MINI driver Dano Sordo in action on the Monte Carlo Rally (Photo Credit: BMW AG)

The BMW Group today announced they would continue their partnership with Prodrive in the World Rally Championship, however there were a raft of changes as the Mini World Rally Team lost their manufacturer status.

With BMW unwilling to give the extra financial backing to run a second car without sponsorship, and manufacturers obliged to run two cars all season, manufacturer status has instead been transferred to Motorsport Italia run WRC Team Mini Portugal, who have two full time drivers in Armindo Araujo and Paulo Nobre.

Dani Sordo‘s former works car will still run as a semi-works backed effort, albeit without the burden of having to score manufacturers points.

After much uncertainty about Prodrive’s future involvement with the Mini programme, BMW have confirmed they will continue building and maintaining all customer Mini Countryman WRCs, but Motorsport Italia will run the official works cars for the rest of 2012.

The switch in teams for the manufacturers championship ensures that Mini will complete the homologation process for their new car, allowing the Countryman to race in the WRC and other FIA sanctioned championships until 2018.

However, this effectively puts to an end any hopes of Kris Meeke returning to the WRC with Mini, after being benched in favour of pay drivers Pierre Campana and Patrik Sandell so far this season.

Sebastien Ogier - then a Citroen driver - on the 2011 Rally Sweden (Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media)

The traditional white, snowy backdrop to Sweden’s traditional February WRC round is somewhat incongruous to the rally circus which is about to descend on the picturesque scenery surrounding the host town of Karlstad. Rally Sweden has been a near guaranteed fixture since the sport’s inception, however there are signs that it could be the last time there is even a world championship for them to host.

Amidst the cataclysm of BMW threatening to derail Prodrive’s Mini programme and negotiations over a replacement for North One breaking down, the usual faces are still making the trip to the only snow based rally of the year, a traditional hunting ground for the Blue Oval. The icy conditions are Sebastien Loeb‘s only ‘weakness’, with only a sole win eight years ago being his best result. In 2008 and 2011 Ford were even able to lock out the podium, such was their dominance over their French rivals. 2004 is also their only win here, albeit with their sister marque Peugeot being far more successful with the legendary Marcus Gronholm- a driver far more at home here than Loeb ever will be.

“It’s perhaps not a surface on which I excel, but I love competing here,” he said. “It’s actually one of the season’s most enjoyable rallies. If you look at my record here in previous rallies, it has often been the conditions that have made things more difficult for me.”

“When I went off the road in 2008, it wasn’t really a winter rally as the above-zero temperatures had turned the ice into mud. Last year, I finished sixth but lost any hope of winning after clearing the road of freshly-fallen snow on the first day and then picking up a puncture… When the stages have roads covered with a good layer of sheer ice, I think I’m just as fast as my rivals.”

Even with his natural ability, Loeb has not been able to challenge his new team-mate Mikko Hirvonen for victory, with the Finn picking up maximum points in the last two years the championship has visited Sweden. However, with Hirvonen defecting to Citroen for this year, he is more confident than ever of securing a good result next weekend.

“Mikko has joined the team with his own experience and he has helped improve the set-up of the DS3 WRC on ice,” he added. “I tried his set-up and I immediately felt confident. We have made a lot of progress compared with 2011.”

Hirvonen was outclassed by his world championship team-mate for most of the season opening Rally Monte Carlo, however with Sweden being one of his best events of the year, he expects to be in the mix for victory this time.

“The first thing would say is that I think we have a car that can win. But even though we have done well as this rally in the last four years, it is still going to be a difficult challenge,” he said. “After winning the last two editions of Rally Sweden, obviously my goal is to win again. I think that it will be a more closely-fought race than at Monte Carlo, simply because we will all have the same tyres from start to finish. Personally, it is a new challenge, which is very motivating for me.”

Ford are a team with a prestigious history at this event, currently holding a record of 5 consecutive wins to add to their success with native driver Bjorn Waldegard in 1978. The Nordic feel to the works team will certainly do them no harm, especially with the rally route crossing into Norway and – quite literally – passing Petter Solberg‘s doorstep.

“The farmhouse overlooks the special stage,” he said. “I can stand at the door and see the road, [so] at least I know the road well.”

Much like his notable record of being the last world champion pre-Loeb, the Norwegian driver is also the last driver to win this event in anything other than a Ford, taking victory at the wheel of his former works Subaru Impreza back in 2005. It may have been seven years since he last sipped champagne from the top step of the podium, but next weekend presents him with the best chance to date to finally get back to the top step.

“I have only two days of testing in which to get used to [the car] on snow and ice, but I’m not worried.  Asphalt was the surface on which I expected difficulties in settling into the car, but I felt comfortable immediately at Rallye Monte-Carlo.  Ford has a superb recent record in this rally and Jari-Matti and I want to extend that.”

After the disastrous start to the season, Jari-Matti Latvala will be looking to put his retirement in Monte Carlo behind him, and has set himself a more realistic aim of collecting a Top 3 finish. “That’s my target. I was happy after the first day of my pre-event test. I concentrated on perfecting the car set-up, and that’s now clear in my head. I was a little too aggressive with the settings last year so I’ve modified them slightly,” he said.

The elephant in the room is making a big splash off the stages, but when the timer starts, Mini could struggle to impose themselves in the fight for another podium place. The Countryman WRC is unproven on the slippery snow of Sweden, and tarmac specialist Dani Sordo has never been a fan of the surface. Alongside him in the merry-go-round second seat is former JWRC champion Patrik Sandell, who is looking to impress at his home event. He received backing from former Swedish rally drivers Waldegard, Stig Blomqvist and Tomas Radstrom to compete here this weekend, and has no intention of letting them down.

“This is a fantastic opportunity,” he said. “Knowing that all my idols since I was just a kid are coming together like this to support me is incredible. I think this piece of the puzzle is what I need to take the final step into the WRC class.”

There are other news faces this weekend – former PWRC champion Nasser Al-Attiyah begins his campaign in a semi-works Citroen DS3, after skipping Monte Carlo due to the clashing Dakar Rally. On paper his prospects look somewhat bleak – the format of the lower classes of the sport allowed him to skip the event in the past, and the few results he did score only just scraped him into the points in his own class, so expect an uphill battle for the Qatari driver to get on the scoresheet here.

Ford on the other hand have some more promising drivers backing up their works duo. As in Monte Carlo, Ott Tanak and Evgeny Novikov will be nominated to score points for the second M-Sport team, and the addition of Adapta World Rally Team to the Ford fold brings in another two talented young Norwegian drivers in Mads Østberg and Eyvind Brynildsen. The duo live in the same village of Valler, not far from where the stages cross into Norway, and after Brynildsen lost his drive with Skoda at the end of last season, is hoping a good result here can lead to more opportunities.

“To compete in a World Rally Car is the dream of every rally driver, and what can be better than to do that in cooperation with the neighbour,” said the 24-year-old Brynildsen. “I will prepare well for the task, and at the starting line of the shakedown I will have done 250 kilometres of testing. I will do my very best to have a good result in the rally. I hope that this is the start of something that can be [extended] to more WRC rallies later on. We are working hard to get a budget.”

The M-Sport list continues further, with European Rally Championship regular Michał Sołowow making his seventh appearance in the event, as well as Finn Jari Ketomaa in a self-run Fiesta. While Henning Solberg returns for Go Fast Energy World Rally Team, there has already been a blow for the independent Ford team, with second driver Matthew Wilson having to withdraw through an ankle injury sustained in training.

The SWRC are also back supporting the main series, albeit with only two of the drivers from Monte Carlo returning for the second round. Per-Gunnar Andersson will be hoping bad luck doesn’t strike twice for his Proton, after retiring from the lead in the season opener. Eventual winner Craig Breen will also be present to try and maintain his championship lead, while Giandomenico Basso makes way for Alister McRae in the second Proton. Promising New Zealander Hayden Paddon will be making his first appearance of the season in a Skoda Fabia S2000.

A couple of interesting footnotes will come in the form of Skoda Motorsport once again, with Sebastien Ogier being partnered by Andreas Mikkelsen in S2000 spec machines. Also, yet another Ford has been entered for a rather more unusual driver – multiple Swedish Touring Car Champion Richard Goransson. The Swede has already proven he has the talent to do well at his home event, after finishing second in the Group N category last year and 17th overall. This time he will be driving a WRC spec Mini Countryman, and is looking forward to his second WRC appearance. “This is going to be the biggest challenge in my career and I would lie if I didn’t say that I am nervous,” he said.

As much as I wish I could dwell on the quaint anecdote of a touring car driver taking on the world’s best rally drivers, the ever present danger of collapse will be lingering over the paddock all weekend. Something that may not be lingering around the paddock this weekend however is TV cameras – with the Eurosport deal collapsing, the sport is without a promoter and without any TV rights signed. The FIA have guaranteed Stage 1 Technology will remain to supply tracking data for the entire season, but without any international television coverage, BMW’s threat to quit the sport so soon after joining is beginning to look more sensible than it is malicious.

Loeb, Hirvonen, Solberg & Co could all take 25 points away from Sweden next Sunday. However, as things stand, it seems no-one is truly going to win this weekend.

