The 2013 World Rally Championship was quite the show and yielded not only a new driver as champion, but also saw Volkswagen win the constructors championship in their debut year. Sebastien Ogier battled on snow, ice, mud, gravel, dirt and tarmac against strong competition, but he in tandem with a 2013 VW Polo R WRC triumphed. As we begin to look towards 2014, Volkswagen have a very clear message that they want to send out. They are still hungry!
The teams hunger for success is being promoted through a rather comical campaign that sees various forms of Fan food put through its paces. Rallying is a rough business and so the grub that loyal supporters bring to fuel their day of motorsport has to be just as tough. Their research has concluded that currywurst is the perfect snack to eat as the roadside whilst rally cars speed, drift and sometimes even fly past. Volkswagen are offering you the chance to win a VIP trip to the Monte Carlo rally in 2014! Watch the video below and visit their Rally the World website to register as a fan food tester. It could be you not only attending the opening rally next year, but munching on a generous helping of currywurst as you do!
The 2013-14 WRC driver merry-go-round has seemingly come to a halt as M-Sport, the last of the major world championship contenders yet to show it’s hand, has finally rubber-stamped its driver line-up for the coming season. As with rivals Citroën, who last week revealed a brand new squad for 2014, it’s all change at the British based team.
After losing the services of his two senior drivers, Thierry Neuville (to Hyundai) and Mads Østberg (to Citroën) over the winter break, team principle Malcolm Wilson has been forced in to a major reshuffle, which sees call-ups for Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen, Wales’ Elfyn Evans and Poland’s Robert Kubica.
Four times championship runner-up Hirvonen returns to the team he represented for six years previous to his 2012 switch to Citroën. He spent arguably the most successful years of his career to date under the tutorship of Wilson, finishing second overall in 2008, 2009 and 2011. In fact, 2009 saw the Fin come within one point of winning the title when he was agonisingly edged out at the final event by nine-time world champion Sébastien Loeb. Hirvonen then went on to join forces with the great Frenchman at Citroën in 2012, finishing runner-up again that year. However his fortunes and those of the French manufacturer nose-dived last season as both were soundly beaten in the driver’s and manufacture’s standings, with Hirvonen himself frequently off the pace and far from his majestic best. On the back of his latest switch, all concerned will be hoping that, with a return to more familiar surroundings, the 33-year-old will be able to recapture his past form and lead M-Sport to success in 2014.
Moreover, 2014 will see WRC’s British contingent bolstered considerably, with the news that 2013 WRC 2 pilot Elfyn Evans has been rewarded for his efforts in the lower category with a full WRC program with M-Sport next term. The Welshman will join Citroën new boy Kris Meeke as the second UK representative in next year’s competition, the first time two British drivers have raced at the highest level of WRC since the glory days of Colin McRae and Richard Burns. This is obviously great news for British rallying as a whole and much credit must go to Wilson for showing faith in the raw but talented youngster. Evans, son of 1996 British Rally Champion Gwyndaf Evans, won the 2012 WRC Academy before progressing to WRC 2 where he impressed last year and is widely regarded as one of the sport’s brightest up-and-coming talents. The 24-year-old will be joined in the cockpit of the Fiesta RS WRC by co-driver Daniel Barritt for the 2014 campaign.
Finally, after failing to secure a seat at Citroën for 2014, Robert Kubica has confirmed he will be embarking on a full WRC program next year behind the wheel of a third M-Sport-backed Fiesta. Although his car will be run under the livery of independent sponsor Lotos oil and any points scored will not count towards the factory team’s total, Kubica will effectively be running as the squad’s third driver and will receive full technical and logistical support from M-Sport. The 2013 WRC 2 champion looked to be in the mix to secure a race seat with Citroën before a poor showing on his debut WRC event with the team at Wales Rally GB. However, it is likely that contract talks with both the French outfit and WRC new-comers Hyundai may have been impeded due to sponsorship complications between his own backers and Total and Shell, major supporters of Citroën and Hyundai respectively. The agreement with M-Sport means Kubica will benefit from a role slightly away from the spotlight, with Wilson wisely opting to limit the pressure on the Pole as he settles in to his maiden WRC season.
