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Old 01-13-2013, 09:20 AM   #1
Weasel 555
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Rally Stuff WRC 2013 Monte Carlo -Jan15-20 talk/results spoiler**

The 1st Round of the 2013 WR Championship.



This year, the route is fractionally longer than in 2012 and, with 468 competitive kilometres run as 18 special stages, it is the longest Monte since 1995. Run from a Service Park in the French city of Valence, 400km kilometres north of Monte-Carlo, organisers have kept the opening two days (Wednesday 16 January and Thursday 17 January) largely unchanged from 2012’s programme on roads through the Ardèche, the Haute-Loire and the Drôme regions.

On Friday 18 January there is a significant change to the itinerary. There is an all-new stage, Saint Nazaire le Desert to Le Motte Chalancon, and the return of the famous Sisteron test last run in 2002. Measuring 36.70 kilometres in length, the Sisteron-Thoard stage will mark the final competitive action of day three before the overnight halt in Monaco ahead of the final five stages on Saturday 19 January.

Following a morning off, the 60 highest-place crews in the overall classification with tackle three runs over the famous Col de Turini (Le Moulinet-La Bollene), including two under the cover of darkness, and two passes through Lantosque-Luceram, one by day and one by night. The final Lantosque-Luceram will form the event-closing Power Stage.

Shakedown is scheduled for Tuesday 15 January with the official starting ceremony taking place from 1800hrs the same day. The traditional finish podium will be in the grounds of the Place du Palais in Monaco at 1100hrs on Sunday 20 January.

click: wrc.com/monte preview

Official Website: acm.mc/=en

Listen Live: wrc.com/fanzone/wrc-live/



...
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Old 01-13-2013, 09:43 AM   #2
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is it going to be televised on any channels in the states?
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Old 01-13-2013, 10:41 AM   #3
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i dont see it listed on the wrc tv guide
http://www.wrc.com/fanzone/wrc-tv-guide/

just checked speed tv schedule no wrc checked discovery hd no wrc checked velocity no
only speed2 has wrc 2012 re-runs listed

Last edited by Weasel 555; 01-18-2013 at 02:16 PM.
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Old 01-13-2013, 12:25 PM   #4
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Time for some torrents then... Looking forward to the start of the season
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Old 01-13-2013, 01:34 PM   #5
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btw

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Old 01-13-2013, 03:23 PM   #6
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^classic pic saw it on fb the other day
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Old 01-14-2013, 07:19 PM   #7
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Well last year the torrents were not posted with any regularity (at least to the fishy site that I used to get them from). It was great to have them on Discovery, albeit with an abbreviated run-time. Hopefully Red Bull Media and HBS get their **** together. I'm not hopeful for any U.S. broadcasts this year, but only time will tell. If anyone has additional torrent sites, please PM me.

-Brian
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Old 01-15-2013, 10:04 AM   #8
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Rally Stuff

Shakedown:

Theirry Neuville topped the times in shakedown for the opening round of the new World Rally Championship season in Monte Carlo.

Neuville, who makes his first start this week in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, stopped the clocks in 2m 26.1s on his fastest run through the 3.6km-long stage on the Plateau de Lautagne, some 8km south of the service park in Valence.

“So much depends on the road conditions,” Neuville told the official WRC website. “We had a great couple of runs at the end when the road was quite clean. The snow was only patchy at that point and the road quite clean. I had good confidence and could try to drive hard and see the limits of the car.

“But it's not always the fastest driver who wins this rally, almost never in fact. We just need to be careful – especially during tomorrow's first day, which I expect will be very complicated. My objective remains to stay on the road and get the car all the way to Monaco."

That put the Belgian driver 2.6s clear of the Citroen of defending champion Sebastien Loeb and the first of the Qatar M-Sport WRT Fords in the hands of Evgeny Novikov.

Mikko Hirvonen's Citroen was fourth quickest with the two new Volkswagen Polos rounding out the top six; Jari-Matti Latvala going two tenths of a second faster than Sebastien Ogier.

