WRC Rallye Deutschland : Leurs débuts en World Rally Car / World Rally Car debuts

Stéphane Lefebvre dispute ce week-end son premier rallye mondial au volant d’une World Rally Car, une DS3 WRC/Michelin. Nous en avons profité pour demander aux pilotes quels souvenirs ils gardaient de leur première expérience…

Après des débuts fracassants en DS3 R5 au Rally Catalunya 2014, Stéphane Lefebvre (23 ans) va disputer son premier rallye mondial au volant d’une World Rally Car officielle, une voiture qu’il a pu tester le 6 août dernier lors d’une séance d’essais organisée dans l’Est de la France. « Je me suis régalé. Par rapport à une WRC-2, il y a plus de tout, de puissance, de freinage, de grip… », a déclaré le jeune Français après 250 km parcourus.

Champion d’Europe et Champion du monde Junior à 22 ans, Stéphane Lefebvre a débuté en catégorie WRC-2 en fin de saison dernière. Son programme 2015 comprend le championnat WRC-2, plus deux épreuves asphalte sur une World Rally Car, dont la première ce week-end en Allemagne.

A 23 ans, il va donc piloter une WRC pour la première fois en course. Son mentor Sébastien Loeb avait connu la même expérience à 26 ans (Toyota Corolla WRC, Tour de Corse 2000), et Sébastien Ogier à 24 ans (.Citroën C4 WRC, Wales Rally GB 2008). Au volant d’une Corolla « privée », Loeb avait conclu à la 9^e place après six chronos dans le top-ten.

Quant à Seb Ogier : « J’avais signé le meilleur temps de la première spéciale et j’étais en tête jusqu’à l’ES6. Mais il faut dire aussi que j’avais une meilleure position sur la route que mes adversaires », avoue le double Champion du monde. « J’étais ensuite sorti de la route ». Ogier avait terminé 26^e.

Au Rallye de l’Acropole 2005, Jari-Matti Latvala venait de fêter ses 18 ans quand il s’est assis au volant d’une Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Il avait terminé 10^e. Kris Meeke avait 32 ans et disputé 32 rallyes WRC quand il a débuté en World Rally Car au Rallye de Sardaigne 2011 sur une Mini John Cooper Works. Premier abandon d’une série de quatre…

Deux ans plus tard, c’est aussi en Sardaigne que son compatriote Elfyn Evans a débuté un peu par hasard sur une Ford Fiesta RS WRC. « J’ai dû remplacer Nasser Al-Attiyah au pied levé », se souvient le Gallois, qui avait alors 24 ans. « J’ai découvert la World Rally Car, les spéciales sardes, un nouveau copilote (Giovanni Bernacchini). On a fini 6^e. »

Parmi les pilotes officiels actuels, c’est le meilleur résultat d’un débutant en World Rally Car, avec son équipier Ott Tanak, lui aussi 6^e au Wales Rally GB 2011 (Ford Fiesta RS WRC). Bryan Bouffier avait fini 5^e au Monte-Carlo 2013 (DS3 WRC), mais il avait disputé un rallye en Pologne sur une Peugeot 307 WRC quelques mois plus tôt.

Thierry Neuville (DS3 WRC) n’a parcouru que trois spéciales au Monte-Carlo 2012 avant une touchette. Dani Sordo avait terminé 8^e du Rallye Monte-Carlo 2006 (Citroën Xsara WRC), tout comme Hayden Paddon au Rally Catalunya 2014 (Ford Fiesta RS WRC). Cette année, Kevin Abbring a fini 11^e en Suède pour ses débuts sur une Hyundai i20 WRC.

Pour Lefebvre, une place dans le top-ten ce week-end serait un beau résultat. Le jeune débutant est navigué par Stéphane Prévot, le 2^e copilote le plus expérimenté en WRC. En effet, le Belge fête ce week-end son 169^e départ en Mondial et rejoint Daniel Elena à la 2^e place derrière l’inusable Denis Giraudet, engagé ici avec Romain Dumas, qui dispute son 179^e rallye WRC.

