Subaru and Pastrana win again in 2009

Events Features

insidethis week:

CoverHirvonen opens 13-point Championship lead

HandbrakesHairpins

Edition 97 September 2009

your insight into the world of rallying&

Italy’s iconic Fiat Abarth 131

News• Petter Solberg to drive a Citroen C4• Abu Dhabi to join WRC calender• David Higgins wins in China again• Martin Prokop eyes win in Sanremo• Mikko Hirvonen signs for ROC2009• BRC’s 2010 calender announced

Features• The Revolution of Rallying• Italy’s Fiat Abarth 131• Subaru and Pastrana win in 2009

Event Reports

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Contents / Issue 97Welcome to issue 97 of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, your FREE weekly insight into the world of rallying!

As always, I hope you enjoy this week’s exciting edition!

Yours in Rallying,

Evan Rothman

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Featuring European rally championships, British rally championships, Rally America events, international rally results and videos, as well as S2000 and WRC news.

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Petter Solberg has signed a deal to drive a Citroen C4 WRC on the fi nal two rounds of the World Rally Championship in Spain and GB, according to pettersolberg.com.

A statement on Petter’s website said: After weeks of discussions and testing, Petter has now made his choice, and he will be driving a Citroen C4 in the two fi nal events of the 2009 Championship.

“I have tested the C4 and I’m quite certain that this is the best car for me. Citroen gave me a good offer, and I do believe that driving this car gives me a proper chance to fi ght for podium.”

The car Petter will be driving is a Citroen C4 with 2008 spec, but with adjustments that makes it close to the 2009 spec that Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo is driving today.

“I got good offers from Citroen and Ford, but after evaluation I decided to go for Citroen and the C4 for the next two events. This will also give me valuable information regarding my plans for next year.”

His fi rst rally in a Citroen C4 will be on the tarmac in Spain, 2 - 4 October 2009.- Credit: pettersolberg.no

Petter Solberg has signed deal to drive a Citroen C4 WRC

The entry list for the 2009 running of Spain’s Rally Principe de Asturias has been published and features 35 crews entered for the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and European Rally Chapionship round.

European championship leader Michal Solowow is the number one seed in his Peugeot 207 S2000. In second spot is last year’s winner, Abarth driver Giandomenico Basso. Toni Gardemeister, seeded in third, makes a return to the IRC series this time driving the Hankook MSD Opel Corsa S2000 after contesting the opening round, Rallye Monte Carlo, in a Punto. ERC front runner Corrado Fontana starts at number four in his Peugeot 207 S2000.

IRC championship leader Kris Meeke is number fi ve for Peugeot UK with title rival Jan Kopecky right behind at six, though Skoda Motorsport have yet to offi cially confi rm their appearance.

Other notable entrants include Kronos drivers Loix and Vouilloz, Wilks in the Proton, Rallye de Ferrol winner Alberto Hevia in a Skoda, Julien Maurin also in a Fabia, and a factory Abarth entry for Spaniard Miguel Fuster in a Punto S2000.

35 top fl ight crews already entered for IRC Rally Principe de Asturias

Abu Dhabi is in line to join the World Rally Championship within three years under plans to increase the number of global events to 16 by 2015, according to Motorsport News.

WRC promoter Simon Long said plans were already being drawn up to run an event on purpose-built stages by 2012.

Speaking back in 2007, during the BP Ford team sponsorship announcement, Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, chairman of the Abu Dhabi tourism authority, said: “Our long-term ambition is to see Abu Dhabi host a WRC event.”- Credit: Motorsport News and rallybuzz.com

Abu Dhabi to join the World Rally Championship by 2015

David Higgins and Ieuan Thomas have taken yet another win in the Chinese Rally Championship on this weekend’s Fogang Rally. The event took place in the Guangdong region where

David Higgins wins again at China’s Fogang Rally last weekend

David battled high temperatures and a few more familiar faces than usual as they were joined on the entry list by his brother Mark and Northern Ireland’s Niall McShea.

“We had a fantastic trouble free rally from start to fi nish,” said David. “We pushed really hard throughout the fi rst day to build up a good lead, despite having to sweep the sandy roads for all of the following cars. We took some big risks, but ended the day with a lead of over a minute ahead of Mark.”

