2016 is a year that will be associated with Nico Rosberg’s sole World Championship title after ten years in Formula One.
But his was far from the only underdog success story on the grid, as Force India took fourth in the World Constructors’ Championship courtesy of strong results including two podiums.
The pairing of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez had been a successful one during the previous two seasons, and it was no surprise to see the two regularly upsetting more established teams such as Williams and McLaren.
And yet it was to be a slow start for the Silverstone team as Hulkenberg’s seventh place in Australia was the only points finish either driver had for the first three races, while Perez got off the mark with ninth in Russia ahead of the unveiling of their new car in Europe.
Hulkenberg was to retire in Spain but in the hands of Perez the F1 paddock saw the step forward made by the team as he took seventh at the downforce-heavy Circuit de Catalunya. That preceded the best weekend of their season in Monaco.
After qualifying fifth and eighth respectively, Hulkenberg and Perez were both keen to use the difficult track conditions to their advantage on raceday. With Nico Rosberg struggling from the start, Perez made use of a good strategy and excellent wet-weather pace to take a comfortable third, while Hulkenberg’s persistence paid off in his pursuit of sixth from Rosberg, which he took on the final lap.
It was on to Canada next where eighth and tenth for Hulkenberg and Perez kept the points ticking over, while the team took their second podium in Azerbaijan. Perez was once again there to take advantage of a poor race for Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull to finish third behind Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel, with
Hulkenberg ninth after poor luck early on. Perez had qualified second only to be hit with a gearbox penalty.
A poor weekend in Austria was followed by another excellent team performance in the rain at the British Grand Prix, a mere stone’s throw from their base. They took advantage of Williams woe to finish sixth and seventh, while Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa failed to trouble the scorers. The battle was on.
Neither team scored heavily in Hungary as Bottas took ninth ahead of Hulkenberg in tenth, and more solid scoring was to follow for Force India in Germany as Hulkenberg came home seventh while his teammate salvaged tenth, again outscoring Williams.
VJ Mallya’s men had another spectacular weekend in Spa, scene of their sole pole position and first podium at the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix. Perez finished an excellent fourth, just ahead of his teammate. The European season drew to a close with another five points at the Italian Grand Prix.
Eighth place for Perez in Singapore started the flyaway rounds well for Force India, and sixth for the Mexican in Malaysia enhanced his bid for seventh place, while Hulkenberg backed him up well in eighth.
The Japanese Grand Prix is famous for Hulkenberg’s cheeky “see you later” message to Bottas after overtaking him at the final chicane at Suzuka, and it really was a case of waving goodbye to Williams. Perez and Hulkenberg in seventh and eighth finished ahead of both Bottas and Massa as the battle for fourth began to swing decisively in their favour.
Hulkenberg retired after an early collision with Bottas in America, while Massa was on for fifth place until Alonso’s aggressive move gave him a puncture. He finished seventh, just ahead of Perez in eighth. Fourth was there for the taking for Force India.
Another solid weekend at Perez’ home Grand Prix in Mexico saw Hulkenberg take seventh and Perez tenth, before Perez almost mounted the podium once again at a soaking Brazilian Grand Prix as Hulkenberg again claimed seventh.
Bottas’ retirement in Abu Dhabi when Williams would have needed a huge points advantage over Force India meant that the battle for fourth place was won. Still, seventh and eighth for Perez and Hulkenberg brought about the end of 2016 in a fitting way, the team consistently scoring well.
2016 was unquestionably the strongest season in Force India’s history, with a previous best result of fifth in the Constructors’ in 2015. This was the most successful season for the Silverstone factory since Heinz-Harald Frentzen’s 1999 title challenge.
Perez took seventh in World Drivers’ Championship with 101 points and was well backed up by Hulkenberg, who was ninth with 72.
The Mexican’s scoring streak lasted 11 races through to the end of the season and only came to an end at the recent Monaco Grand Prix, and with the budget of the
bigger teams, Force India will be hard pressed to beat 2016.
The overall winning drivers of British GT’s blue riband Silverstone 500 race will lift a historical piece of silverware next weekend (June 10/11) following the unveiling of the event’s new standalone trophy.
British GT organisers announced the prize at the end of 2016 and have since worked closely with Silverstone’s owners, the British Racing Drivers’ Club, to identify a suitably significant piece of silverware. Its archive contains many such examples but, together, the BRDC and SRO Motorsports Group have selected the ‘RAC Trophy’ that was previously awarded for a 500-mile race at Brooklands on 24 September 1932.
Back then it was common practice for prominent sporting bodies and organisations to sponsor individual awards. The Royal Automobile Club was no exception and presented its cup to BRDC Member William Alexander Cuthbert and his co-driver Cecil Wingfield Fiennes who finished fourth in 1932’s race driving a Riley 1100.
Almost a century ago the ‘500’ was considered one of the BRDC’s and Brooklands’ showpiece events. Indeed, Motor Sport Magazine’s season review, taken from its December 1932 issue, described it as “one of the finest races staged at Brooklands in years,” and “The ‘500’ added still further to its reputation as the finest race of the year at Brooklands.”
But when the circuit was requisitioned on the eve of WWII and subsequently sold in 1946, so the Club’s attention switched to another RAF base: Silverstone.
British GT has staged its own version of the ‘500’ there since 2012, which The Home Of British Motor Racing is now keen to formally recognise as a flagship event in its annual calendar. As such, this year’s race weekend will feature a prominent ‘Supercar Sunday’ display as well as family entertainment, open paddock, free grandstand access and pit walk.
Benjamin Franassovici, British GT Championship Manager: “The Silverstone 500 has gathered momentum since we first staged the race in 2012 and is very much seen as our season’s blue riband event. We were keen to further emphasise this by awarding a historically significant trophy to the overall winners and, thanks to the BRDC’s efforts, will be doing so for the first time this year. The trophy is stunning and a wonderful way of aligning our season’s biggest race with a genuine piece of British motorsport history. Whoever wins it can be mightily proud to see their name engraved on its silver and mahogany base.”
Adult tickets for next weekend’s Silverstone 500 start at just £12 while children aged 15 and under can attend for free all weekend. Visit www.silverstone.co.uk/events/british-gt-championship/ for more information.
SILVERSTONE 500 SCHEDULE
Saturday 10 June
09:30 – 10:30: Free Practice 1
12:25 – 13:25: Free Practice 2
16:05 – 16:15: Qualifying – GT3 Am
16:19 – 16:29: Qualifying – GT3 Pro
16:33 – 16:43: Qualifying – GT4 Am
16:48 – 16:58: Qualifying – GT4 Pro
Sunday 11 June
10:05 – 10:15: Warm-up
13:35 – 16:35: Race
Neil Simmons
Twitter: @world_racing
(c) Photograph and press release courtesy of SRO Motorsports Group
Gordon Shedden (GBR) Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R
The 2017 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship reaches its half way point next weekend (10/11 June) as the series’ pilgrimage around the best of the UK’s motor racing venues reaches North Yorkshire’s Croft Circuit for Rounds 13, 14 and 15 of the campaign.
A capacity 32-car grid will head north with drivers still searching for a foothold in Britain’s premier motor racing series, and the first dozen rounds of the season have been typically feisty and unpredictable – the fiercely competitive nature of the BTCC throwing up eight different visitors to the top step of the podium so far
.
Five marques have been represented in the winners’ circle, with Subaru joining the fold with a maiden win in 2017 via star turn Ash Sutton at Oulton Park – the site of its historic first victory in the championship last year.
The power shifted in the Drivers’ standings following the latest three rounds in Cheshire, with reigning champion Honda’s Gordon Shedden wresting control at the head of the pack after a disastrous outing for early-season table-topper Tom Ingram in the Speedworks Motorsport Toyota.
Tom Chilton (GBR) Power Maxed Racing Vauxhall Astra
The latter will be looking to bounce back after notching just a single point at Oulton, which shuffled him from top of the tree to third on the ladder between the Team BMW pair of Rob Collard second, and Colin Turkington, fourth – both winners at Croft in 2016.
A strong crowd is expected to descend on the charming, charismatic and challenging Croft Circuit to enjoy the mid-June sun with hundreds of thousands more watching the action live on ITV4, as is the case for each and every BTCC encounter.
