Sunday, 18 February 2018

Rally - Snowman Classes roundup



Following criticism, complaint and suggestion (there's no pleasing some fowk, eh?) there is a new look to the Class reporting on Scottish Championship events in Scotland's online rally mag at: www.jaggybunnet.co.uk  so see what you think.

Apparently some folk (well, one individual) didn't like the previous story-line approach to Class reporting while another reckoned the old 'Rally Sport' style of individual crew reporting was best. So I have combined both methods to come up with a new lay-out.

Since I reckon Class winners are every bit as important as the overall winners I have modified the 'Crew by Crew' reports into their various Classes, so you can see at a glance how your own favourites fared and what became of their rivals. There might be some tweaking needed to the layout here and there but see what you think.

You can start at any point in the reporting as there are links at the end of each page report to take you to the section you want next. Latest magazine updates in the on-line mag are always at the top of the right hand column on the Front page.

It's also worth pointing out that nowhere else will you find such a complete breakdown of what happened on a Scottish Championship event as in Jaggy's convoluted ramblings. And he's not finished yet, there's still the News & Gossip Roundup from the Snowman to come!



Friday, 16 February 2018

Rally - Gallacher's Snowman



That's the main report from last weekend's Arnold Clark Snowman Rally now published in the on-line mag. A full 'blow by blow', or perhaps, 'snow by snow' account of who did what in Inverness - and who didn't! Full Class Roundup will be compiled this weekend.


Thursday, 15 February 2018

Rally - Swedish shakedown




The last practice session before this evening's official start of Rally Sweden provided Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT with an opportunity to make a few final set-up adjustments. Back in the Citroën squad for this weekend, Mads Østberg and Torstein Eriksen confirmed that they had got to grips with the C3 WRC quickly as they set the second fastest time, whilst Kris Meeke and Paul Nagle, and Craig Breen and Scott Martin also showed good pace, finishing fourth and eighth respectively.

This morning's 6.86 kilometre-long shakedown stage was contested on perfect, snow-covered roads around Skalla. Lined with big snow banks, and despite being a little bit bumpier than the stages to be contested over the weekend, it proved to be fairly representative of what lies in store for the competitors.

The Citroën Total Abu Dhabi WRT crews completed five runs with this final practice session also enabling the team to review various set-up options and build on the work done during the four days of pre-event testing last week.

The rally is due to start this evening on the Karlstad racecourse with a 1.90km-long super special stage. However, the real action gets under way tomorrow with the longest leg of the rally (140.1km of timed stages), split between Sweden and Norway.

Kris Meeke commented: "At the start of the shakedown, I wasn't feeling very confident. I felt more comfortable on the second pass and in the end, my time is fairly competitive. Since last year, obviously we have learned lessons and improved the C3 WRC. But we know that our competitors have improved too. So we'll just have to wait for the first few stage times and see where we stand, especially as road position is going to have an impact. In any case, I'm pleased with my car. The target for me is to keep being consistent and try to come away from Sweden with some more points in the bag."

Craig Breen added: "The start of the shakedown wasn't easy for us. The conditions were fairly different to those we had in testing last week and I was a bit short of grip at the rear of my C3 WRC. But we managed to adapt the set-up as we completed more runs, and we finished on a positive note."

SHAKEDOWN STANDINGS
1, Neuville / Gilsoul (Hyundai i20 WRC) 4:17.3
2, Ostberg / Eriksen (Citroën C3 WRC) 4:17.6
3, Ogier / Ingrassia (Ford Fiesta WRC) 4:18.1
4, Meeke / Nagle (Citroën C3 WRC) 4:18.3
5, Tänak / Jarveoja (Toyota Yaris WRC) 4:18.7
6, Mikkelsen / Jaeger (Hyundai i20 WRC) 4:18.8
7, Latvala / Anttila (Toyota Yaris WRC) 4:19.0
8, Breen / Martin (Citroën C3 WRC) 4:19.1
9, Suninen / Markkula (Ford Fiesta WRC) 4:19.2
10, Evans / Barritt (Ford Fiesta WRC) 4:19.3

Race - Sheddon on track




Three-time British Touring Car Champion Gordon “Flash” Shedden will race an Audi RS 3 LMS in the inaugural World Touring Car Cup (WTCR) this year. The Scotsman who celebrates his 39th birthday today (15 Feb), will compete for Belgian WRT Racing in what is likely to be a 30-race season.

Shedden, who becomes an Audi Sport driver, is expected to commence testing next month with the season scheduled to begin in Marrakech (Morocco) over 7-8 April and close at the Circuito da Guia in Macau (15-18 November). The championship also visits Argentina, China, Germany, Hungary, Japan, the Netherlands and Portugal.

“The switch to WTCR was quite unexpected but comes at a perfect time in my career,” confirms Gordon. “I had a fantastic time in BTCC winning three Championships and becoming only the third Scottish driver to win the Championship alongside Jim Clark and John Cleland.

 “The Audi RS 3 LMS is a phenomenal piece of kit. And as the old saying goes, ‘if it looks good it will perform good’. The RS 3 saloon is a ‘global’ car, compared to the many ‘hatch backs’ competing. It has a unique silhouette which makes it instantly recognisable.

Meanwhile WRT is a very successful team with a long and flourishing partnership with Audi Sport and its customer racing division. They’ve won the Spa 24Hrs and the Bathurst 12Hrs in the GT3 category and so for me it was a very logical decision to join the Belgian team. 

Sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the WTCC becomes the highest class of competition for touring cars, taking over from the World Touring Car Championship having adopted the TCR technical regulations this year.

Shedden, who scored 124 podium finishes – including 48 wins – in his 347-race BTCC career between 2001-17, made his TCR International Series debut in the final two races in Dubai last year, recording second place from pole-position.

Team WRT, one of the most successful Audi Sport customer teams in GT3 racing since 2010, will prepare two Audi RS 3 LMS cars for Shedden and Jean-Karl Vernay (F).

Wednesday, 14 February 2018

Rally - Snowman tailpiece



The art of successful co-driving combines a multitude of dark arts. Managing time schedules, route direction, distances, fuel consumption, food and beverage intake and selecting the appropriate tree behind which to pop out for a pee, or perchance something else which may or may not require the tearing-out of the back pages from the Roadbook - hopefully soft and absorbent!

And all this has to be managed while furnishing his/her 'pilote de voiture' with the necessary information to make fast and safe forward progress during each Special Stage whilst whispering gentle words of encouragement and praise through the intercom to soothe the fevered brain and fragile ego of the one half of the crew which has the least to do.

A good co-driver must also possess the ability and patience to take instruction and appease the driver at all times even if that means taking instructions with which the co-driver may be inclined to disagree - although some crews take it to the extreme.

Overheard in the Dingwall Mart service area:
"When ah tellt ye tae get back in the caur and get yer heid doon, that's no quite whit ah meant!"