“On the second day we took it a bit easier, ensuring we kept our lead to take another win for the WY Rally Team. We actually backed off a bit because it would have been easy to get punctures on the type of roads we were competing on, and then it rained on the fi nal stage which made it tricky for everyone. We all also battled the heat on this event, the temperature was in the mid 40s throughout which made it extremely hot and uncomfortable.”

Niall McShea was one of several visiting crews who suffered in the high temperatures when he was forced to retire on the fi rst day due to problems with the heat. He had been lying second overall when he retired.

David’s brother Mark fi nished second, 36 seconds back, with round one winner Jussi Valimaki taking third.- Credit: davidhigginsrally.co.uk

The new Clio Challenge looks to be popular for 2010, with 12 drivers already committing to the series 8 months before it starts.

The 205/RWD Challenge co-ordinator Pat Flynn will run this championship too, he says: “The cars can be built for under £10,000 with nearly 190bhp from the Clio 172, they are fast light, plus handle brilliantly. The kit has Ohlins dampers amongst other spec, the series will run in the BRC Challenge rounds, plus 1 other round, providing a showcase for Britains hot young talent.”

With a potential 25 cars the series is a stepping stone for quick drivers from the 205s, the BTRDA 1400s etc, the cars power to weight ratio, sets it as the highest in British one make series. Pat Flynn can be reached on 07870 590884.- Credit: rallybuzz.com

A new Renault Clio Challenge set to be popular in 2010

Citroen Racing boss Olivier Quesnel has stated to wrc.com that the French manufacturer will probably not be homologating the DS3 model as a Super 2000 car.

Quesnel stated that development on the car had been halted until the FIA make their decision, at the WMSC on September 9th, about what engines WRC cars will use from 2011.

Quesnel said he was not expecting to homologate the DS3 as a two litre car to rival offerings from Ford and Abarth because in the Peugeot 207 the PSA group already had a model available for customers. “We still have 30 [Peugeot] cars to sell, so I don’t see who would be in the market for a Super 2000 DS3,” he said.

“The way forward for Citroen is the WRC so I prefer to make only a 1,6 litre car and work well on it. Now we wait for the meeting on the 9 September. We are quite sure it will be a 1,6 engine, either a production engine or the FIA ‘global’ engine.“The development of the car is about 90 per cent complete. We have chosen the DS3 for marketing reasons because it will be the premium car for Citroen in this sector, but we are quite pleased to get it. It’s a nice car, and underneath the body it has the same fl oorpan as a C3, so everything is the same,” he added.

Quesnel said that most of the DS3 sub assemblies, including the suspension and gearbox, were complete, and some could be used as upgrade parts for the similar Peugeot 207. “What we have done so far with the S2000 [DS3] will be okay for the 1.6 version so nothing is lost and it will also assist the development of the Peugeot,” he said.- Credit: wrc.com and rallybuzz.com

Citroen will not be homologating the new DS3 model for rallying

Just days after Martin Prokop’s excellent fi fth place in the Czech Republic, the BFGoodrich Drivers Team 2009 has turned its attention to the forthcoming Rallye Sanremo (September 24-26) with the election of Luca Cantamessa to drive the BFGoodrich-liveried Peugeot on the Italian classic.

Martin Prokop eyes victory at IRC Rallye Sanremo later this month

Fuster was chosen by Abarth to partner Basso on the strength of his fi fth place fi nish in the event last year.- Credit: rallybuzz.com

The fourth port of call for the 2009 BFGoodrich Drivers Team operation will be the 51st Rallye Sanremo, round nine of this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge, which will take teams to the Italian casino resort at the end of September. And it is Luca Cantamessa, 39, who has been chosen to drive the Kronos Racing-prepared Peugeot 207 S2000 on the Ligurian Mountains’ steep, twisty stages equipped with tyres from BFGoodrich’s customer competition range. Luca Cantamessa was selected from a shortlist of fi ve drivers produced by the Italian motor sport governing body which received no fewer than 31 applications for the drive. The 39year old was chosen by a jury comprising representatives of the Italian press, BFGoodrich and Kronos Racing at a special meeting in Udine by a score of eight votes, ahead of Elvis Chentre (seven votes) and Alessandro Bettega (fi ve votes). Jacques Morelli (BFGoodrich’s IRC Programme Manager): “The meeting to decide who will drive the BFGoodrich Drivers Team car on the Rallye Sanremo took place ahead of the Rally del Friuli e delle Alpi Orientali where Luca is making his return to the sport. He was very moved when he was told of the result.” “It’s a dream come true for me,” said Luca Cantamessa. “I am making my return to rallying here after an eight-month absence, and now I have learnt that I have been chosen to drive the BFGoodrich Drivers Team Peugeot 207 S2000 on the Sanremo. I couldn’t be happier. The Rally delle Alpi Orientali will be an excellent way to get in some match practice. I can’t wait to work with Kronos Racing and get a chance to compete on BFGoodrich’s notoriously competitive tyres,” continued Luca who was 11th overall after the fi rst day of the Rally delle Alpi Orientali.- Credit: ircseries.com and rallybuzz.com