A year on…
Gordon Shedden endured a tumultuous first half of the campaign in 2016 in his bid to retain his crown. By the time the Halfords Yuasa Racing champion arrived in North Yorkshire, he had suffered three non-finishes. Despite this, he still sat fourth in the championship.
Croft, though, did the Scot no favours with a weekend-best result of just 13th place and a race three finish outside of the top 20 leaving him marooned way down the order in the race for the most coveted crown in British motor sport – ninth and over 50 points shy of then-leader Sam Tordoff.
It’s a different kettle of fish in 2017, though, as Shedden stands in charge at the top of the pile as he searches for a third consecutive BTCC crown. A consistent run of results, with only one non-finish, a disqualification from a provisional race win at Donington Park, encompasses two race wins and five visits to the rostrum – double the number of each in comparison to this same stage last season.
This leaves the triple champion with a very different proposition at the classic Darlington venue this time around – heading the pack with maximum success ballast on board his Honda Civic Type R, albeit at the scene of his worst weekend of 2016.
“It’s fantastic to be heading there leading the championship, but the downside to that is having to carry 75kg of glorious ballast for qualifying and race one!” said Shedden. “That means we’ll need to play the long game, but hopefully the Civic Type R will do the business and the weekend will come to me as it goes on.”
“Croft is an interesting circuit,” he reflected. “It’s a little bit like a game of two halves with some really slow, technical corners and some really fast, high-adrenaline corners, which always throws up a few surprises.”
Michael Epps (GBR) Autoaid / RCIB Insurance Racing Volkswagen CC
Those next up in the running will be hot on Shedden’s heels, ready to capitalise, and will have a job on their hands given Honda, with the exception of last year, are traditionally extremely strong at Croft with 13 wins there in the modern era – joint-most with BMW.
It is the Bavarian marque currently leading the chase with Team BMW’s Rob Collard – the only driver to have scored points in every race so far in 2017. He also happens to have a sparkling record there, having won twice in the last two visits, tallying five podium finishes since 2014.
Croft is a circuit that naturally favours rear-wheel drive machinery and the sister Team BMW machine, harbouring Colin Turkington, will surely be there or thereabouts as he aims to close on Shedden from fourth in the standings. The Ulsterman has garnered the most victories, podiums and fastest laps there in the last 20 years – 11, 19 and 7 respectively. Little wonder he has been dubbed the ‘King of Croft’.
Speedworks Motorsport’s Tom Ingram is in recovery mode and will be looking to make amends and get his title challenge back on track while Matt Neal in the second Halfords Yuasa Racing Honda Civic Type R is also in the mix – a stunning podium triple at Oulton Park made certain of that.
The third 125i M Sport, of BMW Pirtek Racing’s Andrew Jordan is currently some 50 points shy of the top of the table but a victory and a further podium at Oulton Park showed he is firmly in contention, as is the Subaru of Ash Sutton who is just ahead in the tally in sixth spot after his trip to the top step in Cheshire.
Jason Plato (GBR) Team BMR Subaru Levorg
Local Heroes
Legendary BTCC champion Jason Plato has suffered a difficult 2017 to date, with fewer points on the board after the opening 12 rounds than ever before. A heavy start line shunt at the season-opening weekend was a factor and Plato will be hoping to be back at the sharp end on home soil, with the Subaru now a race-winning machine in 2017 in the hands of team-mate Ash Sutton.
“There’s progress on my car at times but we’re still trying to fathom what exactly is wrong with it,” said Plato. “At the moment it still won’t do what we want it to do.
“Mine is not responding in the same way as the other cars – we made changes on the others and got the same reaction from each, but made the same changes on my car and there was no reaction, so something’s not working.
“I always enjoy coming to Croft,” continued Plato, who grew up in nearby Newcastle. “It’s great to see familiar faces and the racing is always good. It’s usually a rear-wheel drive track and it suited the Subaru last year and hopefully we’ll make another step there with my car and we’ll see what we can do as a team. I’m looking forward to it.”
Huddersfield’s Dan Lloyd also calls Croft home and the MG man will be hoping to make a jump next weekend and build on a season-best 12th last time out, though matching his qualifying effort last year – a front-row berth – may be a tough challenge for the MG6 on current form.
Ashley Sutton (GBR) Team BMR Subaru Levorg
Neil Simmons
Twitter: @world_racing
(c) Photographs and press release courtesy of BTCC
Hyundai Motorsport continued to develop the New Generation i30 TCR with an intensive three-day program at the Circuit de Valencia
After previous testing allowed the team to establish a base set-up for the car, attention turned to maximizing the performance from specific areas of the chassis
The focus of the running at the 4km track was on testing different brake materials and damper settings.
Alzenau, Germany
June 2, 2017 – Hyundai Motorsport continued with the testing schedule for the New Generation i30 TCR earlier this week (May 30-June 1), successfully completing three days at the Circuit de Valencia.
Dani Sordo – Testing
The team returned to Spain for the third circuit test of the new car, having previously completed running at the Motorland Aragon circuit in the country, as well as Misano in Italy. As the development continued, attention turned from establishing a strong foundation for the project to concentrating on improving specific areas of performance.
With its technical infield section, long front straight and sweeping penultimate corner, the Valencia circuit was chosen, like the testing venues before it, for its mix of high and low speed corners. This offered the test team the opportunity to fully assess the balance of the chassis in a variety of situations over the course of the week, as the tight development schedule demands.
Focus falls on brakes and damper settings
The time at the Valencia circuit, which hosted a round of the inaugural TCR International Series season, was spent assessing different brake materials and damper settings. With each set-up change Hyundai Motorsport’s squad of engineers could compare the data not only with the New Generation i30 TCR’s previous runs on the 4km circuit, but with the baseline data gained from both Aragon and Misano. This information was then used, in conjunction with the feedback from Touring Car veteran and lead test driver Gabriele Tarquini, in order to work towards the ideal configuration.
Hayden Paddon – Testing
The New Generation i30 TCR is Hyundai Motorsport’s first project designed for circuit racing. The development of the new car is being overseen by the experienced engineers from the Customer Racing department based at the team’s headquarters in Alzenau, Germany. The first completed chassis are scheduled to be delivered to customers in early December.
Hyundai Motorsport Customer Racing department manager Andrea Adamo said: “Already we have proved that we have a very strong base car. However, this early in a project there are always areas where you can still increase performance and, more importantly for customer project, improve drivability. After establishing the foundations for the set-up at our previous tests we are now building on to them. At Valencia we focused on the damper and brake settings, and we finished this week with very good information in these areas. Future tests will concentrate on other areas, such as developing the aerodynamic package and maximizing the power from the engine.”
About the Hyundai Motorsport TCR project
Announced in February 2017 the TCR project marks Hyundai Motorsport’s first steps into circuit racing following three full seasons in the World Rally Championship (WRC). Built and developed by the Customer Racing department at the team’s headquarters in Alzenau, Germany the touring car racer will be based on the road-going New Generation i30 model. Design work for the project began in September 2016, taking advantage of the TCR regulations which, since their introduction in 2015, have been adopted by more than a dozen national and international championships. Testing of the first completed chassis began in April 2017, with the first car planned to be delivered to customer teams in early December 2017.
Further information about Hyundai Motorsport is available at: http://motorsport.hyundai.com
About Hyundai Motor
Established in 1967, Hyundai Motor Company is committed to becoming a lifetime partner in automobiles and beyond. The company, which leads the Hyundai Motor Group, an innovative business structure capable of circulating resources from molten iron to finished cars, offers top-quality best-sellers such as Elantra, Sonata and Genesis. Hyundai Motor has eight manufacturing bases and seven design & technical centers worldwide and in 2015, sold 4.96 million vehicles globally. With more than 100,000 employees worldwide, Hyundai Motor continues to enhance its product line-up with localized models and strives to strengthen its leadership in clean technology, starting with the world’s first mass-produced hydrogen-powered vehicle, ix35 Fuel Cell.
More information about Hyundai Motor and its products can be found at: http://worldwide.hyundai.com or http://globalpr.hyundai.com/
Neil Simmons
Twitter: @world_Racing
(c) Photographs and press release courtesy of Hyundai Motorsport
Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India F1 celebrates on the podium. Formula One World Championship, Rd 12, Belgian Grand Prix, Race, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium, Sunday 30 August 2009. courtesy of Sahara Force India F1 Team
Once upon a time in India, a great country where you can find or loose yourself. Now, there is Force India, an F1 team that since 2008 has always surprised us. And in this special team was a special driver, the gladiator Giancarlo Fisichella.
