WRC: Rally Poland *SPOILERS*

[Mothers Worry]

Solberg wins Poland superspecial 

From autosport.com:

Solberg wins Poland superspecial

Thursday, June 25th 2009, 18:31 GMT

Petter Solberg took an early lead in the Rally Poland by winning the Thursday evening Mikolajki superspecial.

Leading positions after SS1:

Pos  Driver              Car      Time
 1.  Petter Solberg      Citroen  1m48.3s
 2.  Sebastien Loeb      Citroen   + 0.3s
 3.  Mikko Hirvonen      Ford      + 1.3s
 4.  Andreas Mikkelsen   Skoda     + 1.3s
 5.  Dani Sordo          Citroen   + 1.4s
 6.  Henning Solberg     Ford      + 1.6s
 7.  Sebastien Ogier     Citroen   + 1.6s
 8.  Matthew Wilson      Ford      + 2.0s
 9.  Jari-Matti Latvala  Ford      + 2.4s
10.  Evgeny Novikov      Citroen   + 2.8s

[Mothers Worry]

Q & A with Solberg's chief engineer 

From autosport.com:

Q & A with Solberg's chief engineer 

Tuesday, June 23rd 2009, 14:55 GMT

Francois Xavier Demaison is the man responsible for preparing Petter Solberg's Citroen Xsara WRC between rounds of the World Rally Championship.

Having worked with Solberg at the Subaru World Rally Team - and helped Marcus Gronholm to two world titles at Peugeot, the French engineer knows what it takes to make a rally car go quickly.

He talks to AUTOSPORT about the season so far and this week's Rally Poland.

Q. Are you surprised at what Petter has done with the Xsara this year?

FD: I am. I remember when I worked at Peugeot and we fought with this car [Solberg's 2006 Xsara] with the 307. Now there is a big gap between the Xsara and the C4 and the Ford, so it's a big surprise to see the times Petter can do with the Xsara.

Q. What more can you do to Petter's car for Poland to make it quicker than it was in Greece?

FD: Poland will be different to Greece for the temperature, it should be better for the car. We have a test on Monday and Citroen is still doing some improvements on the [engine] maps for the car. The hardware in the car will remain the same, but maybe we can adjust the fans and make everything to the optimum for Poland.

These guys certainly have an eye to maximising performance based on conditions; possibly more so than the other. Looks good for them this season.

[Oldtony]

Loeb hit a "hidden"tree stump on day one and is now back in the rally under "super rally"rules. The tree stunp appeared to be "hidden"about 4 metres off the track so you can call it driver error.
The Fords are leading, but under attack on day 2 from the Citroens of Sordo and Ogier. Peter Solberg is back to about 7th. midway through Saturday.

[Racin Jason]

Is it just me or is Loeb actually making mistakes every now and then??? There was a period when he could do no wrong, but now he is making mistakes and getting pressured by the Fords

[Everso Biggyballies]

Is it just me or is Loeb actually making mistakes every now and then??? There was a period when he could do no wrong, but now he is making mistakes and getting pressured by the Fords

Certainly seems that is the case doesnt it..... Last race he did a similar, in as much as he hid a 'hidden rock' which flipped him into an alarming series of rolls from which they were both lucky to walk away from.

Probably a bit early to say he has lost his touch though, but certainly one used to think of him as being beyond errors like his recent two runs.

[Mothers Worry]

Ford pulls away again in Poland

From autosport.com:

Ford pulls away again in Poland

Saturday, June 27th 2009, 15:21 GMT

Ford's bid for a crucial one-two in the Rally Poland looks more secure after Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala managed to pull away from Dani Sordo again on this afternoon's stages.

Leading positions after day two:

Pos  Driver               Car        Time/Gap
 1.  Mikko Hirvonen       Ford     2h21m45.8s
 2.  Jari-Matti Latvala   Ford      +   12.0s
 3.  Dani Sordo           Citroen   +   38.5s
 4.  Sebastien Ogier      Citroen   + 1m59.3s
 5.  Petter Solberg       Citroen   + 2m06.7s
 6.  Henning Solberg      Ford      + 2m08.0s
 7.  Matthew Wilson       Ford      + 3m48.0s
 8.  Krzysztof Holowczyc  Ford      + 4m13.3s
 9.  Conrad Rautenbach    Citroen   + 5m25.9s
10.  Mads Ostberg         Subaru    + 6m35.5s

[auto]

And as usual Jarri Matti crashes out of the rally.

[Everso Biggyballies]

And as usual Jarri Matti crashes out of the rally.

.... yeah on the last Super Special.  Would have liked to have seen Hirvonens face when it happened, and im sure it would have been somewhat like when Kimi was told of Montoya's last lap doing similar in Turkey 2005.

[ioan1988]

latvala's most costly crash by far this season.