Hirvonen's Ford flies through the snow on the way to win the Swedish Rally.
By Robero Motta
Photos Citroën presse- N. Zwickel and Ford Motor Company
Hoping the make the WRC more interesting, new FIA rules now allow 1600cc turbo engine cars. So the Citroën Total World Rally Team has entered two new DS3 WRCs to defend their World Manufacturers’ and Drivers’ titles, but a tough challenger is the Ford Fiesta RSR WRC.
On its first outing in competition, the Citroën DS3 WRC ended the rally on a high note, but the Ford Fiesta RSR nonetheless ended up the Rally Sweden winner. Facing the Fiestas were four Citroën DS3s: two official cars and other two private DS3 Citroëns driven by Petter Solberg / Chris Patterson and Kimi Räikkönen / Kaj Lindström.
The Ice Man, for real. F1 Champ Kimi Raikkonen finish 8th in the new Citroen.
The Citroën DS3 WRC finished fourth thanks to Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. The DS3 WRC finished behind the three Ford Fiestas driven by Mikko Hirvonen, Mads Ostberg and Jari-Matti Latvala. Petter Solberg, with the other DS3, took 5th and Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, came home in sixth position.
On 10th February after several months spending in the design, build stage and thousands of kilometres testing, all the teams took part in the morning’s shakedown for Rally Sweden, the first round of the 2011 FIA World Rally Championship. Just before 8 AM, the two Citroën Total World Rally Team Citroën DS3 WRCs left the Hagfors service park to take part in the shakedown, a short stage of only 3.99 km in Rada.
The two Citroën Racing clients, driven by Petter Solberg and ex World F1 Champion Kimi Raïkkônen, racked up the maximum number of kilometers with a few hours to go to the start. After that, all the drivers took part at the autograph signing session in Färestadstravet. In the evening, the Rally had a very short 1,90-km timed stage in Karlstad.
Loeb in the snow. Loeb is the only 'foreigner' to win the Swedish Rally, but not this year.
Shakedown
1. H. Solberg (Ford) 2’02’’5
2. Hirvonen (Ford) 2’02’’6
3. P. Solberg (Citroën) 2’02’’7
4. Loeb (Citroën) 2’02’’8
5. Latvala (Ford) 2’03’’2
6. Andersson (Ford) 2’03’’4
7. Ostberg (Ford) 2’03’’9
8. Ogier (Citroën) 2’04’’1
9. Räikkonen (Citroën) 2’04’’5
10. Brynildsen (Skoda) 2’08’’6)…
On February 11, in the first day of Rally Sweden, the new World Rally cars were finally able start their battle with the stop watch. Rally Sweden began with Vargasen, Likenas and the Lovhaugen stage, a newcomer to the event run on other side of the Norwegian border. After the start, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, and the other Citroën’s driver, lost a great deal of time sweeping off the thick layer of freshly snow. At the end of the day Petter Solberg and his Citroën DS3 were behind the two official Ford Fiesta RSRs.
First day results
01. Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – 2:34:56.1
02. Mads Ostberg – Ford – +7.4
03. Petter Solberg – Citroën – +8.9
04. Jari-Matti Latvala – Ford – +10.9
05. Sebastien Ogier – Citroën – +15.8
06. Sebastien Loeb – Citroën – +1:42.1
07. Kimi Raikkonen – Ford – +5:05.5
08. P-G Andersson – Ford – +5:30.7
09. Patrik Sandell – Skoda – +7:44.8
10. Matthew Wilson – Ford – +7:46.2
Third place Fiesta clears some snow. Driver is Jari-Matti Latvala.
On the second day of Rally Sweden the snow was replaced by ice and the temperatures reached -26th°C. Sébastien Ogier, who started from sixth place on the second day of the event, quickly got past Henning Solberg and closed the gap to the front-runners.
Sébastien said “I really felt good in the Citroën DS3 WRC. I was able to go quickly without taking any additional risks,” he confirmed when he returned to the evening service park.”
Second day results
01. Mads Ostberg – Ford – 1:17:21.2
02. Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – +14.8
03. Petter Solberg – Citroën – +57.4
04. Jari-Matti Latvala – Ford – +1:10.0
05. Henning Solberg – Ford – +1:20.3
06. Sebastien Ogier – Citroën – +1:21.6
07. Patrik Sandell – Skoda – +2:35.1
08. Eyvind Brynildsen – Skoda – +2:43.5
09. Sebastien Loeb – Citroën – +2:48.4
10. Khalid Al Qassimi – Ford – +4:12.4
On the last day of the rally, the Citroën DS3 WRC finished fourth in Rally Sweden thanks to Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. One of the main difficulties of the rally was the endlessly changing road conditions which had a major influence on the performance of the cars. On Friday, the fresh snow that fell before the start handicapped the crews that were first out on the road. Today it was the snow in the air reducing the drivers’ visibility.
“It was very difficult,” said Julien Ingrassia. “We had a white veil in front of the bonnet. The snow remained suspended in the air and didn’t fall because there was no wind.”
Ogier trying hard in the new Citroen, but the snow just stayed in the air like a white veil.
A note about Solberg: on Friday, the Norwegian driver was caught at 112 km/h in an area where the speed limit was 80 km/h. So he had to surrender his license and was forced to let drive his navigator Chris Patterson drive, losing more than 50 seconds in the ‘Power Stage’.
Final results
01.Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – 3:23:56.6
02. Mads Ostberg – Ford – +6.5
03. Jari-Matti Latvala – Ford – +34.0
04. Sebastien Ogier – Citroën – +47.7
05. Petter Solberg – Citroën – +1:31.2
06. Sebastien Loeb – Citroën – +2:30.3
07. P-G Andersson – Ford – +6:22.0
08. Kimi Raikkonen – Citroën – +7:02.3
09. Matthew Wilson – Ford – +10:11.5
10. Khalid Al Qassimi – Ford – +10:31.1
Power Stage rank
01. Sebastien Ogier – Citroën – 2:22.7
02. Sebastien Loeb – Citroën – +0.3
03. Jari-Matti Latvala – Ford – +0.7
04. P-G Andersson – Ford – +1.3
05. Mikko Hirvonen – Ford – +1.4
Citroen Direct injection Turbos are only 1600cc but put out 300 bhp.
The Citroën DS3 WRC is powered by a four-cylinder, 1600cc turbocharged direct injection engine. A first at this level of motorsport, the use of a direct injection engine opens up new possibilities for the development of racing engines, especially in terms of fuel consumption. Designed and completely built by Citroën Racing, this engine develops 300bhp. Certified and supplied by Sadev, the six-speed sequential gearbox is coupled with front and rear differentials. Semi-automatic controls and the central differential are now prohibited. In order to keep costs under control, the FIA has also defined the characteristics (dimensions, weight, price, etc.) of the car’s main components.
Seems the FIA can try to hold costs down but not horsepower.
The Swedish Rally is the first of the thirteen rounds of the 2011 calendar is a special, unique test on snow, long the exclusive preserve of Scandinavian drivers. Since it was incorporated in the Word Rally Championship in 1950, the only “foreign winner” has been Sébastien Loeb who won in 2004, the year of his first world title.
Loeb celebrates at the finish, but could only manage sixth overall.
Loeb has won the WRC world championship seven times in a row (from 2004 to 2010), setting not only a historical record for the number of titles in WRC but also for the number of titles won successively in a motorsport competition. Loeb also came second of the 2003 season, losing to Petter Solberg by only one point.