A clean track

It's a pleasure to follow Sebastien Loeb's driving on the most authentic tarmac roads in Spain. He takes so perfectly advantage of the road and doesn't go through the ditches.

Loeb doesn't have to cut the corners anymore because his trust in the car is so solid. Compared to cutters Loeb takes the corner more slowly but he comes out of them the fastest of all.

That's how the differences are born.

A clean tarmac is a great champion's label.

Jari-Matti Latvala has progressed remarkably on tarmac, but the road behind him is still left with stones and trash when Ford's aggressive Finn cuts the corners with a grin on his face.

Latvala's best pleasure was ruined by the last stage on the dark dusting road.

The insane stage ruined the leading position Latvala had so brilliantly built up and he became the chaser on tarmac. As a chaser you can't put pressure on Loeb. The only advantage is that you get to drive right after Loeb when the road is cleanest.

Kimi Räikkönen didn't this time either experience the season's best tarmac roads. They fixed the car late in the night but Räikkönen decided not to continue.

It pretty much looks like Räikkönen's rally career stops this season. At least he isn't looking for more experience at the moment.

Räikkönen shares premises with Petter Solberg. Even Solberg's rally ended short. Like Räikkönen, Solberg's WRC-rallies seem to come to an end also.

I heard that the negotiations about Solberg going to Volkswagen have ended. Solberg outpriced himself from those markets. I doubt he is interested anymore to continue next year with his own private team, since he has had to pay for the last two rallies from his own pockets.

Turun Sanomat, Salou

HEIKKI KULTA

Courtesy: Nicole

Petter Solberg and Kimi Räikkönen finish in the points

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson finished in fifth place in Rally Finland, the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. This result has helped them to consolidate their fifth place in the Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ ratings. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström confirmed their recent improvement in form with a ninth-place finish on home turf after a very promising drive.

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson were soon among the quickest and took fifth place in the overall classification in the short first leg on Thursday afternoon. The Petter Solberg World Rally Team crew got past Jari Ketomaa and went into fourth behind Loeb, Ogier and Latvala during the long day’s stages in Jyväskylä and Lahti. The Norwegian was always on the lookout to find ways and means of improving his performance till the finish, and he saw the flag in fifth place overall.

“I pushed throughout the whole rally,” said Solberg at the finish. “We tried to improve the car by changing the setup during the weekend, but we were not able to match the pace of the leaders. The result’s rather frustrating. Now, we’re going to concentrate on the next event in Germany on tarmac.”

Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström, who already showed a promising turn of speed in the previous rally in Greece, confirmed their progress in Finland. The ICE1 Racing driver started his third Rally Finland at a searing pace only a second per kilometre off the reference time, and finished the first leg in thirteenth place. He lost precious time due to a minor error on Friday morning. On the way back to Jyväskylä he got back into the rhythm and moved up to twelfth. Iceman’s confidence was now at full boost, and he upped the pace even further in the home stretch by overtaking his nearest rivals and finished in ninth place.

“These roads are as quick and as difficult as ever,” underlined the Finnish driver. But we still managed to set good times. I’d like to thank the many spectators who cheered us on during the weekend. We were able to maintain a good pace throughout the whole rally despite a few minor mistakes. It’s encouraging for the rest of the season.”

With both Citroën DS3 WRCs at the finish, Benoit Nogier, the Citroën Racing Technologies team manager, was pretty satisfied with the team’s overall performance in Rally Finland: “Kimi’s made a lot of progress since last season. He’s showing promising steadiness and he’s on the right track. Above all, he’s now getting used to finishing the rallies in the points. It’s both satisfying and very encouraging. Petter Solberg’s rally is more disappointing as he lacked speed. We’ll have to analyze what happened to find out why we were slower than the front-runners. He’ll have the right equipment to shine on tarmac in Germany.”

Source: Citroën WRC

Solberg and Räikkönen ready for Rally Finland

Citroën Racing Technologies will provide two Citroën DS3 WRCs for Norwegian Petter Solberg and Finn Kimi Räikkönen for the Neste Oil Rally Finland, the eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The two Scandinavians will be among the crowd’s favourites in what is one of the most famous events in the WRC.

