WRC sezona 2013

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V Monte Carlu se začenja WRC sezona 2013. Med nastopajočimi bo tudi Loeb, ki namerava letos nastopiti le na štirih rallyjih, saj se je lani "upokojil".

Tole je povedal za WRC.com:
Loeb: I’m here for the fun, but also to win
Sebastien Loeb has underlined his intention to win this week's Rallye Monte-Carlo, even though his limited WRC programme this year means he won't be fighting for the bigger prize of a tenth FIA drivers' title.

With just a four-round programme in 2013, as he bows out of his full time WRC role with Citroen, the Frenchman said today that his priorities had altered, but his desire to win remained just as strong.

“The goal is not the same, but the preparation for the rally is the same,” said 38-year-old Loeb. “On the recce, everything was really serious. If I am able fight for victory, I will try to do it. But if not, it’s not as bad as in the past. I am here for fun and in these conditions…it will be fun.”

Loeb explained that with the 2013 season now under way he had no second thoughts about stepping back from a full-time campaign.

“It’s a bit different, but I feel happy about that. I spent a long time thinking about retiring but now I have made the decision and I have other plans – and I am excited about those plans also.

“It’s exciting to be here at Rallye Monte-Carlo Rally. It’s a nice rally from which I have good memories and it’s my co-driver’s home rally. It’s important to start this one, but the situation is not the same. I am just here…,” he added.

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Še koledar letošnjih dirk:

Na koledarju 13 dirk dolge sezone ni veliko sprememb: Avstralija bo nadomestila Novo Zelandijo, reli Italija, ki bo najbrž zadnjič na Sardiniji, bo poleti, Wales pa bo spet finalna dirka.

Rallye Monte-Carlo 15 - 20 Jan 13
Rally Sweden 07 - 10 Feb 13
Rally Guanajuato Mexico 07 - 10 Mar 13
Vodafone Rally de Portugal 11 - 14 Apr 13
Rally Argentina 02 - 05 May 13
Acropolis Rally 31 May - 02 Jun 13
Rally d'Italia Sardegna 20 - 23 Jun 13
Neste Oil Rally Finland 01 - 03 Aug 13
ADAC Rallye Deutschland 22 - 25 Aug 13
Rally Australia 12 - 15 Sep 13
Rallye de France-Alsace 03 - 06 Oct 13
RallyRACC-Rally de Espana 24 - 27 Oct 13
Wales Rally GB 13 - 17 Nov 13

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Napoved sezone svetovnega reli prvenstva 2013 (WRC)
Nov prvak, nova ekipa in nepremagljivi gost

Avtor: Matej Podgoršek (siol.net)

Ker bo devetkratni prvak Sebastien Loeb (Citroën) odpeljal le štiri dirke, bomo v sezoni 2013 dobili novega prvaka. Francoz bo sicer favorit na uvodnem reliju Monte Carlo, kjer ima že šest zmag, nato pa bo v Citroënu dokončno vlogo dirkača številka 1 prevzel Mikko Hirvonen. Finec ima v WRC-ju 15 zmag in je že štirikrat končal kot podprvak. Ker ekipa Malcolma Wilsona nima več Fordove tovarniške podpore, Volkswagen pa je novinec v svetovnem prvenstvu, se zdi nepredstavljivo, da bi lahko Hirvonenu kdo vzel lovoriko. A nikar prehitro! Mads Östberg je bil že lani z zasebnim fordom fiesto RS WRC enakovreden obema tovarniškima dirkačema Forda (Pettru Solbergu in Jariju-Mattiju Latvali). Sebastien Ogier in Latvala veljata za najhitrejša dirkača in kdo ve, morda bo po letu in pol testiranj polo R WRC že od prve dirke enakovreden citroënu DS3 WRC. Tukaj je še Dani Sordo v drugem citroënu, a kot poznamo šefe Citroënove ekipe, je vloga dirkača številka 1 pri njih nekaj trdnega.

Volkswagen je velika uganka
Če ne bo nobene nove dirke, pa ima WRC od zdaj novo ekipo oziroma kar novega konstruktorja. To je nemški Volkswagen. Imajo najvišji proračun, tehnično znanje, za njimi je leto in pol testiranj, v Ogierju, Latvali in Mikkelsenu pa eno najbolj talentiranih dirkaških posadk, čeprav so prav vsi trije nekoliko preveč nagnjeni k napakam in odstopom. Za letos so napovedali posamezne uvrstitve na stopničke (šefi in Ogier), Latvala bi se zadovoljil že z uvrstitvami med pet, naslednje leto pa ciljajo na sam vrh. Motor v polu R WRC sicer naj še ne bi imel toliko moči in navora kot citroënov in fordov (Latvala želi izboljšati še menjalnik in vzmetenje), a največji optimisti pravijo, da lahko po zmagah posežejo že v drugi polovici leta. V Volkswagnu so odločeni, da v WRC niso prišli, da bi bili le zasledovalec Citroëna. "Če nam ne uspe, bom zaskrbljen," je povedal tehnični direktor Francois-Xavier Demaison. "Imamo najboljšo ekipo, imamo denar in imamo dirkače. Če torej ne bomo zmagovali, se bom mogoče moral uzreti vase."

