Jon Williams impresses in Spain

Events FEATURES

insidethis week:

CoverBlessed are the Meeke

HandbrakesHairpins

Issue 102 October 2009

your insight into the world of rallying&

Abarth unveils special 500

News• Hirvonen set for Cambrian Rally• Alister McRae ready for IRC• Safari Rally to return to WRC?• Cronin crowned BRC Pirelli Star Driver• Monte Carlo Rally further improved• Swedes head north

Features• Essentials: Stuff• Blessed are the Meeke• Brave New World

Event Reports

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Contents / Issue 102Welcome to issue 102 of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, your FREE weekly insight into the world of rallying!

As always, I hope you enjoy this week’s exciting edition!

Yours in Rallying,

Evan Rothman

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Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen will fi nalise their preparations for the FIA World Rally Championship title decider in Great Britain later this month by driving in the Cambrian Rally (17 October) in north Wales this weekend. The BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team duo will pilot a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car in a non-competitive safety car role just ahead of the 150-car entry.

The Cambrian Rally is based in the seaside resort of Llandudno and will include 72,30km of speed tests over gravel roads in Clocaenog and Penmachno Forests - once legendary special stages in Britain’s world championship encounter themselves. Hirvonen won this rally in 2002 as one of the sport’s rising young stars in a privately-entered car and it used to be a regular test session for teams warming up for the WRC round.

“After three days competing on the asphalt roads of Rally de España last weekend, it’s important for me to regain a good feel on gravel ahead of Rally of Great Britain,” said 29-year-old Hirvonen. “Driving on the Cambrian Rally in a competitive environment will improve my familiarity with the nature of the Welsh forests. It will be the perfect way to ready myself for what should be a thrilling fi nal round of the WRC.”

BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson said: “Although Mikko won’t actually be entered on the rally, his role as safety car means he will drive at competitive speeds so it’s a great and unexpected opportunity for fans to see the Ford team in action. The Cambrian Rally will be the ideal way for Mikko and Jarmo to focus on the week ahead, which will be the most important few days of their rally career. They will take a one-point lead to Rally of Great Britain so we expect the most exciting title fi ght in recent years.”

The Rally of Great Britain, the 12th and fi nal round of the championship, starts in Cardiff on Thursday 22 October. It covers almost 350km of competition in the forests of mid- and south Wales before the fi nish back in the Welsh capital on Sunday afternoon, when the outcome of the 2009 drivers’ championship will be known.- Credit: BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT Media

Hirvonen set for Cambrian Rally this weekend as Rally GB warm-up

Reigning Canadian rally champions Patrick Richard and co-driver Alan Ockwell drove their Impreza WRX STI to fi rst place in the Pacifi c Forest Rally to keep alive their ambitions for another Canadian championship title in 2009. The pair hung on to their lead even after a delay leaving the service area on the second day cost them a 50-second penalty.

Canadian champions aim to defend title for 2009

Richard’s only rival for this year’s Canadian driver’s championship, Mitsubishi’s Antoine L’Estage, fi nished in second place, while third went to Scott Trinder and co-driver Bill Westhead in their 1995 Impreza WRX. In fact, six of the top ten positions in the rally were claimed by Subaru teams.

“The car ran fl awlessly, helping us to lead the rally from start to the fi nish,” said Richard. “We set six new stage records, including one on the infamous Helmer stage, and we’re in a great position to fi ght for the CRC championship at the Rally of the Tall Pines!”

The win keeps Subaru in fi rst position in the Canadian Manufacturers’ Championship with a ten point cushion over Mitsubishi while Richard and Ockwell trail L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard by six points going into the fi nal event.The fi nal and deciding round of the 2009 Canadian Rally Championship will be the Rally of the Tall Pines, 20 - 21 November, near Bancroft, Ontario. FINAL Pacifi c Forest Rally 2009 CLASSIFICATION:01) P. Richard/A. Ockwell (Subaru Impreza STI) – 01h 26m 12,4s02) A. L’Estage/N. Richard (Mitsubishi EVO X) – 01h 27m 23,0s 03) S. Trinder/B. Westhead (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 01h 33m 45,2s 04) S. Losier/F. Morin (Mitsubishi EVO VIII) – 01h 34m 13,5s 05) M. Jennings-Bates/J. Daly (Subaru Impreza) – 01h 36m 54,9s 06) J. Zedril/J. Zedril (Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart) – 01h 39m 16.,8s07) C. Armstrong/K. Morison (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 01h 40m 46,9s 08) G. Bruce/R. Warrington (Subaru Impreza STI) – 01h 42m 06,7s 09) E. Grochowski/L. Junilla (Volkswagen Golf) – 01h 42m 23,5s 10) D. Hintz/R. Hintz (Subaru Impreza WRX) – 01h 42m 39,8s- Credit: RallyBuzz.com

Sixty-four crews have entered the Rally of Great Britain in Wales, which takes place 22 - 25 October and is the fi nal round of the 2009 WRC season.

