Story: Evan Rothman
Pictures: Eva Kovkova
Lifting the winners’ trophy proudly at the end of a thrilling weekend’s rallying in Faro, Portugal this weekend was Citroen Junior Team’s Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassi.
Taking their first ever World Rally Championship (WRC) win after only 18 months in this premier international rally championship, Ogier and Ingrassi defeated the six-times World Champions Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena in a head-to-head fight reminiscent of a David-and-Goliath encounter. There is a new King of Rallying!
The 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa was a momentous occasion not only for all South Africans but for the sporting world too. With limited international recognition, the relative minnows South Africa conquered the world’s best rugby teams decisively to eventually defeat rugby’s dominant force that is New Zealand in the Final to be crowned Rugby World Champions in their first ever appearance in the competition.
Londoner David Haye took on seven-foot giant World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Nikolay Valuev in Nuremburg in 2009. The 29-year-old Briton matched the Russian in each round, and a surprising left hook in the final round came close to seeing the giant fall to the mat. Haye delivered perfect shots to Valuev’s tough body, and judges accordingly crowned Haye as the World Heavyweight Champion in this real-life David-and-Goliath battle.
Jenson Button and the then newly-formed Brawn GP team started the first round of the 2009 F1 World Championship after only being in existence a mere weeks. Come the end of the long season, the Briton trounced his opponents to become the F1 World Drivers’ Champion against his establish rivals.
What underlies these stories is the bravery, dedication and unwavering determination to be the best. Such stories are far and few between in today’s sporting arenas and they are seen as halo moments in their respected disciplines. This weekend the world’s rally fans rejoiced with the young Sebastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassi after they took on the world’s best-ever rally crew in a straight fight on the Portuguese gravel roads.
From outset of the Vodafone Rallye de Portugal, Sebastien Ogier signalled his intentions to win here when he set five fastest times in the opening day’s seven stages. He used his road position (sixth at the start) to good effect, but it was the way in which he attacked the abrasive gravel roads to end the day a healthy 26,6sec clear of his rivals that stands out most. While nursing his Pirelli Scorpion tyres through the day’s stages, Ogier seemed comfortable with his pace.
Leading the drivers on Day Two, and with Loeb now in a position to reel in the time he lost while sweeping the stages on Day One, the young Frenchman was able to not only maintain his blistering Day One pace but also managed to drop only 1,8sec of time to the now hard-charging Loeb/Elena over the afternoon loop’s 67,55km of stages. Once more, his cool head prevailed and his determination controlled his hands to steer his Citroen C4 WRC to a near-perfect display of rally driving skills. Sebastien Loeb, who was able to eat up a 45sec-plus deficit in Rally New Zealand last month, was unable to penetrate into Ogier’s Red Bull-clad armour.
The final day’s five stages saw Loeb close Ogier’s overnight lead of 21,1sec to 7,7sec after the penultimate stage. With only a 2,03km SuperSpecial Stage to run, Ogier/Ingrassi were already unable to contain their excitement when being interviewed by World Rally Radio’s Colin Clark and Julian Porter. However, Ogier was nervous about his car’s launch control working at the final stage as it had been suspect throughout the day. It would take only a hiccup to see the 7,7sec melt away, but once Ogier slipped on his balaclava and helmet turned into the future World Rally Champion that he promises to be to not only match Loeb through the final 2,03km but to also stretch his winning margin to 7,9sec.
“We pushed all the way to the end, ” said a beaming Ogier. “It’s a huge satisfaction to win. I have to thank the entire team; this is a massive moment for me. We came very close to winning in New Zealand but now we are on the top step of the podium, which has allowed us to move up to second in the World Rally Championship for drivers.”
Dominating the podium was Citroen, as Dani Sordo/Marc Marti rounded off a stirring drive to end the rally in third place for the Citroen Total World Rally Team. The loose and abrasive gravel meant that crews had to manage their tyres cleverly. Sordo, who pushed hard throughout the weekend, gave his tyres such a hammering on Day Two that he finished a stage to find that his front tyres were worn down to the canvas! Despite this, Sordo was calm and comfortable throughout the rally, and showed his incredible speed to his critics once more. At the end of Day Two, Sordo found himself in fourth place, but embroiled in an exciting three-way battle for the final podium position meant his Day Three performance was to be his best of the weekend to reel in third-placed Petter Solberg (Petter Solberg World Rally Team) and keep fifth-placed Mikko Hirvonen (BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team) behind him.
Solberg, electrifying in his Citroen C4 WRC, inched towards another podium result with every stage kilometer on Day Three, but the Spaniard Sordo was threatening in his rearview mirrors.
Through the final stage, Solberg made a drivers’ error that saw his C4 climb the barricading, and thus losing not only his chance to finish on the podium but allowed Hirvonen to slip by to claim fourth place overall and demote Solberg to fifth.
Sordo’s podium has not only boosted Citroen’s standings at the top of the Manufacturers’ Championship standings, but has also re-ignited the Spanish spark that saw him score a number of fine podium results for the team in 2009.
This weekend’s podium also highlighted the strength and importance of the Junior World Rally Championship: all three had been crowned J-WRC winners before their move to the top tier.
