World Rally Championship

The fourth day of racing on the Dakar Rally had a distinct "the morning after the night before feel," with many competitors, especially the privateer riders and drivers, still recovering from the torturous stage three that saw heat and sand dunes combine, slowing many to a crawl.

That forced the organisers to both delay (by 90 minutes) and shorten (by 40km) today’s fourth stage, cutting it short at the mark originally intended to be the third checkpoint at 163km.

The resulting stage took the top bikers under two hours (not that you begrudge them an early finish seeing as it took some seven hours to clear yesterday’s challenge, and that’s without taking into account the links between stage and campsite!), as reigning champion Marc Coma won his first stage of the event.

Coma won the stage by two minutes (a commendable achievement given its relative brevity) over David Casteu, who in turn beat overall leader Cyril Despres by over a minute. The stage win sees Coma come back from two days of setbacks.

Sunday’s stage saw Coma penalised 22 minutes for speeding through a village, an offence only discovered when the Spaniard gave his GPS unit to organisers for repairs. That was added to yesterday, as a herd of mechanical problems caused his engine to cut out, dropping another 21 minutes behind the overall leader.

However, with today’s win, and despite the delays, Coma now finds himself just half a minute outside the overall top five, and seemingly in the sort of form that saw him obliterate the field a year ago, with ten stages left.

It is, by now, a familiar story in the quad race, as yesterday’s stage winner encountered problems early, Sebastian Halpern stopping after only 15km with mechanical problems and immediately losing nine minutes, before he continued to fall further behind the stage leaders.

At the head of the field it was a battle between Argentina and the Czech Republic, with the Patronelli brothers chasing down Martin Plechaty for the stage win. For much of the stage the Plechaty was faster, with the Czech’s lead peaking at three minutes at the second checkpoint at 111km.

The last 50km, however, saw the Argentinean charge, this time led by older brother Alejandro, as both brothers were able to overhaul Plechaty to take first and second on the stage with Marcos 1:06 behind, though still maintaining his lead at the top of the overall standings.

In the cars, it was a bizarre day.

From the live Iritrack timing, it looked like the BMW vs. VW battle again, with Stephane Peterhansel, who won yesterday’s stage and took the overall lead in the process, swapping times with four of the works' VW Race Touareg 2 machines.

But there was an invisible, stealthy challenge. From a Hummer of all things!

The Iritrack beacon on Robby Gordon’s Hummer had failed, and as Peterhansel, Sainz, Miller, and the rest hurtled through the stage, the progress of the 2WD Monster sponsored machine was a mystery.

As the first cars crossed the finish line, it looked like Peterhansel, now arguably the X-Raid squad’s only chance of overall victory after the retirement of Nani Roma after his accident yesterday, had won the stage, beating Nasser Al-Attiyah by over two minutes, the Qatari struggling with slow punctures on his VW

But then came Gordon, jumping to the lead of the stage by a single second, his teammate Robert Baldwin coming home eighth fastest to put two Hummers in the top 10 in a stage that finally suited the H3 Buggy after days of problems.

"Today’s special stage was perfect for us with a lot of camel grass. It’s on this type of terrain that the Hummer is doing great," said Gordon. "Today was a good day. I am glad we managed to recover from yesterday. I got stuck twice yesterday and the engine overheated. We lost one hour. It’s sad but the race is still long."

"We have managed to reach the level of the best drivers in the desert but they are much better than we are in WRC-type stages. This year, we did not lose as much time as last year in these WRC special stages. The gap is smaller so it will be up to us to work even harder to win this raid." 

Stage Four Results

Bikes :

1. Marc Coma (KTM) 1h46:58

2. David Casteu (Sherco) +0h02:04

3. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h03:14

4. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +0h05:06

5. Paulo Gonçalves (BMW) +0h06:59

Cars :

1. Robby Gordon (Hummer) 1h40:21

2. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +0h00:01

3. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h02:26

4. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h03:04

5. Giniel De Villiers (VW) +0h04:14

Quads :

1. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) 2h13:29

2. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h01:06

3. Martin Plechaty (Yamaha) +0h01:14

4. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h06:52

5. Jorge Miguel Santamarina (Can-Am) +0h08:13

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 1h53:36

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h07:44

3. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +0h11:50

4. Martin Macik (Liaz) +0h21:23

5. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +0h22:11

Overall Standings After Stage Four

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 10h44:16

2. David Casteu (Sherco) +0h08:53

3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +0h23:45

4. Luca Manca (KTM) +0h29:51

5. Alain Duclos (KTM) +0h38:20

Cars :

1. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) 10h54:50

2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h07:36

3. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h09:56

4. Mark Miller (VW) +0h19:25

5. Alfie Cox (Nissan) +0h59:30

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 13h08:13

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h08:15

3. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +0h26:50

4. Jorge Miguel Santamarina (Can-Am) +0h30:55

5. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h34:19

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 12h31:23

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h26:27

3. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +2h24:33

4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +2h59:03

5. Johan Elfrink (Mercedes) +3h02:42

Today the real 2010 Dakar started, with the rally leaving the WRC-esque gravel tracks of the first two days behind and striking out into the desert with a 182 km stage, the shortest scheduled for the two week event.

The first visitations of sand also saw the first appearance of a KTM atop the stage podium, with the heavy, but restricted, 690cc machines gliding though the early dunes with relative ease, and certainly none of the problems many expected them to face compared to the new 450cc bikes brought in this year.

That left the way almost completely open to 2007 winner Cyril Despres to take a stranglehold on the stage, beat Portuguese Helder Rodrigues’ 450 Yamaha by over 10 minutes and finishing twelve minutes clear of David Casteu’s Sherco machine as Despres took a commanding ten minute lead over his French countryman.

“This is one of those stages when you set out in the morning and you think to yourself, ‘Okay, 180 km, that will be easy,” said Despres. “But there you are, we’ve just spent three hours battling on the bikes. It was a really African-like stage: physically tough with the heat, soft dunes and mechanical aspects to deal with.”