On Thursday, Stéphane Lefebvre will make his maiden appearance in a World Rally Car (DS3 WRC/Michelin). We use the opportunity to look back at the first WRC experiences of today’s other drivers…

Stéphane Lefebvre is about to step up to a World Rally Car for the first time after a 250km test in the DS3 WRC in France on August 6. “It was great. Compared with a WRC2 car, there is more of everything: more power, more brakes, more grip,” says the 23-year old Frenchman.

After claiming the ERC and WRC Junior crowns at the age of 22, he stepped up to WRC2 in a DS3 R5 at the end of last season (Catalonia). His 2015 programme includes more WRC2 action, plus two outings in a World Rally Car, the first of which is this week in Germany.

In 2000, his mentor Sébastien Loeb experienced the same promotion at the age of 26 when he came ninth and posted six top-10 times in a Toyota Corolla WRC in Corsica.

Sébastien Ogier was 24 when he first sat in a Citroën C4 WRC in Wales in 2008. “I was fastest on SS1 and led after SS6,” recalls the two-time world champion. “I had a better start order than my rivals, though. After that, I went off.” He ended up 26^th overall.

Jari-Matti Latvala had just turned 18 when he drove a Ford Focus RS WRC on the 2003 Acropolis Rally (10^th).

Kris Meeke was 32 and had contested 32 world rallies when he made his World Rally Car debut in Sardinia, in 2011, driving a Mini John Cooper Works. It marked the first of four consecutive retirements.

Two years later, again in Sardinia, Elfyn Evans appeared for the first time in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. “I was a last-minute replacement for Nasser Al-Attiyah,” remembers the Welshman who was 24 at the time. “It was a new event to me and my co-driver was Giovanni Bernacchini! We came sixth…”

That stands out as the best result of any World Rally Car debutant, equal with his current team-mate Ott Tanak who was sixth in Wales in 2011 driving a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Bryan Bouffier came fifth on the 2013 Monte Carlo in a DS3 WRC but had competed in Poland a few months previously in a Peugeot 307 WRC.

Thierry Neuville (Citroën DS3 WRC) only completed three stages of the 2012 Monte before crashing, while Dani Sordo came eighth on the same event in 2006 (Citroën Xsara WRC). Hayden Paddon was eighth in Catalonia two years ago (Ford Fiesta RS WRC) and Kevin Abbring finished 11^th in Sweden driving a Hyundai i20 WRC.

A top-10 finish in Germany would be a fine result for Lefebvre who is partnered by Stéphane Prévot, the WRC’s second most experienced co-driver. It’s the Belgian’s 169^th start, a score that takes him level with Daniel Elena, but still 10 starts short of the indefatigable Denis Giraudet who is sitting alongside Romain Dumas this week…

WRC Rallye Deutschland : Latvala, sur sa lancée / Latvala hits the ground running…

L’ADAC Rallye Deutschland a débuté ce matin avec le Shakedown près de Trèves. Cette spéciale d’essais a été remportée pour la troisième année consécutive par Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin), vainqueur du dernier Rallye de Finlande.

Le Shakedown 2015 du Rallye d’Allemagne a été moins animé que celui de l’édition 2014 où Thierry Neuville était parti en tonneaux dans les vignes. Dix-huit heures de réparation et trois jours de course plus tard, le Belge avait remporté son premier rallye mondial…

Le Shakedown de Konz (4,55 km), près de Trèves, est utilisé par l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland depuis plusieurs années et permet de comparer les performances sur cette surface, en pondérant les résultats avec des conditions d’adhérence qui diffèrent d’une année à l’autre.

Ainsi, en 2012, Sébastien Loeb (DS3 WRC) avait réalisé 2min25s2. En 2013, Jari-Matti Latvala (VW Polo R WRC) avait signé le meilleur chrono en 2min23s5. L’an passé, le Finlandais avait encore remporté le Shakedown, sur la même voiture, en 2min20s8.

