Monte Carlo :SS2: Tyre choices: as crucial as ever!

this morning’s conditions made tyre choices relatively straightforward for the Rallye Monte-Carlo’s first group of stages. Even so, it was important for the drivers to look after their rubber and studs over the ‘clear’ portions of SS1 (‘Le Moulinon’, 37.1km) before tackling the snowy SS2 (Burzet-St Martial, 30.6km).

Exceptionally, the crews have a range of four types of tyre at their disposal for the first round of the 2013 WRC. They have the usual choice of two compounds for their Michelin Pilot Sport asphalt tyres (soft and, for the only time this year, ‘extra-soft’, an option developed for cold and/or damp stages). For more wintry conditions, the French firm’s partners can choose between studded and non-studded versions of the Pilot Alpin 4.

Often, however, the challenge on this rally involves finding the ideal comprise for each group of stages, then taking care to look after the tyres when they are not perfectly suited to certain sections of road… The drivers must also manage their respective ‘stocks’, since they have a limited quota of each tyre (soft Pilot Sport: 30 / extra-soft Pilot Sport: 20 / non-studded Pilot Alpin 4s: 10 / studded Pilot Alpin 4s: 20). Initially, the organisers decided to ban the fitment of different tyre types at any one time, but this restriction was officially lifted on Tuesday morning. Meanwhile, drivers may use a maximum of 40 tyres for the entire event, including shakedown.

After watching the start of SS1, we retired to a WiFi-equipped café in a nearby village to work. There, we ran into Lasse Lampi and Sebastian Lindholm, who are doing the ‘ice notes’ for Ford’s Hanninen and Skoda youngster Lappi. They confirmed that there were 13km of snow and ice on ‘Le Moulinon’, but that ‘Le Burzet’ was almost entirely covered in snow. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the WRC drivers put four studded tyres on the car, plus two more in the boot. However, Ford’s Neuville and Novikov preferred a combination of studded and non-studded rubber for SS1, before switching to studs on all four corners for the next test.

The experienced Lampi stressed the necessity of looking after the studs on SS1’s clear sections of asphalt (approximately 23km) to make sure they could still do their job on SS2. This is an exercise in which Sébastien Loeb traditionally excels and the multiple world champion effectively emerged from the ‘Le Burzet’ in the lead, with a 6.7-second advantage over fellow Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Volkswagen Polo WRC). “My studded tyres didn’t really survive SS1,” reported Loeb after SS2, however, “so we only had two fresh studded tyres for SS2. For sure, we lost a little traction and braking performance.”

His comments were echoed by most of the top drivers, but the situation could be entirely different when they visit the same competitive loop this afternoon. There will undoubtedly be more head-scratching at the lunchtime service break as they select their tyres for SS3 and SS4!

from best-of-rallylive.com

The 2013 WRC starts at Le Moulinon!

There are those who claim that ‘Le Moulinon-Antraigues’ is the world’s finest special stage. The village at the end of the 37km test is famous for its restaurant, La Remise, and the apple tarts it hands out to competitors. “There’s a good atmosphere at the start, too,” we were told by the restaurant’s owner Yves Jouanny. “There’s an active team of people who make sure that the rally gets just as warm a welcome there!”

So we decided to see for ourselves, which meant an early start before joining the convoy of red lights that twisted along the flanks of the Eyrieux valley, heading into the mountains. On the bridge as we arrive in the small village of Le Moulinon, we are welcomed by a banner wishing us “bienvenue” and bunches of red and white balloons, the colours of Monaco. “There are 600 balloons here, and another 200 in nearby St Sauveur-de-Montagut. We inflated them at five o’clock this morning,” says Philippe Gounon, president of 'Le Moulinon Auto Passion', an association formed to campaign for the stage’s return to the Rallye Monte Carlo. “Thanks to our work with the Automobile Club de Monaco (ACM), the rally came back here in 2011.”

