The Belgiam team told to Crash.net they are confident and the team will be at Sardinia Rally next month. The crisis started when Skoda sold several cars to a dutch team leaving First Motorsport without them.
Via Crash.net
Archive for the ‘News’ Category
First Motorsport says that Duval will be at Sardinia
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007Peugeot presented their 207 S2000 for IRC
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
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
Rally 1000 Miglia, Toni Gardemeister wins the GT Challenge
Saturday, April 21st, 2007
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.
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.
Guy Wilks leads Pirelli International Rally after leg 1
Friday, April 20th, 2007Darlington’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.
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.
Press release. Simon Jean-Joseph and the Citroën C2 S1600 on the hunt
Friday, April 20th, 200731st Rally 1000 Miglia (19-21 April 2007)
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.
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. »
Stephane Prevot joins Subaru World Rally Team
Thursday, April 19th, 2007
Stephane 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.
“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.
European Rally Championship starts at 1000 Miglia Rally
Thursday, April 19th, 2007
European Rally Championship starts with italian 1000 Miglia Rally near Brescia town, the first rally of season includes an impressive entry list with 7 Super 2000, a lot of Mitsubishi, Subarus, Super1600 and 5 GT rally cars.
Basso, Solowow, Fontana and Isik will drive a Fiat Punto Super2000, Perico and Rossetti with Peugeot 207 Super2000 and Czopik with Volkswagen Polo Super2000. Jean Joseph will drive a works Citroen C2 Super1600, Travaglia, Cantamessa, Andreucci and Dallavilla will compete with Mitusbishi Evo IX. Among Subaru Impreza STI drivers there will be Donchev, Longhi or Aghini.
Andreucci (Punto Super 2000) won 2006 edition.