Publicat in: January 20, 2009, Vizualizari: 60
The 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season gets underway with the unique Monte Carlo Rally: the oldest, best-known and most prestigious event in the history of the sport. Running for the 77th time this year, Monte Carlo is a legendary event to be ranked alongside the Le Mans 24 Hours, Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 in the pantheon of world motorsport.
The event contains a number of epic challenges and some of the world's most classic stages. Chief of these is the legendary Col de Turini, which forms the climax of the event on Friday night. Only the top 60 classified crews will go through to the final four stages held in Turini, before returning to Monte Carlo in the early hours of Saturday morning. This year's Monte Carlo Rally goes back to the future, recapturing the traditional values of the sport's golden age within a thoroughly modern format. Thanks to Eurosport's innovative television package, viewers all over the world will be able to see the action live from the stages.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the bulk of the action takes place in the Ardeche region, with the service park in the city of Valence. The crews then make their way through the Maritime Alps, as they gradually head back to Monaco. The rally route consists mainly of narrow and bumpy mountain tracks, often with some steep drops on either side. However, the biggest challenge in Monte Carlo is traditionally the weather. With regional temperatures in mid-January dipping well below freezing, there is always a high possibility of ice, snow and black ice.
To make matters even more complicated, each individual stage can contain a wide range of conditions within a reasonably short distance, starting off with bright sunshine for example, and ending in heavy snow. Tyre choice becomes a crucial factor, and to find some grip in the snow and ice, the teams use studded tyres to bite through the layer of slush into the surface below. Often, the best compromise choice for a stage or loop of stages is the most effective although drivers willing to gamble can gain huge chunks of time if luck is on their side. So far the conditions are expected to be largely dry, although there will be some snow and ice in high areas. With a few days still left to go before the start, anything is possible.
Even without snow, the roads offer a wide variety of different grip levels, due to the changing nature of the surfaces. Some of the stages are run on very rough and bumpy roads while others have been treated to newer and smoother asphalt. Even within the same stage, the amount of traction can differ greatly. Monte Carlo is a rally where experience definitely helps, as drivers learn to look out for things such as patches of ice at the exits of tunnels – where melting snow often re-freezes.
The Monte Carlo Rally, being the jewel in the sport's crown, has attracted a top-quality field of competitors, forming the strongest line-up ever seen on the IRC. As reigning IRC champion, Peugeot Belgium's Nicolas Vouilloz will be first off the start ramp. Peugeot Belgium sticks with an unchanged line-up this year of Vouilloz and 2008 IRC runner-up Freddy Loix, who however is partnered with a new co-driver this year: Isidoor Smets.
Vouilloz will be followed by one of his key title rivals last year (and former European Champion) Giandomenico Basso, in one of three factory Abarth Grande Punto S2000s.Basso's team mates are up-and-coming Finn Anton Alen, whose father Markku finished second on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1983, and reigning European Champion Luca Rossetti, who will undertake a selected IRC programme with Abarth this year. One of the major changes that Abarth has put in place for 2009 is a new transmission system, designed to enhance reliability.
A star attraction of the event will be the arrival of Skoda's factory team, which recently became the sixth IRC registered manufacturer. As part of a full assault on the 2009 series, the Czech team will run two brand new Skoda Fabia S2000s for Production Car World Championship runner-up Juho Hanninen (from Finland) and his Czech team mate Jan Kopecky, a star of the IRC last year. The striking new cars have performed strongly in pre-season testing, and already marked themselves as out as extremely competitive prospects.
Peugeot Sport will field a factory 207 S2000 for French Le Mans star Stephane Sarrazin, who is also an experienced rally driver, and another new face behind the wheel of a Peugeot is Irishman Kris Meeke. The former protégé of the late Colin McRae will contest his first full season with the Peugeot UK team, and the 28-year-old is targeting championship success. BFGoodrich continues its innovative Drivers' Team scheme this year, and driving the Kronos-run entry in Monte Carlo will be the reigning Junior World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier: another strong candidate for victory.
Didier Auriol, the 1994 World Rally Champion and a three-time winner of the Monte Carlo Rally, is also driving a Peugeot, this time run by Italian team Grifone. The 50-year-old is co-driven as always by Denis Giraudet, having undertaken a partial IRC campaign last year. Another of the many drivers who could win is Finland's Toni Gardemeister, driving an Abarth Grande Punto S2000 run by respected Italian outfit Astra Racing. Gardemeister, a World Rally Championship regular, has a very strong track record in Monte Carlo, having finished second on the event in 2005 and third in 2006. Mitsubishi will be represented on the 2009 IRC by the young Austrian Franz Wittman Jr, who finished runner-up in his national championship last year. Wittman's main objective in Monte Carlo is to learn, as he will face strong opposition from local stars in similar cars, such as Richard Frau and Patrick Artru.
The IRC 2WD Cup enters its second year in 2009, but reigning champion Marco Cavigioli has been forced to scratch his Monte Carlo entry due to difficulty in getting his Fiat Punto diesel back from the last round of 2008 in China. The Italian will return to the IRC in the near future, but for Monte Carlo the strongest two-wheel drive competitors are likely to be Manuel Villa (Fiat) and Luc Gellusseau (Peugeot).
