Rallye de France: News before Day 1 - Part 1

Mixed preparations for WRC stars

While Sebastien Ogier prepared for Rallye de France Alsace by winning a national event close to the route of the world championship qualifier recently, Jari-Matti Latvala was left red faced after crashing his father’s classic rally car.

Latvala was driving his father Jari’s Ford Escort Mk II [pictured above] as a course car on the recent Talotekniikka Rally in his native Finland when he crashed out on the opening stage of the gravel event near Helsinki.

“I did seven kilometres but then I had a crash,” said the Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team driver. “The TCA had been cracked earlier but under braking on a bit of broken surface there was a lot of load on it and it broke. I went into a ditch where it hit a concrete pipe and rolled. I am fine and the technical parts of the car are okay but the bodyshell is not so great. Luckily I have some good friends who have already started working on it.”

Latvala has been given permission to use the Escort on selected events in return to helping his father with routine preparation and a supply of spare parts.

Of his victory on Rallye Vosgien in a Citroen DS3 WRC earlier this month, Ogier said: “Just before we did two days testing and just after immediately a rally of 140 kilometres. It was interesting to test in a race condition.”

Araujo confident following test

Armindo Araujo says a successful pre-event test for Rallye de France Alsace has improved his confidence behind the wheel of his Motorsport Italia-run MINI John Cooper Works WRC.

The two-time Production Car world champion and the inaugural Wrc.com Personality of the Year winner, is chasing his second top 10 finish of 2011 alongside his co-driver and fellow Portuguese Miguel Ramalho.

He said: “I will push from the very beginning. I was very happy with our performance in Germany. We got a good result and I believe we have improved the set-up even further [in] testing [on] Monday in France, so I feel confident. After five events we are learning the car and we are ready to push and try to bring home another good result. We aren’t fighting for the championship, so we have nothing to lose.”

The two other privateer MINI drivers competing in France, Pierre Campana and Daniel Oliveira, also tested before the event. Campana covered approximately 95 kilometres in his Equipe de France FFSA MINI during a test on Monday, while Oliveira ran for 70 kilometres on the same day in his Brazil World Rally Team entry.

“He’s got to get through this rally cleanly and the test was a good start,” said BWRT’s Paul Howarth.

France MINI podium possible, says Wilcock

MINI WRC Team technical chief Dave Wilcock says he would not rule out Dani Sordo challenging for his second podium finish in succession when he contests his fourth event of the season in his factory John Cooper Works WRC.

Sordo, from Spain, finished third overall on ADAC Rallye Deutschland last month. Although team manager Campbell Roy played down the significance of Sordo’s third quickest time in shakedown for Rallye de France Alsace this morning, Wilcock has high hopes for the former Citroen pilot.

“Dani finished second [in France] last year and the nature of this rally is one he excels on, so repeating a podium finish is a realistic target,” said Wilcock. “We believe this rally will suit the MINI John Cooper Works WRC even better than it did in Germany. The very fast flowing nature of the Alsace roads will highlight the aerodynamic capabilities, which are one of the MINI’s attributes ensuring high stability required for the driver’s confidence.”

Sordo’s team-mate Kris Meeke, from Northern Ireland, has no previous experience of the Strasbourg event although he has tested in the region in the past.

“It’s another part of the learning curve for Kris,” said Roy. “He’s having to make new notes for every rally he goes to, which is holding him back. In saying that his pace was good in Germany and he was fighting with Petter Solberg when he retired [with a mechanical failure]. We’ve not done any development since Germany but Kris and Dani both had a good recce and a confident with the car.”

Block boosted by strong pre-event test

Ken Block says his pre-event test for Rallye de France Alsace was one of the best he has done since he became a regular in the World Rally Championship two years ago.

Block, who drives a Ford Fiesta RS WRC for the Monster World Rally Team, completed a one-day test in France last Saturday and covered approximately 120 kilometres in dry conditions.

He told Wrc.com: “I really struggled with car set-up [on the last asphalt round] in Germany and went backwards this year from where I was last year. That was really frustrating. So I spent a day last Saturday figuring out what my problems were and solved them. I’m much happier with the set-up now.”

Block worked extensively with his M-Sport engineer Mark Lowe during the test. He also received advice from fellow Fiesta driver Henning Solberg.

“Henning gave me a bunch of feedback and my engineer Mark put a good plan together knowing what my problems were,” said the American Gymkhana FOUR star. “We made a lot of good and positive changes. It took a whole day but it was one of those days that every step seemed to go the right direction. I got a good feeling about what works and what doesn’t, it was one of the best tests I’ve done.”

Of his prospects for the event, Block added: “I’m still so inexperienced on Tarmac but if I can get into the top 10 with all these great drivers around then I’ll be very happy.”