Tricky start for Suzuki in Jordan

April 26th, 2008


In a day of searing heat alongside the Dead Sea, the Suzuki World Rally Team had a challenging start to the first ever World Rally Championship round in Jordan. Finland’s Toni Gardemeister ended the opening test inside the top 10 positions and in a confident mood. Unfortunately for Suzuki, his team-mate P-G Andersson slipped off the road six kilometers into the Suwayma stage, undamaging his car but ending his participation in day one of the Jordan Rally. Andersson will return tomorrow, under the super rally regulations, with his SX4 WRC running again in perfect condition. Gardemeister remained in the top 10 for the next test, but was forced out of the rally after five kilometres of the third stage with a damaged sump.

Car news – Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):

The engine in Gardemeister’s SX4 WRC suffered sufficient damage when a rock hit the sump, that running on the second day was not possible. Such were the rough conditions on the Middle Eastern roads, the Finn couldn’t even remember where the impact had happened. Andersson’s car was completely undamaged when it went off the road. The Swede actually managed to get the
car back on the road himself, having located some pieces of wood to place under the wheels, allowing the car to reverse out of the ditch it had landed in. Unfortunately for the double Junior Rally Champion, he reached the end of the first stage out of time and was unable to continue in day one.

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister: “I was happy with the first couple of stages. In some corners, we were going a little bit wide, but the times were quite okay. I thought this was going to be a good event for us. We had a real chance to get some good points here. I knew P-G had had a problem and I was thinking
that we needed to make sure there was one SX4 at the finish, so I wasn’t pushing very hard. I wasn’t flat-out and didn’t want to take the big risks.

I don’t know which stone it was that caused the problems – there were so many of them about! As soon as I heard the engine starting to sound like it wasn’t right in SS3, I pulled over and switched it off. I am also upset for the team because I wanted to get a result for them on this rally. I came
here to drive well and to compete with the other cars on even ground. I do believe we could have made a result, particularly when you look at how many of the cars are having problems in these really tough conditions.”

P-G Andersson: “My problem came in a section about six kilometres into the stage. It was a left-hander going into a tighter right. I was too fast into the left and then couldn’t gather the car for the next right. The car started to drift and then went off the road on the inside of the corner. The
front was buried in some deep sand. A couple of people were there to help, but there was no way the car was coming out until I found some wood to go under the wheels. By the time I had done that and we got back on the road, we were OTL (Over Time Limit). I had a slow puncture from earlier in the stage, but the problem was my speed – not the tyre. It’s really disappointing. I need to be in the car and driving stages right now, so there is a lot of frustration when this happens. We all want to show what the SX4 WRC can do.”

Team news:

Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: “Toni’s problem was unfortunate. It’s very unlucky for the rock to hit precisely the wrong part of the bottom of the car and to cause a problem like this. But this has happened to Toni and cost him and the team dearly. We all feel for Toni and Tomi – they had made good times on the first two stages. This is the drivers’ first time on this event, it’s not like they have many years of pace notes to start with as a reference. Instead they made notes for the
first time. P-G seems to have been caught out by the difference in the recce and rally speed and the unknown factor of what the surface could do. Many of the other drivers have returned to the service park with similar stories. I think it’s just unfortunate that P-G has been caught out by this, and both P-G and the team have paid a heavy price. His SX4 WRC was undamaged in the incident and is running perfectly, so he will be ready to re-start tomorrow.”

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Citroën’s high-flying C4 WRCs

April 26th, 2008

The fiercely fought opening leg of the Jordan Rally, the latest addition to the World Rally Championship calendar, saw Dani Sordo/Marc Martí and their Citroën C4 WRC complete the day on top of the provisional leaderboard, while Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena follow in second place, 1.1s seconds behind their team-mates. In addition to the performance of the two factory C4s, the two cars run by PH Sport with support from Citroën Sport Technologies and the sixth place for Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk.

Temperatures in the Jordan Valley and along the shores of the Dead Sea reached as high as 40°C during recce, but today’s action took place in slightly cooler weather, while the leg’s four stages – contested twice each – totalled 115.18km of competitive action, most of which took place beneath sea level.

“With three C4 WRCs inside the top ten, including two in first and second places, we could hardly have wished for a better start to the weekend,” noticed Olivier Quesnel this evening. “Both crews and everyone at Citroën Sport did a perfect job today. Dani and Marc succeeded in taking full advantage of their road order this morning and they then matched the times of the others this afternoon. They deserve to be leading also because it is the first time they occupy the first position of the leaderboard on a gravel event. Sébastien and Daniel had to cope with the opposite scenario: after a difficult start because of all the loose gravel they were forced to sweep aside, they recovered superbly second time through to put us in first and second places tonight.

