Blogs

WRC Pirelli driver blog - Ken Block

Blog one: Thursday 5 March. 2100hrs.

"Rally Mexico actually started for me in Missouri. At 3 A.M. on Sunday morning to be exact. I woke up to a 125-mile drive to the St Louis airport to catch my flight to Leon, Mexico. Any other morning, I would have felt like the walking dead, but I have to admit, I was still stoked after the fifth consecutive win at the Rally America 100 Acre Wood Rally that my co-driver Alex Gelsomino and I had clinched just seven hours previous.

After getting into town late afternoon on Sunday, I was hoping Monday could serve as a day of rest and relaxation, but my trainer, ex motocross star Ryan Hughes had different plans. While he kindly let me sleep in 'til about 7 A.M, he wasn't going to allow me to skip on my work out, which consists of a few exercises that have had passers-by pointing in awe, accompanied sometimes with a few chuckles.

One of the toughest exercises is balancing on a big inflatable ball while Ryan throws small medicine balls back and forth to my left and right hands. Not only does this help develop a strong core and balance, it also aids in eye-hand coordination, something that is crucial in a rally car. Every day this week we have started off with a work out similar to this, the only difference is the rest started at 5 A.M.

Waking up early, and going to sleep late is just the way it is in rally. And it's not just Alex and me, it's the crew, the photographers, and especially my team manager Derek Dauncey and my marketing manager Brian Scotto who seem to be competing for the fewest hours slept on rallies this year. Right now it's a draw.

With such a busy schedule down here, from the two long days of recce to the press conferences and interviews, or even just signing posters for the overwhelming number of fans, there's little time to actually get to see any part of Mexico that is not framed by the window of either M-Sport's Volvo recce car or the Monster World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC. Bummer, cause I really enjoy the crazy things Leon and Guanajuato have to offer. Last time I was here, a pick-up truck, blasting music through a roof-mounted PA system passed me, and in the bed of the truck was a lion - thankfully in a cage. Yeah, you can't make that stuff up, nor do you ever see things like that in the States. Apparently, they were promoting the local zoo.

But with everything I did this week, the thing I was looking forward to the most was without a doubt, Thursday morning's shakedown. Not only do I need every second of seat time, I can get to keep developing into a competitive driver, I just love driving that Focus WRC car. It's just such an amazing machine. Unfortunately, a small hiccup with the gearbox, left me running back and forth to service more than running the shakedown stage. But it's okay, I've got a whole weekend of stages to race."

For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com

WRC Pirelli driver blog - Armindo Araujo

Blog three: Sunday 14 February. 2100hrs.

Hello one final time from Sweden. Today was a tough day because it was a fight for survival. I wanted to finish on the podium, but I knew that [Martin] Semerad wouldn't give up easily.

My Mitsubishi Evo X wasn't any easier to handle today than on the first two days of the rally. The weight of the car meant it kept pulling against me, so I lost my line and we slid about a lot. This means that we lost time even when we didn't make any serious mistakes.

I was just lucky that Semerad made some errors which cost him a lot of time, because he was tough competition on the first two days. It's a shame though that because of all the set-up problems, I couldn?t even try and keep up with Flodin and Grondal.

Now the rally's over though and we finished on the podium so we are very happy. It was the best possible result for us and it has given me the confidence I needed to try and win the P-WRC again this year. Snow rallies are not easy for me, but Sweden was a good start to the season.

I'm looking forward now to the rest of this year's P-WRC and know that with more testing we can get the car's set-up right.

We will spend a lot of time working on the car before Mexico, but first, I'm off to have a great party this evening!

For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com

WRC Pirelli driver blog - Armindo Araujo

Blog two: Saturday 13 February. 2100hrs.

"Hello again. Day one was disappointing for Miguel and me. Last year I won the Championship driving the Mitsubishi Evo IX. This year I chose the Evo X which I had trialled in Rally GB 2009. The main difference between the two is the weight of the car. The Evo X has proved too heavy for Rally Sweden.

On day one, our car's suspension geometry was completely wrong. I lost lots of time on the bends and even when we tried to make changes to the set-up they didn't seem to work. The podium seemed to be getting out of reach.

