2017 WRC

Now if someone could tie up (well pay for) this car, Andreas Mikkelsen and (a soon to be unemployed) Jost Capito they'd have a winning team!!!

Rally Sweden - Volkswagen 1, 2 & 6

Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila claimed victory on Rally Sweden today, having been in the top 4 from the start Latvala was able to master the ever changing conditions and was also able to fend off his teammates Andreas Mikkelsen / Mikko Markkula. Mikkelsen took second overall and his first ever WRC podium having challenge for outright victory throughout the whole event.

Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia recovered from the mistake of yesterday to take 6th overall, setting a string of fastest stage times along the way. Whilst Rally Sweden is disappointing for the French duo they have been able to keep their championship challenge on track.

Sweden marked Volkswagen Motorsport's the first victory of a dominant season last year, this year they looked even more impressive!

Day 3 Rally Sweden

At the end of the third days rallying in Sweden Volkswagen Motorsport drivers remain first and second overall, although during a dramatic day of rallying excitement and problems changed the look of the leaderboard dramatically.

Overnight leaders Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia plummeted down the leaderboard on the first stage of the day having spent over 4 minutes stuck in a snow bank. Ogier accepted full responsibility for the driver error blaming a lack of concentration. Having clipped a snow bank and got sucked into the duo then needed help to dig the car out before they could continue.

Andreas Mikkelsen / Mikko Markkula took the rally lead on the first stage and then became embroiled in a tight battle with teammates Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila for the top podium spot. Latvala really seemed to revel in the battle overtaking Mikkelsen and very gradually extending his slender lead.

With road conditions varying from snow and ice to gravel and standing water the drivers had to balance outright pace with tyre and car preservation. Despite this Ogier began a charge back up the leader board, finishing the day with 6 fastest stage times having recovered from 20th overall to 9th by the end of the final stage of day 3.

Day 4 sees the longest stages of the rally and there remains plenty of excitement left in the 2014 Rally Sweden.


Rally Sweden leader board after day 3

1.		J. Latvala
2.		A. Mikkelsen
3.		M. Østberg
4.		M. Hirvonen
5.		O. Tanak
6.		K. Meeke
7.		H. Solberg
8.		P. Tidemand
9.		S. Ogier
10.		E. Evans

Day 2 Rally Sweden

At the end of the second day of competition on the Rally Sweden Volkswagen Motorsport drivers hold the top three overall positions, capping a perfect day of rallying for the German team.

Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia finished day two and start day three in first overall, having snatched the lead back from Andreas Mikkelsen / Mikko Markkula on the final stage of the day. Ogeir and Mikkelsen had been locked in a battle for first throughout the day, with Ogier dropping behind the young Norwegian towards the end of the day before clawing back the lost time. Mikkelsen (one of the stars of the rally so far) opted to use worn tyres on the last stage and was prepared to sacrifice his outright pace in order to have a brand new set of tyres (and studs) for tomorrow's first stage.

Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila kept a watching brief in third overall for the whole day, trading seconds with Ogier and Mikkelsen and keeping in contention despite small gear selection concerns. The duo are expected to challenge both team mates on tomorrow's faster and more flowing stages.

Whilst the German team's drivers currently have the podium sewn up, Swedish stages are particularly unforgiving and there are a lot of stage miles to be covered before the event finishes.....

Day 1 Rally Sweden

Andreas Mikkelsen / Mikko Markkula lead the Swedish rally after the first day of rallying. The Volkswagen Motorsport pair lead teammates (and current world champions) Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia with the third Volkswagen Motorsport Polo R WRC of Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila sitting in fourth overall after today's Super Special stage in Karstad.

Tomorrow sees the teams head off into the Swedish forests before a quick trip across the border into Norway for a set of four stages (2 stages run twice) before heading back into Sweden for the final stage of the day.

With temperatures expected to be hovering around freezing snow, ice, gravel, studs and the lack of all or any of these are expected to be the main talking points. Gravel in the stages and the resultant stud loss from the tyres is causing concern tonight for the drivers - the quickest driver may turn out to be the one who can nurse their tyres the best.


Rally Sweden leader board at the end of day 1:-

1.		A. Mikkelsen
2.		S. Ogier
3.		O. Tanak
4.		J-M. Latvala
5.		M. Hirvonen
6.		H. Solberg
7.		M. Østberg
8.		J. Hänninen
9.		T. Neuville
10.		K. Meeke

Rally Sweden

 

All three Volkswagen Motorsport drivers expressed concern at the changing levels of grip (and lack of snow) on the Official Rally Sweden - all of them voising worries about how they will be able to keep the studs in their winter tyres whilst driving competitively on the gravel strewn stages.

The drivers took differing approaches to the earlier shakedown stage with both Sebastien Ogier and Andreas Mikkelsen opting for a cautious approach (aiming to save their tyres/studs for the first stages of the rally later tonight) whilst Jari-Matti Latvala drove harder and set the second fastest time overall.

Volkswagen Polo R WRC

To defend their Driver and Team WRC World Championship titles Volkswagen Motorsport are using an improved rather than new version of their 2013 rally car. There have been no major alterations rather the Volkswagen team have opted to concentrate on fine tuning a few vital areas. Thus the 2014 Polo R WRC boasts altered engine mapping, revised set-up for the drive train and optimised suspension.

All of these alterations are pretty much impossible to spot meaning all that the only change most rally fans and spectators will notice is the slightly different colour scheme.

WRC Monte Carlo

Volkswagen Motorsport driver (and current World Champion) Sebastien Ogier laid down a marker for the forth coming Monte Carlo rally by being fastest on the pre-event shakedown stage. Finishing an impressive 1.2 seconds faster than his nearest rival Ogier dominated each of the 4 shakedown runs.

