rally-emag 014 dec 2013

Issue 14, December 2013

OgierThe NEW champ

The Inside view & Monthly News Wrap-up

ERC

ValaisSanremoCroatia

France

WRC

WalesSpain

Jan kopecky the new european rally champion

Image: FIA ERC

Thierry neuville enjoyed his breakthrough season finishing second overall

Image: Bas Romeny

Citroen had a very tough season with just one win for this pair

Image: Bas Romeny

France found a new hero in sebastien ogier

Image: Bas Romeny

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Rally-eMagYour monthly dose of WRC reports, news and of course the best images of the most exciting sport on the planet.

Rally-eMag December 2013 / Contents

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The season comes to a close

Let me start by offering my apologies for the delay between the last issue and this one. It’s hard to build a business out of a rally maga-zine and although we have been working hard, there is still a long way to go to make it profitable. That means that we have other jobs to attend to as well. The busy end of year period caused some delay with creating this issue for you, so sorry for the wait, but you can be assured that we will keep doing what ever needs to be done to get you a monthly Rally-eMag the coming year!

On a positive note, we have put together the most elaborate issue to date for you! We cover all six final rallies of the season which should keep you entertained for a while. In her season wrap-up Anna Rudd discusses the highs and lows of the M-Sport this season. I’d like to take some time to talk about the general highs and lows of the season here.

When we talked to Mikko Hirvonen in Monte Carlo early this year he was full of confidence. He was the only top-ranked driver with a full year of experience in his current car. With Loeb’s departure this should be his year to shine. We now all know that is not quite how things played out. Hirvonen’s, or Citroën’s for that matter, season was disappointing. Just three wins and two of them for Loeb who wasn’t doing the full season. Dani Sordo scored an emotional win in Germany but that was not enough to prevent team management from taking drastic measures. Both Hirvonen and Sordo leave the team to be replaced by Kris Meeke and Mads Ostberg.Good news for the UK fans! Both Hirvonen and Sordo found a home elsewhere, at M-Sport and Hyundai respectively.

Of course, this was Volkswagen’s season. After a year long ‘test session’ they were ready, but modest at the season start. Aiming for genuine podium speed in the half of the season they rapidly matched and surpassed their own goals. Ogier was in incredible form this season and it’s difficult to imagine anyone taking his crown soon. Neuville has the speed but it remains to be seen how fast and reliable the Hyundai is next year.

M-Sport did not log a single win this season, but with Neuville they did deliver the brightest young star of the sport. Neuville recorded a bunch of second place finishes to finish the championship in that spot too, definitely a breakthrough season. He’ll be the star at Hyun-dai next year making room for another young British talent at M-Sport in Elfyn Evans. Enough to look forward to again!

Enjoy reading!Steven van Veenendaal / Editor

Who made it?Publisher: Rally-eMag

Words: Steven van Veenendaal, Harry van Veenendaal.

Photography: Bas Romeny, Ste-ven van Veenendaal.

Who helped?

Logo design: Minse Blom

Distribution: Issuu.com

Columnists: Anna Louise Rudd, Michael Jenkins.

Who we thank!

PR Photography from: Peugeot Sport, Hyundai Motor-sport, Citroen Racing, FIA ERC.

How to reach us?

Email: [email protected]: www.rally-emag.comFacebook: www.facebook.com/emagrallyTwitter: @emagrallyIssuu: www.issuu.com/rally-emag

This Month

Rallye Sanremo- It ain’t over till it’s over

Page 50

The inside viewAnna recaps the season

Page 36Croatia Rally- Kopecky goes for gold

Page 41

Wales Rally GB- An interesting ending to an interesting year

Page 28

RallyRACC-Rally de Espana- I came, I saw, I conquered

Page 20

Rallye de France-Alsace- One down, one to go

Page 11

Rallye International du Valais- All good things come to an end

Page 58

Rally-eMag December 2013 / News

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This month’s wrap up

Hyundai Motorsport presented its WRC assault this month. The team will be back by Shell as its main sponsor and run un-der the official name Hyundai Shell World Rally Team. The introduction of Shell as a title sponsor was more good news as yet another world known brand committed itself to the WRC.

The drivers for the 2014 season were presented as well although some doubt remains as to who will do which rallies exactly. Thierry Neuville is their number one and will do the full season. A second Hyundai i20 WRC will be available for a

number of drivers. Dani Sordo will be the first to get a taste of the action as he will partner Neuville in Monte Carlo. After that not much is confirmed but it seems likely that Juho Hänninen will do Rally Sweden. Chris Atkinson will also get selected out-ings in the new car and is confirmed for rally Australia. No word yet on a program for Bryan Bouffier despite the test efforts the Frenchman put in.

What we do know is that the car looks the deal. It’s aggresive and the Shell sponsor-ship definitely adds something. We can’t wait to see what it can do on the stages!

Image: Hyundai Motorsport

ERC 2014 Calendar

Hyundai joins WRC

Jännerrally (Austria) 05 JanuaryRally Liepaja (Latvia) 02 FebruarySibiu Rally Romania 01 MarchAcropolis Rally (Greece) 30 MarchCircuit of Ireland 19 AprilSATA Rallye Açores 17 MayYpres Rally (Belgium) 21 Juneauto24 Rally Estonia 19 JulyBarum Czech Rally Zlín 31 AugustCyprus Rally 21 SeptemberRallye du Valais (Switzerland) 25 OctoberTour de Corse (France) 8 November(All dates are finish dates)

The FIA ERC calendar has been published and it must be said, it looks mighty interesting. WRC Dropout Acropolis has been added to the calender although it’s a shame to see Sanremo disappear. There will be special ‘Masters series’ this year too for the Ice, Gravel and Tarmac rallies. First up is the ‘Ice Master’. The driver with the most points after the opening three rounds (all held in ice/snow conditions) will claim the Ice Master title.

Image: FIA ERC

Rallye de France-Alsace / Overview

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Based in: Strasbourg

Date: 22-25/08/2013

Number of stages: 16

Shortest stage: Peterberg – 9.23 km

Longest stage: Arena Panzerplatte – 41.08 km

Total stage distance: 372 km

Surface: Asphalt

rallye de france-alsace

Image: Bas Romeny

Rallye de France-Alsace / Rally review

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After the minor disappointment of Australia, where Ogier just missed the title, France was much anticipated by all. No one really doubted that Ogier would be champion. But would he clinch his first crown in France? Would Thierry Neuville be able to postpone Ogier’s title a little longer? The answer came soon-er then we thought…

One down, One to go

Words: Harry van Veenendaal

Images: Bas Romeny


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Ogier was very eager to win, not only because he needed some points to bag the championship, but also because his biggest rival was there. This was his last chance to beat Sebastien Loeb. Do-ing that on his own turf was an extra challenge for the young Seb. The ‘old’ Seb was quite re-laxed but the true sportsman in him also wanted to win. So in his final WRC event he wanted to show who is the best. VW boss Jost Capito, look-ing at the result tables, allowed his driver to go for it, so there was no holding back from that point. Neuville too was poised for an attack. Dani Sordo wanted to score at home and after his first ever WRC victory in Germany it was clear he could be capable of grabbing victory here. So everything was in place for a vibrating finale. But it was all over in the first stage…

PowerStageA mention of the PowerStage can usually be found at the end of our reports, not in France though… The French thought it would be a good idea to run the PowerStage as the opening stage. This would enable the spectators to see the competitors fight form the word go. Well in a way the organizers were right, there was a big fight on stage one. Dani Sordo was quickest, taking away the vital three points that Neuville needed to stand any (mathematical) chance. The M-sport recruit was second and Ogier only needed one point. (If Neu-ville would win everything.) On stage one he got this point and Neuville lost one. So it was game over for the young Belgian’s championship battle.