However, against the backdrop of anticipation, uncertainty still remains over the team’s financial backing for 2014. No official announcement has yet been made regarding the team’s title sponsor Qatar, nor has the man who brings the money, Nasser Al-Attiyah, been confirmed for a race program next season. Since new drivers have already been convinced to put pen to paper, the team must be fairly certain of renewed investment for the coming season, but the sooner any doubt is removed from the equation the better for all concerned.
M-Sport bosses have just under a month to dot the i’s and cross the t’s before the 2014 season bursts in to action in Monte-Carlo on 14 January.
Hyundai have officially unveiled their 2014 WRC challenger, the i20 WRC, at the company’s European headquarters in Offenbach, Germany.
The car that will carry the WRC rookies’ hopes in next year’s championship will be adorned in distinctive grey and red livery and features the logo of the newly revealed title sponsor, Shell. The multi-year partnership signed with the oil giants ensures the Korean firm’s participation in the series for the foreseeable future and means the squad will be officially known as the Hyundai Shell World Rally Team.
Additionally, Hyundai have confirmed that lead driver Thierry Neuville, signed before the end of the 2013 season, will be supported by Dani Sordo, with the Spaniard recently losing his spot at Citroën to newcomers Mads Østberg and Kris Meeke. However, the 2013 Rally Germany winner will not be embarking on a full program of events next term and will instead share second car duties with Finland’s Juho Hanninen and Australia’s Chris Atkinson, both key members of Hyundai’s 2013 testing program and therefore well acquainted to the feel of the i20 WRC. Though the team have yet to announce the exact programed drives for the coming season, we do know that Sordo will be at the wheel of the second car at the season opener in Monte-Carlo, while Hanninen and Atkinson will take on Rally Sweden and Rally Australia respectively.
With the new season set to get underway in just over a month, the unveiling ceremony in Germany represents the last major step on the road to WRC for the Korean manufacture. With the car and the drivers now fully prepared and ready to enter the fray, we will watch with interest as the i20 WRC turns its first wheel in anger at Rally Monte-Carlo on 14 January.
Kris Meeke and Mas Østberg have been officially unveiled as Citroën’s lead drivers for the upcoming 2014 WRC season, in a decision that sees the French powerhouse part company with both Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo after a disappointing 2013 campaign.
Northern Irishman Meeke and his Norweign partner Østberg will be joined by the UAE’s Khalid Al Qassimi, returning for a second year to pilot the DS3 WRC on four events next season.
Meeke and co-driver Paul Nagle will become the first British crew to compete in a full WRC program with a major factory team since the great Colin McRae hung up his racing gloves in 2003. A former protégé of the legendary Scot, the 34 year old from Dungannon first made waves in the rallying world by taking the Intercontinental Rally Challenge crown in 2009. In 2011, he made the anticipated step-up to the top table with the newly formed Mini WRC team, however, despite some promising performances including fourth at Wales Rally GB, his big break failed to materialise as the Mini program hit the buffers the following year. After 18 months in the wilderness, Meeke was invited back by Citroën last term, making two guest appearances in Finland and Australia. He failed to reach the finish on either event, crashing out on both occasions, which cast doubt over his consideration for a 2014 race seat. However, over the course of those outings team principle Yves Matton clearly saw enough potential in the Brit to merit a full-time call up to the Citroën WRC line-up.
26 year-old Østberg has already notched up 65 WRC rallies, and has one WRC victory at Rally Portugal 2012 plus seven podium finishes to his name. The Norwegian was hired by M-Sport in 2013 after posting some impressive finishes the previous year; however he struggled to replicate that form last term behind the wheel of the Fiesta RS WRC, finishing sixth overall in the championship with 103 points. His signing by Citroën represents a major surprise and somewhat of a gamble from the French outfit.
