Blogs
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Petter Solberg
Rally Bulgaria blog one: Thursday 8 July, 1600hrs.
"As I'm sure you can imagine, the build up for this rally was quite different from other rallies, but I think it will work quite well with a new co-driver inside the car. I almost could not believe it when Phil told me he wanted to stop, but I fully understand his reasons and now I'm prepared to make the best out of it. To be honest, my new co-driver Chris has some really big shoes to fill. But, from the first moment he sat in my car at the shoot-out, I could just feel his calmness and confidence. I'm sure he will be up to the challenge.
We started the week with a two day test, and on Sunday evening [4 July] we moved up to our hotel in Borovets. When I checked in, I got a key and the girl in reception told me I had to use it in the lift to make it go up to the 4th floor. At first I didn't really understand why, but when the doors in the lift opened up, I did. My hotel-room is a two floor apartment, and the lift opens straight into the living room. It is absolutely unbelievable. I have never had a hotel room as big. I almost get lost trying to find the bedroom...
Tuesday we started with the recce, and since this is the first time here, I was quite excited about seeing the stages. And I can tell you for sure; this will be a thrilling weekend. The stages are tricky and completely different from Spain and Corsica. There are a lot of changes in the surface and long corners, so you have to have the perfect pace notes to avoid getting a closer look at the Bulgarian forests. Timing for delivery of pace notes from co-driver to driver is going to be vital, so Chris is not getting an easy start in his new job!
That's it for now; I have to rush down to the autograph-session and the ceremonial start this evening. I'll write another update on Saturday to let you know how we're getting on."
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit: www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Matthew Wilson
Blog three: Wednesday 3 June, 1400hrs.
"Phew, that was a tough one...
Rally de Portugal is a great event in a superb location, but there was no time for sightseeing for me. It was a tight schedule on this event so we were totally focused on the rally from start to finish and didn’t get to see much apart from dusty rocky roads.
The stages were really tough, a lot rougher than in previous years and certainly some of the hardest in the WRC so far in 2010. It was a hard event on both the cars and the tyres. On every loop we had to be a little bit careful on the tyres and just think about how we managed them to avoid punctures. In some ways that’s difficult as you always want to drive flat out, but I think it brings another element of challenge and strategy to the rally too.
The opening day on Friday was pretty good for Scott and I and we didn’t have any big problems. Saturday was a different story though as we struggled with brake issues and that cost us a lot of time over the course of the day. We were back on it on Sunday though and to round it off with a second-fastest time in the Algarve Stadium in front of all the fans was a great way to finish the event. The atmosphere at the stadium is always brilliant and the crowd really gets behind the drivers, so you always want to put on a show for them. It was a real shame my team-mate Henning Solberg had to retire on the last day though, as we had been having a good battle during the rally and we were on for a good combined points haul for the Stobart M-Sport Ford team.
Now I’m back in Cumbria there’s no time to stop either. Scott and I are about to head off on the Tour de Corse, a 985km charity cycle challenge. We’re doing it in aid of the RPJ Crohn’s Foundation, which was set up earlier this year by our friend Rick Parfitt Jnr to help raise funds to support the National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease (NACC). It’s brilliant cause so we’re aiming to raise at least £5000.
It’s going to be a real slog but we’ve done plenty of training for it and Scott and I are really looking forward to seeing more of the island of Corsica than we do on a rally. You do realise when you’re driving it’s a spectacular place, you just don’t get much time to enjoy it as the scenery whizzes past the window at well over 100kmh! It’s a place steeped in rally history so we’re hoping to get a lot of support from the fans over there whole we are pedalling away.
We’ll also be promoting M-Sport’s home town of Cockermouth as we go with big stickers on our motorhome. The area has had a hard time over the past year or so due to the floods and so on, so we want to raise awareness that it’s open for business and tourism again. We’ll be posting regular pics and updates to our Facebook page along the way so be sure to check out it out: www.facebook.com/pages/Tour-de-Corse/115014471868039.
