Rally Mexico 2011

[sleenster]

Let's start this with Colin Clark's TotalRally.com blog

Colin Clark – Siesta Fiesta in Guanajuato

Written on: February 25th, 2011
Written by: colinclark

Siesta Fiesta in Guanajuato

Oh to back in sunny Mexico! From minus twenty eight degrees in Sweden to plus thirty two degrees today in Guanajuato. That’s a difference of sixty degrees celsius and i’ll tell you what, it feels bloody good!

This is my first time back here in three years and i’d forgotten just how much i enjoy the laid back South American way of life. My other half will tell you I was born to be a South American, and i wouldn’t dare disagree with her. For me it’s all about working hard, and enjoying the simple pleasure – like leisurely breakfasts in the cool morning sun and sedate strolls through the cobbled streets and tree lined squares of this UNESCO World Heritage Site city. So that’s what i fully intend to do for the next few days before Rally Mexico business gets underway in ernest for me on Tuesday.

The journey out here was surprisingly good until someone forgot to put my bags on the plane at Mexico City. But I wasn’t the only one standing at Leon Airport at 2230 last night desperately scanning the luggage belt for something they recognized. I was in very good company. Petter Solberg was on the same flight as me and he too woke up this morning with no wash bag and a set of clothes that feel decidedly past their use by date. But fair play to the boys and girls at Aero Mexico, a little mustachioed Mexican arrived at my hotel just before lunchtime today perspiring heavily and dragging my overweight bag behind him. Should have tipped him really, but being Scottish, I didn’t.

I’d have to say that Petter is sounding remarkably confident ahead of this one. He was most indignant when I made the mistake of not entirely agreeing with his assertion that he was the quickest driver in Sweden. After a couple of beers while we waited for our delayed flight out of Mexico City, and much persuasive argument from the mercurial Norwegian, I agreed with him wholeheartedly!

He tells me the test in France, his first in the DS3 on gravel, went incredibly well. With only one day in the car, his focus appears to have been on getting the correct set up for day one in Mexico and not necessarily about just banging the kilometers in.

Can he win here? Of course he can and if I was a betting man, I’d be very tempted to have a euro or two on him. Road position and strategy are key to winning this event and Petter tells me that his team have worked through every possible scenario for this one and believe they have the winning formula. I think a DS3 will win here, but whose DS3 will win I don’t know.

Petter’s last proper win was here six years ago, and that’s a ridiculously long time for a driver of his talents to have to wait to taste the champagne again. Winning is everything for Solberg, and this could well be his winning week.

And this could well be my weekend – for chilling out and catching the rays! So i’ll leave you guys to it, but promise to keep you updated on any little snippets of information that come my way before the event starts.

Anyone for a margarita?

http://totalrally.com/blog

[luieluv]

Welcome Everyone to the 2nd Round of WRC 2011!!

Though Kimi Raikkonen and Ice 1 Racing are skipping this event but Rally Mexico 2011 still should be an interesting Rally for many reasons.

For Instance it would be great to see how DS3 are compared to Fords on Gravel. Considering that this is the first gravel rally and the season is mostly full of gravel rallies it would be very interesting to follow the progress of DS3 and how it is measured in relative comparison to Fords. Ofcourse Kimi Raikkonen would be driving a DS3 come next gravel rally. So something for kimi fans to look out for.

If thats not enough we would really want to see the fight for the podium for this rally. Really keen to see how hirvonen faces this test of making the most of a good start from rally sweden and on the other hand we would have loeb and ogier who would want to stamp their authority this season after a dull rally in sweden by their own standards.

Inclusion of Novikov is something that will glorify the battle in the mid field in absence of Kimi Raikkonen. I hope. so all in all its worth a Follow.

Rally Mexico 2011 : 03/03/2011 to 06/03/2011

Round 2

Categories:
WRC, SWRC

Based:
Leon

Surface:
Gravel

Most Recent Winner:
Sebastien Loeb (2010)

Website:
- http://www.rallymexico.com

New Addition : LIVE TEXT
- http://www.wrc.com/results/2011/rally-g ... live-text/

[luieluv]

This is the draft itinerary for Rally Mexico 2011.