The Roman driver began his F1 adventure in 1995 as a tester for Minardi and taking part in some races of the 1996 season without scoring points. In 1997, with a decent car, Jordan allowed Giancarlo to score 20 points with some great races, podiums and fastest laps, ending the season in eighth place in the final standing.
After four good seasons in Benetton, from 1998 to 2001, the Italian driver returned to Jordan, where in 2003 claimed his first win of his career in a thrilling race at the circuit of Interlagos. He could celebrate the win only 5 days later, because of an error of timing that gave the victory to Raikkonen. After passing a season at Sauber, Giancarlo began a great period of his career signing for the winning team Renault, where he didn’t have an easy life sharing the box with Fernando Alonso. Anyway he was able to win some good races and score many points both in 2005 and in 2006. But Fernando Alonso was the man in that era, so the Spaniard won both the championships and Fisichella had to be content with minor results in the final standing. In 2007, Renault lost Fernando Alonso to McLaren, and with him a lot of performance, so Fisichella could only score 21 points without wins or podiums.
And finally we arrive to the first season in Force India, 2008, where Giancarlo couldn’t score points because of a lack of reliability with the VJM01, even using a Ferrari engine. But in 2009, after a troubled start to the season without any points, in the Belgian grand prix he grabbed a fantastic pole position and a second place in the race. It was epic! In fact, after Massa’s accident in Hungary, Ferrari, to replace the Brazilian, choose Giancarlo for the remaining races of the season. And there happened the paradox! Maybe Ferrari didn’t suit him well, maybe Ferrari had a deep technical crisis, but Fisichella couldn’t reach good results with Maranello squad.
That’s the life: often it’s not gold what you see shining.
The World Rally Championship arrived in Portugal, the first European gravel that these new cars would be unleashed on in competition.
There would be nineteen stages over the four days.
Just a reminder of the schedule for you.
THURSDAY 18 MAY
7.30am: Shakedown (Paredes)
6.10pm: Start (Guimaraes)
7.03pm: SS1 – Lousada (3.36km)
8.00pm: Parc ferme (Exponor)
FRIDAY 19 MAY
8.40am: Service A (Exponor – 19 min)
10.09am: SS2 – Viana do Castelo 1 (26.70km)
11.06am: SS3 – Caminha 1 (18.10km)
11.46am: SS4 – Ponte de Lima 1 (27.46km)
2.25pm: Service B (Exponor – 34 mins)
4.09pm: SS5 – Viana do Castelo 2 (26.70km)
5.06pm: SS6 – Caminha 2 (18.10km)
5.46pm: SS7 – Ponte de Lima 2 (27.46km)
7.03pm: SS8 – Braga Street Stage 1 (1.90km)
7.28pm: SS9 – Braga Street Stage 2 (1.90km)
8.40pm: Service C (Exponor – 49 mins)
SATURDAY 20 MAY
7.15am: Service D (Exponor – 19 mins)
9.08am: SS10 – Vieira do Minho 1 (17.43km)
9.46am: SS11 – Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (22.30km)
11.04am: SS12 – Amarante 1 (37.55km)
1.00pm: Service E (Exponor – 34 mins)
3.08pm: SS13 – Vieira do Minho 2 (17.43km)
3.46pm: SS14 – Cabeceiras de Basto 2 (22.30km)
5.04pm: SS15 – Amarante 2 (37.55km)
6.55pm: Service F (Exponor – 49 mins)
SUNDAY 21 MAY
7.35am: Service G (Exponor – 19 mins)
9.08am: SS16 – Fafe 1 (11.18km)
9.30am: SS17 – Luilhas (11.91km)
10.20am: SS18 – Montim (8.66km)
12.18pm: SS19 – Power Stage Fafe 2 (11.18km)
1.50pm: Service H (Exponor – 14 mins)
2.20pm: Finish
The shakedown was very close.
1. Sordo / Marti (Hyundai i20 WRC) 3:06.9
2. Ogier / Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) 3:07.0
3. Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) 3:07.1
4. Meeke / Nagle (Citroën C3 WRC) 3:07.2
5. Evans / Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) 3:07.5
12. Lefebvre / Moreau (Citroën C3 WRC) 3:09.4
13. Breen / Martin (Citroën C3 WRC) 3:09.5
16. Al Qassimi / Patterson (Citroën C3 WRC) 3:16.3
The first stage was just a blast around. Thierry and Mads set the same time incredibly!
SS1 – Lousada (SSS) (3.36km)
1 Neuville & Ostberg 2:36.6 (90kph)
3 Paddon +0.1
After the short stage on Thursday evening, the top ten looked like this.
1 Ostberg 2m36.6s
2 Neuville +0.0s
3 Paddon +0.1s
4 Evans +0.4s
5 Sordo +0.5s
6 Ogier +0.7s
7 Latvala +1.5s
8 Lefebvre +1.5s
9 Hänninen +1.8s
10 Meeke +2.0s
Friday dawned bright and warm. Hayden powered through the stage, clearly glad to be back on gravel and took the lead of the event. His teammate, Thierry had a nightmare, losing nearly 13 seconds and dropping to 12th overall.
SS2 – Viana do Castelo 1 (26.70km)
1 Paddon 15:44.3 (104kph)
2 Latvala +1.0
3️ Meeke +1.2
Stage three and there was another change in the lead, with Jari-Matti moving to the front after Hayden lost time. There was big drama for Lefebvre who rolled in the stage and had two punctures now on his car and still one more stage before midday service. Ogier lost time through here and was now down to eighth position. Running at the front clearly was doing him no favours.
The longest stage of the day and well, what an incredible situation with the top three setting the same time! Ogier would power through just 1.2 seconds slower than the top three, bringing his car back into the top five! Kris was just half a second behind Jari-Matti, now challenging for the lead!
SS4 – Ponte de Lima 1 (27.46km)
1️ Meeke, Breen & Tanak ‼️ 19:14.0 (85.3kph)
A quick midday service and then it was time to get back out there. Hayden repeated his stage win from the morning and moved back into the top five deposing Ogier down to sixth. Kris took the lead from Jari-Matti by just two tenths of a second
SS5 – Viana do Castelo 2 (26.70km)
1 Paddon 15:35.6 (104kph)
2 Sordo +4.2
3️ Meeke +5.1
Thierry won the next stage, thus closing the gap to his teammate Dani on the overall leaderboard. Hayden in his i20 also moved up to third overall. The big news was that Kris tumbled down from the lead to fifth place, now 6.2 seconds from the lead and Ott Tanak took over the lead.
SS6 – Caminha 2 (18.10km)
1 Neuville 10:25.0 (108kph)
2 Evans +0.4
3 Tanak +2.0
The next stage would be full of drama for Kris, who would run wide and hit the rear of his car thus damaging his suspension. Jari-Matti would also roll his Toyota, but was able to continue. It would go all wrong for Hayden, who suffered an electrical failure and drop from third to sixteenth! What a shocker for the young kiwi. With all this happening, both Dani, who won the stage and Ogier moved up into second and third respectively on the main leaderboard.
SS7 – Ponte de Lima 2 (27.46km)
1 Sordo 19:20.2 (85.3kph)
2 Ogier +2.6
3 Tanak +4.6
Just two small stages to end the first full day, which finished with these results.
SS8 – Braga Street Stage1 (1.90km)
1 Ogier 1:48.8 (60kph)
2 Neuville +0.2
3 Paddon +0.5
SS9 – Braga Street Stage2 (1.90km)
1 Ostberg 1:46.5 (60kph)
2 Paddon +0.4
3 Evans +0.6
Here the top ten after the first day.
1 O. Tanak 1:37:18.5
2 D. Sordo +4.6
3 S. Ogier +5.0
4 T. Neuville +11.1
5 C. Breen +12.9
6 E. Evans +18.3
7 J. Hänninen +52.0
8 E. Lappi +1:12.3
9 A. Mikkelsen +3:17.8
10 M. Østberg +3:50.0
Let’s here from the drivers then, starting with the top three.
Ott Tänak (1st) said:
“It’s great to be in the lead of the rally. The plan always was to get a good start position for tomorrow and it looks as though we’ve made a good job of that.