Craig Breen graduated from last years WRC Academy (Photo Credit: M-Sport)

After the WRC’s former promoter North One Sport went into administration, the WRC Academy support series had been thrown into a state of uncertainty. However,  thanks to an agreement between the FIA and M-Sport, the single-make junior class will return for a 6 round championship at Rally Portugal in March.

M-Sport will be supplying and running the same Ford Fiesta R2s that were used in last year’s championship, which was won by current SWRC driver Craig Breen, who is funding his drive with the €500,000 he recieved as a prize for his title. This year the prize is slightly different, with either a full WRC season in a Fiesta R2 or five rounds of the championship at the wheel of the faster Fiesta S2000 on offer.

“The 2011 WRC Academy Cup was a great success and provided incredibly close competition through to the final stage,” said Michele Mouton, the FIA’s WRC manager. “We are very pleased to have reached an agreement with M-Sport, ensuring once again that this arrive and drive formula continues at a set and affordable price for young competitors wishing to enter our sport. We have great confidence in Malcolm Wilson and his team to deliver yet another exciting series that is at the heart of nurturing future talent.”

The six round calendar will also see the young drivers visiting the rough gravel of the Acropolis in May, the fast and flowing stages of Finalnd in August, followed by the first of three asphalt events in Germany at the end of the same month. Rallye de France Alsace and Rally Catalunya in October and November complete the calendar, and drivers will drop one result from their six event campaign towards their championship standing.

Petter Solberg (Photo Credit: World Rally Pics)

Petter Solberg got himself in hot water with the Monte Carlo rally organisers, after being clocked doing 106km/h in a 50km/h zone. The offence was committed last night, as crews returned to service in Monaco following the conclusion of the day’s competitive stages.

“On being questioned, the driver explained that indeed, he was accelerating at the said speed in trying to pass a slower car and in doing so, he passed the continuous centre line on the road, but was then braking immediately. He apologised for his lapse,” according to a statement released by the organisers.

He was charged with breaking Article 151c of the FIA International Sporting Code, which states; “ Any fraudulent conduct or any act prejudicial to the interests of any competition or to the interests of motor sport generally.”

As a result, he was given a suspended one rally ban, valid for the next six rounds of the championship. The penalty can also be imposed retroactively, meaning he could face disqualification from Rally Sweden if he were to commit a similar offence during said rally. Any speeding offence where he goes over twice the speed limit will trigger the penalty. He was also handed a fine of €1400 for his actions.

Daniel Elena and Sebastien Loeb (Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media)

Sebastien Loeb once again made the art of winning look effortless, winning the last day’s only stage – which just happened to be the bonus points powerstage – to finish the inaugural round of the 2012 World Rally Championship over 2 minutes up on his rivals and with 28 points to boot.

Loeb hadn’t put a foot wrong all weekend, and asserted his dominance in the final short sprint though Ste Agnes to Col de la Madone, with new team-mate Mikko Hirvonen backing the Frenchman up in second place, 1.2 seconds down the road.

“For sure it’s always a great moment to start the season like this, especially in front of so many fans,” Loeb told World Rally Radio. “Full points in the first race is incredible and for sure it’s the perfect start [to my title defence]. But Monte-Carlo is my rally and for the others we will have to see.”

The battle for second place culminated in a no-show. Petter Solberg had spent the previous day catching Dani Sordo at an alarming rate for the Spaniard, but with three worn tires on the former’s Fiesta RS, he couldn’t muster the blistering pace required to get anywhere near Sordo for second place. Surprisingly for a driver with so much history in the championship though, it was still Solberg’s first time on the podium in Monte Carlo.

The final point for the powerstage went to Evgeny Novikov, who has shown a new sense of maturity at the wheel of his Fiesta RS. The young Russian has been crash-prone in seasons past, but a level headed drive secured fifth place, equalling his best career result in the 2009 Rally d’Italia.

Francois Delecour ended his one-off WRC comeback in unusual fashion, allowing co-driver Dominique Savignoni to step behind the wheel of his Ford to mark the latter’s retirement from rallying. Predictably, they were a distant 52 seconds off the pace, but with both a large time gap and power steering problems for Pierre Campana, they easily retained the sixth place they had been holding for several days.

Just behind the third M-Sport Fiesta of Ott Tanak, the battle for ninth was still very much alive heading into the final stage. Martin Prokop started the powerstage three seconds up on Armindo Araujo‘s Mini, and it was the Czech driver who would prevail in the end by finishing 5th, just 4.4 seconds behind stage winner Loeb.

The other M-Sport Fords were not so lucky this week however. Matthew Wilson finished just outside the points in 11th, while Henning Solberg, whose car had been plagued with mechanical problems since the opening day, came 13th.

Splitting the two was Kevin Abbring, driving for Volkswagen Motorsport as team-mate to the retired Sebastien Ogier. He may have been the highest placed S2000 car, but not being registered to the SWRC, it was left to Craig Breen to pick up maximum points in class as the sole survivor, after previous leader P-G Andersson‘s Proton Satria Neo had died just short of the Col du Turini yesterday evening. Michal Kosciuszko may not have had a perfect rally, but with a class lead of over 10 minutes, he was never going to be threatened for the lead of the PWRC race. He finished 30th overall at the wheel of his Mitsubishi Lancer, with an eye to upgrading the car before his next appearance in the series.

Final Classification

1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) 4hrs 32mins 39.9secs
2. Dani Sordo (Mini) +02:45.5
3. Petter Solberg (Ford) +03:14.2
4. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) +04:06.8
5. Evgeny Novikov (Ford) +06:03.4
6. Francois Delecour (Ford) +07:47.9
7. Pierre Campana (Mini) +08:31.4
8. Ott Tanak (Ford) +10:34.7
9. Martin Prokop (Ford) +16:10.7
10. Armindo Araujo (Mini) +16:16.6

Sebastien Loeb (Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media)

While Sebastien Loeb stayed in the background, accumulating Top 3 stage times to keep his lead as big as ever, it was Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg who were the center of attention yet again in the battle for second, with Mikko Hirvonen trying to barge his way into the podium places just behind them.

Hirvonen picked up from where he finished the previous day – winning the stage and edging closer towards Solberg ahead. “I was driving quite safely and still did that time,” he said. “I’m not sure it will be enough but I’m getting more familiar with the car.”

Enough it certainly was not – a mere 1.7 seconds was all Hirvonen had been able to gain on the Norwegian. Instead, they had both caught up with Sordo, who was too busy complaining about his ill-handing car – “slow and heavy” as he put it – to notice that Sebastien Loeb was struggling to stay focused on his two minute lead.

“I didn’t take any risks, I’m just trying to find the right rhythm and to be concentrated,” said Loeb. “But it’s really difficult to find the right rhythm when all you have in your mind is not to make no mistakes.”

Sordo’s woes continued in the following stage – dropping 12.5 seconds to the chasing Solberg, albeit with 40 seconds in hand still. All he could do at the end of the opening loop was shrug his shoulders in confusion as to how he had haemorrhaged so much time in just two stages. At the other end of the scale, Solberg was happy with the fastest time in Stage 15, gaining 8.4 seconds on Hirvonen behind.

“I’m just trying to keep my third place for Ford, that’s the main thing for me,” Solberg said. “We have to be realistic. I lost a couple of seconds with a mistake close to the finish. The car is working very well I must say, I feel very comfortable.”

His sentiments made sense in the context of Hirvonen’s anxious performance over the same stretch of tarmac. “I was not so confident on the damp and took it a bit steady,” he explained. “That’s not so good for the podium but I didn’t want to take any chances. It’s going to be tough for the podium now.”

Evgeny Novikov was having similar problems to Sordo due to a bad tyre choice, but didn’t need to worry about losing the 5th place he had held since yesterday, as Francois Delecour had to fight against his own car’s broken power steering throughout the opening two stages. Both M-Sport drivers held position in 5th and 6th despite their relative problems.

The trend set just before afternoon service continued in the rerun over the Col du Turini, with Solberg once again going fastest and gaining significant amounts of time on Sordo. Hirvonen meanwhile turned his slim chance of a podium into no chance of a podium by spinning early in the stage and dropping over 13 seconds to the stage winner.

“It was very good, no major problems at all,” said Solberg. “I took it a little careful on the downhill with no risk. It was a fantastic stage and it was a dream feeling.”

Loeb had similar praise for the Turini re-run, doing a solid job of retaining his lead by finishing just over two seconds off the pace of Solberg. “It was a very good stage, very good condition and nearly dry,” he commented. “It was a real pleasure to drive and there was a great atmosphere with a lot of spectators. I really enjoyed it.”

Solberg had become a man on a mission, and carved another 12.5 seconds out of Sordo on the final stage of the day. Not even the Monte maestro Loeb could keep pace with him, finishing 7.7 seconds down yet still second quickest through Lantosque to Luceram.

Sordo’s advantage may have shrunk to a slender 18.3 seconds, but with only the short 5km powerstage left of the rally tomorrow morning, he was confident he had done enough to secure second place. “Petter needs to push a little harder because I think we have enough of a gap now,” he said.

