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Stobart Seek to Shake Things Up in Sweden

Written by Scott Coursey

The Stobart M-Sport Ford Rally Team will aim to open the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship season in style when it travels to Sweden next week with a former world champion in its ranks.

Regular drivers Matthew Wilson and Henning Solberg will be joined by double WRC title-winners Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen, who won the event in 2006 and 2007 when driving a Ford Focus RS WRC for the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team. Mattias Therman will also enter under the Stobart banner. The quartet of crews will all enter using a Ford Focus RS WRC prepared by M-Sport.

Grönholm and Solberg will be the nominated points scorers for the team and given the success Stobart has enjoyed in Sweden in previous years – including a third-place podium spot courtesy of Gigi Galli in 2008 and a fourth-place from Solberg in 2007 – the squad will be determined to shine on the snowy Scandinavian stages once again.

However, many of the stages will be new to the drivers with Rally Sweden returning to the WRC calendar for the first time since 2008. Since the last event the route has been changed to include stages further north in the country in a bid to ensure there is as much snow on them as possible and make it a true ‘winter rally’.

Starting and finishing in Karlstad, with the main service park in Hagfors, the rally will take in 345 kilometres of competitive stage distance. After kicking off with the opening Super Special stage in Karlstad on the Thursday evening, crews will face a tough test on Friday as they tackle six stages of 122.54 kilometres, before returning to Karlstad again for a re-run of the Super Special. Apart from the Super Specials virtually all of the stage routes are new to the rally – meaning drivers will have to be on top form in order not to fall victim to what are expected to be extremely tough conditions on the roads.

Day two will see crews face a further eight stages, including the longest and shortest on the rally – the 24.63km Vargåsen and 1.87km Hagfors Sprint respectively. Once again the majority of the distance is new for 2010 and is likely to provide a tough testof the competitors’ abilities.

More familiar territory awaits crews who have tackled the event in the past on day three, with all five of the remaining stages incorporating routes used in 2008.

With temperatures expected to be among the coldest in 20 years and drop as low as -20C, with plenty of snow and ice on the roads, the Stobart crews will look to make the most of Pirelli’s SottoZero control snow tyre. The specially-developed compound features nearly 400 tungsten-tipped metal studs to give crews maximum traction in the sub-zero conditions.

The team’s Scandinavian contingent will be especially confident of using their experience to master the winter weather and give Stobart M-Sport Ford a blistering start to the 2010 season.

Source: http://www.rallybuzz.com

Raikkonen and Ogier all set for Rally Sweden

Written by Chris Harrold

For its second consecutive season in the FIA World Rally Championship, the Citroën Junior Team will enter two Citroën C4 WRCs for Sébastien Ogier / Julien Ingrassia and Kimi Räikkönen / Kaj Lindström. The season’s opening round is held over the snowy stages of Rally Sweden, which takes place around Karlstad from February 11-14.

After a learning year in 2009, the 2010 season holds plenty of promise for the Citroën Junior Team. Sébastien Ogier, who formed part of the team last year, is joined this season by the 2007 Formula 1 World Champion Kimi Räikkönen. By pairing up one of world rallying’s brightest young stars with a wellknown driver embarking on the ultimate challenge, the Citroën Junior Team will be well and truly under the spotlight this year!

The wintry conditions of the Rally Sweden present a tough task to the crews on the season-opener, but most drivers love the high speeds reached on the ice and snow. Thanks to stages that sometimes have an average speed of more than 120 kph and racing lines that thread their way precisely through imposing snow banks, spectators are sure to witness a breathtaking spectacle.

Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia enjoyed a remarkable first full season at the wheel of the Citroën C4 WRC in 2009 and they start the 2010 season with the same motivation – and a year’s worth of extra experience under their belts. "I just can’t wait to start driving the Citroën C4 WRC in the heat of competition again," said the Frenchman. "It seems a very long time now since the 2009 season ended!"

Having contested the Monte Carlo Rally at the start of the year, Sébastien was in Finland last week to prepare for Rally Sweden with a day of testing close to Rovaniemi. "We covered around 200 kilometres in order to get to grips with the car again and work on the set-up of the Citroën C4 WRC," he reported. "I’m very pleased with the way that the car is handling. I quickly felt comfortable again and I love driving in these conditions."

Rally Sweden will be a brand new experience for Sébastien Ogier. Nonetheless, he hopes to put the experience he gained on Rally Norway last year to good use. "Actually, we’re getting rather used to driving on rallies for the first time," added Sébastien. "I hope that we can show what we are capable against what is always very strong opposition on these winter rallies. Our objective on this first event of the year is just to continue to progress."