International rallying co-driver Moses Matovu narrowly missed out on a podium fi nish on last weekends Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally when he co-drove fellow Ugandan Emmanuel Katto to fi fth overall and fourth registered driver in the three day long event.

The lead up to this, the fi nal round of the 2009 FIA African Rally Championship, was not ideal, with Moses having to lend a hand to ensure the Tommi Makinen Rallying prepared Subaru Impreza N14 was ready to rally, and thus the team missed out on the opportunity to recce the special stages. This put Emmanuel and Moses on a back foot and when the car suffered with suspension problems the team focused on securing a fi nish, rather than challenging for the win.On Sunday morning Moses even took the wheel of the 300 bhp Subaru for two stages and was pleased to set times comparable with rallying legend Katto on roads he had never seen before!

The Zimbabwe Challenge Rally certainly lives up to its name every year. And 2009 was no exception. We struggled with setup issues and weren’t helped by having to borrow pace notes which were in a different format to our own. The gesture by the other competitors for offering us their personal notes was fantastic and I thank everyone for all of their assistance. We ended the rally tantalisingly close to securing our third podium fi nish of the season but at least we scored another fi nish which helped both Emmanuel and I take third in the title race. Whilst the 2009 FIA African Rally Championship might now be over Moses still has a busy period ahead of him. The popular Ugandan will travel to Rwanda on 18 September to call notes for rising Kenyan driver Peter Horsey in a Mitsubishi Evo 9. The KCB Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally sees the young talents from across Africa go head to head for the Pirelli Star Drive, a fully funded drive in six WRC rounds in 2010!

Molly Taylor wins British Ladies Rally Championship title for 2009

For more on the team please visit www.emkarally.com.- Credit: rallybuzz.com

Latvian driver Ivars Vasaraudzis claimed another event victory last weekend, when he won the Kerzume Rally, the penultimate round of the Latvian Rally Championship, at the wheel of an MML Sports-run Mitsubishi Lancer World Rally Car. Ivars was standing-in for regular driver Raimonds Kisiels and won six of the ten stages and was second-fastest on the rest, to reach the fi nish with a healthy margin of 36 seconds. Vasaraudzis and co-driver Peteris Spredzis are no strangers to either rallying or the MML Sports-run Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 World Rally Car; they won the Talsi Rally in May using the same car and therefore, were favourites for this event. There was more competition this weekend though, since Georg Gross, a protégé of former World Rally Champion works driver Markko Martin was also competing on the event, in a Ford Focus World Rally Car. The scene was set for a fi rst-class fi ght from the fi rst pair of superspecial stages. Vasaraudzis and Gross took a stage win each on Saturday evening, their times separated by fractions of a second. Vasaraudzis and Spredzis went on to take a further fi ve fastest stage times on the Sunday, dropping 11 seconds on the penultimate stage to Gross as they suffered a puncture and dropping a further two seconds on the last test of the event. However, despite this, they reached the fi nish of the event with a convincing win, more than 36 seconds ahead of Gross after the ten stages. Commenting on the weekend, MML Sports Managing Director John Easton said: “Of course, we are delighted that Ivars and Peteris were able to demonstrate their competitiveness and determination this weekend. We know that they are quick and consistent, as we saw on the Talsi Rally in May and this weekend’s result is nothing less than what we hoped for. “They clearly have a taste for the MML Sports Lancer WRCar, as they will also be competing on the fi nal round of the national championship, Rally Latvia, in October, alongside Raimonds. We will have at least two Mitsubishi Lancer World Rally Cars out on that event, so while that will be a busy weekend for us, it will also be a fantastic spectacle for rally fans in Latvia.” MML Sports’ next outing in Latvia will be Rally Latvia, over the weekend of 3 and 4 October.- Credit: rallybuzz.com

Another victory for MML Sports and Vasaraudzis in Latvia

Osian Pryce impressed in Latvia’s Kurzeme Rally last weekend16 year old student Osian Pryce impressed mightily on last weekends Kurzeme Rally in Latvia when he recovered from a time consuming puncture to fi ght back and fi nish inside the top 40 on only his fourth ever rally!