Sordo and Hirvonen leave the team after an underwhelming 2013 campaign in which the nine times world champions were well beaten in both driver’s and constructor’s standings by newcomers Volkswagen. Ex-Formula 1 man and current WRC 2 champion Robert Kobica was also in the mix for a race seat with Citroën next year but a disappointing outing on Wales Rally GB appears to have put pay to his chances.
Overall, this is a bold and unexpected move by Citroën. Taking on two relatively raw and inexperienced drivers, one of whom has never even completed a full WRC campaign, is a high stakes strategy indeed, but what’s clear is that Matton is looking to wipe the slate clean by dispensing of the experienced but consistently below-par 2013 pairing of Hirvonen and Sordo. Time will tell if Citroën can emerge from the debris of last season and, led by their new recruits, mount a genuine challenge to reclaim the WRC crown in 2014.
Welcome to Episode 69 of Inside lane’s podcast. As “silly season” gets underway in Formula One, the boys discuss the latest in driver reshuffles amongst the teams. Also up for discussion is Tesla’s launch of the Model S in the UK and the Lotus Elise S CUP R. Rally corner has all of the latest from the world of WRC.
Sébastien Ogier has reaffirmed his iron grip on the World Rally Championship with yet another domineering performance, this time in the sodden forests of Wales Rally GB. His ninth win of a phenomenal season and fourth in succession means that nobody will be in any doubt over who is the man to beat come the start of the 2014 campaign. Displaying a masterful and by now familiar combination of speed, caution and time management, the Frenchman took top spot by 21.8 seconds over Volkswagen teammate Jari-Matti Latvala.
After qualifying fastest, Ogier stamped his authority on the four day event by winning two of the opening three night stages. He then carried that momentum in to day two, clinching four fastest times out of a possible six to build a healthy 20.1 second advantage over Latvala by the evening. And despite not taking victory on any of Saturday’s seven tests, it is testament to his supreme skills of consistency and time management that he ended day three with an almost identical cushion of 20.3 seconds. Taking his eventual margin of victory in to account, the striking similarity between these times is no accident. On paper, the numbers may not point to a true thrashing of the completion but make no mistake; this was a man in total and utter control throughout.
Left to dine on the scraps was 2012 winner Jari-Matti Latvala, who was out with the double objective of defending his crown and stealing second place in the championship standings. However, the VW number two was hampered from the start by being first in the running order and despite some bright spots, including three back to back stage wins on Saturday afternoon, failed to find enough consistency and fell short of both targets.
The man he was looking to leapfrog in the championship was Belgium’s Thierry Neuville, racing in his last event for M-Sport before moving to WRC new boys Hyundai in 2014. His Fiesta was placed second after day one but was consistently outpaced by Latvala and Ogier thereafter and survived a brief attack from VW’s Andreas Mikkelsen on Saturday afternoon to come home in third overall. Three bonus points for victory on the power stage helped secure his championship runner-up spot, a fantastic achievement given his relative lack of experience and Ford’s withdrawal of factory support for the team last year. Neuville must go down as the surprise package of WRC 2013, and looks to have an even brighter future ahead of him as jumps aboard with the Korean manufacturer next year.
A man who showed similar promise at the end of 2012 was Mads Ostberg. However, the Norwegian seems to have taken half a step back this campaign, having been usurped as team leader by Neuville and suffering from a lack of pace all season. He managed fourth in Wales, emerging victorious from a thrilling three day duel with Mikkelsen and posting the fastest time on stage 18. His compatriot in the Polo was just behind in fifth. He scored two consecutive stage wins on Saturday as VW dominated but a double spin on day four cost him precious time and he crossed the finish line 15.2 seconds further back. Evgeny Novikov was also in the thick of the fight for fourth until stage 11 when he carried too much speed in to a tight corner and rolled his Fiesta out of contention. Despite the best efforts of nearby spectators, the car was too far off the road to continue.