Regardless of his final position, Solberg was delighted with his performance and his new Fiesta RS, after being on the few drivers to actually take time out of Loeb over the course of a whole day.

“This has been my best day in a car since 2004.  I never dreamed of having a car as good as this, and to be able to attack on the stages like I have today is unbelievable,” he said. “I’m really happy to have set three fastest stage times today.  If someone had offered me that this morning, I’d have gladly accepted it.  When I drive with the feeling I have now it is just unbelievable,” he added.

Podium battles aside, there was good news further down the field, with Delecour showing he isn’t over the hill at 49 years old by coming third in both evening stages. He now looks destined to take 8 points on his one-off WRC comeback, just behind Novikov, 28 years his junior but surprisingly level headed this week. Pierre Campana had a mostly quiet penultimate day, aside from some intercom problems causing a brief issue near the end of Stage 14. And at the foot of the points scoring places there is still a close battle to be fought – Martin Prokop is less than three seconds ahead of 10th placed Armindo Araujo.

The Col du Turini was not going to come and go without claiming at least one victim however. Per-Gunnar Andersson had looked set for a straightforward victory in the SWRC class with several minutes in hand over his sole surviving rival Craig Breen. His victory hopes literally went up in smoke on the Turini re-run, a minor fire grinding his Proton to a halt just short of the famous peak, forcing him to retire on the spot and hand the only remaining points to Breen.

“[Andersson and co-driver Axelsson] reported smelling fuel in the car and saw a fire as they were going up the hill,” explained Proton team principal Chris Mellors. “They put the fire out, but have been forced to retire. Obviously we don’t know the precise nature of the fire until we get the car back here.”

He continued, “As you can expect, the team are completely gutted. After Giandomenico [Basso] went out on the first stage, PG has driven the perfect rally and done precisely what we asked of him. He extended his lead to an incredible seven minutes, but it’s all over now. Unbelievable. We were so close to a top 10 and completely dominant SWRC win on our first time out with the car at this level. Now, we go away and come back stronger on the next one.”

With just tomorrow’s powerstage to go, everyone with the exception of Prokop looks safe. But being the Monte, it wouldn’t be surprising to see one last twist in the tale. Delecour winning the powerstage is the surprise I will be looking for, but it seems like yet another event where Loeb can do no wrong.

Classification after Day 4

1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) 4hrs 29mins 12.1secs
2. Dani Sordo (Mini) +02:41.6
3. Petter Solberg (Ford) +03:00.7
4. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) +04:05.6
5. Evgeny Novikov (Ford) +06:00.8
6. Francois Delecour (Ford) +06:55.7
7. Pierre Campana (Mini) +08:21.3
8. Ott Tanak (Ford) +10:27.2
9. Martin Prokop (Ford) +16:06.3
10. Armindo Araujo (Mini) +16:09.2

Mikko Hirvonen in action - Credit: Citroen Racing

While Sebastien Loeb remained out front, it was a subdued day for the Frenchman, with Citroen team-mate Mikko Hirvonen taking two stage victories to rapidly close in on the ailing Petter Solberg, who let second place slip of out of his grasp and leave it for the taking by Dani Sordo.

As always tyre choice was going to be a decisive factor, and the Citroens had planned ahead for the icy stage to follow. Loeb had dominated the previous day, but after he chose a mixture of slicks and studs, it was the ever determined Solberg that came first on the opening stage, taking 13 seconds out of Sordo in the wet and slippery conditions of St Jean en Roynans to Font d’Urle. The tyre choice of the works Citroens allowed the customer Fords to capitalise, with Francois Delecour setting an impressive second quickest time, 3.3 seconds behind the flying Solberg. He was followed by another two M-Sport Fiestas, Evgeny Novikov and Ott Tanak.

Despite the lack of pace in the opening test, Sordo, like Solberg, had also gone for a tyre choice that was more suitable for the opening stage, with no studs to rely on in the upcoming icy stage. Despite this, it was Solberg who suffered the most, dropping over a minute to the Spaniard and falling dangerously close to the chasing Hirvonen, who had chosen studded tyres all round and won the second stage of the day.

“I had slicks on the rear and no studs on the front and there was so big aquaplaning from the start,” said Solberg. “I almost went off, it was unbelievable. There was so much water and black ice. It was much worse than I expected.”

“It was really, really tricky,” added Sordo. “We didn’t take tyres with studs and lost a lot in the last part where there was snow and where it was really bad.”

Another driver who guessed right in the tyre lottery was Pierre Campana in the second Mini Cooper. He set the third fastest stage time, helping him build a more comfortable gap to the chasing Ford of Ott Tanak.

The only stage of the afternoon was more of the same from Stage 12. After a couple of troubled days, Hirvonen had finally found harmony with his DS3 and was flying. Solberg meanwhile was having yet more problems, his aggressive corner-cutting causing a puncture and breaking a wheel rim. He limped his Fiesta RS to the stage finish, but the damage was already done – Hirvonen had closed to within 20.8 seconds of the Norwegian.

Loeb backed up his Finnish team-mate in second place in Stage 13, ensuring he retained a lead of over two minutes to Sordo heading into the penultimate day of the rally.

Evgeny Novikov has so far put past demons behind him, driving at a fast pace but avoiding errors that have blighted past seasons for the Russian driver at senior level. He set the third fastest time in the final stage of the day, but has fallen further behind Hirvonen and looks unlikely to improve on his current 5th position. However, he holds a lead of over two minutes to closest challenger Delecour, who holds a fine sixth place on his first WRC event in a decade.

Per-Gunnar Andersson still holds 9th place overall and the lead of the SWRC class, however Armindo Araujo is recovering from earlier mistakes and problems with his Mini Cooper WRC, and with only 1 minute 20 seconds in hand over the Portuguese driver, 9th may change to 10th tomorrow. He still holds a comfortable lead in his class, but Andersson wasn’t without problems in his quest for 10 points. His Proton Satria Neo’s windscreen de-mister failed, causing vision problems through Stage 12.

With only a single 5km stage on Sunday, tomorrow will likely decide the fate of the rally. The drivers will face 85km of competitive stages, with the enigmatic Col du Turini featuring twice, with the re-run taking place at night. It has taken many famous scalps in the past, but with the field whittled down to such low numbers already, can the Turini create one last surprise this weekend?

Overall standings after Day 3

1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) 3hrs 31mins 25.2secs
2. Dani Sordo (Mini) +02:12.4
3. Petter Solberg (Ford) +03:22.2
4. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) +03:43.0
5. Evgeny Novikov (Ford) +04:28.2
6. Francois Delecour (Ford) +06:39.1
7. Pierre Campana (Mini) +07:45.1
8. Ott Tanak (Ford) +08:44.8
9. Per-Gunnar Andersson (Proton) +13:20.8
10. Armindo Araujo (Mini) +10:31.4

Ogier and Ingrassia before their rally ending crash (Photo Credit: VW Motorsport)

Sebastien Ogier’s co-driver Julien Ingrassia has sustained an injury to his right arm, after an accident in the last of today’s stages in the season opening Rallye Monte-Carlo.

The French duo’s Skoda Fabia S2000 left the road around 5km from the end of the Lamastre-Gilhoc-Alboussiere stage, and sustained heavy damage as a result.

“Julien told us that there is some problem from his arm, but he doesn’t expect it is broken, the doctor will be able to find out some more,” team press officer Stefan Moser told Autosport. “The crash happened in a long left corner. The car went off the road and hit at the right-hand side of the stage. I believe the right-hand side of the car is destroyed.”

The exact nature of Ingrassia’s injuries are unknown so far, however they are expected to be minor and unlikely to rule him out for any other rallies this season.

Sebastien Loeb (Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media)

Sebastien Loeb won five stages and greatly increased his rally lead today, while his closest rivals Dani Sordo and Petter Solberg spent the day’s six stages constantly swapping places in the other podium places.

Loeb was quick to assert his staus as rally leader at the start of the day. He won stage five by 2.9 seconds from Solberg, but crucially for the Norwegian, he was also 2.9 seconds faster than Sordo, taking second place as a result.

“It was two different tyres each side and it was quite tricky from the start,” said Solberg. “But once I got the temperature in the tyres I kept the speed. Everything can happen on this rally so there will be no crazy pushing. There will be no risks or going over the top. I will keep it steady.”

Perhaps he had been to cautious on the following stage – he dropped 2.2 seconds to Sordo and slipped back down to third place.

“It was okay, no major problem,” said Solberg. “It’s just very difficult on the ice. I knew it would be tricky.”

Loeb had no such problems however, and went fastest again. More importantly for Citroen however, Mikko Hirvonen had finally started to make progress, passing both Sebastien Ogier and Evgeny Novikov in SS6.

“This one was a little better,” said the Finn. “It takes a bit of time to find the rhythm and to be confident with the grip level but it’s not too bad. I’m learning all the time and for sure I want to finish the rally.”

Francois Delecour suffered in the day’s second stage, a broken intercom meaning he could not hear pacenotes from co-driver Dominique Savignoni. It almost ruined his rally, missing a pace-note and crashing into a wall. However the pair swapped helmets for the following stage which fixed the problem, only losing minimal time to Pierre Campana behind.

