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Post by Vivski on Dec 1, 2008 12:10:48 GMT
Someone had better check Sarah's roll-cage. I suspect there may be rocket fuel in there! That was a dominant performance. And well done to Luigi for the win in Portugal.
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Post by Mixa on Dec 1, 2008 16:50:13 GMT
2 a bit not so good rallyes for me. It seems that the engine of the Celica will need something as it has been working well but been really really unrealiable. Collected a first retirement aswell but still overally both rallyes gone just fine. Could have won at Greece but luck wasnt on my side. Lancia still seems to be a team to beat but we will do our best to collect a lot of valuable points for the team. At manufacturers standings,Toyota´s performance is looking good.
Also what comes to my team-mate Im just clad that Will is gaining up points aswell. That looks good for the future!
modify: didnt realised that Im doing that well at the drivers side. Team in the other hand seems to be at midpack as I thought its there way better.
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Luigi
Spectator
Posts: 14
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Post by Luigi on Dec 1, 2008 17:15:39 GMT
I'm very pleased with my Portugal victory. It was the real start of my season because in the first two rally's I wasn't very confident about my 131. Greece ended in a small disappointment by falling just of the podium at the last stage. I don't know what happened but I was clearly to slow.
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Post by Will on Dec 1, 2008 17:34:27 GMT
Will says, "Swings and Roundabouts Really"
After a relatively brilliant showing in Portugal and a hard time in Greece, Toyota driver Will felt mixed emotions.
"Portugal was fantastic for us just a shame we had that late spin we were really in for a good position. Greece was a rally to forget really, really quite terrible. Too hot aswell."
Will's Toyota team-mate Mixa is having a better time of it, the Finn now leading the championship in the Celica by 4 points over Australian Mitch. Will is currently 14th in the drivers standings with only 8 points, with 13th man JJ 8 points ahead.
"Our championship position is ******* **** and I really will be pushing this car to the extreme and beyond in desperation to get up the standings a bit."
(C) Toyota PR 2008
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Post by Nick McRae on Dec 1, 2008 18:17:35 GMT
Pleased with third in Portugal, Greece obviously a big let down. P.S. Roo - you;ve got me down to a T there with the "not wanting to talk, unsocialable foul mood" thing when something bad happens anyway!)
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Post by Hurricane on Dec 1, 2008 19:30:07 GMT
Too optimistic after the win?
After taking the win on the opening round of the season, Lancia driver Bart isn't happy about his performance.
"I really couldn't get to grips on the gravel rallies of Portugal and Greece. Maybe I was too optimistic after my win in Monte Carlo? Bad driving and a fair bit of bad luck resulted in two retirements in a row. I was lucky in Portugal to have a near-miss with a tree, and not a head-on collision. In Greece our engine just died out. We still don't have an explantion for it."
During the mid-season break a new engine will be fitted to Bart's Stratos and the old one will be subject to further investigation.
"I'm happy Sarah also got a win and it's really good to have our team still strong for the Manufacturer's title! I hope I can learn from these mistakes and take home some good points for the second half.", said the Belgian.
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Post by mrdad on Dec 2, 2008 2:45:13 GMT
First of all - there is no good news on the modem - what a surprise - Te***ra failed to turn up... Great set of pics there from Roo - great rally (s), great crowds and great results. I'm just a bit apprehensive about the Safari - anyone who survives the Safari deserves to perform well in the Championship though. Go Team Datto.