“We struggled a bit this afternoon with some damage to the wishbone on the middle stage [SS6]. We had to make some repairs, so I’m happy to see that it stayed together and we made it back to service still in the lead.
“As we saw today, the competition is really tight and everyone is going at pretty much the same pace. It’s really good to see that the competition is so strong and I’m sure that will continue into tomorrow. We just need to keep pushing and keep smart.”
Dani Sordo (2nd) said:
“It’s been a very promising and highly enjoyable day. We have shown some good pace in the Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC, and set some competitive stage times. It is always a special feeling to perform so well in front of these passionate fans, so I was very happy to claim a stage win this afternoon. It’s been an incredibly close day and there are just five seconds separating the top three, with plenty more action behind us as well. I think it will continue to be an exciting rally with very tough stages to come on Saturday. I hope we can carry on in this way and try to score our second podium of the season.”
Sébastien Ogier (3rd) said:
“Overall, I think we can be really happy with our day. It was tough to open the road, but we pushed hard through all of the stages and I’m very pleased with our position tonight.
“It got quite rough for the second loop which is always a bit more risky, but for sure it’s faster to be further back – cleaning the road is never easy. If I could choose, I would always prefer to start from the back but it’s part of the game and I think we’ve done a really good job today.
“The competition is so tight at the moment and we came really close to catching Dani on the closing stages – just 0.4 seconds at the end of the day! It’s certainly going to be an interesting one tomorrow. The rally is still anyone’s for the taking and we’ll give it our all like always.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Craig Breen (5th) said:
“It’s been a fantastic day, I didn’t expect to be fighting so near the front on what is effectively my first time here. I feel that I have made progress in understanding the car and my only regret was on SS7, when I damaged the damper when I hit a stone. If it hadn’t been for that, I think we could have closed the gap to the leaders!”
Stéphane Lefebvre (19th) said:
“It’s a shame because I felt comfortable in the C3 WRC on these roads. On SS3, we were on a fast section and there was a misunderstanding on the pace note. I carried too much speed into the corner and the car drifted wide before hitting a low bank. We rolled, but the damage wasn’t too significant. The mechanics did a great job during service, but the handling of the car was nonetheless impaired throughout the second loop. The main thing is that we are still in the race, and we’ll be trying hard to do better tomorrow.”
Khalid Al Qassimi (20th) said:
“We spent the day learning about what is fundamentally a very different car to the one I have been driving recently. As we completed more stages, we tried to alter the set-up to suit my driving style. There are a lot of things to learn in order to establish all the right reflexes. I’m pleased to have avoided making any mistakes.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Thierry Neuville (4th) said:
“I am pleased that we got back some of our lost time. I felt that we could have regained some tomorrow but we are now more firmly in the podium and victory fight, which is fair. It was nice to share the stage win in Thursday evening’s super special but we got down to real business on Friday morning and it was a different story. It might not have been the best opening stage this morning but the feeling was getting better and better. We ended the morning just ten seconds from the podium. We wanted to give it a push in the afternoon where tyre choice was really important. I think we made the right decision for the entire loop, and we won SS6 with a very nice time. We were just focused on not making mistakes and closing the time deficit to the leader. Now we can put the dramas from today behind us and look ahead to Saturday with optimism.”
Hayden Paddon (24th) commented:
“I honestly don’t know when we are going to catch a break. Things started well this morning with a stage win. We had a small electrical issue in SS3, which cost us some time, but it was really close at the top and we were firmly in the battle. We were expecting the second pass to suit us better. Tyre choice was an important consideration but we were managing that well. We benefitted from some positive changes to the diff and suspension at lunchtime service, so it was looking really promising. Then, in SS7, we were on a flyer but the electrical issue recurred suddenly and we stopped mid-stage. We lost 11 minutes before we could get restarted and we have to re-join under Rally 2 tomorrow. That’s effectively the rally over for us but our road position tomorrow means we can try to show our true pace. We can only use the remainder of the weekend as a test. I’m trying to stay positive but I hope there’s something really good when this run of bad luck ends.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans (6th) said:
“It’s been an okay day to be fair. We had a few little issues this morning and I didn’t get off to a great start. It was quite damp and it didn’t suit the tyres so well – we prefer it when it’s a bit dryer – but the middle stage was good. Unfortunately, we then picked up a puncture [on the last stage of the morning, SS4] and lost what I think was about 15 seconds to the leaders.
“The gap has stayed the same this afternoon and if you take the puncture out of the equation we would have been looking at quite a positive position. But it is what it is, and we’ll keep fighting tomorrow. It’s good that everyone is so close, and I think everyone will be going hard tomorrow so we need to do our best.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (13th) said:
“I was able to push hard today, even though the roads were even rougher than I expected. To be leading the rally was quite surprising. On the final gravel stage of the day, which was very rough, I had a strange feeling with the car, like it was skidding. I didn’t manage to get it stopped on time, so we hit the bank, went up onto two wheels and rolled, losing a lot of time. There was some damage to the car but we managed to get it to back to service, which is the most important thing and tomorrow is a new day. We will fight to get back in the points, as we have already shown today that with our Toyota Yaris WRC we can fight for victory.”
Juho Hänninen (7th)
“Compared to lots of other people I had quite a good day today, not so many big problems. In the morning, I felt I was quite careful, maybe a little bit too careful, but that’s always better than not being careful enough. We made some changes to the car for the afternoon to help it cope with the rougher terrain even better, but it was still very difficult. We picked up a bit of a damage, with the front wing coming off, but not enough to affect us too much. We’ve seen that the car is fast and strong, so there are lots of reasons to be happy as we go into tomorrow.”
Esapekka Lappi (8th)
“It was a good day for me, even though we lost some time with a hole in the intercooler in the afternoon, which affected the amount of power. Apart from that I’m quite happy: I tried not to take any risks and play my way into it gradually. Today was all about building up confidence, especially as the roads were more slippery and softer than I expected. I think we are OK in the slow corners; in the fast corners, I feel we can go quicker, but for now I’m not quite brave enough!”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg (10th) said:
“It was a shame to get two punctures over SS4 and SS5. I thought I could manage to finish the stage without too much loss, like I did on SS4 where I also had a puncture. But with eight km’s to go on SS5 I was driving on the rim and had to stop to change the wheel. It was a huge disappointment, as we felt we had the speed to fight for top positions in this rally.”
Mads dropped to 16th, but fought back in the afternoon.
“I must say I am a bit surprised and amused. Superspecials and spectator stages really hasn`t been my strength before, and I can`t actually remember the last time I won such a stage. I did a lousy run through SS8, the first time through the stage in Braga, and was really disappointed with myself. Then I thought before SS9 that I can`t let all this people think I am that bad. So, I was properly angry and drove a near perfect stage. It was also very satisfying to win a stage on tarmac. I felt I had reached an all-time low after SS5, but now I am looking forward to show that my speed is good enough to post stage times among the best. This is definitely a very demanding and tough rally, and there are possibilities to advance several places as long as we stay on the road.”
Saturday’s action started just after 8am UK time. Five stages, with the longest stage of the whole weekend, Amarante at 37.55km’s being run twice.
Seb was after that win and he was close enough to his teammate to do it. First blood would fall to him and he would move up into second place overall. With Elfyn going through the stage so fast, it would see him move ahead of Craig into fifth place. Mads would also move up ahead of Jari-Matti into ninth place.
SS10 – Vieira do Minho 1 (17.43km)
1 Ogier 10:46.4 (102kph)
2 Evans +0.2
3 Neuville +1.8
Ott fought back on the next stage to open up a six second lead over Seb, with Thierry moving ahead of Dani into third as well. Both Craig and Juho moved ahead of Elfyn who dropped down to seventh.
SS11 – Cabeceiras de Basto 1 (22.30km)
1 Tanak 13:32.6 (101.5kph)
2 Ogier +5.2
3 Neuville +9.9
Ott would endure a nightmare following stage. He slid wide and the car hit a bank, causing damage that would slow him down, falling from the lead to fifth place. Seb assumed the lead, with Thierry, Dani, and Craig moving up a place. Ott had lost a minute and ten seconds. The gap between first and second was now 19.5 seconds.
SS12 – Amarante 1 (37.55km)
1 Ogier 24:41.5 (92.5kph)
2 Neuville +6.9
3 Sordo +8.6
Thierry would win this one, clearly car and driver now working in harmony. Seb was only a second slower though, so this wasn’t the watershed moment we were hoping for. Former leader Ott would lose another three seconds, but still maintained fifth overall. The good news was that Ott had managed to get his car to service, so the problem was able to be sorted before the afternoon stages.