“I just couldn’t hear his note: after we hit the wall, I was sure that our rally was over,” said Delecour. “I couldn’t believe that we had got away with it, and the damage was relatively minor.”

Further up the leaderboard, the fight for second continued in the final morning stage. Loeb was fastest yet again, but Solberg was able to find four seconds over Sordo and reclaimed second position. It seemed that the Ford driver was finally starting to break the Spaniard.

“I pushed really, really hard and did not make any mistakes. The time looks bad but I don’t know how,” said Sordo.

The other Sebastien had not given up on the three way battle for fourth, after setting the fourth fastest time through Lamastre to Alboussiere: “On this one it was a fantastic time. We pushed like hell but some places it was still tricky.”

After mid-day service, Sordo was on a mission to reclaim second place. He did what no other driver was able to on Wednesday – beat Loeb to a stage victory, albeit by the rather slender margin of 0.2 seconds. It wasn’t even enough to move up the leaderboard, but he did gain a valuable 2.5 seconds on Solberg.

“I have more feeling with the car, the road is better and I have more confidence with the soft tyre,” he said. “I can push more because I also did some small modification in the shocks and also the gearbox.”

Petter Solberg lies just three seconds behind Dani Sordo in the battle for second

Solberg edged further ahead in the penultimate stage, but on Stage 10, Sordo was 6.1 seconds faster, confirming he would end the day as the best of the rest behind the dominant Loeb. Solberg was at a loss to how the Mini driver was able to make up so much time on the final run of the day.

“There was so much mud in some places and I really struggled,” he explained. “That’s the only thing I can think of. We’ve lost second but it’s a long way to go.”

The battle for fourth went from a three way fight to a head t0 head. Ogier had been struggling due to the lower power in his Skoda S2000, but he took himself out of contention for a Top 5 finish by crashing out of the final stage. By now Hirvonen had also moved ahead of Novikov, but only holds a 6 second advantage over the Russian driver going into tomorrow.

Delecour now holds a steady sixth place, while Campana moved up to 7th, after falling behind Ott Tanak for a brief period. Henning Solberg was having a miserable weekend however – after differential problems on the opening day, his engine dropped a cylinder mid-way through SS7, and then had brake problems in the afternoon after a stone became wedged in one of his Fiesta’s calipers. He is at the rear of a chain of ailing Fords, with Martin Prokop 12th, Matthew Wilson 13th and Henning 14th, but over a minute away from gaining any positions.

The barely represented support classes remained as they were at the end of the opening day – Per Gunnar Andersson leading Craig Breen in the SWRC, and Michal Kosciuszko several minutes up on debutant Louise Cook in the PWRC class.

1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) 2hrs 45mins 56.9secs
2. Dani Sordo (Mini) +01:37.2
3. Petter Solberg (Ford) +01:40.9
4. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroen) +03:40.4
5. Evgeny Novikov (Ford) +03:51.5
6. Francois Delecour (Ford) +05:19.9
7. Pierre Campana (Mini) +06:49.6
8. Ott Tanak (Ford) +07:00.6
9. Per-Gunnar Andersson (Proton) +10:08.9
10. Kevin Abbring  (Skoda) +10:31.4

Sebastien Loeb, Rallye Monte Carlo (Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media)

The script was already written – Sebastien Loeb, the master of the Monte, would end the first day by comfortably leading his rivals. For a while however, Jari-Matti Latvala seemed determined to turn the rally on its head by setting the script on fire.

The opening stage was by the book – reigning champion Loeb took the stage win, albeit with a determined Dani Sordo snapping at his heels. Mikko Hirvonen backed up his new team-mate in third position to hold off the works Fords of Latvala and Petter Solberg in 4th and 5th.

While stage one was typical dry asphalt, stage two was littered with patches of ice and snow. Loeb and Latvala had both taken a tyre choice of studs and slicks – one of each front and back – but crucially the Finn had taken super-softs to the Frenchman’s soft rubber. The impact was huge – Latvala took a colossal 52 seconds out of the world champion, immediately promoting him to the lead. Team-mate Solberg was equally as impressive – on full slicks he still finished second in the ice and snow of Burzet to St Martial, 24s faster than Loeb.

“We had not tested like this,” said Latvala. “I didn’t know what would happen, I was a little bit worried, but Petter had done something like this in Germany [last year] and he said it would be okay. It was a good decision.”

Sordo was the main loser from the unpredictability of the second stage, hitting a wall and damaging his Mini’s suspension. The big time gaps between drivers ensured he stayed in 4th overall for the time being however. Bryan Bouffier was not so lucky – driving his Peugeot 207 S2000 into a bridge cost him over 5 minutes, after being the inital leader in his class. Thierry Neuville also suffered through no fault of his own, held up by the slow Mini Countryman of Paolo Nobre and leaving him 13th.

The surprise of stage two was swiftly forgotten in the afternoon loop though. Solberg gambled on tyres yet again, but this time it backfired – a pair of snow tyres on a much improved road surface cost him dearly. Meanwhile Hirvonen was being carved to pieces by his world champion team-mate, his woes compounded by clipping a wall and damaging his brakes as a result.

Their problems paled into insignificance compared to Latvala however. The rerun of Burzet to St Martial may have been clearer than earlier that day, but there were still stretches of ice in places. In the end, something as small as half of a single pace note was the difference between leading the Monte Carlo Rally and retiring after rolling his Fiesta off the road. It was as if nothing had changed since years gone by; Just as Latvala looked to be a real contender on pace alone, he binned it and made Loeb’s task all the more easy.

“Miikka called a note about a tightening corner with ice in it,” explained Ford team principal Malcolm Wilson. “Jari was looking for the ice and didn’t register the tightening part of the call. The car slid wide, hit a wall and rolled over it.”

The man to benefit from the assorted mistakes was the same person who suffered during the morning run of the stage – Sordo moved back into second place, albeit just one second ahead of Solberg.

Through all the ups and downs of the opening day, there was another Frenchman who was keen to prove he had the skill to master the jewel in the crown of rallying. Sebastien Ogier is driving an S2000 spec Skoda Fabia this season, and his fast, consistent driving against the more powerful WRC spec cars earned him a solid fourth place at the end of the opening day. Ford may well be ruing letting Ogier slip through their fingers at the end of last season if he can keep this up for the rest of the rally.

Further down the order, Neuville’s woes contiuned, retiring from the final stage of the day. With no superally regulations in effect this week,  both he and Latvala will be sitting out the rest of the rally.

Two M-Sport drivers are sandwiching Hirvonen in 6th after the opening four stages – Evgeny Novikov is only 5.4 seconds behind Ogier’s Skoda, and Francois Delecour has done well to stay in touch with his far younger team-mate. A long way back from the Ogier to Delecour group is Pierre Campana, the pay driver in the second Mini. From the off he was unable to live with the pace of the other works cars, and is unsurprisingly lagging behind so far.

Unfortunately the support categories have been stripped to the bone at the start of this season. After the end of day one, out of the few SWRC entrants who turned up to begin with, only two remain. Per-Gunnar Andersson is 10th overall and over three minutes ahead of Craig Breen, who picked up a puncture on the final stage of the day.

Sebastien Loeb, Citroen DS3 (Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media)

The Rallye Monte Carlo may be one of the most prestigious events on the WRC calendar, however this is the first time in four years the world’s greatest drivers will have faced the infamous rally, with the legendary Col du Turini once again included on the route of this year’s event.

Monte Carlo is like a second home to Citroën and Sébastien Loeb – they’ve won here five times in the last ten years.

“And yet, it’s three years since I last competed in this rally,” said Loeb, playing down his chances to dominate in one of his most successful stomping grounds. “I don’t doubt my ability to be on the pace, since we haven’t really stopped since the end of last season. But this rally is so specific, you can never be sure of anything.”

Loeb’s new team-mate Mikko Hirvonen is in the odd situation of being the most recent winner of the WRC drivers competing this weekend, yet a driver expected to struggle compared to both his team-mate and some of the other top drivers. He won the rally in 2010 for Ford when it formed part of the Intercontinental  Rally Challenge, but his best result in the WRC was 2nd place in 2008 – finishing a massive two and a half minutes behind winner Loeb.

“I’m a little apprehensive about Monte-Carlo,” he said. “Starting a stage where there are icy patches on slick
tyres is not something I am particularly looking forward to, but that’s part of what makes this rally special. My aim for
this weekend will be to ‘survive’, or in other words, make it to the finish without incident and pick up as many points as
possible in the championships.”

The Ford team Hirvonen departed at the end of last season has promoted Jari-Matti Latvala to lead driver – and the Finn is confident of a solid result, after winning the asphalt Rallye du Var last November as a warm-up to the season opener.

“I feel I’m more competitive on asphalt than ever,” he said. “It will be hard to win against the asphalt experts but a top three finish would be a good start to the season ahead of rallies that suit me more.”

Ford’s newest recruit Petter Solberg has never finished on the podium in Monte Carlo despite making seven starts here, but has an ace up his sleeve for this year’s event.

