Rally News

[sleenster]

Bad google translation from Swedish:

"The risk that Sordo will be"

It is rumored that the Spaniard has already signed with the Mini Team

For a while it looked like PG Andersson had a chance in two World Rally teams.
But there was silence from Ford and now it seems the Mini opportunity is minimal.
- The danger is that Mr. Sordo will be," says PG gloomily.

Mister Sordo is Spaniard Dani Sordo who recently emerged as the hottest candidate for the vacancy on the Prodrive New Mini-team next to Kris Meeke, a former junior world champion.

Sordo was fifth in the World championship for Citroen this recently concluded season, but has not been clear with a new contract with French label. Now it is rumored that he has already signed with Mini, and that it would have taken place in connection with the final World Championship Rally of Wales last weekend. Any official statement however has not arrived.

PG has long had contact with the Mini team and visited the headquarters. A while back there was talk that he would test the World Cup-car of the model Countryman to be put into service 2011.

On Friday he was back in contact with the team but was told to wait until Monday or Tuesday for information about the test.
- It feels like they're waiting for what he should do," says PG.
He, it is therefore Sordo.
- I know he is there in the meeting today (Monday).
PG knows that his chances are disappearing.
- It looks dark, unfortunately. And that's just in expecting.
Do you have any other openings?
- No, but it might not run yet," says PG, who nevertheless refuses to give up on the Mini.

http://nwt.se/sport/motorsport/article803769.ece

[Moominpappa]

The Henri Toivonen Tragedy – Documentary
Nov 17, 2010

Documentary video (courtesy of amjayes) focusing on the danger of rallying and the tragic Tour de Corse Rally 1986 where Lancia´s Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto lost their lives while leading the event. *Credits to Jari5 and ettelbruck*
http://www.rallybuzz.com/henri-toivonen-tragedy/

I remember well that accident As I am told before (after Rally Bulgaria), in my mind Kimi is the second best tarmac rally driver from Finland after Henri.

[Claudie_Schnaudie]

Wasn´t it PG who talked bad about Kimi at the beginning of the year?!?!?

[Moominpappa]

Wasn´t it PG who talked bad about Kimi at the beginning of the year?!?!?

Yes, during rally Sweden.

[sleenster]

Wasn´t it PG who talked bad about Kimi at the beginning of the year?!?!?

Yup, but I'm not going to live in a glass house and throw stones. For all we know Kimi might not even be driving in WRC next year either.....

[Anelise]

Solberg Extreme MotorShow 2010 trailer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6I-fyV_XHA

[beefree88]

We read so much pros and contras about Kimi’s performance this year. It’s hard to decide who’s right. Was it a complete waste of time, and an embarrasment, or the promising first steps of a future champion? So I looked up, how some other drivers started their rally carreer. Those guys are good,and I don’t want to drag them down,but I didn’t found the comparison so embarrassing to Kimi either.
Found some interesting bits too.

2009 IRC champ, Mini’ 2011 driver Chris Meeke:
http://www.rallysportmag.com.au/home/in ... 5&Itemid=2
„With an eye on eventually competing in the World Rally Championship, the red-haired Meeke began his career in club events before moving on to greater heights including winning the 2002 and 2003 British Junior Rally Championship.
As an example of this young star’s stellar rise to fame, Rally Ireland (his home race) in 2008 was another awesome result. Despite it being his first time at the event he set third fastest time on the Stormont Super Special stage ( with Subaru Imprezza – A8) , being beaten only by two then-current WRC stars, Marcus Gronholm and Sebastien Loeb. „
Kimi posted a 1st fastest time on a super special in about his 12th rally ever! He also had fastest sector times on a real stage even before that.

Seb 1.0 Loeb:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/273 ... nport.html
11 Dec 2004

“He caught the attention of potential sponsors and tackled his first rally in 1997...
Having finished 10th in the 2002 WRC, he achieved that close second in 2003. <<It was my first chance to do the complete season and I didn't expect to fight for the title. It was a good experience and it helped me to be stronger this year>>.....
Indeed, Sébastien and the Xsara have been almost faultless this year, although he did lose his Race of Champions title to F1 test driver Heikki Kovalainen. << Heikki was very fast in all the cars. Faster than Schumacher, me and everybody else. He's very young and very good; if he has the opportunity, he will do well.>>
Has he ever considered another form of motorsport? "For F1 I think I'm too old! But I had the opportunity to try a car from Le Mans. Why not? It would be interesting. But I only started the WRC three years ago. I think I will continue with that for the moment."

Ken Block:

From HUCK (a bi-monthly lifestyle magazine) interview

You seem to be creating quite a stir in the rally world. Could you tell us a bit more about it?
”I've been a rally fan since I was a little kid. I was never really a big fan of cars that went around in circles like Nascar. But that's mostly what motorsports are in America - I never knew rally existed in America. Then in 2004, Travis Pastrana did a couple of rallies for Subaru. It opened my eyes to sort of a championship event in America so around that same time we hired Travis as an athlete for DC. I decided to go up and have some rally driving lessons just to try it out and I ended up being pretty good at it. The next year, I decided to race with Travis for the whole season and I actually ended up beating him, and won Rookie of the Year! In 2006, Subaru bought official sponsorship for our programmes and I became a driver. I was just kind of lucky that I have some natural skill in a car and I was in the right place at the right time.”

http://www.rallybuzz.com/block-wins-5th-100-aw-rally/
Salem, MO (February 28, 2010)
Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino of the Monster World Rally Team have claimed their fifth consecutive 100 Acre Wood Rally win.