Shakedown:
Thursday 3rd March from 8h00 to 12h00 on a 5,13km stage 15,90 km from the service park.

Start Ceremony:
Thursday 3rd March in front of the Alhondiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato at 20h00.

Itinerary:
1031,30 km, including 364,87 timed km. 22 stages (11 different).

Podium:
Sunday 6th March at 13h00 in Foro del Lago.

Detail Itinerary :

Thursday 3 March: Day 1 León
Start León 18.20

SS1 Guanjuato Street Stage - 1.05km - 20.06

Finish León 21.26

Friday 4 March: Day 1 (continued) León - León

Serv A León (15 mins) 08.00

SS2 Alfaro 1 - 26.01km - 08.43
SS3 Ortega 1 - 23.83km - 10.16
SS4 El Cubilete 1 - 18.87km - 11.04
SS5 León Street Stage - 1.33km - 12.12

Serv B León (30 mins) 12.49

SS6 Alfaro 2 - 26.01km - 13.47
SS7 Ortega 2 - 23.83km - 15.20
SS8 El Cubilete 2 - 18.87km - 16.08

Serv C León (45 mins) 17.13

SS9 Super Special 1 - 2.21km - 19.45
SS10 Super Special 2 - 2.21km - 19.50

Finish León 20.20

Saturday 5 March: Day 2 León - León

Serv D León (15 mins) 08.00

SS11 Ibarrilla 1 - 29.90km - 08.54
SS12 Duarte 1 - 23.27km - 10.17
SS13 Derramadero 1 - 23.28km - 11.08
SS14 León Street Stage - 1.33km - 12.11

Serv E León (30 mins) 12.48

SS15 Ibarrilla 2 - 29.90km - 13.57
SS16 Duarte 2 - 23.27km - 15.20
SS17 Derramadero 2 - 23.28km - 16.11

Serv F León (45 mins) 17.11

SS18 Super Special 1 - 2.21km - 19.43
SS19 Super Special 2 - 2.21km - 19.48

Finish León 20.18

Sunday 6 March: Day 3 León - León

Serv G León (15 mins) 07.30

SS20 Guanajuatito - 29.13km - 08.28
SS21 Comanjilla - 24.59km - 09.51

SS22 Guanajuato Power Stage - 8.28km - 11.06

Serv H León (10 mins) 12.21

Finish León Poliforum 13.00

*The time mentioned for every stage is Local Time

[luieluv]

Wrc.com preview : Rally Guanajuato Mexico

WRC round 2 of 13. Thursday 3 March - Sunday 6 March 2011

The rally

Following a thrilling start to the 2011 World Rally Championship in Sweden earlier this month, the WRC circus heads to Mexico for the second stop of its 13-round, all-action global tour.

The event, held predominantly on slippery gravel stages in baking ambient temperatures and at high altitude, couldn’t be more of a contrast to the snow- and ice-coated forest blasts that formed the backdrop to the WRC-season opener.

Based in the Mexican city of Leon, the country’s shoe-making capital and a host venue for the FIFA World Cup in 1970 and 1986, Rally Guanajuato Mexico joined the WRC for the first time in 2004.

Famed for its compact route - no stage is more than 44 kilometres from the rally’s headquarters - the event begins with a spectacular ceremonial start in the city of Guanajuato, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which traditionally attracts tens of thousands of spectators. As well as hosting the start, Guanajuato will also be the venue for the opening special stage, a 1.5-kilometre test that will run through tunnels and cobbled streets surrounded by high walls.

Despite its status as a gravel event, the rally features a further six asphalt stages, albeit over short distances. In addition to a 1.33-kilometre street stage close to the indoor service park in Leon, the city’s race circuit will host a brace of superspecial stages on the Friday and Saturday evenings. Previously run earlier in the day, the stages will also take place at night to enable more fans to watch the action.