“For our first run the stage was completely covered with packed snow. Not ice as such, but hard packed and very slippy,” Latvala said. “There were already a couple of tracks on the road where people had gone off ahead of me. Soon after I had a small moment myself when I stalled under braking and went straight on at a junction.

“We started on the studded snow tyre option. On the corners it was fine, but under braking it's difficult because the slush blocks the tyre tread and we kept locking up. If the weather stays like this I'm expecting a very difficult Monte-Carlo.”

The event will get underway with the opening stage on Wednesday morning.

Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo: Shakedown times:

1. Thierry Neuville Qatar WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC 2m 26.1s
2. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT DS3 WRC +2.6s M
3. Evgeny Novikov Qatar M-Sport WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC +2.7s M
4. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen Total Abu Dhabi WRT DS3 WRC +3.3s M
5. Jari-Matti Latvala Volkswagen Motorsport Polo WRC +4.3s M
6. Sebastien Ogier Volkswagen Motorsport Polo WRC +4.5s M
7. Dani Sordo Abu Dhabi Citroen Total WRT DS3 WRC +5.7s
8. Mads Ostberg Qatar M-Sport WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC +6.8s M
9. Tomas Kostka Skoda Fabia S2000 +11.3s
10. Sepp Wiegand Skoda Fabia S2000 +11.4s
11. Juho Hanninen Qatar WRT Ford Fiesta RS WRC +12.6s
12. Esapekka Lappi Skoda Fabia S2000 +14.2s
13. Julien Marin Ford Fiesta RS WRC +20.0s
14. Martin Prokop Czech National Team Ford Fiesta RS WRC +24.6s
15. Bryan Bouffier Citroen DS3 WRC +25.4s
16. Michal Kosciousko Lotos Team WRC MINI John Cooper Works WRC +25.4s

all times unofficial

click: crash.net/monte shakedown

.
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Old 01-15-2013, 02:42 PM   #9
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Old 01-15-2013, 03:22 PM   #10
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Old 01-15-2013, 04:38 PM   #11
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Ok so last years WRC really fizzled my interests... so let me get this straight:
- Ford and Mini dropped out, that leaves 2 works teams Citroen and VW
- Citroen is Loeb "what is he still doing here" as 1, and Mikko "I'm still here" as 2
- VW is Latvala "best free agent" as 1, and Ogier "I beat out Petter" as 2
- What is Sordo? Is this a junior Citroen team?
- Petter finally threw in the towel and is being reintroduced to his children
- M-sport is still hanging in there somehow as a private team

Are there major new rules for the cars this year?

Last edited by chimchimm5; 01-15-2013 at 04:51 PM.
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Old 01-15-2013, 07:36 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chimchimm5 View Post
Ok so last years WRC really fizzled my interests... so let me get this straight:
- Ford and Mini dropped out, that leaves 2 works teams Citroen and VW
- Citroen is Loeb "what is he still doing here" as 1, and Mikko "I'm still here" as 2
- VW is Latvala "best free agent" as 1, and Ogier "I beat out Petter" as 2
- What is Sordo? Is this a junior Citroen team?
- Petter finally threw in the towel and is being reintroduced to his children
- M-sport is still hanging in there somehow as a private team

Are there major new rules for the cars this year?
And Ken Block,...still HOONING after all these years.
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Old 01-15-2013, 08:44 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chimchimm5 View Post
Ok so last years WRC really fizzled my interests... so let me get this straight:
- Ford and Mini dropped out, that leaves 2 works teams Citroen and VW
- Citroen is Loeb "what is he still doing here" as 1, and Mikko "I'm still here" as 2
- VW is Latvala "best free agent" as 1, and Ogier "I beat out Petter" as 2
- What is Sordo? Is this a junior Citroen team?
- Petter finally threw in the towel and is being reintroduced to his children
- M-sport is still hanging in there somehow as a private team

Are there major new rules for the cars this year?
I feel the same way this year... I started following it in 1999..or 2000, and with all of the different manufacturers and personalities, it was exciting. Since 2006, it just seems to have slowly imploded. Makes me sad.

