HandbrakesHairpins

Edition 81 May 2009

your insight into the world of rallying&

CoverPastrana wins again!

Sandell’s ready!

NewsCeres Rally Review

Features

page 14 page 6 page 16

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DIARYMAY EVENTS

International Rallies:20 - 24: WRC Rally Italy-Sardinia22 - 23: BRC Jim Clark Rally22 - 23: USRC Rally Tennessee29 - 31: ERC Croatia Delta Rally

Got any questions, opinions or news to share? Please send your letters to evanrothman@gmail.com!

Welcome to HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS

South African Rallies:21 - 23: NATIONAL: SCC-PTA Rally

Welcome to Issue 80 of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, your FREE weekly source of rallying news.

This week’s issue is brimming with the latest information and rally news! The cover feature for this weekis...

Is there any stopping the Nissan Off Road crew? After a strong 1-2 performance this weekend at the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 in KwaZulu-Natal, Hannes Grobler will be fighting it out with his team-mate Duncan Vos in upcoming rounds. The Toyota teams, however, are not far off the pace... They are tipped for a strong showing on the next event, so watch this space!

In this issue is the review of this past weekend’s Oregon Trail Rally, a round of the Rally America Championship. Thrilling as always, Travis Pastrana showed the way home for his fellow competitors once more this season.

And, this weekend is the spectacular WRC Rally Italy-Sardinia! This is a not to be missed event, one where Ford has to attempt to outsmart the Citroen crews and Sebastien Loeb. But, will they?

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

Evan Rothman

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The world’s latest rally newsDuval to compete in Ypres Rally!Francois Duval has confirmed his participation on this year’s Ypres Rally in a Rene Georges Rally Sport prepared Skoda Fabia S2000, according to his website.

Denis Giraudet will be co-driving for Duval on an event the Belgian driver last contested in 2002. Duval will have two test sessions in the Fabia prior to Ypres and the car is being supported by the local Skoda importer.- CREDIT: www.fduval.fr and www.rallybuzz.com

Raikkonen set to contest Rally della Marca in a Fiat Abarth Grande PuntoFerrari Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen is set to contest yet another professional rally, his third of the year, according to www.rallybuzz.com. The 2007 F1 World Champion entered two rounds of the Finnish Rally Championship in the winter, driving a Tommi Makinen-prepared Fiat Abarth Grande Punto S2000 .

The Finnish media now reports that Raikkonen, currently 13th in the 2009 drivers’ championship, will use the same car in the Rally della Marca on the weekend between the forthcoming Monaco and Turkish Grand Prix.

Taking place in northern Italy’s Treviso region, it will be Raikkonen’s first asphalt rally. - CREDIT: www.rallybuzz.com

Featuring European rally championships, British rally championships, Rally America events, international rally results and videos, as well as S2000 and WRC news.

THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF RALLYING

www.rallybuzz.com

Vatanen’s tips put Wilson on right road for future WRC successRallying and rally cars are in Matthew Wilson’s DNA. Born at the height of his father Malcolm’s own driving career, Matthew was then brought up in a world surrounded by rally cars being prepared at the highest level, reported www.wrc.com.

Not only did that mean he had regular contact with some fairly exotic machinery, it also meant he had regular contact with the world’s finest rally drivers. It’s partly for this reason (and partly because he’s one of the sport’s most iconic figures) that Ari Vatanen is the chosen one for Wilson Junior.

Wilson says: “I’d always watched the sport when I was young, and it was in some old footage that I saw Ari Vatanen and the way he drove a car. That was what made him my hero first, he was incredible to watch. But then, when he taught me how to drive a car, he was definitely my hero.

“Ari was doing a rally in Britain [the Pirelli International Rally] and driving one of the Escort Cosworths which dad was

building. He was staying at the house between the test and the rally and I guess he had a free day. I was off school, or maybe took a day off schoool... We’d bought an old Ford Escort Mk2 and dad was always talking about getting around to teaching me how to drive and, on this day Ari just said right, let’s get on with it.

“I was sitting on Ari’s knee in the driving seat and Fabrizia [Pons, Ari’s co-driver] was in the car as well. We took it from there. Ari eventually got me going and then went and fetched some cushions and I sat in the seat and did it myself. It was great when dad got home from work, he got a bit of a shock when I drove around the corner! I’d just turned eight at the time.