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sarah
Chief Marshall
Posts: 79
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Post by sarah on Dec 2, 2008 22:22:53 GMT
Promising season outlook for Lancia Team Lancia look forward to the second half of an already exciting season. The car-breaking Acropolis Rally marked the half-way point of the season and saw New Zealander Sarah take her first win of the season - showing the boys how it's done. This added to Bart's win right out of the blocks on the mixed surfaces of Monte Carlo, puts the Lancia badge in a prime position for the Manufacturer's Championship. While Bart asks himself some tough questions about his performance over the break, the team is full of nothing but praise. The Lancia team manager, notorious for being the anonymous team leader of the series - preferring for his/her hard working team or mechanics and drivers to remain in the spotlight - had this much to say: "I am immensely proud of what the team has achieved so far this season. Results have been mixed, but this much we expected. We look forward to consolidating our position in the Manufacturer's Championship in the second half of the season. I'd like to congratulate our two drivers for their stunning wins on two very difficult rallies." While Bart looks into what went wrong with his Lancia in the recent Acropolis outing, Sarah had this much to say about her stunning performance. "It's been a while coming. I knew that we could achieve this kind of result, it was just about getting everything coming together. We know that we can achieve this kind of result on the fast rallies, coming from NZ means we have the experience for fast and flowing roads. We'll see what happens, but I'm still extremely happy to get the result." The team now looks forward to the Kenyan Safari Rally after the mid-season break.
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Post by Roo on Dec 3, 2008 8:04:29 GMT
P.S. Roo - you;ve got me down to a T there with the "not wanting to talk, unsocialable foul mood" thing when something bad happens anyway!) Yeah, I've been a bit like that too ... for the past week in fact. But the good news is... ;D ;D INTERNET IS GO! ;D ;D RFC Classics mid-season review will be up shortly, followed by a double post revealing results of the Safari and the Rally 1000 Lakes.
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Post by Roo on Dec 3, 2008 10:26:47 GMT
Mid-Season Review At the half way point of the championship, Fiat Abarth lead the manufacturers championship, and their two drivers Luigi and Igor are third and fourth in the drivers standings respectively. The Fiat 131 has proven thus far to be fast on all surfaces and most importantly, reliable. The only disappointment for the team came in Sweden, when Igor lost the lead on the final stage when leading by a considerable margin, and Luigi crashed during Day 2. However, two third places and a dominant win by Luigi in Portugal indicate that the team is on the right track. Datsun were expected to perform well on the rough rallies such as the Safari, where reliability is the main factor for success. However, no one would have expected the Japanese marque to perform so competitively on all surfaces, let alone win in Sweden. Although the win in Sweden came at the expense of Fiat’s misfortune, there is no doubt that the Datsun Violet is very fast and competitive, having set at least one fastest stage time on each rally so far this season. Lancia have proved that the Stratos is still capable of winning rallies, but reliability of machine and driver appears to be the teams main concern. Dominant wins in Monaco and Greece, coupled with disappointing results in Sweden and Portugal leave the team third in the manufacturers title, but their drivers Sarah and Bart, sit in equal seventh in the standings with 22 points each. The car is capable of rally wins, but the question remains can the team win the championship? Toyota was in a similar situation to their Japanese counterpart Datsun in so far as pre-season expectations were concerned. However, the results of the Celica have been very encouraging, and some masterful and driving by Flying Finn Mixa, sees him lead the drivers championship, despite not recording a victory so far. His English team mate Will has failed to record many points so far, but a couple of fastest stage times are encouraging. Should Will get to grips with the car, and Mixa continues his consistent point scoring, the Toyota Team are a very good chance of winning both titles. The best of the British rally teams is Talbot, who have surprised many by being ahead of the Ford team. Although results were mediocre in the first two rounds, performances in the last two rounds have been promising, in particular Curt’s second place finish on the Acropolis Rally. Mary’s highest placed finish to date is fourth in Portugal, and although both drivers have set fastest stage times, both drivers are at the lower end of the drivers championship due to a lack of mechanical reliability. The Ford team have had a disappointing first half of the season, with drivers Nick and JJ languishing in the lower half of the drivers leaderboard. Apart from a third place finish in Portugal, the car has failed to be competitive, with only one fastest stage time to date and a number of mechanical problems that have dogged the Escort RS1800 and its drivers. The team need to sort out these reliability issues if they are to challenge for the championship. Triumph’s championship to date has seen mixed results. The highlights include a great performance by Vivski in Sweden, who led the rally for four stages before settling for second; and a number of fastest stage times. Disappointments include failing to score points in Monaco and Portugal, and not having a second driver to score manufacturers points and to provide additional feedback. The lack of a second driver has hurt Triumph in the manufacturers standings, but Vivski’s performances are enough to claim sixth in the drivers standings. Vauxhall are in a similar situation to Triumph, in which they only have one registered driver. Roo has shown plenty of speed and promise in most rallies, including setting fastest stage times on the drier stages of Monte Carlo, which is bound to be of encouragement with the Tour de Corse coming up in the second half of the season. Roo was able to set some good times in Sweden as well, but these were between long and lengthy periods stuck in snowbanks, the time lost resulted in an eleventh place finish. But the Vauxhall team and the driver have learnt a lot in the past four rallies, and look set to improve in the later half of the season.
