Blogs
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Patrik Sandell
Blog one: Thursday 12 June. 1700hrs.
“My co-driver, Emil Axelsson, and I have just finished the Acropolis Rally of Greece recce and I am sitting in my hotel overlooking the sea. It’s really beautiful here - and very hot too. Yesterday on the stages it was 42ºC. We have been drinking about seven litres of water per day, and it’s going to be like a sauna in the car when the rally starts - but of course I don’t normally go into a sauna with a fireproof racing suite, boots, gloves and a crash helmet on. There is no doubt that this rally is going to be physically very demanding.
The stages are looking good. Some places are a lot better than I expected them to be - quite fast and smooth actually - but then other places are typically Acropolis Rally; very rough and difficult. You really have to be careful here, otherwise you will break the car. Our Red Bull Skoda Fabia is very strong, but if you try and drive fast everywhere on this rally, for sure you will not finish it.
My plan is to not be the fastest P-WRC driver on the first day. The first day’s stages may suit me and the car, but we still won’t be taking any big risks. The trick is to try and complete the first two days without problems - or at least less problems than the cars around you - and be in a good shape to push a little bit more on the final day, if that’s what you need to do to win. The aim is to be first P-WRC on Sunday and not on Friday - you don’t get any points for leading P-WRC after Day 1.
Since Sardinia I have been back home in Sweden to do, amongst other things, some fishing - and after that I’ve been to America.
I visited New York and did all the tourist things like go to the top of the Empire State Building, walk across Brooklyn Bridge and go down the Hudson River on a speedboat to see the Statute of Liberty.
From there I went to do a rally in America last weekend, but our car’s engine broke on the first stage. Before the rally started we had to translate the pace notes that the rally organisers had given us into Swedish and also change them to our numbers system. It was really a lot of work, so stopping on the opening stage was really a real shame.
Still, it was all good experience and I’m looking forward to going back there again. I strongly believe that in the future there will be a round of the WRC in America, because it’s a great place and it is such a big market for sponsors and car manufacturers.
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Petter Solberg
Blog three: Thursday 28 May. 1100hrs.
What do you think of the photo? It’s one of the ones we did at the James Bond hotel last week. It was cool to get dressed up and have a laugh - a bit different to the usual PR stuff.
Well Sardinia turned out to be quite a good rally. We went there hoping for a podium, and that’s just what we got. I’m happy with my performance. It was good fun and I enjoyed just about every stage. Okay, we had some ups and downs like everybody else, but nothing major.
After the rally finished our team left the Island in different directions. I flew home to Monaco with my family, our team trucks began the journey to Greece, while on Sunday my car went straight to France for a rebuild.
I’ll be having a chat with my engineer FX later today to try get to the bottom of the over-heating problem we had. We need to find out the cause because we’re losing a hell of a lot of time when the temperature goes up. Most of the rallies coming up are very hot, and if they can’t find out exactly why we’re losing so much when it’s getting warm I will lose a lot automatically - and I don’t like the thought of that.
Switching to a different car is an option, and a Peugeot 307 is a possibility - especially as there are lots of upgrade parts available. But exactly how to do it I’m not sure. I don’t have the money to buy a car. Maybe I could rent or swap mine? My preferred option is to keep the one I have - but we need to get the performance all the time.
I felt very pleased for Jari-Matti. He did a good job. Jari’s a nice guy and he’s trying hard. I remember having a few problems myself when I started my career at Ford. Back then I got help from my team-mate Colin McRae. He’d been through a lot also, so he was a good guy to get advice from. I don’t have a team-mate of my own to help just now, but during Rally Argentina I met Jari-Matti on a road section and told him what Colin had told me - to back off a little bit because my speed was already more than enough. At first he thought I was playing psychological games or something, but I’m not that type of guy. I want the people who deserve it to do well.
I’m heading to Norway later today ready for the Solberg Grand Prix on Saturday. It’s something a school in Norway has been trying to organise for a couple of years, and this year I’m able to go along. All of the children have built soapbox carts and they’ve invited me to race down a hill with them. They have made me a car, so I’m just going to turn up with my overalls. I can’t wait! The following week I’m racing again, but this time in a powerboat. I can’t say much about it just yet, but with a top speed of 270kph it should be awesome.