“But like I say, it was Ari’s style as well which made him my hero. He was so flamboyant with the car; he was Colin McRae from a generation before and that’s what makes him special to so many people around the world.” - CREDIT: www.wrc.com

Classic stages included on IRC Rally of Scotland for November 2009!The inaugural RAC MSA Rally of Scotland will include stages not used for more than 20 years when it brings the curtain down on this year’s Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Due to take place from 19 - 21 November, the event will be made up of a competitive distance of 224,88 kilometres split over 13 special stages, of which some will run at night in the challenging Scottish forests. Jimmy McRae, a five-time winner of the British Rally Championship and the father of the late Colin McRae, was full of praise of the route following an inspection. “It’s great to see these stages used for rallying again,” said Scottish legend McRae during the recent official launch of the rally in the grounds of Stirling Castle. “They provide a real spectacle for spectators and they are immensely enjoyable for the drivers.” The event will start in the Scottish city of Perth on the evening of Thursday 19 November, with the event scheduled to finish in Stirling on the afternoon of Saturday 21 November. Tickets are already on sale for the event, which has a capacity entry of 85 cars. - CREDIT: www.ircseries.com

SEND YOUR TEAM’S NEWS, PRESS RELEASES OR UPDATES TO EVANROTHMAN@GMAIL.COM!

Featuring European rally championships, British rally championships, Rally America events, international rally results and videos, as well as S2000 and WRC news.

THE LATEST NEWS FROM THE WORLD OF RALLYING

www.rallybuzz.com

Vouilloz says Meeke would be a fitting Champion in IRCKris Meeke would be a worthy winner of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge according to Nicolas Vouilloz, the reigning IRC title-holder. Meeke moved to the top of the drivers’ standings following his second victory of the season on Sata Rally Azores last week. Vouilloz, who could do no better than third in a Peugeot 207 Super 2000 run by the same Kronos Racing team responsible for preparing Meeke’s similar car, said he had been impressed by his team-mate’s performance on the island rally. “We knew from Brazil that Kris can be quick,” said Vouilloz. “In the Azores I had no answer to his pace. If he keeps on driving like this then he definitely deserves to win the championship.” Vouilloz has yet to register a win in the IRC series this year but his podium finish in the Azores has propelled him to third in the championship battle behind Meeke and fellow Kronos driver Freddy Loix, whom he beat to the title in 2008. Meanwhile, Meeke said it was too early for him to be thinking about winning the championship. “There are still many more rallies left and I know people like Freddy and Nicolas will be very hard to beat on the Tarmac rounds,” said Meeke. - CREDIT: www.ircseries.com

IRC Rally Azores performance pleases Skoda team bosses

Skoda Motorsport boss Michal Hrabanek believes works driver Jan Kopecky’s performance on Sata Rally Azores last week has further underlined the potential of the company’s Fabia Super 2000 model. Czech Republic ace Kopecky finished second on the island event, the first time the factory team has competed on a gravel rally, a result that puts him fourth overall in the drivers’

championship standings. Hrabanek said: “In a way, the whole team considered the Azores Rally on the par with our debut on the Monte Carlo Rally in January, because this was our first race on gravel and also the team’s first appearance in the Azores Islands. I think we showed already in Monte Carlo that the development of the Fabia Super 2000 is a success story and I believe that Jan Kopecky’s runner-up position confirms that the Fabia is a fast and reliable car. “I am certain that today’s result has clearly showed that we are able to compete with the best and that we can set the highest possible ambitions for the future.” However, it’s still not clear when the Skoda team will next compete. The squad has been linked to an appearance on Rally Russia in July but it remains a possibility that it will enter next month’s Belgium Ypres Rally. “We are now going to conduct an internal analysis of the Azores Rally and then decide how we will proceed in the near future,” Hrabanek added. - CREDIT: www.ircseries.com

Ostberg’s moves his girlfriend inAdapta World Rally Team driver Mads Ostberg will be co-driven by his girlfriend Veronica Engan on Rally D’Italia - Sardegna, after splitting from his co-driver of three years, Ole Kristian Unnerud reported www.wrc.com.

The team said Unnerud’s decision to stand down was influenced mainly by family commitments - although a co-driving error which cost the pair a comfortable victory on this month’s Norwegian Championship Sorland Rally is likely to have been a factor.

A miscalculation early in the event meant Ostberg checked in early to a time control and was given a five minute penalty. Despite winning every stage, and finishing four minutes clear of the competition, the penalty dropped him to third and handed victory to his arch rival Andreas Mikkelsen. Veronica, 24, is an experienced co-driver in the Norwegian Championship and has co-driven P-WRC competitor Eyvind Brynildsen on four WRC rallies. But despite her experience team boss (and Mads’ father) Morten Ostberg says her appointment is only temporary.