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Post by Roo on Dec 4, 2008 11:10:53 GMT
The Safari Rally in Kenya Africa: undoubtedly the roughest and toughest rally endurance event in the championship. Following a hot, rough and dusty Acropolis Rally in Greece, competitors and teams have been using the mid-season break to gear up for more of the same in Kenya. The Japanese teams start as the favourites, as the cars from Datsun and Toyota have always proven to be tough and reliable on this event. Day 1 dawned bright and clear, but the calm conditions would indicate that dust could be a problem, especially in identifying hazards such as wildlife and local commuters on the open stages. Stage 1 was an ominous sign for the European opposition, as Datsun drivers Len and Mitch were the fastest drivers on the opening stage. Mixa and Sarah were equal third fastest, while Ford’s Nick McRae started strongly recording fifth fastest time. Roo was the first competitor to strike problems, receiving a puncture of what was sure to be the first of many. Stage 2 saw Len again take the stage win, ahead of the two Fiat drivers Igor and Luigi. Igor had a trouble free run, and moved from ninth to fifth, while Luigi moved into third overall. Luigi arrived at the stage control minus most of the glass from his Fiat, which shattered after a heavy landing. Mitch was still second after setting the fourth fastest time, but Mixa had tumbled down to ninth after collecting a puncture. The final stage of the day saw Len take a clean sweep of stage wins, ending the day two and a half minutes ahead. Fiat driver Luigi would go into the overnight stop in second place, ahead of Will driving for Toyota. Mitch dropped more time on the final and finished the day in sixth between the two Fords. Curt’s Talbot was not sounding too healthy as it entered the service area, under a sky of threatening storm clouds. Overnight the storm clouds dumped a torrential amount of rain, causing severe flash flooding in many areas. Creek crossings that were dry the day before were now a raging torrent of water, and many sections of the stages were now under water. All the stages were deemed passable however, so Stage 4 got underway as planned. Being first on the road, Len opted for a cautious approach and finished only ninth fastest, but with his lead still intact. Mixa took stage honours, and moved up from eleventh to eighth. Having plenty of power to get you out of tricky situations is always an advantage, and Vivski’s Triumph TR7 certainly had plenty of grunt to power through the water to set the second quickest time. The Fiat’s struggled through the floodwaters and dropped out of the top four. On Stage 5 there were not as many river crossings and the Fiat’s faired much better, with Igor setting the fastest time and moving into second, while Luigi moved up to fourth. Len was able to extend his lead to almost three and a half minutes, while Nick regained some lost time to move up to third. However it wasn’t all good news for the Ford camp. JJ had a collision with a zebra on a fast section of the stage, the accident causing terminal damage to the Escort. On the same section, half a mile further up the road, Roo came across some standing pools of water. The Vauxhall aquaplaned and hit a rut, sending the vehicle into a barrel roll. Luckily driver and navigator were unharmed in the accident, albeit covered in mud. Will was unlucky to get his Celica bogged on the stage, but in a true show of sportsmanship, Mitch stopped and assisted to tow Will out of mud and keep his rally alive. Ironically Will was able to repay the favour a couple of minutes later, when Mitch himself got bogged. Both arrived at the time control over four and a half minutes in arrears, but both agreed it was better than retiring. There were no significant dramas on the final stage of Day 2. Len was able to extend his lead to almost four minutes, after second placed Igor lost time to drop to third behind Nick’s Escort. Mixa’s quick time on Stage 6 enabled the Toyota driver to move into fourth ahead of Mary’s Talbot. The other Talbot driven by Curt appeared to be going better after some roadside repairs, but third quickest time was a surprise given the amount of smoke trailing the Sunbeam’s every move. Bart set the fastest time on the final stage, but headed into the final day almost seven minutes behind the leader. Day 3 was thankfully dry and sunny, and with the roads still damp from the downpours on Day 2, dust was unlikely to cause a problem. But there was still plenty of drama on