When we get back it’s straight into preparations for Rally Bulgaria. It’s a tarmac event so I’ll be doing some work with my driver coach just to get into the groove for the change of surface.
Until then I’ll be on my bike!
MW
For more information on the challenge including route and photographs, please visit: www.tourdecorse.co.uk
Anyone who would like to help with Matthew Wilson and Scott Martin’s fundraising can donate online via the Justgiving website: www.justgiving.com/tourdecorse
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Matthew Wilson
Blog two: Saturday 29 May, 2000hrs.
"Portugal is definitely one of the hardest rallies in the WRC calendar and today has been a tough day.
I had some problems with my brakes this morning which were similar to the kind of problems I experienced in Jordan earlier this year. I'm needing to brake a lot earlier than I want to and I keep running wide as a result - it's a bit of a vicious circle and quite frustrating. Hopefully this will no longer be an issue tomorrow.
The roads out here in Portugal are very abrasive and hard on the Pirelli Scorpion control tyres so we're carrying two spares for this round. In New Zealand we were only running with one and you tend to notice the difference in the handling of the car as each extra wheel weighs about 25kg.
I especially notice this at the start of the loop when the car is full of fuel - that's when you need to be a bit neater when taking sweeping corners and tight bends. I'd say the biggest issue in this event has been the tyre-wear - apparently there were 18 retirements from the opening day alone. It just shows how tough a rally it is and how hard the tests can be on the car.
It's been really hot the last few days and rising temperatures inside the car help demonstrate how important your fitness is when it comes to rallying. I'd say it's taken the best part of five years to get to the level of fitness that I'm at right now and it's been a combination of working on flexibility, endurance, strength and pace. At the beginning of the week before a rally, we eat a diet which is high in protein and low in fat but by the end of the week we move onto a diet with a quick release of carbohydrates - this helps maintain our concentration during long days out on the stages.
Today also consisted of the longest stage of the day and the stages were a real mixed bag. Some of the stages were sweeping, high speed roads but there were several slower, more technical sections too. I'm pleased to have got to the end of today though and will just be looking to hold my ground tomorrow. There's over a minute difference between Henning and I at the moment so I won't be pushing too hard and will just look to maintain a good position at the finish."
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Matthew Wilson
Blog one: Thursday 27 May, 2000hrs.
"Bom Dia! That's about the limit of my Portuguese language skills unfortunately! I reached the Algarve on Monday afternoon after a very early flight from Manchester. I seem to have had loads of early starts recently but that's all just part and parcel of the glamorous world of motorsport.
Scott and I always try to take part in other sporting challenges besides the WRC events, and the break between Rally de Portugal and Rally Bulgaria this year has provided the perfect opportunity for us to help fundraise on behalf of our friend, Rick Parfitt Jnr, who is a long-term suffered of Crohn's. Scott and I are taking part in a 1000km charity cycle challenge round Corsica next month (Tour de Corse) in aid of RPJ Crohn's foundation, so the combination of preparing for WRC events mixed with training for our mammoth cycle ride has meant we've had an extremely busy time lately.
We went up to Scotland the weekend after Rally New Zealand to take part in a weekend cycle ride in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support, and last weekend we did a 105km bike ride near our home in Cumbria. It's been good training, and out of the 400 people competing at the weekend we finished in the top twenty so it was a good result.
I really enjoy coming out to Portugal as the whole rally has a fantastic atmosphere - the buzz in the Algarve Stadium is immense as there are always so many enthusiastic rally fans here. It?s been getting gradually hotter since we arrived and I hear that it's supposed to be nearly 30 degrees Celsius on Sunday, meaning temperatures inside the car could reach over 50 degrees. In Jordan Rally back in March, the temperatures were so hot I drank up to 14 litres of water a day - I'll probably have to do the same here to ensure my fluid levels are high throughout the event.