From Subaru driver profile 2007
“I genuinely want to go beyond the U.S. Championship. But I want to do it at my own pace, when I’m ready. I’m not ready for the PWRC next year. Possibly if I’m ready in 2009, then I would go to the PWRC. It’s just a matter of two-pass recce experience”

[redstorm]

Thanks Beefree88!

[Kinga]

Thanks Beefree88!

+ 1!

It's sad that people who doesn't know what rally exactly is says bad things about Kimi and about his rookie year. They just saw or heard some bits in the news that he crashed, crashed and crashed but doesn't really know anything about the whole year, about his results and his non-existent experience.

I gotta say that I didn't know anything about rally either. I was quite shocked and surprised when I read Latvala's and Hirvonen's predictions when they said Kimi would be 5-10 minutes off the pace at the rallies. I was like I used to see tenth of a second gaps not minutes! By the 2nd or 3rd rally I knew what they were talking about. So, everyone should read and experience a little bit about rally and then they can tell their opinion. But I think after reading the rules and some articles their opinion would change. They just can't accept that rallying and F1 are so different. They think that if Kimi is a F1 WDC then he should be good in rallying right away. They are so wrong.

[sleenster]

MINI WRC Shakedown
http://www.mudsnowandtar.com/features/m ... -shakedown

[beefree88]

Some more about Ken Block from various places. :

From Subaru driver profile 2007

About Colin McRae:
“I dedicate this win to Colin McRae. It was an honor to call him my friend, and I truly enjoyed the few times I competed with him. He is my biggest inspiration in rally and always will be.”
– after the podium ceremony following Block’s win at Rally Colorado

About what it feels like to drive in a rally:
“When I step into the car and drive down the stage and really being able to push the car and push myself as fast as I can go, there’s really nothing else like it. It’s hard to explain the feeling of it because it’s scary – super-scary – and exhilarating all at the same time. And that’s the thing with rally: If you’re not really pushing, you’re not really going at full speed unless you’re somewhat scared. There’s times I’ve gotten into the car knowing how fast I have to go to be competitive, I sometimes get sick to my stomach.“That’s a feeling you have to have. If you’re not willing to push beyond your personal limits and what’s possible with the car, then you’re not going to move to the next level, you’re not going to be competitive. So you come over certain crests – you know, a left five over crest – if you’re not [BEEP] scared, you’re not going fast enough. Someone else is going to go faster over there.”
– from video on http://www.ken-block.com by flatovercrest.com

At a rally, Ken Block seems quiet and unassuming. If it weren’t for his driving suit, you might not pick him out as one of the leading drivers in the points fight for the Rally America National Championship or the man who jumped his Subaru rally car 171 feet for the Stunt Junkies television show. He’s also a successful businessman – the chief brand officer for DC Shoes, the performance skateboarding footwear manufacturing company that he co-founded in 1993.
CONVERSATION EXCERPTS :
Most of the time when I’m at the rally, some people think I’m just either really quiet or standoffish. Mostly, it’s that I take rally and the racing very seriously. The term for me is “focused.” I block everything out of my head and try to focus everything that I can mentally on the racing and doing the best job that I can. So, any time I’m standing around the service area, around the car, I’m looking for anything I can from an advantage to a possible problem with the car or thinking through strategy – anything like that. I’ve only been doing this a couple of years now, so I think eventually I’ll get better and better at opening up and separating some of the focus from the racing to be able to open up and talk to people more. Not that I can’t do it. It’s just that I’m trying to focus most of my time and energy on the business at hand....
I genuinely want to go beyond the U.S. Championship. But I want to do it at my own pace, when I’m ready. I’m not ready for the PWRC next year. Possibly if I’m ready in 2009, then I would go to the PWRC. It’s just a matter of two-pass recce experience....
I think that when you actually get to sit in the co-driver’s seat with one of us and get a ride in the car, that explains a lot of it to someone. Being inside the car is so much different from seeing a video or a photo of us racing.But that’s only a peek into that world – to actually feel what speed is like on a gravel stage. But then to sit in the driver’s seat and go full-speed down a competition stage is a whole other ball game. That’s just something I can’t get enough of. And that’s why I’m doing this.........
Once we get near the stage, I start getting mentally ready for that clock to start. I mentally get into a different state of mind. Alex [Gelsomino, Block’s co-driver] and I have a routine that we do every time before a stage. It’s very simple stuff. As we get to the stage and we wait, I stretch and get my heart rate up. I go for a little jog. Once we get in the car, he reads part of the stage notes. I have a little routine of what to turn on before the stage, like the antilock and the diff setting – all that sort of clicks in your mind to get you in a certain mental program to be able to attack the stage. And once I’m done, I’m sort of relieved. Then you kind of go into the process of what did we do, where did it go wrong, where did it go right, what was our stage time compared to the other guys – start analyzing things so the next time – in the very next stage – we’re ready. OK, I’ve got to adjust, I have to go faster here, I made this mistake, so I have to correct it. It’s really a constant process, and, at this point, I’m in such a routine that turning it on and off is done very methodically and very planned out. You just have to do that over and over and get better and better at it to really develop your skills...............
The main thing about me that I don’t think people understand is that there’s a big difference between Ken Block that works very hard and does a business and Ken Block the rally driver. A lot of times, those two stories get too mixed. People don’t necessarily give me as much respect as a rally driver because the other part gets too muddied up in there. Any time I get into something like this, I try my hardest to excel at it. I do have a lot of talent and a lot of drive to do various things, and I have worked very hard to develop the skills in rally that I have................
On top of that, because of my background, I’m actually a very good marketing person. I’ve won marketing awards from companies like Advertising Age and SportsBusiness Journal. I’ve been recognized for the stuff that I do. I’ve been able to take that experience and that knowledge and apply it to our rally team to help generate more interest in the sport here in America, because it needs it, and I see an opportunity to help it. That ranges anywhere from marketing in the way of graphics and team materials and getting publicity for the team and doing whatever I can to help JB [Niday, Rally America’s managing director] and Rally America.

