Rally Sweden 10th - 13th February 2011
FORD'S ANGRY BEE STINGS THE OPPOSITION
Leg 1 - Sweden was again the opening round of the WRC season and would also be the first event for the new World Rally Car regulations, featuring 1600cc engines and simpler technology on the cars - Mikko Hirvonen described his works Fiesta as an "angry bee" during pre-season testing. Opening the event was the Karlstad Superspecial and fastest overall was Swedish hope Per-Gunnar Andersson, who had secured his Fiesta WRC drive through a successful crowdfunding appeal, by 0.6 seconds from the works Ford of Jari-Matti Latvala and another 0.3 seconds back was the privately entered Citroën of Petter Solberg in third. PG's time in the lead was brief, unfortunately, as a roll in SS2, Vargåsen 1, cost him more than a minute and sent him down to fourteenth overall. The opening two stages rather set the tone for his event, he was either very fast or suffering some costly time loss from mistakes, punctures or technical issues. Heavy snowfall in the lead-up to the event meant that the crew running first on the road would find grip at a premium in the loose snow and 2010 world champion Sébastien Loeb was the sufferer on Friday, scrabbling to ninth overnight some 1 minute 46.7 seconds off the lead. Benefitting from his lower starting position, Mads Østberg went fastest on two of the three opening forest stages to lead by 24.8 seconds from the works Fiesta of Mikko Hirvonen after SS4, Løvhaugen 1, and then stretched it to 32.8 seconds after SS5, Vargåsen 2. The tide turned on the next pair of stages as the Norwegian ceded 3.3 seconds in SS6, Likenäs 2, and then a hefty 14.7 seconds in SS7, Løvhaugen 2, to closest pursuer Hirvonen, the gap sitting at 14.8 seconds overnight. In third came Petter Solberg's private DS3, 57.3 seconds down, and in fourth, 1 minute 10.1 seconds down, came the spectacular Jari-Matti Latvala, the hard-trying Finn exploring the limits on more than one occasion! Two star drives lower down in the top ten came from Škoda Fabia S2000 pilots Patrik Sandell and Eyvind Brynildsen, who sat in seventh and eighth overnight - Sandell had reached as high as fifth overall after SS4. After his roll in SS2, PG shrugged that off with the fastest time on SS3 before a puncture on SS4 cost him more than three and a half minutes. After service, he then set the equal fastest time with leader Østberg in SS5 before going third and sixth fastest in the remaining two stages of the loop to be sat in twelfth overnight, 4 minutes and 29.8 seconds adrift.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC 1:17:21.2
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Fiesta WRC +14.8
3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC +57.4
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:10.0
5. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:20.3
6. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Citroën DS3 WRC +1:21.6
Leg 2 - With rally leader Østberg now opening the road, a motivated Hirvonen started the day looking to make full use of the slightly cleaner surface to reel in the Stobart Fiesta. The Ford team leader promptly carved 8.1 seconds from the Norwegian's lead on the opening stage of the day, SS8 Lesjöfors 1, to sit 6.7 seconds behind, as Østberg described opening the road as "really tricky". On SS9, Sågen 1, the gap was reduced by another 2.8 seconds, Hirvonen feeling that his car set-up didn't suit the stage. Claiming his first stage win of the event in Sågen was Petter Solberg, who was starting to edge closer to the front two and now sat 42.9 seconds down on the Fiesta pair. The next two stages, SS10 Fredriksberg 1 and SS11 Värmullsåsen 1, saw Hirvonen finally overhaul Østberg for the rally lead by a mere 0.3 seconds at lunchtime service. Petter Solberg's rapid morning continued with another fastest time in SS11 but the gain was mitigated by a ten-second road penalty for arriving late at SS10. Into the afternoon loop and Hirvonen pulled out 12.6 seconds in SS12, Lesjöfors 2, as Østberg struggled on the rutted stage but the Norwegian immediately claimed back 12.0 seconds in the following stage, SS13 Sågen 2, to trail by just 0.6 seconds when Hirvonen spins mid-stage. The Finn reasserted himself on the remaining two stages of the loop to lead by 7.4 seconds overnight. This meant that the works Ford pilot would be opening the road on the final day as he attempted to hold off the four chasing crews, four because Petter Solberg, Latvala and Sébastien Ogier had charged into contention during the afternoon loop to sit 8.9, 10.9 and 15.8 seconds down respectively. Latvala had slowed at the end of SS15 to ensure he was behind the 2003 world champion Solberg on the road. A better road position meant much-improved pace from the reigning world champion Loeb, moving him into the top six after SS9 - helped by the fastest time in SS8. However, in SS10 he suffered a puncture and at the stop line was asked whether he'd like to go home yet, "would be a nice idea!" the frustrated Frenchman replies, he sat 1 minute 42.1 seconds off the lead in sixth at day's end. PG's up-and-down event continued as he would set a fastest and a second fastest time during the morning loop, moving him up to seventh overall, before power steering woes in the afternoon saw him slip to eighth, 5 minutes 30.7 seconds away from the lead - his day ended brightly with the third-fastest time through the Karlstad Superspecial. Saturday morning spelt disaster for Henning Solberg, who had been sat in fifth overnight. The Norwegian was firstly penalised for leaving service four minutes late, after power steering issues, before the Fiesta rolled out of the rally in SS8, Lesjöfors 1.