Osian and co-driver Craig Parry had the worst possible start to their rally when their Renault Clio slide wide on the very fi rst corner, caught out by oil dropped by the previous car. Although Pryce did well to avoid an accident his confi dence took a bit of a knock and he completed the test at a reduced pace.

With atrocious weather all weekend the stages very notoriously slippery and when Pryce picked up a puncture on one of the longest stages of the rally he opted to continue to the end without changing the fl at tyre, loosing an estimated three minutes. A massive fi ght back ensured and by the end of the rally Pryce and Parry had clawed their way back inside the top forty. If you remove the estimated three minutes lost with the puncture the 16 year old would have scored yet another podium!

Craig and I had another testing rally, but to be honest, I really enjoyed the Sunday stages. My confi dence took a real knock on the opening stage as there was oil on the road and our rally nearly ended right then. I’m getting a bit bored of always rallying in the rain but at least it’s all good experience. Pryce has one more rally to contest this year, the Latvia National Rally, which takes place in early October.

Junior Rallying is a revolutionary project which allows teenagers, too young to compete in the UK, to learn the ropes in forest rallies in Latvia as the search for the next British World Rally Champion heightens.

For more on Osian please visit www.osianprycerallying.webs.com. For more on Junior Rallying please visit www.juniorrallying.co.uk.- Credit: rallybuzz.com

In advance of the MSA British Rally Championship’s open day, taking place at the Sweetlamb Rally Complex on Friday 9th October, the British Isles’ premier Rally Championship can now confi rm its 2010 calendar of events. The International status rallies, which form the six round season, have attracted other Championships too, underlining their quality and popularity by hosting rounds of the MSA British Historic, Scottish, Welsh and English Rally Championships. The British Rally Championship is still keeping an eye on other rallies too; looking for a seventh event, but in the current fi nancial climate has opted to delay the inclusion of another event until at least 2011.

BRC annouces 2010 rally calendar, dates for Rally Open Day confi rmed

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2010 MSA British Rally Championship Calendar:01) 27 Mar - International Rally North Wales (Welshpool)02) 23/24 Apr - Pirelli International Rally (Carlisle)03) 28/29 May - Jim Clark International Rally (Kelso)04) 9/10 Jul - Isle of Man International Rally (Douglas)05) 20/21 Aug - International Rally Northern Ireland (Antrim)06) 25 Sep - International Rally Yorkshire (Pickering)07) 30 Oct - BRC Bash

FIA World Rally Championship leader Mikko Hirvonen will join the biggest stars from world motorsport in Beijing this November, when The Race of Champions takes place in the Bird’s Nest Stadium on 3 and 4 November.

Hirvonen, who currently heads last year’s Race of Champions winner Sébastien Loeb in the WRC points after winning three consecutive rallies, is the fi rst driver to be confi rmed as racing for Team Finland in this year’s event. He and his yet-to-be-announced team-mate will compete for national pride in the ROC Nations Cup on Tuesday 3 November, before going for individual glory in The Race of Champions on Wednesday 4.

“It’s a pleasure to be invited to the Race of Champions in Beijing this year,” said Hirvonen. “I’ve never competed at the event before, only watched it as a spectator and so it will be interesting to see how it works and to drive the different cars. I’m also looking forward to visiting the famous ‘Bird’s Nest’ Stadium; it looked like a spectacular venue when I watched the Olympics.

“I was in Beijing two years ago and I can’t wait to go back there. It’s a fantastic city and the Chinese people are really friendly and enthusiastic about the World Rally Championship so I’m sure they’ll all come and see us racing inside their stadium. It will be nice to do something fun at the end of the season too.”

Fredrik Johnsson, President of Event Organisers IMP, said of Hirvonen: “Mikko has been driving brilliantly this year, and he’s been having a fantastic battle with Loeb, who won The Race of Champions last year. I’m sure he’ll get used to the format very quickly and prove a tough man to beat, and his driving style will be a big hit with the crowds.”

