Rally Zweden 2008

11-02-2008

Nog een beetje nagenietend van de fikse overwinning van gisteren in Zweden wilden we jullie de volgende beelden en persbericht niet onthouden, want dit was toch wel een zeer fraai weekend voor The Blue Oval. We zullen er misschien later in het jaar nog wel eens even aan terug denken. Al hopen we op diverse herhalingen van dit soort uitslagen, maar daarvoor is het misschien nog een beetje te vroeg in het nieuwe seizoen, maar dromen mag. We hebben in ieder geval het beste voor met onze mannen van Ford.

Mooie overwinning voor Ford Team.

Bron: M-Sport

10.2.2008 - Hirvonen second in Sweden and gained six points Championship lead.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team driver Jari-Matti Latvala made history by becoming the youngest driver to win a world rally in Sweden today. The 22-year-old Finn and co-driver Miikka Anttila claimed their maiden victory on the Swedish Rally in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were second and Ford secured a clean sweep of the podium places as Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini were third in a Stobart-entered Focus RS.

Latvala's victory on this second round of the FIA World Rally Championship eclipses the late Henri Toivonen's win on the 1980 RAC Rally in Britain when the Finn was 24 years old. The maximum points score moves reigning world champion BP Ford Abu Dhabi into a 10-point lead in the manufacturers' series. Hirvonen leads the drivers' standings by six points with Latvala tied for second.

Fittingly, as they returned to the team's service park at the end of the rally, Latvala and Anttila were greeted by fellow countryman and double world champion Marcus Grönholm, the man they replaced in the BP Ford Abu Dhabi line-up this season following his retirement. "This is an incredible day for Jari-Matti and one he will never forget," said Grönholm, winner of 30 world rallies. "He is part of rallying's new generation and he and Mikko have great futures to look forward to in the sport."

Unseasonably mild weather meant there was little snow and ice on the forest tracks for what is traditionally the championship's only pure winter event. Slush and water filled the rutted gravel roads as cars carved through the soft surface and organisers cancelled two speed tests due to the poor conditions. The weather meant studded winter tyres were far from the perfect option on the Focus RS cars but Pirelli's Sottozero rubber worked perfectly despite the inappropriate conditions.

Hirvonen had the worst of the conditions on the opening day but settled into second. He quickly realised it was not worth taking risks to chase Latvala and was happy to settle for the points that promoted him into the championship lead.

"Jari-Matti and I may be two young lads in the Ford team but we proved that we can still take a 1-2 finish and showed how strong the team is," he said. "I came here to win but Jari-Matti made it clear on Friday that he was the man of the rally so I had to settle for second. My consolation is that I've never led the championship before. I'm sure I will have more battles with Jari-Matti. I was frustrated I couldn't find a rhythm on Friday but then I eased my pace because I wanted to make sure of the points. I've always said that if I can't win this year, I must finish second and that's what I did."

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson reflected on a perfect rally. "This is a dream result and a special weekend. We're proud to have the youngest ever winner of a WRC event in our team. I knew Jari-Matti would win this season but it came sooner than I expected. Mikko delivered a textbook performance, the cars ran faultlessly and to score this result in such conditions is outstanding," he said.

Mark Deans, Ford of Europe's motorsport director, said: "This was a wonderful weekend for Ford. Three Focus RS cars on the podium and four in the top five emphasises the speed and strength of the car, the hallmarks which have taken Ford to the world title in the last two seasons."

News from our Rivals

Behind the BP Ford Abu Dhabi cars, Stobart's Gigi Galli (Ford) claimed his second career podium on only his second rally with the team. Petter Solberg (Subaru) took fourth while Andreas Mikkelsen (Ford) completed the Blue Oval's domination of the top positions with a career-best fifth. The Norwegian was involved in a fierce battle with Matthew Wilson (Ford) that ended when the Stobart driver was sidelined in the penultimate test with a throttle problem when 7.9sec ahead. Dani Sordo (Citroen) took sixth, despite a five-minute penalty after his team changed the car's engine following Rallye Monte Carlo. Henning Solberg (Ford) was fastest on all five stages today.

Next round

Round three is the first pure gravel rally of the season and the first of three consecutive events outside Europe. Rally Mexico is based in León on 28 February - 2 March.

Final positions
1. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 46min 41.2sec
2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 47min 39.5sec
3. G Galli/G Bernacchini ITA Ford Focus RS 2hr 49min 04.4sec
4. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 2hr 49min 40.6sec
5. A Mikkelsen/O Floene NOR Ford Focus RS 2hr 52min 27.2sec
6. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 2hr 53min 54.3sec
7. T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FIN Suzuki SX4 2hr 57min 16.5sec
8. J Hanninen/M Markkula FIN Mitsubishi Lancer 2hr 59min 08.7sec
9. M Østberg/O Unnerud NOR Subaru Impreza 3hr 00min 09.7sec
10 J Ketomaa/M Teiskonen FIN Subaru Impreza 3hr 00min 31.9sec

Update : 10-02-2008 14:00 uur.

