Rally Sweden 7th - 10th February 2013
OGIER DOMINANT AS VW SHOWS ITS HAND
Leg 1 - The new Volkswagen Polo WRC made a blistering start to its first event on snow as Frenchman Sébastien Ogier went fastest on every forest stage on Friday bar one, just missing the full set of stage wins by 0.1 seconds on SS4, Vargåsen 1, in a stunning performance from the new manufacturer. Ogier would lead overnight by 31.4 seconds from the Citroën of Sébastien Loeb, who was only completing a partial season in 2013. The second Polo WRC of Jari-Matti Latvala was a further 1.7 seconds back in third. Loeb held the lead after the rally-opening Karlstad Superspecial by 0.5 seconds from the Fiesta of Evgeny Novikov, with Latvala in third. The Volkswagen pair were soon into their stride once the rally hit the Värmland forests to be split by just 0.2 seconds after SS2, Lesjöfors 1. Whilst Ogier stretched his advantage out front, Latvala couldn't shake off Loeb. Indeed, the Citroën man regained second on SS3, Värmullsåsen 1, before the Finn took it back after service on SS5, Lesjöfors 2. Loeb countered on SS7, Vargåsen 2, to take the place back again, holding a 1.7-second buffer overnight from the Volkswagen. The other works Citroën of Mikko Hirvonen had a disastrous start to the event, losing 24 minutes stuck in a snowbank early in SS2. Qatar M-Sport Ford pilot Mads Østberg completed the morning loop with an overheating engine, due to a split pipe, but still sat in fourth at lunchtime service, just ahead of one of the event's early stars - the Fiesta WRC of young Swede Pontus Tidemand on his World Rally Car debut. Østberg consolidated his fourth overall throughout the afternoon but Tidemand would slip behind Østberg's Qatar M-Sport team-mate Novikov to sixth overnight.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Volkswagen Polo WRC 1:16:00.1
2. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC +31.4
3. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Volkswagen Polo WRC
4. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +42.3
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:11.7
6. Pontus Tidemand/Ola Fløene - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:22.1
Leg 2 - Ogier's Friday form carried on into the opening stage of Saturday, SS9 Sågen 1, with another fastest time but, with a 33.5-second advantage, the Frenchman decided to relax his pace a little to manage the comfortable lead. Despite this, he would still set two more fastest times during the afternoon loop, on SS14 Fredriksberg 2 and SS15 Rämmen 2, to hold a 26.9-second margin into the final day. Loeb held onto second place throughout the day, the nine-time world champion steadily pulling away from Latvala all morning. The Finn was coming under pressure from fourth-placed Østberg heading into the afternoon loop, the gap down to 1.5 seconds at service. The Norwegian overhauled the second Volkswagen on SS14 as Latvala lacked confidence in the handling of his Polo WRC, with 6.1 seconds splitting the pair at the end of the leg. Friday star Tidemand's event came to an end on SS9 with a blown engine, young Belgian Thierry Neuville taking his place in the top six in his Qatar M-Sport Fiesta. Neuville gained the place on Saturday afternoon when Juho Hänninen lost a minute after a trip into a snowbank in another Qatar M-Sport Fiesta - one of five entered on the event!
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Volkswagen Polo WRC 2:18:22.8
2. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC +26.9
3. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +57.7
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Volkswagen Polo WRC +1:03.8
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:43.5
6. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul - Ford Fiesta WRC +3:16.2
Leg 3 - Ogier duly reeled off the remaining six tests of the rally, held mainly across the border in Norway, winning two of them and setting a time no lower than second fastest on the other four to complete a dominant display. The Frenchman taking his first win in Sweden and Volkswagen's first in the WRC. To complete the rout, he would also bag maximum points in the SS22 Powerstage, Torsby. WRC legend Loeb cantered home in second place, 41.8 seconds adrift in his final scheduled appearance in Sweden for some time - returning for Hyundai in 2019. Østberg completed the podium in third, having held off Latvala's attack throughout the day, the gap staying the same as it had been overnight - 6.1 seconds. Two more Qatar Fiestas made up the top six with Neuville and Hänninen taking the spots after Novikov, who had been inside the top six all rally, fell off the road on SS20, Kirkenær 2.