“I competed there last year, when it wasn’t a WRC round, so I know all the stages except the two new ones,” he explained.   However he may also be hindered by his lack of experience with the Ford Fiesta RS, having only completed two days of running leading up to the rally.

Mini has also returned with two Countryman WRCs, one for tarmac specialist Dani Sordo and the other for French pay-driver Pierre Campana. Mini won this even three times in the 1960s with the iconic Mini Cooper S, however with uncertainty looming regarding the future of the team – exemplified by Kris Meeke being sidelined in the opening  two rallies of the season – many will wonder if the WRC’s newest manufacturer will have both eyes on the prize this weekend.

Outside the top teams, Ott Tänak and Evgeny Novikov will be representing M-Sport Ford. Tänak also warmed up for the opening rally of 2012 by contesting the Rallye du Var, finishing in second behind Latvala, driving an identical Ford WRT run Fiesta RS.

M-Sport also have a notable third driver for the Monte – François Delecour, who won here in 1994.

“I am so excited to be back behind the wheel of a WRC car,” he said. “It’s been ten years since I last drove one. I have to say that the car is feeling fantastic. We did some testing with the Fiesta earlier in the week and it’s a real joy to drive. I cannot wait for the competition to start. There’s a great spirit here and so many spectators on the stages – even during practice. It’s unbelievable.”

Last year’s most frequently points nominated M-Sport drivers, Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson, will again be present in Ford WRCs, albeit as independent entrants. Martin Prokop also returns at the wheel of a Fiesta RS WRC for the Czech National Team.

Over at Citroën, Thierry Neuville will make his top-level WRC debut for the junior team, and Peter van Merksteijn, Sr. will continue running in his own Citroen DS3 WRC. Neuville has shown genuine pace on sealed surfaces, winning last year’s Tour de Corse and Rallye Sanremo in the IRC, driving for Peugeot.

The conditions are always a game changer in Monte Carlo, and all the drivers seem well aware that something as simple as bad tyre choice could potentially wreck their weekend.

“It’s challenging and stressful in equal measure,” said Latvala.  “You have to think about the weather and tyre choice.  When we’re in the service park at sea level in Monte-Carlo, we must predict what the weather will be like in the mountains at 1200m and make a selection accordingly.  A wrong choice can cost several seconds per kilometre, so it can win or lose the rally.”

Even rally favourite Loeb is worried about the conditions, after completeing the recce earlier this week.

“The first two days in the recce it was looking like a tarmac rally, with wet and humid conditions in some places,” he explained. “Then the third day of the recce it was full of snow. So it was really tricky, and if we have this kind of condition it will be very difficult. Now it depends on the weather.”

“It looks like there are going to be many moments where we are in those conditions on the wrong tyre, but that’s what Monte Carlo is about,” added Hirvonen. “So we just need to cope with that, survive and get through the stages. It’s all about making the best compromise with the tyre choice.” 

The rally begins tomorrow morning, with the longest stage of the entire rally getting the drivers underway. At 37km, Le Moulinon to Antraigues and its second running later in the day represents the best chance for drivers to gain time on one another – but all eyes will be on Saturday’s stages 14 and 16, when the cars will drive up to the legendary Col du Turini. The rally comes to a close with a single sprint finish on Sunday, with only 5km of tarmac to settle any close battles lasting until the final day.

All signs may point to Loeb taking yet another convincing win, but considering all the twists and turns the sport has endured leading up to the season opener, perhaps it is a sign of things to come for the drivers themselves.

Nelson Panciatici aboard the Citroen DS3

World Series by Renault regular Nelson Panciatici will make his WRC debut at this month’s Rally Monte Carlo, behind the wheel of an Automeca Citroen DS3 R3.

In preparation for the event, Panciatici drove a Ford Fiesta R2 in last November’s Rallye du Var – the season finale of the French Rally Championship. However he will now step into the DS3 for a pre-rally test in the Chambery region of France to acclimatise himself to the new machinery, under the guidance of Automeca team principal and former Citroen works driver Philippe Bugalski.

“The Rallye du Var was a thrilling experience, I had an incredible time,  and as soon as I had finished, I wanted to do the Monte Carlo,” said Panciatici. “I know it won’t be easy, especially if it snows because I don’t know that surface but I have my co-driver, René Padovani, at my side. His help was invaluable in the Rallye du Var and he will know how to train me up fast.

“My first and foremost reason to be there is for pleasure, but that won’t stop me from taking it seriously. I will do my utmost to get the best possible result and put on a good race.”

Thierry Neuville (Photo Credit: ircseries.com)

RACB Driver of the Year Thierry Neuville will race in the WRC next year, as part of a 10 rally deal with the Citroen Junior Team, on the back of two wins in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge this year with partner marque Peugeot.

CJT Team Principal Benoît Nogier has indicated Neuville will drive all rounds of the 2012 season with the exception of Mexico, Argentina, and New Zealand – the latter clashing with the Ypres Rally in which he is expected to appear for his current Kronos Peugeot team.

“Now I can confirm that I will remain faithful to the PSA,” said Neuville. “However nothing is signed yet.”

However, the deal is expected to be signed and made official this coming Monday.

Meanwhile both Peter Peter van Merksteijn Sr. & Jr. have agreed a reduced schedule for next season, the former for two rounds and the latter for four – but this time in seperate events – sharing co-drover Eddy Chevalier.

This leaves some seats still vacant at the Citroen Juniors, with Evgeny Novikov and Kevin Abbring the drivers currently in negotiation with the French marque for a part-time 2012 programme.

Citroen Racing (Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media)

Nasser Al-Attiyah will become Citroën Racing’s third driver after signing a deal to drive a factory-spec DS3 WRC from Rally Sweden onwards.

The Qatari driver will miss Monte Carlo due to commitments in South America, where he hopes to retain his Dakar Rally title from this year, but will return to the snowy roads of Sweden to drive a car with identical spec to that of fellow works drivers Sebastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen.

“We’re pleased to announce the arrival of Nasser Al-Attiyah at Citroën Racing,” said team principal Olivier Quesnel. “He’s a complete all-round driver who already has considerable experience as proved by his impressive results. We’re delighted that he’s chosen our team to make his debut in a World Rally Car, and we’re determined to put all our support behind him to help him move up to the top level.”

As well as becoming a regular on the Dakar Al-Attiyah was PWRC champion back in 2006 and has contested multiple events in a variety of lower spec cars, however this will be his first season at the premier WRC level.

Al-Attiyah celebrates his Dakar Rally in January. Commitments to defend his title mean he will miss the Monte Carlo Rally

“I can’t wait to get to know the team better and to test the DS3 WRC,” he said. “It’s still a bit early to fix myself objectives as I’m counting on acquiring experience not only with the engineering squad, but also with drivers as talented as Sébastien Loeb and Mikko Hirvonen.”

Ford Fiesta WRC (Photo Credit: Word Rally Pics)

After weeks of uncertainty, Ford has committed itself to the World Rally Championship for the next two years, and have simultaneously announced Petter Solberg as their second driver in a one year deal.

M-Sport, who have been in charge of the blue oval’s works team for the past 14 years, were finally able to secure backing for the 2012 and 2013 seasons, and will continue running the current spec Fiesta RS WRC for Ford’s works and satellite teams.

“We feel that the timing for our announcement is right,” explained Gerard Quinn, Ford Europe’s Senior Manager for Motorsport. “We had to be confident about the stability of the championship and to ensure it continues to provide great value and increased exposure globally. We discussed it with our stakeholders and after receiving such assurances we look forward to focusing on competition once again.”

The other big question mark over Ford’s immediate future was also answered in the announcement – that of the second seat at the factory team. After spending the last three years running a privateer Citroën, Petter Solberg has secured a one year deal to return to the marque which handed him his full WRC debut.

“The addition of Petter Solberg to the team brings one of the sport’s most experienced and flamboyant drivers back to the team where he started his top-level career. A drivers’ world title and 13 world rally victories are testament to his abilities and his vast experience will be a great asset to our line-up,” added Quinn.

New signing Solberg has already taaken the opportunity to test the Fiesta

However there is also bad news for Ford on the commercial side, losing one of their primary sponsors in Abu Dhabi Tourism Board. The Middle-Eastern country had backed the works Ford team for several years, with Khalid Al-Qassimi a team regular as part of the deal, but poor performance compared to Citroën and the uncertain future of the team seems to have worried long term sponsors – with BP also withdrawing their backing. However, Castrol remain onboard as a primary backer.

Regardless of their financial situation, team principal Malcolm Wilson was happy to secure Ford backing for the next two years.

“The performance of the Fiesta RS WRC in 2011 was strong on all surfaces and I’m genuinely excited about what we can achieve in the future,” he said. “We want to challenge for world titles and I have no doubts that our car and driver combination, allied to the infrastructure and expertise of our staff at Dovenby Hall, will allow us to do that.”

Jari-Matti Latvala will pair up with Solberg next year, holding a valid contract for 2012 from his current deal.

2011 Ford Fiesta WRC (Photo Credit: World Rally Pics)

The FIA is expected to push back the deadline for entries to the World Rally Championship, due to Ford still not committing to the 2012 championship – according to Stobart Ford driver Mads Østberg.