The Race of Champions brings together the greatest drivers from the world of motorsport with stars of Formula 1, rallying, sports cars, touring cars and even NASCAR fi ghting against each other in identical machinery. A parallel asphalt track will be constructed inside the Bird’s Nest stadium, with drivers going head-to-head for the ultimate title of “Champion of Champions.”- Credit: rallybuzz.com

Mikko Hirvonen signed to compete in Race of Champions 2009

Spanish asphalt ace Miguel Fuster will partner Giandomenico Basso in the works Abarth line-up on Rally Principe de Asturias from 10 - 12 September.

Fuster, who fi nished fi fth overall on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event last season at the wheel of a Fiat Auto Espana-run Grande Punto Super 2000, is a former Spanish champion. Jose Vincente Medina will co-drive.- Credit: rallybuzz.com

Miguel Fuster to partner Basso in IRC Rally Principe de Asturias

One young driver has dominated the MSA British Junior Rally Championship in 2009, twenty three year-old Northern Irishman Marty McCormack taking a hat-trick of asphalt victories to seal the title with one event in hand. Young drivers are a feature across the board in this year’s BRC, but only the front wheel drive pilots are eligible for this, one of only three MSA British Rally titles. That said, the competition was fi erce early on, three different winners in three different makes of car coming from the fi rst half of the season. Having been fourth Junior fi rst time out, McCormack’s previous experience in his Citroën C2R2 showed as the season progressed, taking second on the Pirelli. But it was on tarmac that the car and driver combination shone, He took ninth place overall on the Jim Clark Rally, sixth on the Isle of Man and an amazing fourth place on his home Ulster Rally, missing the overall podium by just twelve seconds. In addition, his stunning Ulster result was suffi cient to seal him a place in the Pirelli Star Driver fi nal at the end of the season, where he will vie for a fully funded drive in the 2010 British Rally Championship. With such great pace, he and co-driver Phil Clarke can now afford to go to the fi nal round of the UK’s Citroën Racing Trophy, Rallye le Touquet, needing just to fi nish the event to take the Citroën title too. The amiable lad from Draperstown can even afford to switch back to his trusty Escort on the fi nal round of the British Rally Championship, Rally Yorkshire, having auctioned the co-driver’s place for charity. Martin will collect the prestigious MSA British Junior Rally Championship award alongside the best of British in Motorsport at the glittering prize ceremony at the Royal Automobile Club’s Pall Mall headquarters in January.- Credit: rallybrc.co.uk

McCormack is crowned British Junior Rally Champion for 2009

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THE REVOLUTION OF RALLYINGTHE VIDEO TAKING YOUTUBE BY STORM

A documentary about the history of rallying has been uploaded to popular video sharing website YouTube. Featuring the sport’s early years, the fi lm retraces rallying’s roots from the road races of yesteryear to the gruelling marathon events of the early 1900s, right up to the evolution of the mighty Group B era, WRITES EVAN ROTHMAN. Uploaded by “amjayes” (a true rally enthusiast), the fi lm boasts contributions from the likes of Fred Gallagher, Simo Lampinen, Nini Russo, Michele Mouton, Phil Short, David Richards, Malcolm Wilson, Armin Schwarz, George Donaldson, Bjorn Waldegard, Reinhard Klein and many more.

In a fi ve-part series format, clicking on the following links will open the videos in YouTube

The Revolution of Rally:Part One - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sVNYyWDAG40Part Two - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHi3fLihWZIPart Three - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5GrL11LAecPart Four - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=olD06qbwG1sPart Five - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w3oSfn8HJN0With a high-quality video, and interesting commentary, this video is one worth viewing on YouTube!

The Fiat Abarth 131 was a highly successful rallying weapon for this Italian motor manufacturer, as the pro-duction model stormed off with no less than three World Rally Championship titles (in 1977, 1978 and 1980). Of the world’s greatest rally drivers queued up outside the factory gates for an opportunity to drive this machine, and drivers fortunate enough to steer these cars through the gruel-ling mountain passes of Europe and the rest of the world included Markku Alen, Timo Salonen and Walter Rohrl. The offi cial factory-backed team was sponsored by Italian air-line Alitalia, and bore their distinctive red, white and green livery.