Even so, we can’t afford to get carried away. Anything can still happen, the gaps are small and the conditions promise to be complex again tomorrow.”

The first leg took place at altitudes of between -410 (SS1) and +700 metres – the latter being the highest part of the route – and Citroën’s two crews took turns in playing the leading role.

Dani Sordo and Marc Martí were the first to show their speed: “We had been hoping that our position on the road would be favourable and it was,” explained Dani. “On this sort of terrain, you just can’t afford to put a wheel off the line swept clean by the other cars. I consequently tried to keep it as clean as possible so as not to find myself in the looser gravel where it was impossible to control the car. That plan worked well for the first three stages but I didn’t feel perfectly at ease on the morning’s final test. There were lots of crests and blind corners and I dropped a little time. As expected, the fight was extremely close this afternoon when the conditions were the same for everyone. I am pleased with my start to the rally but we now have to try and defend our lead tomorrow, and that probably won’t be easy.”

Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena can tell Dani a thing or two about running first on the road because that was the main challenge they faced today, although the roads were much cleaner for the second pass and the defending World Champions were able to push much harder. “During recce, we quickly saw that these stages were like nothing we had ever come across before,” said Seb. “It wasn’t easy to take good notes because everything looks alike and the roads are fast and tricky. I was also aware that I would have the handicap of sweeping aside the loose gravel for the others this morning. I had trouble settling into a good rhythm which affected my driving and I had a couple of scares. We made a few small changes to the set-up of my car for the second loop and that felt much better. On top of that, we didn’t have to clear the top-coating of gravel second time round, so it was easer to use the full potential of our C4. The gaps at the moment don’t really signify much because I am sure it will be another tough day tomorrow.”

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Jordan strikes during a gruelling first day of rallying

April 26th, 2008

After the first intensely punishing day of competition on the very first WRC round in the Middle East, Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot finished in fifth position overall. The Subaru World Rally Team duo of Petter Solberg and Phil Mills took an early lead but were forced to retire during the afternoon.

After a week of blistering heat, ten degrees Celsius hotter than normal for this time of year, Friday’s weather was a little more subdued by comparison. Reaching a still scorching 35 degrees Celsius, the temperature brought its own sting to this gruelling event.

The surface in Jordan presented enormous challenges for the crews, being quite unlike that experienced anywhere else on the WRC calendar. The road surface is as hard as asphalt, but its grip characteristics are much more akin to a gravel rally and vary within each stage. Crews struggled for grip using the Pirelli Scorpion gravel tyres on such a hard surface, and tyre wear, exacerbated by the heat, was remarkably high.

“We have seen today that Jordan is a worthy addition to the WRC calendar” said David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team Principal. “Petter’s retirement is very disappointing, especially given his form in the opening stages, but we must now aim to salvage Manufacturers’ points in the next two days. Chris again demonstrated his maturity with a measured drive and this has been rewarded with a strong fifth place to take into tomorrow.”

Atkinson and Prévot had a consistent day on an event that neither of them had any experience of before Tuesday’s reconnaissance, just three days ago. Having made some changes during the midday service, Atkinson was 12 seconds faster on the opening stage of the afternoon before easing his pace towards the end of the day to bring his Impreza WRC2007 to the finish in fifth overall after a day of unknown, unpredictable and unforgiving conditions.

“Fifth overall is good from today – it’s in line with our target for this event, and I think we have set a realistic pace this weekend” said Chris Atkinson. “We’ve not been taking any risks as the grip today has just been so tricky it would have been easy to make a mistake and throw it off. We had a couple of moments; a spin and we slid off the road, but fortunately there was no major damage. We have made some changes to the car today which made steps in the right direction, but there is still more to come for tomorrow. The heat was really ok today for us, no problems, but it’s taking a while to get used to the surface which is so different to anything else.”

Road cleaning was a factor as the front-runners struggled with the initially loose layer of sand and gravel that covered the roads. Whilst it improved as more cars passed, it remained more slippery than many expected, and large rocks were dragged onto the route by passing cars in time for the repeat passes. The combination of badly-placed rocks and heat proved costly for the SWRT duo of Solberg and Mills.