Ce matin, Sébastien Ogier (VW) a bouclé son premier run en 2min25s2. Jari-Matti Latvala (VW) a amélioré de près de 3 secondes au 2^e tour en 2min22s5, puis a signé un 2min21s4 à son 3^etour, chaussé de pneus Michelin hard H5, 2/10^e devant son équipier Andreas Mikkelsen et 7/10^ede seconde sur Kris Meeke (Citroën).

Pour la 3^e année consécutive, Jari-Matti Latvala s’est montré le plus rapide au Shakedown du premier rallye asphalte de la saison (2min21s4). Malgré cinq passages, Sébastien Ogier n’a pas fait mieux que le 4^e chrono (2min22s2), devant Robert Kubica (2min23s) à son 5^e tour.

Ott Tanak a signé le 6^e temps sur sa Ford Fiesta RS WRC en 2min23s4, devant les « Hyundai Boys » Hayden Paddon (2min23s6) et Dani Sordo (2min23s7). Mads Ostberg (Citroën) et Elfyn Evans (Ford) sont eux aussi passés sous la barre des 2min24s, que n’a pu franchir Thierry Neuville (Hyundai).

Le débutant Stéphane Lefebvre (DS3 WRC) a réalisé 2min25s4, devant le quasi débutant Kevin Abbring (Hyundai) en 2min27s5.

En WRC-2, Nasser Al-Attiyah a signé le meilleur chrono du premier run au volant de sa nouvelle Skoda Fabia R5 (2min33s3) avec plus de 2 secondes d’avance sur Lappi. Les pilotes officiels Skoda ont rectifié le tir au 2^e passage avec Jan Kopecky (2min31s9).

La cérémonie de départ de l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland se déroulera en fin d’après-midi devant la Porta Nigra où l’on attend de nombreux spectateurs. Les conditions météo devraient rester clémentes jusqu’à dimanche matin, au moins...

Rallye Deutschland action started with this morning’s shakedown near Trier which was won for the third year running by the recent Rally Finland victor Jari-Matti Latvala (VW/Michelin).

There was less shakedown drama today than 12 months ago when Thierry Neuville rolled into a vineyard. Repairs to his Hyundai took 18 hours, but the Belgian bounced back to claim his first world class victory three days later…

The 4.55km test near Konz has been used by the German rally for several years and provides a good pointer to the different cars’ performance on this type of surface, using data from previous visits to take into account differing grip levels.

In 2012, Sébastien Loeb (Citroën DS3 WRC) posted a 2m25.2s, while Latvala (VW Polo R WRC) was the shakedown winner in 2013 with a 2m23.5s. Last August, the Finn steered the same car to a time of 2m20.8s.

This morning, Sébastien Ogier (VW) completed his first run in 2m25.2s, but Latvala improved by almost three seconds at his second attempt (2m22.5s) before clocking a 2m21.4s next time through on Michelin’s latest hard compound asphalt rubber (H5). The Finn ended up two-tenths clear of team-mate Andreas Mikkelsen and seven-tenths faster than Citroën’s Kris Meeke.

Despite completing five runs, Ogier could manage no better than fourth (2m22.2s), ahead of Robert Kubica (2m23.0s).

Ott Tanak was sixth in his Ford Fiesta RS WRC (2m23.4s), chased by Hayden Paddon (2m23.6s) and Dani Sordo (2m23.7s). Mads Ostberg (Citroën) and Elfyn Evans (Ford) also squeezed beneath the 2m24s mark, unlike Thierry Neuville.

World Rally Car rookie Stéphane Lefebvre (DS3 WRC) peaked at 2m25.4s, ahead of the near-rookie Kevin Abbring (Hyundai, 2m27.5s.

The fastest WRC2 runner first time through was Nasser Al-Attiyah in his new Skoda Fabia R5 (2m33.3s), two seconds clear of Lappi. The Skoda factory drivers responded at their next attempt, however, when Jan Kopecky recorded a 2m31.9s.

