Archive for April, 2007

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A poor reward for Simon Jean-Joseph and Citroën

Monday, April 23rd, 2007

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A promising rally for the Citroën C2 S1600 of Simon Jean-Joseph and Jack Boyére was cut short by an electrical problem 15 kilometres into SS10.

The second leg of the 31 st Rally 1000 Miglia – which kicked off the 2007 European Championship – consisted of two identical loops of three stages, comprising 150 competitive kilometres.

Simon Jean-Joseph had more or less got to grips with his new Citroën C2 during the opening leg on Friday. He steadily increased his pace to lead the Super 1600 category, having set fastest time on SS3. « We used the following stages to increase our advantage and get past the other registered European Championship competitors » he said. The man from Martinique was held back by a puncture on SS6, but he ended the opening leg with the bit between his teeth. « In the afternoon, we pushed hard to try and get back some of the time lost » he said. « That allowed me to see that all the work we had done together with Alexis Avril (chief engineer for Citroën Sport’s customer division) and the entire PH-Sport team was really paying off. I liked the C2’s set-up and we were able to get into the top 10 a few times (10th on SS7/9 and 9th on SS8), which we certainly hadn’t counted on at the start.»

Having fought back to second place in Super 1600 by the time he took the start this morning, Simon had high hopes for leg two. « We’ve seen that are able to go very quickly in the C2, which definitely gives us front-running potential » he said. Simon was on a mission to attack. With just one spare wheel in the boot in order to make the car even lighter, Simon and Jack left service absolutely determined to catch up their rivals in the Super 1600 category and the European Championship. However, an electrical problem in SS10 scuppered their plans.

« It was really frustrating » said Simon. « The car stopped and we just weren’t able to get it going again, which was a real pity. I’m sure that we had the chance of getting a really good result. A small consolation is the fact that we set some good times yesterday and that I’m developing a really good feeling with the Citroën C2 S1600 now. This rally also marked the start of an excellent collaboration with PH-Sport and everybody else at Citroën. »

Yves Matton, Citroën Sport’s customer competition manager, shared Simon’s frustration. He concluded: « It’s a real shame that all the hard work from Citroën Sport and PH-Sport was ruined by a manufacturing defect in a component from one of our suppliers. Before the problem, Simon and Jack’s performances demonstrated that the C2 is competitive with all the other European Championship contenders. This is very encouraging for the rest of the season, where we will have to be both fast and reliable. »

Posted in Citroën, European Rally Championship, Press release | No Comments »

Giandomenico Basso wins the 31 1000 Miglia Rally

Sunday, April 22nd, 2007

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Montichiari (Brescia), 21 April 2007 – Giandomenico Basso, the 2006 European Rally Champion, has written for the third time his name into the precious roll of honour of 1000 Miglia Rally which is the third round of the Italian Championship.

From Thursday evening, with the beginning into Castrezzato Circuit, till today, he has always been into the podium position. “Basso the Great” (8 Special Stages won over 15), co-drivered by Mitia Dotta, has begun to go faster and faster from the beginning till the end, and he hasn’t given Luca Rossetti (Peugeot 207 S2000) the possibility to reach him during the competition. In fact, in all the 2 legs, Rossetti has tried to get near Basso, and he has also tried to improve his feeling with this factory car.

Third is Paolo Andreucci (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX), who has always had to fight against the others like Luca Cantamessa (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX). At the beginning, Andreucci had some different problems, but he has always wanted to improve his driving skills & car knowledge in order to get better results. Cantamessa is fourth overall, in front Andrea Dallavilla (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX). After him, Piero Longhi and Andrea Aghini (both on Subaru Impreza STi), who have suffered a lot due to the law potency of their car – as they has told.

The top ten is completed with the other three Lancer Evo IX, driven by Sandro Sottile, Andrea Perego and Fabio Gianfico. Between 2WD cars, the Martinican Simon Jean Joseph (Citroen C2 S1600) has retired due to electrical problems, and the winner is Ivan Paire (Renault Clio S1600), even if, during the whole day, he had some tyres problems.

The main retirements: Volkan Isik (accident), Perico (transmission), Medici (brakes), Betti (injection). Renato Travaglia, after being stopped at the beginning of the competition, he has restarted from the second leg thanks to “Super Rally” option.

In this first meeting of the new “Italian Trophy GT Rally”, the Finnish Toni Gardemeister won on his Nissan 350Z before Calabrini (Porsche Cayenne) and Patuzzo (Porsche 911 GT3); while “Memorial Nicola Busseni” has given everybody a real fantastic show.

The competition, after 15 long and difficult stages, three days, has finished with the arrival into the beautiful Piazza Santa Maria in Montichiari, and it has been also characterized by the sun, hot and thousand and thousand of rally enthusiasts placed all over the stages.

