Rui Sousa à conquista de Espanha

A Prolama Competição vai assinalar o início da temporada 2015 com a presença de Rui Sousa na primeira prova do Campeonato de Espanha de Ralis Todo-o-Terreno, dias 6,7 e 8 de Março no Rali TT Tierras Altas de Lorca. O piloto da Prolama vai alinhar aos comandos da ISUZU New D-Max, de forma a rodar em condição de corrida e assim preparar a participação em Reguengos de Monsaraz. 

Esperando a chegada de um novo motor para a D-Max, Rui Sousa quer lutar por um lugar no pódio e assim lançar as bases para uma participação assídua em Espanha, conforme o próprio referiu; “…delineamos um programa diferente do nosso habitual e esta primeira participação em Espanha pode ser catalisadora para uma época de renascimento do nosso projecto. Vamos participar para validar algumas alterações que fizemos no carro, mas continuamos a aguardar um novo motor que deve ser estreado na próxima prova, por isso quero aproveitar para perceber onde estamos inseridos neste campeonato que começa de novo a mostrar vitalidade e se tudo correr como eu espero podemos lançar as bases de um ano activo no Campeonato de Espanha…” concluiu Rui Sousa, que defenderá as côres da Prolama/Cepsa.

 A Prolama levará ainda até Espanha os irmãos Alexandre e Rui Franco, que vão utilizar a sua Nissan Pick-Up Navara T2 com que venceram o Campeonato português e Ibérico de TT o ano passado. “…estamos focados no Nacional, mas enquanto este não arranca decidimos voltar a Espanha e dar inicio ao nosso projecto com a Scuderia Goldentrans/Dura em Lorca na categoria T2 e com um carro que conhecemos bem. O ano passado gostamos muito de competir em Espanha que tem um nível muito bom no agrupamento, por isso queremos disfrutar e ganhar ritmo para o desfio que vamos ter no Nacional, este ano noutra categoria…” concluiu o piloto de Alenquer

 Ainda em Lorca estará o Evoque CATTIVA, assistido pela Equipa de Vila Nova da Rainha, pilotado por um piloto espanhol, mais um cunho internacional que a Equipa vem alimentando ao longo dos anos.

 O Rally TT Tierras Altas de Lorca tem inicio dia 6 de Março, sexta-feira com a partida simbólica no centro da cidade, seguindo-se no Sábado um prologo de 5 Km durante a manhã. De tarde os concorrentes vão cumprir um primeiro sector selectivo de 240 Km, que será repetido domingo (dia8) de manhã.

 Pelas 15 Horas a distribuição de prémios dá por encerrada a primeira prova do Campeonato de Espanha.

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Helder Oliveira de regresso ao Campeonato

Piloto de Barcelos vai pilotar uma Nissan Navara Off Road … 
… e fará equipa com Nuno Rodrigues da Silva 

Helder Oliveira está de regresso ao Campeonato Nacional de Todo-o-Terreno. O piloto de Barcelos assegurou, para esta temporada de 2015, a Nissan Navara Off Road que é propriedade de Paulo Graça e com o apoio operacional da MRacing propõe-se disputar as seis provas incluídas este ano no calendário oficial.

 O piloto de Barcelos será acompanhado, neste seu regresso às lides do campeonato, por Nuno Rodrigues da Silva, o experiente navegador que já o acompanhou, em 2014, na experiência pontual feita aos comandos do Depieres Proto de duas rodas motrizes.

 Hélder Oliveira tem sido ao longo da sua carreira um piloto extremamente rápido e consistente e que continua muito motivado para tentar chegar à vitória absoluta numa prova do CNTT conquista que ainda falta no seu currículo.

“Estou muito satisfeito pelo facto de esta oportunidade ter surgido e muito tenho nesse aspeto a agradecer ao Paulo Graça. A Nissan Navara é uma excelente máquina, que já por diversas vezes tive a oportunidade de pilotar e estou certo de que, com o apoio da MRacing, continuará a ser muito competitiva. O meu objetivo é fazer as seis provas mas, de momento, ainda não posso confirmar a participação em todo o campeonato. Garantida está cerca de meia temporada pelo que estamos a trabalhar no sentido de arranjar os apoios para cumprirmos a sua totalidade”, salienta Helder Oliveira.

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Miguel Barbosa conquista “Capacete de Ouro"

Troféu premeia conquista do título nacional de velocidade

O Campeão Nacional de Velocidade foi distinguido com o prémio “Piloto Nacional 2014” na 12ª edição da iniciativa “Capacetes de Ouro”.