There will be 17 World Rally Cars contesting the event with entries outside of the usual manufacturer ones including; Mads Ostberg in his Subaru S14, Aaron Burkart in a Citroen Junior Team C4, Dennis and Rene Kuipers both in their Van Merksteijn prepared Focus WRCs, Steve Perez in a Stobart Focus and Peter Stephenson who will be using his private Ford Focus.Petter Solberg will be in the Citroen Junior Team for the fi rst time with his C4 and will be eligible to score manufacturer points. The Citroen junior squad will consist of four cars for Rally GB, with Novikov, Ogier and previously mentioned C2 prize drive winner Burkart also in the line-up

Patrik Sandell (Skoda Fabia), Eyvind Brynildsen (Skoda Fabia) and Bernardo Sousa (Punto) are the S2000 entrants. Eamonn Boland and Craig Breen are the only two drivers from Ireland set to take part in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X and Ford Fiesta R2

Rally GB entry published: 64 teams and 17 WRC crews to race

Round Three of the United States Rally Championship’s Pacifi c Division, the Prescott Rally, the fi nal qualifying round prior to the season fi nale at International Rally New York, was run on 02 and 03 October in the high deserts of Central Arizona. A compressed two-day schedule allowed teams to participate in a multiple pass recce session Friday morning, register and inspect competing vehicles Friday afternoon, complete the competition stages Friday night and Saturday with awards and prize giving Saturday night. Daniel O’Brien and Brendan McCabe made the trek from New York to pick up additional points towards the USRC AWD season championship and to size up Keith Jackson and Marra Estep, their closest rivals. The rally began with Jackson setting fast stage time by almost 20 seconds. O’Brien countered on SS2 and took the overall lead by less than three seconds.

SS3 marked the end of the battle as Jackson collected a tree, allowing O’Brien to cruise through the rest of the weekend to victory. Production AWD was a battle between Will Hudson and Brian Szykowny and Shawn and Jennifer Hudspeth. The two teams traded the lead back and forth with the Hudspeth’s coming out on top. The husband and wife team have secured their spot in New York with a strong third place overall at Prescott. Open 2WD was an unexpected runaway for Odi and Amy Bakchis, running as high as second overall until troubles on stage 5 ended their rally. This allowed Tim and Dick Moser to take over the lead and fi nish an incredible second overall in the older Volkswagen Golf. In Production 2WD, John Black and Katianna Pihakari’s Ranger pushed Alex Rademacher and John Stewart’s Subaru until a big off on SS6. Alex and John cruised in for the win with Jason Wong and Yjiro Otsuki in second in their Neon. This year’s event featured 160 stage kilometres over the two day format with activities based at Tim’s Subaru and the Prescottonian Hotel in Prescott, Arizona. Sponsors for the event include Scott Roofi ng of Phoenix, Tim’s Subaru of Prescott along with the Subaru Western Region, The Prescottonian Hotel, and Whiskey Row Screen Printing. Timing and Scoring are provided by the California Rally Series. The series now moves to New York for the fi nal round.- Credit: USRC Media.

USRC Prescott Rally sees thrilling action in Central Arizona event

Newly crowned British Rally Champion, Keith Cronin has added the 2009 Pirelli BRC Star Driver prize drive to his portfolio in what has been an astounding year for the 23 year old Irishman. The popular West Cork youngster and his co-driver Greg Shinnors impressed the panel of judges suffi ciently that their decision to award the fully funded drive in the 2010 MSA British Rally Championship was unanimous after the two day assessment.

Young Irishman Keith Cronin is crowned 2009 Pirelli BRC Star Driver

respectively.

Rally GB 2009 Entry List: http://www.rallygb.org/documents/200...al_2-10-09.pdf- Credit: RallyBuzz.com

Seven drivers attended the shootout which was held for the fi rst time at the Sweet Lamb Rally Complex in mid Wales, one nominated from each of the six rounds of the 2009 BRC, plus the Swift Sport Cup Junior Champion. The two day event provided a mix of tests including an assessment on their pacenote making skills, TV interviews, knowledge of the FIA regulations but the predominant spotlight focused on their driving performance using both a two wheel (Suzuki Swift) and four wheel drive rally car (Subaru Impreza). BRC Manager and non-voting chairman of the judging panel, Mark Taylor “The two mile stage was a fabulous mix of corners and terrain, add to that the spice of recent torrential rain, the changeable Welsh surfaces, made for a very fi tting and demanding test.” “Giving consideration that if any of the fi nalists had slide off the road, or had crashed the car they would be have been instantly excluded from the competition, the pressure was on each of them was immense. With that in mind, all of the competitors presented themselves extremely well. They were an excellent bunch of fi nalists, the standard of drivers was the best yet in the three years we have run this competition and all of them should be extremely proud of their performances. I wouldn’t be surprised to see many of this year’s fi nalists back here again in 2010.” In the end, the Panel of fi ve judges comprising Paul Hembery, Pirelli Motorsport Manager Worldwide, Wayne Nickless and Martin Pallot from Pirelli UK, Phil Mills WRC co-driver and Risto Laine, Rally Finland Manager [AUDIO], voted unanimously for Keith Cronin who impressed them as an all round driver, a clear winner of a tough two day fi nal shootout.- Credit: RallyBRC.co.uk

FIA President candidate Ari Vatanen would like to see the Safari Rally return to the World Rally Championship calendar and promises he will work towards that goal if elected in Paris on 23 October.

Commenting at a press conference in Uganda, Vatanen said: “I am not promising anything now but I will work towards having the Safari Rally back in the world championship. The world championship is supposed to cover all continents.”

Criticizing the current FIA leadership’s neglect of Africa, the former world rally champion stated: “The FIA president should be a servant of all members of the family and cater for everybody’s specifi c needs whether black, white or yellow. Poor or rich.”

Vatanen is currently in Uganda canvassing support with his vice-presidential nominee Jack Wavamunno.- Credit: New Vision and RallyBuzz.com

Vatanen would like to see Safari Rally return to WRC calendar in future

Honda will be hoping to secure the coveted runner-up spot in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge’s 2WD Cup on the fi nal round in Scotland next month.

