Inside Rally

Gareth Roberts, who was killed competing on the Targa Florio Rally in Sicily this morning, was an extremely talented co-driver and popular member of the FIA World Rally Championship community.

Along with his driver Craig Breen, Gareth was contesting the Super 2000 World Rally Championship this season. After three rounds they were leading by six points following their victory on the opening event of the year in Monte Carlo.

In addition to their SWRC campaign, Breen and Roberts were three events into their programme in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Their participation on the Targa Florio Rally with HRT Motorsport has been added to their schedule to provide an additional opportunity to demonstrate their considerable talents in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000.

After seven stages in Sicily they were in sixth position overall having set a succession of impressive stage times on an event they were competing on for the first time. The event was cancelled following the crash as a mark of respect to Roberts.

Gareth, who was 24 and from Wales, trained as an electrician. He began competing in 2004 and achieved considerable success in the one-make Fiesta SportTrophy series. He formed his formidable partnership with Breen for the start of the 2009 season, which included the pair winning the inaugural FIA WRC Academy Cup in 2011.

Breen, who escaped injury in the crash that claimed his co-driver’s life, recently described Roberts as a “magician”. He paid the following tribute to Roberts after winning the WRC Academy title on Wales Rally GB last November.

“He’s kept my feet on the ground this weekend, which is not an easy job. Having to leave service for the last three stages knowing there was no possibility other than to win them all was very difficult. But he’s really kept me on the straight and narrow so it’s all credit to him. He’s the littlest Welsh wizard but the best of them for sure.”

On behalf of Insiderally we give our condolences to Craig, and Gareth’s Family, Friends and Fans. A great young talent, a big loss to the Sport.

To mark New Zealand’s return to the FIA World Rally Championship, WRC.com caught up with the country’s top rally driver, Hayden Paddon. This is part one of an exclusive Q&A on WRC.com with the Super 2000 WRC title chaser.

Photo:D.Darrall

How have you prepared for Brother Rally New Zealand and how ready are you? “As we have not done an event in the WRC since Portugal, the gap has not been so ideal. We did do the Otago Classic Rally in a BDA Escort a few weeks ago, which was a lot of fun, but time has been spent working hard on funding. Our Skoda has just arrived to NZ and we will have a small test, the SWRC/PWRC test near Huntly south of Auckland, this Sunday to get some time behind the wheel. We do not have the budget for a lot of testing, so I have been studying a lot of onboard footage from Portugal as we are still trying to find a good balance with the car set-up.”

With no championship leader Craig Breen in New Zealand you’ve got a great chance to move to the top of the standings. What would this mean to you on home soil and how much extra pressure does this put on your shoulders? “Yes strong points here would put us in a good position in the championship, but it does not really add any pressure as we are too early in the season yet. Our only focus for this event will be to win SWRC and get a top 10 overall finish.”

Given your knowledge of the stages do you consider yourself to be the clear favourite or do you expect a close fight with your rivals? “It is nice to being doing an event for a change where I know the roads well, and looking forward to driving a great car on the best rallying roads in the world. There will be a lot of competition, particularly from P-G Andersson, who showed in the APRC round in Whangarei earlier this year that he is quick on these roads.”

Sebastien Ogier has been a regular point-scorer in his S2000 Skoda this season. How much of a target are overall points for you in New Zealand? “It is a blow for us that Ogier is not competing here as it would have been good to challenge him on our home turf. While the SWRC is the main priority, it is also very important that we can challenge Sebastien.”

What would winning the SWRC in New Zealand mean to you and how important would it be in your efforts to raise enough backing to complete the season? “Nothing beats winning at home, especially as we will have a lot of support this year and we have some great local companies such as ENZED, PlaceMakers and Giltrap Group supporting us. A good result here would also help our efforts to raise the remaining funds for 2012.”

It’s winter in New Zealand right now. What kind of weather do you expect on the rally? “The weather will play a part in this rally. At this time of year, we could have three fine days of weather, or if it turns bad, it could be a very wet muddy rally. This could be really interesting as Michelin have nominated the hard compound tyre. Wet conditions for the rally would be good as it would close the gap between the WRC and Super 2000 cars, but either way it will be good.”

A great deal is said about the cambered roads in New Zealand. Briefly, how difficult are the stages and what’s the best way to master them? “Each day of the rally is quite unique. The day one stages have a lot less camber but, if wet, there are also a lot of grip level changes. Day two north of Auckland are the best roads in the world and do have a lot of camber, and often you are jumping between corners. On these roads you cannot afford to get out of the camber, but also straight lines and carrying corner speed with the camber is key. Any sliding you cannot use the full effect of the camber and you loose a lot of speed. But generally they’re really smooth and fast flowing roads that are a joy to drive on.”