I’ll let Ott explain what happened.
He says, “We were having a really good morning and the car felt really good. We were pushing for sure, but also fairly comfortable at the pace we were setting. Unfortunately, we just had some understeer under braking [on SS12] and hit the bank on the outside.
“We damaged the suspension and lost the brakes which made it pretty difficult through the closing kilometres and cost us a lot of time. But what can you do? We just have to pick ourselves up and focus on the next loop.
“We need to do the same job as we did this morning. Get everything fixed, make a good tyre choice, get back into the same rhythm, and see what we can do.”
With Ott’s car fixed, he was back in the groove, setting a quick time and looking to catch Craig who was ahead of him in fourth place and the gap came down by three seconds.
SS13 – Vieira do Minho 2 (17.43km)
1 Neuville 10:43.4 (102kph)
2 Ogier +1.0
3 Tanak +3.5
While Ogier and Neuville would continue their dice for the lead, Ott closed the gap a further six seconds to Craig. There were changes further down with Elfyn and Esapekka both moving up ahead of Juha into sixth and seventh places.
SS14 – Cabeceiras de Basto 2 (22.30km)
1 Ogier 13:31.0 (101.5kph)
2 Neuville +4.5
3 Latvala +5.0
Thierry would take six seconds out of Seb’s lead in stage 15, but the good news for Ott would continue in the afternoon loop, with him moving ahead of Craig into fourth place. After his improvement in the previous stage, Esapekka would lose a bundle of time dropping to eleventh place. All the drivers behind would move up one place each.
SS15 – Amarante 2 (37.55km)
1 Neuville 24:33.8 (92.5kph)
2 Ogier +6.2
3 Tanak +10.3
So, after a dramatic Saturday, lets here from the drivers, starting with the top three.
Sébastien Ogier (1st) said:
“I’m very happy with how my day went. It’s been a very long time since I‘ve been able to do this kind of performance – having always been first or second into the stages. I think I did the same kind of driving as yesterday but the road position is quite different and I’m very pleased with the gap that we have managed to build.
“For sure the rally is not over yet and we still need to finish the job. With 16 seconds you can never relax completely so we need to continue in the same way – keeping the same speed and staying clear of trouble.
“We have some beautiful stages still to drive tomorrow and I really love Fafe – it’s fantastic. For sure we still have to push because no one is going to back off. We still need to give it all we have and the Power Stage is always important for those extra points.
“I’m really looking forward to this last day and hoping to bring home another good result for the team and the championship.”
Thierry Neuville (2nd) said:
“We have done all we could do today to stay in touch with the rally leader. We have shown consistent pace throughout the day and also taken two stage wins ourselves, which is encouraging. But Ogier has been out of reach in some stages today, which has allowed him to build a healthy lead. We are pretty happy to be second, though, especially after the tough day we had yesterday. This morning was something of a compromise on tyres. We started strongly in SS13 with the win but then it was hit and miss, as we gained in some places and lost in others. The final run of the day was the one I felt most comfortable with, and it was nice to end the day with a stage win. There are still opportunities in the final four stages but as a team we have two cars on the podium, so we won’t be doing anything crazy on Sunday morning.”
Dani Sordo (3rd) said:
“It’s been a difficult day really but we can be reasonably content to be in a comfortable podium position. I tried my best, as always, but I wanted to put up more of a battle for the lead than we were able to. The car was sliding around at the rear quite a bit, especially in the morning, and we were missing some traction compared to our nearest rivals. We tried to make improvements at lunchtime but the times did not improve. The stages were still enjoyable and I had fun. We can’t be too disappointed to be third, on the provisional podium, which was our target this weekend. There is still a lot to do on Sunday, so it is not guaranteed yet.”
Ott Tänak (4th) said:
“It was a shame about what happened this morning. We were pushing hard but still felt quite comfortable with the pace we were setting. This is rallying and it’s just the way it goes sometimes so I’m not too frustrated.
“This afternoon we weren’t pushing so much – just concentrating on having a good rhythm with a smooth and clean drive. It was good to get back up to fourth, and that gives us a better road position going into tomorrow.
“We’ll see what happens and try to do our best as always. Craig [Breen] is still quite close behind and he’s had some good speed this weekend so we’ll have to keep an eye on him for sure.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans (6th) said:
“We were really happy with the first stage [SS10], but it’s not been so good since then. I made a mistake half way through the second stage [SS11] and was quite lucky to get back on the road. We did, but we drove to the end of the stage with a puncture and that then caused some damage to the damper – which hampered us for the longest stage of the loop [SS12].
“Moving on to the afternoon, we decided to try some different things and experimented within our package. It didn’t work out, but nothing ventured nothing gained and we did manage to get back up to sixth which is a positive.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi Racing WRT
Craig Breen (5th)
“It was difficult for me to compete with drivers who have contested some stages for the last three years. In any case, we managed to hold onto fourth place for most of the day and improve our understanding of the car. On Amarante 2, I had to cope with wear on the rear tyres and I made a little mistake, which let Tänak past. But the gap is less than three seconds and tomorrow is a proper leg, so we’ll see. I’m staying positive!”
Stéphane Lefebvre (14th)
“I struggled to get my bearings in the car this morning. It’s true that my road position was less favourable than yesterday. But as we completed more stages, and then during service, we made significant progress with the set-up. It was an instructive day.”
Kris Meeke (23rd)
“I was unable to reproduce the level of performance I had yesterday. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact there wasn’t much at stake today, given that we rejoined under Rally2 rules. We worked on the set-up, and made some progress between the morning and afternoon loops.”
Khalid Al Qassimi (18th)
“Insofar as we were running second on the road, we inherited a tough situation because there was a lot of cleaning. Everything didn’t go perfectly today; I found myself with no ‘boost’ on SS14 and the car was very difficult to drive at that point. In any case, the C3 WRC has a huge amount of potential and I think I have made progress in driving the car.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon commented: “What can I say? It just seems our bad luck continues. We started this morning’s loop in a positive frame of mind despite the issues we had yesterday. The team worked hard to replace the loom on the car to allow us to continue under Rally 2. We knew it would be tough as second on the road, but we were determined to push and have some fun. I enjoyed it! We had some good sideways moments and put on a good show for the fans. The times were never going to be representative with all the cleaning we had to do. Then, in the afternoon, our luck turned once again as we experienced a steering problem that ended the day early. Not a lot more to add, other than we’ll try to have a trouble-free final day tomorrow.”
Jipocar WRT
Mads Østberg (8th) said:
“After yesterday’s punctures and time losses we were in a vacuum with no realistic chances of a top placing. I am still trying to learn the 2017 spec car and has used the six stages today to test different suspension settings and get some experience with the different tyres. We have advanced according to plan and will be fighting for as many points as possible tomorrow.”
Speaking about Jari-Matti, Mads continued-
“He is not far behind, but I get some motivation actually to fight for position. We will use the experience from this rally to come back even stronger in Sardinia, but first I must keep Jari-Matti behind me tomorrow.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (9th) said:
“I started the day not feeling very well: I had a stomach upset that made it difficult for me to keep any food down, but it’s been getting better and better. The really positive thing about today is that we’ve definitely improved the car for the second passes over the stages, especially the suspension. Everyone has done a lot of good work so compared to yesterday, it’s certainly going in the right direction. We’ve had one or two small niggles during the day but no major problems. The roads were more solid today, which made the cleaning effect bigger, but this also meant that they were not damaged as much in the afternoon. This rally has been a good learning experience for us so far.”
Juho Hänninen (7th) said:
“We saw some dust from Esapekka on the final stage, and he quickly let us past on after his problem so big thanks to him and the team for co-ordinating this. Quite a tricky day for us, as in the afternoon we lost about a minute after the car stopped on stage 14 and then it took us some time to get going again; I’m not entirely sure why yet, but I believe the team will fix it. Generally, the stages this afternoon were in better condition than they were yesterday, but of course I am driving with a bit in reserve as I don’t really have any experience here. Apart from that, no big issues, but the grip for me felt a bit variable all day. The important thing is to stay calm, then hopefully we can have a good result tomorrow.”
