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Rally della Lanterna (Italy) - 11-12 Jun 10

Posted: July 6, 2010 11:18 AM - 3096 Hits

A first one-two for the Citroën Junior Team!

Posted: July 6, 2010 11:18 AM

In order to prepare for the second half of the FIA World Rally Championship, which is held largely on asphalt, the Citroën Junior Team entered two C4 WRCs on the Rally della Lanterna – which took place on Saturday close to Genoa. Kimi Räikkönen and Kaj Lindstrom led for most of the rally right up to the start of the last stage, where they finally had to give best to Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia. For the first time in its history, the Citroën Junior Team sealed a one-two!

Sébastien Ogier won the opening superspecial on Friday night to lead from Kimi Räikkönen. The following day, the rally continued with eight stages totalling 120 competitive kilometres.

As the teams left the service park for the first loop of three stages, threatening weather made tyre choice an extremely tricky proposition. Although a storm had been predicted for the stages, Sébastien Ogier chose hard tyres.
“We’re not here to win, but instead to test for the four remaining asphalt rounds on the WRC this year,” he explained. “So this is a good opportunity to find out how the tyres behave in unaccustomed conditions.” Kimi Räikkönen, who is learning the C4 WRC on asphalt, made a more conservative choice with soft tyres.

Although he overheated those tyres on SS2, Kimi was leading the rally by the end of SS4. As for Sébastien, he lost nearly 30 seconds after struggling to find grip on the slippery asphalt!

On the second loop of stages, both C4 WRCs were fitted with soft tyres. Kimi hung onto the lead, while Sébastien climbed up to second; 17 seconds off his team mate.

The rally went down to the final three stages. On the penultimate stage, a small impact cost Kimi several seconds, and Sébastien closed up to within 2.4 seconds of him! As has been the case on several occasions recently, there was maximum suspense at the stop control of the final stage. In the end, Sébastien Ogier claimed victory by 5.7 seconds.
“It’s always great to win a rally, but above all I’m pleased to have been able to test a variety of different things on the car,” the Frenchman said.
“ I feel much better prepared now for the remaining rounds of the World Rally Championship, starting with the Rally Bulgaria that will be new for everyone.”

Kimi Räikkönen also drew a positive conclusion from this valuable test event.
“It was a good experience,” he said. “The car was fun to drive and this day will be very useful to me to get ready for the second part of the season.”

Team manager Benoît Nogier will retain many good memories of the trip to Italy.
“Another victory in the space of a few weeks and our first one-two are great moments for our team, which has been working non- stop,” he concluded.
“Leaving aside the result though, we’ve made a lot of progress to prepare for the Rally Bulgaria. It’s extremely useful for the future to have tried out a wide range of tyres in different conditions. Sébastien was just as good as we expected him to be and I would also like to highlight the performance of Kimi, who set some very good times. We expected him to feel more at ease on asphalt and that has turned out to be the case. It’s very encouraging for the future. Finally, I’d like to thank the organisers and the spectators, who welcomed us enthusiastically to their beautiful part of the world.”

Results

Posted: July 6, 2010 11:17 AM

Results: digilander.libero.it/genovagare/Lanterna10/index.html
Video Clips/Rally Website: Rally della Lanterna (Italy)

The Citroën Junior Team tests on asphalt

Posted: June 3, 2010 11:39 AM

The Citroën Junior Team will take the start of the Rally della Lanterna in Italy in order to prepare for the second half of the 2010 FIA World Rally Championship season, which takes place largely on asphalt. The team will run two Citroën C4 WRCs for its regular line-up of Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia and Kimi Räikkönen/Kaj Lindström.

Of the 50 or so rallies that Sébastien Ogier has contested since the start of his career, only around 20 of them have been on asphalt. His experience of the surface at the wheel of the Citroën C4 WRC amounts to just two events during the 2009 season: Ireland, where he was sixth, and Spain, where he finished fifth. In order to continue learning this surface, the recent Rally de Portugal winner will take the start of the Rally della Lanterna: a round of the Italian asphalt trophy. He said:
“With the end of the season heavily biased towards asphalt, this rally will allow us to get back up to speed with the Citroën C4 WRC on this surface. Taking part in a real rally will allow us to experience competitive conditions, which will help us be ready for Bulgaria and the rest of the season in Germany, France and Spain.”

Sébastien Ogier, who is now second in the World Rally Championship for drivers, is delighted by this latest opportunity.
“With three rallies in three weeks, everything is a bit hectic for me at the moment! It’s great; as for a young driver every start is a chance to gain more experience.”

Kimi Räikkönen has never yet driven his Citroën C4 WRC on asphalt. His only experience of this surface goes back to Italy’s Rally della Marca in 2009, at the wheel of a Super 2000 car.
“I’m really happy to get this opportunity to drive in Italy,” he said.
“I’ve still got many fans there and I’m sure that there will be a really nice atmosphere. Since the very start of the season, I’ve always been really keen to try out the Citroën C4 WRC on asphalt. We’re going to treat this rally as a life-sized test session.”

Benoit Nogier, the Citroën Junior Team manager, said:
“The priority for the Citroën Junior Team is to give our drivers the best possible preparation. Just like we did at the start of the year, when we entered a Citroën C4 WRC on the Arctic Rally to give Kimi the chance to drive the car on snow, the Rally della Lanterna will be an opportunity for our drivers to get to grips with the car on asphalt before the second half of the world championship season.”

Alongside the Citroën Junior Team drivers, local driver Felice Re - the current leader of the Italian asphalt trophy - will also take part in the Rally della Lanterna driving a Citroën C4 WRC.

The Rally della Lanterna takes place close to Genoa. After a spectator superspecial on Friday 11 June, there are eight stages on Saturday – making a total of 123.93 competitive kilometres.

Event Website

Posted: June 3, 2010 11:33 AM


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