I was very disappointed, but in the evening all my friends called me to encourage me to keep trying and because they know that snow rallies are hard for me. This helped me stay positive and focused for day two.

Today was a new day and a much better one. In the morning it went a little better, but we still didn't find quite the right rhythm with the car. We were much better on gravel than on the snow and ice and it was very frustrating. However, we did gain some time on Semerad.

My battle with Martin for third place has become my focus during the rally. The hardest part of this is that I am fighting with the car all the time as well as with Semerad. My tyres are also being destroyed in the gravel sections. I am happy to have finished today in third position - and especially to have won SS14. My aim for tomorrow is to try and keep Semerad behind me.

I started the rally hoping to make the podium and I think Miguel and I are in a good position to achieve that so long as nothing goes wrong tomorrow. Sweden is a tough rally for me and to get third place points would be the start to the season I wanted in my fight to win the P-WRC again this year.

I'll let you know how we get on."

For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com

WRC Pirelli driver blog - Armindo Araujo

Blog one: Thursday 11 February. 2000hrs.

"A big hello from Sweden! We arrived last Sunday to prepare for the rally. The team have rented a house in Hagfors, very close to the Service Park, so we’re all staying together and can concentrate on the task in hand.

We cook in the house most nights - well someone else cooks and I eat (which is a big relief to my co-driver Miguel).

I’m very excited about this first rally of the season. It’s important for us to get a good start to the Championship here in Sweden - we want to finish the rally of course, but our main target is to be on the podium. This will be a challenge, but I am confident we can do it. Miguel and I know the team well and we have spent a long time testing the new Mitsubishi Evo X. Our target is to win the P-WRC again this year.

It will be a different championship this year without the S2000s, but I think it’s good to have the new S-WRC. It’ll make the competition fairer, because the fight will be between competitors in the same cars and the same conditions.

There is of course a lot of attention on us as 2009 Champions. When you win something, everyone shows more interest in you. This includes women. Sometimes you get very special attention when you are World Champion!

We’re really looking forward to the rally after the recce and shakedown. There weren’t any nasty surprises for us and it’s always nice that the people in Sweden like rallying so much. The weather is completely different to what I’m used to at home in Portugal and the low temperature means that there are not many people out on the stages, but the people like the sport and that’s what’s important.

I’ll keep you posted as the rally goes on - for now, wish us luck!"

For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com

WRC Pirelli driver blog - Jari-Matti Latvala

Hello again. And welcome to my final, post rally, blog from Rally GB. It turned out to be quite a weekend for me and everyone at the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team - there was certainly no shortage of action.

Without a doubt the biggest battle of the weekend was the one between my team-mate Mikko and Sebastien Loeb. And even though I was competing, it was exciting for me - and I'm sure the other drivers too - to watch how that unfolded. The two of them were going so, so fast that it was an incredible fight. Mikko pushed himself extremely hard, and I think it was some of the best driving I have seen him do this season. In the end though it just wasn't enough. I have no doubt that without the bonnet problem Mikko would have been able to really push Seb right until the end. It just wasn't his time. Next year he will be back, there is no doubt about that.

My own rally wasn't without incident; it was a really character-building experience. I went to Wales hoping to fight for victory in my Ford Focus RS WRC but it wasn't to be. We started off with a difficult Friday with the driveshaft and brake problems, and then we had to contend with some extremely slippery conditions. On Sunday I managed to find a good rhythm with the car and the set-up finally felt comfortable - and then I made a mistake. At a little jump right at the finish I ended up off the road. Thankfully the British fans are as good as the Finns and they got us back on the road quickly. It was a crazy event.

So after what has been a pretty up and down season for me I have finally finished. There have been some great moments for me this year. Getting that win in Italy was undoubtedly the highlight for me, but I am sure next year will bring many more. Ford have been great to me this year and next year I will be pushing myself even harder, hopefully getting more wins for me and the team.

Now the rally season is over for another few months and I am looking forward to a bit of break. It's such an intense season with so much rallying and travelling, it does become a little tiring after a while, but I would not change anything for the world - I love my job.