On Monday afternoon Scott and I watched the recce video from last year to refresh our memories of what some of the stages are going to be like. We are quite familiar with the tests as there's only about 20km different from last year's event so we didn't have to make any huge changes to pacenotes. I even managed to fit in a bit of training too. I'm considering a triathlon in Barcelona in the run up to Rally Spain this year so I've been including a lot of swimming in my training programme recently.
Today (Thursday) shakedown went well generally. We overshot a junction on the last run and lost around three seconds so that was reflected in our slower time, but we were short on fuel at that point so didn't have enough time to get back to the service park and out for another test. I think every day is going to be tough in this rally, even though Sunday is the shortest day I still think it will be hard because it features some long stages.
One potential problem out here in Portugal is tyre-wear - the nature of the stages are very abrasive and the rising temperatures will not make it easy for any WRC drivers. The Pirelli Scorpion tyre is one tough piece of kit though so we're confident it will stand up to the beating it's going to receive.
There have been a few tweaks to the car after shakedown today - we've made everything a bit lower and stiffer so the Super Special Stage tonight will be a bit easier on the car. I'm just looking forward to getting started now...
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Hayden Paddon
Blog three: Thursday 13 May, 0900hrs
"Back home in Geraldine, halfway down New Zealand's South Island, I've got time now to look back on one of the highlights of my career so far.
To have achieved so much - like my maiden P-WRC win - in one rally, that's really something to celebrate. But, still, there are mixed emotions. The way Rally New Zealand panned out for John [Kennard] and me with key P-WRC rivals Richard Mason and Toshi Arai both out, we didn't need to push hard.
It was more about driving with our heads, driving sensibly. We've done events in the past where we've thought 'we couldn't have gone ANY faster'. This was not one of those events, which is still a bit odd, but the main thing is we did everything we set out to do.
Of course the whole team is ecstatic. It's just a small team based in a backyard shed in rural South Canterbury and virtually everyone works for us in their free time, so the results this weekend were a huge credit to our whole team.
Despite our delight in our achievements, the post-event celebrations were pretty mild - for me anyway. It was fantastic to get along to the after-match party at SKYCITY where we caught up with a lot of friends, but with Rally Portugal and my second Pirelli Star Driver event not far away, it was diet coke for me!
This week I've been going through things for Portugal, studying in-car footage from previous editions of the event and trying to get a better sense of the character of the roads. Friday night we've got the South Canterbury sports awards where I've been nominated for sportsperson of the year. Then on Sunday I fly to Hamilton for the day, where the rally car is, so we'll spend the day pulling it to bits so we can begin rebuilding and preparing the car for its next event, the International Rally of Whangarei in July.
Then it's back home briefly before flying out next Wednesday to the UK for two days. We hope to meet various people to discuss our options for 2011, which we are already trying to work through.
Hopefully our result here in New Zealand help kick-start these plans. Then it's off to Oporto, Portugal, where we are involved with the rally's promotional road-show and a mini super special stage in the streets of Oporto. The other four Pirelli Star Drivers and I travel 600 km south to Faro on Sunday evening to start our preparations for the rally. I can't wait to get back into the Pirelli EVO X and get some more time in the seat of a car that is still relatively new to us. The Portuguese Rally is going to be intense with 75 competitors from 33 countries and I'm really looking forward to tackling its 18 special stages.
Thanks for the opportunity to contribute to wrc.com - it's been another fantastic aspect to the massive amount of publicity I've enjoyed during Rally New Zealand."
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Hayden Paddon
Blog two: Saturday 8 May, 2030hrs.
“It’s the end of day two of Rally New Zealand and John [Kennard] and I are the leading P-WRC and NZRC crews, as well as the leading Kiwi crew. Which is all great, but it’s also kind of difficult...
With our lead of more than two and a half minutes, it should be just a matter of driving through tomorrow; just a matter of getting to the end. But that’s easier said than done.
Today I’ve had no battles with anyone. It’s hard without someone to keep you on your toes, and with Richard Mason - a long-time rival for New Zealand rally victories - and Toshi Arai dropping out yesterday, the rally has been a little bit odd for me.