 Na iniciativa, que tem como promotor o semanário Auto Hoje, foi homenageado o excelente desempenho da dupla de pilotos do BP Ultimate Vodafone Team na conquista do título nacional de velocidade pelo que o “Capacete de Ouro” foi partilhado por Miguel Barbosa e José Pedro Fontes. 

Miguel Barbosa que, em 2014, juntou este título aos seis que já anteriormente tinha conquistado no todo-o-terreno e ainda ao Campeonato de Portugal de GT alcançado em 2011 salientou que “foi com enorme orgulho que o José Pedro Fontes e eu recebemos este prémio que não é mais do que o reconhecimento pelo nosso trabalho desenvolvido ao longo do último ano. É muito gratificante sentir que a nossa competitividade, persistência e dedicação foram reconhecidos” e acrescenta: “Tal como nos três anos anteriores também em 2014 fiz equipa com o José Pedro Fontes. Juntos formámos uma parceria de sucesso que nos levou à conquista do título de campeões nacionais, por isso, partilhar este prémio com o meu companheiro é para mim uma honra e tem, sem dúvida, um sabor muito especial”.

 De notar que os troféus “Capacete de Ouro” pretendem premiar o desempenho de equipas, pilotos, instituições e marcas que se destacaram na temporada 2014 do desporto automóvel, abrangendo as várias modalidades: ralis, karting, todo-o-terreno, e velocidade.

 Para além do prémio “Piloto Nacional”, foram ainda distinguidas mais quatro categorias: Prémio de Mérito Desportivo, Prémio Jovem Esperança, Piloto Revelação e prémio Piloto Internacional que foram atribuídos pela redação do Auto Hoje.

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MINI All4 Racing alcança pódio na primeira prova da Taça do mundo

- Vladimir Vasilyev finishes second in Russia 

- Erik van Loon comes fifth 

Just a month after the Dakar, the cross-country rally calendar featured the next event: the Northern Forest – Baja Russia, round one of the 2015 FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup, held from 20th to 22nd February. At the end of three days and with 326 kilometres contested, the Russian pairing Vladimir Vasilyev / Konstantin Zhiltsov took their MINI ALL4 Racing to second position, with the Dutchmen Erik van Loon and Wouter Rosegaar coming fifth.

 Following the prologue, Vasilyev was the second to start into the second special stage and held a position among the front-runners right from the start. But with 100 kilometres contested, the Russian hit a rock with a front wheel. Due to having to change the wheel he lost several minutes and finished fifth on Saturday. In the third and final special stage on Sunday, Vasilyev once again really went for it and clinched second place, thus working his way up in the overall rankings to finish second.

 For Van Loon it was the first event on ice and snow. Therefore, he needed some time for familiarising himself with the conditions and finished seventh, on Saturday. On Sunday, however, the Dutchman made good use of the experiences gathered on the previous day and took his MINI ALL4 Racing to fourth place. In the end, he made it to fifth position in the Northern Forest – Baja Russia. 

The organisers of the Northern Forest – Baja Russia had moved the event further to the north to make for lower temperatures but just as in 2014, the rally took place at temperatures above 0° C and so, the snow was extremely wet and slippery. An anything but easy task for the competitors as even spikes didn’t provide the grip and traction they needed.

  “The Sunday went really well for the MINI ALL4 Racing crews,” said X-raid GmbH CEO Sven Quandt. “It’s a pity that Vladimir hit the rock on Saturday, as this incident probably cost him the win. Meanwhile, Erik contested his first event on ice and snow and delivered in really fine style. You really could see the massive step forward he made from Saturday to Sunday."

 Baja Russia Overall rankings with all the three stages contested:

1st SUOMINEN / NASMAN – Toyota – 3h 37m 10s
2nd VASILYEV / ZHILTSOV – MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 38m 17s
3rd VARELA / GUGELMIN – Toyota – 3h 44m 27s
4th ZAPLETAL / MARTON – H3 – 3h 49m 11s
5th VAN LOON / ROSEGAAR – MINI ALL4 Racing – 3h 50m 38s

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OVERDRIVE RACING’S SUOMINEN AND NASMAN MISS OUT ON OUTRIGHT BAJA RUSSIAN NORTHERN FOREST WIN

· Overdrive’s Varela and Gugelmin reach finish of snow rally in fourth 

· A roll pushes Dabrowski and Czachor down to 10th; victory for Finn Ampuja 

Overdrive Racing’s Tapio Suominen and Toni Nasman narrowly missed out on taking outright victory in Baja Russia Northern Forest ’15 and finished second overall behind their rival all-Finnish crew of Jouni-Matti Ampuja and Markku Antero Hurskainen.