But it’s the Sierra de Lobos and Sierra de Guanajuato mountains that will continue to host the bulk of the stage action. The tests are renowned for their high-speed nature but with the surface made up of loose small stones, grip can be at a premium, particularly for those drivers running further up the order and saddled with sweeping a clean line for the competitors behind. To add to the challenge the stages are peppered with potholes and lined with drainage ditches in places, while watersplashes provide an additional hazard.

However, those obstacles are almost trivial when compared to the task created by running at high altitude. With some stages peaking at 2700 metres above sea level, engines struggle to breathe in the thin air and suffer a drop in power of approximately 20 per cent. And with less air in the atmosphere, brakes and engines can overheat as cooling systems are put under a great strain in the high ambient temperatures.

In total, crews will tackle 22 special stages over a competitive distance of 364.87 kilometres. Friday and Saturday follow a similar pattern, with three repeated gravel tests and three asphalt sprints. Saturday is the longest day of the rally with 158.65 kilometres of stage action awaiting the competitors.

Sunday’s final day features just three tests, including the Guanajuato Power Stage, an 8.28-kilometre course that will be broadcast live on television around the world.

Twenty-five entries have been received for the event, which marks the opening round of the Super 2000 World Rally Championship season.

Who’s going to win?

Having won in Mexico on the last four occasions, Sebastien Loeb has been touted as the favourite for victory in his Citroen Total World Rally Team DS3 WRC. Clearly adept at mastering the challenging high-speed stages, the reigning world champion will also run sixth on the road on day one by virtue of his championship position. That means he is likely to enjoy a cleaner stage surface than some of the drivers running ahead of him on the road.

Mikko Hirvonen starts the event with a seven-point title lead following his victory in Sweden. Opening the road will do Ford’s flying Finn few favours, but he has experience of performing the role and has the advantage of starting the event on the back of a dry-weather test. While Citroen’s pre-event test session in Spain last week was held in damp conditions, the final day of Ford’s test in Portugal was run on dry roads, which could hand Hirvonen an edge.

Ford Abu Dhabi team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala also tested in the dry, but only after his first day of running was interrupted when he suffered a car-wrecking crash. The Finn, who finished third in Sweden, was running in darkness and was nearing the end of the test road when he lost control of his Ford Fiesta RS WRC in muddy conditions and rolled. Fortunately neither he nor co-driver Miikka Anttila suffered any injury, and Latvala has vowed to put the incident behind him.

Mexico was the setting for Loeb’s team-mate Sebastien Ogier’s WRC debut in March 2008. Back then Ogier was contesting the Junior World Rally Championship. But despite his lack of familiarity of world events and the Mexican stages, the Frenchman won the young driver category and bagged a single world championship point. Ogier regards gravel as his preferred surface and will be expected to shine.

Petter Solberg will also be at the wheel of a Citroen DS3 in Mexico. A former winner of the rally, the Norwegian will be looking to build on his strong start to the season in Sweden. Solberg did manage some gravel running during a test in France earlier this week, but still lacks seat time in his new car. The event will mark the first time his eponymous team has been eligible to score manufacturers’ championship points.

Much of the focus will be on Mads Ostberg in Mexico. The hero of Rally Sweden following his second-placed finish, the 23-year-old is a Mexico novice and will head across the Atlantic on the back of contesting the Norwegian championship Rally Finnskog this weekend. While it’s hardly ideal preparation, Ostberg proved in Sweden that he is smart enough to know that building knowledge of the event will take precedence over emulating his achievements on round one.

Joining Ostberg in the M-Sport Stobart Ford squad are Briton Matthew Wilson and Norwegian Henning Solberg, who are regulars in Mexico and are likely to be among the points-paying positions at the finish. Both drivers endured troubled outings in Sweden and will be looking to make amends in Mexico.

