Thursday, August 26, 2004
Rally PlanetCitroen - Rally Japan preview
Aug-26 2004 / 10:15 CDT
The Xsara in the land of rising sun
Six months after Mexico, it's the turn of Japan to join the family of FIA World Rally Championship organising countries. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti will be in the land of the rising sun with their respective Xsara WRCs to discover this event which is based in Hokkaido, the northernmost of the four main islands that make up the Japanese archipelago.
The presence of a WRC round in Japan is a long-awaited moment. A number of manufacturers from this major car-producing nation have either been involved, are currently involved or plan to be involved in world class rallying, and Citroën is delighted to have this opportunity to compete on their home ground. There is also the added pleasure and excitement of discovering a culture that continues to have a certain mystery for Westerners, even though some of its traditions are now well known across the world.
The history of the sport in the archipelago dates back to the Japanese Alpine Rally which was organised for the first time in 1959, and eighteen times in all. The Hokkaido Rally saw the light of day in 2001 with the ambition of one day gaining World Championship status, working its way up via the Asia-Pacific Championship towards which it has always counted. Last year, sensing that its inclusion in the WRC was imminent, Citroën sent Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and engineer Didier Clément to take a look at the 2003 event.
Hokkaido is covered with conifer, ash and birch forests and the weather is generally rather wet in September, something which Seb, Daniel and Didier were able to experience at first hand. They also saw how narrow and fast the 2003 route was, although the stages have been modified to a large extent this time round. "From what they tell us, the going will also be sandy and could cut up," says Technical Manager Jean-Claude Vaucard. "As with all non- European events, pre-event testing on-site is not allowed. We will only have the two hours of shakedown to adjust the car's set-up to the terrain, presuming that the shakedown stage is representative of the rally. Add to that the weather factor and I think this could well be a tough rally."
Indeed, the newcomer promises to be a difficult event for all the teams who will have to adapt as quickly as possible, an exercise in which Citroën is generally quite strong. Combined with the Xsara's reliability, this should be a positive feature for Sébastien and Carlos, especially since their respective positions in the Drivers' championship – just like that of their team in the Manufacturers' standings – means that their tactical options should be quite flexible in Japan.
Facts and figures:
• After Turkey (in 2003) and Mexico (this year), it's the turn of Japan to join the FIA World Rally Championship.
• The time difference between Japan (GMT +9) and continental Europe (GMT +2) is 7 hours, to be added to the times listed below to obtain Continental European time.
• The event's host town is Obihiro, situated on the northernmost of the four main Japanese islands, Hokkaido. Sapporo, its capital, hosted the 1972 winter olympics.
• Recce (two runs over each stage) takes place over Wednesday September 1st (07:00 until 19:00) and Thursday September 2nd (06:00 until 11:00).
• The single service park and start and finish will be in Kita Aikoku, near Obihiro.
• The 'New Tokapci' Shakedown stage (5.4 km) is located close to the service park.
• A ceremonial start will take place on Thursday September 2nd at 19:30 in Obihiro city centre and will be preceded by a Rally Show (18:00: 'meet the crews', autograph signing session).
• Total length of the three legs is 1,675.55 km, including 387.50 km divided into 27 stages (12 different).
• Leg 1 (Friday September 3rd): 644.30 km, including 150.58 km divided into 9 stages. Starts from the Kita Aikoku service park at 05:30; 'Yam Wakka 1'/'Kunneywa 1'/'Niueo 1'/'Rikubetsu 1'; Service A (11:51, 20 minutes); 'Yam Wakka 2'/'Kunneywa 2'/'Niueo 2'/'Rikubetsu 2'/'Satsunai super-special 1'; Service B (19:43, 45 minutes). Cars enter parc ferme (Kita Aikoku) between 20:28 and 22:18.
• Leg 2 (Saturday September 4th): 627.70 km, including 124.98 km divided into 11 stages. Starts at 05:30; Service C (05:30, 10 minutes); 'Pawse Kamuy 1':'Nupri Pake 1'/'Rikubetsu 3 ':'Kimun Kamuy 1 '/'Cup Kamuy 1'; Service D (11:59, 20 minutes); 'Pawse Kamuy 2 '/'Nupri Pake 2'/'Rikubetsu 4 '/'Kimun Kamuy 2 '/'Cup Kamuy 2'/'Satsunai super-special 2'; Service E (19:31, 45 minutes). Cars enter parc ferme (Kita Aikoku) between 20:16 and 22:06.
• Leg 3 (Sunday September 5th): 293.49km, including 111.94 km divided into 7 stages. Stars at 05:30; Service F (05:30, 10 minutes); 'Rera Kamuy 1'/'Panke Nikorpet 1'/'Penke 1'/'Satsunai super-special 3'; Service G (10:18, 20 minutes); 'Rera Kamuy 2'/'Panke Nikorpet 2'/'Penke 2'; Rally finishes after Service H (15:01, 20 minutes).
• Of the 12 stages used in 2004, five were run in 2003: 'Niueo' (modified this year), 'Rikubetsu' (a short stage organised in an off-road driving complex), 'Kimun Kamuy', 'Panke Nikorpet' and 'Penke'. 'Kunneywa' was used in 2002, while 'Yam Wakka' was run in 2001. The five others, including the 'Satsunai super-special', are new.
• Tyres: two types of pattern are authorised per team. They were registered eight weeks prior to the start. The individual driver quota (identified by bar-codes and nominated on Monday August 2nd) is 60 tyres in Japan, 30 of which may be used during the event.
• Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were present for the recce of the 2003 event driving a standard road car.
• Tommi Mäkinen, who has been invited to drive the 'zero car', will be co-driven by Matthieu Baumel who usually sits alongside Citroën's Guerlain Chicherit in the Junior WRC.