Right now though I want to forget rallying for a while, concentrate on other things and then get my mind ready for 2010. I think I am going to go to America for a bit after I have relaxed in Finland, I'm not sure where exactly, but nowhere too hot - I am from Finland, remember.

Enjoy the break and we'll see you again in 2010.

For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com

WRC Pirelli driver blog - Jari-Matti Latvala

Blog two: Saturday 24 October. 2100hrs.

"Hello again from Wales. Well, as you may have seen I had a pretty hard start yesterday with my driveshaft problem on the first stage, quickly followed by no brakes, so I was doing the morning session with only rear brakes!

It cost me a lot of time which was really disappointing but the mechanics did manage to fix the brakes at the midday service, helping improve my speed in the afternoon.

So fast forward to today and everything is going a bit better for me; my Focus RS WRC is feeling better than yesterday, the driveshaft and brake problems have disappeared and I am posting better times. But if I'm honest it's been nothing special. Okay, the car was working alright, but I've not really been happy with my driving. A couple of good stage times, but I spent too much time fighting with the car set-up.

Yes, Wales is one of my favourite rallies but in these wet conditions, road position plays a big part and I don't think being ninth in the order has done me any favours - the stages seem to get more slippery as you go down the start order.

The weather has been pretty much what I expected from Wales. Some sections have been worse than others because of the amount of rain and the number of cars that have gone through, but you have to try and prepare for that. The biggest rain-related problem I have encountered is when the ruts in the road fill with water; it's really hard to deal with the lack of grip when you hit them flat-out.

Of course I am a little disappointed that I can't be challenging for the top five this weekend but that's rallying for you and you can't predict these things. But there is no doubt in my mind that at this stage next year I'll be competing for the top positions.

For Sunday if I could have a couple of top three stage times that would make me happy, but there's no point in taking stupid risks. Tonight I'll go back to the hotel and read a book to try and clear my head before we start again. I've think I've spent more than enough thinking about my driving. At the moment I'm reading a Finnish thriller - it does the job perfectly."

For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com

WRC Pirelli driver blog - Jari-Matti Latvala

Blog one: Thursday 22 October. 1300hrs.

"Good afternoon from a rainy Wales! I'm bringing you this update from our service park at the Shakedown, after a session I feel went pretty well. It's nice to be back on my favoured surface in the Focus RS World Rally Car after the tarmac of Rally Spain, and I must say I am really looking forward to this year's Rally GB.

Since Spain I have been back at home in Finland, relaxing and spending time with friends, as well as building an historic rally car, which is my favourite hobby at the moment. It's an old Sunbeam which me and my friends are hoping to restore and get running in the next few months.

I have also been doing some training at home as well as watching some local rallies, but mostly I like to stay away from the sport, just to get my mind of it for a while. I think it's important for drivers to take a break between rallies and I especially like coming home to Finland to do that.

But now I am here in Wales, and the last rally of the season starts tomorrow. This morning I tried out the car on the Shakedown stage, which was really slippery because of the rain, but as the morning progressed I managed to get faster and faster and ended up with the second fastest time. The settings we found on our test have been good, and apart from changing the springs to make the suspension a little softer I'm pleased with where we are.

At Shakedown I also had the chance to give the footballer Alan Shearer a ride in my Focus RS World Rally Car, and that was a lot of fun. I think he really enjoyed it. Perhaps he fancies taking over from Miikka Anttila? I was driving at about 90 per cent, so it was pretty fast, but he seemed to enjoy himself!

I'd say I'm feeling pretty relaxed about Rally GB, I haven't got any pressure on me so I can just drive how I want. A lot of people have been asking me about tactics this weekend, whether I am going to push hard or pace myself, but I think the ideal tactic is to have balance a between the two, as you don't want to push like crazy and make unnecessary mistakes.

Everything is ready now, we just need to get started. This rally is one of my favourites and I believe we can fight for victory, so I'm going to go for it. But you need to find a good rhythm here - attacking like crazy is not the best way to do it. Once I've got the rhythm we'll see where we are. I'll keep you updated...

For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com