Ogier relaxedFrom then on the maximum attack mode seemed to be over for the new champion. Gradually he drops down the leader board to around halfway the top-ten. In the top Loeb showed he had hardly suffered from the lack of rhythm after the relatively long stop from active competition since his Rally Argentina victory in May. In his own backyard in Alsace he is doing quite well. After a strong Sordo assault that resulted in a top position, Loeb takes over the lead from the Spaniard and leads the pack from stage 4. But Neuville strikes back and on stage six he passed the multiple world cham-pion. He holds this position overnight and half-way the next morning. Then on Hohlandsbourg - Firstplan 2, the 28.48 km first stage of the second loop, the Belgian ran wide, spinned and almost lost one and a half minute. He is in fifth now, with Sordo taking over number one spot.

After a mighty impressive season, Neuville finally had to throw the towel.Sordo decided the championship by winning the opening Powerstage.


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Sordo vs Latvala Meanwhile a very nice fight de-velops between Jari-Matti Latvala and Dani Sordo. The Finn feels good and starts to claw back in the direction of the Spaniard. But Ogier is also off the leash. Het keeps on winning stages again. On Saturday’s final stage Latva-la takes an extensive lead of no less than 0.4 of a second. Sordo follows him. Ogier is already on the podium again and Loeb is in fourth.

Sprint from the championAlthough Ogier already was the champion, he did not stop push-

ing. After some scratches he took the lead, not to lose it again. Sor-do, Latvala and Neuville took the last three scratches but Ogier was never really threatened, proving the championship went to the right man. Behind him the earlier men-tioned threesome took up the fol-lowing spots on the leader board. This means the battle for second place is still open. The point gap between Neuville and Latvala can still be bridged. But the driver’s and co-drivers title are in the hands of the Volkswagen team. The next goal (the constructor’s title) will follow soon.

Sebastien takes over the reign from Sebastien, Ogier is the new World Champion and ready to take Loeb’s spotlight. Really getting to grips with the Polo WRC, Latvala is now also able to chase the top

asphalt drivers on the black stuff.


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Loeb’s goodbyeOn his last WRC outing in the direct vi-cinity of his place of birth Loeb proba-bly imagined another outcome but ral-lying is always tricky. The nine times world champion knows that from (lim-ited) experience. Anything can hap-pen at any moment, so also in your farewell event. After claiming his 900th stage victory in stage 10, he slid wide after a few kilometres in Vignoble de Cleebourg (stage 15), went into a spin and ended up upside down in a ditch. Rain had been falling for some time and the road was very slippery, due to standing water and mud thrown onto the road by other competitors. Was this the cause? Was there a very un-characteristic loss of concentration? No one can tell. Loeb was attacking, so much is clear. “I was five seconds off the lead and obviously I wanted to win this last event. So I was going flat out. But we went off, definitely not ac-cording to my plan. For me it is OK, I have so many plans for the future and I have achieved a lot in WRC. But it is a shame for my fans; many of them were waiting for us to pass. They have defied the sometimes-horrible weath-er conditions here, just to see us pass one more time. Also for the team, they have been working hard to make this possible. It’s for all of them I feel sor-ry!” For the fans packed around the Haguenau stage it was not so bad however. Loeb could start a triumphal tour through his ancestral town wav-ing the spectators in an open-top car quickly found by the organizers.

Rallye de France-Alsace / Final result

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1. Ogier - Ingrassia VW Polo WRC 2:53:07.62. Sordo - Del Barrio Citroën DS3 WRC +12.23. Latvala - Anttila VW Polo WRC +19.54. Neuville - Gilsoul Ford Fiesta WRC +1:14.15. Novikov - Minor Ford Fiesta WRC +3:10.9

6. Hirvonen - Lehtinen Citroën DS3 WRC +3:37.77. Mikkelsen - Markkula VW Polo WRC +4:04.28. Ostberg - Andersson Ford Fiesta WRC +4:35.29. Kubica - Baran Citroën DS3 RRC +9:31.410. Dumas - Giraudet Ford Fiesta WRC +11:55.8

Final Result

Manufacturer standings

1. Volkswagen Motorsport 339 pts2. Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 259 pts 3. Qatar World Rally Team 157 pts4. Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team 156 pts5. Abu Dhabi Citroen Total World Rally Team 59 pts6. Jipocar Czech National Team 51 pts7. Volkswagen Motorsport 2 40 pts8. Lotos WRC Team 20 pts


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Championship standings

1. Sebastien Ogier VW Polo WRC 238 pts2. Thierry Neuville Ford Fiesta WRC 143 pts3. Jari-Matti Latvala VW Polo WRC 125 pts4. Dani Sordo Citroën DS3 WRC 117 pts5. Mikko Hirvonen Citroën DS3 WRC 111 pts6. Mads Ostberg Ford Fiesta WRC 81 pts7. Sebastien Loeb Citroën DS3 WRC 68 pts8. Evgeny Novikov Ford Fiesta WRC 57 pts9. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta WRC 49 pts10. Andreas Mikkelsen VW Polo WRC 40 pts

Based in: Salou

Date: 24-27/10/13


Shortest stage: Gandesa, 7.00 km

Longest stage: El Priorat, 42.04 km


Surface: Mixed

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RallyRACC-Rally de Espana / Overview

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Based in: Salou

Date: 24-27/10/13


Shortest stage: Gandesa, 7.00 km

Longest stage: El Priorat, 42.04 km


Surface: Mixed

RallyRACC-Rally de Espana

RallyRACC-Rally de Espana / Rally review

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I came, I saw,

I conquered In the year 47 BC, Julius Cae-sar said the famous words, veni, vidi, vici. 2060 years later Jost Capito a man with the same initials to his name could have said those same words or rather the modern translation: I came, I saw, I conquered… These words might be justified by the double championship his team could achieve in Spain.


Images: Bas Romeny


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In the beginning of this year Jost Capito was still quite prudent. He did not think he would have any chances to win the championship, perhaps an event on the podium in the second half of the season. We now know better. His team won al-most anything that could be won. There was one final aim: the constructor’s title; only six points separated VW form that goal.

In Spain however there were other aims. Dani Sordo wanted to perform well and grab a sec-ond win before his home crowd. Neuville wanted to defend his runner up position in the champi-onship. Latvala on the other hand was eager to stop Neuville so that he could make it a VW one/ two in the championship.

Shakedown and startThe shakedown was more like a show-stage. It was situated in downtown Salou along the boule-vards of the famous seaside resort. “We have to do our four rounds,” grumbled the new world champion. “So we will do this, but this has very lit-tle to do with the actual rally.” The others agreed, but Dani Sordo saw his chance. In front of thou-sands of fans he achieved to shine by ‘winning’ the shakedown.

But earlier the Spaniard had been critical about the starting order in the rally. As we know Spain is the only mixed surface event in the champion-ship. Unlike last years the gravel stages will now be tackled at the end of the rally. According to the FIA regulations this means that starting order

for the first day will be in championship order. On the other days (including the last (gravel-) day the competitors will start in rally classification or-der. Sordo feared some competitors would slow down deliberately in order not to start as first on the road on the gravel stages. “The slippery gravel will cause the advantage gathered on the first days to vaporize in no time,” says Sordo. So it’s of no use building a large gap in these ini-tial days, you know you will lose your advantage rapidly.” The RACC Rally Spain organizers saw this problem and had already asked the FIA to be allowed to change the starting system, but the international governing body said they had to do it according to the existing regulations. “That is really a pity, but nothing can’t be done about it,” said bot Sordo and the organizers.