“We are happy to be in this family situation” said Morten. “She has the qualities to be a permanent solution, but due to their relationship we all regard that as not such a good idea. But it is very inspiring for all of us to have her in this role for Sardinia. She allows us to do a careful search for a permanent solution.” - CREDIT: WWW.WRC.COM

Conrad Rautenbach pleased with debut IRC performanceConrad Rautenbach has said his run to seventh place on last week’s Sata Rally Azores represented mission accomplished for

the Zimbabwean. Rautenbach is normally found at the wheel of a Citroen C4 WRC on world championship rallies but wanted to try his hand at Super 2000 technology, opting for a Peugeot 207 run by the French PH Sport team. He said: “I’m pleased with the way everything has gone. We came here with zero experience of not just this car but this completely different way of driving. The difference surprised me. The lack of low down torque is the biggest thing. It’s surprising how often you use that to get you out of trouble in a World Rally Car and how much you miss it when it’s not there.” “The sole objective for me was to get through the stages, make all of the kilometres and get as much seat time in a car without a turbo as possible. I’ve done that and I’ve learned a heck of a lot. The fact that we’ve bagged some IRC points at the same time is good news for me as well.” Rautenbach said he is not sure if he will drive a Super 2000 car again this season. He will return to the World Rally Championship for Rally Italy next week.- CREDIT: www.ircseries.com

35 stages for WRC Rally Australia!Thirty-five stages announced for Repco Rally Australia The organisers of Repco Rally Australia, the tenth round of the 2009 World Rally Championship, have announced a route featuring a whopping 35 special stages, reported www.WRC.com.

After 19 years based on the West Coast in the city of Perth, this year’s Rally Australia, which runs between 3-6 September, has relocated to the Tweed and Kyogle Shires of Northern New South Wales on the East Coast.

The brand new rally route comprises 35 competitive special stages - ten more than the last edition in 2006 - totalling 340 kilometres of gravel public roads.

The rally will have its Service Park located in the town of Kingscliff, while the competitive stages will be based approximately two hours drive away. A Super Special Stage is planned at the township of Murwillumbah, 20 minutes from the Service Park on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

The route has only now been confirmed following the positive findings of a study to assess the ecological impact of the rally. “Our preferred route has taken into account the views of the community, the very detailed reports from an outstanding team of independent experts and our desire to present a spectacular motor sport event for the region,” said Garry Connelly, chairman of the rally’s organising committee.

“The objective has been to cause minimal environmental impact and inconvenience to people who live within the area. [The route] satisfies our sporting requirements and showcases the best terrain elements of the region. It should look fantastic to the worldwide television audience and be challenging to the competing teams, befitting a World Championship event.”

“The consultations have included contact with the majority of

people who live along the route, whose views we understand,” added Connelly. “We have considered all the views put to us by residents and the broader community and reconciled them with the advice of our expert consultants in determining the route.”

The route still requires local council ratification, but Connelly said the organisers had elected to announce it now so authorities, and spectators, could make preparations.- CREDIT: www.wrc.com

Sandell’s ready for more rally action!Two rounds in to this year’s Production Car World Rally Championship and it looked as though Patrik Sandell might be about to raise one hand and place it on the trophy, reported www.WRC.com. Then he tripped over and rolled out of Rally Portugal.

He’s now third in the standings, three points adrift of the top of the table and facing a big fight on the forthcoming Rally d’Italia-Sardegna.

While Sandell crashed heavily in Portugal, local ace Armindo Araujo turned in a spectacular drive to win his first Production round ever; few will forget the emotional scenes which greeted the Portuguese’s finest hour in the packed Algarve Stadium that Sunday afternoon.

But now it’s time for more of the same if the Mitsubishi driver wants to remain in the lead of the P-WRC race. Both Araujo and Sandell are now faced with a former champion in the ascendancy - in the shape of Nasser Al-Attiyah.

The Qatar driver has suffered some miserable misfortune since winning the Production title in 2006, but his victory in Argentina - where he saw off persistent local competition - marked his return to the winners’ circle.

Both Al-Attiyah and his Subaru have found form at just the right time and, given his experience of rough roads in both the FIA Middle East Championship and Dakar - Al-Attiyah will know just what’s required to get the best out of the forthcoming Italian round of the Production series.

For Sandell, it’s time to get back in the saddle again. The Swede has tested his Skoda in Austria and says he is in good shape for the Olbia-based event. Sandell said: “It felt very good to be back in the car. We had a perfect day. We tested different springs, ride heights and a lot of small things. We got some very good data for the upcoming rallies and I feel very confident.”

Norwegian Eyvind Brynildsen has made a strong start to the year, despite some testing circumstances - and the Mitsubishi driver could be worth a punt for delivering his first Production win of the year on the Italian island.-CREDIT: www.wrc.com

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FEATURES•09: Volkswagen plans another win in Brazil!

•10: The next Lewis Hamilton of the WRC?

•11: More new records in sight for Loeb and Citroen in Sardinia?

•14: Pastrana wins in Oregon Trails Rally!

•15: Nissan romps home to 1-2 finish at Nissan Sugarbelt 400!

•16 & 17: Nathan and Jacobs conquer all in Ceres Rally!