Solberg’s experience gained from his recce here last year paid off initially as he and Mills, also a veteran of the region, recorded the joint fastest first stage time to share the early rally lead. After some testing stages including an off-road excursion on stage five to avoid a large rock over an unsighted crest, stage six brought huge disappointment. The duo suffered broken front suspension and, although they managed to finish the speed test, were forced to retire at the finish. The team will work on the Impreza WRC2007 during the evening and re-enter it tomorrow under SupeRally regulations, taking a time penalty that drops them over 16 minutes behind the leaders.

“This morning was good, but then it is so, so disappointing for me and the team to have this problem and to have retired on the first day” said Petter Solberg. “Into stage six I hit a small rock on the inside round a left hand corner, and after that the front suspension dampers just broke. Oil came on the screen, and a bit caught fire under the bonnet. We were lucky to put it out before any real damage, but I came here feeling good and looking for a good result. We had the pace notes and things were looking pretty good, but that’s just how it is. We just need to keep going and see what happens in the next two days.”

Today’s competition consisted of four stages each run twice, the longest (SS2/6) being 20 kilometres. Competitors travelled north of the Dead Sea service park for two loops of stages amid the barren and parched desert landscape, passing the famous biblical site of Mount Nebo.

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Suzuki SX4 WRC gets underway in Jordan

April 26th, 2008

The Suzuki World Rally Team started the first ever World Rally Championship round in Jordan this evening, when Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson drove their Suzuki SX4 WRCs over the ceremonial startline in the Dead Sea area of Jordan, south-west of the nation’s capital, Amman. Both drivers arrive on Jordan Rally with high hopes of taking points from this historic event. They are both aware, however, of the challenge which lies ahead. The drivers will be faced with 22 arduous gravel stages before they reach the finish on Sunday afternoon. And, unusually for this time of the year in Jordan, they will be competing in some of the hottest temperatures of the season.

Today’s shakedown test was completed with temperatures heading towards 40 degrees. These conditions are expected for the first two days of competition, before the temperature falls to around 25 degrees on Sunday.

Sunday promises a real sting in the tail, with two runs of Jordan River – at 41.45km the longest stage of the event – in one of the toughest final days in recent World Rally Championship history.

Car news – Suzuki SX4 WRC n.11 (Gardemeister), n.12 (Andersson):

Never having competed in the Middle East before, Toni Gardemeister and P-G Andersson were both keen to get into the 2.5km shakedown stage, located just north of the service park on the banks of the Dead Sea. Both cars completed their final test before the start without major problems, with Gardemeister and Andersson using the time to conclude their set-up for this fifth round
of the World Rally Championship.

Following a successful test at shakedown, both cars went through their final preparation procedure before they were taken up the road to the ceremonial start on the banks of the Dead Sea. Following the start, the two Suzuki SX4 WRCs were locked into parc ferme for the night before the start of the
competitive action in the morning.

Driver news:

Toni Gardemeister: “This is something new for me – I’ve never rallied in these kind of conditions before. The recce showed how precise we are going to have to be on these roads. There are some big rocks right at the side of the stage, rocks which could end the rally. Having said that, in some places you can go 100 metres off the line of the corner and not hit anything, then in the next bend, you couldn’t go 10cm too wide without hitting a very big rock. The blind crests are going to be very interesting. You think it’s going to be straight after the crest and then there’s a square corner right
ahead of you – it’s very hard to read these roads. I start this event chasing points. I am confident this is possible. Equally, I think this will be an event with plenty of incidents. It’s certainly going to be an exciting rally.”

P-G Andersson: “The shakedown was quite good this morning. I was also pleased with the handling of the car. We have made some adjustments to the car and they’ve worked well. The shakedown road itself wasn’t all that representative of the stages to come, so we can’t really draw too many conclusions about what to expect, but I’m feeling positive and looking forward to the challenge of this new rally in Jordan. One thing is for sure, the stages will be fast and very tricky in places. On some of the long straights, it’s really hard to pick out the road – everything looks grey and with very little definition.”

Team news:

Paul Wilding, Suzuki World Rally Team manager: “This has the look of an extremely difficult event. And the weather is going to make it even tougher with temperatures of 40 degrees plus. The recce went very well for us and the drivers are reporting that the stages are very tricky, with some really
fast sections and hard-packed roads. We are looking forward to this rally and we have prepared well. We have shown in previous events that we can be competitive with the other WRC cars and that’s what we want in Jordan. At the same time, we can learn about the set-up of the car in preparation for the next three similar rallies to come in Sardinia, Greece and Turkey.”