Kaj zmore Ford brez Forda?
Ford je bil minulih devet let zasledovalec Loeba in Citroëna. Malcolm Wilson je pred sezono izgubil Fordovo tovarniško podporo, Latvalo in se odrekel Solbergu, a z mlado dirkaško zasedbo in finančno injekcijo iz Katarja verjame, da lahko presenetijo tudi velik Citroën. Največ pričakujejo od Östberga, ki je lani zmagal na Portugalskem. "To je moja velika priložnost. Trdo sem delal, da sem jo dobil. Moj cilj je, da začnem redno zmagovati." Pa vendarle: v WRC-ju izkušnje štejejo največ, njihova trojka pa ima skupaj odpeljanih le 88 dirk za točke svetovnega prvenstva. "V fiesti WRC ima fantastičen avto. Katar nam je pokril finančno luknjo. Čaka nas še nekaj dela, a sem prepričan, da se lahko potegujemo za zelo dobre rezultate," napoveduje Wilson. Prve odgovore, kam lahko kdo poseže, bodo dobili že ta teden v Monte Carlu.

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1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen 1h39m49.0s
2. Sebastien Ogier VW + 1m20.3s
3. Mikko Hirvonen Citroen + 1m46.7s
4. Dani Sordo Citroen + 2m01.2s
5. Jari-Matti Latvala VW + 2m32.2s
6. Evgeny Novikov Qatar M-Sport Ford + 2m50.6s
7. Bryan Bouffier PH Citroen + 2m57.1s
8. Juho Hanninen Qatar M-Sport Ford + 3m03.5s
9. Mads Ostberg Qatar M-Sport Ford + 4m45.1s
10. Martin Prokop Czech Ford + 7m11.0s

Pobrišeš Loeba, ki bo vozil le 4 dirke in dobiš realno sliko.

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Haha, spet jih sola vse po spisku ...

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Reli Monte Carlo, po 2. etapi:

1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroën)
2. Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen) +1:35,0
3. Dani Sordo (Citroën) +2:38,0
4. Jevgenij Novikov (M-Sport Ford) +2:53,2
5. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) +3:22,7
6. Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) +3:43,2
7. Juho Hanninen (M-Sport Ford) +4:11,3
8. Bryan Bouffier (Bouffier Citroën) +5:45,8
9. Mads Östberg (M-Sport Ford) +5:45,8
10. Martin Prokop (Czech Ford) +14:15,6

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Reli Monte Carlo, po 3. etapi:

1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroën)
2. Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen) +1:47,4
3. Jevgenij Novikov (M-Sport Ford) +3:19,9
4. Dani Sordo (Citroën) +3:21,6
5. Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) +4:04,9
6. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) +4:19,1
7. Juho Hanninen (M-Sport Ford) +5:15,5
8. Mads Östberg (M-Sport Ford) +6:18,2
9. Bryan Bouffier (Bouffier Citroën) +8:20,7
10. Martin Prokop (Czech Ford) +18:48,8

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Reli Monte Carlo, 4. etapa
Kaos: "dirkali" 30 km/h, odstop Novikova in Latvale

Monte Carlo - Za najboljšimi relisti na svetu je najtežja preizkušnja v zgodovini Monteja. Na prvem prečkanju Turinija so bile razmere tako slabe, da so na ravnem "dirkali" le 20, 30 km na uro.


Sebastien Loeb je dobil dve od treh petkovih hitrostnih preizkušenj relija Monte Carlo (tudi klasični Sisteron) in prednost pred Sebastienom Ogierjem povišal na minuto in 47 sekund.

Kljub težkih razmeram v prvih treh dneh relija Monte Carlo ni bilo večje drame, odstopil je le Thierry Neuville (M-Sport Ford). Povsem drugačna zgodba je sledila na 14. hitrostni preizkušnji, prvi sobotni. Šlo je za zloglasni prelaz Turini. Pred štartom je bilo 75 odstotkov dolžine brzica pod snegom, pa še snežilo je. Nato pa je sneg prešel v dež in na asfaltu je bila mešanica snega, blata, vode in ledu. Zapiski so bili povsem neuporabni, je dejal Bryan Bouffier (Citroën), ki je dobil brzinec.

Sebastien Loeb (Citroën) in Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen) sta dirkala previdneje, naredila nekaj manjših napak, razlika med njima pa se ni bistveno spremenila. Svetovni prvak je dejal, da so bile razmere obupne: oprijema z asfaltom skorajda ni bilo, ponekod so še na ravnih odsekih vozili le 30 kilometrov na uro. "Na določenih odsekih sem vozil 20 km/h, Vsaj dvakrat sem zadel ob bankino," pa je tarnal Ogier. Nič boljši pogoji niso bili na 15. in 16. brzincu. Vodilna sta ju vendarle varno prevozila, Loeb pa je zadržal minuto in 40 sekund prednosti pred rojakom.

