14.2.2010 - Hirvonen begins WRC season with victory for Ford in Sweden
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen started the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship in style with victory in Rally Sweden today. The Finns won the opening round by 42.3sec in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car after three days' competition in the ice-bound Scandinavian forests. The win moved Ford level at the top of the all-time standings with 74 WRC victories.
Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila finished third in a similar Focus RS WRC, 1min 15.4sec behind their fellow Finns. The double podium gives the BP Ford Abu Dhabi squad a 10-point lead at the top of the manufacturers' standings after the first of 13 rounds.
Rally Sweden is the only true winter rally in the series. Drivers tackled 21 speed tests covering 345.15km in the Värmland region of central Sweden. Temperatures plunged to -22ºC, but clear blue skies provided picture postcard scenery in the wintry forests. Snow covered the tracks in the barren Scandinavian countryside, but beneath lay a softer than expected ice base. Exposed gravel poked through during the second pass over the roads and posed tough challenges for drivers, as they struggled to prevent stones ripping the tungsten-tipped studs from their tyres to leave little grip.
Hirvonen's tyre management played a crucial part in his victory. After making minor set-up changes to his Focus RS WRC, the 29-year-old ended Friday's first leg with a 6.2sec lead. He stretched that to 16.6sec yesterday when his decision to fit new Pirelli Sottozero rubber to the front of his car in the middle of the afternoon enabled him to blitz closest rival Sébastien Loeb by 16sec in two stages. He measured his pace through today's final leg to secure his 12th WRC win.
"After losing the title last year by a point I knew I had to win more, rather than settle for consistent points finishes, so this is the ideal start," said Hirvonen.
"It was a big win for us and I want many more this season. It's the first time I've won the opening round of the year. I tried to be more aggressive from the start in all aspects of my performance. It was a brave decision yesterday to change the tyres when I did but it paid off and those kind of decisions make the difference between winning and losing.
"It was such a hard rally for the tyres on the exposed gravel and you can't imagine how nervous I was driving the final stage. I have a year's more experience of a title battle than this time last year and I think that showed here. I need to continue in the same way for the rest of the season," he added.
BP Ford Abu Dhabi team director Malcolm Wilson hailed Hirvonen's victory. "His drive on the second leg yesterday was by far his best performance in the way he managed both the day and, particularly, his tyres. He is putting his experience to good use. He has progressed steadily over the years to the point that he is now beating the world's best driver. Jari-Matti played the perfect support role to Mikko and I could not have imagined a better start to the season," he said.
Ford of Europe motorsport chief Gerard Quinn said: "It was important to get out of the starting blocks quickly this year and that's exactly what we achieved with a thoroughly professional performance from the whole team in the most arduous working conditions. We lead both championships and this victory puts Ford within one win of becoming the sport's most successful manufacturer."
News from other Ford teams
Stobart M-Sport Ford's Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor finished sixth in a Focus RS WRC, one place ahead of team-mates Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin. Returning double world champion Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen were 21st after a troubled rally, but nevertheless claimed manufacturers' championship points for the team.
Next round
The championship switches to gravel next month for the first of four rounds outside Europe. Rally Mexico is based in León on 4 - 7 March.
Final positions
1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 09min 30.4sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 10min 12.7sec
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 10min 45.8sec
4. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 3hr 12min 12.0sec
5. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 3hr 13min 45.7sec
6. H Solberg/I Minor NOR Ford Focus RS 3hr 15min 23.8sec
7. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 3hr 17min 24.3sec
8. M Østberg/J Andersson NOR Subaru Impreza 3hr 18min 52.6sec
9. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Citroen C4 3hr 19min 47.9sec
10 P-G Andersson/A Fredriksson SWE Skoda Fabia 3hr 21min 49.3sec
13.2.2010 - Hirvonen extends Ford's lead in Sweden with tyre master stroke
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen extended their lead in Rally Sweden today after a blistering afternoon performance in the frozen Scandinavian forests. The Finns managed their tyre strategy to perfection on their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to build a 16.6sec lead with just one day remaining of this first round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila also enjoyed a good afternoon, climbing to third in a similar Focus RS World Rally Car. They will start tomorrow's final leg with a 54.8sec advantage over fourth-placed Dani Sordo.
Today's action comprised two identical loops of four speed tests covering 117.76km, clustered around Hagfors, 90km north of the rally base in Karlstad. Temperatures plunged to a bone-numbing -22ºC under clear skies this morning, but as the sun rose another stunning Scandinavian winter's day unfolded in the Värmland region of central Sweden. The fast and furious action attracted Swedish royalty and HRH Prince Carl Philip visited the team's service park in Hagfors to meet the drivers.
