Rally Sweden 9th - 12th February 2012
LATVALA SEALS SIX IN A ROW FOR FORD
Leg 1 - With the Monte Carlo rally back on the WRC calendar, Sweden returned to its traditional spot as the championship's second round. Pre-event qualifying on the Råda shakedown stage was used to sort the draw for Friday's running order for the WRC crews - the top crews all choosing to run at the back end of the top 20 where the cleaner stage surface should offer more grip. Getting things underway was the Karlstad Superspecial on Thursday evening, with Dani Sordo posting the fastest time for Prodrive Mini by 0.3 seconds from Mads Østberg - who was looking to avenge his narrow defeat in 2011. Friday's stages mostly took place in neighbouring Norway for the first time and the event would cross the border in SS2, Mitandersfors 1 - a stage which started in Sweden and finished in Norway. Østberg would hit the front on this stage after setting the equal fastest time with Jari-Matti Latvala, who slotted into second place overall. In fourth, behind Mikko Hirvonen, came 2003 world champion Petter Solberg - who had passed his own house mid-stage! Reigning world champion Sébastien Loeb was hit with an early ten-second road penalty for a late departure from service so slotted into sixth. Home advantage for Norwegian Østberg counted for little as he lost the lead to Latvala on SS3, Opaker 1, and also fell behind Petter Solberg and Hirvonen, as 7.1 seconds covered the quartet. Hirvonen then went fastest on SS4, Kirkenær 1, to trail Latvala's works Fiesta by 0.6 seconds going into SS5, Finnskogen 1, where another fastest time put the Citroën man in front by 2.9 seconds at the remote service in Kongsvinger, whilst Østberg sat 10.3 seconds back in third. A reinvigorated Latvala set off into the afternoon loop determined to regain the rally lead, beating his fellow Finn on SS6, Opaker 2, to reduce the gap to 0.4 seconds, but Hirvonen was equal to the task and goes 0.7 seconds quicker in SS7, Kirkenær 2, to lead by 1.1 seconds. Loeb, who had been fastest on SS6, slid into a snowbank on SS7 with a loss of almost two minutes and plummeted down to eleventh. The next two stages, SS8 Finnskogen 2 and SS9 Torsby, saw the demise of early leader Sordo with a cooked engine and Østberg lost further ground to the leaders with brake issues, Petter Solberg moved up to third at his fellow Norwegian's expense back in Sweden on SS9. After Hirvonen pegged the gap on SS7, Latvala blitzed his rival on the next two stages. The Fiesta grabbed 3.7 seconds on SS8 before storming through SS9 some 14.6 seconds quicker than Hirvonen for an overnight lead of 16.8 seconds after the second run of the Karlstad Superspecial, his work aided by a loss of studs for the works Citroën.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC 1:23:50.8
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Citroën DS3 WRC +16.8
3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson - Ford Fiesta WRC +18.6
4. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +32.3
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Denis Giraudet - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:12.1
6. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:48.5
Leg 2 - Latvala hammered home his advantage on the day's opening loop, winning two of the four forest stages to open up an 18.6-second lead at service to Hirvonen. Petter Solberg held onto third, 39.9 seconds behind his works Ford teammate Latvala and 7.2 seconds in front of the pursuing Østberg. The Adapta Fiesta man halved the gap to his fellow Norwegian during the morning loop, helped by a stall for Solberg at the start of SS12, Sågen 1. After service, the fight between the lead pair followed the same pattern as the morning loop. Latvala went fastest in the first two stages before Hirvonen took back 2.6 seconds in the third, after saving his tyres in the re-run of Sågen, but then loses 1.9 seconds on the repeat pass through the Hagfors Sprint stage to trail his fellow Finn by 23.0 seconds overnight. Set-up adjustments for Petter Solberg, tweaked closer to the settings of his team-mate Latvala, helped him in his fight with Østberg to end the day 11.1 seconds ahead. Loeb's trying event continued as he spun on SS12 and suffered a punctured tyre on SS17, after hitting a rock, which left him tied on time with Henning Solberg for sixth going into SS18 - the Frenchman set a time 4.9 seconds quicker through the stage to make the place his own, some 47.4 seconds behind the impressive Evgeniy Novikov in fifth.
