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Results from Jordan 1st - 3rd April 2010Loeb wins in Jordan
----- Report quoted from wrc.com ----- But they're only important because people chose to make them so. Tactics in motorsport are nothing new, and in the past team mates have sacrificed not only their race but also their cars for the greater good. The most extreme example is probably British racer Peter Collins, who handed over his Ferrari to Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1956 Italian Grand Prix so that Ferrari's team leader could win the Formula One World Championship instead of him. Now that the dust has settled, the story of the Jordan Rally is actually quite straightforward. Once Mikko Hirvonen had made an uncharacteristic driving mistake on day two - his first since Corsica 2007 - an inexorable chain of events was set in motion, more or less as inevitably as night follows day. Deprived of his biggest rival, Sebastien Loeb was always going to be in a position to control things. In order to fight back, Ford had to do something special - and it was equally obvious that Citroen were never got to sit meekly back and let them do it without reacting. Right from the beginning of Friday's action, Loeb said that he would need a good 30-second lead to feel confident of being able to win from the front on Saturday - and given Jari-Matti Latvala's prodigious pace, that was probably a conservative estimate. But not even Loeb could do it. And at that point the least risky damage limitation exercise was for Sebastien Ogier - in second at the end of day two - to have dropped behind Latvala, in third. This would have given Latvala a harder task on dirtier roads and Ogier a better crack at finishing behind his illustrious leader at the finish. A Citroen one-two was entirely possible. So far, so good: providing the system works. But there was a delay in transmitting the split times to Ogier's car and so he ended up still second behind Loeb and in front of Latvala. Not where he expected to be - and Loeb's victory was suddenly looking doubtful. Things went from bad to worse on Saturday morning when Hirvonen checked in early to first service, to ensure that he would slot in between Ogier and Latvala in the running order. This could have handed Latvala the decisive advantage he needed, so Citroen had to go for the drastic solution of making sure that Loeb was no longer first on the road - which consisted of sacrificing Ogier. The unfortunate Frenchman checked in eight minutes early to SS14 - the first stage on Saturday - dropping to eighth overall in the process. A last minute call to react to Ford's manoeuvring? Possibly. But in actual fact there was some degree of premeditation, as before Ford made their move with Hirvonen, Ogier had already checked out five minutes late from first service, due to a convenient electrical problem. This had dropped him behind Latvala, but the plan was subsequently scuppered by Hirvonen. So then, after what must have been a fairly sporty road section, it was onto plan B. Madness or genius? The answer is neither; it's simply normality. There are clever people in every motorsport team whose job it is to find an advantage from every situation possible. Provided the solutions they find are within the framework of what is allowed by the rules, then everything is fair. End of story. Some people will say that it was unfair on Ogier, who had driven an impeccable rally up to that point to climb to second overall, and they may be right. What is equally true is that if you strip away the glitz and the glamour and the autograph sessions, any driver is just another employee of the car company that pays him (handsomely) to work in their best interests. In all of our working lives we have to put up with some disagreeable tasks and WRC drivers are no different. So it simply didn't work out for Ford - but it was close. Without Ogier dropping down the order, they probably would have won the rally. And they can take some consolation from the fact that after a mysterious lack of pace in Mexico, the Focus is every bit as quick as Citroen's C4 at lower altitudes. This was expected, as nothing significant has changed on the Ford since last season. What was maybe less expected was Kimi Räikkönen finishing what he's described as the toughest rally he's seen so far. Sweden showed that the former Grand Prix champion was struggling to get his head round the constantly changing levels of grip; a fact that was borne out by his spectacular exit from Rally Mexico. To finish in the points on only his second gravel rally in a WRC machine - during which he doubled his total mileage on this surface - is quite an achievement. Petter Solberg is another person who has put Sweden firmly behind him. After a lacklustre start to the season, the Norwegian racked up his second consecutive podium - and now he looks set to be the force he always reckoned he would be this year, armed with some latest specification parts on his privateer Citroen C4 WRC. In the midst of all the controversy, Solberg powered to third place almost unobserved. Subtlety has never been the Norwegian's strongest point, but there's a first time for everything...
