Rallye de France Alsace 2011

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NewF1Boy
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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by NewF1Boy » 02 Oct 2011, 12:37

Mar wrote::) Good job, Dani!
I hope, at least here, Ford doesn't come out to tell us how much more morally acceptable their team-orders are than those of Citroën, as they did in Germany. Jari-Matti has already given 9 points to Mikko.
Thanks for all the updates guys, especially Mar :blush:

This is the first time i follow a rally in such a crazy way :shhh:

Mar
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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by Mar » 02 Oct 2011, 13:57

you're welcome :)

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by phil1993 » 02 Oct 2011, 15:55

Is it just me who really dislikes Ogier?

Anyway, hoping WRC is better next year. Good to have more drivers too, because now with Mini we have 6 factory drivers rather than 4. Nice to have VW come in with two top drivers, plus hopefully another manufacturers. Really need at least 10 or 12 really top drivers to give the series some credence so some little local driver doesn't come 5th or 6th. Bit of a joke when that happens.

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by JoostSchouten » 02 Oct 2011, 16:12

Great rally of Sordo, good rally for Kuipers too (ofcourse, I'm Dutch so I like that) and what a big shame for Kimi!

My video of this rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ls0Wn-UPrA

Mar
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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by Mar » 02 Oct 2011, 17:01

Petter Solberg excluded from Rally France!
http://www.autohebdo.fr/rallye/wrc/brev ... du-rallye-

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by sleenster » 02 Oct 2011, 17:18

Just checked the results and oh Dani :confused:

@Phil You're definitely not the only one :p

Now Mikko is depending on people pulling over for him and getting excluded? :roll::

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by Maili85 » 02 Oct 2011, 19:33

Petter Solberg has been stripped of his third place on Rallye de France and excluded from the results altogether after his Citroen DS3 was found to be under the regulation minimum weight for a World Rally Car.

Event Stewards, including former World Champion co-driver Robert Reid, made the decision this evening after considering a report from the FIA technical delegate following a weight check carried out after the event closing Haguenau Power Stage.

Petter’s car, run by Citroen’s semi-works PH Sport outfit, was weighed three times and on each occasion registered 1196kg, four kilogrammes under the regulation minimum 1200kg.

Representatives of the Petter Solberg team were given the opportunity to explain the discrepancy but after deliberation the Stewards decided to exclude the car from the results.

Solberg’s team elected not to appeal the decision, which means all the drivers that finished behind Petter in the classification move up one place. The most significant beneficiary is Ford team leader Mikko Hirvonen, who collects three extra drivers’ championship points and pulls level at the top of the table with his championship rival Sebastien Loeb.

A representative of the Petter Solberg team declined to comment on the exclusion.
http://www.wrc.com/news/breaking-news-p ... ?fid=15528
:blink: :blink: ... I'm so sorry for Petter :( :(..he must be very disappointed........and pissed.
phil1993 wrote:Is it just me who really dislikes Ogier?
Nope you're not the only one......I don't like him , although he is a very good driver.

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by sleenster » 02 Oct 2011, 21:41

Thanks Maili :hug: A weekend full of disappointments really :(

Kimi :(
Dani :(
Mikko :<>:
Petter :(

I don't know why, but somehow I have this feeling that Kimi and Petter won't be in the WRC next season... :confused:


Interesting bit of info from Phil Mills this weekend: the rumour in the service park is that Loeb cut too deep and destroyed the oil cooler, didn't stop quickly enough and destroyed the engine and that Citroen are just covering it up :blink:

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by Mar » 03 Oct 2011, 10:43

sleenster wrote:Thanks Maili A weekend full of disappointments really

Kimi :(
Dani :(
Mikko :<>:
Petter :(

I don't know why, but somehow I have this feeling that Kimi and Petter won't be in the WRC next season...


Interesting bit of info from Phil Mills this weekend: the rumour in the service park is that Loeb cut too deep and destroyed the oil cooler, didn't stop quickly enough and destroyed the engine and that Citroen are just covering it up
Oh, I think Dani should be a Image . Ok, he didn’t win, but a 2nd place, in France, and driving the Minibus is a great result. That car is still under development (especially in the motor department). Things go in the right direction, I think.