“The entry deadline is expected to be postponed [to] December 22, as [Ford] have requested a delay because of many uncertainties,” he told Norwegian station TV2. “It seems that the FIA ​understood [Ford's] request. It is clear that the Ford cars will [race] again next year.”

Mads’ father Morten Østberg was similarly confident of the M-Sport Fiestas running next season, but uncertainties remain over Ford’s commitment to the sport.

“M-Sport will not stop its programs in the World Rally Championship,” he stated. “Despite the uncertainties, we are ready.”

However, it seems Mads is most likely to end up in a customer car for next season, citing that he is “too inexperienced” to step up to the second factory seat, freed up after Mikko Hirvonen‘s departure to Citroen a few weeks ago.

M-Sport may also be in line to lose another large chunk of funding, amid rumours they will lose backing from the Abu Dhabi tourism board. However all parties concerned have so far been silent on the speculation surrounding the possible termination of the contract.

TV2 also reported that both Petter and Henning Solberg are in “final stage” negotiations for a works drive next season – however Petter nor Henning would not confirm with which team they were trying to complete a deal with.

Sebastien Ogier (right) and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia - Photo Credit: Volkswagen Motorsport

Sebastien Ogier has joined Volkswagen ahead of the German manufacturer’s entry into the 2013 World Rally Championship.

The Frenchman won five rallies in 2011 with Citroen, finishing third in the final standings. He left the French squad at the end of the season, to be replaced by Mikko Hirvonen.

“Volkswagen is the number one in Europe and will soon be number one in the world,” said Ogier. “I’m sure that they’re going to compete with the goal of clinching the WRC title, and I’m happy to be part of this from the outset.”

Ogier’s co-driver Julien Ingrassia also makes the switch, and added: “We’re looking forward to a team with a fighting spirit and the determination to win.  Anything’s possible.”

“I am very happy about Sebastian Ogier and Julien Ingrassia joining us,” said Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, Member of the Volkswagen Brand Board of Management for the Development Division.  “Both of them are important pieces of the puzzle on our way towards building a successful team in the World Rally Championship.  It is also a mark of confidence for our team if such a strong pairing opts for a new team in the WRC that is still in the process of being developed.”

Motorsport Director Kris Nissen added:  “We are proud that such a successful and quick duo as Sébastian Ogier and his co-driver Julien Ingrassia have decided to join Volkswagen. The aim of putting a competitive Polo R WRC on the road for them as quickly as possible will additionally drive our team.  We look forward to working with them and are hoping for many victories and titles in the future.”

Jari-Matti Latvala - Photo Credit: worldrallypics.com

Jari-Matti Latvala scored his first and only win of the 2011 World Rally Championship on Wales Rally GB after newly-crowned champion Sebastien Loeb’s rally came to an abrupt end when he was involved in a collision with a car on a road section on Sunday morning.

Loeb sealed an eighth straight world title when rival Mikko Hirvonen was forced into retirement on Friday after damaging the radiator, and subsequently the engine, on his Ford when he spun.

Loeb held a narrow lead over Latvala on Friday night, before pulling out a gap again on Saturday morning’s stages. The Finn fought back in the afternoon though to open up a six second lead overnight.

Loeb’s bid for victory came undone though on the road section between the Halfway and Crychan tests on Sunday morning when his Citroen collided with a road car. He, co-driver Daniel Elena and the two Spanish occupants of the hire car all escaped unharmed. The impact was not heavy, but – perhaps ironically given the nature of Hirvonen’s exit – the radiator was damaged and he could not continue.

“We were on a road section and hit a car front on,” said Loeb to wrc.com. “I moved to the side [of the road] but we are in [Wales] and he is not [Welsh] so he went on the wrong side and we crashed. It was not a big impact but the radiator is holed, so we cannot go on. That’s it. But okay, we are world champion so no problems.”

This left Latvala with a comfortable winning margin, which stood at 3m42.9s after completing the 23^rd and final stage on Sunday.

Mads Ostberg matched his career best result of second from the season opener in Sweden, on what is widely expected to have been the final appearance for his Stobart team in the WRC. Teammate and fellow Norwegian Henning Solberg completed a fine double podium finish for the squad, albeit seven minutes behind Latvala on a rally of attrition.

Solberg’s podium had looked under serious threat from Kris Meeke, the Brit having closed from 45 seconds behind at the start of the final day to just 1.8s with one stage remaining. However, the Northern Irishman spun on the very last test, preventing a podium finish on home soil for him and the Banbury-based Mini team.

Meeke was still able to finish well clear of the next best Brit – fifth placed Matthew Wilson. The top ten was made up of eight Ford Fiesta RS WRCs at the finish, with Ott Tanak next up in sixth on both his and tyre manufacturer DMACK’s first World Rally Car appearance.

The Estonian was closely followed by fellow Ford pilots Evgeny Novikov and Dennis Kuipers, with Ken Block picking up two points in ninth. The final point of the year was collected by Armindo Araujo in his Motorsport Italia-run Mini.

Sebastien Ogier won the season-ending Power Stage to take 11^th overall after running most of the event under superally after crashing on SS1 on Thursday afternoon. He demoted the impressive Kevin Abbring, who was top non-WRC runner in his Volkswagen-entered Skoda Fabia S2000. Production champion Hayden Paddon was 13^th on his debut in the R4-specificaiton Subaru, with Patrick Flodin comfortably winning the PWRC section on the rally in 14^th.

The next World Rally Championship event will be the return of the Monte Carlo Rally in January 2012.

Final 2011 Wales Rally GB top ten positions after SS23:

Final 2011 World Rally Championship drivers’ classification top ten positions after 13 rounds:

Latvala flew past Loeb and into the lead on Saturday afternoon - Photo Credit: worldrallypics.com

Jari-Matti Latvala leads Sebastien Loeb by 6.1 seconds going into the final day of Wales Rally GB, after a Saturday that saw the balance of power swing between the two drivers.

Latvala had closed up to be just 1.1s behind the Frenchman (who claimed his eighth world title when Mikko Hirvonen was forced to retire on Friday) overnight, but Loeb opened up his lead again during Saturday morning’s three stages. This left him 7.3s ahead of the Finn at midday service.

The balance swung back in Latvala’s favour during the afternoon loop though, winning all three stages to overturn Loeb’s advantage and move ahead.

Mads Ostberg held third coming into the day’s first stage, but looked under pressure from fellow Norwegian Petter Solberg. However, Solberg was forced to stop on the road section to the opening test with a broken fuel pipe, bringing his season to an unhappy, premature end.

Ostberg was reporting an engine problem, but is hoping to have it fixed overnight. He has a three minute cushion over compatriot and M-Sport Stobart teammate Henning Solberg.

Kris Meeke has climbed to fifth in his Mini, despite breaking an engine mounting on the day’s first stage and subsequently losing time until service. He was later able to move back ahead of Matthew Wilson in the battle to be top Brit on home soil, and is now only 45s behind Solberg.

Dennis Kuipers is a strong seventh in his Ferm-backed Fiesta, but has only five seconds in hand on DMACK tyre-shod Fiesta of Ott Tanak. The Estonian was running fifth on his World Rally Car debut until a time consuming off on the final stage of the morning loop.

After holding seventh overnight, Kimi Raikkonen crashed his Citroen on the first stage of the day – perhaps bringing the curtain down (in typical style) on his two year rallying stint.

Evgeny Novikov is 20 seconds behind Tanak in the Team Abu Dhabi-entered Fiesta that he has taken over from Khalid Al Qassimi for this weekend. Ken Block completes the top ten in his Monster Ford.

Armindo Araujo is next up in his Mini, with Volkswagen-entry Kevin Abbring and Subaru R4 driver Hayden Paddon fighting over 12^th and the honour of best non-WRC entry.

Patrick Flodin continues to lead the PWRC runners in 14^th, just ahead of the recovering Sebastien Ogier – fighting back under superally after his SS1 crash.

The biggest drama of the day took place in the WRC Academy, where Craig Breen not only took a dominant 4m36.1s win the class on the rally, but also managed to overturn a 20 point deficit to season-long leader Egon Kaur to claim the inaugural title.

With a bonus point awarded for each stage win, Irishman Breen’s 14 stage wins out of 17 allowed him to draw level with Kaur on total points. With total stage wins over the course of the season being the decider for the tiebreak, Breen became the winner of the 500 Euro scholarship prize.

Top ten positions after SS17:

Sebastien Loeb - Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media

Sebastien Loeb has secured his eighth consecutive World Rally Championship title after Ford confirmed that Mikko Hirvonen would not be restarting on Wales Rally GB.

The Finn punctured his radiator in a spin on SS7 and was forced to retire from Friday’s leg, but there was a chance that he would be able to restart on Saturday morning under Superally rules.

However, his team discovered significant damage to the engine due to the loss of water from the radiator, bringing his season to an end and meaning Loeb cannot be caught.