3mmm
The 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season gets underway with the unique Monte Carlo Rally: the oldest, best-known and most prestigious event in the history of the sport. Running for the 77th time this year, Monte Carlo is a legendary event to be ranked alongside the Le Mans 24 Hours, Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 in the pantheon of world motorsport.
The event contains a number of epic challenges and some of the world's most classic stages. Chief of these is the legendary Col de Turini, which forms the climax of the event on Friday night. Only the top 60 classified crews will go through to the final four stages held in Turini, before returning to Monte Carlo in the early hours of Saturday morning. This year's Monte Carlo Rally goes back to the future, recapturing the traditional values of the sport's golden age within a thoroughly modern format. Thanks to Eurosport's innovative television package, viewers all over the world will be able to see the action live from the stages.
On Wednesday and Thursday, the bulk of the action takes place in the Ardeche region, with the service park in the city of Valence. The crews then make their way through the Maritime Alps, as they gradually head back to Monaco. The rally route consists mainly of narrow and bumpy mountain tracks, often with some steep drops on either side. However, the biggest challenge in Monte Carlo is traditionally the weather. With regional temperatures in mid-January dipping well below freezing, there is always a high possibility of ice, snow and black ice.
To make matters even more complicated, each individual stage can contain a wide range of conditions within a reasonably short distance, starting off with bright sunshine for example, and ending in heavy snow. Tyre choice becomes a crucial factor, and to find some grip in the snow and ice, the teams use studded tyres to bite through the layer of slush into the surface below. Often, the best compromise choice for a stage or loop of stages is the most effective although drivers willing to gamble can gain huge chunks of time if luck is on their side. So far the conditions are expected to be largely dry, although there will be some snow and ice in high areas. With a few days still left to go before the start, anything is possible.
Even without snow, the roads offer a wide variety of different grip levels, due to the changing nature of the surfaces. Some of the stages are run on very rough and bumpy roads while others have been treated to newer and smoother asphalt. Even within the same stage, the amount of traction can differ greatly. Monte Carlo is a rally where experience definitely helps, as drivers learn to look out for things such as patches of ice at the exits of tunnels – where melting snow often re-freezes.
The Monte Carlo Rally, being the jewel in the sport's crown, has attracted a top-quality field of competitors, forming the strongest line-up ever seen on the IRC. As reigning IRC champion, Peugeot Belgium's Nicolas Vouilloz will be first off the start ramp. Peugeot Belgium sticks with an unchanged line-up this year of Vouilloz and 2008 IRC runner-up Freddy Loix, who however is partnered with a new co-driver this year: Isidoor Smets.
Vouilloz will be followed by one of his key title rivals last year (and former European Champion) Giandomenico Basso, in one of three factory Abarth Grande Punto S2000s.Basso's team mates are up-and-coming Finn Anton Alen, whose father Markku finished second on the Monte Carlo Rally in 1983, and reigning European Champion Luca Rossetti, who will undertake a selected IRC programme with Abarth this year. One of the major changes that Abarth has put in place for 2009 is a new transmission system, designed to enhance reliability.
A star attraction of the event will be the arrival of Skoda's factory team, which recently became the sixth IRC registered manufacturer. As part of a full assault on the 2009 series, the Czech team will run two brand new Skoda Fabia S2000s for Production Car World Championship runner-up Juho Hanninen (from Finland) and his Czech team mate Jan Kopecky, a star of the IRC last year. The striking new cars have performed strongly in pre-season testing, and already marked themselves as out as extremely competitive prospects.
Peugeot Sport will field a factory 207 S2000 for French Le Mans star Stephane Sarrazin, who is also an experienced rally driver, and another new face behind the wheel of a Peugeot is Irishman Kris Meeke. The former protégé of the late Colin McRae will contest his first full season with the Peugeot UK team, and the 28-year-old is targeting championship success. BFGoodrich continues its innovative Drivers' Team scheme this year, and driving the Kronos-run entry in Monte Carlo will be the reigning Junior World Rally Champion Sebastien Ogier: another strong candidate for victory.
Didier Auriol, the 1994 World Rally Champion and a three-time winner of the Monte Carlo Rally, is also driving a Peugeot, this time run by Italian team Grifone. The 50-year-old is co-driven as always by Denis Giraudet, having undertaken a partial IRC campaign last year. Another of the many drivers who could win is Finland's Toni Gardemeister, driving an Abarth Grande Punto S2000 run by respected Italian outfit Astra Racing. Gardemeister, a World Rally Championship regular, has a very strong track record in Monte Carlo, having finished second on the event in 2005 and third in 2006. Mitsubishi will be represented on the 2009 IRC by the young Austrian Franz Wittman Jr, who finished runner-up in his national championship last year. Wittman's main objective in Monte Carlo is to learn, as he will face strong opposition from local stars in similar cars, such as Richard Frau and Patrick Artru.
The IRC 2WD Cup enters its second year in 2009, but reigning champion Marco Cavigioli has been forced to scratch his Monte Carlo entry due to difficulty in getting his Fiat Punto diesel back from the last round of 2008 in China. The Italian will return to the IRC in the near future, but for Monte Carlo the strongest two-wheel drive competitors are likely to be Manuel Villa (Fiat) and Luc Gellusseau (Peugeot).
3mmm
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