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Petter Solberg made the first Global Ambassador for Peace Through Sport

April 26th, 2008

Dead Sea, Jordan: Petter Solberg has become the first Global Ambassador for HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein’s initiative to bring together conflicting communities across the world through sport. Solberg’s involvement with the programme was announced prior to the ceremonial start of the inaugural Rally Jordan on Thursday 24 April.

“I think Peace Through Sport is so, so important and I’m honoured to be an Ambassador for it” said Petter Solberg. “Sport is enjoyed by so many people across the world and we can see from the rallies how it brings people together. I fully support HRH Prince Feisal’s inspiring vision for Peace Through Sport around the world and I really hope that I can help the programme.

“In the WRC we travel to 15 countries this year alone, and with fans and supporters across the world I hope I can make a difference through this programme. It’s important to me to give something back to the countries we visit, and Peace Through Sport has benefit everywhere so for sure I will carry the message with me.”

Peace Through Sport is a global initiative inspired and developed by His Royal Highness to contribute to the world’s need for greater tolerance and understanding within conflicting communities. Launched last year in Amman, Jordan, Peace Through Sport operates dedicated peace programmes that bring together leaders of youth from the world’s divided communities and train them to use sport to unite children. Crucially, they are trained to take their learning back to their native countries and implement sporting programmes with children in their region.

At the official announcement, when His Royal Highness passed to Solberg the campaign’s symbolic baton, he said “Petter embodies the values and spirit of Peace Through Sport and is himself the symbol of sportsmanship and a true champion who will be able to inspire and motivate others. We are delighted that he will work with us to pass on the message of peace to his huge number of rally fans around the world.”

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Clever tactics put Ford’s Finns into perfect position in Jordan

April 26th, 2008

Measured performances in the furnace of the Dead Sea valley placed BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team in the ideal position following the opening day of the Jordan Rally. Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila lie third on this fifth round of the FIA World Rally Championship, with team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen fourth after an enthralling day’s competition on the WRC’s first visit to an Arab country since 1976. Both pairings are driving Ford Focus RS World Rally Cars.

The early starters are disadvantaged by slippery loose stones on top of the hard-packed gravel roads south-west of the capital city of Amman. By ending the first leg of this three-day rally in third and fourth, just a few seconds behind the leading pair, BP Ford Abu Dhabi’s duo will inherit those positions in the start order tomorrow morning. Their rivals ahead will face the worst of the conditions, sweeping away the gravel to leave a cleaner and faster driving line for the Focus RS pair behind.

As a newcomer to the WRC, none of the front-running drivers had competitive experience of Jordan’s speed tests, most of which have been purpose-built for the rally. Also new to most were the extreme temperatures. Shade temperatures hovered just below 40ºC for the past two days and several degrees higher in the sun. Although 36ºC was today’s high, it was still uncomfortably hot inside the cars as competitors tackled eight special stages covering 115.18km. Three were held below sea level and one reached the world’s lowest land point at more than 400 metres beneath sea level.

Latvala settled into third this morning before climbing to second on the final special stage of the loop. The 23-year-old Finn admitted he was finding it tricky to acclimatise to the roads. “They were more slippery than I thought and it was hard to be fully confident,” he said. “The gravel roads are as hard as asphalt so the tyres were spinning because they didn’t break the surface. I spent too much time sideways, which was wearing my tyres, so I tried to change my driving style. It’s so different from any other event and they’re not my favourite roads, but I need to be able to drive on every surface.”

He opened the afternoon with fastest time on the stage along the shore of the Dead Sea before settling for top three times on the final three tests. He is 8.5sec behind leader Dani Sordo.

“It’s an interesting battle and I didn’t expect it to be this close. My speed is good and I have a great start position tomorrow so I’ll see how things go in the morning, before deciding whether to push in the afternoon or steady my pace. My confidence improved this afternoon but I’m still working my tyres too hard. I tried to brake softly and be more precise in my driving but I have more to do,” he added.

Hirvonen ended the morning fifth. Because he was second in the start order, the 27-year-old Finn had to cope with slippery gravel on the surface but a more serious hazard arose 7km from the finish of the second stage, the 20.00km Mahes.

“I had one of the luckiest escapes ever,” he said. “My pace notes were too optimistic and I came over a crest too fast and went off when the road turned immediately afterwards. There were some huge rocks which I just managed to avoid but I slightly damaged the rear right suspension. It didn’t cost much time but the handling felt strange afterwards.”

On this afternoon’s repeat stages Hirvonen climbed to fourth, winning the final test and lying just 13.4sec from the lead. “Everything went to plan this afternoon. I didn’t push too hard because there were many loose rocks in the road and I didn’t want to hit one and damage the tyres. I attacked on the last gap to ensure the gap wasn’t too large tonight and I’m happy with how it went today,” he added.

