FIA World Rally Championship

Juniors dominate Rally della Lanterna

1 Mins read

The Citroen Junior team wrapped up their asphalt ‘test’ at the Rally della Lanterna in style, with a close 1-2 finish for their drivers Sebastien Ogier and Kimi Raikkonen.

While Ogier focused on collecting data to improve his setup and tyre choices for the WRC asphalt events, Kimi’s objective was simply to drive as well as possible. With the possibility of rainstorms for the opening loop, Ogier took the harder compound tyre while Raikkonen went conservative and took softs.

“We're not here to win, but instead to test for the four remaining asphalt rounds on the WRC this year,” explained Ogier. “So this is a good opportunity to find out how the tyres behave in unaccustomed conditions.”

By the end of the loop Raikkonen was leading by half a minute, Ogier struggling for grip on cold tyres. However with better weather on the way, both drivers were on soft tyres and thus had equal equipment at their disposal.

It showed in the afternoon loop – Ogier made up 13 seconds to Raikkonen on SS5, and a minor accident for the latter meant the gap narrowed to just 2.4 seconds with 1 stage remaining. As expected, Ogier finished off the Finn and took victory by just over 5 seconds.

“It's always great to win a rally, but above all I'm pleased to have been able to test a variety of different things on the car,” said Ogier. “I feel much better prepared now for the remaining rounds of the championship.”

450 posts

About author
Alasdair Lindsay is a Regular Contributor to TCF and can be found on twitter at @AlasdairLindsay
Articles
Related posts
DakarFIA World Rally Championship

Kenjiro Shinozuka, 1948–2024

1 Mins read
Kenjiro Shinozuka, the 1997 Paris–Dakar Rally victor and 2× World Rally Championship race winner, died Monday morning after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 75.
DakarFIA World Rally ChampionshipWRC2

Pierre-Louis Loubet: "Rally raid is really amazing, and I'm having so much fun"

2 Mins read
Before he heads back to his usual home in rally, WRC2 driver Pierre-Louis Loubet won five stages in his maiden rally raid at the Africa Eco Race and finished 11th overall.
DakarFIA World Rally Championship

Pierre-Louis Loubet to dabble in rally raid, entering 2024 Africa Eco Race

2 Mins read
WRC driver Pierre-Louis Loubet will run the 2024 Africa Eco Race in the new Apache APH-01, serving as a team-mate to ex-motocross ace Gautier Paulin.