Imprezas open season with 1-2 in Sweden
Feb 16, 2010 - Round 1 "Rally Sweden"
Despite a small entry of only three SUBARU cars in the season-opening Swedish Rally, drivers Patrik Flodin and Anders Grondal secured the top two spots in the Production class after three days' rallying in the snow.
Right from the opening stages on Friday, local driver Flodin maintained his position as leader of the P-WRC, never having to push too hard to stay in the top spot. New suspension settings on the morning of Day two made the car very bouncy at the front, but this was safely remedied at the lunchtime Service. Flodin's stage times throughout the second day were extremely close to the much lighter S2000 cars, illustrating just how quick the Swede was on home ground. Gravel coming through on sections of the final day's stages wore down the studs on the drivers' snow tyres, meaning a huge loss of grip, and was a talking point among all competitors.
Anders Grondal had a less auspicious start to his rally, the Norwegian spinning on the second stage of the event, and then getting caught behind another car for the remainder of Friday morning. He went on to set two fastest stage times, on SS5 and SS6, though losing his light pod later on meant he fell back slightly on the final stage of Day One. Contact with a snow bank on the morning of Day two froze his air filter, losing power and as a result, pace. Grondal was happy with his car overall, remarking on how pleased he was with it compared to his regular mount, a World Rally Car! Anders took a more cautious approach to the afternoon stages, until the last test of the day where he really flew. His final day was marked by a lack of grip, for the same reason as Flodin, excessive tyre wear.
Gianluca Linari of Italy went onto SupeRally on Day One, and spent the following day regaining confidence in the snow. He had an off on Day Three's SS18, but was helped back onto the stage by spectators.
The other competitor running an Impreza (though outside of the P-WRC) was Ott Tanak, the Estonian posting some very impressive times apart from an excursion into a snowdrift that cost him five minutes. Day two saw some minor drama in the form of a power steering failure, followed by a small engine fire. He suffered a puncture on the last stage of the event, a subsequent visit to a snow bank convincing him to call time on his effort. Although he didn't achieve his goal of finishing among the top Production entries, he set some very impressive stage times throughout the three days.
Patrik Flodin said "It feels fantastic to start the season with a win and now I really hope I can do the whole P-WRC season. It's great to win my home rally so it's good for me in every way.”
Arai takes second place after bitter fight
Mar 8, 2010 - Round 2 " Rd.2 Rally Mexico"
The first gravel round of the 2010 P-WRC took place over the weekend in the Rally Mexico. Two-time Production Car World Rally Champion Toshi Arai was joined by Gianluca Linari as the sole Impreza runners.
With new co-driver Daniel Barritt onboard, Toshi made a fresh start in P-WRC. Although he had problems with the power steering in second place on the opening stage, he took the top spot by a wide margin, 23.3 seconds.. He continued to challenge strongly despite twisty roads, and held the lead until SS5, but was taken over the lead on SS6. Despite all that, he won three stages, SS2, SS8 and SS9 and ended the leg a mere 5 seconds behind the leader.
In order that Toshi came out on top again, he made a strong run on SS10, the first stage of Day 2, but after that, vapour lock occured, and then on a steep incline he went off the road, damaging the car.He made repairs and came back to the stage but then on SS13 went off and got a puncture, losing over three minutes. The car was properly repaired at the lunchtime Service.
Toshi adopted a "safe" strategy for the afternoon, three minutes behind the leader and well ahead of 3rd place. On this day, he took five stage wins, SS10, and SS 15-19. On the final day Toshi continued to drive safely and preserve the car, and took 2nd place easily, while also winning the last stage, SS22.
Gianluca Linari meanwhile, had a nearly trouble-free event to claim his best ever result in the P-WRC, fifth place. He felt more comfortable after changing his shock absorbers on the first day, but as well as other drivers, due to harsh conditions in Mexico, the only real issue he faced all weekend was some slight overheating which never became critical.
STI Group N Project General Manager George Donaldson:
“Once again we have seen Toshi drive a great event. He surmounted the challenge of new notes with his latest co-driver Daniel Barritt and then a few heat related issues with the car. Not only this, the 2010 edition of Rally Mexico has proved itself to be the toughest challenge the teams will face throughout this year. Looking at the championship Toshi is in great shape as we can identify that this year's champion will be the one with most 1st and 2nd places. Already the main opposition has scored a third in Sweden, which will be crucial later in the year! Therefore we can be confident his 2010 campaign is very much on target.
