Inside Rally

Petter Solberg will attend the Rallyday exhibition event in the United Kingdom on August 18.

Solberg, currently second in the race for the 2012 FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia, will demonstrate a Ford Fiesta RS WRC at the behest of team sponsor Castrol Edge.

He follows in the footsteps of Ford drivers past and present, including Mikko Hirvonen, Jari-Matti Latvala and Matthew Wilson, by attending the popular showcase, which is based at the Castle Combe racing circuit near Bristol in southwest England.

Several other leading names from rallying will also be in attendance, while a number of iconic cars will be on display and performing demonstration runs.

“Everybody knows how passionate I am about this sport, and to be surrounded by so many legendary cars and drivers will just be awesome,” said Solberg, the 2003 world champion. “I also can’t wait to put on a spectacular show for the fans in my Ford Fiesta RS WRC. It looks like being a really fantastic day.”

Joint event organiser Brian Stubbings said: “We are delighted that Petter Solberg will be at Rallyday 2012. We know that Rallyday will provide him a great backdrop to entertain spectators with his flamboyant driving outside the normal pressures of competition within the WRC.”

To see pics from last years RallyDay show Click Here

Capito begins Volkswagen stint

Jost Capito has taken over from Kris Nissen as boss of Volkswagen Motorsport.

Photo: D.Darrall

The 53-year-old ex-Ford of Europe motorsport head started work yesterday (Wednesday) when he met members of the German team that will enter a fleet of Polo R WRCs in next year’s FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

During his first day in charge, Capito said: “I’m very much looking forward to working together with this strong team and have a lot of respect for the successes that have been achieved so far. My first impression is that the squad is working with great enthusiasm and operates in a likeable and friendly atmosphere. Big and interesting tasks are awaiting all of us and we will tackle them with high motivation. My thanks also go to Kris Nissen, who has done very good preparatory work and who will continue to play a part in [the] handover.”

After formally standing down, Nissen added: “I’m very proud of what the squad has achieved over the past few years. Volkswagen has never before had such an extensive and, above all, successful motorsport programme as it has today. We have to thank the fantastic work of the entire team for this. I would like to thank Dr [Ulrich] Hackenberg for his trust and his support and wish the team and Jost Capito all the best for the future.”

Photo: D.Darrall

News of Capito’s appointed first circulated in March. Nissen, who oversaw three Dakar Rally triumphs with Volkswagen, will continue working for the firm in an advisory capacity.

Credit: WRC.com/ VW Motorsport

Photos: D.Darrall

Ford might not have enjoyed the success it craved on Philips Rally Argentina with Dani Sordo losing out on an almost certain podium finish on the event-closing Power Stage. But sixth place for Petter Solberg meant it still had cause for celebration.

Photo: D.Darrall

Solberg’s performance was the 150th consecutive points finish for the Blue Oval in the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia, the first car make to achieve this standard in the 39-year history of the WRC following a run that stretches back to Rallye Monte-Carlo in 2002.

During the intervening seasons at least one Ford nominated driver has finished in the points on every subsequent world championship rally.

Ford Racing senior manager Gerard Quinn joined Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson in celebrating the milestone in Villa Carlos Paz yesterday evening.

“This record is the product of a remarkable blend of speed and reliability,” said Quinn. “We’ve shown over a decade of WRC rallies that we can score consistently. Celebrating 150 consecutive points finishes here today gives us the confidence to go on to mount a challenge for the manufacturers’ title during the remaining eight rounds of the season.”

WRC.com’s Sunday wrap: Loeb in seventh heaven

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 08:32:00 +0100

Sebastien Loeb has made it seven wins in succession on Philips Rally Argentina to extend his lead at the top of the FIA World Rally Championship powered by Nokia.

Co-driven by Daniel Elena, the 38-year-old Frenchman defeated Citroen Total team-mate Mikko Hirvonen in a formation finish.

Stand-in Ford driver Dani Sordo was set for the final podium spot but hit trouble on the very last run, the Power Stage Amarok Copina, with a suspected broken alternator belt on his Fiesta. The Spaniard’s misfortune handed third position to Mads Ostberg of the Adapta World Rally Team.

In the battle for Production Car World Rally Championship honours, Benito Guerra took victory ahead of Peruvian Nicolas Fuchs and Ukrainian Valeriy Gorban. Guerra now heads the PWRC drivers’ standings.

Loeb’s success out front was his third in the WRC this season following wins in Monte-Carlo and Mexico, and his 70th at world level. It came after the longest world championship rally in recent seasons with crews negotiating a taxing 502.73 competitive route on spectacular gravel roads around Villa Carlos Paz near Cordoba.

“Another victory here in Argentina it’s incredible for me and especially after Portugal it was important for the team to react like this,” said Loeb, whose Citroen DS3 WRC ran on Michelin tyres. “It has been a great rally here with Mikko finishing second.”

With Hirvonen under orders to hold position, Loeb spent Sunday’s closing six stages preserving his tyres and his advantage out front, while Hirvonen was happy to be back on the podium following his exclusion from Vodafone Rally de Portugal.

“It’s been a good rally and I really love the long distance,” said Hirvonen. “They are such fantastic stages here.”

Behind the ultra-consisent Mads Ostberg, who overcame handling issues during the final day, Martin Prokop took a career-best fourth with Thierry Neuville also securing a personal best for the Citroen Junior World Rally Team. Prokop’s final placing was the best result so far in the WRC for the DMACK tyre firm.

Andreas Mikkelsen’s bid for a top-six finished ended when his Skoda suffered a front-right suspension failure on stage 15. He had been locked in a close battle with Volkswagen Motorsport team-mate Sebastien Ogier at the time. Ogier finished seventh behind the recovering Petter Solberg with Evgeny Novikov eighth.

Ford driver Solberg made amends for his exit on Friday’s fourth stage with a broken steering arm by winning the event-closing Power Stage, his sixth fastest time of day three. Although it did little to cheer the dejected Ford team following Sordo’s late exit on his one-off drive in place of the injured Jari-Matti Latvala, by reaching the finish Solberg has extended Ford’s point-scoring run to 150 rallies.

Nasser Al-Attiyah restarted under Rally 2 rules and finished in ninth position in his Qatar World Rally Team Citroen, securing the final Power Stage point in the process.

Paulo Nobre also returned on Sunday following his exit on Saturday morning but failed to get through stage 17, which also spelt the end of fellow WRC Team MINI Portugal driver Armindo Araujo’s challenge with broken steering.

Ott Tanak, who ran first on the road for the final two days, finished 10th with PWRC winner Guerra coming home 11th in his Mitsubishi Lancer. Ex-Formula One racer Eliseo Salazar rounded out his WRC debut by reaching the finish in a fine 12th position at the wheel of a Prodrive-run MINI.

Credit:WRC.com