For Kimi I would put a Image , this was his best chance of the season, there's too much gravel in Catalunya this season. But I totally agree with the Mikko and Petter part.

I don’t know about Kimi (I decided to follow Sammy's advice and avoid headaches :lol: ), but why do you think Petter won’t be there? VW is running out of options :zz: .

Where did Mills say that? I missed it. :confused:

PS. Sleenie, sorry, I took some of the smileis out of your post. Only 8 smileis are allowed per post and I needed to take them away to answer.
Mar wrote: ...

These are the shakedown times for today:

Image

Forget the whole right part of the graph. After the 3rd run, the drivers have memorized the shakedown.

From what I see I would say:
  • The Citroëns will be very strong.
  • It’s going to be very worth to keep and eye on Dani Sordo this weekend. He’s been competitive in all runs in the shakedown, quite a remarkable thing.
  • It could be a nice rally for Kimi.
  • Mikko needs to wake up or he will lose all his chances in the championship.
I can't believe it, I got them all right Image
  • The Citroëns were very strong.
  • It was very worth to keep an eye on Dani
  • The times Kimi did in the first two stages, really suggested it could have been a nice rally for him (he usually drives about 0.5 s/Km slower in the first few stages until he gets grips with the car, what in this case would mean that he would absolutely be on pace) Image
  • Mikko was as slow as a snail. Okay, his chances to the championship are better now thanks to team orders, Petter's exclusion and all the other incidents. They all palyed in his favour Image But he was slow as predicted.

Sammyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! Where do I sell this? :blush:

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by sleenster » 03 Oct 2011, 14:54

Yeah you're right Mar, second is a fantastic result for the Mini team but I'm just impatient :blush: I just want Dani's first win to come right here and right now :p

Well I think there was one bit of news before France about Petter being unsure about whether he was going to take part in the last three rallies of the season, considering how his season has gone so far. The puncture and then the exclusion is just going to be another blow to his morale :( Hopefully he is talking to VW, because if that doesn't work out, I have the feeling that he won't be willing to invest his own money anymore. :confused:

Phil Mills said it during the power stage. But Citroen just came out to say this :zz:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/95019

Wow :blink: Mar you're definitely in the wrong profession :thumbsup: I guess shakedown results aren't so meaningless anymore :p

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by Claudie_Schnaudie » 04 Oct 2011, 12:18

Shame for Petter :( The only good thing about that rally was that Sordo got another podium (of course first would have been better but maybe he´ll reach it in spain ... with Petter second and Kimi third :p )

Well done Mar! You should do such an analysis after every shakedown :shhh:
Kimi Kimi gimme just a little smile :)

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by Claudie_Schnaudie » 04 Oct 2011, 12:19

JoostSchouten wrote:Great rally of Sordo, good rally for Kuipers too (ofcourse, I'm Dutch so I like that) and what a big shame for Kimi!

My video of this rally: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Ls0Wn-UPrA
thanks :thumbsup: great one :)
Kimi Kimi gimme just a little smile :)

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by NewF1Boy » 04 Oct 2011, 12:23

sleenster wrote: Wow :blink: Mar you're definitely in the wrong profession :thumbsup: I guess shakedown results aren't so meaningless anymore :p
I believe she is :hatoff:

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by Mar » 04 Oct 2011, 15:52

Thank you guys :blush:

I'll try to keep bringing them.

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Re: Rallye de France Alsace 2011

Post by iceman1 » 05 Oct 2011, 15:02

Why Rally de France can't survive without Loeb - Autosport Plus
Spoiler:
C'est parti pour trois jours de liesse. Last Friday morning, the message was clear and simple: the people of Alsace were ready and waiting for the return of the master. And the master, Sebastien Loeb, was ready conquer.

Twenty-four hours later, the same newspaper which had headlined Friday's cover: "Let's go for three days of celebration," went for a slightly more sombre two-worded approach: "Scenario catastrophe."

Further evidence of this indeed being the worst-case scenario came in the incredible coverage L'Equipe afforded Loeb's stage-three departure of Rallye de France. The immensely popular nationwide sports broadsheet handed over its cover with the headline: "A real lack of Loeb." The nail had been firmly whacked on its head.

