Les brèves du mercredi…/ Wednesday’s WRC notes

Au menu des brèves de Trèves, des sorties de route, des histoires de reconstruction, une vente aux enchères qui promet, des accidents et une Porsche enfin à l’arrivée d’un rallye WRC depuis 1986 !

Le vainqueur Thierry Neuville portait un casque édition-limitée avec le logo de son partenaire Stars and Drive (golf) qui sera vendu aux enchères en fin d’année. Cette victoire lui aura sans doute donné beaucoup de valeur !

Le Rallye Deutschland est « l’épreuve à domicile » pour tous les teams WRC. Le siège de Hyundai Motorsport, à Alzenau, se trouve à 221 km de Trèves. Le HQ de Volkswagen Motorsport est à Hannovre, à 456 km de la ville hôte du rallye. Citroën Racing est encore plus près, à Versailles, à 443 km de Trèves. Pour l’équipe française, le Rallye Deutschland est plus près de ses bases que le Rallye de France puisque Strasbourg se trouve à 511 km de Versailles ! Le total des distances parcourues par Hyundai, VW et Citroën pour se rendre à Trèves est sensiblement équivalent à celle de M-Sport pour venir du nord-ouest de l’Angleterre (1117 km). Ceci dit, le siège européen de Ford, à Cologne (comme celui de Toyota Motorsport) n’est qu’à 166 km de Trèves…

Le rallye de Kris Meeke aurait pu s’arrêter samedi matin quand sa Citroën DS3 WRC a été impliquée dans un accident sur la liaison menant à Panzerplatte. Un policier avait autorisé le pilote Citroën à doubler une file de voitures, mais un véhicule venant en face a percuté la DS3 WRC, occasionnant que peu de dégâts. Ca n’a pas perturbé le pilote britannique qui a signé le 3^e meilleur temps dans Panzerplatte Lang 1.

Des représentants de rallyes WRC étaient à Trèves. On a ainsi vu des délégations de France, de Grande-Bretagne, du Portugal et du Monte-Carlo. Tous les organisateurs devraient se réunir à Paris jeudi 28 août pour le second meeting annuel.

L’histoire se répète parfois… Ainsi, Thierry Neuville n’est pas le premier à avoir gagné un rallye WRC après être sorti au Shakedown. En 2003, Petter Solberg avait lui aussi détruit sa Subaru Impreza la veille du départ du Tour de Corse. Le Norvégien s’était imposé trois jours plus tard.

Richard Tuthill a ramené sa Porsche 997 GT3 à la 27^e place du général. Il a évidemment remporté la catégorie RGT (il était le seul engagé !) et le pilote britannique a déclaré que c’est la première fois en 28 ans qu’une Porsche termine un rallye WRC.

Rallye Deutschland’s post-event stories include tales of travel, rebuilds, auction items, road accidents, contracts and historic landmarks…

Winner Thierry Neuville was wearing a one-off, special-edition helmet in Germany. It features the logo of the Belgian’s partner Stars and Drive (golf events) and will be auctioned off for charity later in the year. Its value has no doubt soared following the result of the rally!

Rallye Deutschland was the closest event to home for all the WRC teams. Hyundai Motorsport had the smallest distance to travel, since its base in Alzenau is only 221km from Trier (source: viamichelin.com). Volkswagen had to travel 456km from Hannover to take part. Ironically, though, Citroën Racing’s base in Versailles, near Paris, is only 443km away. That’s shorter than its journey to Strasbourg for the Rallye de France (511km)! The total distance covered by VW, Citroën and Hyundai combined was only marginally longer than the trip from M-Sport’s base in northwest England (1117km). That said, Ford of Europe’s head office in Cologne is only 166km away, as is that of Toyota Motorsport.

Kris Meeke’s weekend nearly ended on Saturday morning when his DS3 WRC was involved in a collision on the road section to the Panzerplatte stages. The Citroën driver was being waved past a queue of vehicles by a policeman when he was hit by a car coming in the opposite direction. Thankfully, damaged was limited to his rear-left wheel and it didn’t prevent the Briton from producing a first class run to stay second after Panzerplatte Lang 1.