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BarcelonaOn Friday the teams had to take a 110 kilometre ride to the city so successfully praised by Freddie Mercury and operatic soprano Montserrat Caballé in their hit song Barcelona. As last year the start ceremony was in the Avenida de la Catedral, the road leading to the huge cathedral providing an impressive background for the official start. Thou-sands of very enthusiastic mainly Spanish fans cheered their heroes before they left for the first three stages. As the official start was at the end of the afternoon, the competitive kilometres had to be done in the dark, adding some extra flavour to these stages.

Night stagesNights in the southern Mediterranean tend to fall quickly, so most of the 62 kilometres of stages were driven in total darkness. “That is not easy,” commented Ogier. “At the first stage we we’re not

used to driving in the dark yet. But apparently all drivers suffered from this phenomenon as Ogier arrived back in Salou winning all three stages. Neuville, in fourth after Sordo and runner up Lat-vala, already lost almost twenty seconds.

The all tarmac second day showed an early battle between Sordo and Latvala. They tackled the re-run of the 16 kilometres Riudecanyes stage equal-ly fast and some 9 seconds faster than Ogier’s winning time of the night before. Ogier was, as he said, “not fully awake yet” and ended up in third on the stage. Next stop was El Priorat stage. Includ-ing El Molar one of the nicest hairpins/ junctions in the whole championship. Thousands of Spaniards were applauding, cheering and waving their flags. Mostly this was for one man: their compatriot Dani Sordo. These fans made him fly as he picked up his second scratch in a row here. But on stage 6 Latvala retaliated and won the stage bringing him

side by side with Sordo on the top of the leader-board. Ogier finished this stage losing just under one minute. I’m playing my first strategic card,” he laughed. “I don’t want to start first tomorrow!” The hole in his front tyre told another story. “Oh that must have been a rock in the grass when we cut a corner. It wasn’t in our notes,” he explained.

Latvala vs Sordo vs NeuvilleThe rest of the day it was a constant battle be-tween Latvala, Sordo and Neuville. The Belgian picked up a win in the PowerStage on the way but the day ended in this order. The distance between the first three was very limited and even Ogier in fourth only had a 45 second gap between him and a win. Would it be possible for him to close this gap on the gravel stages of the last day? It was clear anyway that leader Latvala was in the worst position. He would have to clean the roads for the competition.


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Finale Latvala is in pretty good shape and although he is feeling more and more comfortable on tar-mac, gravel is still his favourite turf. But being first on the road is not easy on gravel. Andreas Mikkelsen who started as elev-enth WRC driver sets two fast-est times. Latvala’s lost time was relatively limited because of the dust issue. Of course Latvala threw up the greatest amount of dust. So Sordo was not rewarded for the tactics that brought him behind Latvala on the asphalt stages. He was even 1,5 second slower because of the dust of the Finn. But Ogier started a new of-fence bringing him closer to the top. Especially when the dust situation improved. From the middle of the day Ogier starts to climb the ladder. On the penulti-mate stage, the second passing of the 26-kilometre Pesells stage, Ogier strikes his final blow and passes Latvala. Latvala wasn’t doing too bad but at the end of the stage he lost some time due to a fire in his engine bay. At the

stopfinish fire extinguishers do their job and the Finn can contin-ue. That is not the case for Dani Sordo who was in maximum at-tack mode to get back his sec-ond place. At the first split of the stage he actually was faster than Latvala but not much further he leaves the road breaking his sus-pension. It’s game over for the Spaniard. Ogier was in the mood because he also grabs the last scratch of the rally, thus secur-ing the rally win and (much more than) the six needed points to win the constructor’s title, mak-ing it a double for VW in their first competitive year.

Thierry Neuville has been a bit unhappy the whole rally. His set up on asphalt was not as he wanted it and the gravel settings bothered him in the beginning of the final day. But after some changes during the afternoon service he felt better and climbs back on the leaderboard. In the end he is in fourth, enough to keep his chances alive for a pos-sible runner-up position in the championship.

Latvala did himself a good favour by finishing second, Neuville’s fourth spot keeps the fight for the runner-up poistion live until the very last rally in Wales though.


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Final Result

1. Ogier - Ingrassia VW Polo WRC 3:33:21.22. Latvala - Anttila VW Polo WRC +32.93. Hirvonen - Lehtinen Citroën DS3 WRC +1:13.74. Neuville - Gilsoul Ford Fiesta WRC +1:33.95. Novikov - Minor Ford Fiesta WRC +2:01.06. Ostberg - Andersson Ford Fiesta WRC +2:26.07. Prokop - Ernst Ford Fiesta WRC +4:55.88. Paddon - Kennard Ford Fiesta WRC +6:55.79. Kubica - Baran Citroën DS3 RRC +11:14.110. Al-Kuwari - Duffy Ford Fiesta WRC +13:26.8


1. Volkswagen Motorsport 3822. Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 2743. Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team 1744. Qatar World Rally Team 1695. Abu Dhabi Citroen Total World Rally Team 636. Jipocar Czech National Team 577. Volkswagen Motorsport 2 408. Lotos WRC Team 20


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1. Sebastien Ogier VW Polo WRC 2652. Thierry Neuville Ford Fiesta WRC 1583. Jari-Matti Latvala VW Polo WRC 1444. Mikko Hirvonen Citroën DS3 WRC 1265. Dani Sordo Citroën DS3 WRC 1176. Mads Ostberg Ford Fiesta WRC 897. Sebastien Loeb Citroën DS3 WRC 688. Evgeny Novikov Ford Fiesta WRC 679. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta WRC 5510. Andreas Mikkelsen VW Polo WRC 40

Wales Rally GB / Overview

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Based in: Deeside

Date: 14-17/11/2013


Shortest stage: Chirk Castle, 2.06 KM

Longest stage: Hafren – 32.14 km


Surface: Gravel

Wales Rally GB

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Apart from a mathematical bat-tle for second, most champion-ships have been settled before Rally GB, making it the perfect setting for an open battle where everyone can show their best without the pressure of having to perform well for the champi-onship. So everything is set for a relaxed ending of an interest-ing rally year.

An interesting ending to an

interesting year


Images: Bas Romeny

Wales Rally GB / Rally review


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Interesting?I see a few eyebrows raised after seeing the ad-jective ‘interesting’ in the former sentence. Before we go to the rallying action of this year’s edition of Wales Rally GB, we take you back on a little trip through 2013. It all started in Monte Carlo where Volkswagen debuted their long anticipated Polo R. As we earlier indicated, the team came, saw and conquered. Not right away but during the season it became completely apparent that they were the ones to beat. In the end it shows that they are one step short of winning everything possible. In Wales they had to try to achieve that: the one/ two in the championship. Is that inter-esting? Well in a way it is: the global player VW that sees a future in our beloved sport. They are

prepared to invest enough money and to take the time to build a team that can’t be beaten. That’s good, but perhaps for the sport it is even more important they launched a PR campaign that is directed at the general public in every possible way. What company dares to put an old VW van in Rallying the world livery up an extremely slip-pery mountain road leading to the holy shrine of rallying, the (in-) famous Col de Turini? VW does, and they continue to do so if we look at their end-of-year ‘currywurst’ campaign. Check YouTube for this little gem of a video.