Top 10 Results
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Volkswagen Polo WRC 3:11:41.9
2. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:12:23.7 +41.8
3. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:13:06.4 +1:24.5 +42.7
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Volkswagen Polo WRC 3:13:12.5 +1:30.6 +6.1
5. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:16:48.3 +5:06.4 +3:35.8
6. Juho Hänninen/Tomi Tuominen - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:17:25.0 +5:43.1 +36.7
7. Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:23:07.4 +5:42.3
8. Henning Solberg/Emil Axelsson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:23:24.6 +11:42.7 +17.3
9. Evgeniy Novikov/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:46.6 +13:04.7 +1:22.0
10. Yazeed Al-Rajhi/Michael Orr - Ford Fiesta RRC 3:28:08.9 +16:27.0 +3:22.3
Ogier quote - "The team prepared me a great car, unbelievable. I never thought we would dominate like that!"
WRC2 - Saudi Arabian Yazeed Al-Rajhi took the WRC2 win in his Ford Fiesta RRC on a surface far from familiar to the man from the middle-east. After topping the times at the SS1 Karlstad Superspecial, Al-Rajhi held the lead until SS4, Vargåsen 1, when he was usurped by Norwegian Anders Grøndal, the Group N Subaru then romped into a 32.6-second lead overnight on Friday. A charging Al-Rajhi tore through the Saturday stages, setting the fastest time on five of the day's seven stages, to bring the gap down to a mere 0.3 seconds after SS15, Rämmen 2. On the last stage of the day, SS16 Hagfors Sprint 2, Grøndal went through 4.2 seconds quicker than his pursuer so held a lead of 4.5 seconds heading into Sunday. The Norwegian's tenure of the lead was ended in the day's opening stage, SS17 Mitandersfors, with Al-Rajhi stretching away to a 43.5-second victory, winning all but one of the day's six stages. The Škoda Fabia S2000 of German Sepp Wiegand completed the podium a large chunk of time away from the top two, 4 minutes 05.1 seconds down. Pre-event favourite Eyvind Brynildsen had a fraught, and short, event - taking a 1 minute 40 seconds road penalty for a 10-minute late arrival at the SS1 time control, when his engine refused to start, and then the motor let go in SS5, Lesjöfors 2, to end his event. Without the penalty, he would have been leading by 32.4 seconds after SS4... Another pre-event favourite didn't even get that far, Per-Gunnar Andersson's Proton team withdrawing his entry due to a lack of spares for the updated Satria Neo S2000.
1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi/Michael Orr - Ford Fiesta RRC 3:28:08.9
2. Anders Grøndal/Trond Svendsen - Subaru Impreza STi 3:28:52.4 +43.5
3. Sepp Wiegand/Frank Christian - Škoda Fabia S2000 3:32:14.0 +4:05.1
Leg 1 - The new Volkswagen Polo WRC made a blistering start to its first event on snow as Frenchman Sébastien Ogier went fastest on every forest stage on Friday bar one, just missing the full set of stage wins by 0.1 seconds on SS4, Vargåsen 1, in a stunning performance from the new manufacturer. Ogier would lead overnight by 31.4 seconds from the Citroën of Sébastien Loeb, who was only completing a partial season in 2013. The second Polo WRC of Jari-Matti Latvala was a further 1.7 seconds back in third. Loeb held the lead after the rally-opening Karlstad Superspecial by 0.5 seconds from the Fiesta of Evgeny Novikov, with Latvala in third. The Volkswagen pair were soon into their stride once the rally hit the Värmland forests to be split by just 0.2 seconds after SS2, Lesjöfors 1. Whilst Ogier stretched his advantage out front, Latvala couldn't shake off Loeb. Indeed, the Citroën man regained second on SS3, Värmullsåsen 1, before the Finn took it back after service on SS5, Lesjöfors 2. Loeb countered on SS7, Vargåsen 2, to take the place back again, holding a 1.7-second buffer overnight from the Volkswagen. The other works Citroën of Mikko Hirvonen had a disastrous start to the event, losing 24 minutes stuck in a snowbank early in SS2. Qatar M-Sport Ford pilot Mads Østberg completed the morning loop with an overheating engine, due to a split pipe, but still sat in fourth at lunchtime service, just ahead of one of the event's early stars - the Fiesta WRC of young Swede Pontus Tidemand on his World Rally Car debut. Østberg consolidated his fourth overall throughout the afternoon but Tidemand would slip behind Østberg's Qatar M-Sport team-mate Novikov to sixth overnight.