With Toshi having a good start and the news that Patrik Flodin will now join P-WRC from Jordan, we find ourselves very well represented at the sharp end of the 2010 P-WRC.”
The next round of the 2010 FIA Production Car World Rally Championship is Rally Jordan, which takes place from April 1st to 3rd.
Flodin Dominates in the Desert
Apr 6, 2010 - Round 3 "Rally Jordan"
Swedish competitor Patrik Flodin stormed to a second victory in as many rallies over the weekend, boosting his 2010 PWRC title campaign. Run on notoriously rough stages around the Dead Sea, Rally Jordan is one of strenuous difficulty.
Also campaigning an Impreza STI was Spyros Pavlides, who took a strong fourth place. Chinese driver Wang Rui made his World Championship debut in a third Impreza.
Flodin's rally started off well, though contact with a large rock in the road on SS3 nearly rolled the car. Patrik was able to survive the incident with minimal time loss, and beat all the S2000 machines on the last stage before going into the second day. He stayed ahead throughout Day two. On the final leg, Flodin extended his lead over Armindo Araujo to 1 minute 36 seconds in the morning, finally winning by a margin of nearly two minutes. He took a total of fourteen stage wins from the event's 21.
Spyros Pavlides was very happy with his 2010-spec Impreza, rising to fourth at the end of Day two, and holding third on the final morning. He scored well on his 2010 season debut with fourth.
Wang Rui took things easy on his PWRC debut, driving a safe strategy over largely unfamiliar terrain to record a well-earned finish, delighting his team.
STI Group N Project general Manager George Donaldson:
“This was a fast and tough event, rivalling even Mexico in terms of difficulty. However, Patrik Flodin controlled the pace throughout, keeping Armindo Araujo in check in one of Patrik's finest ever victories.
Spyros Pavlides drove at a career best pace to challenge for third but small offs on day three put paid to that. However, he finished a strong 4th overall and has really enjoyed driving the 2010 Impreza. Newcomer Rui Wang from the FCACA team in China took a sensible and steady approach to the event and looks forward to lifting his pace in NZ.”
The next round of the 2010 PWRC is Rally New Zealand, which takes place from May 7th to 9th.
Disappointment for Toshi Arai despite scoring points
May 10, 2010 - Round 4 "Rally New Zealand"
The 2010 Production car World Rally Championship visited the Southern Hemisphere and New Zealand for Round 4 of the series, drivers Toshi Arai, Gianluca Linari and Wang Rui flying the flag for SUBARU. They were joined by local guest drivers Richard Mason and Emma Gilmour.
Toshi Arai was the best SUBARU-equipped finisher among the regular P-WRC entrants, netting seven stage wins on his way to fourth place overall. Linari finished one position back, while Chinese driver Wang Rui retired.
Mason started out leading the event, winning the first three stages on Day One. Disaster struck on SS6 however, the New Zealander crashing out of the event. Emma Gilmour meanwhile, ran a resilient race throughout the three days, eventually finishing second in P-WRC.
Toshi Arai's opening day in New Zealand wasn't a happy one. A small mistake on SS3 led to a bent rear suspension arm, causing a delay. Later in the day he lost all power and had to retire, leaving him in ninth place in the P-WRC. Arai was back on Day Two, putting in a typically strong performance and gaining four stage wins on his way to sixth place. The final leg saw more of the same from Toshi, the Japanese winning SS18-20 in his successful attempt to eclipse fellow SUBARU runner Gianluca Linari. With the demise of Wang Rui on the final stage, Arai scored 12 championship points with fourth place.
STI Group N Project General Manager George Donaldson:
“On Rally New Zealand a ten second loss is like a minute on most other rallies! Here lies the reason perhaps for the loss of one of our two top contenders, Richard Mason from this year's NZ rally. It's always extra disappointing when we are event favourites and we have calamities - but that's motorsport. Toshi's exit from the leading pack of P-WRC drivers was even more innocuous, taking extra care over a slow bridge on SS3 he simply clipped the edge and somehow this resulted in a broken cross-member. He then put in a fantastic drive on Day Two and Day Three and hauled himself back up to 4th place thereby salvaging a points finish - which keeps him in the running for the 2010 PWRC crown.”