Here HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS goes behind-the-scenes, into the pit garages, into the team offices, to bring you the most interesting and in-depth feature articles.

•09: Volkswagen plans another win in Brazil!

•10: The next Lewis Hamilton of the WRC?

•11: More new records in sight for Loeb and Citroen in Sardinia?

•14: Pastrana wins in Oregon Trails Rally!

•15: Nissan romps home to 1-2 finish at Nissan Sugarbelt 400!

•16 & 17: Nathan and Jacobs conquer all in Ceres Rally!

“Dakar” winner Volkswagen will be “in town” at ten Brazilian locations from 23 June to 04 July 2009. The Wolfsburg-based automobile brand that was the first manufacturer to win the legendary Dakar Rally withdiesel technology in January 2009 fields three Race Touareg vehicles in the Rally dos Sertoes.

For the new driver/co-driver combinations, Carlos Sainz/Lucas Cruz Senra as well as Nasser Al-Attiyah/Timo Gottschalk, the cross-country rally through Brazil will be a first endurance test. Volkswagen contested the “dos Sertoes” in 2008 as well, in preparation for the Dakar Rally, and was successful: the duos Giniel de Villiers/Dirk von Zitzewitz and Mark Miller/Ralph Pitchford, who clinched first and second place at the Rally dos Sertoes, secured a historic one-two win for Volkswagen at the“Dakar” as well.

“We’re returning to Brazil with nothing but fond memories,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen. “The ‘Sertoes’ is an outstandingly organised rally, with a demandingroute, offering ideal conditions for the drivers and co-drivers to prepare themselves for the ‘Dakar.’ With Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz Senra as well as Nasser Al-Attiyah and TimoGottschalk on board, we’ve got two newly formed duos that can get used to racing with each other and coordinate their processes with a view towards the Dakar Rally in a tough and demanding competition. We’ll nominate the third team at a later date.”

Darling of the audience and title defender: the return of the “blue frogs” In 2008 the two Volkswagen Race Touareg 2 vehicles caused a sensation at the Rally dos Sertoes. The

“Dakar” prototypes set ten out of ten possible fastest stage times and thus achieved a commanding one-two victory. The biggest gap between the two teams, de Villiers/von Zitzewitz and Miller/Pitchford, on the various stages through six of Brazil’s provinces was just 05min 01sec, the smallest a mere second. Three times, the two vehicles sporting Red Bull blue were within less than one minute of each other.

When the 280hp TDI diesel vehicles arrived at the finishing locations of the ten legs, they were always the talk of the town as well, and many spectators affectionately nicknamed them “blue frogs” due to their striking and uncompromisingly “off-road-suitable” shape.

The ten legs of the Rally dos Sertões, typically featuring quick gravel passages across farm roads, are considered a technical challenge due to a special local characteristic: In 2008, the total route of 4 511 kilometres included about 40 passages through water – some of them up to 150 metres long. With ten special stages, the Rally dos Sertoes represents the longest event for Volkswagen after the “Dakar”. Unlike at the desert classic in Argentina and Chile, the legs are run without a day of rest in between.

The Rally dos Sertoes puts both the drivers and co-drivers to the test. Every night, the navigators have to analyse and prepare a detailed roadbook to supply the drivers with theright information on the stages. In 2008 the roadbooks encompassed a total of 650 pages with about 4,500 pictures. The co-drivers individually mark their roadbooks – using up toeight different colours – in order to be able to grasp the information quickly during the race.

Brazil is Volkswagen’s third-largest market. Like last year, Volkswagen Motorsport’s commitment will receive major logistical support by Volkswagen do Brasil. In addition to the service trucks shipped from Germany, the required fleet vehicles for the service crew will be augmented by vehicles from Volkswagen do Brasil. - SUPPLIED.

Volkswagen plans another win at Brazil’s tough Rally dos Sertoes

IMAGE: VOLKSWAGEN MOTORSPORT

The next Lewis Hamilton of the WRC?

A 13 year old Indonesian schoolboy, called Sean Galael, is attracting the attention of the rallying world, after winning the first two rounds of the KFC Junior Rally Sprint in Indonesia.

Sean competed in a Prodrive Impreza Group N rally car, the same specification as is used in the Production World Rally Championship.

Sean is already very familiar with the high-powered Impreza rally car, but is more accustomed to sitting in the co-driver’s seat. Last year, aged just 12, he co-drove Prodrive’s own works test driver, Dave Maslen, and former Australian rally champion, Cody Crocker, to victories in the Indonesian Rally Championship. This year, he will once again co-drive the Serge Motorsport Prodrive Impreza N14 in the Indonesian series. Unfortunately for Sean, he is too young to compete as a driver.

Sean got into rally driving through his father, Ricardo, who won the Indonesian Championship in 2006.

