Article written by Evan Rothman.
The Loeb Show has been on the World Rally Championship calendar since 2002. Each successive edition has seen the French pairing of seven-times World Champions Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena uncork the champagne on the top step of the podium to leave their rivals scratching their heads.
The ADAC Rallye Deutschland, this the ninth round of the 2011 WRC season, sees 20 WRC Cars take to SS1 on this event based around Trier in the Mosel wine region of Germany. With its roots having been planted in 1982 this event has seen many iterations over the decades, but this current format has proven the most popular and successful for fans and competitors alike. Over the three days of action, crews will be faced with three different types of sealed surfaces to make tyre choice vitally important. Also, a factor to calculate for WRC crews: should they chase after Loeb in the front or do they settle for second and aim to cement that position for themselves against the other 19 WRC Cars?
Although the route has been trimmed by 50km, most of that coming from the famous Panzerplatte speed test in the Baumholder military testing grounds, the roads and stages remain familiar to drivers and co-drivers. The total event distance is 1,245.96km and 19 stages lie in wait.
Rallye Deutschland is the first of three asphalt rallies in succession and the WRC Academy crews and Super 2000 World Rally Championship competitors will join the WRC Cars for this heady challenge.
They need to place all their confidence into their cars and tyres as they skittle along the bumpy and narrows roads in the Mosel vineyards on Day One where there are fast sections are broken up by hairpins on an undulating route. The public roads of the Saarland region for Day Two are more flowing and need to be attacked with a certain rhythm to achieve fastest stage times, but certain degree of wariness needs to be meted out should the weather change to leave the roads damp or wet in patches. What attracts the most media attention and grabs the imagination are the tests in the Baumholder military proving grounds on the afternoon of Day Two. Used by USA soldiers to test their army tanks, these highly abrasive, bumpy, dirty and dusty roads are lined with large stone kerbs called hinkelsteins. The slightest mistake here will result in a DNF… Day Three’s action returns to the Mosel win valleys, climaxing with the Power Stage that ends at the popular Circus Maximus.
It would be most foolish to not predict Loeb as the event’s winner. Together with Elena, the impressive Citroën DS3 WRC and the entire Citroën Racing empire behind them, it makes for a formidable combination that is unbeatable here. Loeb’s biggest rival will be teammate Sebastien Ogier, who has spent time in single-seater racing cars at a racing school in preparation for this event. The threat from the Ford Fiesta RS WRCs is also not one to underestimate, and Jari-Matti Latvala and Mikko Hirvonen (both of Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team) will be pushing their machines to their very limits to reel in Loeb and Citroën. The Fords have shown promise on asphalt in testing, but they’ve not had their pace compared to that of their French rivals. It is unlikely that Hirvonen or Latvala will win here, but they could be surprise podium finishers…
Reigning Junior World Rally Champion Aaron Burkart is contesting this event in a Ford Fiesta RS WRC. With a number of asphalt events under his belt in a Fiesta S2000 recently, he will be a dark horse on his home event. He will, however, need to outgun his teammates for this weekend, Matthew Wilson, Henning Solberg and Mads Ostberg at the M-Sport Stobart Ford Rally Team.
And there is always the Petter “Hollywood” Solberg factor. This Citroën privateer has been building on his speed in recent events and will be aiming to land on the podium here. His determination alone will drive him there. Could he upset the factory establishment? He will be aiming to get one over Ogier and the Fords, but Loeb will remain untouchable such is his sheer speed on this surface.
For the sub-series the S-WRC, the Ford Fiesta S2000s will be going up against the Skoda Fabia S2000s in a head-to-head contest where both manufacturers are equally matched. To predict a winner here would, unlike the WRC, be difficult. Any of seven drivers could walk away with the honours here, and I predict a scrap of epic proportions between Juho Hanninen (Skoda Fabia S2000), Martin Prokop (Ford Fiesta S2000), Ott Tanak (Ford Fiesta S2000) and Hermann Gassner Jr to be the centre of attention here.
The FIA WRC Academy stars will see John MacCrone taking up the challenge against the sub-series’ regulars Craig Breen, Molly Taylor, Brendan Reeves et al. Topping the championship so far is Egon Kaur, winner of all three events thus far.
For rally enthusiasts, this event marks an important stage of the World Rally Championship. Should Loeb win the next three rallies, and it is very likely that he will, the Frenchman will wrap up the Championship once more. However, during this week Loeb will announce his future plans. Will he remain at Citroën, move to Volkswagen or quit rallying entirely to take on circuit racing? We’ll have to wait and see… Roll on Rallye Deutschland!