Abu Dhabi’s Khalid Al Qassimi and co-driver Michael Orr are 10th in another Focus RS, despite stalling several times at the start of the second stage and a small fire. “This hasn’t been a good day for me,” said Al Qassimi. “The back of the car caught fire at the end of stage six. The fire brigade had to put it out and although the next stage went OK, the flames were back at the end of stage eight.” The problem was traced to a turbo sensor failure, which allowed the turbo to become too hot.

News from our Rivals

Dani Sordo (Citroen) led from the start, the Spaniard winning three stages to lead team-mate Sébastien Loeb by 1.1sec. The Frenchman also claimed three stage wins. Behind the BP Ford Abu Dhabi duo, Chris Atkinson (Subaru) held fifth with Urmo Aava (Citroen) an impressive sixth. The remaining four places in the top 10 were all claimed by Focus RS cars, headed by Stobart’s Matthew Wilson in seventh. Per-Gunnar Andersson (Suzuki) retired after going off on the opening stage while team-mate Toni Gardemeister stopped with engine problems after stage 2. Petter Solberg (Subaru) retired from fifth with broken front suspension after stage six and Stobart driver Gigi Galli (Ford) retired from sixth after the same test. The Italian slid into a bank, damaging the rear differential cooler and exhaust, and the differential seized in the high temperatures. He will restart tomorrow under SupeRally rules.

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A shortened display for the Citroën C2-R2 MAX

April 19th, 2008

Simon Jean-Joseph and Jack Boyère took the start of the Pirelli International Rally in England for their second run of the season in the Citroën C2-R2 MAX. After a promising start to the event, during which the Citroën crew were leading the R2 class and fighting for the overall lead of the two-wheel drive category, an impact with a rock forced their retirement on SS8.

The Pirelli Rally, which took place in the county of Cumbria in northern England, marked the first round of the British Rally Championship. There were two legs in total, featuring 14 special stages. The legendary Kielder Forest served as a backdrop to the 168.98 kilometres of gravel action scheduled.

Some typically British weather awaited the competitors on Friday afternoon as they took the start. The opening leg consisted of just four special stages, acting as a taster for the main action to follow.
Nonetheless, run at night on twisty and muddy roads, those first four stages presented a variety of traps to catch out the unwary. Simon Jean-Joseph sensibly decided to avoid taking any risks. Nonetheless, he picked up a puncture in the middle of SS2, which cost him a handful of seconds. The Citroën got to the end of a difficult evening leading the ‘R2’ class. It was also fighting for the overall two-wheel drive lead with cars from the category above.

On Saturday morning, Simon and Jack started leg two with the firm aim of improving upon their 15th place overall. In the thick of a constantly hectic fight, the Citroën crew hit a rock on SS8 and was forced to retire with a broken radiator.

« The stages at the start of the day weren’t favourable to us, but I thought that we could get a good result through the afternoon loop, » said Simon. « It was extremely frustrating as there was nothing I could do. The stone was just after a jump. I saw it at the last moment – as I landed on it. It was too late and a big impact; I knew straightaway that it was all over. Four other competitors fell into the same trap. It’s infuriating to end up like this when we were in the middle of a fantastic battle, and together with Alexis Avril (responsible for engineering at Citroën Sport’s customer competition programme) we were slowly but surely refining the set-up of the car on a surface that we did not know too well. The Pirelli is an extremely complicated rally with its heavily cambered roads, which are often covered in mud and extremely rough. We were gradually getting to grips with it though and I’m sure we had the chance of a very good overall final placing. It’s just a big disappointment. »

Jean-François Liénéré, in charge of Citroën Sport’s customer division said: « The Citroën C2-R2 MAX has once more underlined its potential, on its first event on gravel. This retirement is very disappointing for everyone. Nonetheless, Simon and Jack still demonstrated that even on the most demanding surfaces, the C2-R2 MAX is capable of punching above its weight. The journalists and drivers set to take part in our promotional operation tomorrow will have the chance to find that out for themselves. »

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Ford hunts for highs among the lowlands of Jordan’s Dead Sea

April 18th, 2008

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team can expect to experience a mix of highs and lows during the course of the 15-round FIA World Rally Championship season – both literally and metaphorically. After tackling the two highest rounds in the championship in Mexico and Argentina last month, the leaders of the manufacturers’ championship will aspire to a high in the lowlands of Jordan next week when the fifth round of the series takes the team to the lowest point on earth at the Dead Sea.