Simplistic in its layout, the Fiat 131 Abarth belied its humble coverings and mechanicals by dominating rallying, outperforming their rivals the Ford Escort Mk IIs. According to reports I have read, the Fiat 131 Abarth’s construction did include carbon fi bre parts, but even this weight-saving exercise did not make it lighter than the Ford Escort Mk II. In fact, the Escort was not only lighter, but also more powerful. So how did the Fiat 131 Abarth manage to win 18 WRC rallies and claim three WRC championship titles? I have no answer to that, but I assume that through dedi-cation and fi ne-tuning the Italian engineers and mechan-ics were able to prepare an immaculate rally car for their talented drivers.

In terms of specifi cations, the Fiat 131 Abarth would today be found wanting. The motor pushed out 230bhp at 7 500rpm and 230Nm of torque from 5 750rpm. This trans-lated into brisk acceleration, and great straight-line speeds. This Fiat, however, seemed to be more stable and predict-able in corners than its competitors, thus allowing drivers to stick to the accelerator pedal for that instant longer.

Did you know that Fiat stands for Fabbrica Italiana Auto-mobili Torino and was founded in 1899. The little company produced fantastic vehicles, and continues to do so today. This, and the famous Italian competitiveness, spurred the company to become involved in motorsport.

It was not until 1970 that Fiat decided to enter the cut-throat world of rallying to take on the mighty Lancias who were highly successful at the time. It was highly odd for Fiat to do this, as the company owned Lancia... Fiat were dead set on beating Lancia, and this was no friendly in-house competition. Fiat pulled out all the fi gurative stops in their bid to be named best.

Fiat’s fi rst rally car was the Fiat 124, a direct competitor to Lancia’s Fulvia. The Fiat 124 rally car was a rear-wheel drive car based on the hardtop convertible model, while the Lancia Fulvia was a front-wheel drive coupe. Lancia did not take this lying down, and brought out the specialised rally car, the Lancia Stratos. Fiat made attempts at their own version, but proved unsuccessful. Fiat changed their attack to the Ford Escort RS with the mighty Fiat 131 Mirafi ori.

During the time of the 131 Mirafi ori (1976 - 1981), it achieved 18 WRC rally victories, while the Ford Escort RS and Lancia Stratos notched up 17 WRC wins each.

At the end of the Fiat 131 rally project did the powers that be at the company adopt new opinions regarding in-house competition. Fiat’s Abarth programme moved to Lancia hands, and Lancia received the full backing from the moth-er company from their on in their motorsport endeavours.

Fiat has a long and illustrious history in world rallying. The most iconic of these Italian world rally machines must be the Fiat Abarth 131, WRITES EVAN ROTHMAN.

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Pastrana and his co-driver Christian Edstrom cruised to victory in their 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI after several of their closest rivals hit trouble. The win, his fi fth of the season, hauled in suffi cient championship points to place Pastrana mathematically out of reach to his closest challengers and thus securing his fourth consecutive Rally America national title. Pastrana has won each of his Rally America championships (2006-2009) behind the wheel of a Subaru Impreza WRX STI rally car.

“It is game-on for the next two rallies,” said Pastrana at podium. “It’s great to drive without any pressure. A lot of the other drivers have had hard a season and bad luck, but things have just gone my way. My Subaru Impreza WRX STI has been perfect all year. It just works for me at every rally, it’s easy to drive and lets me focus on winning.”

“Travis really has transitioned into rally like fi sh to water ever since his fi rst event with Subaru in 2004,” said James Han, motorsports marketing manager at Subaru of America, Inc. “To think that he has earned four consecutive national titles under Subaru Rally Team USA is all testament to Travis’ skills as a rally driver, thorough preparation by our team partner Vermont SportsCar, and consistent performance capability of the Impreza WRX STI regardless of terrain or driving condition.”

The Ojibwe Forests Rally featured over 200km of technical, sandy gravel, forest roads in northern Minnesota, around the town of Bemidji. The event is a favorite amongst rally drivers for its demanding fast and fl owing roads and numerous stages run in darkness of night.

The rally began with a duel between Pastrana and his Subaru Rally Team USA teammate Ken Block. Entering the Ojibwe Forests Rally, only Block had a mathematical chance to catch Pastrana in the standings but needed to secure a win to keep his hopes alive. After the fi rst two stages, the highly competitive friends and rivals were separated by just seconds. The challenge however was cut short on stage three when Block impacted a large rock while cutting the inside of a corner that launched his Subaru off the road, hitting a tree and rolling to DNF. Both Block and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino were unharmed in the crash. With Block out of the picture and several of his closest challengers experiencing small problems of their own, Pastrana found himself with a healthy lead early in rally. The driver of the #199 SRT USA car backed off his pace but was still able to win all but three of the event’s fi fteen competition stages.