The company is just two points behind rival Abarth with the Scottish gravel event remaining. With a strong turn-out of Civic Type Rs expected on the season fi nale, the prospect of fi nishing second behind winner Peugeot is very realistic indeed.

Honda’s optimism was increased following a successful

Honda confi dent of success in IRC season fi nale in Scotland

Alister McRae is gearing up to return to the Intercontinental Rally Challenge when the season draws to a close on RACMSA Rally of Scotland on 19 - 21 November.

McRae, the younger brother of the late 1995 world rally champion Colin, won the IRC pilot event – Zulu Rally South Africa – in May 2006. He is due to drive a Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 for the factory-backed MEM World Rally Team operation from the UK.

Now 38, McRae, made his debut in the car during a round of the FIA Asia Pacifi c Rally Championship in Indonesia recently, and said he would relish driving it on his home event.

“It would be great to be in the car again,” said McRae, who currently lives in Australia. “I know the nature of the stages being used on Rally of Scotland because I have done some of them before. It would obviously be great to be competing in the IRC in Scotland.”- Credit: RallyIRC.com

Alister McRae gearing up for return to IRC competition in Scotland

Today was scheduled to be the FFSA’s decision regarding which event would host Rallye de France WRC 2010. The French governing body however, could not reach a fi nal decision but both Limousin and Burgundy (Rallye de Bourgogne) are now out of the running.

Fédération Française du Sport Automobile will now announce the candidate winner on 28 October 2009, to decide which the rally will get France’s WRC slot for 2010.

The fi nal decision will be between Corsica and Alsace Alsace Vosges. - Credit: Planetemarcus.com

No decision yet as to venue for Rallye de France WRC 2010

participation on Rallye Sanremo in Italy last month. Italian driver Sandro Sottile won the two-wheel-drive class in 17th overall in a Civic Type R, while Hungarian Laszlo Vizin fi nished sixth in the highly competitive category.

Alessandro Mariani, the boss of JAS Motorsport, which overseas Honda’s IRC attack, said: “Once again our cars proved to be both quick and reliable. Despite having no permanent entries on the IRC this year, we have managed to challenge for second place in the IRC 2WD Cup. We now look forward to more success.”- Credit: RallyIRC.com

Builth Wells based Jason Pritchard, the newly re-crowned MSA R2 British Rally Champion, was the class of the fi eld on his recent outing to France for the Rallye Le Touquet, where the 21 year old ran inside the top three in his class for most of the rally. British Rally Elite member Jason and co-driver Andrew Edwards were contesting the event in an effort to clinch the British Citroen Racing Trophy but as well as facing their season long rival Martin McCormack the pair would also be going up against some of the best drivers that France had to offer as the Rallye Le Touquet was the fi nal round of the 2009 French National Championship. With no less than 12 Citroen C2R2’s in the fi eld of over 140 cars the Welsh pairing were hoping for a good showing. Three stages on Friday night gave the crews a taste of things to come and the FCS Laser Mail, Competition Car Insurance

Pritchard draws positive from recent French outing in Le Touquet Rally

and North Road Garage backed pair excelled in the dark conditions, returning to Le Touquet in 17th position overall and leading the R2 class by almost 10 seconds! Overnight rain saw the crews all opt for wet weather tyres on Saturday but with Pritchard running on an old compound tyre for the fi rst loop he struggled for grip and gradually fell down the leaderboard, returning to mid day service fourth in class. Minor setup changes and new rubber for the afternoon loop helped initially with a set of quick times moving Jason back up to second before a spin once more saw Pritchard end the day in third. Sunday morning was a disaster as Jason slid off the road half way through the opening stage, fl attening a hedge and coming to a halt in a front garden! Although the little Citroen was completely undamaged the marshals refused to allow the spectators to help pull the car back onto the road and the Welshmen’s strong run was at an end! I’m so disappointed as I feel like I’ve let the whole team down! We proved that we could run at the front of the fi eld this weekend but this was only the second time we’ve driven this car on BF Goodrich tyres as we normally use the Pirelli control Tyres in the UK and I just lacked confi dence in the wet. The crash was all the more frustrating as we found out that a Subaru had crashed there before us but because it was four wheel drive it was able to reverse out and carry on! The house owner also told us that a chicane is normally placed on the approach and as we were recovering the car the organisers were building a chicane for the second run! I would like to be the fi rst to congratulate Marty and Phil on a great season and well done on winning the title! We now need to take stock of what’s happened and decide on our plans for next season. Jason will contest the forthcoming Rallye Antibes which is the fi nal round of the FIA European Rally Championship as he considers his option for 2010.- Credit: Geoff Mayes Media.

Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion, Kris Meeke, has praised the changes being planned for the Monte Carlo Rally, which will open the 2010 IRC season from 19 - 22 January.

Meeke, who has driven his Peugeot UK-backed 207 Super 2000 to victory on four rounds of the IRC so far this season, said the decision by the Monte Carlo organisers to run a fi ve-mile selection stage to determine the starting order of the rally, was inspired.

“It’s what rallying needs – a team of organises who are prepared to play around with the format of an event rather than being sterile all of the time,” said Meeke.

“The selection stage is a fantastic idea and it’s something that should be done on all rallies.”

Guy Wilks, Meeke’s fellow Briton who has competed in several rounds of this year’s IRC for the factory Proton squad, added: “It’s an awesome event and an awesome challenge often in variable weather conditions. It will be great for the IRC and fantastic for the spectators.”- Credit: RallyIRC.com

Meeke and Wilks pleased with improvements to Monte Carlo Rally

Thierry Neuville doesn’t want his starring drive in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge to be a one-off and is considering further outings in the series next season.

