2010 World Rally Championship

[Austin Jordan]

yeah but i'm sure it's hard for them because it's a loing track and be hard to put a orange plastic fence or whatever it is 100ft away from the track the whole way.
but to make it worse they're saying this might be the end of rally. it wasn't his fault and the sport is not deadly. it's because the people are just plain stupid and don't know what will happen untill it actualy comes up.

 

[Omer Said]

This is seriously dangerous, as i see most of the spectators are drunk there. Bumpy Desert roads, tight width and drunk spectators around..This is madness...

I hope they will find a solution to this.

 

[Adam Vaughan]

Clearly te fans shouldnt be that close, but the sad thing is the organisers and the whole event learnt the hard way.

not the drivers fault at all. Id imagine this would have crept in over the years with more fans getting closer to the track.

 

[Austin Jordan]

yeah the next thing you know people will try to run cross the track while trucks are right there

 

[Omer Said]

Sebastien Loeb won the Rally of Deutschland and extended his lead to 58 points. There are only 4 races to go and he can become the WRC 2010 World Champion at the next round, Rally of Japan.

From the very start of the Rally, French driver was unstoppable. Doni Sordo and Jari-Matti Latvala were chasing him behind. But at the Panzerplatte stage, Sordo lost many seconds to Loeb and Latvala spun off. And then Loeb managed to open a 50 seconds gap easily. After that it was just 'cruising' for him.

With the help of Latvala's spin, Sebastien Ogier managed to take the last step of the podium. Making it a Citroen Triple on top.

For Ford, Rally wasn't so good. Both Mikko Hirvonen and Ken Block retired with some mechanical problems. Latvala lost the 3rd place with a spin. And Francois Duval crashed heavily while he was going 5th.

Petter Solberg was also unlucky with his tyres. On Friday his tyres took severe damage and he lost many valuable seconds. According to him he could have finished on podium. However he won 5 stages and became 5th.

A close Ford-Citroen battle occurred between Matthew Wilson of Ford and Kimi Raikkonen of Citroen. Kimi Raikkonen was going ahead on 6th place. But he made some mistakes on Sunday Morning. Even he won the last Superspecial stage, Wilson kept his 6th position.

1. Sebastien Loeb
2. Dani Sordo
3. Sebastien Ogier
4. Jari-Matti Latvala
5. Petter Solberg
6. Matthew Wilson
7. Kimi Raikkonen
8. Khalid Al Qassimi
9. Mark van Eldik
10. Patrik Sandell

 

[Hannu Karesola]

Congrats Kimi for his first SS win.

 

[Omer Said]

Pirelli won't participate in the World Rally Championship after this year. Instead, the Italian tyre manufacturer will concantrate on Formula 1.

But even after Pirelli's F1 move, the majority was expecting them to remain in WRC. There were some rumors going on at latest weeks but there wasn't an official confirmation. And at last, Pirelli announced it's final decision. Now they are leaving WRC after a three years of being the sole tyre supplier.

Actually Pirelli had offered a three years deal to FIA earlier but they were rejected. And after the announcement of radical rule changes in WRC, Pirelli thinks the competition isn't suitable for them anymore.

However, Pirelli will continue to supply Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC) but not as the sole supplier.

As a possible replacement for Pirelli's place, Michelin applied to FIA to compete in WRC again.

 

[Aaron DeMarre]

Wow, did not see that one coming.

 

[Rick Bamford]

Simple outcome, Boycote Pirelli. If they wont support Rallying then we wont support them. F1 is and has always been a joke.

 

[Rick Bamford]

Simple outcome, boycote Pirelli. If they wont support rallying then we wont support them. F1 is and has always been a joke.

 

[Chris Butcher]

Rick, how dare you :O

 

[Sérgio Marques]

The first test, here in Portugal:

 

[Sérgio Marques]

Another one, very impressive, specially the sound of it!:rally:

 

[Stirb Iuliu]

The engine is the same in the new Citroen DS3 Racing version.
The "family" version of the 1.6 THP is found on the Citroen C4 facelift version, C4 model 2010, C3, DS3. BMW made the engine (in cooperation with PSA they say).