Top 6 after Leg 1
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Volkswagen Polo WRC 1:16:00.1
2. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC +31.4
3. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Volkswagen Polo WRC
4. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +42.3
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:11.7
6. Pontus Tidemand/Ola Fløene - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:22.1
Leg 2 - Ogier's Friday form carried on into the opening stage of Saturday, SS9 Sågen 1, with another fastest time but, with a 33.5-second advantage, the Frenchman decided to relax his pace a little to manage the comfortable lead. Despite this, he would still set two more fastest times during the afternoon loop, on SS14 Fredriksberg 2 and SS15 Rämmen 2, to hold a 26.9-second margin into the final day. Loeb held onto second place throughout the day, the nine-time world champion steadily pulling away from Latvala all morning. The Finn was coming under pressure from fourth-placed Østberg heading into the afternoon loop, the gap down to 1.5 seconds at service. The Norwegian overhauled the second Volkswagen on SS14 as Latvala lacked confidence in the handling of his Polo WRC, with 6.1 seconds splitting the pair at the end of the leg. Friday star Tidemand's event came to an end on SS9 with a blown engine, young Belgian Thierry Neuville taking his place in the top six in his Qatar M-Sport Fiesta. Neuville gained the place on Saturday afternoon when Juho Hänninen lost a minute after a trip into a snowbank in another Qatar M-Sport Fiesta - one of five entered on the event!
Top 6 after Leg 2
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Volkswagen Polo WRC 2:18:22.8
2. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC +26.9
3. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC +57.7
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Volkswagen Polo WRC +1:03.8
5. Evgeniy Novikov/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC +1:43.5
6. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul - Ford Fiesta WRC +3:16.2
Leg 3 - Ogier duly reeled off the remaining six tests of the rally, held mainly across the border in Norway, winning two of them and setting a time no lower than second fastest on the other four to complete a dominant display. The Frenchman taking his first win in Sweden and Volkswagen's first in the WRC. To complete the rout, he would also bag maximum points in the SS22 Powerstage, Torsby. WRC legend Loeb cantered home in second place, 41.8 seconds adrift in his final scheduled appearance in Sweden for some time - returning for Hyundai in 2019. Østberg completed the podium in third, having held off Latvala's attack throughout the day, the gap staying the same as it had been overnight - 6.1 seconds. Two more Qatar Fiestas made up the top six with Neuville and Hänninen taking the spots after Novikov, who had been inside the top six all rally, fell off the road on SS20, Kirkenær 2.