See you later
Petter
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Petter Solberg
Blog two: Saturday 23 May. 1900hrs.
“I’m not lying when I say it felt quite good being the only Citroen driver at the press conference today. This proves the new old car is not so bad after all! We have been fast on many splits today, and the stage win at SS11 felt extra good.
I’ve been asked a lot of questions about team tactics this weekend, and how I feel about it. Well, what can I say, other than this team doesn’t have a second to spare, and we will certainly not give any of them away. We need every second to keep Loeb behind us tomorrow.
We started with a bit of a drama on the opening stage Friday morning, with an overheating engine. But we managed to get through the next two stages okay, and luckily we could change to a bigger radiator, but poor Henning had to lose his bonnet to keep his engine cool!
High temperatures have also been an issue this weekend. Can you imagine driving a car at 180kph through dry river beds, when it’s more than 60 degrees Centigrade in the cockpit, and then you have to turn the heater on to avoid the engine overheating again!?
And it is almost the same temperature when you stop and get out of the car, and then you have to change all the wheels before you head to the next stage. It’s hot! Especially for a Norwegian guy that is used snow and cold weather. It’s the same as the German Biathlon team that came to see us today. They do winter sports and end up at training camp in Sardinia...
Running this team is a family affair, and my wife Pernilla and son Oliver have been with us this weekend. Pernilla keeps a steady hand over everything while I’m out driving, but Oliver isn’t just relaxing. He knows everything costs money, so he has made a lot of hats out of cardboard and is selling them around the Service Park, trying to raise some money to buy some more power for my car.
I will do my best tomorrow, and try to keep the French behind me! I’ll report back later to let you know how we got on.
Petter.
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Petter Solberg
Blog one: Thursday 21 May. 1800hrs.
Did you know that James Bond returned to Sardinia today? I’ve just done a photo shoot for the organisers at the same location were they did the movie “The spy who loved me”. They dressed me up in a black tuxedo, gave me a gun and offered me a dry martini - shaken not stirred. And you know me - I loved every part of it.
I flew directly to Sardinia from Nice on Sunday, and for me the trip took only about 60 minutes. Unfortunately my luggage was not that lucky. After travelling around the world for five days, it showed up today. My team-mates were applauding when it finally arrived - I’ve being borrowing clothes from them all week. Actually I was quite happy about not having any clothes, as I found [team chef] Lorraine’s underwear very comfortable!
Well, back to what we are really here for - rallying. The week started with a test on Monday. With a brand new, old, car, we actually had a lot of work to do. The major difference from the old car is that we now have a bigger intercooler, and we have mechanical diffs. Then we had two days with recce, and since 50% of the stages are different compared to last year, we had a lot do.
But that’s not all, since I’m running my own team now; I also have to do some work at the Service Park. Floors need to be washed, new logos have to be put on both the rally car and our trailer, and guests have to be served. I’m not complaining, believe me, I enjoy every part of it.
Anyway, Sardinia is a great place to be, and the scenery some places is stunning. But the stages are really, really rough in some places, and it will be quite a challenge for our new car. Hopefully she will handle it.
I’ll report back later to let you know how we’re getting on.
Petter.
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Conrad Rautenbach
Blog two: Tuesday 29 April. 1100hrs.
Whichever way you cut it, travelling for me, my mates and my family didn't go to plan last week.
Rally Argentina was a big disappointment for me. I retired the Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC when damage to the right-front wheel turned into something more sinister; the roll cage had been nudged back and our event was over. After fourth place last year, this was not the South American sequel I'd been looking for.
The upside to the trip was the chance to spend time with family and friends. But their trips weren't exactly straightforward, either. My parents flew into Buenos Aires and - faced with a long wait for the onward flight - dad decided to hire a car. He really fancied the drive out towards the Pampas.
Unfortunately, what he didn't realise was that when he cancelled the flight from BA to Cordoba, the return was automatically canned as well. Imagine the shock when they tried to check-in online on Sunday. They were left with no option but to jump in the car and head east for eight hours. My mum was not impressed!