Aug-26 2004 / 10:15 CDT
The Xsara in the land of rising sun
Six months after Mexico, it's the turn of Japan to join the family of FIA World Rally Championship organising countries. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti will be in the land of the rising sun with their respective Xsara WRCs to discover this event which is based in Hokkaido, the northernmost of the four main islands that make up the Japanese archipelago.
The presence of a WRC round in Japan is a long-awaited moment. A number of manufacturers from this major car-producing nation have either been involved, are currently involved or plan to be involved in world class rallying, and Citroën is delighted to have this opportunity to compete on their home ground. There is also the added pleasure and excitement of discovering a culture that continues to have a certain mystery for Westerners, even though some of its traditions are now well known across the world.
The history of the sport in the archipelago dates back to the Japanese Alpine Rally which was organised for the first time in 1959, and eighteen times in all. The Hokkaido Rally saw the light of day in 2001 with the ambition of one day gaining World Championship status, working its way up via the Asia-Pacific Championship towards which it has always counted. Last year, sensing that its inclusion in the WRC was imminent, Citroën sent Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and engineer Didier Clément to take a look at the 2003 event.
Hokkaido is covered with conifer, ash and birch forests and the weather is generally rather wet in September, something which Seb, Daniel and Didier were able to experience at first hand. They also saw how narrow and fast the 2003 route was, although the stages have been modified to a large extent this time round. "From what they tell us, the going will also be sandy and could cut up," says Technical Manager Jean-Claude Vaucard. "As with all non- European events, pre-event testing on-site is not allowed. We will only have the two hours of shakedown to adjust the car's set-up to the terrain, presuming that the shakedown stage is representative of the rally. Add to that the weather factor and I think this could well be a tough rally."
Indeed, the newcomer promises to be a difficult event for all the teams who will have to adapt as quickly as possible, an exercise in which Citroën is generally quite strong. Combined with the Xsara's reliability, this should be a positive feature for Sébastien and Carlos, especially since their respective positions in the Drivers' championship – just like that of their team in the Manufacturers' standings – means that their tactical options should be quite flexible in Japan.
Facts and figures:
• After Turkey (in 2003) and Mexico (this year), it's the turn of Japan to join the FIA World Rally Championship.
• The time difference between Japan (GMT +9) and continental Europe (GMT +2) is 7 hours, to be added to the times listed below to obtain Continental European time.
• The event's host town is Obihiro, situated on the northernmost of the four main Japanese islands, Hokkaido. Sapporo, its capital, hosted the 1972 winter olympics.
• Recce (two runs over each stage) takes place over Wednesday September 1st (07:00 until 19:00) and Thursday September 2nd (06:00 until 11:00).
• The single service park and start and finish will be in Kita Aikoku, near Obihiro.
• The 'New Tokapci' Shakedown stage (5.4 km) is located close to the service park.
• A ceremonial start will take place on Thursday September 2nd at 19:30 in Obihiro city centre and will be preceded by a Rally Show (18:00: 'meet the crews', autograph signing session).
• Total length of the three legs is 1,675.55 km, including 387.50 km divided into 27 stages (12 different).
• Leg 1 (Friday September 3rd): 644.30 km, including 150.58 km divided into 9 stages. Starts from the Kita Aikoku service park at 05:30; 'Yam Wakka 1'/'Kunneywa 1'/'Niueo 1'/'Rikubetsu 1'; Service A (11:51, 20 minutes); 'Yam Wakka 2'/'Kunneywa 2'/'Niueo 2'/'Rikubetsu 2'/'Satsunai super-special 1'; Service B (19:43, 45 minutes). Cars enter parc ferme (Kita Aikoku) between 20:28 and 22:18.
• Leg 2 (Saturday September 4th): 627.70 km, including 124.98 km divided into 11 stages. Starts at 05:30; Service C (05:30, 10 minutes); 'Pawse Kamuy 1':'Nupri Pake 1'/'Rikubetsu 3 ':'Kimun Kamuy 1 '/'Cup Kamuy 1'; Service D (11:59, 20 minutes); 'Pawse Kamuy 2 '/'Nupri Pake 2'/'Rikubetsu 4 '/'Kimun Kamuy 2 '/'Cup Kamuy 2'/'Satsunai super-special 2'; Service E (19:31, 45 minutes). Cars enter parc ferme (Kita Aikoku) between 20:16 and 22:06.
• Leg 3 (Sunday September 5th): 293.49km, including 111.94 km divided into 7 stages. Stars at 05:30; Service F (05:30, 10 minutes); 'Rera Kamuy 1'/'Panke Nikorpet 1'/'Penke 1'/'Satsunai super-special 3'; Service G (10:18, 20 minutes); 'Rera Kamuy 2'/'Panke Nikorpet 2'/'Penke 2'; Rally finishes after Service H (15:01, 20 minutes).
• Of the 12 stages used in 2004, five were run in 2003: 'Niueo' (modified this year), 'Rikubetsu' (a short stage organised in an off-road driving complex), 'Kimun Kamuy', 'Panke Nikorpet' and 'Penke'. 'Kunneywa' was used in 2002, while 'Yam Wakka' was run in 2001. The five others, including the 'Satsunai super-special', are new.
• Tyres: two types of pattern are authorised per team. They were registered eight weeks prior to the start. The individual driver quota (identified by bar-codes and nominated on Monday August 2nd) is 60 tyres in Japan, 30 of which may be used during the event.
• Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena were present for the recce of the 2003 event driving a standard road car.
• Tommi Mäkinen, who has been invited to drive the 'zero car', will be co-driven by Matthieu Baumel who usually sits alongside Citroën's Guerlain Chicherit in the Junior WRC.