 Snowdrifts, deep ruts and treacherous conditions made the event a real test of man and machine and a fitting way to kick start the 2015 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies.

 The Brazilian Overdrive Racing crew of Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin reached the finish in fourth overall, but a final stage accident cost Poles, Marek Dabrowski and Jacek Czachor, valuable time and they slipped to 10th place. Race winner Ampuja was not registered for the FIA World Cup, however, and Suominen, Varela and Dabrowski claimed FIA World Cup points for first, third and ninth overall finishes, respectively.

  “We made a good race with no mistakes and no problems,” said Varela. “We kept on the track and everything was fine. The weather conditions were better on the last stage, so we could go faster.”

 Dabrowski was a little disappointed not to finish higher: “We had a small accident. It was difficult to keep the car on the road in one of the drifts and we dropped on the roof and lost some time.”

“I would compare this with the Arctic Rally, where you can go off the track so easily,” said Suominen from Hyvinkää, in Finland. 
“I was pleased with our performance and know that I was on a competitive pace from the start to the finish.”

  “It would have been nice to take the outright win and retain the crown we took last year,” said Overdrive Racing’s team director Jean-Marc Fortin. “But our drivers performed very well and we had no problems with the cars at all in these very difficult conditions. Under the circumstances, this was a good start to a busy season for us.”

 Russian Andrey Zhigunov edged into a slender five-second lead over Suominen through the opening 9.5km Prologue stage on Friday afternoon. Dabrowski was fourth, 19 seconds behind, and Varela carded the 12th quickest time and dropped 54 seconds to the leading Russian on the slippery, snowy stage.

 Soft snow, deep ruts and slippery conditions made the opening 158km selective section demanding for the entire field, despite studded tyres, and Suominen held on to take the fastest time and the outright lead, as the route wound its way through the Republic of Karelia and close to the Finnish border, near Yartsevo.

 The flying Finn clocked the third fastest time of 1hr 48min 38sec and that pushed him into the outright lead in front of the surprise Finnish performers, Tapio Lauronen and Jouni-Matti Ampuja, who were chasing points in the Russian Championship.

 Varela was fourth and Dabrowski was seventh after a puncture in the Team Orlen Toyota. But it meant that the three-strong Toyota team was in a superb position to challenge for the win heading into Sunday’s third selective section that wound its way north towards the district of Suojärvi.

  “It was a nice special and we are going quite well,” said Suominen. “We drifted two times into snow banks and lost something like 30 seconds, but no drama. I enjoy.”

There were numerous spins, drifts and accidents amongst the chasing group. Defending FIA World Cup champion Vladimir Vasilyev clouted a rock and lost three minutes changing a wheel.

 Three crews failed to start the third 158.38km selective section and Suominen took a seven-second lead over Ampuja into the timed test. Lauronen was the early pacesetter after 34km, from Vasilyev,

Ampuja and Suominen, but Dabrowski inverted the Team Orlen Toyota and lost his chance of taking a podium finish and Lauronen’s rally ended in a ditch. Ampuja managed to stay in front of Vasilyev and Suominen to confirm the stage win and outright victory over Suominen by the margin of 1min 58sec. But Suominen’s consolation was a useful haul of FIA World Cup points.

  2015 Baja Russia Northern Forest ’15 – final positions:

 1. Jouni-Matti Ampuja (FIN)/Markku Antero Hurskainen (FIN) Mitsubishi Pajero Evo 3hr 35min 12sec
2. Tapio Suominen (FIN)/Toni Nasman (FIN) Overdrive Toyota Hilux 3hr 37min 10sec
 3. Vladimir Vasilyev (RUS)/Konstantin Zhiltsov (RUS) Mini All4 Racing 3hr 38min 17sec
 4. Reinaldo Varela (BRA)/Gustavo Gugelmin (BRA) Overdrive Toyota Hilux 3hr 44min 27sec
5. Miroslav Zapletal (CZE)/Maciej Martol (POL) Hummer H3 Evo 7 3hr 49min 11sec
6. Erik van Loon (NED)/Wouter Rosegaar (NED) Mini All4 Racing 3hr 50min 38sec
7. Andrey Novikov (RUS)/Vladimir Novikov (RUS) G-Force Proto 3hr 53min 02sec
8. Evgeny Firsov (RUS)/Vadim Filatov (RUS) Nissan 4hr 03min 55sec
9. Yuriy Sazonov (KAZ)/Arslan Sakhimov (KAZ) Hummer H3 Evo 4hr 12min 36sec
10. Marek Dabrowski (POL)/Jacek Czachor (POL) Overdrive Toyota Hilux 4hr 17min 51sec