Most of the current driver contracts come up for renewal at an end of the season. There remain four rounds of the 2014 WRC (two on asphalt, two on dirt) for those concerned to convince their existing or prospective bosses of their credentials.

There were representatives from several WRC rounds in Trier to talk to teams and gather ideas. We saw delegations from France, GB, Portugal and Monte Carlo. We hear that all the organisers will gather in Paris on Thursday (August 28) for the second of their two annual meetings. They could be important discussions.

The fact that Neuville went on to win Rallye Deutschland after his Hyundai i20 WRC had to be rebuilt following an accident on shakedown reminds us of a few similar fairy-tale stories. The case of Petter Solberg who comprehensively destroyed his Subaru Impreza the day before the start of the 2003 Tour de Corse comes to mind. He, too, went on to win. In June, Audi’s N°2 prototype came second at Le Mans despite a complete rebuild necessitated by a horrific crash in practice.

Richard Tuthill steered his Porsche 997 GT3 to 27^th overall. He naturally won the RGT class (he was the only entrant!) and the British driver claims it is the first time in 28 years that a Porsche has completed a WRC rally…

Rally dos Sertões: Both Ford Rangers reached top speeds above 175 km/h.

Less than 7.5 minutes split the top-4 cars in the T1 FIA class of Brazil`s "Rally dos Sertões": Tuesday the competitors faced a 209 km stage, in a total of 360 kilometers from Catalão (to the bivouac located in Paracatu, already in Minas Gerais state.

Once again, the South Afican NWM Ford Rangers 4x4 brought by the Baumgart brothers´ "X Rally Team" showed a staggering pace, closing the gap heading the lead of the seven-stage competition, and reaching the top speed of 179 km/h in the Ford 5-litre V8 engine.

The Ford Ranger #316 with Cristian Baumgart/Beco Andreotti became second, just 1:18 minutes behind the stage-winning Overdrive Toyota Hilux of Reinaldo Varela/Gustavo Gugelmin. Mitsubishi´s Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad, who won Monday´s stage, were third, 40 seconds behind the fastest Ford Ranger.

"I have to tell, it was a crazy race today," said Christian Baumgart. "The design of the track allowed the drivers to see each other several times during the stage, so we could see how we were going. Is was a little bit out of Sertões standards, but it was good fun, especially in the final kilometers, when we´ve reached a good top speed. We´ve got two long days ahead of us."

The X-Rally Ford Ranger #303 of Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea reached fourth position once more - only 1:16 minutes behind the Mitsubishi ASX Proto of Spinelli. The quartet shows a close competition, and the gap between the top-4 cars is only 7:28 mins after three stages and 836 kilometers run.

Tomorrow they move another 585 kilometers from Paracatu to São Francisco, with a 364 km stage, the longest of the Sertões so far and the one before the marathon stage.

"One more day, one day less to go in the marathon-stage," reported Marcos Baumgart. "Our goal is to grow more and more in this rally, and we could already feel some evolution. Wednesday is another day and we want to get closer to our competitors."

"The thing is: This car is resistant, tough, and I think if I was with any other car today we would be out of the race, because I hit a hole in the stage and absolutely nothing happened to the car. It´s unbelievable."
via www.marathonrally.com

Motors & Soul

Voici un an Virage8 organisait son premier Run en Vallée de Chevreuse. Depuis lors, ces Runs, Rides et Balades ont accueilli un nombre croissant de participants. Pour fêter ce premier anniversaire, ils ont décidé d'organiser une rencontre à la hauteur de l'événement. Les 6 et 7 septembre prochains, le Château de Villiers situé à une quarantaine de kilomètres au sud de Paris sera le lieu de rendez-vous des amateurs de motos et d’autos de caractère. Passion, partage et plaisir seront nos maîtres mots. Au programme, des balades, une exposition des plus belles motos et autos de caractère, des artistes, un concert de blues-rock, et de nombreuses autres activités. Un week-end d’Art de vivre la moto et l’auto de caractère unique en région parisienne.

 Motors and Soul from Virage8 on Vimeo.

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Rally dos Sertões: Marc Coma wins again in Bikes and remains the leadership. / Stagewin for Toyota´s Varela in S3 but Spinelli still leader.