Rally Jordan (24 – 27 April) is the first WRC round in an Arab country since 1976 and represents a step into the unknown for Ford’s Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila. Neither pairing has visited Jordan before, so the characteristics of the Middle East roads and the vagaries of the conditions will offer a steep learning curve for the Finnish quartet as they strive to extend Ford’s three-point series lead in their Focus RS World Rally Cars.

The rally is based on the shores of the Dead Sea, 420 metres below sea level, and the location will provide a boost to the Focus RS’ engine performance. In contrast to Mexico and Argentina where low air pressure at altitude meant less oxygen was available to burn fuel in the engine, resulting in less power, the opposite will be true in Jordan.

The speed tests will be held in west and north of the country and Government support has enabled organisers to build several new gravel roads specifically for the rally. With rain extremely unlikely, conditions will be dusty and it promises to be gruelling for drivers with temperatures forecast to be well in excess of 30ºC initially, before cooling slightly as the rally progresses.

Twenty-seven-year-old Hirvonen, who is second in the drivers’ championship, is relishing the prospect of attacking Jordan’s roads. “I’ve never been there but I’ve spoken to some drivers who have and seen photographs from our team, who visited the candidate rally last year,” he said. “The roads look smooth and it seems as though the organisers have done a good job in preparing them. They look fast and flowing, like Finland but without the jumps, so if that’s the case they should be good for me.

“Sunday’s final leg is the longest of the rally, which is quite different to most events. If a driver has large time gaps in front or behind then there will be more kilometres than usual in which to keep an eye on things. But if the time gaps are just 20 or 30 seconds, there could still be a lot to fight for on the final day. I was happier with my speed on the first morning during the last round in Argentina. The poor conditions probably helped me initially, but when they improved I still took some time from Sébastien Loeb and so it was definitely an improvement,” added Hirvonen.

Latvala is unconcerned about tackling a new rally. “I think it’s good because everyone is in the same position and knowledge of the roads isn’t an issue,” he said. “We have to be careful when making pace notes during the recce so we’re confident with them for the rally. The recce vehicle is fitted with an in-car camera to film the stages so I can watch them before the start. It helps me to remember the stages because it’s like a third recce pass over the roads, but it does look different on video than in reality.

“Last year there were three new rallies in the championship and I enjoyed the challenge of those so I’m looking forward to Jordan. I understand the roads are hard and fast so they should suit me. Although it’s my first time in Jordan, car set-up isn’t a concern. Now I have a set-up that feels good, I use that as a base for most rallies and don’t need to make big changes, just a little fine tuning in places,” he added.

Abu Dhabi’s Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr will drive a third team Focus RS on their first outing since February’s Swedish Rally, and Al Qassimi’s first gravel event since Rally Finland in August. His background is in the FIA Middle East Rally Championship and he won the Jordan Rally last year when it was a candidate WRC round. He is the only leading driver with previous competitive experience of these roads.

“I’ve competed here six or seven times but the desert stages on which we used to drive have been replaced by new roads,” said 36-year-old Al Qassimi. “This year about 40 per cent of the stages are different from 2007. The roads are so smooth it’s like driving on asphalt – only the brown colour tells you they are not. I won last year by only pushing at 50 per cent and that’s the pace at which I will start this year. If I feel good after the first couple of stages, then I will try to push harder. This is my first rally on Pirelli’s new gravel tyre so I will need some time to learn about it.”

Team News

* As part of the sport’s new regulations, BP Ford Abu Dhabi will have just one tyre pattern from Pirelli. The Scorpion gravel tyre will be available in hard compound only. Because anti-deflation mousse is also outlawed this year, the Scorpion includes reinforced sidewalls to offer increased protection against punctures Teams are not allowed to hand-carve additional cuts into the rubber and each car can carry two spares.

* Five other Focus RS cars will start the rally. Gigi Galli / Giovanni Bernacchini and Henning Solberg / Cato Menkerud will be nominated for points by the Stobart VK M-Sport team. Matthew Wilson / Scott Martin will drive a third Stobart car. Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team has nominated Federico Villagra / Jorge Pérez Companc and Luis Pérez Companc / José María Volta to score.

* BP Ford Abu Dhabi held a four-day test on gravel in northern Spain this week. Hirvonen drove for the first two days with Latvala taking over for the final two days of the test, which finished yesterday. The two drivers covered 680km, with the first three days in dry conditions before heavy rain on the last day. The test concentrated on development work with engine and suspension parts.