Top 10 Results
1. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia - Volkswagen Polo WRC 3:11:41.9
2. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena - Citroën DS3 WRC 3:12:23.7 +41.8
3. Mads Østberg/Jonas Andersson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:13:06.4 +1:24.5 +42.7
4. Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila - Volkswagen Polo WRC 3:13:12.5 +1:30.6 +6.1
5. Thierry Neuville/Nicolas Gilsoul - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:16:48.3 +5:06.4 +3:35.8
6. Juho Hänninen/Tomi Tuominen - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:17:25.0 +5:43.1 +36.7
7. Martin Prokop/Michal Ernst - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:23:07.4 +5:42.3
8. Henning Solberg/Emil Axelsson - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:23:24.6 +11:42.7 +17.3
9. Evgeniy Novikov/Ilka Minor - Ford Fiesta WRC 3:24:46.6 +13:04.7 +1:22.0
10. Yazeed Al-Rajhi/Michael Orr - Ford Fiesta RRC 3:28:08.9 +16:27.0 +3:22.3
Ogier quote - "The team prepared me a great car, unbelievable. I never thought we would dominate like that!"
WRC2 - Saudi Arabian Yazeed Al-Rajhi took the WRC2 win in his Ford Fiesta RRC on a surface far from familiar to the man from the middle-east. After topping the times at the SS1 Karlstad Superspecial, Al-Rajhi held the lead until SS4, Vargåsen 1, when he was usurped by Norwegian Anders Grøndal, the Group N Subaru then romped into a 32.6-second lead overnight on Friday. A charging Al-Rajhi tore through the Saturday stages, setting the fastest time on five of the day's seven stages, to bring the gap down to a mere 0.3 seconds after SS15, Rämmen 2. On the last stage of the day, SS16 Hagfors Sprint 2, Grøndal went through 4.2 seconds quicker than his pursuer so held a lead of 4.5 seconds heading into Sunday. The Norwegian's tenure of the lead was ended in the day's opening stage, SS17 Mitandersfors, with Al-Rajhi stretching away to a 43.5-second victory, winning all but one of the day's six stages. The Škoda Fabia S2000 of German Sepp Wiegand completed the podium a large chunk of time away from the top two, 4 minutes 05.1 seconds down. Pre-event favourite Eyvind Brynildsen had a fraught, and short, event - taking a 1 minute 40 seconds road penalty for a 10-minute late arrival at the SS1 time control, when his engine refused to start, and then the motor let go in SS5, Lesjöfors 2, to end his event. Without the penalty, he would have been leading by 32.4 seconds after SS4... Another pre-event favourite didn't even get that far, Per-Gunnar Andersson's Proton team withdrawing his entry due to a lack of spares for the updated Satria Neo S2000.
1. Yazeed Al-Rajhi/Michael Orr - Ford Fiesta RRC 3:28:08.9
2. Anders Grøndal/Trond Svendsen - Subaru Impreza STi 3:28:52.4 +43.5
3. Sepp Wiegand/Frank Christian - Škoda Fabia S2000 3:32:14.0 +4:05.1
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Rally Sweden Historic
The Rally Sweden Historic event ran for the first time in 2013, held over the first two days' stages. 2003 world champion Petter Solberg, with wife Pernilla alongside, took the honours in a Ford Escort Mk2 built by his former navigator Phil Mills' company, Viking Motorsport. The pair led home the Audi Quattro of Erik Johansson by just under two minutes.
1. Petter Solberg/Pernilla Solberg - Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800 53:36.7
2. Erik Johansson/Stefan Gustavsson - Audi Quattro A2 55:33.5 +1:56.8
3. Mats Myrsel/Esko Junttila Porsche 911 2.7 RS 56:28.2 +2:31.5
The Rally Sweden Historic event ran for the first time in 2013, held over the first two days' stages. 2003 world champion Petter Solberg, with wife Pernilla alongside, took the honours in a Ford Escort Mk2 built by his former navigator Phil Mills' company, Viking Motorsport. The pair led home the Audi Quattro of Erik Johansson by just under two minutes.
1. Petter Solberg/Pernilla Solberg - Ford Escort Mk2 RS1800 53:36.7
2. Erik Johansson/Stefan Gustavsson - Audi Quattro A2 55:33.5 +1:56.8
3. Mats Myrsel/Esko Junttila Porsche 911 2.7 RS 56:28.2 +2:31.5