And then there is Hyundai. Up till now they seem to do everything right. And they even attracted the most interesting driver of the 2013 season:

Thierry Neuville. We don’t expect Hyundai to fol-low VW in it’s tracks in 2014, they didn’t take the learning year that VW did, but we expect them to be challenging quite a few teams in 2015.

The last interesting thing we noticed is the pro-moter. They have to work on their PR skills, but at last something seems to come out of them. And the interesting proof of that was the little play the three rally bosses (Capito, Matton and Wil-son) performed at Ford’s happy hour in Wales. “We want to cooperate with the new promoter,” seemed to be their message. It’s not always been so peaceful among the competing teams! We’ll see al about it in the next season starting in about a month from now.

The drivers of the year, Neuville and Ogier. The Belgian was the biggest surprise this year and developed into a real star. Ogier was in a class of his own looks hard to beat in the coming years.


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Back to WalesThe organizers of Wales felt a change was nec-essary; both the numbers of competitors and of spectators had dropped to dramatic depths in last year’s edition. In the competitors department the numbers increased from 31 to 56. Still not the numbers of the early days of the RAC Rally but a considerable increase of more than 80%, add to that the national and historic rally cars that were on the menu too and you can understand the enormous crowds that were attracted to come to the stages. An intensive marketing campaign was more successful than anticipated because at certain points traffic came to a complete standstill due to the affluent numbers of spectators going to and from the stages. To such an extent that even some special spectator points had to be closed because they were, more than, fully oc-cupied. Next year they have to work on that but

that there is a revival in the interest for the event is very clear. The move to the northern part of Wales may have been of influence as well. The new Rally HQ at the Toyota engine plant in Dee-side needs some work. Although there is enough space, in the atmosphere department it is not yet what we expected. Basically it is an industrial es-tate nothing more noting less. A nice Wales Rally GB arch is not enough to make it into the warm heart of the rally. But there is enough as a counter balance, the spectator stages (if you managed to get there), the ceremonial start and last but not least, the re introduction of the Great Orme stage. For us the balance has been good.

Pre event factsMuch to the regret of many local fans Kris Meeke was not behind a WRC wheel in Wales. But Cit-roen did have another surprise. Khalid Al Qassimi

decided not to participate in favor of Polish Formu-la 1 driver Robert Kubica whom he said ‘deserved a chance in a full specs WRC’. Another piece of news was that Kubica’s notes would be read by a new co driver. Fellow Pole Maciek Baran had thrown the towel after Spain and he was replaced by the Italian Michele Ferrara. After scrutineering the marshals had a bad sur-prise for Dani Sordo. His team had made an in-fringement to regulations as stipulated in FIA WRC Art. 64.4.2. So what happened? A chassis intended for the Citroën B-team had been used for Dani’s car. This being chassis number nine made it an infringement to the FIA rule. Conse-quently Sordo had to start with a five-minute pen-alty. “Sometimes I make a mistake, sometimes it is someone else,” was his stoic remark after hear-ing this. At Ford they had to miss Nasser Al Atti-yah who was suffering from a previous accident.

Kubica was equally impressive this year and also secured a full-time seat next year in a Fiesta WRC. He’ll be running for the Lotos team though.

With some impressive outings, including here in Wales, Evans earned himself a spot in the Fiesta WRC next year as a full-time factory driver.


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QualifyingIn what, for now, will be the last qualify-ing stage ever, Latvala was 0.07 sec-onds slower than teammate Ogier. In a lighthearted show hosted by Becs-WRC-live-Williams Latvala puts the rugby ball with his number on the first spot. He chooses to be first on the road in the slimy conditions the Welsh forest roads have to offer. The other drivers follow him apart from Mikko Hirvonen who, tempted by Becs, kicks the ball far into the audience, an excellent proof of the playful atmosphere before the rally.

The rallyBut once the start has been given. It’s flat out, especially for Sebastien Ogi-er. Simply being the champion is not enough to slow him down. And after the first loop of stages he is in the lead. Behind him an interesting fight devel-ops between Latvala and Neuville, both fighting for the runner up spot in the championship. On the Clocaenog test, the last one of the evening, Neuville strikes his first blow by setting fastest time. Transporting him to second posi-tion before his runner-up rival. But a 2 second lead in this stage of the rally of course does not mean anything yet. On Myherin (stage 6) Neuville has to bough his head for Latvala. “I don’t seem to get enough grip the Belgian explains the considerable gap between him and Latvala.

Flat right tightens to fifthThis is what Järmo Lehtinen should have said, but after ‘Flat right...’ he stops and Hirvonen keeps the car in sixth, which is way to fast for the tightening corner. Consequently the car starts roll-ing. It’s game over for the Finn, who did not have his best of seasons. By then Kubica has left the rally already after, on stage 4, he rolled his car.

More of the sameOgier controls the proceedings, so at the end of Saturday’s stages he is still enjoying a comfortable lead. Twenty seconds behind him is teammate Lat-vala and half a minute behind the Finn we find the revelation of this season Thierry Neuville. Today’s casualties are Novikov and (again) Kubica both on stage 11. After his second off due to a mistake in a pace note Kubica will not come back. The Ford mechanics suc-ceed in rebuilding the Fiësta so that Novikov can end at least his miserable season driving.

All is well... The battle for the top three has been fought but behind them we find a Nor-wegian battle between Mikkelsen en Østberg. After a spin of Mikkelsen, Øst-berg is the winner. All is well that ends well, Volkswagen ends the rally and the year with a one two victory, is that well enough for you? For the German man-ufacturer it is.

Latvala and Neuville got better and better as the year progressed but in Wales Ogier showed them once again that he is still the top dog in the sport.

Wales Rally GB / Final result

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Final result

1. Ogier - Ingrassia VW Polo WRC 3:03:36.72. Latvala - Anttila VW Polo WRC +21.83. Neuville - Gilsoul Ford Fiesta WRC +1:24.54. Ostberg - Andersson Ford Fiesta WRC +1:48.25. Mikkelsen - Markkula VW Polo WRC +2:03.46. Prokop - Ernst Ford Fiesta WRC +7:37.57. Sordo - Del Barrio Citroën DS3 WRC +8:26.98. Evans - Barritt Ford Fiesta R5 +11:13.19. Ketomaa - Suominen Ford Fiesta R5 +12:16.210. Higgins - Williamson Ford Fiesta R5 +13:21.0


1. Volkswagen Motorsport 4252. Citroen Total Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 2803. Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team 1904. Qatar World Rally Team 1845. Jipocar Czech National Team 656. Abu Dhabi Citroen Total World Rally Team 637. Volkswagen Motorsport 2 508. Lotos WRC Team 20


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1. Sebastien Ogier VW Polo WRC 2902. Thierry Neuville Ford Fiesta WRC 1763. Jari-Matti Latvala VW Polo WRC 1624. Mikko Hirvonen Citroën DS3 WRC 1265. Dani Sordo Citroën DS3 WRC 1236. Mads Ostberg Ford Fiesta WRC 1027. Evgeny Novikov Ford Fiesta WRC 698. Sebastien Loeb Citroën DS3 WRC 689. Martin Prokop Ford Fiesta WRC 6310. Andreas Mikkelsen VW Polo WRC 50

Who’s hot?2013 / Who’s hot?

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Rather then to take you through the Hot or nots of the last rallies of the season which would be a repeat of earlier re-ports in this section, we would like to take you through the season and award the Hot and Not’s of the whole season.