The Russian wasn’t the only victim of the weekend, as the entire Citroën team succumbed to perhaps their most sobering disappointment of the year. Dani Sordo’s five minute penalty for changing chassis pre-event scuppered his chances of glory from the start; however his seventh place finish was the best any of the Citroën pilots could muster. Mikko Hirvonen suffered a huge accident on stage 6 when a mistake from co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen caused the Finn to roll his DS3 in to a bank, shattering the windscreen and flooding the cockpit with mud and stones. After assessing the damage, the team were left with no option but to retire the car. And there was yet more woe for Citroën’s great shining hope Robert Kubica. Promoted to WRC proper after his title winning WRC 2 campaign, the Pole’s debut could not have ended much worse, spectacularly rolling out not once but twice. His first retirement came as early as stage 4 when he crashed just a few miles in to Friday’s opener. Following some frantic overnight repair work, the DS3 was ready to restart on Saturday morning but by stage 11 it was left belly-up in a mangled wreck once more. As with Hirvonen before him, Kubica was the victim of a pace-note misunderstanding. With his new co-driver Michel Ferrara drafted in at short notice, Kubica had to make do with information fed to him in Italian rather than his native Polish. Though a fluent Italian speaker, evidently something was lost in translation, leading to the ex-F1 man’s ignominious exit.
Citroën’s calamitous weekend only serves as a microcosm of what has been a thoroughly miserable 2013 for the double chevrons. Bagging only three rally victories all season, two of which courtesy of the retiring Sébastien Loeb, they have been left floundering in both the drivers’ and manufactures standings. Fourth and fifth in the driver’s championship simply isn’t good enough for a team so accustomed to winning trophies. Right now, next year’s driver line-up appears to be even less clear than it was two months ago, with the current pairing struggling for the slightest hint of form and potential replacements in the mould of Kubica and Kris Meeke failing to impress in their auditions. Team principal Yves Matton will have much soul searching to do over the winter break as he continues the struggle to find a solution to Citroën’s post-Loeb apocalypse.
Across the paddock however, all is well. VW end 2013 top of the manufacture’s tree and with the new run-away world champion in their ranks. Not bad for a debut season. Ogier has proven himself a colossus behind the wheel of the Polo R, utterly unflappable and at times virtually untouchable, wrapping up the title with 113 points and three rallies to spare. Meanwhile, Latvala has played an important, if more subdued role in his team’s success. His one and only victory this term came all the way back on round 6 in Greece and the Finn will perhaps be disappointed not to have clinched second spot behind his teammate in the championship.
Finally, M-Sport will be reflecting on a very satisfactory season on the whole, although tinged with some uncertainty as they prepare for life without Neuville, the man who secured them an improbable second place in the championship. Whether the perceived underdogs can find a worthy replacement, or if either one of Novikov or Ostberg can fill the Belgian’s shoes, remains to be seen but replicating this year’s feats will possibly be team principle Malcolm Wilson’s biggest challenge yet.
As the curtains come down on another exciting year of WRC, the next few months will see the existing teams busily working to finalise their driver line-ups and rookies Hyundai concluding their testing program ready for when the cars gather on the start line in Monte Carlo on 15 January next year.
You know Ken Block don’t you… That American chap with the Fiesta who is a chain smoker, and by smoking we mean tyres. If you are round and made of rubber you had better cower as Mr Block releases Gymkhana Six. Armed with his 650HP 650lb ft of torque Ford Fiesta, his sixth motorsport gymnastics video is set to be another YouTube hit. Demonstrating fantastic car control, watch as he drifts, jumps and generally behaves as if his has an ASBO on the ultimate track.
Another impressive show from the YouTube sensation. Check it out!
There were dust storms, flames and home heartbreak on day 3 of Rally Spain 2013, but in the end one man emerged victorious from the chaos. Some people are champions for a reason, and sure enough Sébastien Ogier demonstrated every inch of his title winning credentials after staging a stunning recovery to take victory, and with it the 2013 constructors title for Volkswagen, on the Costa Daurada. Beginning the day in fourth, 45 seconds behind leading duo Dani Sordo and Jari-Matti Latvala, the Frenchman immediately set about taking advantage of his more favourable road position and by the end of the morning loop had devoured the deficit, leaving the front pair with just a 15 second cushion.