Now it's not going to be on TV again this year...wonderful.
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Old 01-15-2013, 07:35 PM   #14
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yeah pwrc =wrc2 swrc=wrc3 rally academy=junior wrc

MSport =Qatar
Citroen=Abu Dhabi
VW=redbull and which is basically a skoda fabia with a Polo body

Loeb is only doing 4 rounds so he can concentrate on his WTCC
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Old 01-15-2013, 09:23 PM   #15
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I feel like Loeb "retired" because be was a little afraid that Ogier will be able to beat him fair and square now that he is on another team and he wanted to go out on top.

It was apparent two years ago Ogier could have won the drivers championship if he was allowed to push 100%.

Lets hope SPEED gets their act together and gets us some coverage before the 7th round of the championship.
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Old 01-15-2013, 10:30 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bigusnickus View Post
I feel like Loeb "retired" because be was a little afraid that Ogier will be able to beat him fair and square now that he is on another team and he wanted to go out on top.

It was apparent two years ago Ogier could have won the drivers championship if he was allowed to push 100%.

Lets hope SPEED gets their act together and gets us some coverage before the 7th round of the championship.
I would disagree that he left because he was scared of Ogier. He destroyed everyone, including his teammates....for almost a decade. Love him or hate him; I don't think he was scared of anyone.
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Old 01-16-2013, 01:16 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by meebs View Post

I would disagree that he left because he was scared of Ogier. He destroyed everyone, including his teammates....for almost a decade. Love him or hate him; I don't think he was scared of anyone.
I've only followed WRC in the last decade.

I'm wondering why it seems that a legend like Loeb isn't adored like most of the previous legends out there. Sure he has a huge fan base, but there's a lot of groaning too. Or is that because of the eroding series....
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Old 01-16-2013, 08:08 PM   #18
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Originally Posted by wvallwheeldrive View Post
I think its because everybody before Loab had other legands they where rallying against. Gronholm was the last real challenge that Loab had. Also the amount of factory team have dwindled to almost no exsistant, where as say Tommi in the Misubishi had, Fords, Hyandai, Subaru, Peugeot, Toyota, Lancia even Skoda most with at least 1 big name championship winning driver in them and he still won 5 drivers titles.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chimchimm5 View Post
I've only followed WRC in the last decade.

I'm wondering why it seems that a legend like Loeb isn't adored like most of the previous legends out there. Sure he has a huge fan base, but there's a lot of groaning too. Or is that because of the eroding series....
I've only followed it for the past 13 years myself.

I think guys hit the nail on the head. The erosion of manufacturer support played a big role in his success for sure, but I would temper that by saying Loeb is/was an immense talent. I think 2005 was probably the last year where the field felt deep...he won that year and the year before. Then everyone started to pack up and leave as years went on, and that's where it became easier for him.
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Old 01-16-2013, 03:30 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by chimchimm5 View Post

I've only followed WRC in the last decade.

I'm wondering why it seems that a legend like Loeb isn't adored like most of the previous legends out there. Sure he has a huge fan base, but there's a lot of groaning too. Or is that because of the eroding series....
I think its because everybody before Loab had other legands they where rallying against. Gronholm was the last real challenge that Loab had. Also the amount of factory team have dwindled to almost no exsistant, where as say Tommi in the Misubishi had, Fords, Hyandai, Subaru, Peugeot, Toyota, Lancia even Skoda most with at least 1 big name championship winning driver in them and he still won 5 drivers titles.
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Old 01-16-2013, 07:57 AM   #20
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Wed Day 1
SS1: Ogier claims maiden stage win for VW




Sebastien Ogier got Volkswagen's World Rally Championship campaign off to a sensational start by winning the opening stage of the Rallye Monte-Carlo in the German manufacturer's brand new Polo R WRC.