HOTAfter considerable consideration we at Rally-eMag could only came to one conclusion. The hottest man of the sea-son is Sebastien Ogier. Not because he is the now reign-ing champion but for the way he did it. Last year he had to bite his nails for not being able to challenge the likes of Sebastien Loeb and others. But during that year he built a car that totally suits him, a car that during the 2013 season showed it was the best car of them all. Together with the best driver of them all, this proved to be a lethal combina-tion for the championship aspirations of the competition.

The runner-up position without any doubt goes to Thierry Neuville. He grew from the nice fast Belgian to the hottest item on the wish list of all team bosses. He did this by total dedication. Nasser Al Attiyah told us that for Neuville ral-lying is his total live. There is nothing else he thinks about and if anything goes wrong he doesn’t stop analysing. Elsewhere in this issue you’ll find Anna Louise Rudd telling you the same. As M-Sport’s PR representative she sees him quite often so she knows what she is talking about. Hyundai’s Nandan can be happy he acquired this talent to his stable.

Although his achievements are a bit mixed. We pick Rob-ert Kubica for our third HOT item. Winning WRC2 is one reason, but here dedication also plays an important role. After his horrific accident in a rally car the Polish F1 star came back and though his first love seems to be with F1 he seems to have settled for second best and next year we will see him with M-Sport.

Words: Harry van VeenendaalImages: Bas Romeny

2013 / Who’s not?

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Who’s not?NOTIt’s a pity but here the choice has been quite clear also. The number one spot is for Evgeny Novikov. He is very fast and he can be leading rallies, but he still seems to be incapable of listening to his co-driver and flies off the road too often. It’s a shame because he has an enormous fanbase in an important market of Russia but he does not seem to be able to convince us he is the real talent we saw in him earlier.

In possibly his worst season ever Mikko Hirvonen is rewarded with the runner-up position in the NOT cate-gory. Being one of the nicest guys around in the WRC scene is clearly not enough to really convince us. His fourth place doesn’t seem to be that bad, but he had too many bad days during this year’s seasons. And if you proclaim this to be YOUR season at the begin-ning it’s not good enough. We hope coming back to M-Sport will change his winning moods again.

Our third price in this category goes to time keeper SIT. In Wales they failed to be able to declare the winner for a long time. OK they were unlucky because hackers, making it impossible for them to trust their own results, have attacked them. But nowadays it unfortunately is imperative to protect your connections and to have by passes if you do get attacked. But apart from the Wales drama FIA already in the summer launched an investigation. This was because they frequently failed to provide the data they have been hired to provide. It’s true they had very little time to prepare themselves, but getting a job like this they should have known what was coming. Perhaps in this field they have to share their price with the FIA who at a very late date decid-ed to replace the long time and therefore very experi-enced supplier Stage One Technology. Let’s hope SIT gets their act together next year.

Rally-eMag Dec. 2013 / The Inside View

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The Inside VieWBy: Anna Louise Rudd

Images: Qatar M-Sport WRT

What a year 2013 has been. In terms of expec-tations, this has been one of the best seasons in M-Sport’s long and prestigious history. At the beginning of the year, I don’t think anyone could have imagined that we would finish as vice cham-pions in the drivers’ standings, and I only wish I had made that bet back in January! Thierry [Neuville] and Nicolas [Gilsoul] were noth-ing short of sensational this year, and I feel privi-leged to have witnessed their development first hand. As Thierry said at the end of event press conference in Wales, they came to M-Sport as two little children, and we took them under our wing. They truly gelled within the team and it will be very emotional to see them line-up in rival ma-chinery in Monte-Carlo next year. But this is not the time to lament on what might have been were Thierry to be back behind the wheel of a Fiesta, this is the time to celebrate what was and look ahead to what will be. After retiring early on last year’s season open-er, who would have thought that these talented young Belgians would go on to claim seven po-dium finishes and come tantalisingly close to se-curing a maiden WRC victory? If I were an egoist, I would say that I predicted it all along ;)

I may have only been in this sport a short three years – something which makes me a real baby of the service park – but I have never come across a pairing who work as hard as Thierry and Nicolas. Yes, they are talented, but so are a lot of drivers. In my mind, it is their sheer determi-nation, professionalism and drive which makes them such a success story. There is one example of this which stands out in my mind. In Australia, a number of drivers were struggling with their pacenotes on the first day, but while others made the deci-sion to look over their onboards that evening and enjoy their lunch during midday service, I didn’t see Thierry and Nicolas once. They were in the engineer-ing office – conscien-tiously making adjust-ments to their notes, and it paid off as they were straight on the pace that afternoon!

Anna Louise is the Press Officer of the Qatar M-Sport World Rally Team.

she is the one who knows what’s going on with anyone in the team, from the

drivers to the bosses, to the mechanics and the engineers. In her monthly

column she gives you a peek behind the scenes of a world rally teaM.


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Then there was Elfyn ‘Elf’ Evans. He had his fair share of misfortune this year, but there were some standout re-sults which speak for themselves. He challenged a former Formula One driv-er during the latter half of the season – Robert Kubica even declaring that El-fyn was something special – and then there was that incredible sixth place fin-ish in Sardinia

How many drivers can boast a result of that calibre on their debut in a world rally car? Sebastien Ogier can’t, and neither can Sebastien Loeb! Work-ing for as well as driving for M-Sport, he has become truly integrated within the team – something which could see him go far in the years to come. As it stands, his 2014 programme is yet to be confirmed, but I for one would like to see him back on the WRC stage. Of course I cannot go without mention-ing Nasser [At-Attiyah] and Giovanni [Bernacchini] either – two of the loveli-est people I have ever had the privilege of working with. They enjoyed their best ever start to a WRC season this year with a string of top-five finishes; and their achievements in the Middle East were inspirational. They are both a joy to work with. They have time for everyone and I don’t think I’ve ever seen either of them without a smile on their face. For a man of Nasser’s talent to be so down to earth and approachable is testament to his warm character, and he always man-aged to make a smile appear on my face too!


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Of course there was a bitter sweet un-dertone to this season as both Mads [Østberg] and Evgeny [Novikov] per-haps didn’t have as strong a season as they were hoping for. I have a real soft spot for both Mads and Evgeny. They were amongst two of the first drivers I ever worked with, and you would be pushed to find two guys with more raw talent. Let’s remember, Mads is just 26 and Evgeny a mere 23 – it took Sebastien Ogier another three years before he could claim the title. The talent of both Mads and Evgeny has certainly been proven this year. In Mexico, Mads was challenging the newly crowned champion for the win, and at the end of the event, Ogier even proclaimed that Mads would be his main rival in 2013. And let’s not for-get the Acropolis Rally, where Evgeny held a massive 40 second lead going into the second day of competition. Yes, they have both made mistakes and have both suffered at the hand of technical misfortune, but their talent is clear to see. A season can make a lot of difference, and Thierry is living proof of that. I have no doubt that both Mads and Evgeny will prove their potential. Given the right environment, and a supportive team behind them, they can go far.


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All in all, 2013 has been a thor-oughly enjoyable season for me, but now attention turns to 2014. I am always surprised when jour-nalists call me after Wales Rally GB and ask if I am ‘enjoying my break?’ Break? What break?! As some of you might imagine, this is in fact the busiest time of the year. We have less than two months to make all the prepara-tions for 2014; all that with Christ-mas smack-bang in the middle. So rather than enjoying a well-deserved rest, the M-Sport team are flat-out behind the scenes. Our driver line-up may not be of-ficial yet, but there are media kits to devise, liveries and racesuits to design, team clothing to pre-pare, and that’s just the obvious things! For now, I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a success-ful new year. Here’s hoping that the fruits of our hard work will bring a smile to the face of many a rally fan when the season re-sumes in January.

