MOTORSPORT: Three cheers for great rallying

The World Rally Championship has begun with two classic northern winter rallies and Sebastien Ogier has won both of them, but it almost was 25-year-old Norwegian Andreas Mikkelsen’s turn in Sweden at the weekend.

Mikkelsen was headed for glory on the final stage before clipping a snowbank and spinning his VW Polo R, allowing 31-year-old Ogier to snatch his 26th WRC victory in a similar VW and 26-year-old Belgian Thierry Neuville to slip by into second in his Hyundai i20, 6.4 seconds behind Ogier.

Mikkelsen, who won 10 stages straight on the first two legs of the rally, recovered to finish third, another 33.4 seconds back.

He had led by three seconds going into the final 15.87km Power Stage, with Ogier having an even slimmer margin over Neuville.

Never had three drivers been bunched by just 4.6 seconds going into the final stage of a WRC event.

Even at the final split, with just 5.37km remaining, Mikkelsen led by 2.7 seconds but then skidded and spun within a few hundred metres of the finish.

Ogier had begun the final day of the rally, which also ventured into Norway, behind the other two, but his talent prevailed in the end. He is already 23 points clear in the quest for a third straight world title.

Neuville and Mikkelsen are equal second, while VW’s Finn Jari-Matti Latvala is 34 points behind Ogier.

Latvala, last year’s winner in Sweden, had been poised to take the lead from Ogier on the first leg before he and the Frenchman both made errors.

Not going to finish any better than 12th this time, out of the world championship points, VW retired Latvala late in the rally so that it can make transmission changes to his car for the gravel, high-altitude Mexican round on March 5-8.

Neuville, who led going into the final three-stage leg, had intercom problems at the start of the day and lost time when he drove into a snowbank.

But Neuville won three of the event’s 21 stages and on the last stage on the penultimate day jumped 44 metres in his i20 to break the legendary Colin McRae’s ‘Crest Award’ record.
The 27-year-old New Zealander Hayden Paddon’s fifth place bettered his previous best in a WRC event – a sixth at Rally Australia last September.

While Paddon missed the Monte Carlo Rally that began the season, he is doing the rest of the championship in his second season with Hyundai.

Australian Chris Atkinson has lost his part-time slot in that team and young Dutchman Kevin Abbring stood in for injured Spaniard Dani Sordo at Rally Sweden and finished 11th with British co-driver Seb Marshall, who has partnered Australian Molly Taylor in some of her international events.

Ogier rated his Swedish victory “one of my best”.

He has now won as many WRC rallies as Spanish great Carlos Sainz, but he faces a two-minute penalty in the next year if he is caught speeding again on reconnaissance after breaking the speed limit seven times in preparation for Rally Sweden.

“The victory in Sweden two years ago, when I beat Sebastien Loeb (France’s nine-time world champion), was fantastic, but this was even harder-fought,” Ogier said.

“It was an unbelievable finale. I am incredibly proud of this win. It is certainly one of my best.

“Julien (co-driver Julien Ingrassia) and I gave everything here, from day one right through to the Power Stage.

“We drove as hard as possible and it paid off in the end.

“It was certainly one of the most thrilling and exciting ends to a rally – not just for the fans, but also of my career.

“I obviously feel sorry for Andreas, who came so close to his first win and was involved in an extremely intense battle with us.

“I am sure that this is not the last time we will be duelling for victory.

“He and Thierry Neuville produced impressive performances.”

Mikkelsen said he and his co-driver and countryman Ola Floene “did our utmost right up until the final metre – but unfortunately lost out in the end”.

“I never dreamed that I might one day be disappointed with a podium finish,” Mikkelsen said.

“I had the chance to clinch my maiden WRC victory and came very close to doing so, but I made a slight mistake, spun, and missed out on this opportunity.

“I am certain that it is only a matter of time until I get my first win.”

World Rally Championship driver standings after two of 13 rounds - 1. Sebastien Ogier (France, Volkswagen Motorsport) 53 points; 2. Andreas Mikkelsen (Norway, Volkswagen Motorsport II) 30; 3. Thierry Neuville (Belgium, Hyundai World Rally Team) 30; 4. Jari-Matti Latvala (Finland, Volkswagen Motorsport) 19; 5. Mads Ostberg (Norway, Citroen Abu Dhabi World Rally Team) 14; 6. Elfyn Evans (Great Britain, M-Sport World Rally Team) 14.

WRC team standings - 1. Volkswagen Motorsport 68 points; 2. Hyundai World Rally Team 55; 3. M-Sport World Rally Team 32; 4. Citroen Abu Dhabi World Rally Team 20; 5. Volkswagen Motorsport II 15.

WRC Sweden 2015: Photo Gallery here

NASCAR: Chevys up front
The American racing year gets into gear this week, with Chevrolets on the front row for the Daytona 500 in Florida early next Monday, Australian time. Four-time NASCAR Cup champion Jeff Gordon will start his last full-time season on pole position, with six-time champion Jimmie Johnson alongside him. The starting order for the rest of the 43-car field will be determined in two 150-mile (240-km) qualifying races midweek. Dale Earhardt Junior’s Chevrolet and Denny Hamlin’s Toyota will start at the rear in those qualifiers after irregularities found on them at the Daytona International Speedway. Matt Kenseth won the Sprint Unlimited warm-up race at the weekend in a Toyota.

Webber tests in Bahrain
Mark Webber has driven Porsche’s latest 919 Hybrid sports car at a five-day test in Bahrain. Webber missed the World Endurance Championship team’s earlier test in Abu Dhabi. The second model of the 919 is said to be “more driveable than its predecessor”, with the mid-corner understeer problem in last year’s car overcome.

Aussie joins Carlin
Malaysian-born Australian Mitchell Gilbert has joined top British junior team Carlin for this year’s GP3 Championship. Daniel Ricciardo and James Courtney are among those to have raced for Carlin. The team won last year’s GP3, a support series to F1 in Europe with British driver Alex Lynn, now an F1 test driver with Williams. The 20-year-old Gilbert feels he hasn’t had the equipment in his three previous years in Europe to best show his talent. His teammate will be a Ferrari Academy driver, 18-year-old Italian Antonio Fuoco.

Bargwanna wins in NZ
Jason Bargwanna won the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy Race in the NZ Touring Cars at Manfeild after a lightning pitstop in his Toyota Camry that put him ahead of the Nissan Altima of Kiwi rival Nick Ross. Bargwanna also won one of the other two races for the category there at the weekend, while Ross copped a 30-second penalty for putting him into the gravel at a corner in the other. The final round of the series is at Pukekohe in late April.