Latvala, forced to assume road sweeping duties thanks to Sordo’s tactical time loss on day 2, was first to tackle Sunday’s gravel tests. However, the Fin fared better than expected, with the anticipated hazardously slippery surface failing to materialise. The going was by no means easy for the overnight leader, but nevertheless he performed admirably to pull away from the pursuing Sordo. Ironically, it was the Spaniard who suffered worst of all from the change of surface, losing heaps of time in the immense dust clouds kicked up by Latvala’s Polo R, making a mockery of yesterday’s delicately laid master plan. However, whilst he and Latvala traded blows, a bigger threat was looming rapidly in to view from behind. Having made short work of Neuville’s Fiesta, to jump to third by stage 11, Ogier continued his astonishing charge in the afternoon, taking full advantage of the smoother racing line cleared by the earlier runners.
The inevitable dust issue on Sunday’s gravel stages has been a hot topic in Cataluña all weekend. Ever since organisers controversially refused to allow the overnight leader preference of road position on day 3 it has been clear that conditions on Sunday morning would play a big part in deciding the outcome of the rally. Yet few anticipated just how much the leader board would be turned on it’s head on the final day.
More drama was in store for the afternoon. First Neuville hit trouble when he picked up a puncture on stage 11, relegating him two places to fifth and out of contention for the win. Then, the worst fears of the home fans were realised. Desperately holding on to the coat tails of an increasingly distant Latvala, whilst simultaneously trying to keep the Ogier juggernaut at bay, Dani Sordo was a man under pressure by the afternoon loop. Having finally been reeled in by Ogier on the previous test, he threw caution to wind on stage 14, but went off only minutes in and ground to a halt soon after with critical suspension damage. After looking so well placed on Saturday evening, there was to be no fairy tale win, or even a place on the podium, for the Spaniard in front of his home crowd.
The penultimate stage proved to be the decider. Latvala came through seemingly unscathed but at the finish flames were clearly visibly licking from under the bonnet of his Polo R. The fire was soon extinguished but the problem clearly affected his run as he finally succumbed to Ogier with just one stage remaining. With the car in no fit shape to challenge for the lead again, the Fin was relieved just to make it over the finish line.
Completing the podium line up was Citroën’s Mikko Hirvonen, driving tidily if unspectacularly throughout to finish 40.8 seconds further back. Despite benefiting from his teammate’s misfortune to gain a place at the death, the ex-Ford man expressed his regret that Sordo couldn’t be on the podium to celebrate at his home event. The concern for his team, however, will be that the Fin has been woefully out of form of late and posted only two top three times all weekend.
Neuville could only muster fourth and looked uncomfortable with his Fiesta’s set-up for much of the rally. A puncture on Sunday afternoon put pay to any hopes of a late charge to the front; however he did win 3 bonus points on the power stage, keeping him 14 points ahead of Latvala in the quest for the championship runners-up spot. Teammate Evgeny Novikov performed consistently enough to secure fifth but lost track of Hirvonen’s DS3 on Sunday after matching the Fin through the earlier stages. Completing the M-Sport trio was Mads Ostberg. In front of the fanatical Norwegian support he enjoyed a much happier third day, taking second on stages 12, 14 and 15, but his earlier struggles left him well adrift of the lead group in seventh. It was another bad day at the office for Andreas Mikkelson though. Restarting after Saturday morning’s retirement, he flew to victory on the opening two stages, only to crash out again on the penultimate test. Newcomer Haydon Paddon managed an admirable eighth in his maiden WRC outing.
Whilst the top WRC honours may have already been sorted, the WRC 2 crown was still up for grabs in Spain. Requiring only second place to clinch the title, Robert Kobica went one better, blitzing all before him to ascend to the WRC 2 throne in thrilling style. Utterly dominant on the Costa Daurada, the Pole bulldozed his way to victory number five of the season by a colossal 5 minute 15 second margin. There was plenty of Polish support to great the new champion on the podium in Salou and they can now look forward to seeing their hero get behind the wheel of a fully-fledged Citroën DS3 WRC for Rally Wales GB.