No time yet for Anna to have a seat and take a breather

ERC: Croatia Rally / Overview

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Based in: Porec

Date: 26-28/09/13


Shortest stage: Porec – 1.70 km

Longest stage: Saleria – 29.88 km


Surface: Asphalt

Croatia Rally

Image: FIA ERC

ERC: Croatia Rally / Rally review

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Jan Kopecky came to Croatia with one goal and one goal only, to claim the 2013 ERC driver’s ti-tle. His main rivals opted to skip the Croatia Rally providing a clear path. But as we all know, in mot-orsports, you can’t celebrate until you are actually across the finish line in one piece.

Kopecky goes for

gold

Words: Steven van Veenendaal

Images: FIA ERC


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New baseSeaside resort Porec is the new host town for the event. During the summer it’s a favourite among holidayers looking to catch some of the boiling Croatian heat and the town restarted it’s party at-mosphere for the rally weekend. The fans (who were out in their thousands) were treated to much more than rally action. A beauty pageant, rally parties and some of the best Croatian DJ’s were on the program to keep the fans happy and en-tertained.

The other fightsAlthough all that extra entertainment may seem a bit excessive, one could argue that it was actually quite necessary as the battle on the stages was somewhat diminished. Due to the ERC’s point scoring system not all drivers take part in each event. On the one hand this is a plus. It lowers budget costs enabling more teams to take part. On the other hand it can provide unwanted situa-tions such as in Croatia. While Kopecky closed in on the title, none of his rival entered the Croatian rally, not quite the way a championship should be decided.

Thankfully some of the other championships did get some real competition in Croatia. The biggest clashes were to be found in the Production Car Cup and the ERC’s Ladies’ Trophy. Jaroslav Or-sak had to forfeit due to illness leaving the produc-tion class fight to Andreas Aigner and Germaine Bonnefis. The two trailed Orsak by 18 and 22 points respectively prior to the event giving them an excellent chance to close in on the Czech. At the ladies’ department Ekatarina Stratieva and Molly Taylor faced off once again and got some fierce local competition with no less than three other female drivers bidding for success.

In her smaller and less powerful car Ekatarina Stratieva took the fight to Molly Taylor for a thrilling Ladies Battle.

In the rain Aigner took the right tyres and stunningly took the lead.


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Tyres are crucialMeteo crews play a crucial role in rallying these days. Many of the front running crews expected dry conditions on the opening stages opting for hard tyres in the process. Andreas Aigner must have been ‘up all night’ because he opted for the soft compound and got lucky! As the rain set in Aigner used his grip advan-tage to storm into an unexpected lead. Kop-ecky hit back on the drier third stage but could not prevent Aigner from leading at the midday service. Under no illusions, Aigner remained realistic: “It feels nice but I don’t expect it to continue because Jan will be very fast this af-ternoon.”

Look out!We all knew he was probably right, but his per-formance did spark a bit of hope that we would

get to witness a fight after all. Germain Bonne-fis crashed his Renault Megane RS out of the event causing a bit of a shock. He was trans-ported to a local hospital with potentially seri-ous injuries. After receiving treatment he was diagnosed with a fractured vertebra but should fully recover. Aigner must have breathed a sigh of relieve upon hearing this news, mainly because of the well being of his colleague, but also because Bonnefis was his main remain-ing contender in the production cup category.

Campione!As the day continued and conditions got dri-er there was no stopping Kopecky. Eager to clinch his first ERC title as soon as possible the Czech put in an admirable display and swiftly moved ahead of Aigner to open up a 52 second lead by the end of the day. Points are

awarded for day results too in the ERC and the lead granted Kopecky seven of them. This was enough to ‘make a dream come true’ as Kopecky claimed his maiden ERC title.

Best of restObviously newly crowned champion Jan Ko-pecky was fastest of all in Croatia but behind him an exciting fight developed between An-dreas Aigner and Herman Gassner Jr. for sec-ond. The two R4 drivers fought until the very end when Aigner took that second spot with a margin of just over 15 seconds. He battled hard throughout the awarded and was duly awarded. His second place overall and first in the production cup category moved him ahead of Jaroslav Orsak in the production cup standings. Furthermore he received the Colin McRae Flat Out Trophy for his performance.

Orsak’s absence gave Bonnefis a great chance to close in on him fr Production Cup honours. His crash ended all hopes though.

Gassner Jr. stayed close to early leader Aigner but eventually was able to beat him and win the group N class.


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Switching upWhat do you do when you want to drive an ERC event but it’s hard to find the budget? You look for another driver with the same wish and make it happen! That’s what Pieter Tsjoen and Bernd Casier must have this year as they enrolled together for the Ypres Rally, opting to share a car and swap seats after a day of action. Their Ypres Rally came to an end before it had properly started and the pair opted to try again in Croatia. Things went a lot smoother this time. Casier drove the first day and Tsjoen the second, setting two fastest stage times in the process. The finished a happy fourth overall.

Mrs. ChampionAfter an up and down season Molly Taylor clinched the ERC La-dies’ Trophy. It’s interesting that an Australian can win a European title, although this takes nothing away from her performance. Fin-ishing second lady driver in Croatia was enough to take the title. After some bad luck early on in the season the ever-cheerful Taylor fought her way back to overtake Ekatarina Stratieva in the champi-onship standing and earn that ticket to Paris to receive her trophy.

Molly Taylor was happy enough to win the Ladies Trophy while Tsjoen and Casier were happy enough to redo their Ypres attempt to dual-drive.

ERC: Croatia Rally / Final Result

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Final result

1. Kopecky - Dresler Skoda Fabia S2000 2:23:11.02. Aigner - Watzl Subaru Impreza R4 +1:55.63. Gassner Jr - Mayrhofer Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X +2:09.84. Tsjoen - Casier Skoda Fabia S2000 +2:54.35. Lategan - White Skoda Fabia S2000 +4:04.66. Hadik - Kertesz Subaru Impreza R4 +6:49.07. Humar - Rus Renault Clio R3 +6:59.58. Saskin - Bruner Ford Fiesta RRC +7:58.89. Trcek - Oslaj Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +9:52.310. Bessenyey - Nyirfas Honda Civic Type-R R3 +10:06.5

ERC: Croatia Rally / Standings

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1. Jan Kopecky Skoda Fabia S2000 287 pts2. Bryan Bouffier Peugeot 207 S2000 129 pts3. Craig Breen Peugeot 207 S2000 121 pts4. Francois Delecour Peugeot 207 S2000 75 pts5. Andreas Aigner Subaru Impreza R4 57 pts6. Kajetan Kajetanowicz Ford Fiesta R5 50 pts7. Vaclav Pech Mini JCW S2000 49 pts8. Jari Ketomaa Ford Fiesta S2000 39 pts9. Freddy Loix Skoda Fabia S2000 37 pts10. Jaromir Tarabus Skoda Fabia S2000 25 pts

ERC: Rallye Sanremo / Overview

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Based in: Sanremo

Date: 11-12/10/2013


Shortest stage: Coldirodi, 14.34 km

Longest stage: Ronde, 33.87 km


Surface: Tarmac

Rallye Sanremo

Image: FIA ERC

ERC: Rallye Sanremo / Rally review

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With the championship done and dusted Jan Kopecky didn’t need to participate in the 55th Rallye Sanremo, giving way to some of the other bright young stars. Could this be Breen’s, Bouffier’s or Lappi’s rally? Or would one of the ever-strong lo-cal Italian stars take the spoils? The championship may be de-cided, but all is to play in the northern Italian jet-set town of Sanremo.