There are two drivers making their first appearance in the WRC this season: Federico Villagra and Evgeny Novikov. Villagra, a multiple Argentine champion, will be at the wheel of a Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team Fiesta and has good knowledge of the Mexican stages.

The same cannot be said for Russian Novikov, who begins a six-event campaign in an M-Sport Fiesta and has never competed in Mexico before. Novikov has endured a one-year absence from the WRC but his return is much anticipated by observers who rank him as a future star. The 20-year-old won’t get to sample his Fiesta until shakedown but can count on co-driver Stephane Prevot’s knowledge of the stages.

Completing the Fiesta runners in Mexico are American Ken Block and Dutchman Dennis Kuipers, another Mexico rookie. Kuipers starts the event on a high after scoring manufacturer championship points for the FERM Powertools World Rally Team on its debut. Block drove a World Rally Car in competition for the first time in Mexico last year and impressed. That appearance was in the old-generation Focus WRC and the Monster World Rally Team ace has already commented on his preference for the new Fiesta.

On this rally last year?

Sebastien Loeb made it four wins on the bounce by heading home a Citroen C4 podium lockout. Petter Solberg made the most of his lowly starting position to lead after day one but Loeb was soon in control. Solberg held on to second spot after a close battle with Sebastien Ogier on the final day. Dani Sordo, in the second works Citroen, dropped out of contention with broken steering. That handed some respite for the struggling Ford team, whose drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala finished fourth and fifth respectively but some way off the pace. Ken Block was 10th overall before breaking his suspension. Kimi Raikkonen rolled into retirement and hasn’t included this year’s rally in his 10-event schedule. The SWRC began with an inaugural victory for Xevi Pons in a Ford Fiesta S2000.

Did you know?

When Mexico lost its slot on the 2009 WRC calendar under the previous rotation system, event organisers staged the inter-country Rally of Nations instead. Manfred Stohl won outright while Spain emerged as the winner of the teams’ contest thanks to the combined efforts of Xevi Pons and Dani Sola.

Tyres

Michelin is making available its Latitude Cross H gravel tyre for the first loose-surface event of the season. Chinese make DMACK will offer its DMG G2 covers. Priority One and Priority Two drivers get a total of 30 tyres to use during the event with an additional six for shakedown. All other four-wheel-drive crews have access to 20 tyres and five for shakedown.

http://www.wrc.com/news/features/wrccom ... &page=4617

[sleenster]

Thanks luie

[luieluv]

Welcome Sleenie. By the way i was not aware of the Live Text section by the WRC site. since i missed last rally and only followed the live timings on my phone and followed texts here, i am completely unaware how that worked.

Was it good?

[sleenster]

Welcome Sleenie. By the way i was not aware of the Live Text section by the WRC site. since i missed last rally and only followed the live timings on my phone and followed texts here, i am completely unaware how that worked.

Was it good?

I only found out about it after the rally was over too

[Sébastien Loeb]

Thanks everyone

I like this article about test of Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team in portugal

http://www.worldrallyisfree.com/2011/02 ... u-mexique/

( French language )

[Sébastien Loeb]

Armchair Guide to Rally Guanajuato Mexico 2011

http://www.rallybuzz.com/rally-guanajuato-mexico-guide/

VIDEO: Villagra tests Ford Fiesta RS WRC pre-Mexico Rally

http://www.rallybuzz.com/test-villagra-fiesta-wrc/

Video: M-Sport’s Ford Fiesta RS WRC Test in Portugal

http://www.rallybuzz.com/fiesta-wrc-tets-port-5/

[Julia]

Welcome Sleenie. By the way i was not aware of the Live Text section by the WRC site. since i missed last rally and only followed the live timings on my phone and followed texts here, i am completely unaware how that worked.

Was it good?