Grondal in an Impreza finishes the P-WRC Rally Finland in fourth
July 29 - 31,2010 - Round 5 "Neste Oil Rally Finland"
Round 5 of the P-WRC, Neste Oil Rally Finland was held in the student town of Jyvaskyla in central Finland from July 29th to 31st. Norwegian Anders Grondal, who had come second in the season opener in Sweden brought his SUBARU Impreza WRX STI home in fourth place in this demanding event.
Five SUBARU Imprezas participated in the Finish round of the P-WRC; Sweden's Patrik Flodin, Italy's Alessandro Bruschetta, China's Rui Wang and Portugal's Nuno Barroso Pereira as well as Grondal.
It could have been an ideal chance for Flodin, then second in the championship standings to take the lead; point leader Armind Araujo having skipped the event. However, the Swede was forced to use a loan car that he had not driven in much, and he struggled with the inadequate power available. After finishing the opening Super Special Stage in fourth, he managed to get top 3 stage times when the rally got properly underway. He initially suffered a broken front right driveshaft on Stage 5, but later found his feet to win Stage 7. On stage 8, he lost 30 seconds when he broke the front right damper of his car. Despite these setbacks, he still managed to finish Day 1 in second. Unfortunately he was forced to retire early on Day 2's stage 3 (SS14) due to problems with his car's hydraulics.
Meanwhile, after taking the seventh fastest time on the opening stage, Grondal finished Day 1 in fifth following dropouts from other competitors. On Day 2, he showed stable performance taking the third fastest time on Stage 16. He finished the event in fourth, and moved up to fourth in the championship. Wang, who was 11th fastest on the opening stage, suffered a couple of punctures on Day 1, but kept a stable pace throughout the rally to finish in 8th and collect some points along the way. Bruschetta went off the road on Stage 6, and Barroso Pereira had a mechanical problem on Stage 2. Both drivers had to bow out early as a result.
Flodin finished third in the P-WRC in Germany
20 - 22/8/10 - Round 6 "ADAC Rally Deutschland"
Round 6 of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship (P-WRC), ADAC Rally Deutschland took place from 20 - 22 August in Trier - Germany's oldest city. With two wins already under his belt this season, Patrik Flodin (Sweden) in a SUBARU Impreza WRX STI finished on the podium in third. And though Japan's Toshi Arai was forced to retire early on Day 1, he fought back after a restart to come out sixth at the end - meaning that Flodin stays second while Arai holds on to his number 4 spot in the championship.
Rally Deutschland is the first tarmac event in this year's P-WRC, and is one of the most difficult rallies of the season. In fact, with surface characteristics varying each day, it is said to be more like three rallies in one. In this event, the title was at stake for all support championships; P-WRC, S-WRC and J-WRC, on top of the WRC. As well as Arai and Flodin, another SUBARU driver - Portuguese Nuno Barroso Pereira also entered the P-WRC under the wing of Tommi Makinen Racing.
Arai broke his propeller shaft on Stage 4 and had to pull out early on Day 1. He came back on Day 2, only to suffer two punctures along the way, but on the final day, having made changes to his car setting, the Japanese driver recorded the fastest time on two stages in a row, helping him to move up the leaders' board and finish in sixth. Meanwhile, after battling it out for second place on the first day, Flodin's car suffered from overheating and then a broken shift lever on the penultimate stage. Despite the setback, he managed to complete the rally and get third position. All three SUBARU entrants picked up points in this difficult rally including Barroso Pereira, who finished in ninth place.
The next round of the P-WRC, Round 7 Rally Japan will be held from 10 -12 September in Sapporo, Japan.
Patrik Flodin takes 3rd win of season on SUBARU's home event!
10 - 12/9/10 - Round 7 "Rally Japan"
Round 7 of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship (P-WRC), Rally Japan was held from September 9th to 12th in Sapporo, Japan. Patrik Flodin of Sweden, having won the first and third rounds of the season in Sweden and Jordan respectively, drove an Impreza WRX STI to his third victory of the season. Also representing SUBARU, Italian Gianluca Linari finished in third place - a personal best, while Chinese driver Wang Rui put up a strong fight as well, coming home in fifth place. Toshi Arai, carrying the expectations of the Japanese fans, ended up having to retire on the event's fourth stage.