Making his debut alongside the 2008 Junior World Rally Champions is Kimi Räikkönen. The handful of rally events he contested in 2009 has given the Finn the desire to embark on a full season with the Citroën Junior Team.

Following some test sessions and a run on the Arctic Lapland Rally a few days ago, Kimi Räikkönen has covered nearly 600 kilometres with the Citroën C4 WRC. "I’m just really keen to get to the start of Rally Sweden now," he said. "With Citroën, we have made some good preparations for this event. All the kilometres I already have behind me will allow me to begin the rally with no particular worries. I know that I still have many things to learn though and plenty of experience to accumulate. My goal is simply to do my best with the Citroën C4 WRC. My debut in the World Rally Championship is an enormous challenge but any driver who has competed in motorsport at a certain level always maintains the same way of working and the same desire to push themselves. I feel that I’m ready to take on this challenge now."

Source: http://www.rallybuzz.com

Ferrari and Massa Top Timesheets Again!

Valencia 02.02.2010

Day two of testing in Cheste, Spain sees Ferrari and Felipe leading the way again after day 2. After a series of long runs and short stints with both heavy and lighter fuel loads and scrubbed tires, the Brazilian set the fastest time of the day during the morning session with a time of 1m11.722s.

Well over half a second faster than his fastest time yesterday which was enough to bag him top spot at the end of both sessions on day one.

Below are the times clocked before the lunch break. More news to follow. Visit us here for final testing results.

1 F.Massa Ferrari 1:11.722 26
2 K.Kobayashi Sauber 1:12.056 20
3 L.Hamilton McLaren 1:12.614 15
4 N.Rosberg Mercedes 1:12.899 20
5 R.Kubica Renault 1.13.659 22
6 S.Buemi Toro Rosso 1:14.862 23
7 R.Barrichello Williams 1:15.493 13

Ernesto Nigro

Source: http://ferrarif1forum.com

Ferrari’s Alonso Fires Off Warning Shot to Rivals

With only a few laps under his belt in a Ferrari, former two time F1 Champion Fernando Alonso has not only clocked the fastest time of this morning’s session, but fastest of all thus far with a 1.11.470. While none of us know what configuration and setup or fuel load Alonso may have been running when he set that time, it must have struck fear into some of the rivals who have only seen Ferrari at the top of the timesheets since the beginning of the tests.

This was Alonso’s first drive in Ferrari’s new F10 challenger. He is quickly proving himself to have adapted to both the team environment and the car immediately. If the car remains quick and reliable, Fernando and Massa both are going to be serious contenders for the title.

As expected, the Valencia circuit was a popular place this morning, with tens of thousands of fans and media rushing to catch a glimpse of local hero Alonso at the wheel of “La Rossa”. On track this morning were former champion Schumacher posting a time of 1.12.438 (3) and reigning champion Button posting a time of 1.12.951 (5). The consistently quick Sauber in the hands of Pedro Del la Rosa posted a time of 1.12.034 (2). Toro Rosso, Williams and Renault are also testing today and running through various programs.

It was pointed out to me that this morning’s top five times feature 3 Ferrari powered car

Source: http://ferrarif1forum.com

Barry plans practice rally

Written by Scott Coursey

Daniel Barry is planning to enter a rally in the United Kingdom or Ireland in order to stay match fit ahead of his next appearance in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge.

Barry, who finished 21st overall on his debut in the series on Rallye Automobile Monte-Carlo last month, isn’t due to contest an IRC event until the Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium from June 24-26.

The Mitsubishi Lancer driver said: “Ypres is the next event. There is a big gap until then so I will probably fit a small rally in between to keep our hand in.”

Barry said the Monte Carlo event had proved a tough start to his IRC campaign, especially after he was forced to complete a 100-kilometre road section with only first and second gears after the gearbox blew on the fourth stage of the rally.

“It was the toughest test of endurance I’ve ever experienced,” Barry said. “I’ve done entire rallies that were shorter than the 45-kilometre stage on leg one. The longest straight in that stage was about 200 metres, so there was no let up from start to finish. Anyone who got to the finish deserved a medal.”