The official ADAC Rallye Deutschland start ceremony will follow at the end of the afternoon in front of Trier’s Porta Nigra monument where a big spectator turnout is expected. The forecast is still for mild weather, until Sunday morning…

Ecuador with Bikes part 2

After a cold night huddled under dozens of blankets we set off, excited to see the famous Laguna Quilotoa. As we left Chugchilan we were very thankful that we had decided to stop there for the night since the dirt roads started up again as soon as we were out of town. We pressed on slowly through the gravel and dirt and for some reason our GPS had us veer off what turned into a paved road and onto a sand filled path which then reconnected to the paved road again. After a few falls in the sand, which Josh generously helped Lauren and I pick up our heavy bikes we were off on our way to Laguna Quilotoa. Which was beautiful.

As much as we wanted to stay and explore the beautiful lake and around it, we had already taken longer than we wanted and we had to get going. Luckily the dirt roads were over and we had an easy, curvy ride to Ambato. On the way we stopped in Latacunga and checked out the market there. Lauren had some delicious cheesy fried bread.

After Ambato we began our ascent up to the Chimborazo Volcano which stands at an elevation of 20,000 ft (our route would take us up to 14,500 ft, higher than Pike’s Peak in Colorado). It began to get quite cold, and as we rode up we saw that our route would once again take us into impossible to see through fog, which meant that we would be unlikely to see much of the volcano either.

After some consideration we decided to take a lower elevation route to Baños. We ran into a whole slew of construction sights and were so slowed down that we didn’t reach Baños until dark had almost set in. Again. This was turning out to be a trend.

Unfortunately, since we arrived late and had to leave early the next morning we didn’t get a chance to experience the hot springs which the town is famous for. We did enjoy a delicious dinner at a nice restaurant across the street from our hostel which was easily the nicest hostel we stayed at the entire trip. We went to bed early, and slept really well that night.

Ecuador 2013 - Bikes Day 2 from adventuresofjb2 on Vimeo.

part 3 tomorrow

Ballistic Bronco: Machine Gun Install on a 1979 Ford Bronco!

 Fred Williams teams up with Recoil Magazine editor Iain Harrison to see what happens when they build a ballistic truck with a 1979 Ford Bronco. The build will be combining Fred’s offroading input and Iain's grasp of firepower. Starting in Southern California at 4Wheel Parts, the Bronco will begin to take a new form with installs of a Gibson Exhaust, Procomp wheels, and Smittybilt winch and armor. While the truck transforms, so do Fred and Iain when they get outfitted at 5.11 Tactical. The Bronco then makes its way to Arizona where Iain takes over the transformation of the Bronco by installing guns!

BMW R80 – Tattoo Custom Motorcycles

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Tattoo Projects is back with a Hot Rod Racer that took a serious tumble while living life in the fast lane that nearly cost it its life. But a motivated team ready to roll up their sleeves, with creativity running through their veins and Jack and Coke fuelling their engines have this 1986 BMW R80 turning heads once again.

The truth is this BMW has lived three very different lives, the first as a very conservative German dressed in its fairings and 80’s regalia. That was until Tattoo Projects gave the German a hipster makeover into a bratty café racer in flat black that was so good it scored a feature here on Pipeburn.com. So why life number three? Well a nameless employee of Tattoo Projects was twisting the BMWs throttle at cool a 70mph when he laid her over and the Brafe Racer was dead. After the team had grieved, worn black and tipped a little Moonshine on the black top they dreamt up an aggressive , Hot Rod inspired build and set to work to breathe a third life into their BMW.

The key to the jacked up Hot Rod styling is the monster 3″ lift on the rear tank mount, it gives the BMW a whole new aggressive nose down stance. To accommodate the tank position a new subframe needed to be fabricated and after the team had made a scale mock-up the matching seat was left in the hands of Ian Halcott of Café Racer Seat and Tank. He fabricated the aluminium pan and his wife, Carolyn, worked her magic on the custom leather seat. The result is a small café style unit that angles the rider down along the same lines as the tank, further accentuating the high in the rear look.