SWRCIn the SWRC, Xavier Pons claimed his second win on the trot by a massive margin after all his rivals hit major problems. Again, from wrc.com: Xevi Pons claimed his second win of the inaugural FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship season with a purposeful performance on the Jordan Rally. Driving a Ford Fiesta S2000, the Spaniard moved in front on the first run through the Jordan River stage on Friday morning. And he made the most of his experience to stay out of trouble on the demanding sun-baked gravel stages to move clear in the title standings. Although a competitive field of S-WRC runners had assembled in the Middle East, Pons faced limited competition during the closing stages of the event after several of the fancied frontrunners hit trouble on Thursday’s opening day. Indeed, Pons and Bernardo Sousa, in another Fiesta, were the only drivers still in contention for victory after day one. But when Sousa was excluded for receiving outside assistance to enable him to reach final service on day two after an electrical problem cut his car’s engine, Pons was left in the clear. “I am very happy with this result,” said Pons. “Winning in Mexico was a surprise because I did not know the car so well. Also here, I did not have a good feeling with the car at the start with too much oversteer. It was a hard rally, a bit like Cyprus and Greece and apart from losing my powersteering on the final stage I really had no problems today.” Eyvind Brynildsen took second in his Skoda Fabia S2000, despite having to drive for much of the event with two-wheel drive only following a differential failure, which couldn’t be cured because he didn’t have enough available funds for a replacement. “I think I drove faster on the recce than I did today because I was just driving in the middle of the road to get to the finish,” said the Norwegian. “There were so many noises coming from the car today and that got me really worried. But we made it although without the problems I really think I could have won here.” Per-Gunnar Andersson recovered from his crash on Friday to claim the final podium spot in his Skoda after going fastest on two of Saturday’s eight special stages. Nasser Al-Attiyah, who set the fastest time on the day’s other six tests in his Fabia, was fourth having lost time with a crash on Thursday and a broken throttle cable on Friday. Patrik Sandell (Skoda) was fifth with Jari Ketomaa marking his S-WRC debut in sixth following a frustrating rally in his Fiesta. “At the end of the year we will look back on this rally and laugh because it’s been unbelievable,” said Ketomaa. “We did no stages on Thursday and only one on Friday but at least we are at the finish.” Michal Kosciuszko was second when he crashed his Fiesta heavily on the day’s third stage. He was taken to hospital in Jordan’s capital Amman and is likely to remain under observation overnight. PWRCwrc.com has this to say: Patrik Flodin survived a late scare to secure his second win of the season in the Production Car World Rally Championship with victory in Jordan. Flodin was leading the category by more than two minutes heading into the penultimate stage. But with less than five kilometres of the stage remaining his Subaru Impreza’s rear cross member failed and he completed the Shuna stage, plus the final 10.83-kilometre Baptism Site stage, with two buckled rear wheels. “I never thought I wouldn’t win because I knew if I drove carefully I would be okay,” said the Swedish driver. “Fortunately the road was quite flat and smooth for the last two stages and I had no problem keeping my lead. This is now the fifth rally that I have won this season so I am very happy.” Armindo Araujo, the defending Production Car World Rally Champion, was second in his Mitsubishi Lancer. He had been in a close battle with Flodin after day one but time lost on day two with set-up problems. Realising he wouldn’t be able to catch the leader he elected to back off on Saturday in order to safeguard his second place. “We had no problems with the car today, just some things we know we can develop for our next rally,” said Araujo. “We decided after the first stage that there was no point taking any risks so we slowed down. But I am happy because this is a good result for the championship.” Nicholai Georgiou, the Middle East’s Pirelli Star Driver representative for 2010, began his P-WRC campaign with an encouraging run to third place as he adapted to his Lancer. He finished just under a minute clear of Spyros Pavlides, who lost engine power on stage 17 when his Impreza’s air filter became blocked with sand. Jordanian Amjad Farrah claimed fifth place in his Lancer, much to the delight of the home fans. China’s Rui Wang, in another Impreza, took sixth with Brazilian Paulo Nobre recovering from his crash on Thursday to secure seventh and his first P-WRC points. Martin Semerad was second after day one but dropped time on Friday with a broken differential. Any hopes of a points finish evaporated on Saturday’s opening stage when the young Czech driver hit a rock and pulled a wheel off his Lancer. Finnish veteran Reijo Muhonen also went no further than stage 14 after crashing his Lancer into retirement.
WRC final standings
Other WRC finishers (2 points each)
Number of stage wins (10 points for the first, 1 point for all others)
Points contributions by WRC driversWRC drivers contribute double championship points, plus 1 point for each stage win (10 for the first), plus 2 points for a finish, all multiplied by their weighting at the start of the rally.
WRC team pointsWRC teams score the average of the nominated drivers' unweighted points (which is the same as adding them up and halving the result), multiplied by the team's weighting. BP Ford's nominated drivers were Hirvonen/Latvala, Stobart's were H Solberg/Wilson, Citroën Juniors' were Räikkönen/Ogier. (Citroën Total's are always Loeb/Sordo)
PWRC final standings
Other PWRC finishers (2 points each)
PWRC stage wins (10 points for the first, 1 point for all others)
Points contributions for each PWRC driverDriver's contribution = double championship points, plus one point for each stage win (10 for the first), plus 2 points for a finish, all multiplied by the weighting at the start of the rally.
SWRC final standings
Other SWRC finishers (2 points each)
SWRC stage wins (10 points for the first, 1 point for all others)
Points contributions for each SWRC driverDriver's contribution = double championship points, plus one point for each stage win (10 for the first), plus 2 points for a finish, all multiplied by the weighting at the start of the rally.
Next race - Turkey - 15th AprilJust two weeks until round four in Turkey, which this time hosts the first round of the JWRC. Teams will be frozen from midnight GMT on the night of Thursday 15th April. |
Loeb's the man on the top of the podium, but it's the tactics that are making the headlines. I'll let
