Monaco, 22nd January 2012. The MINI WRC Team concluded the fifth and final day of the Monte Carlo Rally by bringing Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and Pierre Campana (FR) and Sabrina de Castelli (FR) to the finish on the principality’s harbourside second and seventh respectively. This was only the team’s seventh FIA World Rally Championship event, but it was the third podium for the Spanish crew. The sun was shining and the roads were dry for the final stage of the rally – the 5.16 kilometre…
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WRC – Petter Slapped With the Infamous Article 151c
Ford’s new (or should that really be returning) factory driver for 2012, former World Champion Petter Solberg, has done it again. He was busted for speeding on his way back to the service park after the last competitive stage of Rallye Monte-Carlo. Apparently frustrated by a slower car in front of him, he accelerated to 106 kph (66 mph) while in a 50 kph (31 mph) zone. Not only that, passed the car on a stretch where there was a solid center line. It means the same thing there as…
Read MoreRally – WRC Promotion Contract: How It All Went Wrong
At the beginning of this month, the World Rally Championship was thrown into enormous turmoil after the FIA prematurely terminated its contract with promotor North One Sport. The sequence of events that lead up to this is rather convoluted, but let’s see if we can’t untangle the mess that ended up with the premier rally series in the world, the WRC, making its triumphant return to the premier rally in the world, the Rallye Monte-Carlo. Arrival of North One Sport and Convers Sports Initiatives In 2009, North One Sport, a…
Read MoreRally – MINI Monte carlo Leg 2 Release
Valence (FR), 19th January 2012. After day two of the Monte Carlo Rally, and another 131.76 kilometres of stages, Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) were still fighting with Petter Solberg (NO) for the second podium position and had snatched the place back as the cars returned to Valence for the last time. Meanwhile the MINI WRC Team’s French crew, Pierre Campana and Sabrina de Castelli, were still in seventh after a trouble free day. In his MINI John Cooper Works WRC number 37, the same number carried…
Read MoreRally – David Higgins and Subaru To Defend Championship
The record-setting large field for the upcoming Sno*Drift Rally, first round of the Rally America National Championship, just got a little bit bigger. David Higgins will return to the series with the Subaru Rally Team USA to defend their 2011 championship title. David Mirra will also be back, but will focus on the RallyCross event due to several schedule conflicts with Mirra’s BMX events. “I’m excited to defend my title with Subaru as we have made some great progress in the development of our STI rally car in the off-season,…
Read MoreRally – MINI World Rally Leg 1 Release
Valence (FR), 18th January 2012. At the end of a challenging day one of the Monte Carlo Rally the MINI WRC Team crews of Dani Sordo (ES) and Carlos del Barrio (ES) and Pierre Campana (FR) and Sabrina de Castelli (FR) were second and eighth respectively after 134.70 kilometres of competition over four stages. The weather was cold and dry with a little snow and some icy patches on the stages. The story of the rally was always going to be about tyre choice and so there was a lot…
Read MoreRally – Sno*Drift and the 2012 Rally Season Is Upon Us!
The Rally America series may no longer have the celebrity competitors like Pastrana and Block, but that hasn’t stopped many MANY others from joining in the fun! The first round of the Rally America six-event national championship takes place in a couple of weeks in the snow and ice of upper Michigan, the Sno*Drift Rally, and there are a record-setting 70 entrants! This has me super-stoked for the Rally in the 100 Acre Wood in February and for the championship in general. I hope they can show the same type…
Read MoreVideo – Mads Østberg Tests the 2012 WRC Fiesta
Exclusive – WRC with Colin Clark!
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadSit back and help celebrate the start of 2012 and the new rally season as I sit down with Colin Clark from World Rally Radio. We talk briefly about 2011, take a look at all the news over the off season, and look ahead to what promises to be an amazing year in 2012! Colin brings his unrivaled passion for rally to the paddock and we appreciate his time in sitting down with us!
Read MoreWRC – Makinig Sense of MINI
What a whirlwind the last couple of days have been in regards to the MINI/Prodrive WRC team. While the world’s attention was focused on Ford and whether or not they would join again with M-Sport, a situation was developing with the Banbury based team that came to the public eye this past week. Initial reporting had made it out to be a blunder of such when MINI failed to show up on the manufacturer entry list. After all, when the team was announced last season, it was said that a…
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