I only found out about it after the rally was over too

I actually had to go and look at the site if there had been one also during rally sweden ... and yeas thee ad been... ooops... but the site was so crappy back then that i just was happy to et the rallyradio working...

seems that colin is on the mood

[sleenster]

Citroën's roof design for Rally Mexico:

[Mar]

Welcome Sleenie. By the way i was not aware of the Live Text section by the WRC site. since i missed last rally and only followed the live timings on my phone and followed texts here, i am completely unaware how that worked.

Was it good?

I only found out about it after the rally was over too

I actually had to go and look at the site if there had been one also during rally sweden ... and yeas thee ad been... ooops... but the site was so crappy back then that i just was happy to et the rallyradio working...

seems that colin is on the mood

I had not noticed it either!
I hope this weekend the wrc.com page works properly.

[luieluv]

Shakedown times so far for three DS3 drivers :

Ogier 2:51:7

P. Solberg 2:51:9

Loeb 2:52:9

[luieluv]

Citroen: Mexico won't show true form

By David Evans Thursday, March 3rd 2011, 18:44 GMT

Citroen team principal Olivier Quesnel remains adamant that this week's Rally Mexico will not offer a fair reflection of the performance of the DS3 WRC - despite the all-new French machines taking the top three fastest times at shakedown this morning.

Sebastien Ogier was the fastest through the three-mile stage, two tenths of a second faster than Petter Solberg and 1.2 seconds up on Sebastien Loeb. Jari-Matti Latvala was the fastest Ford, 1.5 seconds down on Ogier.

"This event is very specific," said Quesnel. "It's the same for Ford as for us, we will not know exactly where we are until we go to the next round in Portugal."

Rally Mexico is run at high altitude, with the Ortega test peaking at close to 2,800 metres. These conditions have a significant effect on the way the engine works, with the thinner air meaning less power from the 1.6-litre turbocharged engines.

Ford struggled on the high altitude events here in Mexico and Bulgaria last season - with Citroen taking a clean sweep of the podium in Leon 12 months ago.

In an effort to avoid a repeat of that result, M-Sport's engineers have worked closely with Ford's road car technicians on the dyno-cell unit at Ford's engine works in Dunton. The cell replicates high-altitude conditions, allowing the Fiesta RS WRC to be mapped to suit the roads on this second WRC round of the season, which starts this evening.

link:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89722

[luieluv]

WRC » Petter Solberg: Start position could be key factor

Petter Solberg: I'm really looking forward to competing with the DS3 for the first time on gravel. We had one test day in France last week, where we focused on finding the best set up for the Mexican stages, and I'm confident we now have the best one.

Citroen privateer Petter Solberg is feeling bullish ahead of Rally Mexico, which starts later today.

The Norwegian began the new season by taking fifth in Sweden last month and following a test in France last week, 'Hollywood' is confident he will have his Citroen DS3 WRC set-up properly for the second round in the 2011 World Rally Championship, where the Petter Solberg World Rally Team will be able to score manufacturers' points for the very first time.

Speaking ahead of the event, the 2003 World Rally champion predicted that road position could make all the difference.

"I'm really looking forward to competing with the DS3 for the first time on gravel,” he said. “We had one test day in France last week, where we focused on finding the best set up for the Mexican stages, and I'm confident we now have the best one.

“Starting as the fifth car on the first day is also good, and I think start position will be the key factor for this rally.”

Meanwhile, Petter's brother, Henning will also be action, running under the M-Sport Stobart Ford World Rally Team banner in a Fiesta RS WRC. Henning crashed out on the second day in Sweden, while in fifth position, and he is keen now to put that indiscretion behind him.

“I really enjoy this event,” added Henning, who has finished in the top-five twice in Mexico. “Mexico is a great place to go and the atmosphere of the fans is incredible.

“The organisers have made some changes to the itinerary this year including the Guanajuato Street Stage which looks like it will be a lot of fun. I also think it will help make the event even more exciting for both the drivers and the fans. I've had some good results in Mexico in the past so hopefully I can put my accident from Sweden at the back of my mind in order to produce a strong points finish,” he concluded.

link:
http://www.crash.net/world+rally/news/1 ... actor.html