Neuville, a German-speaking Belgian, impressed at the wheel of the BFGoodrich Drivers’ Team Peugeot 207 Super 2000 on the Belgium Ypres Westhoek Rally in June. He ran as high as fourth before crashing out close to the end of the opening leg of the event.

“I would like to drive in a car with more power next year so a Peugeot 207 in the IRC could be a good thing for me,” said Neuville, 21.

“The level of drivers in the IRC is very high and there are some very good rallies but, at the moment, I have to cross my fi ngers because I do not have the budget to do this.”

Neuville said he was also considering tackling RACMSA Rally of Scotland, the IRC fi nale in November, but that it would depend on his Belgian championship programme.- Credit: RallyIRC.com

Neuville aims for extended campaign in IRC for 2010

Kronos boss Marc van Dalen has said that Kris Meeke’s Rallye Sanremo performance reminded him of Sebastien Loeb, writes

Kronos boss compares Kris Meeke to WRC Champion Sebastien Loeb

Next year’s Swedish Rally, the opening round of the 2010 World Rally Championship, will return to the event’s northernmost stages in search of the perfect winter weather conditions. The 11 - 14 February event will retain its Karlstad base and ceremonial start, but the remainder of the event will head north to Hagfors - with the central service returning to run out of the airport. The fi rst day of competitive action will return the crews to the classic Granberget test to the north-west of the service park. On day one, the competitors will utilise a remote service in Torsby.

Swedish Rally clerk of the course Bertil Klarin said he relished the opportunity for his event to run as round one on the calendar. “This won’t be the fi rst time we have opened the championship,” said Klarin, whose rally last ran as round one in 1996, “but it is very good news for the Swedish Rally and I’m sure we will be able to put on a very good show. We are going back to the stages in the north where I’m sure the conditions will be perfect. If there’s not snow up there, then we really are in trouble!”

The event last ran out of Torsby in 2001, but the 52km Granberget test was included three years later in 2004. The Swedish Rally wasn’t a round of the WRC last season - standing down for its rotational partner Rally Norway - but in 2008, it was based completely out of Karlstad. Klarin admits he wanted a change for next year.- Credit: WRC.com

WRC Rally Sweden returns to northernmost stages for 2010

Motorsport News.

Van Dalen, who ran Loeb in the 2006 WRC, said: “His drive reminded me of Sebastien, it was so amazing. When you know how diffi cult it is to drive in Sanremo, and when you know he did this rally for the very fi rst time against drivers like Francois Duval, it’s fantastic. It really is comparable with Sebastien.”Van Dalen says Meeke’s IRC title success vindicates his decision to recommend the Peugeot driver to Peugeot UK for 2009.

“At the end of last year when Peugeot UK were in touch with me and we were discussing the programme for 2009, I pushed for Kris and they said they would trust me and trust him.

Historically, people have said Kris is a good driver but he goes off a lot, but we have worked so hard together to show that it is not true. What he has done this year has proved it.

“It is a very nice human story: one year ago, the fi rst contact with Kris about the Peugeot UK programme was at Sanremo. He was there as a tourist and I told him that I might have an opportunity for him. One year ago nobody was talking about Kris - and now he is a great champion,” added van Dalen.

Kris Meeke plans to defend his IRC title next year and Peugeot UK are said to be keen to continue in the series for 2010 with the Northern Irishman.- Credit: Motorsport News and RallyBuzz.com

Featuresyour insight into the world of rallying

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CHAMPION: KRIS MEEKEHistory Making

BLESSED ARE THE MEEKEAdmitting to being a Formula 1 fan these days is how I imagine that fi rst meeting at Alcoholics Anonymous might go, where you stand up and say, ‘My name is Rob Sinfi eld and I am into Formula 1.’ With all of the lurid scandals, cheating and general bad news surrounding the sport, it is, as Red Bull’s Mark Webber recently said, pretty tiresome having to defend it all of the time WRITES ROB SINFIELD.

So, when Peugeot UK suggested that I should try and cheer myself up by joining them at the Sanremo round of the Intercontinental Rally Championship (IRC) to see some ‘proper no nonsense motorsport’ I was, despite never having been anywhere near a rally before, keen on the idea. Rallye Sanremo clashed with the Singapore Grand Prix weekend but to be honest, I have seen and heard more than enough of that particular event to last me a lifetime – so Italy and the IRC it was, where I could, so my rally journalist colleagues told me, go and see drivers who didn’t have to fake their crashes, they did them all the time and with much more style.

Of course, it has to be said, that if you are going to go to a rally, then there are far worse places to go than Sanremo. I did have the option of going to the fi nal round in Scotland instead but as my perception of rallying was of a sport that involved lots of tramping around through murky woods, before hanging around in a wet ditch for a few hours, just to see a few cars go past, I had to be assured of some decent weather and let’s face it you aren’t going to get that north of the border in November, or even August for that matter.

Dropping down the hill from the Nice to Genoa autoroute, Sanremo is at fi rst sight a hotch-potch collection of tatty red tiled houses, apartment blocks and more industrial greenhouses than is possible to count. My amiable driver, Bernard, tells me, somewhat proudly (odd considering he is Belgian) that this is ‘Italy’s version of St Tropez’. If that’s the case I’d hate to see what their version of Bournemouth looks like. However, when you fi nally get into the town it is clear, that while the place has probably not seen a lick of paint since its heyday as a luxury holiday resort in the 1960’s, it has an undeniable charm and ignoring my lack of knowledge in such matters, it must have the best location for a service park (I called it a paddock, provoking a stern glare from Bernard) anywhere, nestled as it is between the fabulous Royal Hotel (my base for the weekend – thanks be to God and Peugeot) and the Mediterranean Sea.