Stage 7, the first stage of the day. Len’s trouble free run finally came to an end, when he was forced to change a tyre mid-stage. Although Len lost some time in the process, second fastest time by second-placed Igor was enough to cut the time between them to a minute and a half. Mixa was third fastest and moved into third overall. Curt’s Talbot finally gave up on the way to Stage 7, coughing and spluttering to a halt a few miles from the start. Engine dramas were also causing concerns at Ford, with Nick’s Escort now only running on three cylinders. The penultimate stage saw engine dramas worsen for Nick and unfortunately for the team, Nick was forced to retire from the rally. The three rough days were beginning to take their toll on the weary and battered cars, as Luigi’s Fiat lost power en route to Stage 8. The team could only keep their fingers crossed that the car would make it through the last stage. Fingers were also crossed at Datsun, as Len suffered yet another puncture on the stage. With no spare tyres and only one stage to go, Len’s lead had been whittled down to just eighteen seconds! Mixa lost over two minutes on Stage 8 after a high speed spin and stall. Although the spin didn’t cost much time, the resulting stall in the high temperatures made restarting the Celica difficult. The final stage was a rather rough and rocky affair, making it difficult to judge where to push and where to back off. “Bog-Buddies” Will and Mitch ended the rally a mere two seconds apart, with Mitch finishing ahead in sixth overall. Igor battled through the final stage as best he could, knowing a good result for the team was vital since his team mate was out. Len traveled cautiously, knowing that another puncture would be game over. Igor was faster on the final stage, but only by seven seconds, which meant that Len was victorious by just eleven seconds. Some quick stage times helped Bart get the Stratos onto the podium, just half a minute behind the leader. Mary was able to hold onto fourth place ahead of Mixa, giving the Talbot team a terrific result on the toughest rally of the season, backing up their second place finish on the Acropolis Rally. The Safari Rally lived up to its rough and tough reputation and the close finish made it one of the most exciting rallies of the season. Join us for the next round of the championship in Finland for the Rally of 1000 Lakes, where high speeds and high jumps are certain to make it a spectacle.
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Post by Mixa on Dec 4, 2008 11:19:33 GMT
This rally was like made for us but it just didnt gone as planned. Everyone had their problems but I had some awful stages what dropped me a bit. It doesnt mean good for the championship fights if Im just consistent. Also it seems that the same rythm as in rallyes before will keep to go. Every other stage is good and every other is a bit worser. If Im on top,the rest of the pack is really close(except the Turini time at Monte). That was still a very close and "a great to watch" Safari and next up is my home event where everything should go quite well. Just a shame that Will just cant seem to get into the rythm. I really wish a bit better for him. ps. Congrats to podium finishers and specially for the Len about victory.
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Post by Hurricane on Dec 4, 2008 18:04:00 GMT
My tactics was to drive a bit cautiously at the start, to analyse the conditions. I felt the time had come to start charging half the rally, and 2 stage wins were the result. I finished on the podium, which is great, but maybe I started charging a little bit too late
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Post by Will on Dec 4, 2008 18:41:29 GMT
Will Still Unhappy With Result
Young Brit Will was unhappy with his result in the Safari Rally despite finishing the endurance test. He finished 7th of 9 finishers from 14 starters. Australian Datsun driver Len won the rally, 11 seconds ahead of Igor in second. Will was just over 2 minutes behind the pace of the frontrunners overall.
"Of course it's good to get to the end but it is still not where I want to be. Top 5 finishes and podiums are now my target, and I really hope I can get one of those results this year."
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Post by mrdad on Dec 4, 2008 18:47:51 GMT
Woohoo - a win on, arguably, the most difficult and prestigious rally of them all!!
Another great coverage of the rally from Roo too.
Datto's really do rule. ;D
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