The Frenchman completed the 37km test from Le Moulinon in a time of 27m31.8s, beating his Citroen rival, defending world champion Sebastien Loeb, by 3.7s.

After snow flurries on Tuesday, skies were clear as crews left the service park in Valence to make the 45km journey to the start of the opening test. Roads around Valence were largely dry but sub zero temperatures meant there were still patches of snow around. And after a dry start to SS1, a treacherous 7km section of hard packed snow remained on the high altitude approach to the Col de la Fayolle.

Studded winter tyres were the most popular of the four choices on offer, even though the dry sections risked damaging the studs.

Ogier, 28, leapt from his Polo at the end of the stage to check his tyres, before declaring himself delighted with the result. "It's a good start!" he said. "But we have more than 400km still to go, so really it's nothing - now we have to carry on."

With another long stage to come before the midday service, Loeb was concerned about the state of his Michelins. "What can we do?" he said. "I tried to save them on the first part of the stage but it was very long - I think about 25km of dry asphalt. The tyres were moving around a lot so I destroyed them for sure."

Fellow Citroen DS3 WRC driver Dani Sordo was third quickest, 16.5s slower than Loeb, but satisfied with his first performance on his return to the team.

Mikko Hirvonen was fourth in another Citroen. "It was difficult to find the balance between saving the tyres and attacking. Did I save them enough? I don't know - we'll see on the next stage," he said.

Evgeny Novikov rounded off the top five, setting a time 29 seconds slower than Ogier in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC.

Lotos World Rally Team driver Michal Kosciuszko got off to a bad start, dropping 2m22s after his MINI John Cooper picked up an engine problem. "My first stage in the MINI was going okay but then the engine sound changed," he said. " I don't know what's wrong. I need to speak to the team."

click: wrc.com/monte ss1



--------------------

SS2: Loeb wins Burzet to lead



Sebastien Loeb was at his imperious best through today's second special stage of Rallye Monte Carlo, setting fastest time in treacherous conditions to move ahead of Sebastien Ogier at the top of the leaderboard.

Around 80 per cent of the test was covered by ice and snow, with only 3km of clear conditions at the start. It demanded studded rubber, but the predominantly dry roads in the previous stage took a toll on the spikes, and drivers had to use two already well-used tyres alongside two new ones.

Grip was at a premium, but Loeb showed all the experience gained by six Monte wins to go fastest by 10.4sec and began the journey back to the Valence service park with a 6.7sec lead in his Citroen DS3 WRC.

"I slid a lot in the opening stage and so I had only two tyres with full studs for this stage," he explained. "It was nearly all snow and ice and I missed some traction."

Sebastien Ogier showed his opening stage win was no fluke by going second fastest. His Volkswagen Polo R WRC had more studs remaining, and a relaxed Ogier was happy with his work. "We were quite safe and had no moments. I had a good drive and made no mistakes," he explained.

The two Frenchmen are already more than 30sec clear of their rivals, headed by Dani Sordo. The Spaniard was fifth quickest in his Citroen DS3 WRC and said: "Conditions were unbelievable. Where the snow is disappearing and the asphalt comes though, you can't judge the grip and it would be easy to make a mistake."

Third in the stage and fourth overall is Juho Hanninen at the wheel of a Ford Fiesta RS WRC, but the 31-year-old Finn was a relieved man. "After 2km I hit a bridge with the right rear. I thought I would have to stop to change the tyre but it was OK. I drove slowly for the rest of the stage and thought I would lose more time,"

Also going well was Bryan Bouffier whose Citroen DS3 WRC was fourth in the stage, ahead of Sordo and the Fiesta RS WRC of Thierry Neuville.

Qatar World Rally Team's Neuville is fifth overall, just ahead of former team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. The Finn was ninth fastest in the stage,37.2sec behind Loeb and could only marvel at his colleague's performance. "Seb was amazing. It's just unbelievable," he said.