In second place overall for the majority of the event was the third Subaru Rally Team USA entrant of Dave Mirra and co-driver Derek Ringer, driving a 2009 Subaru Impreza WRX STI in the Super Production class. Mirra drove one of his best events of his young rally career, consistently fi nishing each stage ahead of the rest of the fi eld and chasing Pastrana while maintaining a healthy lead in the Super Production class. However, on the penultimate stage Mirra’s car suffered an electrical issue that brought his car to halt, ending his run to the podium prematurely. “Everything was going our way and I was driving really well so it’s unfortunate not to fi nish and get the result on paper,” said Mirra. “My Subaru was running great until that [electrical] problem forced me out of the event. But that’s rally, anything can, and does, usually happen.”

SUBARU AND PASTRANAA WINNING COMBINATION IN 2009

Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana has mathematically secured his fourth consecutive Rally America National Championship with a dominating win at the Ojibwe Forest Rally in northern Minnesota last weekend. TEXT BY SUBARU RALLY TEAM USA. IMAGES BY MAX LAWTON.

FRONT ANTI-ROLL BARSETTLES AUSTRALIAN RESULT

The fi nal day of the rally was a close-run affair. The day started with the top three crews covered by only 0,1sec: Dani Sordo/Marc Marti (Citroen Total World Rally Team), team-mates Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen (BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team).

Loeb, Sordo, Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala (BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team) were locked in battle for fractions of seconds. It was Loeb who stamped his fi ve-times World Rally Championship authority on the rally’s lead. He managed to pull out an advantage of 12,5sec over Hirvonen and 17,1sec over his team-mates Sordo and Marti.

Another thrilling instalment in the WRC 2009 season has been played out in Australia this past weekend. With only a handful of seconds separating the top three crews, a dramatic and surprise post-event scrutineeering decision, the WRC Rally Australia will go down in the WRC annals for its unpredictability WRITES EVAN ROTHMAN.

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Following a post-event scrutineering, the sporting stewards received a report from the FIA Technical Delegate stating that the front anti-roll bar on Loeb’s Citroen C4 WRC did not match the car’s homologation form. Stewards penalised Loeb with a one-minute time penalty, and also extended this penalty to Sebastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassi (Citroen Junior World Rally Team) and Sordo/Marti after Olivier Quesnel (Citroen Racing director) informed the sporting stewards that all Citroen Racing’ cars were fi tted with the same anti-roll bar.

“We accept the decision given that the photo on the homologation form does not match the part fi tted to the car. The difference had no effect on either the performance or reliability of the car; it was simply due to an administrative error and does not stem from any desire to cheat. On behalf of the team, I would personally like to apologise to Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena who scored a superb victory on the stages this weekend.”

“I am obviously disappointed, but you’ve got to accept it when the regulations are applied. Instead of being just one point behind Mikko Hirvonen, I now have a fi ve-point defi cit to make up. That clearly complicates matters regarding our bid to win a sixth title, but this won’t have any effect on our determination to

win in Spain…”

Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were thereby named winners of the WRC Rally Australia, giving Hirvonen a 13-

point lead in the WRC Drivers’ Championship title fi ght going into the penultimate round of the 2009 WRC season.

“It’s a shame that after such a thrilling battle for three days the result of the rally is decided in the stewards’ room,” said 29-year-old Hirvonen. “I suffered a points loss in Portugal two years ago, so I know how Sebastien, in particular, must feel tonight. This decision has a major effect on the championship standings and we now go to Spain with a fi ve point lead.”

The 2009 running of the WRC Rally Australia provided close rally action from SS1, with the rally lead changing no less than six times over the event’s 35 gruelling stages. This the tenth round of the season, Rally Australia kicked off with 13 stages (after two stages were called off for safety reasons). WRC crews spent more than 14 hours behind the wheel on Day One alone.

Sebastien Ogier and Jari-Matti

Latvala took charge at the front of the fi eld, with Latvala moving into the lead after SS4 to open a lead of 2,2sec over

the young Frenchman.

Loeb fi nished Day One some 20sec adrift of the fast chargers to take third place with his team-mate Sordo 0,1sec behind in fourth and the road sweeper Hirvonen only 0,9sec behind in fi fth place at the overnight halt.