The thrilling battle for supremacy at the head of the leaderboard continued unabated this morning as 29-year-old Hirvonen fought to extend his lead. Such was the intensity of the duel that after the opening loop of 58.88km of flat-out driving in the ice-bound forests, rival Sébastien Loeb cut Hirvonen's 6.2sec overnight advantage by the slender margin of 2.0sec. Hirvonen was fastest on the opening Vargåsen special stage, but the pace of the two protagonists left the battle delicately poised.
The same roads were repeated this afternoon and as the snowy surface deteriorated to expose the gravel beneath, tyre management played a crucial part. Hirvonen fitted new Pirelli Sottozero rubber to the front of his Focus RS World Rally Car before the Sågen test, the second of the loop. He blitzed Loeb by eight seconds and gained a further eight on the following Fredriksberg stage to widen his advantage to 23.0sec.
Hirvonen's big attack on the gravel meant his tyres had lost many of the tungsten-tipped studs that bite into the ice ahead of the final test, but at only 1.87km he limited the time loss to 6.4sec to end the day with a significant lead.
"I had a great feeling on the two big stages this afternoon when I took time from Loeb," said Hirvonen. "I had a tyre strategy and it worked but it required great commitment. There was a lot of gravel on the roads and conditions were tricky for the tyres because stud retention was so difficult. My lead is far from comfortable and Loeb will push me very hard tomorrow.
"It's great fun to be involved in such a big fight for the lead. I didn't think first in the start order today would create any problems and it didn't. My only mistake came when I stalled at the start of the final stage this morning but it only cost a couple of seconds," he added.
News from other Ford teams
Stobart M-Sport Ford's Henning Solberg and Ilka Minor retained sixth in their Focus RS WRC while team-mates Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin climbed to seventh. Wilson made improvements to the set-up of his Focus RS WRC at the lunchtime service and moved ahead of Mads Östberg. Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen endured another difficult day in the team's third car. A puncture and then an overshoot into a snow bank cost more than eight minutes, but fastest time on his favourite Sågen test brought a smile to the Finn's face. He lies 29th. The new Ford Fiesta S2000 took advantage of improving conditions to set remarkable first and second fastest times on the final Hagfors Sprint stage in the hands of S-WRC drivers Martin Prokop and Bernardo Sousa.
Tomorrow's Route
The final leg is the shortest of the rally, but still contains 101.05km of action. After leaving Karlstad at 05.35, drivers again head north to Hagfors before tackling five stages east of the town. Two of the tests will be used twice, either side of a 30 minute service in Hagfors. Drivers then journey back to Karlstad for the finish ceremony at 15.30.
Leaderboard after Day 2
1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 14min 48.3sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 2hr 15min 04.9sec
3. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 15min 39.7sec
4. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 2hr 16min 34.5sec
5. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 2hr 17min 30.4sec
6. H Solberg/I Minor NOR Ford Focus RS 2hr 19min 06.2sec
7. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 2hr 20min 32.4sec
8. M Østberg/J Andersson NOR Subaru Impreza 2hr 20min 45.6sec
9. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Citroen C4 2hr 23min 23.5sec
10 P-G Andersson/A Fredriksson SWE Skoda Fabia 2hr 23min 46.4sec
12.2.2010 - Hirvonen opens WRC season in style to lead in Sweden for Ford
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen made the perfect start to the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship to lead the first round in Sweden after today's opening leg. The Finns, runners-up in the 2009 series, top the leaderboard in Rally Sweden by 6.2 sec in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila lie fourth in a similar car after the season began with a gruelling 15 hours behind the wheel.
After a solid opening this morning, Hirvonen tweaked his car's set-up, stepped up the pace and took an advantage that he extended as the day went on, returning to the rally base in Karlstad having won three of the leg's eight speed tests covering 126.34km.
After a spectacular opening last night at Karlstad's trotting track, this first round of the FIA World Rally Championship journeyed deep into central Sweden today to tackle ice-bound forests roads in the Värmland region. Conditions were initially perfect for classic winter rallying. In temperatures dipping below -20ºC, the frozen gravel tracks provided a solid base for Pirelli's studded Sottozero tyres to bite into through the snow cover above and provide amazing grip. However, during the repeat afternoon pass deep ruts and gravel poking through the ice made stud retention a key factor in drivers' pace.
