M-Sport Ford World Rally Team in the FIA ​​records


The M-Sport Ford World Rally Team (not to be confused with Ford World Rally Team, which is the official team of Jari Matti Latvala and Petter Solberg) was recorded in the FIA, the M2, with Ott Tanak as the first pilot, being the second car "split" between several drivers. In the first two races, the Monte Carlo Rally, Sweden, the second driver will be Russian Evgeniy Novikov.

Former Subaru star Chris Atkinson to make WRC return on Rally Sweden




Former Subaru star Chris Atkinson will return to the World Rally Championship, driving a Subaru Impreza R4 on next month's Rally Sweden.

The Australian hasn't competed in the WRC since finishing fifth in a one-off Citroen C4 WRC outing on Rally Ireland in 2009. Atkinson collected six WRC podiums in his three years with Subaru, but switched to Proton for last season - just missing out on the Asia-Pacific Rally Championship title.

18 World Rally Cars will start the second round of the World Rally Championship, Rally Sweden next month - but Britain's Kris Meeke is once again absent from the entry list.

Meeke will miss the Monte Carlo Rally due to budget constraints, but it is hoped Mini will run a third car for the Northern Irishman on selected rounds of this year's WRC. The former Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion won't, however, be in Karlstad.

As predicted by AUTOSPORT, Meeke's seat in the second factory John Cooper Works WRC will be taken by former Junior World Rally Champion Patrik Sandell. Armindo Araujo, Paulo Nobre and Richard Goransson will also drove Minis in the snow.

Mads Ostberg makes his first appearance of 2012 in a Fiesta RS WRC, as does Polish driver Michal Solowow and highly rated Finn Jari Ketomaa, who sensationally led Rally Finland in a Fiesta RS WRC last season.

Solowow, Evgeny Novikov and Ott Tanak are all entered under the M-Sport Ford World Rally Team banner, a squad which is expected to run with WRC Team status this season.

Also making a first appearance in Sweden will be Nasser Al-Attiyah, whose Citroen DS3 WRC is entered by the Qatar World Rally Team.

Andreas Mikkelsen returns to the Volkswagen Motorsport squad, driving one of the German firm's Skoda Fabia S2000s for the second time after his debut in Finland last season. Mikkelsen, of course, partners Sebastien Ogier.

Swedish driver Patrik Flodin makes a rare WRC appearance outside of a Subaru, using a Ford Fiesta S2000 on his home round of the series.

Rally Sweden runs from February 9-12.

DMACK Helps Ketomaa Get To Grips With WRC



Following its top-six finish at Wales Rally GB, DMACK Tyres has continued its commitment to success in the FIA World Rally Championship by supporting Jari Ketomaa in his five-event world rally bid this season.

The 32-year-old Finn, a three-time national rally champion, stunned everyone during last year’s Rally Finland when he led the event after the opening stage. With DMACK’s support, his 2012 campaign will start in Sweden and include Portugal, Greece, Finland and GB. Ketomaa will use a fully DMACK-branded Ford Fiesta RS WRC car run by Autotek Motorsport.

DMACK is hoping Ketomaa, winner of three SWRC rallies in 2010, will help demonstrate the potential of its new WRC tyre range. For his opening event in Sweden, Ketomaa will use DMACK’s successful studded winter tyre – which clinched PWRC victory on its first ever event last year.

O Nόβικοφ θα αγωνιστεί τουλάχιστον σε 8 αγώνες



Ο Εβγένι Νόβικοφ θα πάρει μέρος τουλάχιστον σε οχτώ αγώνες στο Παγκόσμιο Πρωτάθλημα Ράλι του 2012. Ο Ρώσος σταρ είναι σε ηλικία 21 ετών και θα οδηγήσει ένα Ford Fiesta WRC και θα έχει συνοδηγό τον Γάλλο Ντένις Ζιροντέ. Ο Νόβικοφ μιλώντας στο «Chempionat.com» λέγεται ότι θα συμμετάσχει σε οχτώ αγώνες αλλά θα προσπαθήσει να δώσει το «παρών» και σε περισσότερους ανάλογα με τα οικονομικά του. «Πραγματικά θέλουμε να κάνουμε το πρωτάθλημα και οι 8 αγώνες θα είναι το λιγότερο. Φυσικά θα προσπαθήσουμε να κάνουμε όλη τη χρονιά και θα εργαστούμε γι αυτό.

Το 2011 αγωνίστηκα στο Ράλι Μ. Βρετανίας εντελώς ελεύθερα. Θα κάνουμε ότι καλύτερο μπορούμε”, είπε ο Νόβικοφ. Στόχος του Ρώσου για; τη νέα χρονιά είναι παρουσιαστεί σαφώς πιο ανταγωνιστικός και με λιγότερα λάθη στο ενεργητικό του, αλλά και να συλλέξει εμπειρία από αγώνες που δεν έχει αγωνιστεί ξανά, όπως το Μόντε Κάρλο και η Σουηδία. «Σε μερικούς αγώνες όπως το Μόντε Κάρλο και η Σουηδία θα πάω κρατημένα και προσεκτικά ώστε να αποκτήσω εμπειρία για το μέλλον αλλά σε άλλους αγώνες όπως η Ελλάδα θα πάω τέρμα γκάζι», τόνισε ο Νόβικοφ.

