Former Grand Prix champion Kimi Raikkonen, who has used a Stilo helmet since the start of this year’s World Rally Championship season, experienced a new type of rally adventure when he went head-to-head against well-known Enduro bike rider Taddy Blazusiak.
Raikkonen drove his Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC on a twisty 13-kilometre gravel stage in Austria, on the occasion of the Red Bull Hare Scramble. He was raced to the top by Blazusiak on his KTM trials bike, but it was the Stilo-equipped ‘iceman’ who triumphed. As part of the deal, Blazusiak had to wash Raikkonen’s Citroen after the finish.
Raikkonen is also due to contest a small Italian rally this weekend, Rally della Lanterna, in Stilo’s homeland. The all-asphalt event is designed to help Raikkonen and his Citroen Junior Team mate Sebastien Ogier prepare themselves for the forthcoming asphalt rallies in the second half of the World Rally Championship season.
Stilo swept up both wins at the most recent round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, held on home territory for the Italian company: Monza.
After an incident-packed opening race characterised by some dramatic punctures, BMW’s multiple WTCC champion Andy Priaulx claimed the spoils in the first encounter on the Italian track.
Priaulx, the most successful driver in the history of the World Touring Car Championship, is one of Stilo’s key personalities on the Eurosport-backed series, along with reigning champion Gabriele Tarquini.
Another well-known Stilo wearer is Frenchman Yvan Muller. The Chevrolet driver claimed the second race in Italy and now enjoys a 24-point margin over Tarquini and Englishman Rob Huff – who also uses Stilo helmets. Stilo now occupies the top four places in the championship.
The next round of the World Touring Car Championship – where Stilo is busy making its mark – is at the famous Zolder circuit in the Netherlands: the former home of the Dutch Grand Prix.
The factory Skoda Motorsport team continued its dominance of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with a one-three finish in Sardinia last weekend (5/6 June).
Stilo-supported Juho Hanninen, who joined the Czech Republic-based Skoda team at the start of 2009, won the gravel-based Rally d’Italia-Sardegna and now leads the drivers’ standings by 11 points.
Team-mate Jan Kopecky, who also wears a Stilo crash helmet, edged himself into title contention with victory on Rally Islas Canarias, round four of the series. He took third overall in Sardinia.
Following last weekend’s gravel-based Rally d’Italia-Sardegna, Skoda is set to take part on the asphalt-based Geko Ypres Rally in Belgium from 24-26 June.
The World Rally Championship has a new hero to celebrate after Stilo-supported Sebastien Ogier got the better of his team-mate, the six-time world champion Sebastien Loeb on Rally de Portugal recently.
After narrowly missing out on victory on Rally New Zealand in early May, Ogier quickly settled into his stride on the challenging gravel event in Portugal’s Algarve region. He was able to absorb huge pressure from the pressing Loeb to take a memorable victory, going fastest on six of the 18 special stages in the process at the wheel of his Citroen C4 WRC.
Ogier is also contesting selected rounds of the IRC this season in a Peugeot 207 S2000 with Belgium’s Geko Ypres Rally set to follow his outing on Rally d’Italia-Sardegna last weekend. An entry is also being planned on the forthcoming Rally della Lanterna, near Genoa, to enable the 26-year-old from France get acquainted with driving his C4 WRC on gravel.
Xevi Pons continues to lead the FIA Super 2000 World Rally Championship following the fifth event of the season in Portugal last month.
Pons, from Spain, won rounds two and three of the series in Mexico and Jordan respectively and now leads Jari Ketomaa in the standings by 28 points following his second place finish behind Ketomaa on the challenging gravel-based event.
Using a Stilo crash helmet, Pons has been on impressive form throughout his campaign this year in his Nupel Global Racing Ford Fiesta S2000 alongside co-driver Alex Haro.
The Super 2000-based series is in its first year of existence but has proven to be very popular among drivers and teams, with Pons one of several drivers to step back into the category having sampled the more powerful World Rally Cars in the past.
Pons returns to SWRC action on Rallye Deutschland in August after he elected not to include Rally Finland as one of his scoring rounds.
– Credit: Pirelli