Hirvonen was third after three special stages before the 29-year-old modified the settings on his car's centre differential and shock absorber to try to find a better feeling. The transformation was instant and Hirvonen won the morning's final stage to climb to second, just 4.1sec from the lead. He powered into the lead with victory on the next test and added a third success as the sun started to fall.
"I wasn't happy with my driving or the car's set-up on the first two stages," said the 29-year-old Finn. "Before the final test I changed the centre differential and damper settings back to my 2009 set-up and it was a big improvement, I found a good rhythm. I tested new differential settings last week but the car just wasn't consistent in corners this morning and it felt more progressive after the change.
"This afternoon the conditions were strange. In places the roads were bumpy with deep ruts that acted like railway lines. In other places there was deep ice but no clear driving line and the penultimate stage was gravel with no ruts at all. It was generally very rough and the person who was brave enough to just go for it was the one who was fastest. I was on the limit many times. I'm not afraid of being first through the stages tomorrow and I will attack because my lead isn't big enough," he added.
News from other Ford teams
Stobart M-Sport Ford drivers Henning Solberg and new co-driver Ilka Minor are sixth in a Focus RS WRC with team-mates Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin seventh. Solberg slid off the road briefly on the final stage and incurred a 30sec penalty when the team changed his car's gearbox tonight. Wilson reported a bizarre incident when he caught and passed a struggling Petter Solberg, only to stall the engine in a corner before Solberg ploughed into the back of his car! Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen lie 30th after losing 12 minutes this afternoon with an electrical problem. The Ford Fiesta S2000 of Janne and Markku Tuohino is 10th on the car's WRC debut.
Tomorrow's Route
The second leg is based much closer to the Hagfors service park than today's action. Drivers leave Karlstad at 06.00 to tackle two identical loops of four special stages, including a short test on the edge of Hagfors itself. The loops are split by a 30 minute service in Hagfors and competitors return to Karlstad for the final overnight halt after a further 117.76km of action.
Leaderboard after Day 1
1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 08min 04.8sec
2. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 1hr 08min 11.0sec
3. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 1hr 08min 15.4sec
4. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 08min 36.5sec
5. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 1hr 09min 15.7sec
6. H Solberg/I Minor NOR Ford Focus RS 1hr 10min 21.0sec
7. M Østberg/J Andersson NOR Subaru Impreza 1hr 11min 25.0sec
8. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 1hr 11min 25.9sec
9. P-G Andersson/A Fredriksson SWE Skoda Fabia 1hr 12min 10.9sec
10 J Tuohino/M Tuohino FIN Ford Fiesta S2000 1hr 13min 20.1sec
11.2.2010 - Rally Sweden - after stage 1, SSS Karlstad 1
BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team began its 2010 FIA World Rally Championship campaign in spectacular fashion this evening in the midst of a traditional Scandinavian winter. Thousands of spectators flocked to the trotting track in the central Sweden city of Karlstad to view drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila in action on the opening speed tests of Rally Sweden.
Huge power slides around the long sweeping bends of the ice-covered track warmed the hearts of the fans who braved temperatures of -7ºC, while a spectacular jump launched the team's Ford Focus RS World Rally Cars high into the night sky.
Two cars at a time raced around the floodlit 1.90km test, the opening to three days of competition covering 345.15km in the snowbound forests of the Värmland region. Hirvonen, runner-up in the 2009 championship, was paired with Sébastien Loeb, the man who edged him out in the title race. Hirvonen took the spoils tonight by 0.2sec to record third fastest time.
"There were no dramas for me," said 29-year-old Hirvonen. "There was a great atmosphere there tonight and I really enjoyed being back in the WRC after a break of more than three months. Tonight was a good warm-up. The action starts for real tomorrow morning and I'm ready to attack from the very first kilometre. There will be no easing myself in - it's flat out from the start."
Latvala came off second best in his heat with Dani Sordo, but the 24-year-old was a comfortable fifth fastest overall. Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr, driving a third Focus RS WRC for the team, were 10th fastest.
The opening leg continues tomorrow when drivers face a marathon 15 hours behind the wheel. After leaving Karlstad at 05.30, they journey north for two loops of three special stages north of the Hagfors service park. The day ends with a second pass over the Karlstad test, drivers returning to the city at 20.40 after a further 124.44km of competition.