From Driving Sports TV Jan 11. 2010.

... seat time is just the essence of getting any driver up to speed. In any championship, in any car. So I’m going to be doing my best to push to have as much seat time as I possibly can....

.... the past couple years I’ve really pushed to kind of best the best that I can in the car… push the limits of what I’m doing. I’m not scared to have an accident, and I’m not scared to push it and try and win, because, I’m trying to push myself mentally and physically to be the best that I can be. I’ve done those things and I’ve had a great time racing with Travis [Pastrana] and Antoine [L’Estage] and Tanner [Foust] and everybody, and this year going into this year, my mentality is definitely different. I’ve learned what I need to learn, I’m going to continue learning, but I’m also starting to look more objectively at the long-term objectives, which are winning Championships and getting myself to the right level in the WRC....

This first year , for me is complete development. It’s going to be about getting seat time. There’s very few people that jump into a WRC car and are competitive, unless they get a huge amount of seat time beforehand. In the past, various people like Marcus Grönholm, um, Petter and those guys actually got opportunities to drive WRC cars in their National Championships and that type of thing. Unfortunately for us here in America, that’s just never been even an option… remotely close to it. So, I’m jumping into a car with very little seat time and I’ll be in Mexico doing the best job I can. But, yeah, I expect to be in last place of all the WRC cars… that’s the reality of it. I know and understand that and I’m going to work hard, work on all the weaknesses I have such as Pace Notes, and try and get myself up to speed as fast as I possibly can....

[beefree88]

Now that we have a hollyday from racing ...
I don't know if you checked wrc.com-s About WRC section, but I recommend to do it for those, who'd like to fill the gaps in their basic knowledge about this sport. There are pretty good artickles about how things work in WRC from the driver to the tech stuff.

[Kinga]

Beefree, thanks for posting those interesting stuff about Ken! Was a great read!

[Claudie_Schnaudie]

thx beefree!

[Kriss]

Citroen and Ford extend their UK stay

Citroen ran the DS3 WRC through mid-Wales for the full week following Rally GB and it was the winner of the Cardiff-based event Sebastien Loeb who got to stay on in the principality to do the first two days of driving.
The Citroen team enjoyed a mixed bag of weather, allowing them to run the DS3 in wet and dry conditions in its first test in the UK.

After running in the warm conditions in the south of France, this was the first time the car was able to run on the smooth, fast roads typical of northern Europe. The team was pleased with the results of the test.

Loeb said: “Because I came straight from the rally, I still had the good rhythm to drive the car. The comparison was good which we got from the DS3.”

Citroen Racing boss Olivier Quesnel added: “When I have spoken with the drivers, the engineers, everybody I think now they are really pleased. The best example is to have Seb in the team in 2011. That means he’s pleased with the car otherwise he will say ‘Olivier I will stop’.”

Ford’s drivers were equally pleased with the results of their time in the Fiesta RS WRC in Cumbria. This was the first time the full 2011 specification Fiesta ran on gravel in Britain, having tested the chassis with the new engine on asphalt at an airfield close to M-Sport’s Cockermouth base.

Jari-Matti Latvala said: “Everything is going really well with the new car. We are making good progress and, I have to say, it’s a very exciting car to drive. It feels really nice and well-balanced and good power. It’s good to be in the car which we are using for next year, we will be driving it a lot before Sweden [the opening round of next year’s World Rally Championship], but that is good, we need a lot of experience for the car before we start competing.”

Both teams are expected to move north to Scandinavia for their first winter tests in the next month.

http://www.wrc.com/news/citroen-and-for ... ?fid=13965

What about Kimi