Rally Route

The rally is based at the Dead Sea, 50km south-west of Amman and at 427m below sea level, the lowest point on earth. The stages will run through historical and biblical sites around the Jordan Valley and Rumman forests, and all except one are fully or partially below sea level. World famous areas including the Baptism site of Jesus and Mount Nebo, where Moses looked over the Promised Land, will be part of the rally route. Each day comprises two identical loops of tests with some roads being used four times over two separate legs. The final leg is the longest and contains a sting in the tail with two passes over the twisty 41.45km Jordan River stage which runs through ‘no man’s land’ on the Jordan – Palestine border. Drivers tackle 22 stages covering 359.26km in a route of 983.44km.

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The Citroën C4 to compete below sea level

April 18th, 2008

For the first time in WRC history, the fifth round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship takes world class rallying to Jordan where Citroën has entered C4 WRCs for Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Martí. Two privately-entered C4s, run by PH-Sport with the support of technicians from Citroën Sport Technologies, will also make the trip for Conrad Rautenbach/David Senior and Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk.

After being a candidate event for some years, the Middle East fixture is one of the main new features of the 2008 calendar. Its compact route, which totals just 983.44km, is in perfect keeping with WRC norms and is divided into three legs, with 11 stages to be contested twice each for a total competitive distance of 359.26km.

The principal singularity of this event, which takes crews to the shores of the Dead Sea and valley of the Jordan River, is that much of it takes place below sea level.

“There are always unknowns whenever you contest a rally for the first time,” says Citroën Sport’s Technical Manager Xavier Mestelan-Pinon. “The last two new events, in Portugal and Ireland, went quite well for us, but I mustn’t forget Norway! Testing is not permitted in Jordan, so we tried to prepare for this rally using the information at hand, which was that the gravel stages are essentially wide smooth and drop to as low as 400 metres below sea level. We can also expect high temperatures and possibly sand storms. Based on all this, we have come up with a basic set-up which we will fine-tune following the observations of our crews after recce.”

“I have rarely turned up for the start of a WRC round with more experience of the event than most of my rivals,” observes Dani Sordo who was in Jordan to recce the 2007 event. “The stages tend to be fast and wide, with a surface that’s as hard as concrete but which shouldn’t cut up too much after the first loop. I think the pace will be quick but we will have to watch out for the top coating of loose gravel which will produce changes in grip. It will be unwise to stray off the ideal line, while going
off isn’t an option because of the deep ditches! We will aim for a podium finish.”

“We don’t know much about the Jordan Rally, so I will be on my guard a little bit,” predicts Sébastien Loeb. “It doesn’t appear to be too tough on the cars, but running first on the road will be a handicap. I am told there are similarities with Mexico, and the C4 WRC was competitive there, so that’s very encouraging. Our objective will be to win with a view to increasing our lead in the Drivers’ championship and enabling Citroën to stay in the fight for top spot in the Manufacturers’ standings. If Daniel and I can pull that off, it will be our 40th WRC win. That’s not something I’m particularly
obsessed about, but it would make a nice, round figure!”

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SWRT readied for sand, sea and salt in WRC-first

April 18th, 2008

For the first time in the history of the World Rally Championship, crews will travel to the Middle East for the fifth event of the 2008 season. The debutant Rally Jordan is set to be a gruelling challenge of hard-base sandy roads that sprawl through the region’s desert plains from the rally base alongside the Dead Sea.

Located just below the northern Jordan city of Amman, Rally HQ and the service park promise a spectacular welcome for crews. Based on the banks of the Dead Sea, it is the lowest point on earth at 408 metres below sea level. Most of the rally is run below sea level, making for a stark contrast to the altitude of the last two events in Mexico and Argentina. The roads that wind through the Jordan Valley reach as low as 400 metres below sea level, and the only altitude section in the Rumman forests rises to just over 1000 metres, past the biblical site of Mount Nebo.

The rally comprises 21 stages and 351 competitive kilometres of hard-packed sandy roads on which crews will use Pirelli’s hard compound Scorpion gravel tyre. The normally loose surface has been bonded and hard-packed over the last two years to create the rally’s stage route and provide crews with a very hard surface on which to compete. Whilst the first few cars to run will inevitably experience a loose covering of sand, surface deterioration shouldn’t be an issue, even as temperatures reach towards 40 degrees Celsius.

It does mean however that if crews run off line the surface will be far looser and grip reduced significantly. Whilst there is a lot of run-off in the barren desert landscape which may give crews the confidence to push harder in the knowledge there is more chance that mistakes will go relatively unpunished, off-road excursions may still prove costly with soft sand and interspersed rocky outcrops. The stages offer their own unique challenges in accurately judging distances and defining the roads amid the vast expanse of desert.