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Dois MINI All4 Racing no início de temporada da Taça do Mundo na Rússia

• Two MINI ALL4 Racing vehicles to contest the Baja Russia 

• Challenge on ice and snow 

“Get out your warm gear” definitely is the motto for the coming weekend when the FIA Cross Country Rally World Cup is going to kick off its 2015 season. After the heat and the sand they had to cope with in the Dakar Rally, all the competitors and the two MINI ALL4 Racing pairings now will have to face coldness, snow and ice – in the Northern Forest Baja Russia (20th to 22nd February, 2015). Dutch pairing Erik van Loon / Wouter Rosegaar who finished fourth in the Dakar will make their first appearance in the Russian Baja. Meanwhile, the second MINI ALL4 Racing will be raced by the Russians Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov who finished runner-up in last year’s edition of the event and won FIA World Cup title, at the end of the season. In the 2015 Dakar, they finished fifth.

 After the Dakar, the two vehicles were flown to Frankfurt, to have the time to prepare them for the icy adventure in the team’s headquarters in Trebur. After all, they will have to cope with completely different conditions, there. In the Dakar, you try as hard as you can to cool the engine, the differential and the gearbox as well as possible. For the event in Russia, however, the engineers and mechanics have to find solutions for making sure that these areas are kept warm enough for working flawlessly. The gearbox, for instance, needs a working temperature of 80 to 90 degree. And the drivers also need a heating instead of an air condition system. In addition, the cars are shod with spikes, providing grip on the icy and snowy track surfaces. And the mechanics will be provided with heated tents, enabling them to work on the cars at bearable temperatures.

 Venue of the Baja is the Russian republic Karelia. The service park of the event will be erected in the city of Sortavala, right at the Finnish border. The first stage will be contested on Friday afternoon – with the special stage featuring a length of 9.5 kilometres. The second and the third stages, contested on Saturday and Sunday respectively, feature a 159 kilometre special stage each.

“Last year we made our first appearance in the Baja Russia and this debut meant a lot of stress for us,” reveal X-raid GmbH CEO Sven Quandt. “After all, we didn’t exactly know what kind of impact the freezing cold would make on the MINI ALL4 Racing. This year, we travel to Russia in a more relaxed mood. For Erik, however, driving on ice and snow will represent a completely new challenge. While Vladimir already gathered experience with his MINI ALL4 racing in the 2014 edition of the event..”

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Cinca duras etapas de Deserto planeadas para o renovado Sealina Cross-Country Rally no Qatar

· Entries for QMMF’s new-look Sealine event open tomorrow (Thursday) 

· QMMF announces over 1,750km of competition for car, bike and quad entrants 

The Qatar Motor and Motorcycle Federation (QMMF) has laid on five demanding desert selective sections for car, bike and quad entrants taking part in this year’s Sealine Cross-Country Rally, the third round of the 2015 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies and round two of the FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship, on April 18-24.

 There will be no super special stage or ceremonial start on this occasion and the competitive action will get underway on Monday, April 20 with the first provisional 194km timed section from a start at the Losail International Circuit.

 Minor route amendments are being made this week by event officials and the precise distances of the stages may change slightly over the coming days, but selective sections of 397.56km, 401.15km, 400.55km and 364.28km had been originally planned to test teams to the limit before the ceremonial finish at the bivouac, near Sealine, on Friday, April 24. In an intended compact route of approximately 1,917km, over 90% will be competitive.

  “We have been making subtle improvements and changes to the route and the format of the event each year,” said Nasser Khalifa Al-Attiyah, president of the QMMF and FIA vice-president MENA. “Feedback last year from competitors was extremely positive and we had one of the most exciting ever finishes in the motorcycle category. Our terrain is varied and demanding and our team has laid on a difficult route with very challenging navigation.”

 Portugal’s Pedro Almeida will act as clerk of the course once again for the auto event, with Qatar’s Marwan Musabah working alongside as his deputy and with Jaime Santos on the complex road book. Iain Black is the clerk of the course of the motorcycle event.

 Victories last year fell to two-time Dakar winner Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah (Mini All4 Racing), Joan Barreda Bort (Honda CRF 450) and Mohammed Abu Issa (Honda) in their respective car, motorcycle and quad categories. Al three are expected to return to defend their Sealine titles in 2015. 