We are used to the stages around Raglan taking place on Sunday morning rather than Friday morning. How will this change your approach? “Friday will be the toughest day of the rally. Eight long stages, 200 kilometres of stages and only one remote service in between. If the conditions are unsettled, then tyres will play a big role, but the Whaanga Coast stage has been so pivotal to deciding the outcome of the rally in the past, I don’t think it will be any different despite being on the first day rather than the last. We have a plan for the whole rally though and think a lot of time can be gained on Saturday’s stages, which I know well. I have won the International Rally of Whangarei twice, which uses many of Saturday’s WRC stages.”

Credit: WRC.com/NewZealand WRT

Sebastien Loeb will renew his rivalry with former FIA World Rally Championship sparring partner Marcus Gronholm when he makes his X Games debut in Los Angeles later this month.

Loeb, currently chasing his ninth WRC title with the factory Citroen team, will drive a 545bhp Citroen DS3 XL in the Global Rallycross Championship event, where freestyle motocross star Travis Pastrana will also be in action.

French legend Loeb’s participation in the X Games actually dates back to 2008 when Citroen backer Red Bull invited him to go up against Pastrana, another of the energy drink maker’s athletes, who has tackled selected WRC events in the past.

“I love racing and I’m always interested in trying out new categories,” said the 38-year-old French legend. “A week after Rally New Zealand has finished, I’ll be in Los Angeles to take up the challenge set for me by Travis. Rallycross here in Europe provides some very spectacular racing, but the American version seems to be even more extreme. So, I didn’t need to be asked twice when the opportunity arose to race against drivers like Marcus Gronholm in a 545bhp Citroen DS3.”

Loeb’s highly modified DS3 XL (standing for X Games and Loeb) is based on a rallycross machine built by Hansen Motorsport.

Cyrille Jourdan, Citroen Racing’s lead engineer on the project, said: “It’s always exciting to attempt to get the most out of the regulations. From a distance, the rallycross DS3 looks quite similar to the WRC. Although the design of the chassis and suspension systems are fairly similar, the powertrain is fundamentally different. The DS3 XL’s two-litre turbo engine develops 545bhp and 800Nm of torque. Its acceleration isn’t far off that of an F1 car, covering 0 to 100kph in 2.4 seconds.”

Because Loeb’s co-driver Daniel Elena won’t be required for the X Games, Citroen engineers have had to rework the car’s weight distribution, as Jourdan explained: “That’s why the water radiator has been moved into the boot. The main visual difference between the WRC and the XL is the addition of cooling vents in the rear wings. This alteration is designed to achieve improved performance at the start, which is the most crucial phase in rallycross.”

Loeb has already tested the DS3 XL in preparation for the rallycross section of X Games, which uses a mixed-surface course featuring a 20-metre jump. He will face tough opposition from Gronholm, who has won the opening two events of the Global Rallycross Championship season in a Best Buy Mobile Ford Fiesta Mk7.

According to Autosport.com, Plans to include new events into next year’s World Rally Championship have apparently been scrapped following a meeting between FIA president Jean Todt and series officials last week.

Its possibly due to the fact that, The FIA issued the five-page contract on May 28 and stipulated the agreement had to be signed and returned by close of business on Friday June 8. Failure to do so would result in the event not being included on the 2013 calendar. Events were not happy with this and none of them signed the contracted.

Photo:D.Darrall

Next year’s World Rally Championship, which will be at the centre of Friday’s World Motor Sport Council meeting, is expected to be a repeat of this year’s calendar – save for the rotation of Rally Australia in place of Rally New Zealand.

Plans to introduce a WRC round in Brazil or South Africa have reportedly been shelved until 2014. Both countries are running candidate events in the second half of the season and questions had been raised over the sense in leaving a calendar slot open for one or the other rally so late in the year.

The meeting between Todt and WRC Commission president Jarmo Mahonen and WRC manager Michele Mouton delivered a calendar considerably more predictable than originally discussed.

The calendar is likely to be rubber-stamped by the WMSC, but the issue of the events not signing the FIA’s 2013 contract remains. Ten of the 13 2013 rounds have resisted pressure from the governing body to sign the agreement.

Despite reports that none of the rallies signed before the June 8 deadline, it appears some events have made an agreement with the governing body.

Further contract discussions will take place between the FIA and the rallies later this month, in an attempt to defuse a row over the £80,000 requested by the FIA for the production and distribution of television and the safety tracking and timing.

Sources are also reporting a softening of Mahonen’s stance on the geographical location of the rallies – which could mean a u-turn on rallies like Rally GB and Rally d’Italia, which could remain in their current home beyond this season.

The source said: “The FIA works with the ASN (the domestic governing body). I think this has been pointed out [within the FIA]. It’s the job of the promoter to discuss the precise location of events, not the sport’s regulator.”

An announcement on the identity of the promoter is expected from Friday’s (today’s) WMSC meeting.

Source:Autosport.com