Now it was time to get the tank right and Bob’s crash (It was Bob, Bob ladies and gentleman, Bob crashed it) had left the R80 metal in less than stellar condition. With the right hammers and some body filler the gang had the lines nice and straight, ready to lay down the paint. With the tank having been painted flat black a less creative crew might have decided that colour would do again for their new look.

But these are the people who made a cool marketing campaign for a vacuum cleaner so they have no trouble with a challenge and picked BMW’s less than tough Alpine White to coat the tins. Hardly aggressive, but they weren’t done there, the white becomes the perfect canvas for the “Be Good, or Be Gone” themed art work of the highly talented David Vicente from dvicente-art.com. It gives the BMW a whole new level of old school cool, it’s aggressive, in your face and the level of detail would make the best of Hot Rod builders proud.

Powering the BMW along is the 797cc Bavarian Boxer whose airheads have become a more and more common sight in the custom scene over recent years. In its café incarnation the stock headers were wrapped and ended with some reverse cone mufflers from Dime City Cycles. With a chance to do something different version 3.0 features a high mount custom exhaust that shoots the pipes over the top of the heads, through the frame and out under the seat. With the seat now elevated there is ample room for the much-loved twin shorties to exit underneath, this time supplied by Cone Engineering. Also adding a few more horses to the stock 50bhp are a pair of upswept pod filters, replacing the standard airbox that was still in place on the café racer.

Despite the “showier” look of the rebuilt version it now handles substantially better thanks to an upgrade in all the key areas. Maybe Bob should blame the old Firestone Deluxe Champions that were fitted which have now been replaced with the grippy Sport Demons from Pirelli. The front suspension has also come in for a rebuild with progressive springs now working inside the standard tubes. Stiffening the front end is a custom triple clamp from Stephen at Toaster Tan that also features the Tattoo Moto logo beautifully machined into the top. While out the back the single shock on the shaft drive rear end is left to the best in the business, the Big O, a fully adjustable Ohlin’s unit.

To finish the look the low mounted clip-ons now wear a set of in your face red Oury Grips that match the red in the graphics. While an Acewell speedo will now let Bob know the next time he is approaching that traumatic 70mph, sorry Bob. To make the bike road legal a small LED headlight has been cleverly mounted under the lower triple clamp while a brake light resides under the seat.

Now this 1986 R80 is ready to roll again, no longer a Sunday morning machine to take you latte hunting. This bad ass BMW is a Saturday night brawler that takes its Whiskey straight up and serves as a constant reminder to Tattoo Projects that giving up or simply settling is not in their nature, “Be Good or Be Gone”.

via PIPEBURN

HOW TO RIDE BITCH

A THROWBACK POKE AT 1960'S INSTRUCTIONAL VIDEOS... A TIME WHERE THINGS WERE JUST A LITTLE BIT MACHO AND A LOT MORE RIDICULOUS.

HOW TO RIDE BITCH from Alex Vivian on Vimeo.

REDMAX SPEEDSHOP’S XS750 TRACKER

words by Gareth Charlton · Bike by Redmax Speedshop · Posted on 11/08/2015

If you were one of the happy thousands that made it to Sideburn’s epic 2015 Dirt Quake IV back on that scorching hot July day, then amidst the mirth you will have witnessed a raft of inappropriate machines tackling the shale oval. Scooters, choppers, TT race bikes and most any two-wheeler in-between was attempting to go fast and turn left with some success, some failure and plenty of chaos.

Amidst the flock of duck-out-of-water machines however was a collection of motorcycles that were born sideways. The Redmax Speedshop stall displayed a sample of their custom built Triumph, Harley and Norton based machines on which years of R&D have resulted in a thick parts catalogue to cater for most aspects of flat track racing.

These track orientated racers are inherently handsome beasts, their purposeful nature and complete lack of fripperies leaves them damn close to the essence of a motorcycle. Steve Hilary, founder of the Devon based outfit has been racing for years and know a thing or two about how to put together not only a quick bike, but that speed is nothing without beauty.