IMAGES: PRODRIVE

The Italian round of the 2009 World Rally Championship will marks this season’s halfway point, WRITES EVAN ROTHMAN.

The WRC teams will travel to Sardinia with the same energy and determination as on Round One. For this event, Mikko Hirvonen (BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team) will be hungry for a win, to bring to an end the unbeaten run of wins from his rival Sebastien Loeb (Citroen Total World Rally Team).

Loeb is secure at the top of the Drivers’ standings, and his team-mate Dani Sordo will looking for another strong showing here this weekend to cement his hold on the second place on the provisional Drivers’ Championship standings.

Although world class rallying in Italy has long been associated with the legendary Rally Sanremo, the country’s round of the WRC was switched to Sardinia in 2004. The gravel tracks that weave their way through the forests and mountains of the Mediterranean island have since become familiar territory for WRC competitors because they are frequently employed by teams for testing purposes. “The early editions of this rally tended to favour extremely twisty stages, but the organisers have taken steps to correct that over the years,” says Sebastien Loeb. “The tracks are now quite fast and technically very challenging. They are also lined in many places with stones and rocks, so your driving needs to be particularly precise here.”

Previous wins in Sardinia in 2005, 2006 and 2008 make Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena the pre-start favourites. On top of that, last month’s Rally Argentina saw the five-time World Champions take their current sequence of straight wins to six, which equals their previous record notched up between the Rallies of New Zealand and Argentina. Another success in Italy would see them establish a formidable new benchmark… “My desire to win is the same at the start of every rally,” said Loeb. “I hate losing, so I am obviously delighted with the way things are going at the moment. Every win we have scored so far this year has simply added to the flying start we have enjoyed to the 2009 season.”

“This season is a bit special because I sense I am making progress on all the different types of surface we encounter in the championship,” said Sordo. “If I can keep that up in Sardinia, I think I will be able to take the fight to Mikko [Hirvonen]. Being second in the championship hasn’t changed my approach in any way, but it’s true that I would like to hold on to second place...”Hirvonen and team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala have good reason

to look forward to this exciting rally: Hirvonen has finished runner-up for the past three years, while Latvala claimed third last year and led a world rally for the first time there in 2007.

As with most gravel rounds, the phenomenon of ‘roadsweeping’ promises to play a big role in the way the Italian rally unfolds. “I would even say it is probably the event where road order has the biggest influence,” observes Loeb. “The ground is very hard-packed, but it is covered in a deep top-coating of sand. There are enormous differences in the times of the drivers who are first and second on the road. Friday will probably be a bit of a weird day regarding the way the classification goes, but we feel confident we can handle the situation…”

“I will be third to start on Friday which I think will be a very good position,” said Hirvonen. “I wouldn’t like to be first in the order on Saturday. This could be a rally where it is best to

attack from behind as the weekend goes on,” Hirvonen concluded.

Three other Focus RS WRCs will start this event. Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud and Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin are nominated by the Stobart VK M-Sport squad, while Federico Villagra/Jorge Perez Companc are nominated by the Munchi’s Ford team.

Conrad Rautenbach and Daniel Barritt (Citroen Junior Team) were unlucky in Argentina but they are both now eagerly looking forward to this weekend’s event. Rautenbach has already contested the first five World Championship rounds held in Sardinia, taking part in last year’s event at the wheel of a C4 WRC. This event though will mark his 50th participation in a World Championship rally.

Evgeny Novikov and Dale Moscatt (Citroen Junior Team) gave Argentina a miss but will return to the Citroen

Junior Team in Italy, and will also be joined by the other Sebastien, Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (Citroen Junior Team) to take on the Fords here this weekend.

The rally base remains in Olbia with a single service park in the town’s port. The route is similar to 2008, although the second day includes two new stages, one of which traces the route of a disused railway line and the final leg includes a test not used since 2006. Thursday’s ceremonial start switches to the centre of Olbia, with the opening day’s action south of the town in the Olbia - Tempio province. The second leg moves further inland to the Sassari region and includes the spectacular jumps in the Monte Lerno stage. The final day journeys to the north of the Olbia - Tempio province, and also includes a test in the extreme north of the island, close to the stunning Costa Smeralda coastline. The exclusive resort of Porto Cervo hosts the finish after 17 stages, covering 347,12km in a route of 1 263,20km. - IMAGES: CITROEN RACING.

More new records in sight for Loeb and Citroen in Sardnina?

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Pastrana wins in Oregon Trails Rally to take championship lead!

Subaru Rally Team USA driver Travis Pastrana took the win this weekend at the Oregon Trail Rally, and moved into the championship lead.

“It was an amazing rally,” said Pastrana. “That’s three wins and a tree this season – not so bad.”