Hirvonen, starting Day Two in fi fth place, showed the WRC world his sheer pace by moving swiftly up the leaderboard to end Day Two just 0,1sec behind Sordo and tied with Loeb. Incredibly, the WRC drivers spent 15 hours behind the wheel of their machines covering only 113,45km of competitive rallying. Tactics came into play on the fi nal stage of the day, With Hirvonen already having completed the fi nal stage, Loeb slowed his Citroen C4 WRC before the fi nish to promote the Flying Finn into the overnight rally lead. This meant that Hirvonen would have to serve as road sweeper once again on Day Three.

On Day Three Hirvonen could not prevent Loeb from edging out a 12,5sec advantage over the longest leg of the rally. Hirvonen became embroiled in a thrilling ding-dong battle with Sordo, trading places fi ve times in ten stages, before Hirvonen was able to eke out a 2,1sec advantage over the Spaniard to secure second position overall.

Further down the WRC leaderboard, a fi erce battle for fi fth, sixth, seventh and eighth raged throughout the weekend. Henning Solberg (Stobart Ford M-Sport World Rally Team) performed well on Day One, despite problems with his car’s setup. Team-mate Matthew Wilson fi nished Day One in seventh place overall, while Munchi’s Ford M-Sport Rally Ream driver Federico Villagra completed a trouble-free run on the opening leg of WRC Rally Australia.

Conrad Rautenbach (Citroen Junior Rally Team) was ninth on Day Two, but slipped off the road in SS19. Damage to his car’s front suspension and steering forced him to retire from the event prematurely.

The 2008 Junior World Rally Champions Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassi fi nished Day fi fth overall on Day Two, pushing his Citroen C4 WRC to its limits to stay in touch with the likes of Latvala and Sordo.

Henning Solberg survived a high-speed crash on the second stage of Day Two, and managed to remain in sixth place at the overnight halt. Wilson and Villagra remained in seventh and eighth positions overall.On Day Three, Wilson was able to move into sixth place, edging ahead of the struggling Henning Solberg. Solberg slowed his pace, and slipped to eighth olace with brake problems. He was able to claw his way back to seventh place ahead of VIllagra at the end of the rally. Ogier, who showed maturity the Citroen have long been expecting, fi nished in a strong fi fth position overall.

And then, after the winners’ celebratory champagne had been sprayed at the podium ceremony, the sporting stewards named Hirvonen the rally winner. Not taking anything away from Hirvonen, who produced one of his best rally performances of his career, the WRC Rally Australia was, however, won via a technicality. Citroen Racing had outsmarted the M-Sport Ford team bosses, but Hirvonen bravely fought the Citroen C4 WRCs of Sordo and Loeb all weekend for a deserved podium result and an eventual victory. So close was the rally action this past weekend, and so incredible was the mightily impressive performance of the Flying Finn Mikko Hirvonen, he can now rest easier during this four-week break before heading to Spain for the Round Eleven of the WRC calendar. Placing his Ford Focus RS WRC at the top of the leaderboard for the sixth time this season, Hirvonen now holds a 13-point advantage over arch-rival Loeb. You can bet that the Citroen Racing boys will not make this mistake again, and Loeb, who has returned to the form that has brought him fi ve World Rally Championship Drivers’ titles, will be going to Spain early next month with only one aim: to win! Dani Sordo has proven to be a reliable team-mate and Sebastien Ogier has shown that he can mix stages times with the quickest, Citroen Racing will be aiming to place as many crews between Loeb and Hirvonen in the fi nal two events of the WRC season. Rally Australia has provided the thrills, spills and drama that mark this sport as the world’s most exciting motorsport formula!

FINAL WRC Rally Australia CLASSIFICATION:01) M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus RS) - 02hr 53m 06,5s02) S. Loeb/D. Elena (Citroen C4) + 47,5s03) D. Sordo/M. Marti (Citroen C4) + 01m 04,6s04) J-M. Latvala/M. Anttila (Ford Focus RS) + 01m 52s05) S. Ogier/J. Ingrassia (Citroen C4) + 02m 23,2s06) M. Wilson/S. Martin (Ford Focus RS) + 5m 26,3s07) H. Solberg/C. Menkerud (Ford Focus RS) + 07m 17,8s08) F. Villagra/J. Perez Companc (Ford Focus RS) + 07m 39,4s09) H. Paddon/J. Kennard (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 15m 36,4s10) M. Prokop/J. Tomanek (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 15m 46,7s