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Fiesta WRC 2:34:56.1
2. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +7.4
3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC +8.9
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC +10.9
5. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Citroën DS3 WRC +15.8
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroën DS3 WRC +1:42.1
Leg 3 - Hirvonen started the day in no mood to let the rally win slip from his grasp and he swept to the fastest time on each of the morning's three stages to head the field by 13.7 seconds at service. The following crews reported poor visibility in the hanging snow caused by the extreme cold, below -20°C at the start of the day. Østberg mounted a fightback during the afternoon loop by taking 4.5 seconds out of the Finn's lead in SS20, Torntorp 2, and then another 4.3 seconds in SS21, Rämmen 2, to sit just 4.9 seconds behind heading into the final stage, SS22 Gustavsfors 2. Hirvonen set a time 1.6 seconds quicker in the stage to seal the Fiesta driver's victory from Østberg, with a Ford 1-2-3 completed by Latvala as he prevailed in a topsy-turvy fight for third. The Finn, Petter Solberg and Ogier had each held the position during the last day but, on the final stage, a bizarre incident occurred when Solberg's co-driver Chris Patterson had to drive the section when a speeding ban for the Norwegian, that was incurred on Saturday, was enforced - the Citroën falling to fifth. Ogier took some consolation for missing out on a podium finish by taking the first Powerstage win, a new feature of the WRC for 2011, gaining three extra championship points. PG climbed a spot to seventh despite a high-speed trip into a snowbank on SS20, Torntorp 2, to deny former F1 world champion Kimi Räikkonen, who was starting his second season in the WRC.
Top 10 Results
1. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:23:56.6
2. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:03.1 +6.5
3. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:30.6 +34.0 +27.5
4. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:24:44.3 +47.7 +13.7
5. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC 3:25:27.8 +1:31.2 +43.5
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroën DS3 WRC 3:26:26.9 +2:30.3 +59.1
7. Per-Gunnar Andersson/Emil Axelsson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:30:18.6 +6:22.0 +3:51.7
8. Kimi Räikkonen/Kaj Lindström - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:30:58.9 +7:02.3 +40.3
9. Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:34:08.1 +10:11.5 +3:09.2
10. Khalid Al-Qassimi/Michael Orr - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:34:27.7 +10:31.1 +19.6
Hirvonen quote - "It's absolutely fantastic! It's so nice to win the first rally in the new Fiesta also. I have to say I was really nervous before the start of the last stage but now I am really happy to have made such a good start to the season!"
PWRC - A duelling pair of Nordic Subarus headed the PWRC field on Friday, with Norwegian Anders Grøndal heading Swede Patrik Flodin by 22.3 seconds overnight. However, the leaderboard would take on a very different look before the end of Saturday... Firstly, Flodin was disqualified after the event scrutineers discovered he had illegal wheel rims fitted to his Impreza and then Grøndal's engine blew in SS12, Lesjöfors 2, to force him out. This promoted young Czech pilot Martin Semerád to the head of the pack, the Mitsubishi driver reeled off the remaining stages unchallenged to take the win by 5 minutes 17.3 seconds from Ukrainian Yuriy Protasov. Semerád's victory meant that he became the youngest driver to take a PWRC event win.