An F1 paddock is about as easy to get into as North Korea and unless you hold the right pass, just about as enjoyable, but an IRC service park is a different thing altogether. No passes, turnstiles and stroppy security men here, access is completely free to all. True, the IRC is a million miles away from being as popular as F1 so there has to be an element of control there, but here drivers, teams and cars are all accessible to the fans,which means that visitors are not as frantic about getting access to the drivers. I have seen, sane, grown up and normally sensible people, lose all rationale should they happen to spot Kimi Raikkonen dashing between garage and motorhome (doing his damndest to avoid actually meeting one of his fans) as they pursue him for an autograph – crazy but sadly true. The service park is a stress free zone and down at Peugeot’s base, there is no glamorous million-dollar motorhome, just an awning secured to the side of their Kronos Team truck while four Peugeot 207 S2000’s are worked on out in the open with no more than fi ve mechanics per car. Inside the tent, Peugeot’s leading driver in the IRC, Kris Meeke is chatting with co-driver Paul Nagle while Freddy Loix (a huge star in his Belgian homeland, bigger than Poirot apparently) lounges in a chair, looking impressively cool despite the temperature in the canvas lean-to becoming unbearable under the midday sun. I’m a bit taken aback, when, after seeing me wander in, plainly a bit lost, Freddy gets up and gives me a friendly, sincere handshake, pointing me towards the fridge in the corner and asks if I’d like a drink. I like this man. A lot. No F1 driver has ever offered me a lukewarm Heineken before, although Juan Pablo Montoya did once lob a bottle of mineral water at me.

Kris and Paul seem remarkably relaxed too, maybe because they aren’t expected to win this event, that honour seems set to go to their sole championship rival, Skoda’s Jan Kopecky, and the plan seems to be that as long as they can fi nish close to him this weekend, then the business will have to be done at the fi nal round in Scotland.

Both of the guys are of a lean and wiry build though Kris has the obvious neck and shoulders of a racing driver. Paul ambles over and shakes my hand, the man has the grip of the Boston Strangler, probably from years of hanging on for his life in various rally cars, and I’m keen to know just how he is going to handle keeping track of where they are going over tonights monstrous, 44km, Cuori stage.

“It should be ok, I’ve got good notes – 80 pages covering 1600 corners” I then ask a question that as soon as I have asked it realised is probably not one he wanted to hear, but I had to know what happens if he loses his place in the notes. “He’d better not!” Kris quickly chips in, while Paul laughs “Touch wood I won’t” he says, pointlessly tapping a plastic table. Warming to my theme, I ask Paul if he ever gets car sick, after all my kids do when they read in the car so why not him? Cue more superstitious touching of the plastic table as he says that while some co-drivers he knows do get car sick it’s not something that troubles him.

Kris decides to rescue poor Paul from the clueless F1 hack and they jump into the relative safety of their 207 to head off for stage one, a quick 13km blast from Picche to Perinaldo. Bernard the Belgian says I have to stop messing around now with the silly questions and go to if we are to catch the action.

Following a drive high up into the mountains that would not suit anybody suffering from even the mildest form of vertigo, we park up amongst the many hundreds of other cars already there and walk a short distance to a section where Bernard reckons we’ll get the best view. Now fi nally, my rally experience begins and yes, I am actually standing in a ditch next to a dozen or so mental Kopecky fans, who have plainly been sampling the local wine for many hours and are, it has to be said, rather excitable. A couple of IRC course cars, which are driven in the style of an 18 year old trying to impress his girlfriend, tear past and are then followed, at two minute intervals, by some local Italian talent who are there to try and win this one round. Great for them but they risk taking vital points off Meeke. They barrel past, and boy do these S2000 cars look and sound the part, before Bernard gives me a nod and says “Meeke is next.” Our Czech fans also know this and as Kris screams up the road, they hold their fl ags in his way, presumably to put him off, but to no effect as he is in sight and gone all in the space of about 3 seconds. Kopecky soon follows, driving like he has just been told his house is on fi re and the Czechs not only do their fl ag bit but they all light bright green fl ares which must help their man no end as he goes into the corner at full tilt.

After watching another half dozen cars, we negotiate our way back down the mountain for a welcome beer and meal at the famous (among rally people at least) Trattoria Dall’ Ava, which is adorned inside with photographs and memorabilia covering the 50 year history of the rally. This is of course, their busiest night of the year by far but the owner does not seem to have remembered this and he is struggling with his wife to cope with serving a fi ve course meal for fi fty while pouring drinks for what looks like the population of Prague. Intermittent power cuts don’t help his humour much, it’s a bit like watching an episode of Fawlty Towers on fast forward.

The wonders of technology, ie; text messages from Peugeot HQ, keep us up to date with how Kris and Paul are going, which is fi ne so far, as they fi nish Stage 1 in 3rd place but the bad news is that Kopecky is off to a fl yer in fi rst . We too have to get a move on, to get further down the hill for Stage 2. By now it’s pitch black and as the cars come belting past, headlights ablaze, only the worlds biggest rally anorak could tell who is who. Thankfully there are plenty of these on hand and I get a running commentary (and those text messages) of who is who. Kris and Paul soon come past but then there is a noticeable gap before several cars pass with front end damage to lights and bodywork with one car running on three wheels – illegal even in Italy I would have thought, something big and solid in the road is obviously causing havoc.