If the engine is good enough for the champion Citroen, and it is, it will be for Mini as well.

We have another engine, result of BMW and PSA venture, the 1.6 normal aspirated, valvetronic, 122 hp. The turbocharged family version of the 1.6 L engine is producing 152, 175 and 200 hp. In race version, probably over 200 hp.

 

[Christophe Berton]

A brand new feeder series to the World Rally Championship (WRC) will start in 2011, run in partnership by motorsport's governing body, the FIA and the WRC's global promoter, North One Sport.

The 'FIA WRC Academy' will be the first step on the WRC ladder for young drivers and will give the stars of tomorrow an unrivalled opportunity to develop their talent on the world stage in an extremely cost effective way.

The WRC Academy builds on the successful elements of the Junior World Rally Championship, which is where current WRC stars Sébastien Loeb, Dani Sordo and Sébastien Ogier cut their teeth, but also sets new standards for training and development as pioneered in the Pirelli Star Driver programme.

The WRC Academy is a one make series where all drivers will compete with identical Ford Fiesta R2s prepared by M-Sport. To further level the competition, the cars will be fitted with control tyres from Pirelli.

The six round series will run as a separate category on WRC rallies in 2011, to ensure drivers gain relevant experience and exposure alongside the main competition.

The WRC Academy aims to be accessible and affordable and the basic cost of participation is set at 118,000 UK Pounds (approx 135,000 Euros) per season. In addition, drivers will have to provide for travel and accommodation for the crew, a car to participate in recce and the cost of repairing accident damage to the cars.

As well as learning their craft on the stages, drivers contesting the WRC Academy will take part in a comprehensive training and tuition programme to maximise their potential both in and out of their cars and equip them for every aspect of competing in an FIA global championship.

An extra incentive for the competitors of the WRC Academy is a substantial prize fund, including a scholarship worth 500,000 Euros, for the winner.

http://www.wrc.com/wrcacademy/

Nice project, 135 000 is a lot of money, more than a saison F2 (100 000)

 

[Lee Palmer]

Hi guys,

Proberley a newbish question to some of you but here goes, how does the world of rallying work in terms of going to a rally as a spectator, track circuits I know you pay on the gate on entry etc and all that but what do you do for rallys?

Looking to attend the WRC GB rally next season. I know its close to 12 months away but still I have no idea what you do to actually go and watch a rally (other than buy a rain coat for Wales )

Ta,

 

[Ondrej Kapal]

I though that the main rally is always free (or at least is in the Czech Republic, where also IRC at Barum Rally needs no money for enter) and this pay is only for SSS, circuits, service and plans etc. stuff... otherwise you can just go to SS, park somewhere and grab your legs to the trip

 

[Ross Balfour]

I've been to Rally Ireland about 3 years ago, make sure you get a spot where you can see the cars from more than one angle and at a slow corner so you can see them the most. I was in a spot that actually the Eurosport guys where filming from so you could see me in the background about 5 or 6 times
As for the raincoat, good call. The weather when I went (as with nearly every day in a Northern Ireland winter) was very cold and wet, but still got some good shots of the cars, I'll try to dig them out.

 

[Yann Laprevotte]

I though that the main rally is always free (or at least is in the Czech Republic, where also IRC at Barum Rally needs no money for enter) and this pay is only for SSS, circuits, service and plans etc. stuff... otherwise you can just go to SS, park somewhere and grab your legs to the trip

Not all rallyes are free. I have to pay(not much, usually like 5€) a good part of regional rallyes I go to. I guess it heavily depends of the region you live in. It also depends if you know the area or not, there's always a way to get on a forest path and reach the SS without having to go to the official access - and pay

I belive you have to pay for most WRC rally. I had to pay like 20€ for WRC in Germany back in 2006. I heard you have to pay for GB rallye too. On the other hand France this year was free.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

@Lee make sure you park yourself in a safe place around the track. That is normally not the place where most people gather Safety first, especially with rallying.