1. Martin Semerád/Michal Ernst - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3:46:59.8
2. Yuriy Protasov/Adrian Aftanaziv - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 3:52:17.1 +5:17.3
3. Nicolás Fuchs/Ruben Garcia - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 3:53:43.9 +6:44.1
Leg 1 - Sweden was again the opening round of the WRC season and would also be the first event for the new World Rally Car regulations, featuring 1600cc engines and simpler technology on the cars - Mikko Hirvonen described his works Fiesta as an "angry bee" during pre-season testing. Opening the event was the Karlstad Superspecial and fastest overall was Swedish hope Per-Gunnar Andersson, who had secured his Fiesta WRC drive through a successful crowdfunding appeal, by 0.6 seconds from the works Ford of Jari-Matti Latvala and another 0.3 seconds back was the privately entered Citroën of Petter Solberg in third. PG's time in the lead was brief, unfortunately, as a roll in SS2, Vargåsen 1, cost him more than a minute and sent him down to fourteenth overall. The opening two stages rather set the tone for his event, he was either very fast or suffering some costly time loss from mistakes, punctures or technical issues. Heavy snowfall in the lead-up to the event meant that the crew running first on the road would find grip at a premium in the loose snow and 2010 world champion Sébastien Loeb was the sufferer on Friday, scrabbling to ninth overnight some 1 minute 46.7 seconds off the lead. Benefitting from his lower starting position, Mads Østberg went fastest on two of the three opening forest stages to lead by 24.8 seconds from the works Fiesta of Mikko Hirvonen after SS4, Løvhaugen 1, and then stretched it to 32.8 seconds after SS5, Vargåsen 2. The tide turned on the next pair of stages as the Norwegian ceded 3.3 seconds in SS6, Likenäs 2, and then a hefty 14.7 seconds in SS7, Løvhaugen 2, to closest pursuer Hirvonen, the gap sitting at 14.8 seconds overnight. In third came Petter Solberg's private DS3, 57.3 seconds down, and in fourth, 1 minute 10.1 seconds down, came the spectacular Jari-Matti Latvala, the hard-trying Finn exploring the limits on more than one occasion! Two star drives lower down in the top ten came from Škoda Fabia S2000 pilots Patrik Sandell and Eyvind Brynildsen, who sat in seventh and eighth overnight - Sandell had reached as high as fifth overall after SS4. After his roll in SS2, PG shrugged that off with the fastest time on SS3 before a puncture on SS4 cost him more than three and a half minutes. After service, he then set the equal fastest time with leader Østberg in SS5 before going third and sixth fastest in the remaining two stages of the loop to be sat in twelfth overnight, 4 minutes and 29.8 seconds adrift.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC 1:17:21.2
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Fiesta WRC +14.8
3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC +57.4
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:10.0
5. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:20.3
6. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Citroën DS3 WRC +1:21.6
Leg 2 - With rally leader Østberg now opening the road, a motivated Hirvonen started the day looking to make full use of the slightly cleaner surface to reel in the Stobart Fiesta. The Ford team leader promptly carved 8.1 seconds from the Norwegian's lead on the opening stage of the day, SS8 Lesjöfors 1, to sit 6.7 seconds behind, as Østberg described opening the road as "really tricky". On SS9, Sågen 1, the gap was reduced by another 2.8 seconds, Hirvonen feeling that his car set-up didn't suit the stage. Claiming his first stage win of the event in Sågen was Petter Solberg, who was starting to edge closer to the front two and now sat 42.9 seconds down on the Fiesta pair. The next two stages, SS10 Fredriksberg 1 and SS11 Värmullsåsen 1, saw Hirvonen finally overhaul Østberg for the rally lead by a mere 0.3 seconds at lunchtime service. Petter Solberg's rapid morning continued with another fastest time in SS11 but the gain was mitigated by a ten-second road penalty for arriving late at SS10. Into the afternoon loop and Hirvonen pulled out 12.6 seconds in SS12, Lesjöfors 2, as Østberg struggled on the rutted stage but the Norwegian immediately claimed back 12.0 seconds in the following stage, SS13 Sågen 2, to trail by just 0.6 seconds when Hirvonen spins mid-stage. The Finn reasserted himself on the remaining two stages of the loop to lead by 7.4 seconds overnight. This meant that the works Ford pilot would be opening the road on the final day as he attempted to hold off the four chasing crews, four because Petter Solberg, Latvala and Sébastien Ogier had charged into contention during the afternoon loop to sit 8.9, 10.9 and 15.8 seconds down respectively. Latvala had slowed at the end of SS15 to ensure he was behind the 2003 world champion Solberg on the road. A better road position meant much-improved pace from the reigning world champion Loeb, moving him into the top six after SS9 - helped by the fastest time in SS8. However, in SS10 he suffered a puncture and at the stop line was asked whether he'd like to go home yet, "would be a nice idea!" the frustrated Frenchman replies, he sat 1 minute 42.1 seconds off the lead in sixth at day's end. PG's up-and-down event continued as he would set a fastest and a second fastest time during the morning loop, moving him up to seventh overall, before power steering woes in the afternoon saw him slip to eighth, 5 minutes 30.7 seconds away from the lead - his day ended brightly with the third-fastest time through the Karlstad Superspecial. Saturday morning spelt disaster for Henning Solberg, who had been sat in fifth overnight. The Norwegian was firstly penalised for leaving service four minutes late, after power steering issues, before the Fiesta rolled out of the rally in SS8, Lesjöfors 1.