And my friends, visiting from America, were hit with a bill for $750 for the internal flight. So, they decided to jump on the bus. Fifteen hours later, they arrived at the hotel. All I can say is that I have some pretty dedicated mates!
And then we didn't make the finish. Sorry guys! Things are not going well for the Citroen Junior Team right now, but I'm sure a change in fortune is just around the corner for us.
Luckily, I made up for a pretty miserable event with some sport just after the event. I went pigeon shooting with Phil Mills and Nasser Al-Attiyah, which was great. Pigeons are vermin in Argentina and the sound of the shotgun is music to the farmer's ears. After bagging a few birds, it was off to Buenos Aires for a few days. What a cool place that is!
We did a bit of everything, from Tango in Palermo; some awesome steak (what else...) and mighty Malbec in Puerto Madero to trying a spot of fishing on the Rio de la Plata (River Plate, to you and me). Everything in South America is big - and this river is no exception: it's got the widest estuary in the world, with Montevideo just over the water. I gave our Uruguayan neighbours a wave, but given that they were 30 miles away, I don't think they saw me!
Ciao,
Conrad.
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Conrad Rautenbach
Blog one: Thursday 23 April. 1500hrs.
I was driving through a farm on the recce for Rally Argentina yesterday and I would have sworn I was at home in Zimbabwe - the resemblance between parts of Argentina and my home country is quite uncanny.
Maybe that's why I like this event so much. Or maybe it's because the sun's shining. The weather couldn't be more different from this time last year, when it seemed it would never stop raining. That said, we are expecting a bit of a downpour tonight.
I've been here for a while now. I got out on Saturday to relax a bit before the recce. Dan [Barritt, co-driver] was hoping to do the same, but the driver of the luggage cart who drove into the 747 he was about to get on in London put paid to that. The accident damage to the plane meant it was cancelled and poor Dan didn't get here until Monday afternoon.
The recce went well, but the stages look a bit rougher than I remember them. I like the new roads we're using: lots of long straights into junctions, quite similar to some sections of the Safari. Obviously, I have good memories of this event, finishing fourth last year. Right now, I'd happily take a repeat of that result; we've had a tough start to the season. We start this event driving the C4 WRC my Citroen Junior Team mate Evgeny Novikov used in Portugal after ours burned out on the last round.
Once the rally's over, I'm staying on in Argentina for a while. Some of my mates are coming down from America, old school mates, and my folks are going to be around as well. We?re going out to the country for a while and then to Buenos Aires for a couple of days, which will be cool. But for now, it's time to focus on the rally.
Ciao,
Conrad.
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com
WRC Pirelli driver blog - Henning Solberg
Blog three: Wednesday 9 April. 1200hrs.
Hi everyone. I’m back home in Norway now after a really exciting rally in Portugal. The whole thing ended on a high for me as I set the fastest time in the Super Special stage back in the Algarve Stadium on Sunday afternoon. The crowd was amazing again and it was really good for me to finish the rally the same way I started - with a win.
I was pretty pleased with the way everything turned out for me over the weekend. We had a couple of small problems but nothing too bad considering how tough the conditions were for everyone. Fifth place overall means more good points for me and for the team which is even further ahead of the Citroen Junior team in the manufacturer standings now.
And there were two Solbergs in the top-five as Petter finished just ahead of me in fourth. We’re now level on points in the drivers’ championship and of course I’m keen to stay ahead of my little brother!
While things went well for me there was a bit of disappointment for the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team as my team-mate Matthew Wilson crashed out of the rally so close to the end. I feel incredibly sorry for Matt as he had driven a great rally up to that point. He’s made a big step up this season and has been really consistent, so for the weekend to end like that for him was really sad.
Sunday night is a time for everyone in the team to have some fun after working so hard all week. I went out for a nice meal in Vilamoura and then joined up with the rest of the team in a local bar before heading back to the hotel to pack for our flight back to Oslo.
I had to be at the airport at 4.30am which was not much fun but it’s good to be back home for a little while. April’s a busy month for the WRC and we haven’t got long before we head to Argentina but I’m looking forward to it already.
Henning
For more about Pirelli in the WRC visit:
www.pirellityre.com/