Just two weeks after Rally Jordan, crews will commence a flurry of European events with three rallies in five weeks, the hardest stint of the season. Jordan will be a crucial event for teams in setting the tone of their performance in this mid-year period, and so everyone will be looking to step their performance and consistency up a gear. Those who are strong in Jordan will carry more momentum into the European events.

The event starts with a ceremonial start on Thursday evening, and finishes at the King Hussein Bin Talal convention centre on the banks of the Dead Sea, shortly followed by a finish podium set against the spectacular backdrop of the body of water famed for being the most buoyant in the world due to its exceptionally high salt content. Twenty two stages take crews through 360 kilometres of competition.

Jordan is a barren landscape that, at less than half the size of Great Britain, is more than 80 per cent arid. It lies just east of the Mediterranean Sea, sandwiched between Israel, Syria and Saudi Arabia.

Entries
The Subaru World Rally Team have entered two Impreza WRC2007s for Rally Jordan. Petter Solberg / Phil Mills will drive car number five and Chris Atkinson / Stéphane Prévot will be in car number six. Petter and Phil conducted a recce of 18 of the stages in May last year, and it was on the Rally of Jordan in 1994 that Phil Mills scored his first international rallying win with Middle East champion Mohammed Bin Sulayem.

Team quotes
David Richards, Subaru World Rally Team Principal: “I have been very closely linked with motorsport in the Middle East since 1976 when I was first involved in organising the early rallies in the Gulf and then working with Saeed Al-Hajri who won the Middle East Rally Championship on three occasions for Prodrive. I built so many great friendships in the region and very much look forward to meeting everybody again in Jordan.

“It has been a long-held dream of mine that the World Rally Championship would finally come to the Middle East and I am particularly pleased that it is doing so in Jordan. It will be a totally different experience for the WRC teams but I am sure that with the support of Prince Feisal it will be extremely well organised and we can expect a wonderful Arabic welcome to the region.”

Paul Howarth, Subaru World Rally Team operations director: “Jordan is a new event so no drivers in the WRC have competitive experience of it which could prove to be a bit of a leveller amongst the younger drivers. Temperature will be a factor here as it’ll be the hottest round of the season so far so everyone will have an eye on cooling and brake temperature. The route is quite twisty but because of the way they have bonded the stages together there is a lot of grip on what would seem to be very loose surface. It’s a new event but we’ve done all our research: two years ago we studied the nature of the stages and, with a ban on testing there since, obtained the knowledge we will use now to develop a base setup for the event. Consistency here is key to carrying momentum into the following batch of three European events.”

Driver quotes
Petter Solberg: “I did the recce in Jordan last year and I was very happy to have the chance to look at the roads. It will be a new event for everyone so we are doing all we can now, using the notes from the recce to prepare as best we can and try and be in the best shape for the rally. It may be possible to do the rally well with new pace notes and no experience of the roads, but I’m just trying to do things 110 per cent, and if the recce gives us even a slight advantage, it was worth it. It’s a brand new event but we have the same mentality and approach to it as any other event, as we continue in the way that works best for us. The unseen roads are quite tricky, and there are a lot of crests. It’s quite wide, but it’s a little difficult to read the road surface and know just how much to push.”

Chris Atkinson: “I haven’t been to Jordan and don’t really know what to expect. I’ve heard the roads are in quite good condition, but it’s going to be difficult first time there having not done the recce last year. It’s very interesting to go to a country like that anyway as an experience, so I’m really looking forward to it. I’m going out a few days earlier to look around and see Petra, as it’s not every day we’ll come here. The fact that no-one has competed here before may even things up a little, but we know that the same guys will always be fast anywhere. At this part of the season it’s all about linking events to build momentum for the next few rounds.”

Between the rallies
After Rally Argentina, Stéphane Prévot flew straight home to his family to take his daughter on a long-promised trip to Disneyland Paris, amid his preparations for Jordan. Petter Solberg, Chris Atkinson and Phil Mills travelled to Cordoba for a two day shooting break, along with P-WRC Subaru competitor and multiple Asian shooting champion Nasser Al-Attiyah.

As the pace of the calendar rises, Solberg and Atkinson have been increasing their exercise programmes and training to improve their fitness in time for May and the toughest part of the season. Improved fitness will also help them with the extreme in-car temperatures of Jordan, Greece and Turkey.

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