Despres domination was, however, at the expense of several who could have challenged his Red Bull sponsored charge.

Yesterday’s stage winner David Fretigne dropped over 90 minutes to Despres after a problem on the stage, while the woes continued for Spanish KTM teammates Marc Coma and Jordi Viladoms.

Coma, trying to regain some of the 22-minute penalty he landed yesterday led the stage early on, but ended losing a further 21 minutes to Despres due to his engine cutting out. The Spaniard stopped under a tree in the heat to allow the engine to cool, where he was joined by David Casteu, the Sherco suffering electrical problems.

Viladoms fared worse, crashing his bike 70 km into the stage and complaining of chest pain, apparently after hitting the handlebars of his KTM in the crash. With safety in mind he was airlifted to the campsite at the end of the day’s stage, where although doctors found no major injuries he has been kept for observation. The end result? Rally over for Jordi Viladoms.

The Quad class also saw it’s first notable retirement today as another of yesterday’s winners, Hubert Deltrieu, saw his rally come to an end after a crash only 21 km into the stage, him joining Viladoms in being taken to the campsite.

With Deltrieu out and problems continuing to hound defending winning Josef Machaecek today’s quad race was a strictly Argentinean affair as riders from the race’s co-hosts dominated the stage.

30-year-old Yamaha rider Sebastian Halpern, who started the day sixth overall, led the charge, holding the fastest time through most of the short stage, his advantage stretching out to 12 minutes after the main sand section of the stage.

However, as the stage ended over rocky terrain more similar to the previous two stages the Patronelli brothers, Marcos and Alejandro reeled Halpern’s lead, though ultimately falling short, Marcos finishing two minutes adrift of the privateer, though five minutes clear of his older brother, who was followed home by two more of their countrymen to lock out the top four on the day.

But there was another recognised Dakar star in the lead in the cars. This time it was Stephane Peterhansel, winning the 52nd stage of his Dakar career (which spans bikes and cars) as he led the VW versus BMW battle all stage chased by the Race Touaregs of erstwhile overall leader Nasser Al-Attiyah, then Carlos Sainz, the double World Rally champion falling five minutes short at stage’s end.

Al-Attiyah slipped back to third, ahead of American Mark Miller and BMW driver Guerlain Chicherit.

But, like in the bike and quad races there were problems for the big names. Adding to yesterday’s roll off the road Nani Roma had another off today, the official Dakar site describing him as having "driven into a hole". Early reports said both Roma and his co-driver Michel Perin were unhurt, and simply waiting for the teams support truck yo continue. However, it was later reported that Roma had broken his hand and had been forced to abandon his challenge for the title. 

Also waiting for the team back-up truck (at the time of writing) is 2009 winner Giniel de Villiers, whose VW diesel engine suffered major problems only 50 km into the stage.

Of more mysterious origins were the problems that affected VW driver Mauricio Neves and Robby Gordon’s Hummer, as the lost 66 and 54 minutes respectively to Peterhansel.

The Truck stage was once more a battle between the Kamaz's of Vladimir Chagin and Firdaus Kabirov, with Kabirov briefly leading his more experienced counterpart before Chagin, known as 'The Tsar' took the lead again. The stage also saw the best run for former F1, touring car and sportscar driver Jan Lammers, the Dutchman in the top five stage times until the closing miles, finishing eighth and rising to tenth overall.

UPDATE: After a tough stage, as Cyril Despres talks about above, there are still dozens of competitors still on the stage, including nearly forty bikers (over ten hours since the last one left the start of the stage) and eighty cars. It is likely that organisers will choose to delay or shorten tomorrow's planned 203km stage.  

Stage Three Results

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 3h01:09

2. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +0h10:40

3. Paulo Gonçlaves (BMW) +0h12:09

4. David Casteu (Sherco) +0h12:13

5. Francisco Lopez Contardo (Aprilia) +0h17:05

Cars :

1. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) 2h55:09

2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h05:44

3. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h10:01

4. Mark Miller (VW) +0h10:14

5. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +0h19:18

Quads :

1. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) 4h13:24

2. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h02:08

3. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h07:27

4. Jorge Miguel Santamarina (Can-Am) +0h09:20

5. Brice Auert (Can-Am) +0h25:03

Trucks :

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 3h26:53

2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h11:56

3. Andre De Azevedo (Tatra) +0h37:08

4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +1h20:07

5. Marcel Van Vliet (Ginaf) +1h27:04

Overall Results After Stage Three

Bikes :

1. Cyril Despres (KTM) 8h54:04

2. David Casteu (Sherco ) +0h10:03

3. Helder Rodrigues (Yamaha) +0h17:75

4. Luca Manca (KTM) +0h24:29

5. Alain Duclos (KTM) +0h30:58

Cars :

1. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) 9h:14:28

2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h04:33

3. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h07:31

4. Mark Miller (VW) +0h13:12

5. Krzysztof Holowczyc (Nissan) +0h41:38

Quads :

1. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) 10h53:38

2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h04:21

3. Sebastian Halpern (Yamaha) +0h10:12

4. Jorge Miguel Santamarina (Can-Am) +0h23:48

5. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h28:33

Trucks : (After Stage Two)

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 7h10:54
2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h06:47
3. Andre De Azevedo  (Tatra) +0h26:34
4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +0h27:06
5. Marcel van Vliet  (Ginaf) +0h35:18

The second day of the Dakar Rally got underway in a somber mood today after confirmation that a spectator hit by one of the cars had died in the hospital.

Reports say that Sonia Natalia Gallardo was one of a group of spectators standing outside of the designated spectator zones set up by race organizers when the Desert Warrior, driven by German Mirco Schultis, came off the route 75km into the opening stage.

While several others were injured, Gallardo was airlifted to the hospital, where the news of her death was confirmed yesterday evening.