Slipping down the order was Jari-Matti Latvala who incurred a 30sec penalty after checking into the stage arrival control late. "The road section was tight. We stopped to change tyres but there wasn't enough time for that and we were three minutes late," explained the Polo R WRC pilot.

Michal Kosciuszko continued to struggle with a misfiring MINI John Cooper, the Polish driver dropping more than two minutes.

WRC 2

Skoda Fabia S2000 driver Sepp Wiegand holds a 43sec lead of the WRC 2 classification after two stages. The German took the lead from early pace-setter Esapekka Lappi, also in a Skoda, who hit rocks midway through SS1, breaking a wheel and front suspension wishbone. German WRC veteran Armin Kremer is second in a Subaru Impreza, with Yuri Protosov third in another Subaru.

WRC 3

Heading to today's midpoint service, Citroen DS3 R3T driver Renaud Poutot leads the two-car WRC 3 classification by 54.3sec. However the Frenchman is likely to face a tough challenge this afternoon from his rival, Sebastien Chardonnet, in another DS3. A puncture cost Chardonnet more than two minutes on today's opening stage, but he was 1m13.5s faster than Poutot through SS2.

click: wrc.com/monte ss2



...
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Old 01-16-2013, 08:47 AM   #21
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Great update! Thanks Weasel
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Old 01-16-2013, 10:51 AM   #22
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^ your welcome

------------------------------------

SS3

The stage times for SS3 of Rallye Monte-Carlo are being reviewed following posible communications isues at the end of the stage. We will bring you confirmed times as soon as possible.

click: wrc/monte ss3

---------------------

Update - SS3: Loeb edges further ahead



Sebastien Loeb stretched his overall lead of Rallye-Monte Carlo to 26.6sec by setting the fastest time on the repeated Le Moulinon stage, run earlier as SS1.

The Citroen DS3 driver completed the test in 25m16.2s, 12.1sec quicker than Jari-Matti Latvala who was next fastest in his Volkswagen Polo R. Dani Sordo was third fastest, stopping the clock 15.4sec slower than Loeb.

With an allocation of just 30 winter tyres, many drivers elected to run a ***8216;crossover' choice on the largely dry SS3, typically with a combination of two winter and two asphalt tyres fitted front to back or, like Loeb, on diagonal corners.

"It's not so nice to drive without full studs but I think this is the fastest way to do it," explained Loeb. "We are here. We need to think about how we use our snow tyres. I expect more snow tomorrow and on Friday. We have to take care and think like that."

Latvala collected a 30 second road penalty before SS2 when work to try and soften his car's front suspension on a road section overran. After service however Latvala was far happier with the feeling in his Polo R. "I am pleased with that time, after the changes in service the car feels much better," he said.

Sordo, meanwhile, was loving his competitive debut in the DS3. "In the dry sections especially the car is incredible to drive - the way it works is almost unbelievable," he said.

Hirvonen was fourth fastest but didn't enjoy driving on a mixed set of tyres. "Okay, I'm happy to be here but it's very difficult to get a good feeling like this," he said.

Fifth fastest Sebastien Ogier was satisfied to have got through the stage cleanly and hold second place overall. "It's okay, not a bad time," he said, before adding that he wouldn't be chasing Loeb's lead, saying, "I don't care about Loeb's times!"

At the midday service the problem with Michal Kosciuszko's MINI John Cooper Works was traced to a faulty fuel injector. The Pole's luck showed no sign of improving on SS3 when the replacement injector proved to be faulty as well. Things went from bad to worse when he also picked up a puncture and had to stop mid-stage to change the wheel. He eventually completed the stage 7m14sec slower than Loeb.

click: wrc.com/news/monte ss3



----------------------------

SS4 and Day 1 wrap:

First in the start order, fastest through the stage, and first overall - Sebastien Loeb began his ***8216;retirement' from the WRC by building a 1min 20.3sec overnight advantage after a crushing victory in the final stage of the opening leg of Rallye Monte-Carlo.