Without Loeb, last week's Rally de France was something of an anti-climax. Part of the problem was that this event was never going to be able to live up to its billing. A year earlier, the Alsace region had virtually come to a standstill as family, friends and fans numbering more than a quarter of a million seemed to descend on Strasbourg to celebrate a seventh title for the fella from down the road.

How could this year possibly match that? The title remains some way away and France is still struggling to take in the civil war which has dogged the second half of Citroen's season.

Nobody truly expected a repeat of 2010. But nobody expected Loeb to be out before 10 o'clock on the first morning.

Predictably, plenty of Loeb fans turned their backs on the rally. Devastated at their hero's early bath, they simply weren't willing to stand and watch as the man who dared question Loeb's superiority strode to his fifth win of the year. The sheer temerity of Sebastien Ogier, it was too much for them to bear. So they didn't.

You only have to look at the pictures from the finish and compare them with last year: against the Loeb worship of 2010, Ogier looked like a man alone spraying the champagne on Sunday.

It is quite incredible how a round of the World Rally Championship has been built around one man and, essentially, for the benefit of two: Loeb and Citroen. Granted, those two are the world championship in France and I absolutely loved every minute of being around last year's manic and emotionally charged Rallye de France. But this time around, within hours of Loeb's departure, I couldn't help but wonder if this was all worth it.

Don't get me wrong, the roads are good and the organisation works, but what does this event truly bring – beyond Loeb's backyard – that Rally Deutschland doesn't. Germany and Trier are but a hundred miles and two months away.

Once Loeb has retired, will this event survive? Non.

In fairness, it can't. The Loeb faithful aren't about to switch their allegiance to Ogier – the man from Gap (a world away to native Alsatians) who tells French tele that Loeb cries if he doesn't get his own way. And it's the Loeb faithful who are packing the roads on both sides.

So, back to Corsica then?

Hmm, not so fast: remember the latest edict to come out of North One Sport? Island rallies are dead, long live the mainland. But, that policy has been weakened by a return to Sardinia for Italy's October round of the WRC next season and by a general desire from President Todt to take us back to all things good from yesterday. And Corsica is definitely yesterday. And definitely good.

Granted, Ajaccio might not be quite as accessible as Strasbourg, but for a tip-top rally, check out the third round of this year's Intercontinental Rally Challenge in May.

Granted, it might not have had the hard-edged competitiveness of Ogier's 6.3-second win over Dani Sordo (Thierry Neuville enjoyed the comfort of a yawning 15.5 seconds over Jan Kopecky…), but, for the purist, it was the stuff of legend.

I'm not advocating a wholesale switch back to days gone by, but I think we need to be a little bit more realistic in our choice of events.

We're moving into an incredibly competitive time for a slot on the WRC calendar and questions will have to be asked about Rallye de France, its closeness to Rally Deustchland and, the fact that France already has a WRC round running a competitive route entirely within its national boundaries at the start of the year: the Monte Carlo.

Question is, do we take an emerging BRICK economy country event over France? The answer has to be yes.

This is a world championship and in order to truly grow our sport, we have to take it to the millions of people out there who have yet to be touched by our wonderful world. France won't stand the loss of Loeb and Corsica's going to struggle to get back into the WRC because its surrounded entirely by sand and sea, so beyond 2012, this calendar slot has to be opened up.

And, for those of you who might be thinking this is some anti-French propaganda in the run-up to Saturday's Rugby World Cup match, you're entirely wrong.

I have been eminently critical of Britain's own round of the world championship in the past – genuinely questioning our right to another boring tour of South Wales. But that's changed now. This time around we've got a terrific route going from the top to the bottom of the principality; a rally which deserves its place in the championship.

The one thing Rallye de France did deliver was absolute proof of Prodrive's continued prowess in building rally cars and a truly magnificent run-in to the end of this year's world championship. Having been in the clear and cruising with a 27-point cushion following Finland, Loeb has watched those points being eroded and now he and Mikko Hirvonen start afresh with two rallies to go. And, with one asphalt and one gravel rally to come, it couldn't be more finely balanced.

If ever there has been a moment for Hirvonen to come and show what he's capable of, it's now. Yes, we did say the same going into the 2009 Rally GB, and yes, Loeb did demolish him, but this could be the Finn's year.

Equally, after the season of road-sweeping (by dint of being first on the road) Loeb's had to endure, you'd have to say an eighth title would be entirely fitting.

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