Schultis and his Czech co-driver Ulrich Leardi have since decided to withdraw from the race, making them one of five teams to have bowed out before the second stage, another being Tatra truck driver Tomas Tomecek, who was involved in an accident on a blind bend yesterday.

And accidents were a major part of the day in the car class today. Stage One winner Nani Roma rolled his BMW into a gulch only two kilometers into the stage, costing the Spaniard 15 minutes.

Roma was not the only one to suffer a roll in the early kilometers. Orlando Terranova rolled his JMB Stradale run Mitsubishi five kilometers into the day, though was able to continue with relatively little time lost, while American Robert Baldwin rolled his Robby Gordon Motorsports Hummer at the same mark, the car being stranded on its roof and losing over three hours.

Baldwin’s team leader was also having difficult time, enduring a stage that didn’t suit the 2WD Hummer buggy, dropping time to the 4WD diesels of VW and BMW and then suffering a puncture as Gordon ended the stage 11 minutes adrift.

With Roma out of the way, it was left (arguably) to the unsung members of the two teams to fight for the stage win. Early on, Mauricio Neves, the Brazilian brought into the VW works squad this year, led the way, before Guerlain Chicherit (who took part in the Race of Champions last year) took the stage lead for BMW as he tried to make up some of the 57 minutes he lost yesterday to mechanical gremlins.

But in the last third of the stage it was Qutari VW driver Nasser Al-Attiyah who took the lead, pulling away from both Neves and Chicherit to win the stage and the overall lead from VW teammate Carlos Sainz who finished fourth, ahead of American Mark Miller, giving the VW squad four of the top five places.

On the bikes it was another Frenchman winning the stage, following on the heels of David Casteu’s surprise victory yesterday. Today it was another David, David Fretigne, to take the win, keeping the previously dominant KTMs off the top step of the podium. Fretigne, riding a Yamaha, completed the 294km stage in just under four hours.

Fretigne lead home Casteu by 43 seconds, the Sherco rider maintaining his lead over Marc Coma and Cyril Despres, who finished the stage third and fourth respectively, though Coma was given a 22-minute penalty for speeding through a village on the route.

However, perhaps the story of the bikes was the man who finished fifth today.

Italian Luca Manca finished the opening stage 12th, and so set off 20 minutes after leader Casteu, but despite this the KTM rider was among the fastest throughout the day, springing to an unlikely lead after 90km, and though he would fall to fifth at the hands of the more established names, his performance saw him leap up the early overall leaderboard to fifth (fourth after Coma’s penalty).

There was a similar surprise package in the quad race, when another Frenchman, Hubert Deltrieu, took the stage win. The Polaris rider started the stage 24th out of the 25 competitors after a disappointing first stage saw him finish 33 minutes behind the stage winner.

Whether lucky, or taking advantage of the riders ahead of him, Deltrieu held the fastest stage time through all of the Iritrack timing loops on the stage, eventually winning the stage by a little over two minutes from Juan Manuel Gonzalez and jumping up to eleventh in the fledgling standings. Gonzalez was more that three-and-a-half minutes clear of Alejandro Patronelli in third place, and so the Spaniard takes the overall lead, partly thanks to misfortune for two other front runners.

Stage one winner Rafal Sonik was handed an eight-minute penalty for speeding between the stage and the campsite, before losing another 1h42 on today’s stage. Perhaps more bizarre was what happened to 2009 champion Josef Machacek, whose Iritrack beacon (how the mid-stage times are logged) stopped working early on in the stage, emerging at the end of the stage 44 minutes down on Deltrieu.

Stage Two Results

Bikes:
1. David Fretigne (Yamaha) 3h59:20
2. David Casteu (Sherco) +0h00:43
3. Marc Coma (KTM) +0h01:08
4. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h02:50
5. Luca Manca (KTM) +0h04:49

Cars:
1. Nasser AL-Attiyah (VW) 4h01:55
2. Guerlain Chicherit (BMW) +0h01:08
3. Mauricio Neves (VW) +0h02:01
4. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h02:41
5. Mark Miller (VW) +0h02:44

Quads:
1. Hubert Deltrieu (Polaris) 4h18:03
2. Juan Manuel Gonzalez (Yamaha) +0h02:06
3. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h05:47
4. Martin Plechaty (Yamaha) +0h05:57
5. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h09:19

Trucks:
1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 4h35:07
2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h02:47
3. Andre De Azevedo (Tatra) +0h14:48
4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +0h17:16
5. Wulfurt Van Ginkel (Ginaf) +0h18:22

Overall Standings After Stage Two

Bikes:
1. David Casteu (Sherco) 5h50:45
2. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h02:10
3. David Fretigne (Yamaha) +0h02:14
4. Luca Manca (KTM) +0h08:43
5. Jordi Viladoms (KTM) +0h08:48

Cars:
1. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) 6h16:39
2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h01:19
3. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +0h02:30
4. Mark Miller (VW) +0h05:28
5. Mauricio Neves (VW) +0h05:40

Quads:
1. Juan Manual Gonzalez (Yamaha) 6h34:31
2. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h02:37
3. Martin Plechaty (Yamaha) +0h02:49
4. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h03:35
5. Luis Henderson (Honda) +0h07:34

Trucks:
1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 7h10:54
2. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h06:47
3. Andre De Azevedo (Tatra) +0h26:34
4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +0h27:06
5. Marcel van Vliet (Ginaf) +0h35:18

The 2010 Dakar Rally is underway, and already the strain is showing on the men and machines taking on the 4,000 kilometres of racing ahead of them.

The first casualty didn’t even get to make it the ceremonial start ramp and tour of the city streets of Buenos Aires, where the rally begins and ends. Argentine Javier Pizzolito's Honda caught on fire before even turning a wheel in anger.

But bad luck and problems on the Dakar are indiscriminate of who you are, and they caught potential winner Frans Verhoeven out on the 320-kilometre "connection" part (an untimed journey from the camp to the start of the Special Stage) of Saturday’s opening stage, delaying him for 40 minutes. Eventually, the Dutchman and his BMW made it to the start of the first stage.

As always, even the conditions of the Dakar beat the Dakar. Localised flooding on the route left some of the rivers, originally intended to be forded by competitors, too dangerous.

As a result the "connection" was extended by 52 kilometres and the racing stage trimmed accordingly.

Early battles were expected between the KTMs of Marc Coma and Cyril Despres and the Sherco machine of David Casteu at the sharp end of the bike field. Coma and Despres, both already multiple Dakar champions, swapped the lead through much of the 168-kilometre stage the bikes ran on.

However, at the end of the stage it was Casteu, on the Sherco bike he helped develop for the French manufacturer, who took the second stage win of his Dakar career, and the first overnight lead, as he leap-frogged both Despres and Coma to take a three-second lead over the Frenchman. Despres finished nine seconds ahead of Coma.

It was an even less successful day for the defending champions in the quad and car classes.

Czech Josef Machacek saw a lead of over a minute slip by the halfway point of the opening stage, slumping to over four minutes behind Rafal Sonik at the 137-kilometre marker on the stage. 

Machacek would claw back some of the lost time by stage's end, coming home third fastest, 2:34 behind Sonik and sandwiched between the Argentinean Patronelli brothers, younger brother (and 2009 runner up) Marcos getting the better of Alejandro. 

In the car class, it was the expected duel between the star-studded squads of VW and BMW and their diesel-powered cars.

For much of the early part of the stage, the VW of Carlos Sainz and the BMWs of Nani Roma and Stephane Peterhansel ran close. Only a second separated their times just before half distance. When one driver began to pull out a lead, it was neither the three time champion Peterhansel, nor the WRC legend Sainz.

It was Roma.

The man rescued from the Mitsubishi squad when they pulled out (with Sainz’s 2009 co-driver Michel Perin alongside) never looked back, securing a two-minute lead by the end of the 199-kilometre stage, with Sainz second ahead of Peterhansel and VW teammates Nasser Al-Attiyah and Giniel de Villiers, the South African having slipped off the pace early.

Racing polymath Robby Gordon, driving a Hummer H3, fell to sixth fastest in the closing kilometres after having been faster than de Villiers for much of the day. However, the WRC-like stages in the early rally are unlikely to suit the Hummer, and the American survived a minor off trying to keep up with the diesels at halfway.

This a day after Gordon had stolen the show at the ceremonial start in Buenos Aires by jumping over the start ramp in front of a crowd of more than 300,000.

Gordon's off was, unfortunately not the only accident of the day. Guerlain Chicherit, teammate to Roma and Peterhansel lost nearly an hour near the end of the first stage, as his BMW suffered technical problems.

But it was the trucks where the bigger accidents appear to have struck. Tomas Tomecek and Martin van der Brink both falling victim to the same corner, the latter's Ginaf limping to the end of the stage over an hour off the pace and having held up several drivers behind them.

However, the first day was not without the tragedy that seems to stalk the event, with reports of a spectator having been killed after a Desert Warrior, driven by Dutchman Mirco Schultis, left the road around the 75km mark.

Stage One Results

Bike

1. David Casteu (Sherco) 1h50:42
2. Cyril Despres (KTM) +0h00:03
3. Marc Coma (KTM) +0h00:12
4. Jordi Viladoms (KTM) +0h01:45
5. Francisco Lopes Contardo (Aprilia) +0h02:42

Car

1. Nani Roma (BMW) 2h11:15
2. Carlos Sainz (VW) +0h02:07
3. Stephane Peterhansel (BMW) +0h02:50
4. Nasser Al-Attiyah (VW) +0h03:29
5. Giniel De Villiers (VW) +0h04:31

Quad

1. Rafal Sonik (Yamaha) 2h08:49
2. Marcos Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h01:5
3. Josef Machacek (Yamaha) +0h02:34
4. Alejandro Patronelli (Yamaha) +0h04:29
5. Martin Plechaty (Yamaha) +0h04:31

Truck

1. Vladimir Chagin (Kamaz) 2h35:47
2. Ales Loprais (Tatra) +0h00:27
3. Firdaus Kabirov (Kamaz) +0h04:00
4. Ilgizar Mardeev (Kamaz) +0h09:50
5. Martin Macik (Liaz) +0h10:59

It’s 2010.

Well, not quite yet, but it’s already time to get the new season of motorsport underway with the 2010 running of the Dakar Rally on Jan. 2.

But don’t let the name deceive you, the 2010 event (the 31st running of epic rally) will not take place in Africa, but in the South American countries of Argentina and Chile, after the event moved there last year in the wake of terrorist threats on the rally’s traditional Saharan route.

Despite the different setting (and what you would think of as a pretty anti-social timetable), nearly 400 cars, bikes, quads, and trucks are entered in a field that mixes world famous names and manufacturers with amateurs who enter the Dakar simply for the challenge.

And what a challenge.

The 2010 edition sees 14 stages tacked across two weeks as competitors will be timed on 4,800 km of Special Stage amongst over 9,000 km of driving through some of the least car and people friendly terrain on earth.

Of the entrants, most attention will be taken by the most numerous of the classes—the bikes and the cars.

The bike class once more sees KTM as the ride of choice, despite makers Aprilia and Sherco joining the field. Spaniard Marc Coma returns to defend the 2009 title he won by nearly 90 minutes. Re-joining him in the battle will be last year’s runner-up and 2007 winner Cyril Despres, who is also aboard a KTM.

The non-KTM charge could well be led by last year’s third place finisher David Fretigne on a Yamaha, and Dutchman Frans Verhoeven, winner of two stages en route to eight overall last year on a KTM, but moves to BMW for his 2010 assault.

The car class is perhaps where the major upheaval has been, perennial factory runner Mitsubishi withdrawing their factory effort after a disappointing 2009 race that saw all but one of the highly acclaimed team retire. While several of the "Racing Lancer" machines are entered by the JMB Stradale Off-Road squad, it leaves the formidable VW squad as the only factory runners.

The TDI engine in the VW Touareg is as big a force in the Dakar as in every other form of racing it’s touched (the Dakar organisers the Amaury Sports Organisation (ASO) being the latest sanctioning body to move to limit the advantage the technology gives). But the car is only half the package VW have once more brought to the Dakar.

Last year's champion Giniel de Villiers returns alongside the man he would have lost to, Carlos Sainz, had the former WRC champion not rolled his car into a ravine in the closing days. Again, staying on with the team will be American Mark Miller, whose second last year was the highest ever finish for an American on the Dakar. However, there will be a fourth potential challenger for the title from VW’s stable in Qatari Nasser Al-Attiyah, who led early last year in his BMW before being disqualified.

The biggest threat to VW dominance (other than the before mentioned 9,000 km) could come from two corners. The first is the BMW running X-Raid squad Al-Attiyah left. To some extent the team has taken up the slack from Mitsubishi’s withdrawal, taking on two of their former drivers in multiple winner Stephane Peterhansel and Nani Roma (Mitsubishi’s sole survivor twelve months ago) alongside Guerlain Chicherit.

The other threat comes from the Robby Gordon and his trio of Hummers with fellow American Ronn Bailey and Chilean Carlo De Gavardo joining the team. Gordon finished third in class last year on a course he admits did not suit his car.

“Last year was more of a WRC rally type course and on that we’re beat,” said Gordon.“ “Six or seven days in the sand will make a huge difference. We’re good in the desert.”

What could be good news for Gordon is that the 2010 route promises more dunes than the previous South American rally.

A final mention must go to the truck class, probably one of the more insane forms of racing the world has devised. It sees professional racing crews (often three strong) entered together with the support trucks of many of the car and bike squads so as to assist their teammates on the stage.

Lastly, a mention of the Truck class. These are not the pickups of the Camping World Series, but real trucks, a class that mixes professional racing squads and service and supply trucks for many of the top bike and car teams. Russian manufacturer Kamax has won the class a record eight times and looks set to do so again with the top two crews, led by Firdaus Kabirov and Vladimir Chagin both driving Kamaz units.

While you would have to be insane to bet against them, there will be international interest around the participation of former F1, touring car, and Le Mans driver Jan Lammers.

The Dakar gets underway Jan. 2 with 250km of timed stage. You can follow the rally on their official Web site (in previous years they have made it possible to follow the race live).

Matt Wilson has found himself frequently maligned both in the motorsport media and amongst World Rally Championship (WRC) fans alike, but the leading British star of his generation suggests his detractors should give him the time he needs to learn and improve – as he reveals his ultimate ambition of becoming World Rally Champion.

Wilson's critics argue that he is only in the WRC thanks to his father, 1994 British Rally Champion Malcolm Wilson who runs both the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team and the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team effort for whom his son competes. However, from the 59 rallies that Wilson Jnr has entered since making his official WRC bow back in 2004, the 22-year-old has garnered just 50 points, and has far more often finished outside of the top eight scoring positions than in.

Moreover, Wilson has yet to ascend the rostrum, with a best result of fourth on the 2007 Rally Japan, but this year the Cumbrian-born ace has been the very model of consistency, scoring points in all-bar two of the ten events so far – missing out only in Portugal, where he retired due to a loss of oil pressure, and in Greece where he came in 14th – to currently sit seventh in the title standings, only six points behind fifth-placed team-mate Henning Solberg.

“You learn to live with it,” he reflected of the criticism, speaking to Crash.net Radio's Adam Drane. “That was more back at the start of my career when I was first setting out; if you did well it was expected, and if you didn't, well why aren't you? It doesn't really come now – I think people can see what we're trying to achieve and the five-year plan that we have.

“When I first started out we'd just lost Colin [McRae] and just lost Richard [Burns], and I think everybody was looking for a new British hope. We started to do world rallies, and everybody expects a lot – and then you realise that you've not really got that much experience and that there's a lot to learn. I think attitudes have maybe changed a little bit, and like I say as long as we keep progressing and making improvements, that's the main thing.

“I think I've improved everywhere; generally you just keep on learning and you keep gathering that experience – and that adds up to improvement everywhere. I don't think you can really look and say 'this is what you need to do differently'. There are obviously so many elements with rallying – you've got the pace notes, the car has to be right, you have to have experience of the rally – that I don't think you can really pinpoint one little thing. Like I say, you've just got to work on all of those areas, and when it does come together that's when the results start to happen as well.”

Results, indeed, are what Wilson needs to keep on producing if he is to advance his career as he so clearly hopes to do – and, more specifically, podiums and wins. Though he knows he still has much to learn and a long way to go in the sport, the man who initially participated in circuit racing for three years – “The plan was always to eventually go rallying, but you can circuit race from 14 and it was just a way of driving, getting mechanical experience and learning about cars, and then when you get your licence on the road and go rallying I think it does stand you in good stead,” he explains – insists he won't be satisfied until he has reached the very top, even if he has his feet firmly on the ground with regard to how long that is likely to take.

“The ultimate aim is to be driving in the world championship for a manufacturer and to be winning rallies and fighting for world championships,” he asserted. “If that leads to being world champion, then that's got to be the ultimate prize at the end of the day.

“You've got to have that determination and have that in your mind to do, or there's no point in competing. We need to keep on making the improvements that we have every year, but it's still going to take time – once you start fighting for podiums and winning rallies, it still takes a long time to get that momentum together to do it for a year and win a championship.

“I think we could be looking at another four or five years maybe before we can realistically be in that position – look at Colin, he was the youngest person ever to win the world championship at 27, and that's still five years away for me. That's got to be the aim, for sure – but we do have time on our side.”

Last weekend was a crucial one in, arguably the most exciting season in the WRC for a long time. (I don't care what the misery guts say....I know you lot argue that Hirvonen only has a chance through Loeb’s mistakes...but duh that’s what sport is all about!).

Anyway, with just three rallies left Mikko Hirvonen was only three points ahead of his arch rival Sebastian Loeb. For both drivers then, the rally of Australia was a crucial one.

Seb did exactly what was needed to keep his title hopes very much alive. The Frenchman was unstoppable and thanks to some great driving and excellent Citroen tactics the reigning World Champion conquered the new stages of New South Wales.

Mikko drove his Focus to the limits and was clearly showing the immense pressure he must be feeling; nevertheless the Fin did exactly what was needed of him and came in a strong second. 

I thought the rally was fantastic; it was exciting, tense, and by the end of it all the Championship contenders were separated by just one point!  However, then came the news that Citroen would be penalised when post event scrutineering found that Loeb's Citroen C4 WRC was fitted with a front anti-roll bar link which did not comply with the homologation form of the car. 

Citroen agreed with the steward's findings and Loeb, Sordo, and Ogier were each given a one minute penalty. This meant that Hirvonen gained P1 and Loeb was set back to P2. 

I can't really explain how I felt when I heard this news. The Hirvonen fan in me was delighted as the Fin’s new five point lead  was extremely welcome. However, the Loeb fan in me felt slightly cheated; after all that excitement and hard work the Frenchman had been let down by his team.

This makes the next round in Spain even more crucial than had previously been thought. This is also where I think the most important man in the 2009 WRC Championship battle will help decide the final standings either way.

For me it all comes down to Sordo this year; to a great extent the young Spaniard has the title in his hands and is one of Sebastian's last chances in 2009 of re-writing the record books again.

In 2008 Citroen dominated the Spanish event and although last year it wasn’t as important, if Dani can wedge his way in between Sebastian and Mikko again the Championship will go right to the wire, which in my opinion can only be a good thing for the WRC.

The promising young Citroen number two has had a mixed 2009. A great start in Ireland with a P2 was followed by mixed results with another P2 in Argentina and a P23 in Italy.  Since his P12 finish in Greece, Sordo has really worked hard and showed us the raw pace he has, finishing no lower than fourth in the last three rallies.

In Australia, Sordo was great with four stage wins and an eventual P3 finish. Last year Loeb and Sordo were untouchable and strong performances from the BP Ford team were no match for the C4's raw pace.  

If Sordo can take his speed and consistency from New South Wales to his home event, this, coupled with Citroen's expected dominance of the black stuff, will make the 2009 Season even better than I previously thought!

I do realise that when all is said and done, if the British Rally gives us the same results as last year, (Loeb P1 and Hirvonen P8), all this pontificating about Spain is pointless.  That’s the thing I love about Rally, there are so many aspects to take into consideration and the smallest error could cost you the Championship. However, Mikko did a great job to fight back to P8 after his day one crash and don't forget his win in 2007. If both Sebastian and Mikko have eventless rallies in Wales they should finish first and second. 

If we think like that, Spain is truly the most important rally of the season.  For me, if Mikko can even get P2 the Championship is his to lose in Wales. But if Sebastian and Sordo can get Citroen’s third one two finish of 2009 in Catalunya, just one tantalising point will be the difference into the final event of the year.  I’m almost certain after his performance in Australia that Seb has the talent to do his job and win the rally.  The Question is can Dani keep Mikko on that third step of the podium?

As I say I love the WRC and there are no drivers I dislike. I have three favourite drivers this season and two of them are in the Title battle.  Perhaps if you pushed me I’d tell you that Mikko is my top driver and for that reason I’d like to see him crowned Champion in Wales. However, I believe that Sebastian’s performance in Australia earned him a shot at the title decider in the final round; realistically, this is only possible if Citroen can get that one two in October. 

Therefore, as of now, it’s not just up to Mikko and Sebastian but more to the man who could now be the most significant driver in the 2009 WRC Title...Dani Sordo!

I must admit that when I was smaller, the thing that drew me to Toyota Team Europe (TTE) was not any loyalty to the Manufacturer, it wasn’t even that I loved the drivers...it was purely due to the fact that I really loved the Castrol liveries and the looks of the Celicas and Corollas!

However, strangely enough my first car was a beautiful Toyota and although I had grown away from the WRC and more into F1 (just like TTE!), my love for the WRC had been re-ignited. 

I went straight to the internet and Rally DVDs and found that in actual fact it wasn’t just the liveries that I loved! Sainz is one of my all time favourite drivers. I love the history of the team and were it not for Britain’s unfair insurance system I would be very much buying a Celica for my 21st (However being a young man, I’d have to pay well over the price of the bloody car to be allowed to drive it!).

Anyway I digress!  I am now well and truly back into the WRC, I love it! However, although the car I passed my test in competes (Ford Focus), I have always loved Japanese cars and unfortunately, when you take away the odd private entry, 2009 has had no official Japanese entrant (due to the exit of Subaru last year).

The problem is, many people now find the WRC totally boring and I know that the current climate probably means that Subaru, Suzuki and Mitsubishi can’t really afford to re-join the WRC that soon. 

The light at the end of the tunnel comes with the 2011 rule changes which will hopefully pave the way for a much bigger entrance list.  I would like to argue that with all the money Toyota is wasting in F1, a return to the WRC makes perfect sense for the World’s biggest car manufacture.

Toyota and the WRC

Toyota’s Rally outfit began life in 1971 when a Toyota Celica was entered in the RAC Rally.  Toyota came 9th, and importantly saw off stiff competition from its Japanese rivals.

Due to the logistical problems of shipping cars from Japan to Europe, Ove Andersson (the driver that had raced the Celica to P9 in 1971), moved the outfit to Sweden under the name of Anderson Motorsport.  Here, Toyota's first European team was born.

In 1975  the team became Toyota Team Europe and in August of that year, they won their first rally.  TTE conquered the 1000 Lakes Rally with a Corolla 1600.

From then onwards the team grew in size and success.  Although Toyota had won many rallies by 1990, their hard work really paid off when, at the end of the 1990 WRC season, Carlos Sainz won the team’s first ever Driver’s Title.  TTE were also proud runners up in the Manufacturers Championship.

TTE then went on to have a glorious 1990s in which with various drivers and cars the team gained a further three Driver’s Titles and Manufacturer’s Titles. Perhaps they could have won even more...if they hadn’t been banned from the WRC for 12 months for pushing the regulations to their limits (or as some people call it...cheating), with an illegal air restrictor.

After their 1999 Manufacturer’s victory, TTE sadly stopped participating in rallying, in order to prepare for a switch to Formula 1 in 2002.

Toyota and Formula 1

Toyota F1 began their life in 2002, piloted by Le Mans star Alan McNish and Mika Salo.  However, for all of Toyota’s money, the team only managed to score two points!  And these points only really came about through other drivers exiting the race!

But let us not be too quick to judge, it was only Toyota’s first year in F1 and at this level, teams need a couple of seasons if they want to be world beaters.  

With new drivers for 2003, despite showing promise the team only managed 16 points. Unfortunately, 2004 was much like 1995 for Toyota who were disqualified from the Canadian GP for running illegal parts. 

The team faced further pressure over a spy gate scandal involving Ferrari. Toyota may well have only finished 8th in the Constructor’s standings, but the arrival of designer Mike Gascoyne and driver Jarno Trulli meant that Toyota F1’s future looked a little brighter.

2005 was certainly a turning point for Toyota with a stronger driver line up and an extension of involvement (supplying Jordan with Toyota engines).  A couple of podium finishes and points in all but two races meant that the 2005 season was Toyota's most successful Formula One season by far.

Although in 2006 the team experienced the second-best season performance in their F1 history, scoring 35 points and finishing in sixth place, the exit of Mike Gascoyne after a management disagreement was a step in the wrong direction for a team hoping to climb the rankings.

Sure enough 2007 marked Toyota’s worst season since 2004.  With a dismal points tally of 13 the team was left simply promising better things to come.

Although the arrival of Timo Glock was a promising development for Toyota, 2008 marked an ultimatum for the Japanese outfit as the team was told it had just two years to turn Toyota into a successful F1 team!

After a topsy- turvy season Toyota finished 2008 with 56 points and ranked 5^th, which was very much a step in the right direction. 

For 2009, Toyota were amongst three top teams, each with a controversial ‘double diffuser’ at the rear of their cars.  It was widely expected that the Title would be between Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota (at least until the other teams caught up with their designs).

However, whilst Brawn GP went on to conquer the early season, Williams and Toyota simply slipped away into the mid field. 

Williams had an excuse; the team was struggling for funds, but in actuality was performing pretty well with Niko Rosberg raking in several top 5 performances.  Meanwhile, Toyota with all their finances, simply floundered like a dying coy carp!

Despite qualifying first in Bahrain, Toyota have shown real promise (with no reward) in some races but at tracks like Monaco and Valencia have looked downright awful!

Toyota currently lie in 5^th place in the Constructor’s standings which, when you consider their promise, is very poor.  The departure of Honda and more recently BMW has led to very strong speculation that Toyota will become another giant exit from F1 for 2010.

Conclusion

Toyota experienced far greater success in rallying than it has in F1.  However, this isn’t the only reason the Japanese car manufacturer should return to the WRC. F1 is simply a money draining sport and without relative success, this money is being severely wasted and your car manufacturer inevitably looks bad. 

Whilst it was a huge achievement for Force India to finish second in Spain, a big team like Toyota should be aiming for podiums in most races.  For the 2008 F1 season Toyota’s expected expenditure was an astonishing $445.6 million! 

Whilst I was annoyingly unable to get a similar budget for Citroen Total World Rally Team, I can tell you that a WRC car costs around $1million.  This may not include the extra cost of spares, sets of competition tyres and several engine and gearbox rebuilds during the season, but I can comfortably estimate that all of that will be far less than $445 million.

A significant rule within the WRC is that competing cars must have the same basic ‘shell’ as the road cars they represent.  Though there are some small aerodynamic differences I think a move to a sport in which the cars look essentially the same as the cars you are selling makes perfect sense.  

This is especially important when you consider Toyota’s green credentials and Citroen’s positive tests with the hybrid car last year.  Remember how crap Honda’s environmental message was in F1 2007 and 2008? Well that was largely due to the irony that F1 could never truly be that green. 

Honda also suffered from a very poor car design which meant that many people wrongly thought that the RA107 and 08 were poor because they were green. 

The WRC has a much greater potential to fulfill its green promises and still make green energy look efficient.  This can only make Toyota look good if they choose to follow that path.  There are even a huge number of talented drivers out there just waiting for a big drive (I’m thinking Chris Atkinson and Petter Solberg to name just two).  Of course what with the current trend of class swapping...Timo or Jarno could always pilot the team!

Yes the WRC doesn’t attract as many viewers as F1 and yes many WRC fans are losing interest in sport at a worryingly fast rate, but in 2011 the super 2000 cars will hopefully bring in more teams, more drivers and revitalization for the WRC. 

If more big companies leave F1 many people believe this will be bad news for the sport, but if that exodus moves to the WRC...good times! 

F1 is doing no favours for Toyota, but if they can join the WRC at the start of something special, who is to say they can’t return to the glory days of the 1990s?

So come on Toyota: Come home to the WRC!

FIAT-Abarth team driver Giandomenico Basso has won his third Rali Vinho Madeira after a gripping battle with local hero Bruno Magalhaes.  Basso took the victory with just 3.5s between them after 21 stages.

Basso joins two other men, Americo da Silva Nunes and Pierro Liatti in the record books of three-time winners, and puts himself into contention for the Intercontinental Rally Challenge title and into the lead of the FIA European Rally Championship.

Basso stamped his authority from the start of the first full day, after championship leader Kris Meeke won the opening superspecial on Thursday evening.

It was far from being an easy win. Basso's pace was slowed in the final part of the opening leg, when he lost the reverse gear in his Abarth Grande Punto S2000 and had to drive cautiously to avoid a spin from which he would have difficulty to escape.

Then on the final day with Portuguese star Bruno Magalhaes in his Peugeot 207 S2000 persistent in pursuit, Basso spun just three stages from home. Magalhaes struck back with two straight stage wins to close the gap down to under eight seconds. Yet at the finish the Italian had just enough in reserve to hold on.

"It was fast, nervous and exciting," said an elated Basso. "The team has been working hard and the car was strong. This event is very special to me, and to make my third win here after losing on the last stage last year is fantastic."

No less thrilled to be runner-up against the IRC front-runners, Magalhaes was equally demonstrative. "It's a great honor for me to be able to perform so strongly among such great drivers," he said. "It was a long rally, very tense at the finish but second place really feels like a win to me."

It was championship leader Kris Meeke in his Peugeot 207 S2000 who took an early lead in Madeira with an exceptional drive through the streets of Funchal to claim Thursday evening's superspecial by 0.9 seconds.

But when the rally headed out into the green and mountainous roads around the island, Basso's experience came to the fore and he put together a string of eight fastest stage times to go into the lead at the end of Leg 1.

At the start of Day Two,  Basso had a fresh gearbox in his Grande Punto a then set about to trade fastest stage times with Magalia’s. 

Defending IRC champion Nicolas Vouilloz won SS18 to close up on Alex Camacho in third-place. Yet the positions were static even though the speed advantage ebbed and flowed from driver to driver.

"We started a little slow, though we were trying to go fast," said Vouilloz. "I'm not really happy about the weekend but the car was good today and we were able to drive to the maximum."

Peugeot filled eight of the top 10 positions. A duel between Meeke and Freddy Loix was proved to be another exciting battle that raged throughout the event for fifth place and may well prove pivotal for the championship.

Meeke held a six point advantage over Loix Going in to the Rally Madeira. Now the Briton has 34 points, Jan Kopecky has 29 and both Loix and Basso have 27.

"This is a very, very special rally," Meeke said. "To come here for the first time and win would be impossible, the top four guys were incredible and to be just over a minute behind after three hours is amazing. The points you win on a bad weekend are the ones that count the most."

Top 10 Finishers

1    Giandomenico Basso (I)    Abarth Grande Punto S2000     3hrs 9m 55.4s
2     Bruno Magalhaes (P)    Peugeot 207 S2000    +3.5s
3     Alex Camacho (P)     Peugeot 207 S2000    +41.7s
4     Nicolas Vouilloz (F)    Peugeot 207 S2000    +49.4s
5     Kris Meeke (GB)    Peugeot 207 S2000    +1m 21.9s
6     Freddy Loix (B)    Peugeot 207 S2000    +1m 28.4s
7     Miguel Nunes (P)    Peugeot 207 S2000    +4m 57.9s
8     Corrado Fontana (I)    Peugeot 207 S2000    +5m 50.6s
9    Michal Solowow (PL)    Peugeot 207 S2000    +7m 29.9s
10    Guy Wilks (GB)    Proton Satria Neo S2000    +10m 40.8s

IRC Drivers' positions after 7 of 11 Rounds

1    Kris Meeke (GB)    34 points
2    Jan Kopecky (CZ)    29
3    Giandomenico Basso (I)    27
=    Freddy Loix (B)    27
5    Nicolas Vouilloz (F)    19
6    Juho Hanninen (F)    14
7    Sebastien Ogier (F)    10
=    Carl Tundo (EAK)    10
9    Alistair Cavanagh (GB)    8
=    Bruno Magalhaes (P)    8

Photo & Quotes: IRC

       2009 Pikes Peak International Hill Climb was won for the fourth time in a row by Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima, driving his Monster Sport SX4,
The victory was tempered as “Monster” left the Colorado race feeling somewhat frustrated at failing to beat the illusive ten minute barrier again.
      The win was convincing though as he clearly the class of the field in the Unlimited division, beating the second place team by 1:13 with his time of 10 minutes, 15.368 seconds. The Open Wheel class victory went to Paul Dallenbach in a Chevy, finishing with the time of 10:52.097. This year marks the fourth consecutive overall win for Tajima and his team.
       Monster’s Suzuki Hillclimb Special featured a steel space frame, along with carbon and Kevlar composite bodywork based on the Suzuki’s SX4 Crossover.
      The conditions were credited as the cause for the record not being broken this year with Tajima complaining of much loose gravel on the dirt sections. Later in the day the competitors were hit by sudden downpours with the accompanying thunder and lightning. This caused a few delays and left the tarmac sections of the mountain slippery and treacherous.
      Ford had a difficult time in Colorado with numerous problems throughout the week. The two-time World Rally Champion, Marcus Grönholm had seen just about everything in a rally course . . . until he came to Pikes Peak.  
     Grönholm drove his production based Ford Fiesta rallycross car, to second in the ‘Unlimited Class’ and fifth fastest time overall.  Grönholm also captured “Rookie of the Year” honours as he set a time of 11min 28.963sec up the 12.4-mile, 156-turn course which runs up the famous Pikes Peak Highway.
     Grönholm fought mechanical issues with the turbo charger on his 800-horsepower Fiesta rallycross car which resulted in a loss of power during the crucial final climb to the top.
     "I always wanted to compete at Pikes Peak,” said Grönholm.  "Having been here over the last week I have to admit that it is one of the most challenging events I have ever done in my career.  This is one of those events that you will want to tell people that you came and competed in.
     “I had heard about Pikes Peak and seen the famous film shot on the mountain with Ari Vatanen 20 years ago, but only when you come here do you realise how much of a challenge it is.

Photo: Suzuki
Quote: Ford