way. It just sucks and is the continuation of the bad luck we’ve had this season.”
Rallye Deutschland marked Block’s first WRC outing on asphalt and only his third sealed-surface start of his career.
He continued: “The drive had gone really good and we put in some good, consistent times. We were here to get a lot of experience but unfortunately our rally ended on the side of the road in Trier so for that we’re really disappointed. But before then it had gone really good. We had a pretty good pace - okay it was a long way off the top guys - but we were very happy. We made a few little mistakes on Friday but none on Saturday and had driven a really good, clean race even though we didn’t have a gravel crew to help us, which made it a big challenge. We worked hard on the notes - it’s just really misfortunate we missed out.”
Block had been on course for his first WRC career points after Saturday’s second leg. His next appearance in the world championship is scheduled for Rally de France at the end of September.
Aane De :lolsaif wrote:http://www.wrc.com/news/duval-aiming-to ... ?fid=13534Duval aiming to return on Rallye de France
Francois Duval is hoping to start Rallye de France in six week's time, despite a crash on Rallye Deutschland that left him with a bruised back and his co-driver with two broken ribs.
The Belgian rolled his Stobart team Ford Focus near the end of the 48km Panzerplatte test on Saturday, but said the experience had not affected his plans to make a comeback to the WRC series after two years away.
Duval began Rallye Deutschland with an impressive track record on asphalt rallies, but his chances of a good result this week took a dive when he picked up a broken driveshaft on stage 3. But in a blog update on wrc.com, Duval said he had taken plenty of positives from the rally and had been encouraged by his speed on some stages.
“Two years away from the WRC is a long time to be off but I feel I still have the speed to compete with the best drivers. When the car was going well my times were good. In fact on the first pass though the Panzerplatte I was the fastest Ford driver. So I’m still going to try and do more rallies this year,” he said.
“I’m working with my sponsors to try and put together two more Ford drives in France and Spain. So if things go well I hope my next rally will be in about six week’s time. My back feels a bit sore today, and Denis [Giraudet, co-driver] has two broken ribs, but we’ll both be okay for that.”