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14 October, 2010: Newsletter #33

The 2010 end-of-season awards ceremony will take place at Le Méridien Limassol Spa and Resort in Limassol on the evening of Sunday 7 November.

Located on Akrotiri Bay, on the island's southern coast, Limassol plays host to the 2010 FxPro Cyprus Rally (4-6 November) as well as to the inaugural Love Cyprus Golden Stage Rally (7 November).

Organised jointly by Eurosport Events, the promoter of the IRC and the Cyprus Automobile Association, the awards ceremony will gather all winning drivers and manufacturers in the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge and IRC 2WD Cup, as well as the winners of the Love Cyprus Golden Stage Rally. In addition, a special prize, The Colin McRae IRC Flat Out Driver of the Year, will be handed over to the most spectacular driver of the season.

   

Hanninen to go for glory in Scotland

Juho Hanninen, who cannot be caught in the race for the 2010 Intercontinental Rally Challenge drivers' title, is planning to go all-out for victory on RACMSA Rally of Scotland this weekend.

Driving a Skoda Motorsport Fabia Super 2000 Facelift, Hanninen already has two wins to his credit in the IRC this season, and is targeting win number three on the Perth-based rally, which runs from 15-17 October.

"I will do everything I can to fight for the win," said the 29-year-old. "I go to Scotland looking to focus on winning the rally and not having to think about the championship. First we have to look to what my team wants me to do but I will consider taking more risks to look for the win."

Hanninen's two other IRC victories this season came on the gravel-based rounds in Argentina and Sardinia. Although he didn't take part on Rally of Scotland last season, he did complete the pre-event reconnaissance.

Cetinkaya relishing getting back on gravel

Burcu Cetinkaya, who drives a Peugeot Sport Turkey 207 Super 2000, will continue her Intercontinental Rally Challenge campaign on the high-speed gravel stages of RACMSA Rally of Scotland this weekend and says that she can't wait for the event to get underway.

The Istanbul resident prefers driving on gravel, having spent the bulk of early career competing on loose-surface events in her native Turkey.

"I like driving on all surfaces but really gravel is my favourite so it will be nice to do a rally on gravel," said Cetinkaya, whose last two outings in the IRC were on asphalt roads.

McRae boosted by Cronin's PROTON return

Alister McRae says the inclusion of Keith Cronin in PROTON's Rally of Scotland line-up will boost the Malaysian manufacturer's bid on the gravel event, which runs from October 15-17.

Cronin starred for PROTON on Barum Czech Rally Zlin in late August and will make his second start in this season's Intercontinental Rally Challenge when he takes part on the Perth-based contest in a second Satria Neo S2000 alongside McRae.

"It's always good to have a team-mate because he's the first person you try and beat and it's always good to share data and ideas with another driver," said McRae, who finished second on Rally of Scotland last season.

The MEM-run PROTON team will prepare for the event with a test on the Tuesday before rally. Tom Cave will appear on the event - and at the test - in a third Satria Neo, albeit run privately.

 

Honda aims for another 2WD victory in Scotland

   

Last year, Estonian driver Kaspar Koitla pulled off a stunning Rally of Scotland result by finishing fifth overall in his Civic Type R, equalling the car's best-ever IRC result. This time, his countryman Siim Plangi is coming to Scotland in a Honda to defend national honour. Plangi will be co-driven on the Perth-based event by Marek Saarapuu.

The Honda Civic Type R R3 crew will be aiming firmly for victory in the two-wheel drive category, just like the class win achieved by Sandro Sottile on the Civic's last IRC outing on the Sanremo Rally in Italy three weeks ago.

In addition to the Estonians, the local crew of Colin Smith and Craig Chapman will be out on home territory in their Group N Civic Type R, having claimed second in the two-wheel drive standings last year along with 13th overall.

Wilson considered Rally of Scotland outing

World championship regular Matthew Wilson has revealed that he came close to entering RACMSA Rally of Scotland, which gets underway this weekend.

Briton Wilson gave M-Sport's Ford Fiesta S2000 its first public airing as course car on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge event last November. It forms the penultimate round of the IRC from October 15-17 and Wilson said he tried to take part in the Fiesta S2000 he helped to develop.

"The stages there are absolutely awesome and with the pace we had when we did it with the zero car last year I really think I could go for the win," said Wilson. "It's a brilliant rally and the Loch Ard stage is my favourite stage in the whole world. Unfortunately we didn't have a car available to do the rally so it wasn't possible."

Although Wilson will be a no show in Scotland the Fiesta model will still be represented with Andreas Mikkelsen entered in his M-Sport-run example.

Entry Form available for 2011 Monte-Carlo Rally centenary

Individual Entry Forms are now available for next year's Monte-Carlo Rally which will take place from 19-22 January, 2011.

The event will mark 100 years since the first Monte Carlo Rally took place on 21 January 1911. As part of the celebrations for the event's centenary, the ACM has decided that entry fees for this historic 2011 edition will be free of charge for all of the 100 competitors that are accepted for the opening round of next season's Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Entry forms and more information are available on: www.acm.mc

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