Flodin, with the shadow of his disappointing retirement on the previous round in Finland hanging over him, came into this event with his sights set firmly on the title. He regarded formidable competitor Toshi Arai as his biggest rival. Arai took the lead on the opening Super Special stage and began to show his strength. However, on a straight stretch on SS4, his timing was out of sync with the bumps in the road and he hit a tree, rolling his machine. Unfortunately, the amount of damage to the car meant he was unable to continue.
With Arai out of the rally, Flodin took the lead and built a large margin of 1 minute, 4 seconds between he and the second-placed car. He continued his brisk pace for the remainder of the event, finishing in a dominant first place, leading the second-placed finisher, Haydon Paddon of New Zealand, by some 2 minutes, 45 seconds. Flodin had the quickest time on 13 of the event's 26 stages, and set the second fastest time on all of the others. It was his third win of the season, and he now also leads the points' standings.
Toshi Arai comes in third in the newly located Rallye de France
1 - 3/10/10 - Round 8 "Rallye de France"
Round 8 of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship (P-WRC), "Rally de France" was held in Alsace in Eastern France from October 1 - 3 with Japanese driver Toshi Arai finishing third in his WRX STI.
The WRC event in France has become a completely new rally, moving from its long-time base in Corsica to Alsace near the German border. Along with Arai, the line-up of Subaru P-WRC drivers in this new-look rally was Anders Grondal (Norway), Gianluca Linari (Italy), Rui Wang (China), Nuno Barroso Pereira (Portugal) and David Weston Jr. (UK). Taking part in his first P-WRC event at the tender age of 20, the Brit drove for Uspenskiy Rally Tecnica, which substituted him for its regular driver Patrik Flodin who missed this event.
The rally was all-tarmac like in Corsica, but rain before the start and a lot of gravel being pulled onto the roads posed extremely slippery conditions and challenges for the crews. Anders Grondal was running second on the first day, but was forced into a painful retirement when he got a puncture in both the front and rear left tyres on the last stage of Day 2 with only one spare in his car. On the same day, Arai also suffered a puncture on the long stage and lost almost 3 and a half minutes changing tyres. However, he moved up to third following Grondal's misfortune and kept the position until the end to finish the rally on the podium. Restarting on Day 3, Grondal fought back to finish 5th and Rui Wang followed him in 6th.
In the final event in Great Britain, Flodin takes successive fastest times
to finish 5th, and 2nd in the championship.
11 - 14/11/10 - Round 9 "Rally of Great Britain"
Rally GB, the ninth and final event in the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship (P-WRC) was held from November 11-14, based in the capital of Wales, Cardiff. Title hopeful, Sweden's Patrik Flodin had a change in fortune to finish fifth, and ended the season second in the championship.
As has happened on many occasions, Rally GB was the final event on the WRC calendar. Following the ceremonial start on the evening of November 11, the rally consisted of 20 stages and 359.44 kilometres of racing. Apart from Flodin, other Subaru entrants included Toshi Arai (Japan), Gianluca Linari (Italy), Rui Wang (China), Anders Grondal (Norway) and Spyros Pavlides (Cyprus). Two wildcard entrants were provided by the host country's ASN, 20-year-old David Weston Jr. (Great Britain) and Jason Pritchard (Great Britain).
Flodin, who needed to win the event to claim the championship title, took successive stage wins in the opening six stages of the rally, building up a lead of 1 minute 17 seconds in front of the second-placed runner. However on SS7, the final stage of Day One, he hit a small rock with the front of his car and damaged the steering, causing him to finish the leg in third place. On Day Two Flodin got within 23 seconds of the leader before a front tyre puncture on SS15 and suspension damage forced his retirement. Flodin restarted on Day Three in sixth position, and after a total of 15 stage wins, the most on this rally, went on to finish in fifth place. Jason Pritchard was the highest placed Subaru driver in fourth.
Japan's Toshi Arai was forced to retire on the first day with drive-train trouble. He restarted later on and finished the rally in ninth place.