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC 2:30:08.0
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Citroën DS3 WRC +23.0
3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson - Ford Fiesta WRC +51.4
4. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:02.5
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Denis Giraudet - Ford Fiesta WRC +2:13.1
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC +2:57.5
Leg 3 - The final day consisted of three stages, with each used twice to make a leg of six to complete the event. The first stage of the day, SS19 Lesjöfors 1, saw Latvala put in a mighty time to go 7.6 seconds quicker than Hirvonen - who lacked the confidence to risk it all chasing the Ford in the slippery stage. A good start to the day was also made by Novikov, who added 4.0 seconds to his buffer from the chasing Loeb as he attempted to keep the eight-time world champion at bay. Latvala bested Hirvonen by 4.7 seconds in SS20, Rämmen 1, and then added another 0.3 seconds in SS21, Hagfors 1, so now has 35.6 seconds in hand as they started the afternoon loop. In SS22, Lesjöfors 2, a lot of Latvala's hard work was undone when he clipped a rock and punctured the right-front tyre, Hirvonen slashed 27.1 seconds off the deficit to sit just 8.4 seconds behind with two stages to go. If the stress of the puncture affected Latvala, it didn't show as he tore through SS23, Rämmen 2, 4.5 seconds quicker than the Citroën to effectively kill off the threat from Hirvonen before the final, short, Hagfors Powerstage. Going through the stage third-fastest sealed a 16.6-second triumph for the works Ford driver, his second win in Sweden. Having closed the gap to Petter Solberg down to 4.9 seconds across the morning loop, Østberg was gifted third spot when Solberg lost 30.3 seconds with a puncture on SS22, Lesjöfors 2. Loeb took the three bonus points for being fastest through the Powerstage but stayed in sixth overall, having closed to within fourteen seconds of Novikov - the gap cut to 13.7 seconds after starting the day 44.4 seconds adrift. Just outside of the top ten came the leading Super 2000 runner, Sébastien Ogier in a Škoda Fabia run by parent company Volkswagen as they prepared for their entry into the WRC with the Polo in 2013.
Top 11 Results
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:18:28.3
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:18:44.9 +16.6 +16.6
3. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:19:07.1 +38.8 +22.2
4. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:19:42.6 +1:14.3 +35.5
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Denis Giraudet - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:21:09.7 +2:41.4 +1:27.1
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:21:23.4 +2:55.1 +13.7
7. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:22:17.8 +3:49.5 +54.4
8. Patrik Sandell/Staffan Parmander - Mini Countryman JCW WRC 3:23:37.2 +5:08.9 +1:19.4
9. Martin Prokop/Zdeněk Hrůza - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:23:58.3 +5:30.0 +21.1
10. Eyvind Brynildsen/Cato Menkerud - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:55.5 +6:27.2 +57.2
11. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Škoda Fabia S2000 3:26:03.3 +7:35.0 +1:07.8
Latvala quote - "It was my first time when I won this event, uhh, it was back in 2008 and I became the youngest ever winner of a world championship rally, at that time I was beating my idol Henri Toivonen's record so it's fantastic to win the rally again and the first time I win the same rally two times!"