The latest tracker to leave the Redmax Stable was built for a lucky customer, Brandon. This project began simply with a Yamaha XS650 engine, just about every other element came fresh from the Redmax factory floor or stock room, starting with one of their own GNC replica frames.

“It’s our lightweight monoshock job , fitted with a Ducati rear shock and R6 forks” Steve explains. This was their first fitment of the Yamaha engine to that particular frame and an opportunity for Steve to design and fabricate the parts for similarly paired future projects.

Of course, as with all Redmax builds, the stock engine was not simply dropped into the modified frame, it was treated to a healthy helping of Speedshop experience and attention to detail.
“The engine is a fully restored and tuned unit from Smedspeed , with a 750 HC kit and a re-phased crank , and flat slide mikunis… She goes like stink with much less vibration than you’d usually feel with an XS!”

A Redmax Flattrack tank and a Knight seat unit were selected and dispatched to painter Alan in Southampton for a subtle grey and black transformation. The seat unit was then fitted with a pad from upholsterer Glenn, Redmax’s main man for all buttock supporting needs. The electrics are all hidden under the seat in a droppable tray. Redmax tracker bars, bates headlamp, retro Swift digital speedo and a quick action throttle make for clean, high ‘n’ wide controls.

Tarozzi rear sets were fitted to the freshly blacked out frame complete with a removeable peg to enable kickstarting.
“It has an aero fitting pip starter button as a feature, see if you can spot it?” teases Steve.
Key to that tracker stance are the wheels, black Excell rims were laced to Talon hubs with stainless spokes and shod with the essential Dunlop K180 tyres. Disc brakes arrest the momentum both for and aft, this is after all a tracker for the street not just the dirt.

The exhaust is again a one-off creation fabricated by Redmax in stainless steel with hidden, removable baffles. Steve says it was one of the most time consuming elements of the build with many hours eaten up getting the shape and line of the pipes just right. Time very well spent.

“So the bike turned out as a very sharp, ultra light street tracker which everyone loves and is real sweet to ride! It’s subtle and you may walk past her in a crowd, but she’s a keeper and you’ll want to take her home! Brandon is one happy man”.
No doubt many of those brave Dirt Quake riders, aboard their inappropriate steeds, left that day with dusty dreams of returning to tackle the oval on a machine just like this sublime XS from Redmax Speedshop.

via The Bike Shed

Nürburgring by Motomania

Deutschland (WRC): Willkommen in Trier!

L’ADAC Rallye Deutschland 2015 démarre demain avec le Shakedown. Les concurrents ont terminé les reconnaissances et les motor-homes sont installés au parc d’assistance de Trèves situé au Messepark.

La plus ancienne ville d’Allemagne (environ 2000 ans) accueille de nouveau l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland, 9^e manche WRC 2015. Il y a quelques jours encore, le Messepark était un camping où stationnaient des dizaines de camping-cars au bord de la Moselle. Jusqu’à dimanche soir, ce sera le parc d’assistance.

Volkswagen Motorsport occupe une bonne partie de l’espace central, avec, outre les traditionnels motor-homes, plusieurs stands ouverts au public. L’équipe a déplacé 79 tonnes de matériel et espère enfin remporter son épreuve nationale que seuls Citroën et Hyundai ont réussi à gagner depuis 2002.

Les teams ont minutieusement préparé ce rendez-vous car les World Rally Cars qui ont beaucoup évolué cette année, vont débuter sur cette surface. Après six épreuves terre, les équipages vont eux-aussi devoir se ré-acclimater au rythme de l’asphalte, les freinages puissants et les forts appuis latéraux.

Après les spéciales du vignoble mosellan hier, ils ont reconnu Panzerplatte aujourd’hui et ses 45,61 km (100 cases de road-book) à travers le camp militaire de Baumholder. Ce sera sans doute le juge de paix du rallye, à parcourir deux fois samedi, dont la seconde qui sera suivie d’un passage dans Bosenberg (17,13 km), du jamais vu dans cet ordre-là.

