Handbrakes Issue 282 • 29 May 2013 http://wp.me/pkXc &Hairpins The world’s FIRST dedicated rally eMagazine - every week! Your insight into the world of rally! Issue 283 • 29 May 2013 EDITORIAL INFORMATION CONTACT INFORMATION E-mail us [email protected] Call us +27 83 452 6892 Surf us http://wp.me/pkXc To receive your FREE weekly HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS eMagazine, or if you’d like to share this with a friend please send your e-mail address to [email protected]. HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS is not a SPAM e-mail: email addresses are added to the mailing list voluntarily. Editor Evan Rothman Favourite rally car? Audi Quattro S2 ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION Current favourite WRC driver? Mads Østberg Favourite WRC rally? WRC Rallye Deutschland All content copyrighted property of HANDBRAKES & Favourite rally? Total Rally, South Africa HAIRPINS, 2007-12. This publication is fully protected by copyright and nothing may be reprinted in whole Tweets too much about rallying, loves nothing or in part without written permission from the editor. more than spectating on a forest rally, and has While reasonable precautions have been taken to ensure aspirations of being the world’s greatest rally the accuracy of information from sources and given to journalist. He’s also oftentimes seen with a readers, the editor cannot accept responsibility for any camera in one hand and his mobile phone in the inconvenience or damage that may arise therefrom. other. Photojournalist Eva Kovkova Favourite rally car? Citroën C4 WRC Current favourite WRC driver? Mads Østberg Favourite WRC rally? Vodafone Rally de Portugal Favourite rally? White Nights Rally, Lahdenpohja, Russia Likes to walk in the Swedish snow forests or on Portuguese dusty hills, likes to freeze, to get wet in the rain or to melt from the heat during photo hunts for fl ying cars and smiling faces. Also is known as a press ice bear working for South Africa :) OPENING SHOT Ott Tanak. Four wheels in the air. This is a shot more familiar to his stint in the World Rally Championship. He claimed victory in hotly contested Rally Talsi in the Subaru Impreza WRX STi he built and prepared himself. Bring this man back into the WRC! Picture: Kriss Karnitis exclusively for H&H START RAMP 07 Hyundai’s i20 WRC performs positively in tests SERVICE PARK 09 LV Rally Talsi review 12 RA STPR Rally preview 13 BRC Jim Clark Rally preview 14 WRC Acropolis Rally of Greece preview 15 SARC Toyota Gauteng Dealer Rally preview CONTENTS PARC FERME 18 Ogier and Loeb race in Monaco n. motorsport. A start ramp serves as the ceremonial start of a rally, and gives fans a chance to see their rally heroes be- ing interviewed before driving over the podium and onto the fi rst special stage. START RAMP HYUNDAI’S WRC PLAN: i20 WRC CAR TESTS Words: Handbrakes & Hairpins Pictures: Hyundai Motorsport After an intensive few months of preparation at its Alzenau headquarters, Hyundai Motorsport has taken the i20 WRC out of the workshop and onto the road at the start of its testing programme. The latest specifi cation of the Hyundai i20 WRC ran for the fi rst time during a positive shakedown on a private testing ground in mid-May. With the aim of checking the car’s systems as the team ramps up its test schedule ahead of an entry in the FIA World Rally Championship in 2014, Hyundai Motorsport’s technical team completed the roll-out without encountering any particular issues. This shakedown was followed last week with the fi rst comprehensive testing session where the team started working on different set-up solutions and gathered valuable data which will be analysed by engineers back at the Hyundai Motorsport facility in Alzenau. While all key areas of the car’s performance were evaluated, there was a major focus on collecting feedback on the i20 WRC’s 1.6 litre turbocharged engine as part of the continuing development programme for the powertrain. A total of 550km covered over the three days has enabled the team to start building the knowledge base of testing data from which to prepare its entry to the WRC in eight months’ time. With an ambitious target to meet in a short period of time, the intensive testing programme is intended to ensure that Hyundai Motorsport arrives at Rallye Monte- Carlo in January fully prepared for the challenge. The programme will continue for the rest of the year and will involve the assessment and development of the i20 WRC in all of the terrains and conditions expected in World Rally Championship. H&H n. motorsport. The main operational base for all the teams, in which all checks, maintenance and running repairs to the cars must be carried out subject to strict time limits. SERVICE PARK LV RALLY TALSI: THE DANDELION CHAMPIONS ‘13 Words: Liga Stirna Pictures: Kriss Karnitis exclusively for H&H The Latvian Summer rally season