Hayden Paddon enter’s SWRC for 2012

Posted on December 20, 2011 by Daniel Darrall

Hayden Paddon confirmed yesterday that he will drive a Skoda Fabia S2000 to compete in the SWRC for 2012.

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Paddon will be Co-driven once again by John Kennard, their Skoda Fabia shall be ran by ASM Motorsport based in Barcelona, with only one aim. To win! The pair will miss out Monte Carlo, possible due to injures Paddon suffered in a crash a few weeks ago in his Subaru Rally car after crashing into a 200m gouge an broke his collar bone.

The PWRC champion made the announcement yesterday in Auckland. He also has new sponsor Giltrap Group, who distribute Skoda’s in New Zealand. Also the young Kiwi plans to move to Barcelona so as to be able to work close to the team and to cut traveling, as 10 of the 13 WRC events are in Europe.

Paddon said at the conference, ”I am ecstatic about the move to Super 2000; it’s a fantastic opportunity,” he said.
”I was lucky enough to test the Skoda Fabia S2000 in Europe a couple of months ago and it was an incredible car to drive. The S2000 is a full blown racecar and is basically a WRC car without the aero and turbo.”

It’s thought that he is lining up to attract the attention of VW who are part of Skoda, a possible link to the WRC for the kiwi in 2013.

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Petter Solberg moves to Ford

Posted on December 16, 2011 by Daniel Darrall

The puzzle that is the 2012 WRC is finally falling into place. The latest of the big driver move around is (as revealed by Daniel Darrall on facebook & twitter on 23rd Nov) Its confirmed that Petter Solberg has signed a one year contract with Ford.

Photo: D.Darrall

 

The 2003 world Rally Champion Petter Solberg, the last driver to beat Loeb, has been running his own team under the ‘Petter Solberg World Rally team’ since 2008 when Subaru pulled out of the WRC. Petter has had a non stop, up hill struggle in finding sponsorship & funds to run his own team in the WRC. He finally managed to get hold of a recent spec WRC Citroen for the 2010 season and grabbed a string of podiums and 3rd in championship. 2011 hasn’t gone so well, in his rented DS3 run by PH Sport, he hasn’t been able to keep up with the front runners due to various reasons, and 2011 was a season to forget for the Norwegian. Even having to pay for the final 2 events out of his own pocket.

Petter decided after Rally GB that he could no-longer run a private team and said that a factory drive was his only option. yesterday, ford announced that they will continue in the WRC with M-Sport and their driver Jari-Matti Latvala, leaving one seat available which now has Petter’s name on it.

Photo: D.Darrall

As it stands now, 2012 will kick off with, Loeb & Hirvonen in Citroen Vs Latvala & Solberg in Ford. It is not yet clear if Mini will be doing a full program next year (depends on sponsorship) but they will certainly be on at least 6 rounds with Sordo & Meeke. VW will run in s2000 as they prepare for their entry in 2013 with Sebastien Ogier.

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Ford confirm WRC 2012

Posted on December 15, 2011 by Daniel Darrall

Ford have confirmed today that they will continue in the WRC with M-Sport for 2012 and 2013 with option for 3 years. The company have signed a new two year deal with m-Sport, ford’s long term rally partner.

Ford’s driver line up will be Jari-Matti Latvala and 2003 WRC champ Petter Solberg. Ford of europe CEO Stephen Odell said, “Ford has a rich history in world rallying and we’re excited to continue fighting for the titles on the world stage with our great partners M-Sport. WRC is a great fit with thr Ford brand DNA of precise handling, fun-to-drive cars with leading technology and we’ll continue to leverage rallying to inspire innovation in future vehicles and reach new audiences.

Ford World Rally team boss Malcolm Wilson says, “the performance of the Fiesta Rs WRC in 2011 was strong on all surfaces and i’m genuinely excited about what we can achieve in the future. we want to challenge for world titles and I have no doubts that out car and driver combination, allied to the infrastucture and expertise of out staff at Dovenby hall will allow us to do that.”

Abu dhabi will no longer be the title sponsor of the Ford team. Castrol will continue to support them for 2012 & 2013.

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Ford’s end of season review

Posted on December 5, 2011 by Daniel Darrall

It has been a very good year for Ford in the WRC. Kicking off the season in their all new Ford Fiesta RS WRC car with a podium lockout in Sweden.

With a further win in Australia, along with regular podium finishes all season. They then finished the season off with anther podium lockout on Rally GB. Ford also set a record with the most Cars to finish in the top 10, with 8 WRC Ford Fiesta’s, all run by M-Sport. Despite this there is still no sign as to whether they will continue as a manufacture in the WRC. Ford have been an integral part of the Sport ever since it became a championship in the 70’s.

A decision has to be made by December the 12 for applications to the FIA. While we await the answer, you can look back over the season with Ford’s Season review video on their youtube channel below. Also you can join the facebook campaign which has over 2300 members to persuade Ford to stay (link below).

http://on.fb.me/fordwrc

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