It ain’t over till it’s over


Images: FIA ERC


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No championKopecky took the ERC during the previous event in Croatia while Lappi was boosting his air miles by competing in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship (APRC). Although he took two wins, he had to let the title to Indian Gaurav Gill, also in a Skoda. Next year though, the Skoda factory drivers will switch roles. Kopecky will head east to try and clinch the APRC crown while Lappi gets his chance to shine on the European continent. From that perspective, it’s not that strange to see Lappi compete in San-remo rather than the newly crowned champion Ko-pecky. However it did feel somewhat weird to have crowned a champion but not have him at the start of the remainder of the season (he skipped the fi-nal round in Switzerland too).

The absence of Kopecky, who has been utter-ly dominant this year, did give the opportunity to Breen and Bouffier to add some luster to their seasons. Breen was touted as one of the cham-pionship favourites before the season and started well enough. Four podium finishes in the first six rounds brought him up as high as second in the championship (behind the shear unbeatable Ko-pecky). However his luck turned for the worse in the second half when technical issues and some mistakes put him out of contention. His pace is unquestioned though and it really should be only a matter of time before he secures his first major rally win.

No stranger to winning is Bryan Bouffier. The expe-rience Frenchman already has the mayor French rallies of Monte Carlo and Corsica to his name and is out to add yet another classic to his list of victo-ries. Despite Kopecky’s absence he will still face formidable opposition though. The main competi-tion will come from the local Italian drivers who are out in force. The most notable names are those of Giandomenico Basso and Paolo Andreucci, both multiple winners of the event. They are both run-ning a Peugeot 207 S2000 just like Bouffier and Green. So close cars, close skills, this should be a good one!

Top-seeded Craig Breen was once again disappointed as mechanical problems ended his chances of succes.

Uncharacteristically Lappi took a steady approach to the Sanremo, it paid off in the end.


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Short rally?This year’s Sanremo consisted of only ten stages but with the stages running through the mountains just north of Sanremo and the shortest stage at over fourteen kilometers, this would be no easy feat. Friday night featured the daunting Ronde stage that used to run at over 55 kilometers, in the dark. For this year’s event the stage was split in two (stages 4 and 4bis, so there were actually 11 stages in total), to the disliking of Basso who reflected that ‘the only problem in the rally was that the Ronde stage was split in two’. Even so, it was still a massive challenge for the teams to complete.

First bloodBryan Bouffier set out on his mission in style and drew first blood. He won the opening stage and held on to the lead on the second stage. From then on though, the Italians showed who reigned around Sanremo. Andreucci snatched the lead and would not relinquish it for the re-mainder of the opening day. Trouble loomed for Craig Breen when he hit mechanical prob-lems on the second of the Ronde stages, forc-ing him to retire. It was another disappointed for the young Irishman though he has something to look forward to in 2014 when he will partner up with Kevin Abbring in the official Peugeot 208 T16 R5 car.

Bouffier strikes backIt’s Saturday morning, time for the second leg of the Sanremo rally and one man was out to proof a point. Bouffier blasted through the opening stages, winning them all. On the third stage of the day Andreucci went off and out of the lead. He wasn’t feeling too happy about himself. “I no-ticed before the stage there was low pressure in one tyre so we changed it but the tyre was worn,” Andreucci explained. “Then in a slippery section about four kilometers in I lost it. It was quite a straightforward place and maybe I did not pay enough attention. I hit something in the rear so we changed the left-rear tyre and that was it. Of course you make mistakes but I don’t remember making a mistake as stupid as this.”

Despite a few setbacks Bouffier kept fighting untill a final stage puncture truly ended his chances of victory.

In the dark, it’s good to know where you’re going. The experienced Andreucci knew best of all and stormed ito an early lead.


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Finale ExtravaganzaWith Andreucci’s demise, Basso could rise to promi-nence. He inherited the lead from his fellow coun-tryman and had a comfort-able cushion over Bouffier who was in second. Bouff-ier though would not set-tle for second and pushing until he closed to gap to a mere seven seconds be-fore the final stage. Basso still felt confident before the stage, but his lead over Bouffier had been as big as 45 seconds at one point. With well over twenty kil-ometers to go in the final stage, Bouffier might just have enough to edge the Italian out of victory.

It wasn’t to be Bouffier’s rally though. Continuing to push he hit a puncture on the fi-nal stage and was forced to change a tyre on the stage. This of course left him with no chance of victory and actually dropped him down all the way to fourth. Basso was happy enough though. Throughout the entire rally he only won one stage, but his steady performance was enough to bring him to

the top as those around him faltered. Bouffier’s demise also promoted Lappi to second with Perico in third. Lappi had been adopting a cautious approach as he lacks experience on these tricky roads and was main-ly here to learn the event. His uncharacteristically calm performance paid dividends just like Basso’s. It is so easy to make a mistake around Sanremo. The roads are fast, tight, covered with leaves mak-ing the grip levels very dif-ficult to judge and on top of it all they are lined with trees, barriers and cliffs, not something you want to encounter. More than any-where, the saying ‘to finish first, you first have to fin-ish’, applies to this event.

Production Cup HonoursAnother delighted man at the finish was Andreas Aigner. He wasn’t as much in the spotlight as he had been in Croatia, with a car not quite suited to these roads. It didn’t bother him though as he did enough to claim the ERC Production Cup for group N cars.

Ready to move up to the big league? Andreas Aigner clinched the Porduction Cup title in Sanremo and will be looking to step up to a top car for 2014.

Local knowledge goes a long way. Basso didn’t win many stages, but he knew exactly were not to make a mistake, crucial in Sanremo. In the end the win was a just reward.

ERC: Rallye Sanremo / Final Result

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Final result

1. Basso – Dotta Peugeot 207 S2000 2:37:37.32. Lappi - Ferm Skoda Fabia S2000 +1:43.03. Perico - Carrara Peugeot 207 S2000 +1:47.14. Bouffier - Panseri Peugeot 207 S2000 +1:52.95. Albertini - Scattolin Peugeot 207 S2000 +2:10.46. Andreucci - Andreussi Peugeot 207 S2000 +10:01.07. Gasperetti - Ferrari Renault Megane RS +10:35.28. Vittalini - Tavecchio Citroen DS3 RT +11:40.29. Tassone - Rosso Renault Clio R3 +11:48.810. Gryazin - Chumak Ford Fiesta S2000 +12:26.3

ERC: Rallye Sanremo / Standings

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1. Jan Kopecky Skoda Fabia S2000 287 pts2. Bryan Bouffier Peugeot 207 S2000 149 pts3. Craig Breen Peugeot 207 S2000 123 pts4. Francois Delecour Peugeot 207 S2000 75 pts5. Andreas Aigner Subaru Impreza R4 57 pts

6. Kajetan Kajetanowicz Ford Fiesta R5 50 pts7. Vaclav Pech Mini JCW S2000 49 pts8. Jari Ketomaa Ford Fiesta S2000 39 pts9. Giandomenico Basso Peugeot 207 S2000 38 pts10. Freddy Loix Skoda Fabia S2000 37 pts

ERC: Rallye du Valais / Overview

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Based in: Matigny

Date: 7-9/11/2013


Shortest stage: Les Casernes, 6.18 km

Longest stage: Les Cols, 37.13 km


Surface: Asphalt

Rallye International du Valais

Image: FIA ERC

ERC: Rallye du Valais / Rally review

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The Rally International du Val-ais formed the last round of the 2013 ERC. A rally previ-ously tackled by the legends of old such Juha Kankkunen, Per Eklund, Jean Ragnotti and Francois Delecour it was the battleground of the stars of the future this year. Craig Breen and Esapekka Lappi went head to head, with Jeremy Ancian, Andreas Aigner and local aces Olivier Burri and Gregoire Hotz providing the opposition.