Eerste overwinning voor Latvala:

Latvala, aged just 22, becomes the youngest driver ever to win a WRC rally, a record previously held by Finnish rally legend Henri Toivonen, who died in 1986.

At the finish an emotional Latvala danced on the roof of his Focus WRC: It’s a super feeling! It’s almost unbelievable!” said Latvala. “Henri [Toivonen] was one of my idols and secretly I’ve always wanted to beat his record as the youngest winner.

"The rally started so well from the first stage. We’ve made no mistakes, the car has been absolutely perfect and I’ve been able to control the speed - I’m really happy about that. I feel very comfortable now, this result has given me a lot of self confidence and I’m really looking forward to Mexico," he added.

Later meer nieuwtjes over deze Rally

09-02-2008 - Stand na dag 2:

GALLI SLIDES INTO PODIUM SPOT

A day of mixed fortunes for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team has left both its blue and green liveried cars inside the top-five at this weekend’s Uddeholm Swedish Rally, round two of the FIA World Rally Championship.

Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini are poised for the team’s first podium in 2008 as they sit comfortably in third just 46.1 seconds off second placed BP Ford Abu Dhabi driver Mikko Hirvonen after a day of faultless competition by the Italian pair.

Team-mates Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin advanced two spots on their overnight position to impress in fifth position. Consistency and an increased pace over the day rewarded the young Briton as he sets up for his best ever snow-rally result.

Stobart’s second nominated point scoring crew Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud were not so fortunate however as their super run came to an end on today’s third stage when they ran into a safety barrier after getting too sideways on a fast left-hand corner. As a result the pair stopped just two kilometres from the end of the stage with extensive damage to the front end of their Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07.

The Norwegian was on a flyer and in a big fight for second place before the incident which has seen an unfortunate end to what is essentially his ‘home’ event. Solberg is due to restart tomorrow under SupeRally regulations with healthy manufacturer points still on offer.

Over 100 competitive kilometres took crews over five special stages today which were split into two identical loops by a remote service in the town of Hagfors. Today also played host to the longest stage of the event Vagásen at 24.63 kilometres.

Unlike yesterday day 2 stages were held at a far lower altitude and as a result snow and ice levels were down with surprisingly mild temperatures. So bad were conditions stage 12 was cancelled by organisers as it became almost 100 percent gravel.

Galli’s display of consistency has rewarded him with an extremely likely chance of stepping onto a WRC podium for the first time with his new Stobart team. Still very much familiarising himself with the car and team, it will be a fine achievement if the Italian can maintain his position to the finish podium tomorrow afternoon.

Twenty-one-year-old Wilson won a fierce battle with Ford driver Andreas Mikkelsen today as the pair resume proceedings tomorrow with just 10.5 seconds between them. Despite being slightly un-eased by patches of exposed gravel and mud on the stages Britain’s only full-time WRC contender rose to the challenge and now has just six stages between him and his first points result of the year.

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Gigi Galli said:
“We are very pleased with the speed here. After Henning went off things changed and we tried to just keep our position. Malcolm [Wilson] advised me to keep the pace under control and to keep the position. It is important for us to keep this position on the podium so there will be three Fords on the podium tomorrow. The car feels really good and is comfortable in the stages. It is good to come back with the speed on snow after being away for such a long break.”

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Henning Solberg said:
“I am very disappointed with what has happened today we just made a small mistake and got caught out on the exit of a fast corner. I know the Stobart mechanics will work hard tonight to repair the car for tomorrow and hopefully we can still collect some points. This was the event that I needed to try hard on and it’s a shame this has happened especially for all the Norwegian fans who have come to watch.”

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Matthew Wilson said:
“Andreas [Mikkelsen] has been pushing me very hard today and we lost some time to him this morning but we have managed it well and we made up the pace a bit this afternoon to keep ahead of him. It’s been great to get up into fifth and enjoy ourselves on some difficult stages. We have settled into a really good pace here and hopefully we can continue this way to the end of the rally.”

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Principal Malcolm Wilson said:
“It has been another great day as the Stobart team still remain on the podium with Gigi [Galli] in third. It hasn’t been the best day for Henning [Solberg] as this event means a lot to him and I know he is very disappointed. Hopefully we can get him back out tomorrow as it means quite a few more points for the team. Matthew [Wilson] has had a good day also and is now up to fifth and is coping well with probably the most difficult Swedish Rally conditions we have seen in a while.”

Leaderboard after Day 2
1. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2h03m53.7sec
2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS +49.8s
3. G Galli/G Bernacchini I Ford Focus RS +1m35.9s
4. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza +2m40.9s
5. M Wilson/S Martin GB Ford Focus RS +4m37.6s
6. A Mikkelsen/O Floene N Ford Focus RS +4m48.1s
7. D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen C4 +6m51.9s
8. T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FIN Suzuki SX4 +8m49.3s
9. J Hānninen/M Markkula FIN Mitsubishi Lancer +8m52.7s
10. J Ketomaa/M Teiskonen FIN Subaru Impreza +10m00.8s
18. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS +16m02.7s
25. P. v. Merksteijn Ford Focus RS  + 17m52s

Bron: Stobart Motorsport

Al Qassimi winner of Colin's Crest Award

2008-02-09

Published GMT 15.45 | Khalid Al Qassimi won the first Colin´s Crest Award with a jump of 36 meters over the famous Colin´s crest at Vargåsen special stage.