Administration checks, scrutineering, the initial briefing and the pre-event press conference will take place at the Losail International Circuit, north of Doha, on Saturday, April 18 and Sunday, April 19.

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Overdrive Racing leva 3 Hilux à primeira prova da Taça do Mundo no Gelo da Rússia

·Brazil’s Reinaldo Varela and Pole Marek Dabrowski to drive two Toyotas 

·Former Finnish WRC co-driver Tapio Suominen joins Overdrive for first time 

·New-look route pushes further north into Karelia and Finnish border country 

No sooner has the dust settled on another exciting and successful Dakar Rally foray and Belgium-based Overdrive Racing is back in competitive action with three Toyota Hiluxes entered in the Baja Russia Northern Forest ’15 on February 20-22.

 In stark contrast to the blistering heat and high altitude that the team faced on the Dakar in South America last month, the opening round of the 2015 FIA World Cup for Cross-Country Rallies takes place through the frozen and snow-covered forests of northern Russia’s winter wonderland in the Republic of Karelia.

 Overdrive Racing will field three Toyotas for the Brazilian driver Reinaldo Varela, Pole Marek Dabrowski and new Finnish team member Tapio Suominen. Fellow countrymen Gustavo Gugelmin and Jacek Czachor will partner the leading two drivers, while Suominen teams up with Toni Nesman.

Varela has been an integral member of the Overdrive Racing line-up for several years and finished a fine third overall in last year’s Northern Forest event behind Overdrive’s outright winner Yazeed Al-Rajhi and runner-up Vladimir Vasilyev.

 Fresh from finishing 23rd overall in the Dakar Rally, Dabrowski is reunited with usual Polish navigator Czachor in Russia, after a family tragedy forced the former enduro rider to miss the Dakar. The Polish duo also enjoyed a useful Russian adventure last season and finished fifth overall in their Team Orlen-backed car.

  “I am planning to do all the rounds of the FIA World Cup, starting in Russia,” said Dabrowski. “I have visited the country four or five times before, but last year was the first time I competed here. Before then, I had not had any winter racing experience. This year the race will be located in an unfamiliar area, but we are prepared and looking forward to it.”

 Suominen drove for a rival team in Russia last season and impressed many with his turn of speed even though he lost a top five finish after leaving the track on the final stage. The 34-year-old Finn is better known for his co-driving exploits alongside flying Finn Toni Gardemeister in the FIA World Rally Championship. He also turned his hand to cross-country rallying as a navigator in 2014 and finished third in both Baja Poland and Baja Spain alongside the Polish driver Martin Kaczmarski. 

Suominen, from Hyvinkää, finished 12th alongside Gardemeister in the 2010 Rally Finland and ninth in the International Rally Challenge (IRC) the following year. In 2013, he finished ninth overall and second in the WRC2 category of Wales Rally GB alongside Jari Ketomaa.

  “We tested the Toyota in Finland, where the route and the tracks are very similar to those for the Baja,” said Suominen.

“Naturally, I want to win. Even though I like driving much more there is no drama if I have to change seats in some races.”

  “Obviously we had a lot of sorting out to do logistically after the Dakar Rally, but the new season starts quickly and we are now raring to go with a new FIA World Cup programme and three cars in Russia,” said Overdrive Racing’s team director Jean-Marc Fortin.

  “The relocation of the rally headquarters and the stages didn’t really influence our logistics much. I am well acquainted with the Karelia region, having visited it twice in the past for Russian national rallies. The place is spectacular. It will be a fascinating race.”

 Main competition to the Overdrive crews will come from the defending FIA World Cup champion Vladimir Vasilyev, fellow Russian driver Evgeny Firsov, Kazakh Andrey Cherednikov, Latvian Aldis Vilcans and Qatar’s Sheikh Hamed bin Eid Al-Thani.

 The move north to the colder region of Karelia, near the border with Finland, is likely to give the organisers more stable winter weather, guaranteed snow cover and lower temperatures. The action gets underway with a 9.5km Prologue stage on Friday, February 20th and then two days of action along a 159km section through the frozen wilderness on Saturday, February 21st and the selective section run in reverse on Sunday, February 22nd.

 Event formalities will be based at the Black Rocks tourist centre, while the competitive route winds its way close to the Finnish border, near Yartsevo in the Sortavala region, and then further north towards the district of Suojärvi. The Republic of Karelia stretches from the White Sea coast to the Gulf of Finland and contains the two largest lakes in Europe, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega.

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