Kopecky should be along next but the minutes tick by and the cars continue to come, yet there is no sign of Meeke’s championship contender. There are nervous smiles in our group as it is becoming clear that he is out of the rally. The Czech fans stub out their fl ares and proceed to trudge back up to the restaurant to drown their woes and add to what is going to already be, an impressive morning hangover.

Back at the service park after the Cuori , the boys hop out of the car, Kris is in immediate discussion with his engineer Jean-Francois, (for some reason he is called Geoff by everybody on the team) while Paul’s eyes are the size of dinner plates. He looks absolutely shattered. “I didn’t lose my place but that was tough, really tough, I need some headache tablets right now”With their sole rival now out of contention, all Kris, Paul and the Peugeot team have to do is win the rally though being in 4th place at the end of day one and with Italy’s tarmac specialists, Luca Rossetti and Paolo Andreucci ahead of them, it still looked like a very tall order.

But, win the rally and the title is just what they went and did. Kris, according to Paul “drove like a man let off the leash” throughout Saturday while his trsuty 207 and band of mechanics performed without a hitch. Kris won the fi rst fi ght of the day, the stunning Tris stage, cheered on by yours truly, perched in the sunshine on what was almost a vertical slope. Then by winning Stage 6, Meeke moved into a lead he was never going to give up, although with the local specialists hot on his heels it was fl at out until the fi nish.

The news that Kris and Paul had done just enough to deny Rossetti a home win, came to us via the trusty Peugeot text message service, just as we were on our way back into the service park, where all hell broke loose when the number six 207, with its Union Jack livery, rolled in. I swear the car was panting. Kris certainly was not and even though I’d only met him for the fi rst time just a day earlier he slapped me hard (very hard) on the back like he was greeting an old friend “I can’t believe it, I just can’t believe it, we’ve done it.” All I could come up with in the moment was to joke that this was my fi rst rally and maybe me being there was lucky, “Well you’d better come again!” he laughed before heading off to the podium.

Just try stopping me Kris, just try.

Rob Sinfi eld also writes for www.GrandPrixDiary.com.

For Abarth, the new car marks a return to a discipline in which it has been present for more than 30 years. Starting in 1977 with the fi rst edition of the Autobianchi A112 Abarth Championship, Abarth continued with the Fiat Uno, Uno Turbo, Cinquecento, Seicento, Punto Kit and Super 1600, Stilo and Panda Kit Trophies.

The Abarth 500 rally car will be homologated in group R3T, a category reserved for supercharged cars with a maximum cylinder capacity of 1600cc. This class represents good value through its cost/performance ratio and is ideal for privateers and young drivers wishing to showcase their talent at the wheel of a high-performance car.

The Abarth 500 R3T’s 1368cc engine is fi tted with a Garrett GT 1446 fi xed geometry turbocharger, delivering 180bhp (132kW) at 5500rpm. It is equipped with a 6-speed sequential gearbox, a self-locking blade differential, twin disc clutch and special half-shafts.

Attention has been paid to the possibility of adjusting the suspension to adapt the set-up to suit different surfaces and drivers’ styles. Four Brembo disc brakes – ventilated at the front, solid at the rear – with an adjustable split system, provide the stopping power. The car also features a hydraulic hand brake.

The 1080kg Abarth 500 is fi tted with a specifi c welded-in roll-cage integrated to the body shell, FIA homologated seats with 6-point harnesses and other necessary safety devices.“Abarth’s ability to produce high quality racing and rallying machinery has never been in question,” says Ivan Gibson,

manager, Abarth brand UK. “We have already seen how good the Abarth 500 race car is, and I am looking forward to watching this new rally car perform.”

The calendar for the Abarth rally trophy will be published later this year.

Meanwhile, the Abarth UK Hill Climb programme has ended for this season with the team’s two Abarth Grande Punto esseesse cars once again posting impressive times in the hands of UK journalists.

At last weekend’s Prescott Autumn Classic Hill Climb, Cheltenham – the seventh event this year for the Abarth UK team – writer and columnist John Simister managed a time of 54.81 seconds followed by fellow journalists Tim Dickson (55.20 secs) and John Swift (55.23 secs).

The times proved that the 180bhp Abarth Grande Puntos are not only high performing road cars, but are more than capable of delivering results in competition. Neither vehicle has used any spare parts throughout the season, and both have run with 100 per cent reliability while being driven to and from all the events contested.

“These are remarkable times considering we have been using standard road cars, without modifi cation for hill climbs,” says Howard Paterson, Abarth team manager. “The cars have been so quick and so good this year, and we have hardly had to do any work on them. They haven’t even had new brakes.”- Credit: Fiat4Media.co.uk

BRAVE NEW WORLDRevealed for the fi rst time at this month’s 51st San Remo Rally, the Abarth 500 R3T will feature in a one-make rallying trophy in 2010. The European and Italian Trophies for the Abarth 500 Assetto Corse circuit racer will continue.

NEW MODEL: ABARTH 500New Cars

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Eventsthe full event previews and reviews

STAR DRIVER: JON WILLIAMSConquering Spain

WILLIAMS IMPRESSES AGAINThree days of sunshine and asphalt roads played out the fi nal round of the inaugural Pirelli Star Driver campaign at the WRC Rally Spain. The only asphalt event for the Pirelli Star Drivers, South Africa’s Jon Williams proved to be a WRC star for the future, WRITES EVAN ROTHMAN.

It was Jarkko Nikara who fi nished as the leading Pirelli Star Driver. The Finnish driver never put wheel wrong all weekend, and drove to a mature 17th position overall fi nish (and fourth in Group N) in his Pirelli-backed Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X.

