Publicat in: January 15, 2009, Vizualizari: 43
Raikkonen Buys a Grande Punto S2000
2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is to contest the Arctic Rally (23-24 January), opening round of the Finnish national championship, at the wheel of an Abarth Grande Punto S2000 car. Confirming this arrangement, Abarth team manager Nic Gullino said this plan came as a big surprise. "Kimi had asked if he could buy a rally car. We presumed this was for fun, and a chance to practice driving on slippery surfaces. We made plans for him to have a old factory car after Monte Carlo. Then he announced he wanted to enter the Arctic Rally, which clashes with the Monte Carlo. We found we had a new car ready to sell, and he said he would buy this instead!" The car will be run by Subaru specialist company Tommi Makinen Racing. The car was eventually delivered to Kimi on 12 January. The day when Fiat's CEO Luca de Meo left the company. De Meo had been instrumental in reforming the Abarth brand, and bringing it back into international rallying. Gullino: "We do not know whether this news will affect our operation. We are currently busy trying to install as many Xtrac transmission units into our cars for Monte Carlo and are also busy preparing for Brasil" (the second round of the 2009 IRC). Many racing drivers have been attracted to the mid winter Arctic Rally in the past, often competing in historic rally cars for fun. Leo Kinnunen, the sports car champion driver who was the first Finn to race a Formula 1 car, twice won the Arctic Rally (in 1972 and 1979).
Phil Short Leaves M-Sport
M-Sport's 63 year old Sporting Advisor Phil Short is leaving the Ford world championship team after eight years, as a result of severe budget cuts at Ford. His think-tank' work at Ford became legendary, culminating in the remarkable tactical manoeuvres which Ford performed in 2008 at Rally Jordan and then Rally Turkey, in order to capitalise on the inequalities created by the running order rules on gravel rallies. His business life started in his native Yorkshire with a van rental company which had long term contractual relationships with the Toyota rally team, and he was an accomplished rally codriver from the seventies through to the nineties, becoming national British champion in 1989 and 1990. The highest point in his subsequent managerial career was helping Mitsubishi driver Tommi Makinen win four successive world rally championship titles, but Short's undoubtedly most remarkable achievement was being involved in no fewer than 77 world championship rally wins, all in a managerial capacity, with Audi, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Ford which in turn produced 16 world championship titles.
New Pirelli Star Driver systems
Only days after admissions of problems in the selection processes in the 2008 Pirelli Star Driver Middle Eastern region, the draft rules for the 2009 PSD have now been finalised. The chosen five drivers will again contest six rounds of the 2010 world championship on a cost-covered basis. The world is again to be divided into rallying's global regions and in the case of Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa into sub-regions as well. In the hope of appealing to less affluent drivers, the number of events to be tackled by hopeful drivers will be limited and not, as in the 2008 ARC and MERC, based on a whole season. Each region will have an end-of-season Shoot-Out. Drivers will be invited to the Shoot-Outs according on performances on specified events in the region or sub-region earlier in the season. These will be based on special stage results among other eligible drivers, irrespective of overall rally results. The quickest or second quickest drivers on each of the specified events will be guaranteed an entry into the region's Shoot-Out subject to Observers' power to make the final decisions. The number of drivers to be invited into the European Shoot-Out, or what other criteria (other that speed on stages) will be used to select the winning drivers at each Shoot-Out, have not been announced.
Proposed regional Shoot-Outs:
a) European (including Nacam and Codasur): Asturias Rally in Spain (European and IRC qualifying round, 11-12 Sept)
b) Middle East: Dubai Rally (3-5 December)
c) Asia Pacific: China Rally (14-15 November) and
d) Africa: Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally (12-13 September, a candidate event for the 2010 ARC)
3mmm
Raikkonen Buys a Grande Punto S2000
2007 Formula 1 world champion Kimi Raikkonen is to contest the Arctic Rally (23-24 January), opening round of the Finnish national championship, at the wheel of an Abarth Grande Punto S2000 car. Confirming this arrangement, Abarth team manager Nic Gullino said this plan came as a big surprise. "Kimi had asked if he could buy a rally car. We presumed this was for fun, and a chance to practice driving on slippery surfaces. We made plans for him to have a old factory car after Monte Carlo. Then he announced he wanted to enter the Arctic Rally, which clashes with the Monte Carlo. We found we had a new car ready to sell, and he said he would buy this instead!" The car will be run by Subaru specialist company Tommi Makinen Racing. The car was eventually delivered to Kimi on 12 January. The day when Fiat's CEO Luca de Meo left the company. De Meo had been instrumental in reforming the Abarth brand, and bringing it back into international rallying. Gullino: "We do not know whether this news will affect our operation. We are currently busy trying to install as many Xtrac transmission units into our cars for Monte Carlo and are also busy preparing for Brasil" (the second round of the 2009 IRC). Many racing drivers have been attracted to the mid winter Arctic Rally in the past, often competing in historic rally cars for fun. Leo Kinnunen, the sports car champion driver who was the first Finn to race a Formula 1 car, twice won the Arctic Rally (in 1972 and 1979).
Phil Short Leaves M-Sport
M-Sport's 63 year old Sporting Advisor Phil Short is leaving the Ford world championship team after eight years, as a result of severe budget cuts at Ford. His think-tank' work at Ford became legendary, culminating in the remarkable tactical manoeuvres which Ford performed in 2008 at Rally Jordan and then Rally Turkey, in order to capitalise on the inequalities created by the running order rules on gravel rallies. His business life started in his native Yorkshire with a van rental company which had long term contractual relationships with the Toyota rally team, and he was an accomplished rally codriver from the seventies through to the nineties, becoming national British champion in 1989 and 1990. The highest point in his subsequent managerial career was helping Mitsubishi driver Tommi Makinen win four successive world rally championship titles, but Short's undoubtedly most remarkable achievement was being involved in no fewer than 77 world championship rally wins, all in a managerial capacity, with Audi, Toyota, Mitsubishi and Ford which in turn produced 16 world championship titles.
New Pirelli Star Driver systems
Only days after admissions of problems in the selection processes in the 2008 Pirelli Star Driver Middle Eastern region, the draft rules for the 2009 PSD have now been finalised. The chosen five drivers will again contest six rounds of the 2010 world championship on a cost-covered basis. The world is again to be divided into rallying's global regions and in the case of Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa into sub-regions as well. In the hope of appealing to less affluent drivers, the number of events to be tackled by hopeful drivers will be limited and not, as in the 2008 ARC and MERC, based on a whole season. Each region will have an end-of-season Shoot-Out. Drivers will be invited to the Shoot-Outs according on performances on specified events in the region or sub-region earlier in the season. These will be based on special stage results among other eligible drivers, irrespective of overall rally results. The quickest or second quickest drivers on each of the specified events will be guaranteed an entry into the region's Shoot-Out subject to Observers' power to make the final decisions. The number of drivers to be invited into the European Shoot-Out, or what other criteria (other that speed on stages) will be used to select the winning drivers at each Shoot-Out, have not been announced.
Proposed regional Shoot-Outs:
a) European (including Nacam and Codasur): Asturias Rally in Spain (European and IRC qualifying round, 11-12 Sept)
b) Middle East: Dubai Rally (3-5 December)
c) Asia Pacific: China Rally (14-15 November) and
d) Africa: Rwanda Mountain Gorilla Rally (12-13 September, a candidate event for the 2010 ARC)
3mmm
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