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Fiesta WRC 2:34:56.1
2. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +7.4
3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC +8.9
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC +10.9
5. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Citroën DS3 WRC +15.8
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroën DS3 WRC +1:42.1
Leg 3 - Hirvonen started the day in no mood to let the rally win slip from his grasp and he swept to the fastest time on each of the morning's three stages to head the field by 13.7 seconds at service. The following crews reported poor visibility in the hanging snow caused by the extreme cold, below -20°C at the start of the day. Østberg mounted a fightback during the afternoon loop by taking 4.5 seconds out of the Finn's lead in SS20, Torntorp 2, and then another 4.3 seconds in SS21, Rämmen 2, to sit just 4.9 seconds behind heading into the final stage, SS22 Gustavsfors 2. Hirvonen set a time 1.6 seconds quicker in the stage to seal the Fiesta driver's victory from Østberg, with a Ford 1-2-3 completed by Latvala as he prevailed in a topsy-turvy fight for third. The Finn, Petter Solberg and Ogier had each held the position during the last day but, on the final stage, a bizarre incident occurred when Solberg's co-driver Chris Patterson had to drive the section when a speeding ban for the Norwegian, that was incurred on Saturday, was enforced - the Citroën falling to fifth. Ogier took some consolation for missing out on a podium finish by taking the first Powerstage win, a new feature of the WRC for 2011, gaining three extra championship points. PG climbed a spot to seventh despite a high-speed trip into a snowbank on SS20, Torntorp 2, to deny former F1 world champion Kimi Räikkonen, who was starting his second season in the WRC.
Top 10 Results
1. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:23:56.6
2. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:03.1 +6.5
3. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:30.6 +34.0 +27.5
4. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:24:44.3 +47.7 +13.7
5. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson Citroën DS3 WRC 3:25:27.8 +1:31.2 +43.5
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena Citroën DS3 WRC 3:26:26.9 +2:30.3 +59.1
7. Per-Gunnar Andersson/Emil Axelsson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:30:18.6 +6:22.0 +3:51.7
8. Kimi Räikkonen/Kaj Lindström - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:30:58.9 +7:02.3 +40.3
9. Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:34:08.1 +10:11.5 +3:09.2
10. Khalid Al-Qassimi/Michael Orr - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:34:27.7 +10:31.1 +19.6
Hirvonen quote - "It's absolutely fantastic! It's so nice to win the first rally in the new Fiesta also. I have to say I was really nervous before the start of the last stage but now I am really happy to have made such a good start to the season!"
PWRC - A duelling pair of Nordic Subarus headed the PWRC field on Friday, with Norwegian Anders Grøndal heading Swede Patrik Flodin by 22.3 seconds overnight. However, the leaderboard would take on a very different look before the end of Saturday... Firstly, Flodin was disqualified after the event scrutineers discovered he had illegal wheel rims fitted to his Impreza and then Grøndal's engine blew in SS12, Lesjöfors 2, to force him out. This promoted young Czech pilot Martin Semerád to the head of the pack, the Mitsubishi driver reeled off the remaining stages unchallenged to take the win by 5 minutes 17.3 seconds from Ukrainian Yuriy Protasov. Semerád's victory meant that he became the youngest driver to take a PWRC event win.
1. Martin Semerád/Michal Ernst - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX 3:46:59.8
2. Yuriy Protasov/Adrian Aftanaziv - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 3:52:17.1 +5:17.3
3. Nicolás Fuchs/Ruben Garcia - Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X 3:53:43.9 +6:44.1
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Rally Sweden SM
A National rally ran for the second time over the first two days' stages, counting for Swedish championship points again. Veteran Mats Jonsson took the win in his Ford Escort WRC, just ahead of youngster Pontus Tidemand's Ford Fiesta S2000. The Ford Focus WRC of Eddie Hörbing completed the top three. There was plenty of different machinery on show again, Peter Zachrisson's Volvo 940, Hans-Åke Stensvik's Volvo 240 and Lennart Galliner's Audi Quattro among the highlights.
1. Mats Jonsson/Johnny Johansson - Ford Escort WRC 1:20:38.3
2. Pontus Tidemand/Jørgen Nordhagen - Ford Fiesta S2000 1:20:41.1 +2.8
3. Eddie Hörbing/Björn Nilsson - Ford Focus WRC 1:21:22.0 +43.7
A National rally ran for the second time over the first two days' stages, counting for Swedish championship points again. Veteran Mats Jonsson took the win in his Ford Escort WRC, just ahead of youngster Pontus Tidemand's Ford Fiesta S2000. The Ford Focus WRC of Eddie Hörbing completed the top three. There was plenty of different machinery on show again, Peter Zachrisson's Volvo 940, Hans-Åke Stensvik's Volvo 240 and Lennart Galliner's Audi Quattro among the highlights.
1. Mats Jonsson/Johnny Johansson - Ford Escort WRC 1:20:38.3
2. Pontus Tidemand/Jørgen Nordhagen - Ford Fiesta S2000 1:20:41.1 +2.8
3. Eddie Hörbing/Björn Nilsson - Ford Focus WRC 1:21:22.0 +43.7
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