Sweden Shakedown - Atkinson tops the shakedown time sheet

[triplecaution]

Atkinson tops the shakedown time sheet

Chris Atkinson of the Subaru World Rally Team was the fastest driver at today’s pre-event shakedown.

The Australian drove his Impreza WRC2007 through the 1.8km test stage in 1min 6.1sec, three-tenths of a second better than Sebastien Loeb and Petter Solberg who tied the next quickest time.

Because of the unseasonably warm weather in Karlstad, the stage was covered with only a thin layer of ice, and studded tyres soon uncovered gravel in the corners and braking zones. For this reason many drivers finished the four-hour session after only four or five runs.

“Even though the stage wasn’t very representative of the rest of the rally, it was still a useful exercise,” said Atkinson. “There were some very icy sections so we’ve been able to check the car and get a feeling for how it handles - so far everything seems good.”

The Stobart Ford line-up of Gigi Galli and Henning Solberg were joint fourth-fastest, just ahead of 18-year old Andreas Mikkelsen in a privately entered 2006 specification Ford Focus.

Top-10 shakedown times:

1 Atkinson Subaru 1:06.1
=2 Loeb Citroen 1:06.4
=2 P. Solberg Subaru 1:06.4
=4 Galli Ford 1:06.7
=4 H. Solberg Ford 1:06.7
6 Mikkelsen Ford 1:06.9
7 Latvala Ford 1:07.0
8 Hirvonen Ford 1:07.2
9 Andersson Suzuki 1:07.3
10 Gardemeister Suzuki 1:07.7

[gslrallysport]

So what happened in the 1.8km special stage??? 7 secs behind stage winner Solberg...

[VTRacing]

Stalled on the startline.

Also of interest, Dani Sordo has been penalised 5 minutes because Citroen changed the engine in his C4 after Monte Carlo.

[Haggers]

Originally Posted by triplecaution

[B].

Because of the unseasonably warm weather in Karlstad, the stage was covered with only a thin layer of ice, and studded tyres soon uncovered gravel in the corners and braking zones. For this reason many drivers finished the four-hour session after only four or five runs.

“Even though the stage wasn’t very representative of the rest of the rally, it was still a useful exercise,” said Atkinson. “There were some very icy sections so we’ve been able to check the car and get a feeling for how it handles - so far everything seems good.”

When I was there in 2006 old timers were complaining about how warm it was and it seems it is even worse this year. The Norwegians were pitching for an Arctic Circle rouond in NOrwat because they could "guarantee" real snow.

Haggers

[VTRacing]

Apparently most of the stages are ok for snow, unlike the shakedown stage. According to the stage analyses by Phil Mills, only the southernmost stage is likely to lose its snow.

I don't think it will be as bad as that one year (2003??) where there was virtually no snow and everyone was running around on cold gravel.

Global Warming FTW!

[tortfeaser]

Originally Posted by VTRacing

According to the stage analyses by Phil Mills, only the southernmost stage is likely to lose its snow.

Linkage?

[justinb]

Originally Posted by tortfeaser

Linkage?

http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk...e descriptions

or

http://www.swrt.com/news/viewarticle.html?id=1441

[VTRacing]

Thanks justinb.

[Ric Cary]

Loeb rolls ss4, still going but no clutch after remote service, Atko lose 15mins in stage spin !! currently 51st


http://www.wrc.com/jsp/index.jsp?lnk...leader%20rolls