Leg 1 - With the Monte Carlo rally back on the WRC calendar, Sweden returned to its traditional spot as the championship's second round. Pre-event qualifying on the Råda shakedown stage was used to sort the draw for Friday's running order for the WRC crews - the top crews all choosing to run at the back end of the top 20 where the cleaner stage surface should offer more grip. Getting things underway was the Karlstad Superspecial on Thursday evening, with Dani Sordo posting the fastest time for Prodrive Mini by 0.3 seconds from Mads Østberg - who was looking to avenge his narrow defeat in 2011. Friday's stages mostly took place in neighbouring Norway for the first time and the event would cross the border in SS2, Mitandersfors 1 - a stage which started in Sweden and finished in Norway. Østberg would hit the front on this stage after setting the equal fastest time with Jari-Matti Latvala, who slotted into second place overall. In fourth, behind Mikko Hirvonen, came 2003 world champion Petter Solberg - who had passed his own house mid-stage! Reigning world champion Sébastien Loeb was hit with an early ten-second road penalty for a late departure from service so slotted into sixth. Home advantage for Norwegian Østberg counted for little as he lost the lead to Latvala on SS3, Opaker 1, and also fell behind Petter Solberg and Hirvonen, as 7.1 seconds covered the quartet. Hirvonen then went fastest on SS4, Kirkenær 1, to trail Latvala's works Fiesta by 0.6 seconds going into SS5, Finnskogen 1, where another fastest time put the Citroën man in front by 2.9 seconds at the remote service in Kongsvinger, whilst Østberg sat 10.3 seconds back in third. A reinvigorated Latvala set off into the afternoon loop determined to regain the rally lead, beating his fellow Finn on SS6, Opaker 2, to reduce the gap to 0.4 seconds, but Hirvonen was equal to the task and goes 0.7 seconds quicker in SS7, Kirkenær 2, to lead by 1.1 seconds. Loeb, who had been fastest on SS6, slid into a snowbank on SS7 with a loss of almost two minutes and plummeted down to eleventh. The next two stages, SS8 Finnskogen 2 and SS9 Torsby, saw the demise of early leader Sordo with a cooked engine and Østberg lost further ground to the leaders with brake issues, Petter Solberg moved up to third at his fellow Norwegian's expense back in Sweden on SS9. After Hirvonen pegged the gap on SS7, Latvala blitzed his rival on the next two stages. The Fiesta grabbed 3.7 seconds on SS8 before storming through SS9 some 14.6 seconds quicker than Hirvonen for an overnight lead of 16.8 seconds after the second run of the Karlstad Superspecial, his work aided by a loss of studs for the works Citroën.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC 1:23:50.8
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Citroën DS3 WRC +16.8
3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson - Ford Fiesta WRC +18.6
4. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +32.3
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Denis Giraudet - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:12.1
6. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:48.5
Leg 2 - Latvala hammered home his advantage on the day's opening loop, winning two of the four forest stages to open up an 18.6-second lead at service to Hirvonen. Petter Solberg held onto third, 39.9 seconds behind his works Ford teammate Latvala and 7.2 seconds in front of the pursuing Østberg. The Adapta Fiesta man halved the gap to his fellow Norwegian during the morning loop, helped by a stall for Solberg at the start of SS12, Sågen 1. After service, the fight between the lead pair followed the same pattern as the morning loop. Latvala went fastest in the first two stages before Hirvonen took back 2.6 seconds in the third, after saving his tyres in the re-run of Sågen, but then loses 1.9 seconds on the repeat pass through the Hagfors Sprint stage to trail his fellow Finn by 23.0 seconds overnight. Set-up adjustments for Petter Solberg, tweaked closer to the settings of his team-mate Latvala, helped him in his fight with Østberg to end the day 11.1 seconds ahead. Loeb's trying event continued as he spun on SS12 and suffered a punctured tyre on SS17, after hitting a rock, which left him tied on time with Henning Solberg for sixth going into SS18 - the Frenchman set a time 4.9 seconds quicker through the stage to make the place his own, some 47.4 seconds behind the impressive Evgeniy Novikov in fifth.
