Rally Jordan (1st – 3rd April 2010) – Preview
After Sweden and Mexico, the WRC heads for Jordan for a rally that will be yet another completechange of scenery! In the Middle East, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena, the world championshipleaders after their victory in Latin America, will be aiming for their 56th success. Dani Sordo andMarc Marti, who finished second in this event in 2008, will be out to help the Citroën Total WorldRally Team to score a good overall result.
The Rally Jordan, first run two years ago, is back on the FIA World Rally Championship calendar. Theevent, which takes place in grandiose semi-desert landscapes, is quite unlike any other. The route is avery compact one made up of quick undulating specials, most of which are below sea level. As usual inthe WRC, it will be held over three loops programmed on Thursday, Friday and SaturdaySébastien Loeb, whose aim (victory) hasn’t changed, is very much at home on this kind of surface: “Wedominated in Mexico but we can’t relax as I know that our rivals will be back at their very best nextweekend. Another victory would obviously be a big boost for us and for Citroën; it’s not going to be aneasy rally. The stages take place right in the middle of the desert; there are no markers and we’re oftenrunning blind, so it’s easy to hit one of the big rocks that line the route. We have to be very precise whenwe’re making notes.
Dani Sordo is a driver to be reckoned with in this rally. The Spaniard was second in the 2008 event andhe is tackling the third round of the season with great determination: “Our results in Sweden and Mexicowere not in keeping with our potential. What’s very positive is that we’ll be seventh on the road in Jordan.On Friday, we’ll have the advantage of a route that’s been well swept by the front-runners. A podiumfinish would be a good result for Mark and me.”
As on the majority of gravel rallies, road-sweeping will again be at the heart of the drivers’ and teams’preoccupations. “The earth on the Rally Jordan stages is very hard. It’s covered by a layer of little pebbleswhose thickness can vary depending on what the organisers have done,” adds Loeb. “We know thatthere have been violent storms that have damaged the roads. They’ve been repaired but we’ll have to seeif this factor will have any influence on the outcome. In any case, second time round through the stages,we’ll have a grip level very like asphalt.”
To prepare for Rally Jordan and Rally Turkey, Citroën Racing has carried out a test in the south of Spain,which gave the team the opportunity to run through the range of set-ups available for this type of surface.“The C4 WRC’s development has reached its peak and we’re not expecting any major evolutions, butthis test was indispensable,” explains Sordo. “The overall level of competition is so close that a smalldetail can make the difference between defeat and victory. We fine-tune the set-up to the maximum bymaking small adjustments.”
Three questions to Xavier Mestelan-PinonCitroën Racing’s technical manager
Let’s recap on Rally Mexico in which Citroën scored its first triple on gravel. How do you explainthis domination? There’s a lot of talk about adapting the engine to the altitude…
“Above all, I think we had a great race. The C4s ran well without having any reliability problems and ourdrivers were particularly happy with their cars’ handling. Together with the suspension set-up, adaptingthe engine mapping and the gear ratios to the altitude of the Mexican stages was certainly one of thekeys to our success. But there’s no miracle solution: the engines we used in Mexico had nothing specialfrom a mechanical point of view. The regulations didn’t allow it as we have to use them in Turkey andPortugal.”
So let’s talk about the Rally Jordan. What are the specific challenges of this event?
“It’s a rally that we put in the ‘good’ gravel category! The surface is fairly smooth and the gravel is veryhard. Once the stages have been swept they provide a lot of grip and the tyres will be given a severe test.As a number of corners are blind, and the stages are lined with big stones – which are to be avoided –we’ll define setups that favour very precise driving. Also, it’s going to be very hot in the region, and that’sa situation that both men and machines are not really crazy about!”
There a lot of talk about sweeping in the WRC. What does it really mean? Why choose to lose timeat the end of a stage?
“All the cars follow the same lines. The fine layer of dust that covers the road is swept away as the carsrun through the stages. This phenomenon causes wheelspin on the exit from corners, a loss of grip whenbraking. On a very twisty route with a hard surface, this can lead to a loss of three-tenths of a second perkilometres between the first and the third on the road. Of course, the drivers have to adapt to theseconditions. Sébastien Loeb, who’s done a lot of sweeping this season, adopts a very clean driving styleand avoids sliding. The strategies we have to adopt at the end of the first or second day can be explainedvery easily. We have to estimate the time that we’re likely to lose by being first out the next day comparedto our lead. Sometimes, it’s a good idea to lose around ten seconds if we think we can gain twenty thenext day!”
Rally Jordan (round 3/13) (1st – 3rd April)Surface: gravelWhere: Jerash
Practical information: The service park, the PC and the Media Centre are beside the Dead Sea. There isan hour’s time difference between Jordan (GMT+2) and France (GMT+1). At 12h00 Dead Sea time, it is11h00 in Paris. On the first day of the rally, Thursday 1st April, sunrise is at 6h25 and sunset at 18h56.In April, the temperature varies between 10°C and 21°C with dry weather. The local currency is theJordanian Dinar (JOD), 1 € = 0,96 JOD.Technical info: The engines used in Jordan have already been used in Sweden. Spare parts (gearboxes,differentials, front and rear cradles, steering rack and pinions and turbos) have to be shared with RallyNew Zealand.Tyres: 36 Pirelli Scorpion WRC Hard tyres will be given to each crew, including six for the shakedown.
Reconnaissances: They are programmed for Monday 29th March from 7h00 to 19h00 and Tuesday30th March from 7h00 to 19h00 with two passages maximum through each stage. Maximum speedallowed is 80 km/h unless otherwise indicated.Shakedown: Wednesday 31st March between 8h00 and 12h00, on a 2,30-kilometre stage 7.5kilometres from the service park.
Start: Thursday 1st April in Jerash at 11h00.Route: 886, 78 km long including 346, 16 km timed. 21 stages (11 different).
Timing: Day 1 – Thursday 1st April: 292,42 km including 95,70 km timed (7 SS, 4 different). Start:11h00 – SS1: ‘Rumman Forest’ (15,34 km) – SS2: ‘Wadi Shueib 1’ (8,65 km) – SS3: ‘Mahes 1’(20,44 km) – SS4: ‘Mount Nebo 1’ (11,09 km) – Service A (14h32 / 30 min) – SS5: ‘Wadi Shueib 2’(8,65 km) – SS6: ‘Mahes 2’ (20,44 km) – SS7: ‘Mount Nebo 2’ (11,09 km) – Service B (17h34 / 45min) – Last car in parc fermé at 21h30.
Day 2 - Friday 2nd April: 331,24 km including 141,76 km times (6 SS, 3 different). Start: 8h00 –Service C (8h00 / 15 min) – SS8: ‘Suwayma 1’ (12,23 km) – SS9: ‘Kafrain 1’ (17,20 km) – SS10:‘Jordan River 1’ (41,45 km) – Service D (11h54 / 30 min) – SS11: ‘Suwayma 2’ (12,23 km) – SS12:‘Kafrain 2’ (17,20 km) – SS13: ‘Jordan River 2’ (41,45 km) – Service E (15h46 / 45 min) – Last car inparc fermé at 20h00.
Day 3 – Saturday 3rd April: 263,12 km including 108,70 km timed (8 SS, 4 different SS). Start: 7h30– Service F (7h30 / 15 min) – SS14: ‘Yakrut 1’ (14,16 km) – SS15: ‘Bahath 1’ (12,53 km) – SS16:‘Shuna 1’ (15,23 km) – SS17: ‘Baptism Site 1’ (12,43 km) – Service G (11h06 / 30 min) – SS18:‘Yakrut 2’ (14,16 km) – SS19: ‘Bahath 2’ (12,53 km) – SS20: ‘Shuna 2’ (15,23 km) – SS21: ‘BaptismSite 2’ (12,43 km) – Service H (14h40 / 10 min) – Finish at 14h50.Podium: Saturday 3rd April at 15h30.