The defending champion and co-driver Christian Edstrom set a blazing pace to pull into the lead early on Day 2, and held it there to the finish. It’s the third win in four starts for the duo in their Subaru WRX STi.

Second place went to Rockstar Energy’s Tanner Foust and co-driver Chrissie Beavis. The team put in a consistent drive all weekend and were cruising to their second-place finish when they spun out on the final stage and struck a rock with their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X – almost costing them a position. They managed to hold on, finishing just 3.6 seconds ahead of the Polish team of Andi Mancin and co-driver Maciej Wislawski.

“It was a pretty clean rally the whole way,” said Foust. “Subarus are known for being really tough and I think our Evo X has proven tough this weekend, too. She brought us all the way home after we hit the rock and we’re pretty pleased to get second.”

It was the first U.S. podium for Mancin and Wislawski, who have proven at this event that they can match the pace of Rally America’s top drivers. Mancin said late Sunday that racing with the Jemba system of notes – as is typical in this championship – is something that has taken some getting used to. This is the first full season in the series for the Polish duo, who are accustomed to making their own pace notes from scratch.

“I’m very happy, it’s a very significant result for our team,” said Mancin, who pilots a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. “These were very difficult stages – but they were beautiful.”

A flat tire on Day 2 cost the NOS Energy crew of Andrew Comrie-Picard and co-driver Robbie Durant a minute to the leaders, and they finished in fourth place in their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX, just 2.8 seconds behind Mancin. It was a disappointment for Picard, who had battled hard to regain the podium. The finish drops him from first to third in the championship standings, behind Pastrana and second-place Foust.

“That flat tire yesterday was really tough to overcome and the times were incredibly close the end,” said Comrie-Picard. “We had been clawing back time since yesterday but I have to hand it to Andi – he drove a great race.” Rounding out the top five were Arkadiusz Gruszka and co-driver Lukasz Wronski.

Subaru Rally Team USA’s Dave Mirra and co-driver Derek Ringer took the win in the competitive Super Production class and finished sixth overall. Heavy attrition in the Super Production class this weekend saw Matt Johnson and Piotr Wiktorcszyk retire early and Mirra said all he had to do was hang on and keep it clean.

“A lot of it is just trying to find a pace,” said Mirra. “It’s great to be in this class with so many competitive drivers.”

Young Dillon Van Way and co-driver Benjamin Slocum scored another win in the two-wheel drive class. This is Van Way’s first season of competition and he’s proven a reliable finisher in his Ford Focus. All results are considered informational pending official race administrative processes.

Ken Block and co-driver Alex Gelsomino found themselves also out of the contest early after yet another bout of bad luck at this event. A flat tire and damage to a control arm meant their rally ended on Day 2. The poor finish makes three DNFs in four starts for Block. He and Gelsomino returned to the action

Sunday for a fun run at the regional contest and even though they didn’t score points, they set some of the fastest times of the day.

“It’s getting a little frustrating,” said Block. “I have the speed, I feel, to win every single one of these… I thought I had some bad luck last year and it’s getting worse this year.”

Teams at this event are also competing for a shot at X Games gold this summer.

With six drivers already invited, there are four spots open to top-scoring competitors after the first five rounds of the series. Pastrana, Block, Comrie-Picard, Foust, Mirra and Johnson are expected to return to the Los Angeles event. Mancin, Wiktorcszyk are among the top contenders for the remaining positions.

The Oregon Trail Rally took place over 100 miles of competition on a course that includes a mix of twisty, hard-packed forest conditions and wide-open farming roads. The Mount Hood area’s hilly terrain meant plenty of elevation changes throughout the contest. The conditions were sunny and bright, making for dry and dusty roads and a visibility challenge for teams. Many fans took advantage of the beautiful weather this weekend, turning out by the hundreds to take in the action at the Portland International Raceway, and the Mount Hood spectator areas. Rally activities began on Thursday with a kick-off car show in downtown Portland. Key series players and their cars made an appearance Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square for a midday display where fans had the opportunity to meet with their favorite drivers and check out their race machines. The action continued at the Portland International Raceway on Friday evening, with a short super special stage that used sections of both the tarmac and motocross tracks and drew an estimated 1,500 fans. - TEXT SUPPLIED. IMAGE BY SUBARU.COM/RALLY.

Nissan romps home to 1-2 finish at Nissan Sugarbelt 400!