The nine-time world champion, competing in the first of just four scheduled outings this year in a Citroen DS3, was quickest by 34.4sec from Citroen Total Abu Dhabi team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. But even the 38-year-old French master found conditions on SS4 difficult, despite a full set of studded tyres.

"There was less snow than this morning. But near the end, while the road looked dry, it's freezing again and I lost and grip and some confidence. I had a few small moments***8230;.I'm happy to be at the end of the day," said Loeb.

Hirvonen was frustrated with pretty much everything, but his speed was still sufficient to propel him from sixth midway through the leg into third tonight. "I was too cautious, but when I try to push harder I go wide. I really hate these conditions. I really, really hate to drive like this but at least I'm here," said the 32-year-old Finn.

Sebastien Ogier is the meat in the Citroen sandwich in second overall. The Volkswagen Polo R driver was fourth fastest, 53.7sec slower than Loeb, but offered no clues as to where the time went. "We did our best but it wasn't easy in there. There was a lot of mud," he said.

Dani Sordo lies fourth, the Spaniard reporting no major issues in Burzet en route to sixth fastest time in a Citroen DS3. Fifth on the stage and fifth overall is Jari-Matti Latvala. The Finn picked up a front right puncture on his Volkswagen Polo R about 5km from the stage finish, and lost 30sec. He is 31sec behind Dani Sordo.

Mads Ostberg was unhappy with the day, but the Norwegian could be pleased after setting third fastest time in his Fiesta RS. "It was very tricky. In some places there was ice where we didn't have it marked in our notes. In others we had ice marked and there was none. We're doing the best we can, but I'm disappointed," admitted the Qatar M-Sport driver.

Worse was to come when his car stopped on the liaison section after the final stage with an electrical sensor problem. Team engineers provided advice on the telephone as Ostberg worked to solve the problem but he eventually checked in 11 minutes late, and is likely to receive a 1m50s time penalty.

In trouble on the final stage were Qatar World Rally Team duo Thierry Neuville and Juho Hanninen. Neuville retired after ripping the front left wheel from his Fiesta RS and with Rally 2 in operation here, the Belgian's rally is over. In an unfortunate coincidence, the spot he stopped at was just 1.5kms away from where he retired last year.

Hanninen spun 4km from the finish and lost more time reversing back and forth to turn round in the particularly narrow roads. He lies eighth.

WRC 2

Skoda Fabia S2000 driver Sepp Wiegand holds a 60.3sec advantage over Armin Kremer in all-German battle at the head of the WRC 2 category.

Wiegand was faster than his fellow countryman on the first three stages, but veteran Kremer battled back on the final stage to slash the deficit by almost 25sec in his Subaru Impreza.

"We had no major problems," explained Wiegand. "I tried to drive safely and it worked. But this is a long and tough rally so we'll wait and see how things are after the second leg tomorrow."

Early leader was Esapekka Lappi, who was fastest through the first stage despite hitting a rock and breaking the front suspension wishbone on his Skoda Fabia S2000. He started the second test but the damage was too bad for him to continue, the young Finn stopping after 20km.

Ukraine's Yuriy Protosov lies third in another Impreza, more than 2min 30sec behind Kremer.

WRC 3

At the end of the first day of competition in the FIA's new championship for front-wheel drive cars, Frenchman Renaud Poutot holds first place, with his compatriot Sebastien Chardonnet 1m05.9s behind in second.

Driving a Citroen DS3 R3T, Poutot won two of the opening day's four stages and ran reliably all day but rarely seemed at ease in the varied conditions. However he was the chief beneficiary of an unlucky opening day for his rival Chardonnet, also in a DS3 R3T, who picked up two costly punctures and spent the rest of the day playing catch up.

Chardonnet got his first puncture on the rally's opening stage after he clipped a rock and had to stop to change the wheel. More than two minutes adrift after SS1 he recovered well, going 1m13.5s quicker than Poutot through SS2, and 12.3sec quicker on SS3. But his recovery took another knock on SS4 when another rock strike resulted in his second puncture, 6km before the finish line.