Petter Solberg, currently in the top 5 in the Drivers’ World Championship title chase, will be one of the most experienced drivers at the start of this event. In 169 WRC outings it will be his thirteenth outing in Rally Finland. It is also the rally that Kimi Räikkönen knows best as he has competed in the last two events in 2009-10.

The two drivers each spent two days at the wheel of the Citroën DS3 WRC on terrain similar to that of Rally Finland to prepare for this round. “We worked in similar conditions to those of a works team,” said Benoit Nogier, the Citroën Racing Technologies team principal. “There was a combination of humps and wide, quick sections. The roads were comparable to the ones we’ll race on next week.”

“Our drivers were a bit worried about how the car would handle at very high speed. This test session has reassured them about the balance of the DS3 R3. Petter Solberg was very happy with our setup. We did a good job to help him start Rally Finland as a potential victory contender. The fact that he’s got to grips with the car means that he can tackle this rally in a confident frame of mind.”

Kimi Räikkönen will start his long Finnish week on Sunday 24th July with the Red Bull Road Show in Helsinki with Sébastien Loeb.

“Kimi loves his country and his rally,” insisted Benoît Nogier. “He really enjoyed his two-day test and he got the car to handle to his liking. He has a logical approach. He was his usual self, did not get excited and kept his unflappable calm. The road-show will help him to immerse himself in the ambiance of the rally. We hope he’ll drive a consistent race and close the gap to the front-runners.”

Petter Solberg and Chris Patterson are currently lying fifth in the world championship with 73 points. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindström are eighth with 24 points from four events. In the manufacturers’ classification the Petter Solberg World Rally Team is fourth in front of ICE1 Racing in fifth place.

Source: Citroën

Solberg and Räikkönen test DS3 WRC

The 2003 World Rally champion Petter Solberg and 2007 Formula One champion Kimi Räikkönen have both finally got to test the Citroen DS3 WRC that they will use this year – with mixed verdicts.

Solberg drove the car for around 250 kilometres in Sweden on Saturday, while Räikkönen covered a slightly shorter distance on Sunday. While Solberg said that the car suited him, he also had to battle with understeer throughout most of the day.

“There was a lot of understeer that we had to try to eliminate and we almost succeeded,” said the Norwegian. “But I’d like to try and beat Sebastien Loeb. We’ve got to try.”

Räikkönen enjoyed his first taste of the DS3 and is also aiming to up his game in 2011, according to co-driver Kaj Lindstrom, who accompanied ‘the iceman’ on his Swedish test. “We’re about to start our second season, which means that we have to improve in every area,” said Lindstrom. “In the second year, the mistakes get fewer and it’s easier to have good results. But we’ve still got to be very careful on each event.”

Räikkönen has been tipped for a top-six finish in Sweden next week by his team manager, Benoit Nogier.

Source: MaxRally
Courtesy: sleenster

Citroën Racing enters the third dimension!

The entry of the DS3 WRC in the 2011 World Rally Championship will open a new chapter in the history of the French make. The Citroën Total World Rally Team's aim is win its seventh Manufacturer's World Title, and to achieve this it has entered two crews: Sébastien Loeb-Daniel Elena, gunning for their eighth drivers' world title on the trot, and Sébastien Ogier-Julien Ingrassia who have been promoted to the works outfit full time after scoring two victories in 2010.

Three more Citroën DS3 WRCs will be driven by privateers: Petter Solberg, Kimi Räikkönen and Peter van Merksteijn. Citroën Racing, which has been involved in top-level world rallying for ten years, is about to give its third World Rally car its debut. After the Xsara and the C4, which racked up three world titles each, the DS3 WRC will make its bow on the world stage in the Swedish Rally (10-13 February). The team directed by Olivier Quesnel has fixed itself an aim as simple as it is ambitious for this key season that represents a turning point in the make's history - retain its Manufacturers' and Drivers' titles!