A hard and technique special in the third stage of the 22nd edition of the "Rally dos Sertões" was disputed on Tuesday (26th). Starting from Catalão, the stage finished in Paracatu, which receives the Rally for the first time in history. There were 360.45 km in total, with the largest special edition disputed so far in 2014 (209.86 kilometers).

In bikes, the Spaniard Marc Coma (KTM Red Bull Factory Team) won again. The leader of the FIM World Cross Country Rally and the Rally dos Sertões champion in 2010 closed the special with the time of 02:36:10 hours. The Brazilian Jean Azevedo (Honda Mobil de Rally) was the first runner-up, followed by the Portuguese Paulo Gonçalves (Team Honda HRC).

Overall, Coma - who also won the 1st stage - leads with 05:18:37, 3:19 minutes lead to Gonçalves and 3:34 mins to Azevedo. Thirty-six motorcycles remain in the dispute. "It was a little bigger stage, a hard day, where I was trying to take as much time to recover. It was a good stage, but always difficult to find an appropriate pace," said Coma.

For the experienced Jean Azevedo, who is disputing his 19th Sertões, it was a day with the characteristics of the event. "It was a longer day, with characteristics similar to those of yesterday, with less bumps, curves and slow sections. It was a typical day of Sertões and fun to ride," Azevedo said.

Fourteen quads completed the 3rd stage on Tuesday. The Brazilian Marcelo Medeiros (Taguatur Racing), who had won the prologue in Goiânia, got the victory in the 3rd stage with the time to 02:46:58 hours. With the result, the rider also took the overall leadership with 1:57 minutes advantage for Robert Nahas (RNN Sports), who finished fourth on Tuesday, and 3:45 mins ahead of Polish Rafal Sonik (Sonik Team), who was third in the day.

Twenty UTVs remain in the fight for the title of the Rally dos Sertões. The victory in the 3rd stage was with André Sawaya and Eduardo Costa (S2 Rally / Bike Box), who recorded the time of 02:51:02 hours. The category is also well balanced and not repeated winners in the first stages.

Denisio Casarini and Eduardo Shiga (Casarini Can-Am) were the first runner-up and are in the overall leadership, but with the duo Rodrigo Varela / John Arena (Divine Stove Rally Team) just 30 seconds behind.

On Tuesday´s 3rd stage of the Brazilian "Rally dos Sertoes", the competitors departed in the morning of Catalão, Goiás State, and finished the stage in Paracatu, town of Minas Gerais State that receives the largest rally in Brazil for the first time. There were 360 km in total and a special test of 209.86 km.

In cars, the duo Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin (Overdrive Toyota Hilux) won the stage with the time of 02:34:29 hours. "Today, the car went well, we finished first and we could reduce the difference for the leaders. Now, we have to be prepared for the marathon stage", said the two time World Cross Country Rally Champion Varela, who is overall 7:28 minutes behind the leaders.

Cristian Baumgart and Beco Andreotti (X-Rally Team / NWM Ford Ranger) finished second, with Guilherme Spinelli and Youssef Haddad (Mitsubishi Petrobras) in the third place. Marcos Baumgart and Kleber Cincea (NWM Ford Ranger) were fourth. Spinelli and Youssef remain in the overall leadership, with the advantage of 2:47 minutes to Baumgart and Andreotti.

In the trucks, six-time Rally dos Sertões champion, Edu Piano and the co-drivers Solon Mendes and Antonio Carlos de Sales (Ford F4000 / Território Motorsport) won the third stage in a row. They are in the overall lead, with 13:14 mins advantage for Kenner Garcia / Rafael Dal Bello / Raphael Bettoni (Ford F4000), fourth on the stage today.

On Wednesday (27th), the competitors depart towards São Francisco (Minas Gerais State) in the dispute of the 4th stage of the Rally dos Sertões 2014. There will be 585.30 km in total on the fourth day (135.24 km of initial liaison, 363.85 km of special and 86.21 km of final liaison).

Between Goiânia and Belo Horizonte, Sertões will go through five more cities. Three will host the rally for the first time: Catalão, Paracatu and São Francisco. Caldas Novas and Diamantina complete the route.
via www.marathonrally.com