De retour au programme cette année, Bosenberg est une spéciale très étroite, sale et très rapide. La journée du samedi s’annonce difficile avec, pour commencer, la spéciale de Grafschaft, dans les vignes. Dans la même boucle, on aura donc trois terrains différents : vignobles, routes du Saarland et pistes bétonnées de Panzerplatte.

Le parcours de vendredi est très étalé avec, pour lancer le rallye, la spéciale très rythmée et piégeuse de Sauertal, puis Waxweiler près de la frontière belge, avant deux ES typiques sur les coteaux mosellans, Moselland (la plus longue du jour, 23 km) et Mittelmosel (13 km), courte mais éprouvante.

Les conditions météo s’annoncent globalement clémentes, hormis de possibles averses dimanche après-midi. Mais le temps change très vite dans cette région - on dit souvent que l’ADAC Rallye Deutschland est le « Monte-Carlo estival » - et les choix de pneumatiques s’effectuent jusqu’à quatre heures avant les spéciales…

Avant le Shakedown programmé demain matin, qui est souvent très animé, les teams ont organisé leurs petites réceptions mercredi soir. Chez Volkswagen Motorsport, les médias étaient invités à déguster du cochon à la broche et à boire du vin de Moselle, qui ne leur est plus proposé dans le kit de bienvenue (les traditions se perdent !).

Soirées plus traditionnelles chez Hyundai, qui engage de nouveau quatre i20 WRC, et M-Sport avec seulement deux Ford Fiesta RS WRC. Victime d’une intoxication alimentaire, Lorenzo Bertelli est forfait.

The 2015 ADAC Rallye Deutschland will kick off officially with Thursday morning’s shakedown. The crews have completed their recce of the stages and everything is ready at the Messepark service park in Trier.

The ADAC Rallye Deutschland, round nine of the 2015 FIA World Rally Championship, is based in Germany’s oldest city, Trier, which dates back around 2,000 years. As recently as a few days ago, the Messepark beside the Mosel River was still a campsite, but it will be the home of a world rally service park until next Sunday.

Much of the space there is taken up by Volkswagen Motorsport’s facility which includes the usual trucks and motorhomes, plus several display stands that can be visited by the public. The German make has brought 79 tonnes of equipment and is eager to win its home event which has been won exclusively by Citroën and Hyundai since 2002.

The teams have prepared carefully for this fixture because the World Rally Cars have evolved considerably this season and this will be their first proper asphalt outing. After six gravel rounds, the crews will need to reacclimatise to the pace, heavy braking and hard cornering of sealed-surface competition.

After recceing the Mosel Valley vineyard stages on Tuesday, they visited Baumholder’s military ranges today and its 45.61km Panzerplatte stage (100 roadbook diagrams!). The test could well prove decisive when it is run twice on Saturday, followed by two visits to Bosenberg (17.13km). It is the first time these two stages are being tackled in this order.

                        

The narrow, dirty but fast ‘Bosenberg’ test is back on the menu this year and will add to Saturday’s challenge which will kick off with ‘Grafschaft’. It will therefore feature vineyard territory, concrete Panzerplatte tracks and Saarland roads in a single day.

Friday’s itinerary is particularly dispersed and takes in the tricky Sauertal stage, followed by Waxweiler near the Belgian border, then two typical Mosel Valley tests, namely Moselland (the longest of the day, 23km) and the short but demanding Mittelmosel (13km).

The weather is expected to stay mild but there could be some showers on Sunday afternoon. That said, the conditions can change quickly in this part of Germany and tyre choices need to be made up to four hours before some stages are due to start.

The teams held their different receptions this evening (Wednesday). Volkswagen Motorsport invited the media a roast pig dinner with Mosel wine. Sadly, none of the latter is included in the media welcome pack, marking the end of a longstanding tradition.

Hyundai, which has entered four i20 WRCs, and M-Sport, which has just two Ford Fiesta RS WRCs in Germany, organised more conventional receptions. Lorenzo Bertelli is suffering from food poisoning and has had to withdraw.

                                     

Castrol...