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC 2:30:08.0
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Citroën DS3 WRC +23.0
3. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson - Ford Fiesta WRC +51.4
4. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:02.5
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Denis Giraudet - Ford Fiesta WRC +2:13.1
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC +2:57.5
Leg 3 - The final day consisted of three stages, with each used twice to make a leg of six to complete the event. The first stage of the day, SS19 Lesjöfors 1, saw Latvala put in a mighty time to go 7.6 seconds quicker than Hirvonen - who lacked the confidence to risk it all chasing the Ford in the slippery stage. A good start to the day was also made by Novikov, who added 4.0 seconds to his buffer from the chasing Loeb as he attempted to keep the eight-time world champion at bay. Latvala bested Hirvonen by 4.7 seconds in SS20, Rämmen 1, and then added another 0.3 seconds in SS21, Hagfors 1, so now has 35.6 seconds in hand as they started the afternoon loop. In SS22, Lesjöfors 2, a lot of Latvala's hard work was undone when he clipped a rock and punctured the right-front tyre, Hirvonen slashed 27.1 seconds off the deficit to sit just 8.4 seconds behind with two stages to go. If the stress of the puncture affected Latvala, it didn't show as he tore through SS23, Rämmen 2, 4.5 seconds quicker than the Citroën to effectively kill off the threat from Hirvonen before the final, short, Hagfors Powerstage. Going through the stage third-fastest sealed a 16.6-second triumph for the works Ford driver, his second win in Sweden. Having closed the gap to Petter Solberg down to 4.9 seconds across the morning loop, Østberg was gifted third spot when Solberg lost 30.3 seconds with a puncture on SS22, Lesjöfors 2. Loeb took the three bonus points for being fastest through the Powerstage but stayed in sixth overall, having closed to within fourteen seconds of Novikov - the gap cut to 13.7 seconds after starting the day 44.4 seconds adrift. Just outside of the top ten came the leading Super 2000 runner, Sébastien Ogier in a Škoda Fabia run by parent company Volkswagen as they prepared for their entry into the WRC with the Polo in 2013.
Top 11 Results
1. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:18:28.3
2. Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:18:44.9 +16.6 +16.6
3. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:19:07.1 +38.8 +22.2
4. Petter Solberg/Chris Patterson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:19:42.6 +1:14.3 +35.5
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Denis Giraudet - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:21:09.7 +2:41.4 +1:27.1
6. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:21:23.4 +2:55.1 +13.7
7. Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:22:17.8 +3:49.5 +54.4
8. Patrik Sandell/Staffan Parmander - Mini Countryman JCW WRC 3:23:37.2 +5:08.9 +1:19.4
9. Martin Prokop/Zdeněk Hrůza - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:23:58.3 +5:30.0 +21.1
10. Eyvind Brynildsen/Cato Menkerud - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:55.5 +6:27.2 +57.2
11. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Škoda Fabia S2000 3:26:03.3 +7:35.0 +1:07.8
Latvala quote - "It was my first time when I won this event, uhh, it was back in 2008 and I became the youngest ever winner of a world championship rally, at that time I was beating my idol Henri Toivonen's record so it's fantastic to win the rally again and the first time I win the same rally two times!"
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SWRC - Swede Per-Gunnar Andersson took a dominant win for Proton, amid some controversy, in the supporting SWRC category by more than a minute and a half from the Fiesta S2000 of 2011 WRC Academy champion Craig Breen, the gap had been much larger but a two-minute time penalty was handed out to Andersson, along with teammate Alister McRae, for running underweight suspension arms on their Satria Neo S2000s. The top three remained consistent throughout the event and it was young Swede Pontus Tidemand, stepson of Henning Solberg, who completed the podium in a Škoda Fabia S2000.
1. Per-Gunnar Andersson/Emil Axelsson - Proton Satria Neo S2000 3:30:16.8
2. Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts - Ford Fiesta S2000 3:31:52.6 +1:35.8
3. Pontus Tidemand/Göran Bergsten - Škoda Fabia S2000 3:33:06.4 +2:49.6
1. Per-Gunnar Andersson/Emil Axelsson - Proton Satria Neo S2000 3:30:16.8
2. Craig Breen/Gareth Roberts - Ford Fiesta S2000 3:31:52.6 +1:35.8
3. Pontus Tidemand/Göran Bergsten - Škoda Fabia S2000 3:33:06.4 +2:49.6