FINAL CLASSIFICATION: 1. Basso-Dotta (Fiat Grande Punto) in 3.13’25’’4; 2. Rossetti-Chiarcossi (Peugeot 207 S2000) at 37’’9; 3. Andreucci-Andreussi (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) at 1’25’’0; 4. Cantamessa-Capolongo (Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX) at 1’34’’2; 5. Dallavilla-Rocco (Mitsubishi
Lancer EVO IX) at 1’43’’0.

Posted in European Rally Championship, Italian Rally Championship, Press release | No Comments »

Wilks takes maiden Pirelli Rally win

Sunday, April 22nd, 2007

Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship Round 1
Pirelli International Rally 20 – 21 April 2007

Guy Wilks and Phil Pugh took an emphatic maiden International rally victory in their Mitsubishi Motors UK Evo 9 on the opening round of the 2007 Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship with eleven fastest times from fourteen stages.

The scale of the 26 year olds Pirelli International Rally victory against such stiff opposition was also recognised by the judges of the inaugural Pirelli Star Driver award. They had little difficulty in naming Wilks as the first of six finalists who will go forward to win a works drive in the 2008 British series.

At the finish in Carlisle City centre he said, “It feels fantastic to win my first International Rally and to do it in a production car is excellent. The Pirelli Star Driver award is very special too as the judges have all known me for a long time. And I know it would take a big effort to impress them.”

The win could so easily have been a team one two but Gwyndaf Evans and Huw Lewis’ fine run in second place was cut short on stage twelve with transmission failure. Mark Higgins and Rory Kennedy were the eventual runners up in their Stobart Teg Sport Subaru Impreza, for which they were relieved after an uncharacteristic slow start on Friday. Mark was back on the pace by the finish but deemed it pointless to push when the gap was so great to the two Mitsubishis ahead. Ryan Champion and Craig Thorley took the final podium spot in another Mitsubishi, having struggled to set the car up and losing time with a puncture.

Rally 3 was won by Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach and his co driver David Senior in their Citroen C2. They finished a fine fifth place overall, after an electrical problem was repaired and the car’s set-up tuned for the fast gravel. Newcomer to the British Championship Stefan Davis and Pat Cooper were the only other finishers in the category in their Ford Puma.

Team Suzuki GB’s Lorna Smith and Joanne Oakey took the hotly contested Rally 2 class in their Swift, after team mate James Wozencroft retired. The only all female team also finished in ninth overall, but Lorna was particularly pleased with her first ever class victory. Jason Pritchard and Martin Jones finished second in R2 and took victory in the UK’s inaugural Citroen C2R2 Cup.

100% reliability was the reason Steve and Tony Graham gave for their Rally 1 victory, although with just one entry, a finish guaranteed the award. More impressively the brothers survived while many around did not and picked up fourteenth place overall in the lowest power car on the event.

Other debuts of note included David Higgins who finished in the first outing for the Toyota Corolla S2000 R and despite retiring on Friday, Fin McCaul’s diesel BMW120D looked like one to watch in the future.

The Tesco 99 Octane MSA British Rally Championship moves to Kelso for round two, the Jim Clark International Rally on May 25th to 27th which also sees the first of three consecutive asphalt events for the series.

Posted in British Rally Championship, Press release | No Comments »

31 Rally 1000 Miglia, two videos

Saturday, April 21st, 2007

Posted in European Rally Championship, Video | No Comments »

Warning: technicians in action

Saturday, April 21st, 2007

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Seconds count in rallying – and this is especially true during service halts, which usually take place after every group of stages on WRC events. During these breaks in the action, the drivers get time for a quick rest, while the Subaru World Rally Team’s technicians spring into life.

Each service is timed (to 10, 30 or 45 minutes) and the well-trained technicians have to re-prepare the two Impreza WRC2007s within this limit. Failure to do so could result in a time penalty.

Regulations limiting the number of technicians who can work on the team’s cars were introduced at the beginning of the 2005 season. The sport’s governing body, the FIA, brought in the rules in an effort to reduce staffing costs for teams contesting the series.

Before 2005, teams could allocate as many technicians as they wanted to each car during a service, but at the start of that year, the new rules meant a limit of eight per car in a manufacturer team – a total of 16 for a two-car entry. For this season, that limit was brought down to 12 per team plus one medic, putting even more focus on accurate planning and swift, efficient team work.

When Chris or Petter returns from a group of stages and slots his Impreza into his allocated service bay, you’ll notice the mechanics spring into action. The technicians who are permitted to work on the car will be sporting orange armbands, each one numbered for easy identification. You’ll also spot an official observer, ensuring that no-one without an armband touches the car

The allocated technicians have to do everything on the Impreza, from making set-up changes, to checking key components such as the engine, brakes and gearbox – and even giving the car a quick wash before it returns to the stages.

