F1 Fanatic

Here’s a bigger picture of Kosciuszko’s livery.

http://i.wp.pl/a/f/jpeg/30484/kosciuszko_mini_wrc_650.jpeg

Gonna be following this bloke’s career this year.

Going back to if Red Bull Media House have done the deal or not, There logo appeared at the end of the official WRC preview program that was broadcast last night & everyone related to the WRC are acting as there the promoter so regardless of if anything has been signed it seems they are the official promoters of the series now.

While there is still no TV deal in the UK, HBS are producing an event preview show, Daily highlights & an event review for every round. These are been broadcast elsewhere around the world & if you know where to look will likely be able to find them online for download.

Just hope a UK TV deal is sorted out soon!

Today was the Shakedown of the first rally of the year, and it produced quite a surprise. Young Belgian Thierry Neuville in the Qatar Ford World Rally Team Fiesta set the pace with a time of 2m 26.1s (although this number has varied from different sources, this is the correct time. WRC.com seems to have messed it up as well), ahead of second place Sebastien Loeb by 2.6 seconds. Then it was another Ford of Evgeny Novikov, a tenth of a second off of Loeb, followed by Hirvonen and Latvala.

The Top Ten fastest times of today:

1. Neuville. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 2:28.1
2. Loeb. Citroen DS3 WRC. 2:28.7
3. Novikov. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 2:28.8
4. Hirvonen. Citroen DS3 WRC. 2:29.4
5. Latvala. Volkswagen Polo WRC. 2:30.4
6. Ogier. Volkswagen Polo WRC. 2:30.5
7. Sordo. Citroen DS3 WRC. 2:31.8
8. Ostberg. Ford Fiesta RS WRC. 2:32.9
9. Kostka. Skoda Fabia S2000. 2:37.4
10. Wiegand. Skoda Fabia S2000. 2:37.5

However, these times shouldn’t be taken as a perfect representation of pace, seeing as the stage was run on a short, open field style course. Think of it as the Barum Czech rally in the snow, quite different from the narrow roads in the mountains that they will face tomorrow.

Here is a short review of the days action:

@fer-no65 – Just imagine what they’re like in real life. I’ve been up close and personal with WRC cars before, and they sound like they’re threatening to rip the air apart.

Nice way to stay updated: http://www.wrc.com/fanzone/wrc-live/

Loeb’s taken the lead on stage two then. Heads Ogier by 6.7 seconds whereas Sordo is 32.9 seconds futher back in third.

Day 2: Loeb has extended his already massive lead over Ogier to over a minute and a half. Behind them, Sordo and Novikov bumped Hirvonen down to fifth place.

1. Loeb
2. Ogier +1:35.0
3. Sordo +2:38.0
4. Novikov +2:53.2
5. Hirvonen +3:22.7

Ogier already said that he will not try to make up time to Loeb, as he is thinking about the championship. So, this basically is Loeb’s to lose – if he can keep it on the road, I see no problems for Loeb winning his seventh Monte Carlo rally.