Al Qassimi (UAE) was just ahead (0,9 meters) of the dutch Peter van Marksteijn and Al Qassimis jump was one and a half meters longer than the favorite, the flying finn, Mikko Hirvonen.
The award will be given to Al Qassimi at the official price giving cermony at Färjestadtravet on Sunday afternoon.

Bron: www.swerally.se
 

De stand na dag 1 in Zweden was voor ons wel een hele verrassende eindstand....

Stobart sweep up Swedish scoreboard:

After one complete day of the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, round two of the FIA World Rally Championship, all three Stobart VK M-Sport Ford crews nestle in point scoring positions with Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud leading the way on a podium spot in third. Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini follow close behind their team-mates in fourth place while Brits Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin run in seventh after a great day of consistent driving.

With both nominated point scoring drivers inside the top-four it has been a great start for the team as they continue to back-up the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team who currently occupy the top two places on the leaderboard with former Stobart ace Jari-Matti Latvala leading the way. Tomorrow morning will therefore see four Ford Focus RS WRC07 cars lead the pack after a successful opening day for the manufacturer.

Today offered crews three special stages run twice over before heading back to Karlstad Rally Village for a final blast over the 1.9 kilometre super special. The stages were held to the north west of Rally HQ around the town of Sunne which played host to the first of two different remote services for this event. The remote service gave crews an opportunity to attach brand new Pirelli Sottozero tyres which managed to hold most of their 380 tungsten-tipped studs despite large amounts of exposed gravel due to lack of snow.

This morning’s loop began with reasonable conditions but still stood tricky, catching out many top crews including current World Champion Sèbastien Loeb. The afternoon set of stages painted a different picture as the icy roads turned into gravel with over 60 cars passing through the morning tests exposing large amounts of earth.

Solberg’s efforts today have been nothing short of superb as he posted four top-three stage times to finish just 8.1 seconds from second placed overall driver Mikko Hirvonen. The Norwegian’s outset from the start of this event has been to finish on the podium and so far things are on-track for the Stobart driver.

Italian superstar Galli has begun the Swedish Rally by exhibiting the form he has shown in the past to lie just 5.7 seconds behind his team-mate. To top off a super day Galli managed to win his first ever stage with the Stobart team by coming home fastest over the Karlstad Super Special again in front of a sell-out crowd. The 35-year-old has been taking a cautious approach as he continues to learn about the Focus RS and will be exciting to watch as the event comes to a close over the next two days.

For Wilson today has been a great continuation from last year where he performed exceptionally well on the final three events of the season. The newly turned 21-year-old set a multitude of top-ten fastest stage times including a sixth fastest on Mangen 1. The only real problem today was with an intercom halfway through stage 3 but after a quick swap with his co-driver the problem was temporarily rectified until it could be completely restored during mid-day service.

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Gigi Galli said:
“I am extremely happy with everything today we have had a good run and the Pirelli tyres have coped well as there has been a lot of gravel in some stages. This is only my second rally in the car and we must be happy with our performance. I have made no mistakes today except one small slide where we lost about five seconds. The car is feeling really good and tomorrow’s stages we did last year so hopefully we can maintain the pace.”

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Henning Solberg said:
“It’s been a good day for us and I’m happy with this position. The gap to second is close and I’d like to be able to close it tomorrow. It’s no secret I have been pushing hard today maybe a little too hard in places and we have had a few slides because of this. We made a very big jump on stage 6 it was incredible and very exciting inside the car. Tomorrow we will keep pushing for sure.”

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Matthew Wilson said:
“Seventh is a great position to be in after day 1 and our performance today has been really positive. We started off well on the first stage this morning which gave me more confidence for the rest of today. The car has felt good with no problems at all and we have maintained a constant safe pace all day. I’m happy to be safely inside the points.”

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Principal Malcolm Wilson said:
“Today has been another fantastic day for the Stobart team with both nominated point scoring drivers in third and fourth positions providing a strong back-up to the BP Ford Abu Dhabi team. Matthew’s excellent position today has topped this off and we now have all three Stobart cars in the top-seven. All cars have run faultlessly and Henning [Solberg] and Gigi’s [Galli] pace has been impressive as you can see from the times. Hopefully they can maintain this strong position for the team tomorrow. ”

Leaderboard after Day 1
1. J-M Latvala/M AnttilaFIN Ford Focus RS 1h03m33.3sec
2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS +48.2s
3. H Solberg/C Menkerud N Ford Focus RS +56.3s
4. G Galli/G BernacchiniI Ford Focus RS +1m02.0s
5. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza +1m45.2s
6. M Ostberg/O Unnerud N Subaru Impreza +2m15.1s
7. M Wilson/S Martin GB Ford Focus RS +2m59.6s
8. T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FINSuzuki SX4 +3m21.6s
9. A Mikkelsen/O Floene N Ford Focus RS +4m05.8s
10. P Sandell/E AxelssonSWE Peugeot 207 +5m14.6s

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