Jon Williams gave rally bosses and teams more to consider as he performed consistently well in his fi rst all-asphalt rally. Jon was unfussed by the pressures and expectations, and this approach allowed him to post stage times that were close to the fastest in the Group N category. Unfortunately for the young Capetonian, his Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X suffered a broken gearbox only three kilometres from the end of the fi nal stage on Day Two, while running in second place of the Star Drivers and sixth in Group N. His team mechanics changed the gearbox on Saturday evening, and he was allowed to restart the rally on Day Three under SupeRally regulations.

In trying to make up lost time, Jon slipped off the road on the fi rst stage of the fi nal loop on Sunday afternoon, dropping 14 minutes. He ended the rally 17th in Group N.

“There was so much to learn on this event,” said Jon Williams. “We were looking after the brakes early on and working out

how much we could lean on them, then we had to learn about the grip levels. It’s completely alien to me, but I started to understand where the grip was on the road and how to get the best out of the car. Early on in the event we were two seconds per kilometre down on the front of Group N, but we halved that and then carried on working on reducing the gap. The set-up of the car is so important, we worked out that running the rear of the car stiffer was the best way, but these were all things we were doing for the fi rst time on asphalt.

“Unfortunately, some of the other cars had some engine trouble, so the team turned our engine down a little bit to put less stress on it. That meant we couldn’t really push out of the slower corners, there wasn’t so much boost. We had a problem on stage 16 when I slid wide in a corner and the front of the car came to rest on a rock. George [Gwynn] and I couldn’t get the car off ourselves and we lost time getting out of the stage. The only damage to the Lancer was the front bodywork, there were no mechanical problems. I lost a little bit more time in the next stage while I made sure everything was fi ne and straight on the car. That was a shame, not the best way to end the event. For my fi rst event on asphalt, I was happy with the pace we were ultimately achieving.”

RA: LAKE SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE RALLY16 - 17 October 2009

THRILLING FINALE FOR RALLY AMERICA 2009For the last 5 years the 9th and fi nal round of the Rally America Championship Series will return to picturesque Lake Superior Performance Rally (LSPR) in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan on 16 and 17 October.

The peak of Fall colours will be in full force providing a striking backdrop to the rally cars tackling the tough gravel roads and the famous Brockway Mountain Stage, a perennial favourite among some the nation’s top rally drivers.

Leading up to LSPR, the 2009 Rally America Championship Series provided no shortage of memorable moments, and LSPR promises to deliver even more spectacular stories. LSPR will see the return of many X Games superstars to the local area to compete for top honors and a fi nal push for Championship points.

At LSPR, the most notable stories are:• Subaru Rally Team USA driver, Travis Pastran, mathematically won his fourth Rally America Championship in a row at the Ojibwe Forests Rally in late August. However, his competitive spirit will not allow him to take it easy at LSPR as he seeks his sixth overall win this season.• 2nd and third place overall is still up for grabs at LSRP! Ken Block, Andi Mancin, and Andrew Comrie-Picard (all X Games rally car racing competitors) will battle it out for the fi nal two podium spots.• Only 20 points separate the top three drivers in the highly entertaining Super Production Class. 22 points awarded to fi rst place will be all Jimmy Keeney, Pat Moro, and Piotr Wiktorczyk will need to secure the class win after a much deserved LSPR fi nish!• Subaru Rally Team USA driver, Ken Block, typically competes in the top Open Class. However, due to complications at the Ojibwe Forests Rally in August he will return to compete in the Super Production Class car normally driven by Subaru Rally Team USA teammate and BMX legend, Dave Mirra. Ken used the same Super Production car at last month’s event, Rally Colorado, and won three stages despite driving a less powerful car and before his rally ended in a mechanical failure. Expect

Ken to repeat his success at LSPR considering he won this event in 2008!• 17-year-old Dillon Van Way, in his fi rst season as a national competitor showed enough talent and tenacity to be just one point away from winning his fi rst-ever National Two Wheel-Drive championship.

LSPR is one of the most revered rally events in the nation by competitors due to a great local organising committee and extremely challenging roads. The mystique surrounding this event have been graced by many U.S. and international rally drivers, such as 11-time US rally champion John Buffum, Mark Lovell, Travis Pastrana, Ken Block and Mark Higgins. The event is headquartered in Houghton, MI and competition will take place as far as Kenton and Copper Harbour. As the Fall season sets in over the Upper Peninsula, frigid Lake Superior temperatures have been known to bring unpredictable weather conditions ranging from rain, snow, and occasional sun breaks to complicate rally team strategies.

Fans will be given the opportunity to meet the drivers and take pictures of the cars at the two Parc Exposés, which take place on Friday 16 October at the Country Inn & Suites in Houghton, and on Saturday 17 October in downtown Calumet.

Rally America will also host the season ending National Championship Awards Banquet presented by BFGoodrich Tires at the Rockhouse Grill & Tavern on Sunday 18 October 18th from 09h00 – 12h00pm in Houghton, MI. Rally America will offi cially announce the Rally of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and the champions of each car class. The nation’s top rally teams and competitors will be on hand to receive their awards before going into the off-season. - Credit: Rally-America.com

The overall and premier SP Class championships have been settled with Donaldson Nissan Navara pair Duncan Vos and Ralph Pitchford the stand out crew with fi ve wins from seven starts. But the Class D and Class E championships fall under unfi nished business, and the minor placings in the overall and SP Class championships also need to be settled.