The Citroën DS3 WRC is a stunning synthesis of Creative Technology that complies with the new regulations drawn up by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The most visible change is its size. The DS3 WRC is more compact than the C4, which gives it much more spectacular behaviour. The revolution continues under the bonnet as the car is powered by a 1.6-litre turbocharged direct injection 4-cylinder engine designed in-house by Citroën Racing. It is coupled to 4-wheel drive transmission with a manually controlled sequential gearbox and with a constant power sharing system between the front and rear axles.

The Citroën DS3 WRC was unveiled at last year's Paris Motor Show, and it has since undergone multiple test sessions to be ready for a season consisting of thirteen rallies, each one with its own specific characteristics, stretched over a 9-month period. From the polar chill of Sweden to the heat of the Jordanian desert, the World Rally Championship is a huge challenge for men and machines. The technical team managed by Xavier Mestelan-Pinon has reproduced the most extreme conditions during the sessions aimed at testing the reliability of the car and developing its performance.

The Citroën Total World Rally Team that represents the official colours of the make has entered two DS3 WRCs for crews that come from its own nursery, which today consists of the 'Citroën Racing Trophies' organized all over Europe.

Total continues its long-standing partnership with Citroën as title sponsor of the works team. The DS3 WRCs will also carry the famous Red Bull colours as the company pursues an involvement that began in 2008. Three brands will be back among Citroën's partners, Michelin which will supply tyres for the DS3 WRCs, as well as Facom and Alcon.

Three more DS3 WRCs run by Citroën Racing Technologies will be entered for private crews in 2011. Petter Solberg-Chris Patterson will start all thirteen rounds, Kimi Räikkönen-Kaj Lindström will take part in ten rallies while Peter van Merksteijn-Eddy Chevaillier will begin their season at the Portuguese Rally."

Source: kimiraikkonen.com
Courtesy: Acropolis

Kimi Räikkönen and Petter Solberg have the priority for Olivier Quesnel

Citroen’s motorsport boss Olivier Quesnel said that Kimi Raikkonen and Petter Solberg will have the priority to drive for the Citroen « B » team in 2011.

Olivier Quesnel told web site www.wrc.com that he is confident to run four DS3s in the inaugural round of the 2011 WRC season, the Rally Sweden in February.

Team Citroen Racing revealed the identity of its works team,with Sebastien Ogier joigning Sebastien Loeb, but nothing has been finalised yet concerning the « B » team.

"We will have two teams next year but I can’t tell you who will be in the second team because we need to secure the budget first," said Olivier Quesnel.

"We are in hot demand but we would prefer to run drivers who have a budget and who are also very fast. We would be very pleased to run Kimi and Petter and I think they would be our priority, but in the end we will see."

Former Citroen driver Dani Sordo looks closer to a ride with Mini, as he is performing some tests aboard the Countryman this week in Sardegna.

Source: Auto123

Solberg flies in Rallye de France Shakedown

Norway's Petter Solberg went fastest in a mixed-up shakedown, but the real action gets underway tomorrow morning at 0843 with the first of 20 stages

Former World Champion Petter Solberg has claimed fastest time in the shakedown for the all-new Rallye de France, over a short asphalt stage running around the service area. The Norwegian set a best time of 1m53.4s in his privately-run Citroën C4 WRC, under cloudy skies and damp conditions. Temperatures were cool at around 11 degrees centigrade.

The stage was not especially representative of the conditions that the competitors will face over the next three days, and the times were taken by hand as the specialised equipment had already left for the first stage.

This led to quite a few surprises on the time sheets - but not too much should be read into them. World Touring Car Championship star Yvan Muller was the third-quickest driver on the shakedown, driving Solberg’s old 2006-specification Citroën Xsara WRC.

“My new team mate is not bad at all, is he?” joked Solberg. “From our point of view everything was really good, but the rally is a different thing. We came very close to winning on the last round in Japan, so we’re going to be pushing hard.”