Although the 12 team members are normally divided into two groups of six, there is nothing to prevent more technicians being allocated to one car if necessary. The Subaru World Rally Team’s chief mechanic Chris Wattam masterminds the allocation of the orange armbands.

Team operations director Paul Howarth says: “Before each service, Chris will work with the number one engineers on each car to decide what work needs to be done and which technicians need to be allocated to which car. In general, we will put the same number of technicians on each car, but sometimes it will be necessary to put more people on one car. That’s a judgement that has to be made quickly.

“At the end of the leg, we can use flexi-service to bring the cars in at different times. That means we can get all of our technicians to focus on one car, and then bring the other car after that. We need to be organised and very clear about our instructions to the technicians. The limitations mean we have to ensure the best people are working on the cars. We also have specialists in engine, transmission and so on, and they need to be ready to swap armbands and carry out their tasks quickly and efficiently.”

For the technicians, the service halts can be a high pressure part of the job, because there is no margin for error and yet no time to waste either. For those short, tense minutes, the success (or otherwise) of a driver is out of his hands and in those of the skilled technicians working on his car. Never let it be said that rallying isn’t a team sport…

Posted in Features, Subaru, World Rally Championship | No Comments »

Peugeot presented their 207 S2000 for IRC

Saturday, April 21st, 2007

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Peugeot Sport España presented their 207 Super 2000 units that will be driven by Enrique Ojeda and Nicholas Vouilloz on 2007 IRC Championship. The team will start his IRC campaign at Turkey Rally next month.

Via Rallyes.net

Posted in Intercontinental Rally Challenge, News, Peugeot | No Comments »

Rally 1000 Miglia, Toni Gardemeister wins the GT Challenge

Saturday, April 21st, 2007

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Montichiari (Brescia), 21 April 2007 – They are really fantastic these “Italian Trophy GT Rally Cars”, which have amused all the people at this 31ST Rally 1000 Miglia, from Thursday evening at Castrezzato Circuit, till yesterday on the various Special Stages. The Finnish Toni Gardemeister, co-drived by Tomi Tominen, have won the competition on their Nissan 350Z owned to Astra Team.

He says: “It’s a great car to be discovered and there are still a lot of things to do in order to improve it. We are only at its first competition. This car has gone really well on “1000 Miglia” tracks, even if we have suffered for the normal road tyres”.

Second place for Aldo Calabrini and Marco Verdelli (Porsche Cayman S – Autorlando Sport). Third is Nicola Patuzzo and Gianluigi Poggese (Porsche 911 GT3 – Martini). Gianluca Canobbio and Matteo Braga (Aston Martin V8 Vantage), Angelo Crescini and Piergiorgio Righettini (Porche 911 GT3) have retired: the first ones due to transmission break and the second ones, for the break steering.

Final classification of “Italian Trophy GT Rally Cars”: 1. Gardemeister-Tuominen (Nissan 350Z) in 45’57’’6; 2. Calabrini-Verdelli (Porsche Cayman S) at 1’42’’8; 3. Patuzzo-Poggese (Porsche 911 GT3) at 1’48’’9.

Posted in Italian Rally Championship, News, Nissan, Press release | No Comments »

Guy Wilks leads Pirelli International Rally after leg 1

Friday, April 20th, 2007

Darlington’s Guy Wilks made a successful debut for Mitsubishi, leading the Pirelli International Rally at the end of the first leg and heading a Mitsubishi 1-2-3 , 28 seconds up on Gwyndaf Evans with last years winner, Ryan Champion lying third, it might have been even better for Mitsubishi but Irishman Philip Morrow stopped on stage 3 while in third spot.

It was an extremely short event for David Higgins, his Toyota S2000 R went out of time on the very first stage with a fuel problem. His brother Mark also hit problems on this stage, clouting a rock and damaging the steering, Connor McCluskey (Mitsubishi) was slowed when his intercom wouldn’t work, he also reported clutch problems.

Mark Higgins problems continued on stage 2 with a puncture, Conrad Rautenbachs Citroen C2 sounded extremely rough while Wyn Humphreys reported problems with his Subaru’s brakes. Darren Gass survived a spin but lost a minute restarting and Stefan Davis ( Ford Puma ) struggled with low oil pressure.

While Wilks continued to dominate on Stages 3 and 4, despite a brief stall, Mark Higgins staged a bit of a comeback up the field and Gwyndaf Evans consolidated his second place. Morrows strong run ended when he stopped on stage 3 and Rautenbach’s problems were believed to be with the ECU , it was planned to remap it for tomorrow. Darran Gass picked up his second puncture on successive stages , James Wozencroft suffered two spins in the Suzuki, Hugh Evans Subaru had a slipping clutch while Rob Gill had a turbo pipe come adrift on his Subaru, he described the loss of power as “Like driving a 1 litre car”

Tomorrow is a long day for the International runners with another 10 stages to face, this includes two visits to the dreaded “Killer” Kielder complex before the city centre finish back in Carlisle with the first crew due at 7:10pm.