You’ve got the find that balance of maintaining a good lead without cruising too much, and keeping it clean and tidy on a clean line so you get to the end.
Truly, it’s a fine line John and I are having to navigate and tomorrow, we take nothing for granted. Whaanga Coast can be a cruel stage and one to be respected, so we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.
From the start, we had a plan to look at the rally as a whole, not just one day, and the idea was to use the first day to get into the groove, setting us up for the rest of the event.
Friday morning and we had a lucky escape after the opening two stages when the nut holding the rear suspension arm to the rear hub came off, but luckily we were able to fix it with the limited spares we had on board.
Other than that, the rally started well and we were leading P-WRC by the time we arrived at the midday Whangarei service break with a 10 second lead after a close battle all morning between Richard Mason, Toshi Arai and us. I discussed with John before the start of the first stage that I didn’t want to look at the times all morning, instead just to focus on driving at a comfortable pace, so I was unaware of how tight it was. Unfortunately those battles ended early, with Toshi hitting a bridge, damaging his suspension, and Richard crashing out of the rally.
Saturday’s stages saw us maintain our 15th position overall, and improve in the two classes we’re contesting - P-WRC and NZRC, then with Mark Tapper rolling out of SS15, we also moved into the top Kiwi slot, which is all pretty exciting.
The car’s been going well, though things aren’t entirely perfect, like changing the front tyres which may have upset the balance, and the roads were really slippery earlier on today. Obviously it is the same for everyone, but we are really struggling with the rear of the car. It was all over the show, so I had to pull my driving back and just try and drive it really smoothly.
In fact, I’m not pushing. I’m basically driving down the middle of the road to maintain our P-WRC lead.
Another thing that has been great to see all the fans out on the stages and the amount of support from people waving us on. It gives us a real buzz!"
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Hayden Paddon
Blog one: Thursday 6 May, 1800hrs.
“Rally New Zealand - as Kiwis, how can John [Kennard - co-driver] and I not be excited to be competing in our home event? We know our roads offer fantastic rallying and I can’t wait to be out there tomorrow morning.
This year, it’s even more exciting than ever with Rally New Zealand being the first of my P-WRC events. This sure takes things to a new level - not only the intensity of competition and the desire to do as well as possible to score P-WRC points for this season, but also with the attention from so many media.
Throughout the last week the media attention and exposure that we have received has been incredible! Radio interviews, TV interviews, press interviews; you name it, we have done it and it’s been great!
In fact, the attention and support John and I have received from before we headed to our first Pirelli Star Driver event in Turkey and right through into our preparation for Rally New Zealand has been phenomenal - quite humbling, actually.
We were fortunate that the trip home from Turkey wasn’t as challenging for us as it was for many others. Since then we’ve been working on our championship-winning EVO IX, tuning it for the new 33mm turbo restrictor and the control fuel made to WRC regulations. Last Sunday, we put the finishing touches to the car before taking it testing near Huntly, just north of Hamilton. It was good to get back in our car again and get some miles under the wheels. It is different to the Pirelli EVO X, but by day’s end, I felt right back at home in the Team Green Lancer. The last time we drove it in competition was the Dunlop Targa of New Zealand last October and before that, Rally Australia last September, so it’s been to confirm that the changes we made during pre-season testing were positive.
Recce showed us that the roads in New Zealand look in very good condition, which has probably been helped by the recent dry weather leaving them with a hard base. There is some heavy gravel in places but, of course, this will not affect us as much when running behind the world rally cars from our position for day one of 17th on the road.
Today has been flat out. Shakedown went well. Using the Domain stage isn’t very reflective of the majority of the rally, although it does help us check that all is well with the car. This afternoon, we’ve put the finishing touches to the car and John and I have gone through our pace notes again after recce. Tonight’s ceremonial start is going to be very exciting with lots of great rally personalities from the years gone by for one of New Zealand’s most famous events.
Rally New Zealand represents our best chance to do really well on roads that we know. On a three-day event like this, it’s about minimising mistakes to help put together a good result!”
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