The second-quickest car on the shakedown was Hungarian privateer Frigyes Turan in a Peugeot 307 WRC, while the Ford Fiesta Super 2000 of Henning Solberg was fourth-fastest behind Muller.

Sebastien Loeb, gunning for his seventh consecutive World Championship on home territory in Alsace, could only manage sixth-fastest on the shakedown in his factory Citroen C4 WRC.

“I think everyone has a lot of pressure but there’s a bit more pressure than usual,” said Loeb. “But in the end I prefer just to concentrate on the rally. If the weather is like this that it could be very slippery, so I think it will be tricky.”

Former Grand Prix champion Kimi Räikkönen was ninth-fastest, setting a time just 0.7 seconds slower than Loeb. The rally gets underway at 1830 with a ceremonial start in Strasbourg.

Shakedown times:

1-Petter 1.53,4
2-Turan 1.57,7
3-Yvan 1.58,8
4-Loeb 2.02,2
5-Ogier 2.02,2
6-Sordo 2.02,7
7-Räikkönen 2.02,9
8-Latvala 2.03,6
9-Villagra 2.05,2
10-Hirvonen 2.06,4
11-Wilson 2.14,2

Source: WRC

Friday wrap: Solberg battles illness to lead in Japan

Petter Solberg has not won a round of the world championship since Rally GB in 2005 but all that could be about to change after the Norwegian completed the opening day of Rally Japan with a lead of almost 10 seconds in his privately-run Citroen C4 WRC.

While that might not represent a huge advantage, Solberg has battled a fever throughout the day, which he admits has masked some of his pace.

“It has not been easy at all today,” said Solberg. “I am feeling a lot better than I was but it’s very strange when you don’t feel okay and don’t have the energy you need. Now I need a good night’s sleep to sweat out the last bit [of fever]. The car is working very well and we have had a good pace and a good performance today so I am happy. I know there is more to come from me.”

Mikko Hirvonen completed the opening loop of three stages today in fourth overall but an upturn in pace in the afternoon has enabled the factory Ford Focus driver to leap to second, 9.4s behind Solberg, courtesy of two stage wins.

“It’s worked really for us today,” said Finn Hirvonen. “I didn’t want to go too fast too early so I’ve been building up my speed slowly and it’s starting to be pretty good. We have to see what we can do tomorrow. I didn’t change anything at midday service, I just went for it because the others were doing that too.”

Sebastien Ogier is third on his first Rally Japan. He is also the leading works Citroen driver after team-mate and title leader Sebastien Loeb lost significant ground cleaning the road of the loose surface gravel on Friday morning.

Ogier, who held the overnight lead after going quickest on both of Thursday evening’s superspecial stages, said: “To be racing to be in the lead is very good for my first visit to Japan. The road has been very bad this afternoon so it has not been easy. For this reason I am very happy. The car has been perfect but we made some changes to the set-up to adapt it for the rougher stages in the afternoon.”

Loeb, meanwhile, suffered a broken front damper to add to the delay he suffered running first on the road. His road position remained a hindrance for the afternoon tests due to the ruts that had formed following the first pass of the three gravel stages.

Jari-Matti Latvala, who is fourth in the second works Focus, reported making two small mistakes on stage seven. “I just got confused with my notes on a few occasions and ended up braking too early,” he said after completing day one 15.4s off the overall lead.

Dani Sordo completes the top five in his Citroen Junior Team C4 but was left to bemoan a gearbox glitch that struck during the afternoon.

Henning Solberg is seventh with Stobart M-Sport team-mate Matthew Wilson completing the top eight. Federico Villagra is ninth in his Focus, 16.6s clear of ex-Formula One world champion Kimi Räikkönen, who spent the day adapting to the challenging gravel roads around host city Sapporo.


Source: WRC

Sebastien Loeb wins Rally Bulgaria!

Citroen C4 WRC driver Sebastien Loeb sealed victory on Rally Bulgaria today, round seven of the 2010 World Rally Championship, to extend his lead in the FIA Drivers' standings and head a record breaking formation finish for the French manufacturer.