Posted in British Rally Championship, Mitsubishi, News, Press release | No Comments »

Press release. Simon Jean-Joseph and the Citroën C2 S1600 on the hunt

Friday, April 20th, 2007

31st Rally 1000 Miglia (19-21 April 2007)

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Photo: Citroën Communication

At the end of leg one of the 31st Rally 1000 Miglia, Simon Jean-Joseph, his co-driver Jack Boyere, and their Citroën C2 S1600 are classified second in the Super 1600 category. At the same time, they are also third amongst the European Championship runners.

The 1000 Miglia Rally – which runs to the north of the Italian town of Brescia – is the first round of the 2007 European Championship. The first leg consisted of a spectator superspecial, which took place last night, followed by two identical loops of four stages today. The rally route ran close to Lake Garda, characterised by mountain roads that were wide with several hairpin bends going uphill, followed by tricky and narrow descents.

Simon Jean-Joseph was satisfied with his morning’s work when he got back to midday service at Montichiari after the first loop of stages. « We drove quite carefully on the superspecial yesterday as there was a lot more to lose than there was to gain » he said. « I only really got to know my Citroën C2 Super 1600 in proper rally conditions on this morning’s stages. On the whole, our progress was good. We didn’t make any mistakes and the car worked well. But the roads were very slippery, which didn’t make it any easier for me to get to know the Citroën C2. »

The PH-Sport team made a few adjustments to the car at midday service, following discussions between Simon Jean-Joseph and Alexis Avril – chief engineer for the customer division of Citroën Sport. « I’m slowly beginning to understand which set-ups suit me best » said Simon. «But I knew it wouldn’t be easy to learn on this rally. Under normal circumstances on these roads it would be dificult to compete with the four-wheel drive cars anyway, and all the more so on this rally as the territory doesn’t really suit us. However it was very encouraging to be the top Super 1600 crew, and also first of the European Championship runners. We mustn’t lose sight of our main objective, so we need to try and hang onto this result to maximise our championship chances. »

The second loop of stages started off badly for the Citroën crew. A puncture six kilometres from the end of SS6 cost Simon and Jack more than a minute. Nonetheless, the 2004 European Champion was determined to fight back. « I had no choice but to up the pace » commented Simon. « Currently, we’re 46 seconds off the European Championship leader and just 15 seconds off the top Super 1600 runner. Everything’s still possible tomorrow. I think the second leg will be a lively one for us ! »

Yves Matton, Citroën Sport’s customer competition manager, drew a positive conclusion : « Simon Jean-Joseph has made an excellent start to the rally. He’s got to grips with the Citroën C2 S1600 quickly, and that allowed him to lead both the Super 1600 category and the European Championship classification. After being delayed by a puncture, he’s in the thick of the chase behind his rivals. Tomorrow, he should be able to take advantage of the 152 kilometres of stages to regain the places he lost and improve his overall position. »

Posted in Citroën, European Rally Championship, News, Press release | No Comments »

Stephane Prevot joins Subaru World Rally Team

Thursday, April 19th, 2007

119300958.jpgStephane Prevot will co-drive for Subaru World Rally Team driver Chris Atkinson from Rally Argentina, which takes place on May 3-6.

The Belgian, 38, has close links with the Subaru World Rally Team, having sat in Impreza World Rally Cars alongside Bruno Thiry in 1999 and Stephane Sarrazin for the 2006 season. Prevot has competed in more than 100 World and European events in a co-driving career stretching back to the late 1980s.

During the team’s recent test session in Sardinia, Atkinson and Prevot spent three days working together in the Subaru Impreza WRC2007.

“Right from the start of the test we seemed to work well together and we improved with every day,” said Atkinson. “Stephane’s an experienced and professional co-driver and he adapted to my driving very quickly. Of course there’s still work to do, as Stephane gets used to my notes system, and my words and phrases, but it’s good so far. We already have a good understanding in the car and I’m feeling positive about our rally debut in Argentina.”

Subaru World Rally Team managing director Richard Taylor added: “Finding a suitable world-class co-driver partway through a season is never an easy task, but Stephane was a logical choice. His vast experience, allied to his knowledge of the way our team works, means he will be able to fit seamlessly into our driver line-up. We’re confident he and Chris will work well together and expect them to be in contention for a strong points finish in Argentina next month.”

Prevot replaces Glenn Macneall, who recently stepped down and returned to the southern hemisphere to concentrate on business and personal commitments.

Posted in News, Press release, Subaru, World Rally Championship | No Comments »

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