Anther Frenchman, Quentin Gilbert, was to have started in a third DS3, but he was forced to withdraw his entry after losing his driving licence for a speeding offence just before the rally.

click: wrc.com/monte ss4 / end of day 1 wrap




....

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Old 01-16-2013, 04:00 PM   #23
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GO PETTER!!!!!

Oh, wait......wrong season.
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Old 01-16-2013, 05:44 PM   #24
Weasel 555
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^actually Petter is rallying this weekend in a MkII escort just not wrc.

--------------------------------

Team bosses reflect on opening day of Monte



Q & A

Q: Yves, at the end of day 1, Sebastien Loeb is in the lead. It's probably the final time we are going to see him compete in Rallye Monte Carlo as part of a works team. How do you feel the day has gone for Citroen?

Yves Matton (Citroen Total Abu Dhabi): It has been very good for us, with a lead of 1min 20sec. Seb is leading and it was a good day for him. We also have cars in third and fourth and I think it's a good start to this difficult rally.

Q. There have been some difficult conditions today, but what is the weather forecast for tomorrow and what can we expect to see from Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo?

Yves Matton: The weather, it seems, will be colder and colder and it will not be easy for tyre choice. What do we expect? We are in first, third and fourth and the final aim is to have two cars on the podium. We made a good start and we will see what will happen.

Q. The first WRC round for Volkswagen Motorsport with the Polo, the first stage and it's a win for Sebastien Ogier. That must have felt good after two years of working towards this goal?

Jost Capito (Volkswagen Motorsport): It felt really good. Coming with the new car and the new team to the first rally and then having the chance, the opportunity or the luck to win the first stage is absolutely extraordinary and lots of pressure fell off us. We showed that our pace is not too far off and we expect quite a good season.

Q. Sebastien Ogier has been driving for the team through last season but Jari-Matti Latvala is new to the team this year. What did you think of his performance today?

Jost Capito: Jari-Matti did exactly what we asked him to do. To finish the rally is the most important thing for us, and of course he has much less experience of the Polo R WRC than Sebastien. It was obvious to see the time differences and also to see that on the later stages Jari-Matti caught up. Unfortunately he had a puncture in the last stage which cost time but we're very happy with the performance of them both.

Q: There isn't a Ford at the moment in the top three. Can there be by this time tomorrow?

Malcolm Wilson (Qatar M-Sport): I think it's possible if you look what has happened today. There has been a lot of drama. Sadly, we lost Thierry Neuville in the last stage which is a disappointment. But, apart from Loeb who has a big lead, the other guys are not so far apart and if you look at the time differences today then anything is possible.

Q: Conditions have been really tricky today. Is there more snow forecast and are you concerned about the allocation of snow tyres?

Malcolm Wilson: I think we are all concerned about the allocation if there is more snow. It is looking as if it's going to get colder and colder. We are all scratching our heads about how we are going to make the tyres last the distance.

click: wrc.com/team bosses Q&A

...

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Old 01-17-2013, 09:08 AM   #25
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Weasel 555 View Post
Q. Sebastien Ogier has been driving for the team through last season but Jari-Matti Latvala is new to the team this year. What did you think of his performance today?

Jost Capito: Jari-Matti did exactly what we asked him to do. To finish the rally is the most important thing for us, and of course he has much less experience of the Polo R WRC than Sebastien. It was obvious to see the time differences and also to see that on the later stages Jari-Matti caught up. Unfortunately he had a puncture in the last stage which cost time but we’re very happy with the performance of them both.
They brought on Latvala with the goal of finishing rallies? Were they not paying attention at all last season? I think Petter was the only one with a worse record for DNFs.


My real problem with Loeb is just that he never makes mistakes, and never has mechanical issues. That automatically puts him on a different level than everyone else.
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