Meanwhile, the Frenchman leads the rally by just one second over Hirvonen’s teammate Jari-Matti Latvala. Loeb had lost the lead to Hirvonen on SS6, prior to the Finn’s retirement on the following stage. He had a 17 second margin over Latvala at that point, but Latvala was quicker than Loeb on all four of the afternoon stages, bringing the gap down to just 1.1s with another 12 stages to run over the remaining two days.

Mads Ostberg holds the final podium place in his M-Sport Stobart Fiesta, keeping fellow Norwegian Petter Solberg at bay as the privateer Citroen driver recovers from the time lost to a puncture and broken damper on SS7.

Petter’s brother Henning Solberg makes it three Norwegians in the top five in fifth place, with Ott Tanak a strong sixth overall on his debut in a World Rally Car – also the first appearance for DMACK tyres on a WRCar.

Kimi Raikkonen, a hot topic some 3560 miles away in Abu Dhabi as rumours about an F1 return gather pace, is just a second behind Tanak in seventh. Kris Meeke is less than five seconds behind him, recovering after an alternator problem in the morning.

Matthew Wilson had been seventh until losing spots to both Raikkonen and Meeke in fog on the final stage of the day. Dennis Kuipers rounds out the top ten, ahead of fellow Fiesta drivers Evgeny Novikov and Ken Block.

Production champion Hayden Paddon is 13^th on his debut in an R4-specification Subaru Impreza, ahead of Mini driver Armindo Araujo and Volkswagen Motorsport trialist Kevin Abbring.

Patrik Flodin leads the PWRC section in 16^th, while Craig Breen leads the WRC Academy. Unfortunately for the Irishman, points leader Egon Kaur is running second in the class, but with bonus points on offer for each stage win, Breen could yet overhaul the Estonian in the points if he keeps up his pace.

Top ten positions after SS11:

Mikko Hirvonen, Wales Rally GB (Photo Credit: World Rally Pics)

Mikko Hirvonen has been forced to retire from the opeing day of Wales Rally GB, following an accident on the seventh stage of the WRC finale.

The Finn had started the stage with a slender lead in the overall standings over title rival Sebastien Loeb. However, he lost nearly four minutes on stage with reported suspension and radiator damage which initially pushed him down to 13th overall.

It now appears that Hirvonen has stopped on the road section en route to the service park at Builth Wells – all but ending his chances of snapping Loeb’s streak of world titles.

Hirvonen told wrc.com that he had spun on the greasy surface, hitting a bank with the rear of the car. Unfortunately, a tree stump went through the radiator and with the water drained from the engine the damage forced Hirvonen to stop on the 100km road section.

“It’s over for sure,” Hirvonen is quoted as saying about his title chance. “I have to thank the team for a really good effort and all the help. Unfortunately we have to look to the future and see what we can do in the future.”

“It’s devastating to go out in an incredible battle with Sebastien Loeb,” Ford Abu Dhabi team principal Malcolm Wilson told wrc.com. “We will try to fix the car but it does look like there’s too much damage to the engine. I believe the damage is already done, but our main priority is to get him back here and out again tomorrow. It’s a huge disappointment for the whole team after getting back into the championship fight again and then sadly losing it on the first day of the event.”

Mikko Hirvonen (Photo Credit: World Rally Pics)

Mikko Hirvonen has lost nearly four minutes after stopping with a problem on the seventh stage of Wales Rally GB.

The Finn lead the event had taken the lead after the previous stage – the first run through the Dyfi East stage – and was leading his championship rival Sebastien Loeb by just 0.4 seconds.

However, reports indicate Hirvonen stopped 10km into the 21km Dyfnant stage reportedly with damaged suspension and radiator on his Ford Fiesta WRC. He completed the stage, but lost 3:52 to stage winner Loeb and fell to 13th in the overall standings.

Hirvonen trails Loeb by eight points in the championship standings. The event in Wales is the final rally of 2011.

Loeb leads the rally from Hirvonen’s Ford Abu Dhabi teammate Jari-Matti Latvala by 17.7 seconds. M-Sport Stobart driver Mads Ostberg is third ahead of Solberg brothers Petter and Henning.

Kris Meeke, who had started SS7 in sixth overall also lost time – 2:31 - on the stage, falling to eleventh. Sebastien Ogier, in the sister Citroen DS3 to Loeb, crashed out on the opening stage, spinning into a wall less than 2km from the start. MINI’s Dani Sordo crashed out on stage five.

Sebastien Loeb - Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media

Sebastien Loeb holds a 0.7 second lead over title rival Mikko Hirvonen after the first three stages of Wales Rally GB on Thursday.

Hirvonen’s Ford teammate Jari-Matti Latvala was quickest on SS1, ahead of Loeb and Hirvonen. The big story though was Sebastien Ogier, who crashed out. The Frenchman will return on Friday morning.

Loeb was quickest on SS2, the second run through Great Orme, but Latvala remained in the lead. Points leader Loeb took the lead on SS3 Clocaenog, while Hirvonen posted the fastest time to demote Latvala to third overall. The trio are covered by 3.1s.

Petter Solberg is fourth in his privately-entered Citroen, ahead of top Brit Kris Meeke. His Mini teammate Dani Sordo is sixth, half a second ahead of Mads Ostberg. Ott Tanak is eighth on his debut in a World Rally Car, with Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg completing the top ten.

Mini testing in Wales

The Mini WRC Team may only be entering their sixth event of 2011 this weekend, but expectations in the team are still high. The team have managed two podiums and several fastest stage times so far this year, and many feel a strong result is not out of the question in Wales this weekend. Not only will it be a home event for the team, but also for Irishman Kris Meeke, who considers this to be his home event. He travels to Wales Rally GB for only the third time in his career.

Meeke’s team-mate, Dani Sordo, also has high hopes for this weekend, having been on the podium here twice already. He said: “I like the rally a lot even though it is really difficult. It is usually wet and so the roads are very muddy. As there are a lot of new stages for me it will be difficult to get the pace notes right, but that is something I shall work on with Carlos [del Barrio, co-driver].”

Both drivers have been testing their Mini Cooper Works WRC cars in South Walesthis week at Walters Arena, where they have been tuning the car towards the gravel surface which makes Rally GB infamous and loved in equal measure. Team Principal of the team, Dave Richards, explains: “We have already enjoyed a far better year than anyone could ever have expected but as our focus over the last few months has been on tarmac development, another podium result would be a surprise finish to a year that has far exceeded everyone’s expectation.”

Rally GB is also a strain not only on the competitive stages but in their positioning. With the Rally HQ in South Wales in Cardiff, the service park in mid-Wales and the first stage in North Wales, the crews and their mechanics will have to be on the ball at all times to make sure they do not miss a single stage.

With heavy rain forecast both before and after the event, it promises to be a real test for the cars, too. The Mini WRC Team are celebrating the 125^th anniversary of partner Bosch, who produce several key components for the John Cooper Works which the team uses. Despite this trial for both the cars and crews, Rally GB remains one of the most loved events on the WRC calendar and this weekend promises to be a real success. The Mini WRC Team will be hoping it is successful for them, too.

Mikko Hirvonen shaking down the Ford - Photo credit: Worldrallypics.com

Mikko Hirvonen and co-driver Jarmo Lehtinen head into this weekend’s Rally GB with more than a realistic chance at taking the championship for the first time. They lie behind Sebastian Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena in the standings, the pairing who have held a monopoly on WRC titles for the past seven years.

Hirvonen could take the title with as little as nine points, but despite there being 28 up for grabs this weekend he is taking nothing for granted and has vowed to race for the win: “The only thing I can do is aim to win the rally. The sole target has to be the victory.”

However, to make that task even harder for the Ford Abu Dhabi Rally Team driver, Rally GB has undergone changes for 2011; even with being one of the toughest rounds on the calendar previously, there is now another day of competition to endure on the fast gravel stages. Add into the mix the unpredictable Welsh Autumn weather, and the championship’s finale boils to a head nicely.

Hirvonen himself is no stranger to what it takes to win here. He took victory in the 2007 event here and says: “Everything depends so much upon the conditions. You need to be confident, trust the pace notes and take risks. I wouldn’t mind if it rained because if the conditions are bad, there’s more chance of the unexpected.” Indeed, heavy rain has been forecast on the stages both before and during the days of competition.

Not only will the rally be a test for the drivers, but Wales’ fast forest stages have been notorious for the tyres in the past. After replacing Pirelli as official tyre supplier for this year, Michelin have come prepared. Ford will be using the French company’s Latitude Cross gravel tyre, available in the soft compound only.

Elsewhere at the Ford team, Evgeny Novikov will be taking the wheel of the third car due to Khalid Al Qassimi’s commitments at the Abu Dhabi Formula One Grand Prix. Novikov, excited about his chance, said: “It’s a hugely exciting opportunity to step into Khalid’s car for the final rally of 2011. The road surfaces here can be very challenging, but I’m targeting a strong finish in support of my team-mates.”

The rally will, however, be tinged with sadness, particularly for the Ford Abu Dhabi team. All cars entered by the team will carry a tribute to Marco Simoncelli, who died following a crash in the Malaysian Moto GP round last month. Simoncelli had tested one of Ford’s rally cars near their headquarters just a few weeks before.