But there was no doubting the man of the moment in Spain. Saturday’s setback may have proved a blessing in disguise in terms of road position but regardless of that it was still a magnificent comeback from Ogier, who is beginning to assume his own Loeb-like aura of invincibility. Ominous indeed for the rest of the field!
His quest for victory number nine of the season will begin on November 14th at Wales Rally GB, the finale to the 2013 WRC season.
After two days and nine stages of competition, the battle for the lead could not be tighter on the Costa Daurada, with Citroën and Volkswagen virtually deadlocked at the top of the standings heading in to Sunday’s finale. However, overnight leader Sébastien Ogier, has some tough work ahead if he is to get himself back in to the shakeup for victory, after a puncture lost him 50 seconds and the rally lead on Saturday afternoon. Quick to take advantage of his struggles were fellow Polo pilot Jari-Matti Latvala and Citroën’s Dani Sordo, with the Spaniard trailing the Fin by a miniscule 1.6 seconds overall.
The day had begun with Ogier in predictably jovial spirits, the Frenchman joking about deliberately losing time in order to avoid the dreaded road sweeping duties on Sunday. However, his stalling tactics were rather forced on him when, on stage 6, he damaged his Polo’s front left wheel on a rock masked by a deep cut on the inside of a corner. Fortunately, with midday service just around the corner the time loss was kept to a minimum, but the VW number one still founded himself plummeting from first to sixth, 48 seconds adrift of Sordo. The home favourite began the day well, tying the first test with Latvala and then winning the second outright, and even without Ogier’s midday misfortune looked likely to take over top spot. The afternoon proved an altogether more cagy affair. Since warning pre-event of the likelihood of drivers deliberately shedding time to gain more favourable road positions, Sordo himself has ironically proved the chief beneficiary of these tactics. Much like Friday evening, he cannily manoeuvred himself behind Latvala in tomorrow’s running order by allowing the Fin a slender advantage on stages 7, 8 and 9. The latter was the weekend’s star attraction, a 2.2 km dash along Salou seafront. Sure enough, fans lined the route in their thousands, generating a real carnival atmosphere. This was no party for the drivers though, not least Sordo, whose strategy worked to perfection. He posted the third fastest time behind new leader Latvala and Thierry Neuville and now appears to be in prime position to mount an attack on Sunday morning. Ogier’s day couldn’t of ended any differently to how it began, with the champion pounding down Salou promenade at full throttle in an attempt to claw back lost time. He currently sits fourth overall, 46 seconds further back.
Belgium’s Thierry Neuville had a better day after his set-up issues on Friday. Third behind, Latvala and Sordo, he registered a number of good times, including a precious win on the power stage which should help shore up his second place in the championship. However, It will be a big ask to make up the 29 second deficit if the lead pair steer clear of problems, and with Ogier on the war path behind him, he may well need to be focusing his attention back rather than forward on Sunday.
Mikko Hirvonen and Evgeny Novikov are effectively tied for fifth with 0.1 of a second between them but neither looks like troubling the scorers with a stage win. Mads Ostberg got the better of them both on the closing Salou stage but remains 1 minute 30 seconds further down the road in seventh. Meanwhile, Andreas Mikkelson’s day lasted only a matter of minutes, after the VW number three collided with a stone on the very first stage, destroying his Polo’s rear suspension.
There was much more positive news for Robert Kobica though, who continued his mauling of the WRC 2 line-up. Dropping only one stage all weekend, and even that due to a malfunctioning handbrake, the Pole is tenth overall and virtually in a different time zone to the rest of his class. A four minute cushion, combined with his closest challenger Elfyn Evans losing a wheel on the Salou street stage, means that a maiden title, and perhaps a move to bigger things, surely beckons.