Esapekka Lappi (11th) said:
“I got caught out by some loose gravel on the asphalt part of the final stage and unfortunately this meant that the back of the car hit a wall: it did some damage to the rear-right and we also lost the brake disc. Luckily, we were able to come back to service. On the second stage this morning we also lost around a minute: I stalled the car on the stage, which was my mistake, and then I had to make some adjustments to start it again. So a few mistakes from me today and we didn’t always have the right tyres either, but that is all part of the learning process. Generally, I thought there was a bit less grip on the roads today than yesterday, so in some places I was braking a bit too early.”
Top ten after day two
1 Ogier 3h15m24.6s
2 Neuville +16.8s
3 Sordo +51.3s
4 Tanak +1m29.6s
5 Breen +1m32.4s
6 Evans +3m01.8s
7 Hänninen +3m29.8s
8 Ostberg +5m16.6s
9 Latvala +5m32.7s
10 Mikkelsen +7m06.6s
11 Lappi +8m00.9s
Sunday
First stage of the day would feature the world famous Fafe leap! Hayden would hit the ground running and won it from Ott and Thierry. The only place that would change was Esapekka moving ahead of Lefebvre into tenth place. Thierry closed the gap to Seb by a little over a second, bringing the gap down to 16 seconds. Ott was also closer to Dani, going seven seconds faster than the Spaniard.
SS16 – Fafe 1 (11.18km)
1 Paddon 6:39.7 (110kph)
2 Tanak +2.6
3 Neuville +2.7
Dani wasn’t going to let the young Estonian through without a fight though and was duly faster than Ott keeping the gap above thirty seconds with two stages left. Mads was doing a great job in his Fiesta, keeping Jari-Matti behind him.
SS17 – Luílhas (11.91km)
1 Ogier 8:09.7 (82.5kph)
2 Sordo +3.3
3 Neuville +3.3
Hayden would continue his good form, winning his second stage of the day, and Kris just behind him showing much better, after a pretty awful event, one that he won last year as well. With one stage to run, the gap between first and second was now 17.5 seconds and barring disaster, Seb was in the pound seats. Dani was doing a perfect run, maintaining the gap to Ott at the thirty second mark.
SS18 – Montim (8.66km)
1 Paddon 5:51.7 (96kph)
2️ Meeke +2.1
3 Evans +3.4
Ott would win the power stage and with it the five points. Thierry would take second and four points, Elfyn three points, Esapekka completing his first WRC event fourth in this stage and taking two points from it and championship leader Seb, one point.
SS19 – Fafe 2 (Power Stage) (11.18km)
1 Tanak 6:38.3 (110kph)
2 Neuville +0.4
3 Evans +1.5
Final Results
1 Ogier 3h42m55.7s
2 Neuville +15.6s
3 Sordo +1m01.7s
4 Tanak +1m30.2s
5 Breen +1m57.4s
6 Evans +3m10.6s
7 Hänninen+3m48.6s
8 Ostberg +5m29.7s
9 Latvala +5m43.6s
10 Lappi +8m13.3s
Seb took his second win of the season for M-Sport, to open up the gap to his closest challenger, Thierry.
Let’s hear from the drivers, starting with the top three.
Sébastien Ogier (1st) said:
“I’m delighted with this result. It’s been a hard fight until the end but I think everyone always enjoys winning like that. Honestly, when we did the recce, I didn’t think we would have a chance to challenge for the victory – and that makes this result an even prouder and happier one.
“Opening the road is always a challenge, but we had a really good run through Friday’s stages and that gave us a much better road position for the rest of the rally. On Saturday, I was back where I always prefer to be and posted the first or second fastest time though every stage.
“It was an intense fight with Ott through the first half of the rally. He had great pace all weekend and, even after his mistake, managed to score good points for the team.
“Everything feels good and I really must thank the team for all of their hard work. I’ve always said that rallying is a team effort and the car has been perfect all weekend. Everyone is putting in the maximum and they really deserve this victory.
“I’m happy that we could give back from our side with a strong performance. Actually, my number one mechanic and my engineer are Portuguese so I’m sure they are very proud to secure this one too!”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Thierry Neuville (2nd) said:
“We had a good, clean Power Stage to end our rally in a positive manner. We have struggled a bit with the rear of the car this weekend, which has prevented us from challenging Ogier and M-Sport for the win more strongly. They delivered a great performance here, which we couldn’t match. Still, after two wins I am pleased to finish second as well as taking another good haul of Power Stage points. That has been very important for my position in the Drivers’ Championship, moving now into second place behind Ogier. Also, from a team point of view, with Dani in third, we have added more points to the team’s standings, so it’s been a valuable and successful weekend. Thanks to the team for their efforts, we can now look ahead to Sardinia, where we were victorious last season, in a very positive frame of mind.”
2017 FIA World Rally Championship Round 06, Rally de Portugal 18-21 May 2017 Thierry Neuville – Nicolas Gilsoul, Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC Photographer: RaceEMotion Worldwide copyright: Hyundai Motorsport GmbH
Dani Sordo (3rd) said:
“I am really happy with this podium result. I was a bit disappointed on Saturday not to be able to fight closer to the front, but Sébastien and Thierry were just too fast. It left me a bit too far away to attack more on today’s stages so I was just focused on finishing third and taking the podium. It was a fun and enjoyable weekend. The support of the spectators was incredible and it was fantastic to see so many people lining the stages. Big thanks to everyone who has cheered us on, and to everyone in the team for this great result.”
M-Sport WRT
Ott Tänak (4th) said:
“Generally, I think we can be pleased with our weekend. We made a mistake on Saturday which meant that we lost the chance to battle Seb for the victory, but we had good pace, good speed and a good feeling with the car.
“I think this was probably the best set-up that I have had all year. After every test we keep improving and we’ll have a two-day test next week to prepare for Sardinia where we hope to challenge for another strong result.
“This is traditionally the event where you see the true potential of the cars and, at the moment, it looks like we have a good package. For sure there are still some small improvements to be made, but it’s certainly looking promising.”
D-Mack WRT
Elfyn Evans (6th) said:
“It’s been a rally of ups and downs. It’s not been the perfect weekend, but there are plenty of good things to take away. It wasn’t ideal that we made the mistake on Saturday, but when the going was good, so was the speed and we have to take that positive forward.”
Citroen Abu Dhabi WRT
Craig Breen (5th) said:
“It looks like I’ve signed up for fifth place for the season! It’s been another good weekend for us. We were one of the fastest on Friday and in all likelihood, we would have led the overall standings had we not hit a rock and broken a damper on SS7. We had a little bit more difficulty matching the pace of the leading cars on the next two days. I think there were several factors at play, but it was mainly down to my lack of knowledge of the stages and not having such a good starting position. We’ll keep working and try to do even better in Sardinia.”
Stéphane Lefebvre (13th) said:
“The result obviously falls way short of what we were looking for when we came here. We had worked particularly hard to prepare for this rally, but our race changed shape dramatically on Friday morning. After our roll, we tried to improve as we completed more stages. Our starting position certainly didn’t help us to show what we can do.”
Kris Meeke (18th) said:
“We ended the rally today having got back to a rhythm closer to that of the leading crews. It seems that our level of performance wasn’t as good after the first leg, and we’ll need to work out why. We must all keep working and, on my side of things, I have to cut out these minor mistakes.”
Khalid Al Qassimi (17th) said:
“We had quite a scare on the second run over the Fafe jump! I wanted to go faster than on the first pass, but it was clearly a bit too much… In any case, I’m pleased to make it to the end of my first rally in the Citroën C3 WRC. I need to get more kilometres under my belt to come to terms with its potential.”
Hyundai Motorsport
Hayden Paddon (29th) commented:
“First of all, I’d like to say big thanks to our team for their hard work. It’s been a frustrating one at times but they have never given up. In fact, they only dig deeper with each rally so we are all aiming to conquer this challenge together. We wanted to use these final stages of the rally to show what we could accomplish, and the fact we could set more stage wins only reinforced what might have been without our troubles. The Power Stage was fun. As first on the road, we had to do a lot of cleaning, more than we expected, but I enjoyed it. Seb has done an amazing job in his first time in the car. We could’ve been fighting for the win here this weekend but there are some encouraging signs for the future.”
Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT
Jari-Matti Latvala (9th)
“Physically, this is the hardest rally I have ever done in my career. I was feeling terrible yesterday, but I spent the night in hospital to rehydrate and as a result I felt a lot better today and we were able to finish in the points, which I am very happy about. There’s no test before Sardinia, so I have a chance to rest properly – I think I could sleep now for the next two days! – and come back even stronger for the next rally.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Juho Hänninen (7th)
“I’m happy to end another rally in a points-scoring place, especially because we didn’t have much experience here and conditions were quite tricky, although not quite as bad as Argentina. The most important thing is that we learned a lot and generally had a clean run: this helps the confidence. Today we were trying a couple of different things for the future, and I had a lot of fun on the Fafe stage: the crowds were amazing and it was a fantastic experience, so thank you to them as well.”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Esapekka Lappi (10th)
“To be honest, before the rally I was hoping that we could score points in the overall classification, but I would never have dreamed of it happening on the Power Stage. So, in many ways, this rally didn’t exactly go as I expected, but I’m happy: I think we found the right speed, which is very important. On the first two stages, today I tried to save the tyres, then on the two final ones I could push harder. My landing after the jump on the Fafe Power Stage was interesting – but at least I could demonstrate how tough the suspension on the Yaris WRC is!”
Jipocar WRT
Coming into the last day, Mads was in a fight with Jari-Matti. The Fiesta crew was therefore very happy that they beat them! In his traditional showman way, Mads decided to go for it over the famous Fafe jump in the power stage. I’ll let him explain what happened!
Mads Østberg (8th) said:
“I saw the 40-metre sign coming towards us and we landed with our front left wheel more or less on top of it. A little bit more “exciting” than we had planned perhaps, but fun to give the huge crowd something to cheer for!”
FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 2017 -WRC Portugal (POR) – WRC 18/05/2017 to 21/05/2017 – PHOTO : @World
Talking about the event overall, he went on to say,
“We started the rally with ambitions to fight for a top position, but their chances were destroyed with two punctures midway through Friday. The first one we “survived”, but on SS5 we had to stop and change the wheel and lost three and a half minutes. So, the rest of the rally has been a question of finishing and testing different set-ups. Of course, it has been disappointing not to be up among the frontrunners, but we have won two stages in this rally and also gained a lot of valuable experience.”
Finally explaining about the gold covered roof on their car, and their hopes looking forward to Rally Italia.
“We started to talk about the heat inside the car in Argentina. A black roof on the car actually sucks the rays of sun and heat into the car, and then someone suggested a shiny and reflective surface on the roof. And shiny gold really does the job.”
“It has been much cooler inside the car and much more comfortable for Ola and me. On long stages, we have experienced less sweating and dehydration. I feel that we are on the right course. Rally Portugal wasn`t as expected for us, but we have gained a lot of valuable experience with the car and will use that to fight for a better result in Sardinia.”
Well then, lets sum up the weekend. Seb returned M-Sport to the top step for the second time this year. Thierry and the Hyundai team continue their incredible consistency after those wobbles at the start of the year.
What about Hayden and Kris? Well, both really need a break. Since Kris won in Mexico, he has not scored a decent result. Who’d have thought that Craig would be the highest placed Citroen driver?!
Hayden also needs a break too. Unreliability has certainly cost him results him this year. He’s certainly shown the pace this year, just like Kris.
Finally, what about young Finn, Esapekka Lappi? On his first drive in a top car for Toyota he drove his Yaris WRC to tenth place and also scored points in the power stage. Impressive indeed, and he clearly has a future at the top of this sport.
Let’s take a look then at the championship positions for the drivers and teams.
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for drivers after round six:
1 Sebastien Ogier 128
2 Thierry Neuville 106
3 Jari-Matti Latvala 88
4 Ott Tanak 83
5 Dani Sordo 66
6 Elfyn Evans 53
7 Craig Breen 43
8 Hayden Paddon 33
9 Kris Meeke 27
10 Juho Hänninen 21
2017 FIA World Rally Championship for manufacturers after round six:
WSC Ltd, the rights holder for TCR, and International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), today confirmed plans for a TCR class to begin competing in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, beginning in 2018.
The TCR class will run in addition to the two existing Continental Tire Challenge classes, Grand Sport (GS) and Street Tuner (ST) next season.
“We began our due diligence process on the potential introduction of the TCR platform more than a year ago, and formally announced that we were exploring the concept last year,” said IMSA CEO Ed Bennett. “We engaged our automotive partners and teams throughout the discovery process and determined that TCR would be an attractive addition to the Continental Tire Challenge. We are pleased to work together with WSC CEO Marcello Lotti and Sporting and Series Director Nunzia Corvino to introduce what we believe will be a popular class to IMSA fans and participants.”
Through its partnership with WSC, IMSA will use TCR cars fully homologated by WSC in the new Continental Tire Challenge class. The TCR class is projected to slot in between GS and ST, based on its current level of performance.
As the market develops for TCR-spec cars, IMSA has the additional, exclusive right to establish TCR USA and TCR Canada as standalone series. IMSA, in cooperation with WSC, also now holds the right to sublicense the proper use of TCR specifications to other sanctioning bodies in the territory as well.
“TCR has quickly become the standard global Touring Car platform,” said Lotti. “Our goal was to once again create a base for Touring Car racing. The crucial part about it was to keep the costs for the cars low to ensure equality of opportunity. In North America, we believed IMSA was the most professional partner available in the market and we could not be more pleased to establish this partnership together.”
Current TCR manufacturers with a presence in North America include Audi, Ford, Honda, Alfa Romeo, KIA, Subaru and Volkswagen.
TCR cars will make their Continental Tire Challenge debut next January at the Daytona International Speedway during the three-day Roar Before The Rolex 24 At Daytona, with their first race planned for the day preceding the 2018 Rolex 24.
Neil Simmons
Twitter: @world_racing
(c) Photos courtesy of TCR International Series
Press Release courtesy of TCR International Series
Monte Carlo, Monaco. Sunday 28 May 2017. World Copyright: Sam Bloxham/LAT Images (Courtesy of Pirelli F1 Media) ref: Digital Image _W6I4711
Monaco Grand Prix, a race which most of us want to forget and delete it from our hard disk, a race which only one team and one driver wants to remember it. The team, as you can guess, is Ferrari and the driver is the four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel.
Ferrari celebrated their first victory in Monaco since 2001, Sebastian Vettel overtook Kimi Raikkonen took the lead of the race after his first pit-stop and secured an easy victory and Ferrari’s first 1-2 in 2017.
A bad weekend for Mercedes, they lost the lead in the constructors’ championship, they didn’t finish on the podium, but at least both drivers finished in the points.
By now I guess most of you, you will know what happened in Monaco, the winners and the losers of the previous weekend, but there are several trends in social media, about “team orders”, the unfair way that Ferrari gave the lead and the victory to Vettel and that Kimi had to win.
The facts indicate that when Kimi pitted, Vettel made some flying laps, remained on track, pitted a couple of laps later and passed Kimi Raikkonen. The Finn, couldn’t follow Vettel’s pace, and I assume that he preferred to protect his engine than to push in a difficult and risky track for overtakes, which would be very difficult for him to pass Vettel.
Who can blame Ferrari for choosing different strategies for Raikkonen and Vettel? Who can say that Ferrari is not fair with the way that they are treating their drivers?
Even if I accept that Ferrari decided to help Vettel to win, I don’t think that it was a bad move. First of all Vettel is leading into the drivers’ championship, he is more competitive than his team-mate, he has a bigger contract and finally he is a four-time world champion.
Another difference is that Kimi Raikkonen will, probably, retire after the end of this or the next season, he is 37 years old, compared to Vettel, who is 29 and if he wins the title this year he will remain at Ferrari and will his chances to win more trophies will be increased.
And don’t forget that Vettel is from Germany, he was born in the same country with Michael Schumacher, Ferrari’s legend and Vettel’s hero. For me that plays the biggest role in team’s decisions.
Ferrari wants to return to the top and win the championship after almost 10 years, and they are not willing to risk it for any reason. I am sure that if they secure the title before the final race they will let Raikkonen to win a race. It won’t be the same, but remember that the team is above the drivers.
At least we have to recognise that Ferrari have improved their “team orders” skills, no team radio this time and no “Kimi, Vettel is faster than you!”