B.X.

Eurosport on the verge of World Rally Championship TV deal



The FIA's World Rally Championship television agreement with Eurosport is expected to be revealed later today.

AUTOSPORT's sources have confirmed contracts were signed late last night for a three-year agreement between the governing body and the French firm. The deal is believed to center on television coverage and distribution, while the promotion of the sport is expected to be taken care of the FIA itself.

Eurosport was unavailable for comment when AUTOSPORT contacted its offices, but a statement is expected to be issued in a matter of hours.

The deal for next week's Monte Carlo Rally is reckoned to include a 26-minute highlights show at the end of each day, but the power-stage will not be run live on Sunday afternoon.

Eurosport's agreement comes in the wake of the demise of former global rights holder North One Sport, which had its contract with the FIA terminated on Sunday following a breach of contract.

With just days to go before the start of the opening round, one television insider has admitted Eurosport will be up against it - despite having covered the event as an IRC round for the last three years.

North One Television CEO Neil Duncanson said: "I think Monte Carlo is very difficult now for whoever goes to do it. We were ready to go right up until the FIA terminated the NOS contract on Sunday. Since then we have stood down the satellite bookings, we were supposed to be doing three live stages and all the other programmes. The preview programme is finished, it was supposed to be delivered on Wednesday - we'd been up at M-Sport shooting it on Monday. We were ready to go.

"Somebody coming in cold could produce some fairly basic highlight shows; Eurosport at least have experience in Monte Carlo and could probably put together some lightweight live stages for the internet, but the longer this goes on the more difficult it becomes. There's months of planning which people will have to do in days. Monte is very difficult, you're right in the mountains in difficult weather and moving all the time. It's a logistical nightmare."

Duncanson added that there were legal implications for Eurosport's move, saying: "We're still waiting to hear from Eurosport about the transfer of our production team over to them, under European employment law. But we've not even had the courtesy of an acknowledgement so far."

Abarth linked to top-level rallying return




According to reports in Italy, Abarth – wholly owned by the Fiat Group – is planning a return to international rallying with the new version of the company’s Grande Punto in 2013 or 2014.

Abarth competed in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge with a factory team from 2007-2008, before moving onto a partial campaign in 2009. Factory drivers Anton Alen, Giandomenico Basso and Andrea Navarra were all winners in the Grande Punto S2000, but the car was progressively outclassed by more modern opposition and Fiat withdrew its factory team before the 2010 IRC season.

The brand new Punto road car will arrive in 2013, the earliest year in which Fiat could launch itself back onto the World Rally Championship scene, where it has not been present at the top level since the 1980s and the legendary 131 Mirafiori.

The current Grande Punto, styled by Giugiaro, has been in existence since 2005 and was the very first Super 2000 rally car to be homologated back in 2006. The new Punto is being designed in-house, and will use a range of Fiat’s Twin Air and new Multi FIRE engines to make it the most ecological car of its class.

Abarth, however, has always concentrated on the performance arm of Fiat, and now has its headquarters in Fiat’s former factory in the Mirafiori district of Turin. In order to enhance the company’s sporting credentials, a WRC campaign is perceived as the most cost-effective motorsport solution – with the car going head to head against its key market rivals.

Volkswagen to run Kevin Abbring and Andreas Mikkelsen in WRC this year




Volkswagen Motorsport has confirmed that it will run Kevin Abbring and Andreas Mikkelsen as official junior drivers in this year's World Rally Championship.

The pair, who were both part of last year's inaugural FIA Institute Young Driver Excellence Academy, will alternate drives in the sister Skoda Fabia S2000 to VW team leader Sebastien Ogier.

Abbring will drive the car on next week's Monte Carlo Rally, while reigning Intercontinental Rally Challenge champion Mikkelsen gets his first outing of the season on round two, Rally Sweden, in February.

Discussing the Valence and Monaco-based event next week, 22-year-old Dutchman Abbring said: "Sebastien Ogier and [his co-driver] Julien Ingrassia are fantastic driver colleagues. Sebastien is currently one of the world's best three rally racers. It's a great honour for me to be in the same team with him and to compete in the same car."

In addition to his VW commitments, Mikkelsen will make a full defence of his IRC title as the Norwegian hopes to become the first driver to take back-to-back crowns.

VW has been tipped to contest all rounds of this year's WRC with its Skodas while at the same time developing the Polo R WRC. Neither of the cars have been registered for the Super 2000 World Rally Championship.