Jason Pritchard leads the BRC contingent after a strong performance on the IRC round in Scotland - Photo Credit: rally-irc.com

This weekend’s Wales Rally GB sees a strong contingent of crews that have taken part in the MSA British Rally Championship and its support series the BRC Challenge.

The highest seeded of the BRC drivers is Welshman Jason Pritchard. The 23-year-old finished third in last year’s BRC, but after a tricky start to 2011 he opted to make selected international appearances in the IRC and WRC in his Subaru Impreza, co-driven by Dale Furniss.

Next up is 2011 runner-up and Pirelli Star Driver Elfyn Evans, behind the wheel of a Ford Fiesta R2 together with co-driver Andrew Edwards. They will look for a repeat of their most recent WRC start, when they won the 2WD category on Rallye de France.

Also in R2-spec Fiestas are father and son team Kit and Tim Leigh, as well as Scot John MacCrone and Stuart Louden.

Three champions from this year’s BRC will also be present. BRC Challenge and Fiesta SportChallenge winners Jack Rowe and co-driver Alex Lee (Fiesta R2) are joined by BRC Challenge Ladies Champions Becky Kirvan and Karen Watts (Fiesta ST).

Fiesta SportTrophy Champion and third-placed BRC Junior Osain Pryce starts as the highest-seeded front-wheel drive runner on the rally’s national event, co-driven by Iestyn Williams. After Wales Rally GB, Pryce will compete for the BRC’s Pirelli Star Driver prize.

Also contesting the national event are BRC Challenge crew James Watts and George Morrison in their Volkswagen Polo.

Three former BRC drivers complete their WRC Academy campaigns in Wales. Craig Breen lies second in the points behind leader Egon Kaur and can claim the title if things go his way. Another to watch will be Alastair Fisher, who won the category last time out in France. 2010 Ladies champion Molly Taylor completes the BRC runners.

Polo R WRC in action - Photo credit: Volkswagen

Volkswagen has taken yet another step forward in its bid to enter a works team into the WRC next year by starting testing of the Polo R WRC, the car the German marque hope to use in 2013.

The team, which has been running a Škoda Fabia in selected events this season, appointed Spaniard Carlos Sainz to take the wheel and give the car its first mileage.

The 1990 and 1992 WRC Champion, who has recently become a famous part of the Volkswagen family by driving for them in the renowned Dakar Rally, said: “Having the privilege of driving the first kilometres [with the Polo R WRC] is naturally a great honour.” He went on to say: “The car is still at an early stage but already feels very good.”

The test, which took place on a stage usually used in Rallye Deutschland, amounted to over 100 kilometres, which included a shakedown of the chassis and further fine-tuning of both the suspension and engine.

That the test was completed without any mechanical problems will be a boost to the team, who will be entering a Volkswagen into the highest form of rally-racing for the first time in 16 years.

Praise was also added by Dr Ulrich Hackenberg, who is a member of the German car company’s Board of Management for Technology. He said: “The first test with the new car marks an important milestone in our preparations for our entry into the WRC. This category is a great challenge for the team, the drivers and the technology.”

The team is indeed well on schedule for entering the championship in 2013, but they have not become complacent – they are preparing themselves as well as possible for the sport they chose to enter instead of Formula One.

As well as developing a new car, the team have also had time to evaluate fresh drivers in the aforementioned Fabia. The actual drivers who will use the Polo R WRC in anger have not yet been decided, but rumours have circulated that the team may be looking at such bright lights as Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, both currently at Ford, and Sebastian Ogier, protégé to namesake Loeb at Citroën.

Until then, Sainz will continue to test the Polo rally car at various locations. The team, meanwhile, will be in action at Rally GB in Wales from 10-13 November where they will be running their Škoda Fabia once more.

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Petter Solberg - Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media

Petter Solberg has been excluded from his third place finish on Rallye de France, handing the position to Mikko Hirvonen and elevating the Finn into the joint lead of the standings.

Solberg’s privately-entered Citroen DS3 WRC was found to be underweight in a weight check following the event-closing Haguenau power stage. The car was weighed three times and registered 1196kg, four kilograms less than minimum weight allowed.

The stewards decided to exclude Solberg from the results, meaning everyone behind him moves up a place. Hirvonen is promoted to third place, giving him three extra points and drawing him level on points with championship leader Sebastien Loeb, who retired from the rally.

The decision also benefits Dennis Kuipers, whose career-best sixth becomes a fifth, and allows Matthew Wilson to score one point in tenth.

Revised top ten results:

Revised drivers’ standings after 11 of 13 rounds:
1. Sebastien Loeb, 196 points
2. Mikko Hirvonen, 196
3. Sebastien Ogier, 193
4. Jari-Matti Latvala, 131
5. Petter Solberg, 110
6. Mads Ostberg, 62

Julien Ingrassia and Sebastien Ogier celebrate their victory - Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media

Sebastien Ogier has closed to just three points behind Citroen teammate Sebastien Loeb in the World Rally Championship title battle after a home victory on Rallye de France, his fifth win of the year.

Loeb had retired with an engine failure on just the third stage of the rally, allowing nearest rivals Ogier and Mikko Hirvonen to take advantage. Ogier took the rally lead on Saturday afternoon after an intense three-way battle with Mini’s impressive Dani Sordo and Citroen privateer Petter Solberg.

Ogier maintained his lead over Sordo through the final day’s stages, winning the rally with an advantage of 6.3 seconds. Sordo had been able to take some time out of the Frenchman on the final day but it was not enough. Solberg lost time with a puncture on Saturday and so had to settle for third place.

Hirvonen was unable to match the pace of the frontrunners throughout the weekend, and lost time with a couple of errors on Friday. He took fourth place after Ford teammate Jari-Matti Latvala checked in early ahead of the final stage and took a two minute penalty to drop behind his fellow Finn.

He did have some consolation though when he won the power stage ahead of Sordo. Ogier was third matching Hirvonen’s time, but receiving what could be an all-important bonus point. Both are tied for second place overall, three points behind Loeb with two rallies remaining.

Dennis Kuipers produced a fine performance to earn a career-best sixth in his FERM Fiesta ahead of Henning Solberg. Armindo Araujo had been set for seventh in his privateer Mini until crashing out on Sunday morning. Solberg’s M-Sport Stobart teammate and fellow Norwegian Mads Ostberg came home eighth after picking up his third puncture of the rally on the power stage.

Ken Block scored his second WRC points finish and his first since Spain last year as he got the better of French federation-backed youngster Pierre Campana in their battle over ninth place. Matthew Wilson struggled for pace on tarmac all weekend and could only manage 11^th.

Ott Tanak took a dominant SWRC win in 12^th overall, while points leader Juho Hanninen crashed. The Finn maintained his points lead though by restarting on Sunday morning and taking fifth in class.

Meanwhile Alistair Fisher was handed the WRC Academy win after Yeray Lemes was penalised for speeding offences in liaison sections.

Final top ten results:

Drivers’ standings after 11 of 13 rounds:
1. Sebastien Loeb, 196 points
2. Sebastien Ogier, 193
3. Mikko Hirvonen, 193
4. Jari-Matti Latvala, 129
5. Petter Solberg, 125
6. Mads Ostberg, 60

Sebastien Ogier - Photo Credit: Citroen Racing Media

Sebastien Ogier is currently set for a home victory on Rallye de France with the final day’s six stages to go, but is less than ten seconds ahead of Dani Sordo at the end of a second day that saw four lead changes.

Sordo led overnight in his Mini just ahead of Petter Solberg and Ogier, but lost the lead to Solberg when the Norwegian privateer won the second stage of the day, SS10. Solberg then picked up a puncture on the following stage however, dropping him to third and losing 40 seconds. Ogier meanwhile won the stage to leapfrog Sordo into the rally lead.

The Spaniard returned the favour on SS12 though to regain the lead going into midday service, with an advantage of just 0.2s over Ogier.

Ogier was joint fastest with Solberg on the first stage of the repeat loop in the afternoon, enough to move the Citroen driver back into the lead. The Frenchman won three of the final four stages of the day to increase his lead over Sordo to 9.5s.

Solberg is in a lonely third, 42.4s behind Sordo and 44.5s ahead of fourth-placed Jari-Matti Latvala. Kris Meeke had begun the day fourth in the second factory Mini, but lost the place to Ford’s Latvala with a spin on SS12. Things got a lot worse on the following stage though for Meeke, crashing heavily and being forced to retire.

Latvala’s teammate Hirvonen is fifth, though that will likely become fourth tomorrow when Ford use team orders to get title contender Hirvonen ahead. Dennis Kuipers is a strong sixth in his Fiesta, with Armindo Araujo having lost time to a puncture this morning. The same misfortune befell Mads Ostberg, who is ninth behind M-Sport Stobart teammate Henning Solberg. Frenchman Pierre Campana completes the top ten in his FFSA-backed Mini, seven seconds ahead of Ken Block.

Matthew Wilson continues to struggle for pace in 12^th, only 26.3s ahead of comfortable SWRC leader Ott Tanak. Yeray Lemes has won the WRC Academy section, with Craig Breen having crashed out of the lead this morning.

Top ten standings after SS17: