After a long series of six gravel rallies, the World Rally Championship returns to tarmac in Germany. Having won nine times here since 2002,the Citron Total World Rally Team has really savoured this event in recent years, and it is also a rally that is very popular with French fans.Winners on their last four outings in the WRC, Sbastien Loeb and Daniel Elena will be looking for a 74th world championship victory.Although contested on a less familiar surface than in their native Finland, Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen will also be keen to match their performances in recent events.
Based in Trier, not far from Luxembourg, Belgium and the Lorraine region of France, the Rallye Deutschland attracts hundreds of thousands of rally to the heart of Europe. With stages through the Mosel vineyards and the Baumholder military camp, this is very much a multi-faceted rally. People often say that this is my home event, because it was the closest rally to my native Alsace when the Tour of Corsica was still on the WRC calendar. I really like this rally, because there are always a lot of friends there to support me and also because I have won there eight times, smiled Sbastien Loeb. I still dont find it easy, especially if it rains. Mud gets dragged onto the racing line and that leads to radical changes in grip that can be difficult to manage on such narrow and fast roads.
As ever, day one will feature stages through the vineyards that slope down towards the Mosel. The second leg looks set to be a long and exhausting day for crews and mechanics alike, with two runs on the 46km-long Arena Panzerplatte stage and two remote service periods in Birkenfeld, with a return to the main service park in between. Sunday will see the final sprint for home, with two stages in the former French department of Sarre preceding the Power Stage held in the streets of Trier.
After he was beaten by his then team-mate in 2011, Sbastien Loeb is determined to add a ninth win to his impressive record here: At least everyone has stopped asking me how many times I could win here in a row! Last year, I was on course to win, but I was a bit unlucky to pick up a puncture on a long straight section. Michelin has responded since then, introducing new, tougher tyre carcasses. Since July, we have devoted a good amount of time in testing to adapting the ground link technology to the tyre upgrade. I am pleased with the progress weve made. We might be alittle bit slower on the uneven sections, but that will be true for everyone.
After finishing runner-up five times in the first eight rallies this season, Mikko Hirvonen also lies second the World Championship standings, 43 points behind his team-mate. As third place is his best result in Germany (2007), the Citron driver hopes to do better this year: I've always liked racing on tarmac. I was fairly competitive in Corsica and Germany a few years ago. I feel very confident in the Citron, more than I have ever done on this surface. I had that feeling on the dry stages in Monte-Carlo. When I got back in the DS3 during testing, I could see the vast experience ofthe team on this type of surface. Of course, I tried to describe what I thought about the handling to the engineers, but I didnt feel the need to make any changes to Sebs set-up at all! Well have to wait and see during the first few stages to find out what level of performance I can achieve. If the conditions remain dry and consistent, I think I can be in contention to at least finish second!
THREE QUESTIONS FOR XAVIER MESTELAN-PINONCitron Racing Technical Director and Deputy Team PrincipalThe Citron Total World Rally Team DS3 WRCs were fitted with newshock absorbers for Finland. Would you describe them as an upgrade ora radical change?At our level, it was quite a radical change! Actually, we introduced severalimprovements to the car in Finland: rear suspension wishbones, shockabsorbers, onboard software to improve engine operating strategies Asregards the shock absorbers, it was a significant change. After over a year ofstudies and tests, we used a model where the obvious specific feature is the oil cylinder placed close to the innermounting. The entire team was very proud of this new part, because our suspension systems are designed andmanufactured at our Versailles-Satory plant.How was this new part vital in determining the outcome at the last event?When we work on the suspension, the aim is to keep the tyre in contact with the ground as much as possible.Obviously, it's impossible to achieve this all the time, but you must always try and strive for perfection. Since we startedcompeting in the WRC with the Xsara, we have developed improved versions of the same shock absorber design.However, during development, we felt restricted in some areas. The design of this new part allowed us to break free ofthose restrictions. And yet it was only the weekend before the start that we confirmed this upgrade. The drivers, alwaysasking for new parts and upgrades, confirmed that the change was a definite improvement. Then it really was a raceagainst the clock to make sure that everything was ready in time for the rally, so much so that we had no spare parts.The one-two finish was the greatest reward for our hard work, but I'll also remember the compliment paid by JarmoLehtinen. He said that he didnt feel his usual apprehension on this surface, at a rally that he knows very well. For thefirst time in his career, he enjoyed the Ouninpohja stage! Given the speed at which they drove, I think we can say thatwe did a great job!What does Mikko Hirvonen contribute, alongside Sbastien Loeb, to the development of the DS3 WRC?Our two drivers are very complementary and they often provide very similar technical feedback. If Seb leaves anelement to one side that he thinks we cant really improve, Mikko might be able to work on it, using his experience andfeel. Sometimes, this works so well that Seb ends up adopting and enjoying the upgrade, and vice-versa. When we rantests in Finland, Mikko knew exactly which points we needed to work on, such as how the car handled on a givenjump Conversely, during tests for Germany, he didnt need to make the slightest change to the set-up, since all thework had already been done by Seb. Being able to count on two such drivers is a real joy for our team.
ADAC RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND Round: 9/13 Base and service park: Messepark, Trier Surface: Tarmac Weather: Continental climate, with average temperatures varying between 12C (night) and 29C (day). Risk of showers. Sunrise and sunset on the first day of the rally: 6.38am/8.32pm Local time: UTC+2 Currency: Local currency is the Euro. Website: www.adac-rallye-deutschland.de Technical information: Spare parts (transmission, subframes, steering racks and turbochargers) are to be shared with theRallye de France. Tyres: 40 Michelin Pilot Sport tyres per car (including the shakedown), to be chosen from 32 hard tyres and 22 soft tyres. Reconnaissance: Tuesday 21 August, from 9am to 9.45pm and Wednesday 22 August, from 8am to 3pm. Shakedown: Thursday 23 August, from 9am to 1pm on the Konz stage, located 10km to the south of Trier and 4.55kilometres long. Route: 15 special stages (8 different stages). 368.63km of timed sections. Total distance: 1,113.59km
ADAC RALLYE DEUTSCHLAND ITINERARY
THURSDAY 23 AUGUST9.00am: Shakedown1.40pm: FIA Pre-Event Press Conference
FRIDAY 24 AUGUST10.00am: Start10.48am: SS1 Mittelmosel 1 (24.90km)11.36am: SS2 Moselland 1 (22.79km)12.29pm: SS3 Grafschaft 1 (21.23km)2.59pm: Service Park A (30 min)4.17pm: SS4 Mittelmosel 2 (24.90km)5.05pm: SS5 Moselland 2 (22.79km)5.58pm: SS6 Grafschaft 2 (21.23km)7.28pm: Service Park B (45 min)
SATURDAY 25 AUGUST7.10am: Service Park C (15 min)7.58am: SS7 Stein & Wein 1 (26.54km)9.01am: SS8 Peterberg 1 (9.37km)9.54am: Remote Service Birkenfeld (15 min)10.53am: SS9 Arena Panzerplatte 1 (46.54km)1.40pm: Service Park D (30 min)2.43pm: SS10 Stein & Wein 2 (26.54km)3.46pm: SS11 Peterberg 2 (9.37km)4.39pm: Remote Service Birkenfeld (15 min)5.37pm: SS12 Arena Panzerplatte 2 (46.54km)7.37pm: Service Park E (45 min)
SUNDAY 26 AUGUST8.10am: Service Park F (15 min)9.13am: SS13 Dhrontal 1 (30.76km)11.36am: SS14 Dhrontal 2 (30.76km)1.21pm: SS15 Circus Maximus Trier (4.37km)1.39pm: Service Park G (10 min)2.40pm: FIA Post-Event Press Conference3.45pm: Podium
