BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team Round up

The second round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship, the Uddeholm Swedish Rally, got underway yesterday, as the teams finalised their preparations at the pre-event shakedown. The evening also saw the first run of the Karlstad superspecial stage, in front of thousands of rally fans.

The BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team drivers completed a limited number of runs at shakedown, since the relatively high temperatures, well above freezing, meant that the road close to the base of Karlstad was soft and began cutting up almost instantly. Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala were both instantly at home in the conditions, having grown up on snow-covered gravel tracks. Abu Dhabi’s Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi was less comfortable with the conditions and used his three runs to familiarise himself with the conditions and the right technique to gain maximum grip.

The superspecial stage saw spectators turn out in their thousands for the short run around the track in Karlstad. The BP Ford Abu Dhabi WRT drivers were instantly on the pace, Latvala and Hirvonen setting second and third fastest times on the short timed test. Al Qassimi adopted a cautious approach and recorded a time 14th fastest on the opening stage.

QuotesSheikh Khalid Al Qassimi:“It was an interesting morning today! I had a small test at the beginning of the week and that helped me to understand a little the driving technique on these conditions. I tried initially to approach it like driving on tarmac by using smooth lines but that certainly didn’t work. The right technique seems to be similar to driving on gravel but sliding the car even more and keeping the wheels spinning so the studs can grip.

You have to set the car up well before the corner and drive it through in a slide. But even then, the car behaves differently in some corners to others, depending on the amount of ice on the road and how hard it is. By the time we went out for a third run this morning, the shakedown road was very muddy and there was lots of gravel on the surface. There were also big ruts developing and we could hear the underside of the car hitting the ground. 

“The superspecial stage this evening was good. We were cautious since as so many drivers have said, you can’t win the rally on a stage like this, only lose it. But of course, the real action starts tomorrow.”