At the junction with the D261 which climbs to St Julien du Gua, there’s a sizeable crowd at the start control. There are hot drinks and food, too, as well as a stand selling scale models of the cars that have helped forge the Monte’s legend over the decades. There is even live commentary and a big screen showing images of the start line. “At 8:15am, an hour before the scheduled start time,” points out Philippe, “we will offer a glass of champagne to the local counsellors and representatives of the ACM. Please join us…”

We turn down the chance of an early taste of ‘bubbly’, but the popping of the corks symbolises the start of the 2013 season. Before disappearing to interview the indefatigable Jean Ragnotti, who is driving a zero car for the organisers, Philippe adds: “We will have the same set-up in place when the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique visits us next week…”

It’s nine o’clock, already, and it looks like it will be a sunny day. We learn, however, that there are some 13km of snow and ice either side of the Col de la Fayolle. Unsurprisingly, Sébastien Loeb has opted for studded Michelin Pilot Alpin tyres all-round, like most of his rivals, with the exception of Ford’s Novikov and Neuville who have two non-studded tyres on their cars for SS1.

Very soon, Best-of-RallyLive provides us with the times for the 37km test. Stage winner Sébastien Ogier (VW) and Sébastien Loeb (Citroën) are split by just 3.7s, while fellow Citroën runners Sordo and Hirvonen are 20 seconds adrift. Novikov (+29s) and Neuville (+33s) failed to benefit from their alternative tyre choice, while Latvala dropped 33s to his Volkswagen team-mate...

from best-of-rallylive

Race Of Gentlemen

Race Of Gentlemen from BODYCON on Vimeo.

Detroit Rock City: The Best of NAIAS 2013

As one would expect from a Stateside motor show, Detroit 2013 has its fair share of American muscle on display – including a brand new Corvette. But the European manufacturers also brought their various interpretations of ‘muscle’ to the show; Classic Driver now guides you through the highlights.

German Muscle



From the stables of the German quartet come several cars that’d be happy to wrestle the Corvette. Mercedes brings the facelifted range of E-Class saloons and estates to Detroit, headed by the brawny E63 AMG – available in 549bhp or 577bhp ‘S-Model’ guise. In certain markets the option of rear- or four-wheel drive is available, though the UK will be restricted to the traditional format.

Bavaria’s entry to the automotive arm-wrestling competition comes in the form of the BMW M6 Gran Coupé. With 552bhp, four doors and a sleek profile, it could be the only modern car you ever need – but not if Audi has any say in it. The Ingolstadt marque has brought its own contenders in the form of the RS6 and RS7, both of which coincidentally (or not) have exactly the same power output as the M6 GC. As far as Porsche goes, there’s the new 542bhp Cayenne Turbo Swhich claims to reach 62mph from standstill in just 4.5 seconds.



Below that heady performance stratosphere lie several other interesting German offerings. Audi has handed a debut to a petrol-powered SQ5 SUV (for sale outside Europe only), while other roundel-wearing cars include the 4 Series concept and a facelifted Z4 – although we would have liked to see the latter adopt more cues from the Z4 Zagato Coupé showcased at Villa d'Este last year. Finally, Mercedes’ CLA follows the four-door coupé recipe of the CLS, albeit in a smaller portion size. It’ll later be crowned by a CLA45 AMG version with somewhere in the region of 350bhp. 

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That’ll do Nichely…


Two product lines which never seem to stop expanding are Bentley’s Continental range and BMW’s MINI sub-brand – and, true to form, both have conjured another new variant for Detroit. Bentley’s debutant is the convertible version of the Continental GT Speed, which is given a fettled 616bhp version of the familiar W12, as well some minor styling tweaks. In contrast, the John Cooper Works edition of the MINI Paceman promises hot-hatch performance from within the body of a two-door SUV. If the Gaydon bean-counters needed any further reason to sanction a sporting Evoque variant, then this is it.

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A Current Affair


Developments from the two manufacturers supposedly pioneering electric technology were disappointingly minimal; Tesla’s only debut was a mildly tweaked version of the Model X SUV (still very much in the concept stage), while Fisker didn’t even have a stand. It was left to the Bob Lutz-backed Via Motors to hold the electric torch, displaying two range-extended vehicles which ride on existing GM off-road architecture – one of which (the X-Truck) can achieve up to 100mpg, despite its astonishing combined output of up to 800bhp.

from ClassicDriver