WRC Rally d'Italia Sardegna - 18 - 21 Oct 12

[AJ07]

Citroën Racing @CitroenRacing
Seb #Loeb went off the road. Steering is broken, so he will retire for day 2. @thierryneuville also stopped but he's moving again #WRC

Citroën Racing @CitroenRacing
.@thierryneuville didn't take the start of @Rally_d_Italia SS4, as the engine lost too much oil while the DS3 #WRC was on the side

Citroën Racing @CitroenRacing
SS4 is running. JM Latvala is reported stopped in the stage… #WRC

Citroën Racing @CitroenRacing
SS7: broken steering for Solberg, @MikkoWRC is now leading Novikov by 1'00.5 #WRC


Is anyone going to make it to the end of this rally

Cars and Drivers are getting tired out

[Arlow]

So end of day 2 & an unusual top 4 :eek:

Citroën Racing @CitroenRacing
End of day 2: 1 Hirvonen - 2 Novikov +1'09 - 3 Tanak +2'18 - 4 Atko +3'54… #WRC

[Arlow]

Video of 2nd day courtesy of Citroen Racing

[Yellow]

Missing it while working on moms house etc. Virgin cable gets fitted today so need to figure out TiVo :0)

[Chris_Blue]

Just been advised we will have a 6 week wait for a landline install when we move house in 6 weeks time (Hopefully)
Back to the dongle (Ugh)
Context- difficult to get onto this website and check out DS3 Upgrades LOL
CBLUE

[Arlow]

Loeb has decided not to continue today.

From www.wrc.com

World champion Sebastien Loeb won't take any further part on Rally Italia Sardegna after electing not to restart on Saturday.

Loeb, who captured his ninth title on Rallye de France Alsace earlier this month, had been leading in the Mediterranean when he broke his Citroen’s steering striking rocks on Friday’s opening test.

Although his DS3 WRC could have been repaired, with the drivers’ and manufacturers’ championships decided, Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena have decided to head for home rather than tackling the gravel rally’s remaining eight stages.

“I’m just a bit disappointed to retire, because I was enjoying my driving,” said Loeb. “As there is no longer anything at stake, we have decided not to rejoin tomorrow.”

Despite Loeb’s exit, the Citroen Total World Rally Team remains on course for a ninth victory of 2012 courtesy of Mikko Hirvonen, who is more than one minute in front of Evgeny Novikov in the second works Citroen.

“The way the rally has turned out so far just goes to show how difficult the stages are in Sardinia,” said Citroen Racing chief Yves Matton. “Everyone went off today at a frenetic pace, starting with our two drivers who were going for the win. Seb made a minor mistake, which proved very costly, whilst Mikko has produced the perfect race so far.”

[Chris_Blue]

He's obviously misplaced his "Shepaz" as he dont seem that bothered at the mo
Better things beckon methinks
CBLUE

[Arlow]

Citroën Racing @CitroenRacing
Mid-day: 1 Hirvonen - 2 Novikov +1'18 - 3 Tanak +2'08 - 4 Ogier +4'06 - 5 Atko +4'09 - 6 Ostberg +4'21 #WRC #rallyitalia

[Arlow]

Video of 3rd day courtesy of Citroen Racing

[Arlow]

Mikko Hirvonen & Jarmo Lehtinen win their first rally for Citroen Racing

[WTF]

Mikko Hirvonen celebrated his first FIA World Rally Championship victory for Citroen in Sardinia yesterday by declaring the 2013 season has already started.

Hirvonen will lead Citroen’s chase for WRC glory next year following Sebastien Loeb’s decision to go part time. Asked what this dominant victory on Rally Italia Sardinia would do for his confidence heading into 2013, Hirvonen said: “My 2013 season starts here. It does help my confidence, because we did exactly what we were planning and that worked out. But the only other thing I was hoping is that it could have been a fight over all three days.”

Hirvonen was 1.1s behind Loeb starting Friday’s opening stage, which the nine-time world champion failed to complete after making a rare error in his Citroen DS3 WRC.

“My pace was really good, it’s just a shame we didn’t need to show it any longer than the first day,” said Hirvonen, who spent much of the event preserving his comfortable advantage out front. “I kept everything together, stayed on the road and it paid off.

“Now I hope we can repeat in Spain [venue of the WRC season-closer] what we did here; even though it is two days on Tarmac. But again, there’s nothing to lose so we’re going to go for it. My first podium was actually on Tarmac, so I’d like to do that again - only this time a little bit higher.”


Mikko Hirvonen clinched second place in the FIA World Rally Championship standings with his first victory for Citroen and his first in Sardinia today. He spoke to WRC.com following his 15th WRC career triumph.

Mikko, how does it feel to win your first rally for Citroen?
“Actually, for some strange reason, it feels a bit like I’ve won my very first rally! I’m very, very happy because it’s been a while since I won a rally. Maybe it wasn’t such a big fight, but there will be more in future and I have also proved that I can win rallies like this.”

Sebastien Loeb retired early on: do you think your pace helped to push him over the limit?
“I don’t know really, but we were in the fight from the very beginning and on the same pace as Sebastien. That’s important but of course it’s important to finish rallies and score points as well. We were all pushing very hard and I was the only one who didn’t make a mistake, so that was good. But it’s shame that it ended really early so we didn’t find out how the fight would have continued.”

Did you have any big moments?
“No really big moments. It was really on the limit and I took a lot of risks on Thursday evening, but sometimes when you have a good feeling with the car and a really good flow you feel that you can do anything. That was a little bit the feeling I had on Thursday evening.”

How important was it for you to beat Sebastien Loeb in the same car while he was still driving full-time for the team?
“Did I really do that though? It wasn’t a big fight after he went off...but I’m just happy to win the rally. We were all just going for the win and I managed to pull it off without making mistakes. That makes me feel pretty good!”

Would you have been really disappointed to end the year without a win?
“That was always a possibility. But of course there have been a couple of rallies already that I thought I should have won. As we got closer to the manufacturers’ title I wasn’t concentrating so much on the overall wins: I was trying to make sure instead that we won the title. It was only until now that I could really go for it and it went according to plan. Before the rally I was aiming for the win and I was very happy that we were able to do that.”

How difficult was it to manage what was already a big lead on Friday?
“It was difficult, but I think one of my strongest points is the way that I can manage my speed, especially if there is a big gap. For sure it was a long weekend, but I wasn’t so worried about that. I knew that if everything went well and the car kept working well, we should be able to do it.”

Why do you think so many people went off on Friday?
Was it because the championship was over and everyone was pushing hard? “Maybe that was a big part of it. From Thursday evening I saw that the level of pace and risk was really high, and it’s easy to make a mistake on narrow roads like this. I think that certainly played a part.”

What are going to be your thoughts during post-event scrutineering after what happened in Portugal?
“I’m sure it’s going to be fine, but trust me - we’ve made a lot of jokes about that already!”

[Arlow]

Footage of a rare Loeb crash.

[Yellow]

He won a track race today