Leaderboard after stage 1 of 21
1. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 1min 31.4sec
2. S Ogier/J Ingrassia FRA Citroen C4 1min 33.4sec
3. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1min 33.5sec
4. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 1min 33.7sec
5= J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 1min 34.0sec
5= M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Ford Focus RS 1min 34.0sec
7. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 1min 35.3sec
8= M Østberg/J Andersson NOR Subaru Impreza 1min 36.5sec
8= K Räikkönen/K Lindström FIN Citroen C4 1min 36.5sec
10 K Al Qassimi/M Orr UAE Ford Focus RS 1min 36.6sec
7.2.2010 - Focus rally car begins final fling as Ford launches 2010 title bid
Ford's record-breaking Focus RS World Rally Car begins a remarkable 12th season as the company's challenger in the FIA World Rally Championship in Sweden next week. The car, which won back-to-back manufacturers' world titles in 2006 and 2007 and secured Ford's longest winning run in the WRC with five successive victories last season, will carry the title hopes of the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team for a final time as the 2010 season blasts into action at Rally Sweden (11 - 14 February).
New regulations for 2011 will see the Focus RS WRC replaced by a new car based on the highly successful Ford Fiesta road car. Before then drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen and team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila will bid to add to the Focus RS WRC's tally of 41 wins and an unbroken points-scoring record of 119 consecutive rallies, which dates back to the start of the 2002 season.
Hirvonen, runner-up in the 2009 drivers' standings, and Latvala are big fans of Rally Sweden, the only pure winter rally in the 13-round series and one of the most specialised of the year. Organisers predict the coldest event for 20 years, with temperatures forecast to plunge below -25ºC. That should ensure perfect conditions in the barren countryside of the Värmland region of central Sweden for Ford's Finns to display their winter driving talents.
The cold places huge demands on man and machine. Keeping the Focus RS WRCs at peak performance level in such unrelenting cold requires huge resolve and determination from mechanics forced to work outside in the snow. But for the drivers, a winter wonderland where skinny studded tyres, anti-snow glare glasses and heated driving boots are 'de rigueur', it could not be better.
Tungsten-tipped steel studs protruding from Pirelli's narrow winter tyres bite into the icy surface to provide amazing grip and, paradoxically, this is one of the fastest rounds of the year. Drivers are also able to 'lean' their cars against the solid snow banks that line the forest tracks to guide them around corners and extract the extra speed that can make all the difference between winning and losing.
Twenty-nine-year-old Hirvonen is a Sweden veteran. This is his seventh start, with his best result coming in the rally's last appearance in the championship in 2008 when he was second. He is confident the experience gained from last year's epic drivers' title battle will help in the new campaign.
"On occasions I wasn't brave enough to make the decisions I needed to with my car set-up or to drive more aggressively," he said. "I've learned from that and this year there will be no second thoughts. The difference between myself and the title winner last year was a single point. That translates to tiny decisions on the stages but it's those small things that make the difference between winning and coming second, and when you're brave enough to take the chances, you can feel the difference.
Team News
* Tyre partner Pirelli will provide its Sottozero winter tyre, which will be available with 7mm studs to penetrate the snow and bite into the ice beneath. The tyre was designed in a wider format than is usual for a winter pattern to enable teams to use it with the standard 15-inch wheel rims used on all other loose surface rounds of the championship. The tread blocks are spread slightly wider as a result. Teams are not allowed to hand-carve additional cuts into the rubber in the event of heavy snow and each car can carry two spares.
* The team will complete a four-day pre-event test on roads near Kall in northern Sweden on Sunday. Hirvonen will finish his two-day session today (Friday) before a private ski-ing and training session over the weekend. Latvala will take over for Saturday and Sunday.
* More than 31 per cent of the 57 competitors are at the wheel of Ford cars. Twelve Focus RS WRCs are listed, including three Stobart M-Sport Ford cars for Marcus Grönholm / Timo Rautiainen, Henning Solberg / Ilka Minor and Matthew Wilson / Scott Martin. Four Fiesta S2000 crews will start, including three competing in the new S-WRC, and there is also a Fiesta R2 and a Fiesta S2 entered.
Rally Route
Organisers have introduced major changes in a bid to guarantee full snow cover. Karlstad remains the rally base, and each leg starts and finishes there, but the single service park has been moved back to Hagfors to allow more northerly stages to be used in search of true winter conditions. Fifty-seven per cent of the competitive distance has changed since the last running in 2008, although many of the new roads are familiar from previous years. The action begins with a super special stage at Karlstad's trotting track on Thursday evening and the test also ends Friday's opening leg, which journeys to the rally's most northerly point. The second day includes a short test on the edge of Hagfors and the final day is based east of the town. Drivers tackle 21 tests covering 345.15km in a route of 1879.23km.