Loeb, the defending and six-time World Champion, led the rally from beginning to end and finished 29.5sec ahead of his team-mate Dani Sordo who was second in another C4 WRC.

After a tense final day battle for second, Citroen privateer Petter Solberg had to settle for third, 6.8sec behind Sordo. Sebastien Ogier brought his C4 WRC home in fourth place to complete a 1-2-3-4 for Citroen - the best world championship finish for a manufacturer since Toyota scored a similar result on the 1993 Safari Rally.

Today's win was the 58th at World Championship level for Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena and gives him a total of 151 points in the drivers' championship. Sebastien Ogier is second in the series on a total of 100, while Ford team-leader Mikko Hirvonen is third with 86.

Overall:
Source: WRC

Petter fastest in Rally Bulgaria Shakedown

Citroen privateer Petter Solberg got his partnership with new co-driver Chris Patterson off to a perfect start earlier today by setting the fastest time at the pre-event shakedown for Rally Bulgaria.

The four hour test - a prelude to this weekend's rally - took place on a 2.65km asphalt road from Momin Prohod to Gorna Vassiitsa Village, 9km from the main Service Park in Dolna Banya. After overnight rain, conditions were dry and cloudy throughout, with a temperature peaking at 12 degrees Celsius.

"Not bad, eh?" said Petter after completing his sixth and final run in a session-winning time of 1m 39.4s. "The car felt good and I'm feeling confident about the partnership inside the car too. The shakedown road wasn't exactly like the roads we saw on the recce - it's a bit more slippery - but the car set-up worked well."

Fellow Citroen C4 WRC driver Dani Sordo was closest to Solberg's time, stopping the clock four-tenths slower, while Citroen Junior team driver Sebastien Ogier, also in a C4, rounded off the top three times with a 1m 39.9s.

Former Formula One champion and WRC newcomer Kimi Raikkonen underlined his skill on asphalt by sharing the fourth fastest time - 1m 40.5s - with six times World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb.

"He's more comfortable on the tarmac, that's for sure," commented Raikkonen's co-driver Kaj Lindstrom. "There was a delay at the start before our first run, so we lost all the heat from the tyres, but things got better from there. He went well at our pre-event test and we've done a good time here. I'm excited about this rally..."

"He is certainly very fast on tarmac," acknowledged Loeb. "I think the most difficult part for him will be to be fast on the first loop - with only two passes on the recce. But his first pass today was okay, so we'll see tomorrow. It's certainly going to be interesting. Asked whether he thought the Finn could be a serious threat this weekend, Loeb said: 'I hope not."

Rally Bulgaria gets underway on Friday (9 July) at 0900hrs when crews leave the Service Park for four all-asphalt stages in the Rila mountains.

Here are the Shakedown times of the leading WRC drivers:

1. P. SOLBERG. Citroen C4 WRC. 1:39.4
2. SORDO. Citroen C4 WRC. 1:39.8
3. OGIER. Citroen C4 WRC. 1:39.9
=4. LOEB. Citroen C4 WRC. 1:40.5
=4. RAIKKONEN. Citroen C4 WRC. 1:40.5
6. HIRVONEN. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 1:41.3
7. LATVALA. Ford Focus RS WRC 09. 1:42.2
=8. P-G ANDERSSON. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 1:42.6
=8. WILSON. Ford Focus RS WRC 08. 1:42.6

Source: WRC

Rally of Turkey 2010: SS9 SSS Istanbul

Times:

1.S. LOEB 1:55.9
2.S. OGIER 1:56.3 +0.4
3.P. SOLBERG 1:56.5 +0.2
4.J. LATVALA 1:57.7 +1.2
5.K. RAIKKONEN 1:58.9 +1.2
6.D. SORDO 1:59.0 +0.1
7.M. HIRVONEN 1:59.3 +0.3
8.M. WILSON 2:03.3 +4.0
9.F. VILLAGRA 2:05.4+2.1
10.K. ABBRING 2:06.1 +0.7

Source: WRC - YouTube