The factory at Silverstone that Force India call home has been under many guises and names since privateer Eddie Jordan entered Formula One back in 1991. What was then an operation to blood younger drivers such as Michael and Ralf Schumacher, Eddie Irvine and Rubens Barrichello has undergone no fewer than three identity changes since the Midland Group bought Jordan back in 2005. Since then, Midland, Spyker and finally Force India have been perennial underdogs in the Formula One paddock.
Their first season yielded thirteen points through the efforts of no less than five drivers in an era where only the top six finishers scored points. Alongside Andrea De Cesaris’ nine points, Roberto Moreno, Michael Schumacher and Alessandro Zanardi stood in for the jailed Belgian Bertrand Gachot. 1992 was less successful with the only point scored by Stefano Modena, while 1993 was little better amid another high turnover of drivers including Irvine, Barrichello, Thierry Boutsen, Ivan Capelli, Marco Apicella and Emmanuele Naspetti. If those two years were troublesome, 1994 marked a rise to the midfield that would last until 2003. De Cesaris, Barrichello and Irvine would score between them 28 points and see the team fifth, with a further 21 scored in 1995. Irvine would leave for Ferrari in 1996 and be replaced by a much calmer Brit in Martin Brundle. Both he and Barrichello almost graced the podium as Jordan took three fourth place finishes in a more consistent year.
Photo courtesy of Crisp And Clean/ Stuart Seeger
1997 would see the team visit the podium more often with Ralf Schumacher and Giancarlo Fisichella, before a memorable 1998 in which Damon Hill took his last and Jordan’s first victory in a chaotic Belgian Grand Prix, with Ralf second as part of a 1-2 finish. 1999 was their most successful year as Heinz-Harald Frentzen sustained the unlikeliest of title challenges with two wins. The German remained in contention until the penultimate round of a championship won by Mika Hakkinen, before 17 points and sixth saw them fall back to earth with a bump in 2000. That marked the start of a decline in fortunes as 2001 saw little improvement to fifth despite often being on the pace, while 2002 yielded just nine points from rookie Takuma Sato and the returning Fisichella. For 2003 Jordan could only finish ninth ahead of Minardi despite a famous win for Fisichella at the Brazilian Grand Prix. The following season, despite regularly fighting with Minardi to avoid the wooden spoon, Nick Heidfeld and Timo Glock notched five points as Jordan sold the team at the end of the year.
2005 was the final season under the Jordan name, and all points bar the one that rookie Tiago Monteiro scored for eighth at the Belgian Grand Prix were taken from the farcical US Grand Prix, where 3rd and 4th for Monteiro and Narain Karthikeyan were enough to see them ahead of Minardi once again in a race where only six cars took to the start. 2006 saw a season-long rebrand as Midland F1, but the change in name failed to bring about a change in fortunes. Monteiro and Christijan Albers rarely looked like troubling the scorers as the team finished tenth – just ahead of Super Aguri. Dutch sportscar maker Spyker bought the team during 2006 and blooded Albers alongside German rookie Adrian Sutil for 2007. Albers was fired after the British Grand Prix while Markus Winkelhock led in his first ever race at the German Grand Prix, before fading and retiring. Sutil scored the team’s only point with eighth at in Japan.
Photo courtesy of V.Charpiat
Another season saw another owner with ambitious Indian businessman VJ Mallya, but 2008 was a struggle with Giancarlo Fisichella taking the team’s only top 10 finish in Spain. The following year the team moved up to ninth in Constructors’ championship after a memorable weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix saw Fisichella finish second to Kimi Raikkonen after pole position the day before.
2010 marked the start of a more consistent era for the team. Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi were regulars in the points and Sutil claimed 11th in the final standings with a best result of fifth in Malaysia. Scotsman Paul Di Resta replaced Liuzzi in 2011 for another consistent season for the team. Sutil moved up to ninth while Di Resta’s rookie season saw him 13th and in the points eight times, with solid rather than spectacular results ensuring the team finished seventh.In 2012 the team challenged for podium positions on a regular basis in one of the most open seasons in recent memory. Nico Hulkenberg replaced Sutil, dropped after an assault charge, and outpointed his British teammate on his way to 11th. Meanwhile, Di Resta was 14th despite both men finishing fourth in Belgium and Singapore respectively.
(L to R): Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA) Force India F1, Michiel Mol (NED), Vijay Mallya (IND), Jan Mol (NED), Adrian Sutil (GER) Force India F1 and Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India F1. Force India F1 Team Launch, Mumbai, India, Thursday 7 February 2008. Courtesy of Force India F1 Team
Hulkenberg joined Sauber in 2013, Sutil returning after serving his punishment for assault. He was considerably outperformed by Di Resta as the duo finished 12th and 13th following a more frustrating season for the team. Both drivers were dropped at the end of the season in favour of Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. 2014 marked an upturn in fortunes for the team as a more engine reliant formula played into their hands. Hulkenberg’s consistency meant that he only finished outside of the points four times, while Perez took a podium in the famous Bahrain Grand Prix with third place. The team remained sixth, but the improvements were obvious.
The upward curve continued in 2015 and the team retained the previous year’s pairing. Perez took another podium with third in Russia, and Hulkenberg was also consistent despite a rocky start to the season. Force India moved up to fifth in the final standings. 2016 was the team’s best ever season – and the best season from the Silverstone factory since 1999. Podiums still eluded Hulkenberg as he had to settle for fourth in Belgium once again, although the German still enjoyed another solid season before moving to Renault for 2017. Perez twice visited the podium in Azerbaijan and Monaco on his way to seventh in the Drivers’ standings. Force India beat Williams to fourth – only behind the big three of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari in the final reckoning.
Esteban Ocon (FRA) Sahara Force India F1 VJM10 on the grid. Spanish Grand Prix, Sunday 14th May 2017. Barcelona, Spain. Courtesy of Force India F1 Team
In its various identities, the team now known as Force India have provided many a feel good story. From the title challenge of 1999 with Heinz-Harald Frentzen to mixing with the big boys on a small budget during this current decade. With Perez and Esteban Ocon, Force India have again looked good in 2017 – scoring with both cars in each of the first five races. You wouldn’t bet against them punching above their weight once more.
Monte Carlo, Monaco. Thursday 25 May 2017. Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari SF70H. World Copyright: Andy Hone/LAT Images ref: Digital Image _ONZ8912 courtesy of Pirelli Media
What an ordinary Grand Prix in Monaco we saw on Sunday! Ferrari took all the stakes. Everything they could win in the Casino of Monte Carlo, they won. A fantastic Sebastian Vettel, even losing the pole position, was able to overtake the great Kimi Raikkonen, who grabbed the pole but wasn’t able to keep the fury of Seb behind him.
Valtteri Bottas tried too, but this year Ferrari is a title challenger, strong in every race. And without an unlucky Lewis Hamilton, things were surely easier for Italian squad. They have to thank Stoffel Vandoorne, who showed he is still young to feel the pressure of Monaco’s corners, for crashing twice: once in qualifying (and causing the end of the Q2 for Lewis Hamilton trying to improve his time) and once in the race, ending in inglorious fashion McLaren’s Grand Prix. But even if Lewis could have made it into Q3, we really don’t know if he could have battled with Ferrari on Sunday.
Behind Ferrari a superb Daniel Ricciardo grabbed a fantastic third place, despite many saying his performance was going down lately. No way! I’ve always thought Daniel is a great race driver and he hasn’t lost his talent. And it’s always so good to see his endless smile on the podium! And with Carlos Sainz finishing in sixth position, I think these two are the drivers of the day. Carlos showed how good Toro Rosso is in this moment and his own performance is remarkable considering the difficulty of a circuit like Monaco.
In the end, let me spend some words for Jenson Button. I was absolutely surprised looking at his performance in qualifying. He never tried the car before, only some laps in the simulator. And with wider tyres and new regulations he got in the car and learned immediately how to go fast! He is still a champion.
But the sad thing to face was that stupid penalty. After having qualified ninth, Jenson had to start from the pit lane because of new power unit parts. So, a race ruined from the start, in a circuit where is almost impossible to overtake. And after a frustrating part of the race spent behind Pascal Wehrlein, he finally tried to pass but Monte Carlo said no, you can’t. And, as a result, we saw a spectacular and scary accident with no consequences for poor Pascal and a retirement for Jenson too.
So, while Ferrari went to win the race, with two shots of happy, McLaren went to lose again with one shot of sad. Courtesy of Bono Vox…