Trije dirkači iz prve deseterice pa Turinija niso prevozili. Jevgenij Novikov (M-Sport Ford), ki je bil pred začetkom četrte etape odličen tretji, je odtrgal zadnjo levo kolo. Nekaj časa je še dirkal z le tremi, nato pa bil prisiljen odstopiti. Kmalu zatem je s ceste zletel še Jari-Matti Latvala (Volkswagen) in s pošteno razbitim polom R WRC končal uvodno dirko sezone. Tako sta se na tretje in četrto mesto prebila Dani Sordo in Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën). Ob progi je končal tudi Juho Hänninen (M-Sport Ford).

Ko so na 16. brzincu znova dirkali prek Turinija, je dež nekoliko pojenjal. Večina je varno prišla skozi cilj, le Mads Östberg (M-Sport Ford) je s poškodovanim vzmetenjem izgubil dve minuti, a ohranil šesto mesto, saj ostali zaostajajo več kot 20 minut.

Uvodna dirka sezona se bo končala v soboto pozno zvečer, ko sta na sporedu še dve hitrostni preizkušnji (še enkrat tudi Turini).

Avtor: Matej Podgoršek, siol.net

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Pa se vrstni red po 16 hitrostni preizkušnji:

1. Sebastien Loeb (Citroën)
2. Sebastien Ogier (Volkswagen) +1:39,2
3. Dani Sordo (Citroën) +3:49,0
4. Mikko Hirvonen (Citroën) +5:26,3
6. Mads Östberg (M-Sport Ford) +8:12,1
7. Martin Prokop (Czech Ford) +23:27,3
8. Sepp Weigand (Škoda Deutschland) +29,34,5

Odstopili: J-M. Latvala (Volkswagen), J. Hänninen (M-Sport), J. Novikov (M-Sport), T. Neuville (M-Sport)

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Loeb že sedmič slavil v Monte Carlu ...

Loeb claims seventh Monte-Carlo victory
A dramatic final evening of Rallye Monte-Carlo ended with the cancellation of the last two stages to enable Sebastien Loeb to claim his seventh victory in the opening round of the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship.

A dramatic final evening of Rallye Monte-Carlo ended with the cancellation of the last two stages to enable Sebastien Loeb to claim his seventh victory in the opening round of the 2013 FIA World Rally Championship.

The Citroen Total Abu Dhabi pilot led from the second stage on Wednesday and drove his DS3 faultlessly in treacherous weather to win by 1min 39.9sec. Second was Sebastien Ogier, delivering a superb debut for Volkswagen Motorsport’s new Polo R, while Dani Sordo secured third in another DS3.

The final night in the mountains above Monaco produced dramas galore. Three of the top seven on the leaderboard, Evgeny Novikov, Jari-Matti Latvala and Juho Hanninen crashed out in awful conditions on the first pass of the mythical Col de Turini stage.

Organisers then cancelled the final two tests on safety grounds when huge numbers of spectators brought the narrow roads to gridlock.

It was Loeb’s 77th WRC victory and the Frenchman said: “I’m always happy when I win, and Monte-Carlo is one of the most exciting rallies I’ve done. This one was really, really difficult. The conditions were extreme compared to what we have usually and winning wasn’t easy.”

The four-day rally, covering 425.93km over 16 stages, was based in Valence for the opening three legs, before relocating to Monaco. Snow and ice made it one of the toughest ‘Montes’ for years and studded tyres were the only sensible option.

While Loeb’s victory was not a surprise, second for Ogier delighted the 29-year-old Frenchman. He refused to be drawn into comparing stage times with Loeb, who will tackle only four rounds this season.

“I’m so happy, it’s like a victory for me,” he said. “I’m a competitor and I’ve never been happy to finish second but this weekend it was really the target, and to start the season like this is amazing. I’ve been waiting for one year, I’ve done so many tests and it was frustrating sometimes, and now here we are with the Polo on the pace already.”

Sordo’s podium came on his first rally with the Abu Dhabi Citroen team since rejoining them this season. He battled with Novikov most of the rally but when the young Russian ripped the rear left wheel from his Ford Fiesta RS, the Spaniard was promoted into third.

“It has been a very difficult and special Monte-Carlo, not like a normal tarmac rally at all. It has been very easy to make a mistake or lose time. Yeah I’m happy, especially because we didn’t have to go out on the Turini again!” said Sordo.

Mikko Hirvonen cut a frustrated figure for much of the week. But the Finn persevered with his DS3 and the demise of Novikov and Latvala, who hit a wall, allowed him to take fourth.

Bryan Bouffier claimed fifth in another DS3 while Mads Ostberg rounded off the top six in a Fiesta RS, after overcoming confidence problems early in the rally and broken right rear suspension today.

Sepp Wiegand won the new WRC 2 support category in a Skoda Fabia S2000. The German took the lead on the second stage when Esapekka Lappi retired his similar car with accident damage. Armin Kremer finished second with Ukraine’s Yuriy Protasov third.

In the WRC 3 support series, Sebastien Chardonnet took the honours in a two-wheel drive Citroen DS3. The Frenchman was the sole survivor after Renaud Poutot went off.