In the overall championship Ivar Tollefsen and Quin Evans (Donaldson Nissan Navara) are back in second place after a solid third place on the recent Toyota Dealer 400 in Mpumalanga. Tollefsen has opened up a nine point lead over Highveld 400 winner Gary Bertholdt in the Atlas Copco Toyota.

Veteran Hannes Grobler, who will have his last outing under the Nissan banner in November, is fourth in the driver championship with his co-driver, Juan Mohr, third in the co-driver stakes. Mohr leapfrogs Andre Vermeulen, who sits alongside Bertholdt, who missed the Toyota 1000 Desert Race.

Fifth in the driver and co-driver championships are Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst in the RFS Toyota Hilux. The top fi ve order is the same in the SP Class championship although there are slight differences in the points, a situation brought on by different scoring allocations in overall and class competition.

The Class D situation is interesting. On the driver front Dewald van Breda (Northam Toyota Hilux D4D) leads Cliff Weichelt (N1 4x4 Toyota Hilux D4D) who won the fi rst three events of the season.

Van Breda has an eight point advantage but his co-driver, Johann du Toit, is assured of the co-driver title. Louis Weichelt, who sat alongside his father in the early part of the season, is now driving the N1 4x4 Ford Ranger in the SP Class, and is likely to be overtaken by third placed Johan Gerber who shares the Raysonics Nissan Hardbody with former Blue Bull Coetzee Labuscagne.

Labuscagne is third in the driver championship but cannot overtake van Breda. However, Gerber is only four points behind young Weichelt who is no longer a factor in the championship.Reigning champions Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux (RFS Toyota Hilux) have only won once this year but need only a couple of points on the RFS event to clinch back to back titles. Second on the Toyota Dealer 400 gave Visser/le Roux an 18 point advantage over Deon Venter and Ian Palmer in the 4x4 Megaworld Toyota Hilux.

Venter and Palmer lead team-mates Pikkie Labuschagne and Rikus Erasmus by three points with track star Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie fourth in the Ferodo Nissan Hardbody. Poulter/Howie scored their second win of the season in Mpumalanga with Venter/Palmer and Labuschagne/Erasmus also having won twice.- Credit: SA Off-Road Racing Commission; Motorpics.

DOWN TO THE WIRETwo Production Vehicle category championship will be settled at the RFS Magaliesberg 400, the fi nal event of the Absa Off Road Championship, on 6 and 7 November.

SANRC: MAGALIESBERG 40006 - 07 November 2009

OFF-ROAD: GASCOYNE DASH29 October - 01 November 2009

HARCUS TO TAKE ON AUSTRALIAThe Kickstarters Gascoyne Dash, one of the world’s great off road challenges across some of the harshest and remotest country in Australia, takes place from 29 October to 01 November and one of South Africa’s iron men of off road racing, Brandon Harcus, aims to be at the fi nish.

‘Winning is everything, fi nishing is something’ is a saying associated with this great Australian motor sport adventure and Harcus, national champion co-driver in his own creation, a BAT space frame special, in 2003, aims to be the fi rst South African to complete the Gas Dash as it is fondly known by insiders. He will compete in a South African-built Spec 3 BAT. Harcus knows a little about the hard world of off road racing. Since he conceived and oversaw the building of the fi rst BAT in 2002, he has won some of South Africa’s top off road races, both as a driver and co-driver, and fi nished the toughest of all – the 1 000-km Desert Race in Botswana and the Lesotho 400 in the Maluti Mountains of Lesotho.

“Off road racing in Australia is not as technical as it is in South Africa and requires a different form of navigation,” said Harcus. “But it has its own challenges in very high speeds (up to 230 km/h) with a large portion of the race through the wide open spaces of the Australian outback and tackled fl at out by the competitors. I’m sure that my experience in South Africa, which is widely regarded as having the best national off road championship in the world, will stand me in good stead.” It all starts on a Thursday with scrutineering in Carnarvon, an oasis town on the west coast 1 000 km north of Perth. On Friday competitors head out for the prologue to the base camp, Coonatha, set up on a cattle station 200 km inland. The day one race is a 187-km circuit starting and fi nishing at the Coonatha camp. Day two race starts at the camp and fi nishes 324 km later back in the town of Carnarvon. It starts with 10 km of fast station track then 30 km of tighter corrugated fl ats

between rugged rocky outcrops and hill climbs then into the river for 140 km. The route leaves the river after a compulsory stop at Rocky Pool billabong and carries on for another 120 km of fast station tracks to the fi nish at Carnarvon Race Course, where competitors give the spectators a taste of extreme racing through a series of tight turns and jumps in the race course in-fi eld. Three-times Western Australia state champion Brad Cooper (of Pinjarra Engineering) has entered a brand new SA-built Spec 4 BAT, while Harcus will be at the wheel of a Pinjarra Engineering Spec 3 BAT. Harcus is justifi ably proud of the phenomenal record of his BAT racing specials: 10 national championships in classes A (fi ve), B (four) and the new P (one) in the last six years. In 2006, BATs took the top three places in class A and overall, with Harcus third behind champion Alfi e Cox and runner-up Evan Hutchison. Since the fi rst BAT space frame special made its debut in the 2002, a total of 34 have been built with three currently competing in Europe, two in Australia and a further two Spec 4 examples on their way to Oz. BAT Racing now falls under the Kartek Motorsport company, owned by Harcus and father and son Nick and Ryan Harper, leading competitors in the national off road championship in a Spec 4 BAT. Kartek imports premium racing components and accessories and provides most spare consumable parts to factory and privateer Special Production class vehicles.- Credit: Text Supplied; Image by Motorpics.