Round 5 Rally NZ

[Rus-Evo]

Well I will be in Auckland for that weekend but will miss it most likely

[Rus-Evo]

Kimi isnt coming.

Rally New Zealand ready for action

Raikkonen opted to miss the long journey south in favour of more testing

Monday 26 April 2010 - 18h40, by www.wrc.com

A total of 56 crews make up the entry list for next week’s Rally New Zealand, with drivers from 17 different countries.

Six different manufacturers are represented, with nine World Rally Cars leading the field away. Unsurprisingly the man in front is Sebastien Loeb, who will be hoping to repeat his victory of 2008: the last time that New Zealand formed part of the World Rally Championship.

Appearances are not always quite what they seem though, as Loeb’s victory only came after Ford was dramatically denied a one-two finish following an accident for Jari-Matti Latvala and a puncture for Mikko Hirvonen.

The Cockermouth-based squad is back for revenge this year, with Hirvonen and Latvala starting day one in third and fourth places on the road: an ideal position in the dusty gravel of New Zealand. The other Fords on round five of the series will be driven by Matthew Wilson, Henning Solberg and Federico Villagra.

The factory Citroens of Sebastien Loeb and Dani Sordo will be backed up by just a single Citroen Junior Team entry for Sebastien Ogier, with Kimi Raikkonen having opted to miss the long journey south in favour of more testing.

New Zealand also counts for a round of the S2000 World Rally Championship and the Production Car World Rally Championship, contributing to a healthy contingent of 46 Group N cars.

Amongst the stars of the Group N entry are the local drivers nominated to score PWRC points: Kingsley Thompson, Richard Mason and Emma Gilmour - who is co-driven by former factory navigator Glenn Macneall, her long-time partner.

While Raikkonen may be absent, there is still a former single-seater star in the Rally New Zealand line-up: ex-Champ Car driver Michel Jourdain. The Mexican retired from the American series at the end of 2004, having notched up one pole position, two wins and nine podium finishes, before making the switch to rallying.

[PURIST]

More testings? I guess Kimi decided to call it quits(F1) because he didn't want highly stressful lifestyle of constant travelling!

[Rus-Evo]

Oh darn, I will be on the same street as the World Rally Championship special stages round.....but the day AFTER.......darn darn darn darn darn.

SOOO close.

My best chance is to see a car go past in traffic

[moonraker]

It was never planned for Kimi to compete in Rally NZ

[moonraker]

Loeb has made up 95 of the 100 seconds he lost on SS4 yesterday

[Lynn-rex]

Loeb is amazing!
I won't mind if Ogier gets his debut win.
(his teammate not rallying this week )

[moonraker]

Loeb proves he is human after making another costly mistake, but still gets a podium.

Pos Driver Car Time/Gap
1. Jari-Matti Latvala Ford 4h04m09.8s
2. Sebastien Ogier Citroen + 2.4s
3. Sebastien Loeb Citroen + 15.2s
4. Mikko Hirvonen Ford + 21.3s
5. Dani Sordo Citroen + 25.8s
6. Matthew Wilson Ford + 3m26.0s
7. Henning Solberg Ford + 6m15.3s
8. Jari Ketomaa Ford + 10m19.3s
9. Federico Villagra Ford + 10m49.8s
10. Xevi Pons Ford + 11m13.4s

[Invité]

Congrats Jari-Matti, Sebastien O. , Sebastien L., Mikko and Dani to a great result in NZ rally.

Pity, the Petter crashed....

All in all, it might have been interested, if Kimi had contested too....where had he have finished?

[lightmas]

watching rally highlights...

whyare all the leaders crashing?

[Invité]

Probs only a bad weekend for the motor sport guys....

[Gary]

Jari is also getting better.