Solberg’s weekend started off on the wrong foot when he hit a concrete barrier in the opening SuperSpecial Stage (and this is not the same one he hit on Day Three, mind you), and also suffered two punctures on Day One. Despite this, his blinding pace netted him fifth place at the close of the day.
In typical Solberg fashion, he attacked every corner of every stage to move from fifth place overall to third at the end of the day, and he even managed to maintain his tyres perfectly throughout his charge for the podium. To highlight his determination, one of his tyres completely delaminated at the end of a stage.
The loose surface, with rocks lining the stages and being dragged onto the racing line, seemed to claim a number of victims. Solberg damaged his steering on Day Three and the young Matthew Wilson (Stobart Ford World Rally Team) also suffered similar problems as a result. Ken Block/Alex Gelsomino (Monster World Rally Team) exited the rally early on Day One, crashing out once more. With too much damage to their Ford Focus RS WRC to continue under SupeRally regulations, Block spent the weekend spectating on the stages and signing autographs for his many fans. Rally New Zealand winners Jari-Matti Latvala and Miika Anttila (BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team) too crashed out of the rally on Day Two. His battle-worn Focus RS WRC was too damaged to compete on Day Three under SupeRally regulations, forcing Latvala to end his Portuguese weekend.
Fourth-placed Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were once again unable to find the extra pace required to fight for the win, or a podium placing. The luck-less crew attacked each stage with a concerted and measured effort, but unable to translate their fast driving into fastest stage times. In fact, out of the 18 stages only two were won by Fords: SS1 went to Hirvonen; SS18 to Federico Villagra (Munchi’s Ford World Rally Team).
“What an amazing end to the rally,” said Hirvonen. “After all the drama on the final stage during the last round in New Zealand, I can’t believe that it has happened again here. I couldn’t have driven any faster this morning. I gave everything to try to catch the two guys ahead but my rear tyres lost their grip and midway through the stage I called off the attack. I knew I couldn’t reach them. It was a difficult rally. I didn’t have the pace this weekend to challenge for the win and the rally was tough on tyres.
“I tried a different approach this weekend. I was less aggressive, letting my driving flow rather than pushing too much. I thought my driving was good and the car handled well, but the times weren’t fast enough. The result wasn’t good from a championship point of view but we’ve done six rallies and there are seven more to come so there’s still everything to fight for,” added Hirvonen.
The two Stobart Ford World Rally Team crews once again provided thrills behind the factory teams, with Henning Solberg/Ilka Minor besting Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin for much of the event. Despite steering problems reported from both crews and brake problems on Day Two for Wilson, the Stobart performed admirably in the tough Rally Portugal. However, after the second stage of Day Three Henning Solberg parked his orange-liveried Focus RS WRC with alternator problems to retire from the event. This left Matthew Wilson to climb to sixth place overall.
Privateer Mads Ostberg and co-driver Jonas Andersson (Subaru Impreza WRC) drove to a storming seventh place overall, impressing all in Portugal with his pace on the gravel in his new machine.
Federico Villagra/Jorge Perez Companc (Munchi’s World Rally Team) soldiered to eighth place overall, just ahead of Khaled Al Qassimi/Michael Orr (BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team), while the Citroen Junior Team crew of Kimi Raikkonen/Kaj Lindstrom rounded out the top ten some 48sec adrift of Al Qassimi.
After a summer break, the World Rally Championship restarts with Rally Bulgaria’s debut appearance in the WRC. This all-asphalt rally is based in the ski resort of Borovets on 08 – 11 July.
Overall Results:
01) S. Ogier/J. Ingrassi
Citroen C4 WRC – 03h 51m 16,1s
02) S. Loeb/D. Elena
Citroen C4 WRC + 7,9s
03) D. Sordo/M. Marti
Citroen C4 WRC + 01m 17,6s
04) M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen
Ford Focus RS WRC + 01m 32,0s
05) P. Solberg/P. Mills
Citroen C4 WRC + 01m 35,7s
06) M. Wilson/S. Martin
Ford Focus RS WRC + 07m 10,1s
07) M. Ostberg/J. Andersson
Subaru Impreza WRC + 07m 28,3s
08) F. Villagra/J. Perez Companc
Ford Focus RS WRC + 10m 36,1s
09) K. Al Qassimi/M. Orr
Ford Focus RS WRC + 10m 55,8s
10) K. Raikkonen/K. Lindstrom
Citroen C4 WRC + 11m 34,3s
Drivers’ Standings:
01) S. Loeb – 126 pts
02) S. Ogier – 88 pts
03) M. Hirvonen – 74 pts
04) J-M. Latvala – 72 pts
05) P. Solberg – 65 pts
06) D. Sordo – 49 pts
07) M. Wilson – 38 pts
08) F. Villagra – 26 pts
09) H. Solberg – 24 pts
10) K. Raikkonen – 15 pts
Manufacturers’ Standings:
01) Citroen Total WRT – 189 pts
02) BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT – 163 pts
03) Citroen Junior Team – 106 pts
04) Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT – 84 pts
05) Munchi’s Ford WRT – 40 pts