All good things come

to an end


Images: FIA ERC


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ContendersThe only one with anything really left to play for was Craig Breen. By scoring 27 points he could still overhaul Bryan Bouffier to claim the runner-up spot in the ERC standings. Not the biggest prize, but definitely something worth fighting for. Breen also wanted to finish strong after some disappointing results on the last couple of rallies. Meanwhile Esapekka Lappi was feeling very con-fident after his solid showing in Sanremo. The young Finn had a very steady run, keeping his foot a bit too far off the throttle to his liking. Even-tually he was rewarded with second though. He looked to go one better in Switzerland and claim his first ERC win.

The two favourites would not get anything easy though. Seasoned veteran Olivier Burri first won the Rally du Valais back in 1993 and went on to do so another seven times. He had the material to do some damage too in the form of a Ford Fiesta RRC. His local knowledge being a mayor benefit of course as well. After clincing the Pro-duction Group title in Sanremo, Andreas Aigner was both on a high and relieved of the champi-onship battle burden. He was free to go out and push, and he would do just that and then some! Someone who has shown glimpses of good pace this year, but never quite seemed to get all the pieces of the puzzle in the right place is Jeremy Ancian. The Frenchman had already contested five other ERC events this year but couldn’t yet

better a fifth place, would this be his rally?

DramaThe short opening leg consisted of three stages around the town of Sion. Breen and Ancian were both right on the pace and set equal fastest time on the first stage. On the next stage Ancian was slightly blinded by the low sun giving Breen the chance to claim the lead for his own. Ancian took back some time on the next stage seemingly setting things up for a nice battle between the two. Disaster loomed for both teams though as somehow they both managed to check-in early to stage three. Breen got a two minute time pen-alty while Ancian even got three minutes of extra time added to his total.

A remarkably similar scenario unfolded for Ancian who joined led after the first stage but then also made a check-in error.

Breen started of in command but after a check-in error dropped back.


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Surprising leaderDue to Breen and Ancian’s check-in woes it was Andreas Aigner who, surprisingly, found himself in the lead. Testimony to his driving skills was that he managed to take the lead in his regular Subaru Impreza R4. Of course this Group N ma-chinery should not be able to keep up with the built-to-rally S2000 and RRC cars, but some-how Aigner managed to stay ahead of most of them. Aigner did enjoy a very smooth rally up to this point “The biggest problem was starting the second stage on time because there were a lot of traffic and road works.”

Another leaderHowever good Aigner was driving, it would of course not be possible to retain the lead in his group N car. The big question then, was who

would inherit his lead? Olivier Burri might seem the logical guess with his massive experience of the event, however it was an asphalt novice who would actually snatch the lead. Esapekka Lappi was in the form of his life while going through a very busy month. After claiming second in Sanremo he flew to China to go on and win the APRC China Rally Longyou. Just under a week later he is back in Europe again and finds him-self at the top of the Rally du Valais after four stages, still a long way to go though…

Fortunes changing?Both Craig Breen and Jeremy Ancian knew there were up against a massive challenge to retake the time they lost earlier due to their check-in errors. On the other hand, they also knew they had the speed to challenge for the win, so why

not push for it? Especially Ancian took it upon himself to fight back to the front spots, winning most of the stages of day two. Unfortunately an-other time penalty cost him dearly. Now a total of four minutes of penalty puts him down in sev-enth overall, only 3 min 40 sec behind the leader though. That leader of course still being Lappi. The young Finn is proving to be capable of con-trolling victories. He had a strong lead over his rivals, knew that he would overtake Aigner in the less powerful car, so all he really had to do was get to the finish on a decent pace. However, that, is one of the absolute hardest things to do in ral-lying. Most drivers will tell you it is far easier to just push and go flat out than drive on 90-95%. You are still going at high speeds, but it is very hard to retain your concentration.

Andreas Aigner powered his Impreza over the stages for the last time before switching to a Peugeot207 S2000 for next season. Second in Sanremo, first in China’s Longyou rally, could this become Lappi’s first ERC


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Despite strong resistence from local hero Burri (below left) Lappi managed to hod on for his first ERC win (not to mention his first proper win on tarmac).

18 Year old Vasily Gryazin also had a very promising run untill he crashed on stage 15.

More bad luckThis really wasn’t Craig Breen’s nor Jeremy Ancian’s rally. Both put up some solid driv-ing but both were also constantly chased by bad luck. After the time penalties, now it was time for the cars to break down. Breen was hampered by a broken power steering (im-agine that in the Swiss mountains…) while Ancian was slowed down by a puncture which required changing in the stage. All their best efforts aside, Breen got no higher than third with Ancian taking fourth. Ancian was also rewarded with the Colin McRae Flat Out Trophy though for his inspired driv-ing and hard work during the weekend.

More dramaUp front Lappi was enjoying himself and edging further and further away. Behind him, more drama was about to unfold. Andreas Aigner had been very impressive in second

place until he pushed his Impreza just a bit too hard. He went off the road totaling his Impreza, thankfully both he and co-driver Barbara Watzl were unhurt. This crash pro-moted Russian youngster Vasily Gryazin up to third, a good result for the teenager. He too though, would not finish the rally. Just af-ter the start of stage 15 he crashed his Ford Fiesta S2000 suffering mayor rear end dam-age, ending his rally. There was still one last bit of excitement in the rally when Burri, who was in a solid second place, started hearing strange noises from the engine of his Fies-ta. With two stages to go and a one minute lead over Craig Breen in hand, his car start-ed misfiring. He managed to get through the last two stages, but was quite lucky to do so “It was getting worse and worse, I don’t know if we would have finished if we had another stage.” But finish they did, with just 8 seconds in hand over Breen.

ERC: Rallye du Valais / Final Result

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Final result

1. Lappi - Ferm Skoda Fabia S2000 3:13:42.82. Burri - Saucy Ford Fiesta S2000 +3:28.23. Breen - Vanneste Peugeot 207 S2000 +3:36.24. Ancian - Vitrani Peugeot 207 S2000 +6:21.15. Orsak - Kostka Skoda Fabia S2000 +6:26.76. Althaus - Ioset Peugeot 207 S2000 +6:42.97. Gono - Horgnies Subaru Impreza R4 +7:57.78. Perroud - Marchand Peugeot 207 S2000 +13:15.99. Michel - Arlettaz Citroen DS3 +13:17.710. Salinas - Micheli Renault Megane RS +14:12.4

ERC: Rallye du Valais / Standings

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1. Jan Kopecky Skoda Fabia S2000 287 pts2. Bryan Bouffier Peugeot 207 S2000 149 pts3. Craig Breen Peugeot 207 S2000 145 pts4. Francois Delecour Peugeot 207 S2000 75 pts5. Esapekka Lappi Skoda Fabia S2000 64 pts6. Andreas Aigner Subaru Impreza R4 63 pts7. Kajetan Kajetanowicz Ford Fiesta R5 50 pts8. Vaclav Pech Mini JCW S2000 49 pts9. Jari Ketomaa Ford Fiesta S2000 39 pts10. Giandomenico Basso Peugeot 207 S2000 38 pts

Next issue, January, with the ERC Jännerrally and the WRC Preview. See you there!

rally-emag 014 dec 2013

Documents

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volkswagens season

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season wrapup anna rudd

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