traditionally begins in May when small yellow blossoms of dandelions sprout everywhere, and that’s how this fi rst gravel rally of the season, the Rally Talsi, is remembered. This year, the global economic crisis has unfortunately fi nally come to the Baltic rallies: almost half of the crews on Entry List are foreign guests, and some of last year’s champions aren’t even driving this year. This is more sad for the fact that amongst those not competing are the fastest drivers and cars... But, Rally Talsi this year was a great festival of rallying anyway. As with the last fi ve years, the Champion of Champions was also crowned. This year, for the Cup of Champions, the fi ght was fought between four crews: reigning Lithuanian Group N Champion Dominykas Butvilas, Estonian Champion Rainer Aus, Russian Cup winner in 2012 Grigory Tregubov and Slovakian Group N Champion Tomašs Ondrey. By the way, for these Slovakian guests, this was their very fi rst gravel rally. Unfortunately, their debut wasn’t tarmac was very dirty from the previous cars and Haralds Final Overall Classifi cation: successful, as their white Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX came didn’t take that in consideration and rolled his Fabia. 01) O. Tänak/M. Järveoja Subaru Impreza (N4) - 01hr 00m 53.62s crawling and bleeding oil to the fi nish of SS2. Then there was last stage drama for the overall 02) T. Kõrge/E. Pints The main fi ght in the Cup of Champions was rally leaders too. Fast, attractive and daring, like always, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (N4) + 26.90s between Butvilas and Aus. Until the very last stage, the was Russian Alexey Lukyanuk who took the lead with just 03) R. Kisiels/A. Ronis Mitsubishi Lancer WRC (A+) + 31.40s leader was Estonian Aus but then in SS12 he suffered a a few seconds ahead of Estonian Ott Tanak... Before SS12, 04) M. Svilis/I. Pūķis puncture and lost valuable minutes to Butvilas who then Lukyanuk lead by 7.53 seconds. There is an infamous jump Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII (A+) + 01m 06.13s took over the lead and the won. at the very beginning of the fi nal stage, and this year it’s 05) D. Butvilas/R. Vaitkevičius Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (R4) + 01m 09.56s In Rally Talsi’s overall leader board there were also victim was Lukyanuk. The Russian could fi nish the event, but 06) V. Švedas/Ž. Sakalauskas dramas, mistakes, crashes and plent of emotions. Even second from last, just before another unlucky crew, Rainer Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (R4) + 01m 15.88s before one of Latvia’s fastest circuit racing drivers, Haralds Aus. Cruising to the fi nish, Tanak let Dominykas Butvilas win 07) J. Vorobjovs/A. Žeibe Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (N4) + 01m 15.91s Šlēgelmilhs, decided to try rallying - like Robert Kubica and the stage and and Tanak claimed the overall win in Rally Talsi 08) A. Egle/A. Dauga Kimi Raikkonen - intense tests before rallies and in a Skoda 2013. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo X (N4) + 01m 53.40s Fabia S2000, Haralds posted results in events. After the P.S. As I mentioned earlier, the economic crisis has 09) S. Travnikov/A. Kurnosov Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX (R4) + 02m 21.58s very fi rst stage though, Haralds was in 52nd place. On Day come to Latvian rallying, but it hasn’t affected the passion 10) J. Berķis/E. Čeporjus Two he started in 22nd position; great progress! He took full of the spectators: at most famous spot of Rally Talsi, the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VIII (A+) + 03m 27.48s advantage of his tarmac experience in the city Super Special Sukturi jumps, while driving to the stage we observed Stage, but the asphalt caught him out at the end though. On around 3km of spectators cars: rallying is still Number One last stage, where a gravel road ran into a small village, the here! H&H Words: Handbrakes & Hairpins Pictures: Aaron Kathman North America’s best rally teams return to the Waste Management Susquehannock Trail Performance Rally, presented by Citizen’s & Northern Bank, (STPR) for the fourth round of the Rally American National Championship in Wellsboro, Pennsylvania on this RA STPR RALLY: weekend. The STPR Rally is the longest and oldest continuously running stage rally in the continental U.S. and will feature two full days of racing near Wellsboro, Penn and HIGGINS VS BLOCK at the Tioga County Fairground super special stages. The event will cover over 160km of competition roads, and fans Indonesian newcomer, Rifat Sungkar, impressed in the Oregon Trail Rally. Reeves impressed by winning with a 3 will get plenty of opportunities to meet their favorite drivers his America debut at the Oregon Trail Rally by taking third minute buffer over second place fi nisher Dillon Van Way and and watch all the action.