Sunday’s final six tests are all located back in the hills to the west of Salou, where gravel is king. With this in mind, all eyes will be on the weather forecast, as any moisture in the air could reduce the dust hazard and swing things in favour of Latvala. But whilst the Fin will be doing a rain dance tonight, the outlook for Sunday is bright. So might be the spirits of the Spanish crowd by tomorrow afternoon if Dani Sordo can hold his nerve and deploy his master plan to become the first Spaniard since the great Carlos Sainz in 1995 to emerge victorious on his home rally.
For the first time ever, Inside Lane is bringing you live daily updates on location at the latest round of the World Rally Championship, meaning you won’t miss a second of the action as it unfolds from stage to stage. After a breathless Rally France, where new world champion Sébastien Ogier finally collected his crown on home turf, the action moves south to the Iberian peninsula for the penultimate round of the season – Rally de España 2013. The driver’s championship race may have already been settled, but the battle for the constructor’s championship remains unresolved and, more importantly, seats are now up for grabs for next season. This should guarantee more intrigue and drama on the gravel and asphalt of Cataluña.
After the pomp and pageantry of the much awaited ceremonial start at Barcelona Cathedral, the cars headed south to rendezvous with their teams at the main hub of the Rally, once again located in the charming seaside town of Salou. The Port Aventura Service Park, the teams’ nerve centre for the weekend, was bustling with activity with fans from all over the world flocking to catch a glimpse of their heroes. One man came in for particular attention from the masses, home favourite Dani Sordo, fresh on the back of a major upturn in form after his maiden rally victory earlier this year in Germany. The local contingent will be hoping that he can take inspiration from his recent hot streak and grab a second win in Citroën colours.
However, despite Spanish optimism, there was a very familiar French look to the top of the leader board after Friday night’s stages. Volkswagen’s Ogier was quickest in all three tests, holding an 8.8 second lead from teammate Jari-Matti Latvala after stage 3. Whilst others were left groping for grip in the darkness, the Frenchman seemed to revel in the nocturnal conditions and steered clear of errors to secure the lead heading in to day 2. To the delight of the home crowd, Sordo provided the closest threat, taking second in both opening stages and looking on course to follow Ogier through again on the third, only to back off and strategically concede the place to Latvala. The Spaniard had voiced his concern before the event that drivers would likely drop time on purpose so as to gain a better road position on Saturday and Sunday’s gravel stages and sure enough he was the first to take advantage. Although now 12.6 seconds behind the leader, he should have a clearer run tomorrow with both Polo’s sweeping the road ahead of him. Whether deliberately giving time away to the world champion was a wise choice remains to be seen!
Latvala was very pleased with his night’s work for second overall, however the same cannot be said for Thierry Neuville, whose own high standards seem to have deserted him as he struggled for any kind of rhythm in the gloom. He looked uncomfortable throughout, reporting understeer problems in the Fiesta RS, and a change of settings between stages did nothing improved matters. With an impressively large army of Belgian fans making the trip, the M-Sport man will be praying he can make a considerable dent in the 19.1 second gap to the leader on Saturday.
Another lethargic start for Citroën’s Mikko Hirvonen sees him way back in fifth and unlikely to make up the 27 second deficit to Ogier in a hurry. He may even struggle to retain his top five spot, with Andreas Mikkelson and Evgeny Novikov less than a second behind for VW and M-Sport respectively. Elsewhere, Mads Ostberg already cuts a dejected figure, trailing the top seven by nearly 40 seconds after just three legs. He even suffered the ignominy of being beaten by his new M-Sport team mate and WRC rookie Hayden Paddon on stage 2. The New Zealand youngster currently sits in ninth.
Meanwhile, this could be a momentous weekend for Robert Kobica, who appears to be closing in on the WRC2 title in his maiden season. Like Ogier, the Pole dominated his class, picking up a hat-trick of wins on day 1 to end stage 3 over 50 seconds ahead of his nearest rival. The ex-F1 man needs only a second place finish to be sure of the title heading in to the last round in GB, where he will link up with the Citroën WRC team.
On Saturday, the drivers will head in to the hills for gravel stages 4-8 before returning to Salou for the climax of the weekend, the much anticipated stage 9, which will run along the packed promenade to the finish line in the town centre itself.