The Nissan Sugarbelt 400, round three of the Absa Off Road Championship, turned into a Nissan benefit today. Veteran former South African champion Hannes Grobler and Juan Mohr led the factory Donaldson Nissan Navara team to a Production Vehicle clean sweep. For Grobler and Mohr it was their first victory of the season with the Donaldson Nissan team making it three wins in three starts this year. Second were Norwegian Ivar Tollefsen and his British co-driver Quin Evans, who finished fourth on this year’s Dakar Rally. Duncan Vos and Ralph Pitchford made sure the Nissan cup overflowed by taking the final place on the podium. It was a thoroughly professional performance from Grobler/Mohr and a typically gutsy performance from Tollefsen and Evans. But the drive of the race belonged to reigning SA drivers champion Vos and Pitchford who started 55th on the road in a field that also included cars in the Special Vehicle category. “I don’t believe this result,” said a pumped up Vos who was looking for his third win in a row. “We spent the whole race passing other cars, and it was nerve wracking in the dust and on a route where you could not afford mistakes. “Without co-operation from the car in front overtaking was a risky business, but we kept our heads.” A delighted Grobler, who started fifth on the road, said the win was overdue with the pair having around nine minutes in hand over Tollefsen and Evans. Grobler and Mohr took control of proceedings when the factory Castrol Toyota Hilux, in the hands of Anthony Taylor and Robin Houghton, lost all drive midway through the last of two figure of eight loops that made up the race. “We needed the win and starting fifth on the road made it a little more difficult,” said Grobler. “The car was good and in the end it was a dream result for the team.” Fourth went to the second works Castrol Toyota Hilux of Hein Lategan, in only his third off road race, and Chris Birkin. The pair took no chances in the hot and dusty conditions and led home Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst, in the RFS Toyota Hilux, who were 80 seconds in arrears. High profile casualties included both the factory Ford Racing Ranger TDCI entries. Former champions Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer broke a steering rack, while Thomas Rundle and Hennie ter Stege failed to start with engine problems after an off road excursion on the Friday prologue to determine start positions. Also in the wars were Terence Marsh and Pieter Groenewald in the Regent Racing Nissan Navara who battled to ninth overall in the premier Class SP. They started from the back of the field and a clutch problem plagued them throughout the race. Class D honours went to the father and son combination of Cliff and Louis Weichelt, who bagged their third win of the season, in the N1 4x4 Toyota Hilux D4D. It was a clean run for the pair who never had to get out of the car. Heinie Strumpher and Hendrik van der Linde, in the Micaren Exel Toyota Hilux, were the only other finishers in Class D. They were more than an hour behind the Weichelt’s. The Class E honours saw rookies Pikkie Labuschagne and Rikus Erasmus score their maiden national championship win in the 4x4 Megaworld Toyota Hilux. Labuschagne and Erasmus had more than 20 minutes in hand over Deon Venter and Ian Palmer in a second 4x4 Megaworld Toyota Hilux. Venter and Palmer won the first two events of the season and consolidated their position at the top of the Class E championship. Reigning champions Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux, in the RFS Toyota Hilux, again had to dig deep to take third in class. Circuit racing star Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie battled to fourth place in the factory Ferodo Nissan Hardbody. Included among the casualties were Ford Racing crews Baphumze Rubuluza/Khuliele Vakalisa and Lance Woolridge and Kevin Christie and the Ruwacon Racing pair of Louw de Bruin and Riaan Greyling in another Ford Ranger. - SUPPLIED.

IMAGES: MOTORPICS

Nathan and Jacobs conquer all in Ceres Rally!

Mike Nathan and Derek Jacobs in their Class S5 Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX made a clean sweep of the Ceres Rally that took place in very wet and cold conditions this past weekend. Nathan’s maiden rally win after a year’s absence - due to ligaments that were removed from his arms after a rally accident - made this victory that much the sweeter. For Jacobs it was the second win in his career, WRITES ERICA SOUTHEY.

A cold and rainy Saturday morning welcomed rally crews, officials and spectators to Ceres Toyota dealership where documentation took place. Though many wished they could return to the comfort of their warm beds the score was:Rally 14 – Beds 0.

Prior to the start, the crew were upbeat and Derek ‘Fishcakes’ Jacobs responded with the “F-word” when I asked how they were going to handle the rainy conditions. I told him this was a family magazine and he opted for the word “fishcakes” instead. He said “fishcakes” would just precede any action that wasn’t part of the rally notes. He said: “As a co-driver, I feel more comfortable to swim,” and that the Simon Garfunkel hit Slip Sliding Away will be sung to Nathan in-between instructions. They must have stopped to pick some apples along the way doing a scene from The Sound of Music, because they

produced a perfect apple at prizegiving that came along for the ride. It wasn’t all plain sailing for this duo, though. Due to loss of the turbo boost and rear diff in SS3 they took four minutes lateness to win the rally by o2min 16s.

Hot on Nathan and Jacobs’s heels were the pairing of John Peiser/Brian Hoskins in their S5 Subaru Impreza GT. Despite hitting a bird that got stuck in their wipers, a puncture and losing turbo boost in SS4 due to a broken exhaust pipe, they hung on to second place overall beating Thorsten Pey/Mark Palmer in their S4 BMW 325i by 20sec. Hoskins added that he prayed a lot, because with visibility being bad at times they didn’t know where they were going.