Jari-Matti Latvala finished his 4 runs in a creditable 4^th whilst Volkswagen Motorsport II driver Andreas Mikkelsen was equal 8^th and looking forward to his second attempt at the WRC Monte Carlo round. Weather conditions were dry and with heavy rain expected tomorrow all three Volkswagen Polo R WRC driver’s know that the 2014 Monte Carlo is likely to be extremely difficult and demanding.

Monte Carlo shakedown times:-

1. S Ogier     VW Polo R WRC     2’15.3
2. K Meeke     Citroen DS3 WRC     +1.2s
= M Østberg     Citroen DS3 WRC     +1.2s
4. J-M Latvala     VW Polo R WRC     +2.9s
5. R Kubica     Ford Fiesta RS WRC     +3.0s
6. T Neuville     Hyundai i20 WRC     +3.1s
7. M Hirvonen     Ford Fiesta RS WRC     +3.5s
8. D Sordo     Hyundai i20 WRC     +5.1s
= A Mikkelsen     VW Polo R WRC     +5.1s
10. B Bouffier     Ford Fiesta RS WRC     +6.6s

ŠKODA Fabia R5

ŠKODA has announced that the current Fabia S2000 rally car will be succeeded by an all-new model, the Fabia R5. The Fabia R5 will undergo an intense development programme will begin at ŠKODA Motorsport's Mlada Boleslav base in early 2014, ahead of a competition debut in 2015.

Confirming the Fabia R5 programme, Michal Michal Hrabánek, ŠKODA Motorsport Director, said: "The new R5 rally car will be equipped with a 1.6-litre turbo engine, in accordance with FIA regulations. That's a big change compared to today's naturally-aspirated, two-litre petrol engines. The R5 category succeeds the previous Super 2000 class. This way, we are able to continue to compete successfully in international championships and to push ahead with our customer programme. Entering the R5 class is a logical step for ŠKODA. As it stands, we are assuming that the new car will be homologated by mid-2015."

The announcement of the Fabia R5 follows another remarkable season for both ŠKODA Motorsport and the Fabia S2000. With overall victories in three international and six national championships, ŠKODA has enjoyed one of the most successful seasons in its 112-year motorsport history. ŠKODA will continue to campaign the current Fabia S2000 in 2014. The brand will enter cars on selected rounds of both the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) and the FIA European Rally Championship (ERC). Current ERC Champions Jan Kopecký and Pavel Dresler will tackle the APRC, while rising star Esapekka Lappi will line up in the ERC with co-driver Janne Ferm. In addition, the German pairing of Sepp Wiegand/Frank Christian (ŠKODA AUTO Deutschland), will also contest rounds of the ERC in a factory-prepared Fabia S2000.

First shown at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show the S2000 Fabia was one of the most successful rally cars of the Super 2000 era and the most successful rally car in ŠKODA's 112-year motorsport history. Having recorded 27 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) event victories and three overall driver and manufacturer titles, the Fabia S2000 has won more IRC events than any other car. Andreas Mikkelsen became the first back-to-back champion driving for ŠKODA UK Motorsport in 2011 and 2012. 

Building on these triumphs, factory driver Jan Kopecký took the 2013 European Rally Championship (ERC) title with a commanding season-long performance.

Further afield, the Fabia S2000 has also recorded series victories in both the Super 2000 World Championship (SWRC) with Juho Hanninen and the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) with Chris Atkinson and Gaurev Gill.

Paraguyan Gustavo Saba won both the FIA Codasur South American Rally Championship and the Paraguayan Championship in 2013, with ŠKODA drivers accumulating a further five national titles in Austria (Raimund Baumschlager), Italy (Umberto Scandola), Bulgaria (Dimitar Iliev), Jordan (Marouf Abu Samra) and Portugal (Ricardo Moura).

Stig Blomqvist, Audi Quattro and the Jännerrallye

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of his WRC title triumph Stig Blomqvist will drive an Audi Quattro (similar is spec to those used in the 1984 WRC rally season) as the course-opening zero car on the 2014 Jännerrallye. Stig and co-driver Robert Jakobsson finished the 2013 event 12th overall in a Mitsubishi Evo and the Swedish duo are expected to put on a dramatic display for fans attending the first round of the 2014 FIA European Rally Championship (http://www.fiaerc.com/) between the 3rd and 5th of January.

The International Jännerrallye (Austria) has close ties with the Quattro, in 1981 Franz Wittmann gave Audi's Quattro its competition debut on the event, winning by more than 20 minutes! That moment revolutionised the world of rallying forever, four-wheel-drive has dominated rallying ever since.

Event organisers (Rallye Club Mühlviertel) are holding a prize draw for the opportunity to join Blomqvist for a passenger ride during the pre-event shakedown near Freistadt on 3 January - more details on the event website: http://www.jaennerrallye.at/de/home.html

Stig Blomqvist & Robert Jakobsson Int. Jännerrally 2013

Mini at Monza

Motorsport Italia’s 2013 rallying season came to an end at the recent Monza Rally Show, their MINI John Cooper Works WRC driven by Mario Stagni and co-driver Laura Rovagnati. The pair finishing in the top ten in the WRC 1.6t class on Saturday evening and then claiming ninth overall in the invite only Master Show on Sunday.

Motorsport Italia were using the 01C evolution of the MINI WRC which proved it's worth with such a competitive display in both events. With plans for the 2014 season already in hand the Monza show proved a perfect end to their activities for 2013, especially in front of a home (Italian) crowd.