After Ypres, Irishman Barry is due to contest a further four IRC events, including the Tarmac rallies in Czech Republic and Italy and the gravel-based RAC MSA Rally of Scotland.

source: http://www.rallybuzz.com

Stoner slashes anti-spin with big bang

Message from fivefilters.org: If you can, please donate to the full-text RSS service so we can continue developing it. Images of Casey Stoner wrestling a bucking and weaving Ducati could be a thing of the past after the former MotoGP world champion revealed that his new ‘big bang’ powered Desmosedici GP10 is almost too tame. The Australian was second fastest, behind Valentino Rossi, on both days of testing at Sepang in Malaysia, eventually finishing 0.395sec from Yamahas reigning seven time world champion. Rossis M1 has used ‘big bang’ technology continuously since 2004, while Ducati reverted back to a ’screamer’ design for the first three seasons of 800cc racing – with spectacular results. However, Ducati now believes they have sufficient horsepower to make ‘big bang’ a better choice for 2010 – and Stoner revealed the only difficulties so far are associated with too much traction. Weve found nothing but positives with the new engine, said Stoner. The engine is very smooth, very easy to ride and is giving me a lot of confidence. We expected top speeds to be lower [with the 'big bang'] but in fact they are faster than they were last year in the race. Were very happy. With this engine weve been able to halve the amount of [electronic] anti-spin. Weve taken most of it off, he revealed. Instead of the bike always wanting to buck and weave, with this engine, because its got that much more torque, its trying to drive the bike out [understeer] instead. So were having to change the set-up completely to get the bike to turn better on the exits. Its something we never really had a problem with on the old bike, because it spun so much we always got good turn on the exits. Now were working on the chassis to try and keep the [new] grip while still getting the bike to turn. My arms are actually having trouble hanging on because its getting so much more traction. Stoner, a 20-time MotoGP race winner, already believes the GP10 will be a more all-round package than the previous 800cc Desmosedicis – and would be happy to race it tomorrow. In general I think its going to be a better package for a whole championship, rather than one or two tracks, which is sort of what weve had in the past, he said. We have a much better all-round feeling with…

Read Article @ Crash.Net via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Sport

Stuttgart stay in German title race with win at Schalke

BERLIN (AFP) – Stuttgart remained in the Bundesliga title race on Wednesday after Romanian striker Ciprian Marica scored the winner in a 2-1 win at Schalke to stay two points behind leaders Wolfsburg with two games left.

Stuttgart are fourth in the table, but only two points separate the top four teams with Wolfburg, Bayern Munich and Hertha Berlin – who all won on Tuesday – still in contention to be crowned champions when the season ends on May 23.

“That was a very important win for us,” said Stuttgart coach Markus Babbel, whose side now face Energie Cottbus and Bayern in their last two games and need to finish in the top three to qualify for the Champions League.

“Now we have to be just as focused against Cottbus and then set ourselves up for the last day of the season clash with Bayern Munich. It is important to keep winning and try to get the European place.”

Stuttgart’s Brazil striker Cacau put his side ahead on 15 minutes with a good strike from 20 metres, but Schalke came back when Croatia midfield Ivan Rakitic curled in a free-kick on 39 minutes to make it 1-1.

In the second-half, Germany midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger drove a shot at Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who could only parry his shot and Marica stabbed home the ball on 56 minutes to give his side three points.

Hamburg are fifth, but stay five points behind the leaders and effectively out of the title race, after Croatia striker Ivica Olic netted twice as they hammered Bochum 3-0.

Germany midfielder Torsten Frings scored twice, including a penalty, as Werder Bremen routed Eintracht Frankfurt 5-0 as the UEFA Cup finalists stay 10th in the league.

In the relegation battle, Borussia Moenchengladbach took a huge step towards safety with their second consecutive win when Brazilian Dante scored in injury time to seal a 1-0 win over Energie Cottbus.

The result leaves ‘Gladbach 14th, but only three points separate the bottom four places while Hoffenheim are seventh after their 2-0 win at Arminia Bielefeld.

On Tuesday, Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko scored twice along with Grafite in the German league leader’s 3-0 win over Borussia Dortmund.

With Hertha winning 2-0 at Cologne and Bayern Munich enjoying a 3-0 victory over Bavaria neighbours Bayer Leverkusen, Wolfsburg stay top only by virtue of a better goal difference.

Bayern also have 63 points, but are two goals worse off. Hertha are third on 62 points.

Defending champions Bayern, who on Wednesday named Louis van Gaal as their new coach, scored all their goals after the half-time break with Luca Toni, Franck Ribery and Lukas Podolski all on target.

Hertha Berlin are in touch with the leaders after their 2-1 win at Cologne thanks to Brazilian Cicero and midfielder Patrick Ebert while the home side pulled back a late consolation goal.

Bottom side Karlsruhe look almost certain to be relegated as they squandered a 2-0 lead to slump to a 3-2 defeat at home to Hanover and the league’s last team are four points from safety with two games left.

Source: http://www.footballcupleague.com