Pey/Palmer, being the only rear wheel entry, had quite a rally. Pey explains: “We played in the mud and we played nicely. We couldn’t see much, but we kept the car on the road.” Palmer said: “The car was awesome. We had a couple of narrow escapes in stages 1 and 3 that were particularly slippery.”Adding to their car’s accessories was a tree branch after they clipped a pine tree. The branch came through the air vent and landed between the seats of Pey and Palmer. The explanation for this was they liked the tree and thought by taking a branch that when Christmas comes they’d have a lovely tree to decorate. And some say rally crew can’t multi-task!

Fourth overall was Andy Haigh-Smith/Steven White in their S3 React Toyota Corolla RSi. Haigh-Smith Sr said: “We had a bit of fun.” They wrong slotted in SS1, suffered a left rear puncture and went through the water rather fast that resulted in a misfire losing them about 30sec to Ashley Haigh-Smith and almost a minute to fifth overall crew Stefanie Hugo/William Hugo in their S3 Toyota Corolla RSi.

Daughter and dad Hugo went rather fast and attacked each

IMAGES: ERICA SOUTHEY

stage. Stefanie said: “Stage one was very wet, sandy and slippery and I couldn’t gain speed whereas stages two and four had amazing sweeps.” They missed the bumper after the Hugos clipped a gate post in SS1. This rally was their first year anniversary.

Sixth overall were Ashley Haigh-Smith and Hilton Auffray in their S2 Toyota Yaris. This was quite an eventful day from start to finish. In SS2 a right rear puncture had the crew discover that Ashley didn’t pack the impact drill and there was no 21 in sight either. They limped back to the service park. The torn tread of the tyre ripped a hole in the bumper. After fitting the spare tyre and another puncture, they tried a new tyre combination of two front wets and two rear normals since there was no extra tyre. Just when the tyre problem was fixed the windscreen misted up making visibility difficult. Despite the challenges Ashley said: “It was a mixed rally, but I loved it.”

Winston Neethling/Keenan Sassman in the S5 Nissan Sentra 4X4 slotted into seventh overall after an altercation with a tree. Neethling explains: “We went off the road in stage three and hit a big fat tree.” He added that it was the Sentra’s first time on gravel and that he struggled a bit with the handling and set-up of the car. Their aim was to finish the rally despite oversteering when having to perform L9 instructions.

Completing the tally, and eighth overall, were Kesevan Naidoo/Garth Ritsch in their S3 1600 Toyota Conquest. Naidoo announced a navigator change after his regular navigator Ritsch couldn’t make this rally. It was quite a hair-raising event for Naidoo and Ritsch. In SS1 they went off the road at an L9 instruction and hit a patch of grass. SS2 started off nicely until they hit a rock and almost careered off the pass on the second turn of the stage. Shaken, they completed the stage. In SS3 the wipers packed up and Ritsch had to jump out every once in a while to wipe the windows. Just towards the end they went off again and hit a fence. SS4 was taken easy in order to finish the rally. “We are disappointed as we didn’t do what we came here to do.”

The list of “casualties” started with Llewellyn Jones and Craig Gray’s rally being over even before it started. Their S4 VW Golf lost the functionality of the fly-by wire accelerator.

Abduraghman Amlay/Yusuf Ganief in their S4 Toyota RunX retired from the rally with a broken sideshaft in SS1.

JP Damseaux/Rob Williams in the S5 Total Evolution Toyota RunX suffered a misfire before the start of SS2 and was seen limping back to the Service Park.

Warren Scholtz/Justin Gay in their S3 VW Polo 1,8 had a good rally until a broken sideshaft dashed their aspirations 16km into SS3 putting them out of the rally altogether.

Andre “Chippie” George/George du Toit in their S3 Toyota Conquest got stuck cutting through a drift in stage three. Wires in the dashboard burnt off and they packed up after exiting SS3.

Though Paul Emmanuel/Jody Eadie in their S1 VW Citi Golf completed the rally, they were time-barred. This was Eadie’s first rally ever and he said before the start that he was nervous. Eadie retracted the statement and said that he wasn’t nervous at all and that it was a different experience sitting in the passenger seat. Eadie previously serviced for Emmanuel. He said that in stage two their left rear shock popped off and they also suffered a left rear puncture en route to the Service Park.

Despite the freezing weather the marshals, service crew, officials and spectators conquered the weather conditions to lend support and skill to this great event.

Next on the calendar is the CPMCC Rally that runs in June in the Malmesbury district. Will the competitors be treated to a typically wet Cape rally or will the weather relent? Come and join us to see who will take honours.