RallyBuzz |
- Sara Secures Klarius Support for 2012
- Multiplatform Co-Op Motorsports Team join forces to race the King of the Hammers 2012
- Yokohama to become the control tyre for ITCC for 2012
- The Accolades Keep Coming for Breen
- Sterckx Rally Sport Team Scores Podium at Sno*Drift Rally
- ABS drama puts Quinn and Tillett out of Targa Wrest Point
| Sara Secures Klarius Support for 2012 Posted: 30 Jan 2012 11:04 AM PST  Sara will again show the Klarius Dragon in 2012 - Photo Credit: David Benson/RallySport Media The KLARIUS Group, world leading OEM parts manufacturer, has pledged it's support to the young, Brecon based, rally driver Sara Williams, for the second year after a fantastic performance in the BTRDA Rally Series, Welsh National Championship and Wales Rally GB in 2011. The backing cements the support of Klarius, the name behind famous brands such as Quinton Hazell, in the up-and-coming female driver and her assault on a mixed campaign in 2012. "We did a lot of development work in 2011" said Sara. "Not only on my driving skills but also developing some fantastic parts for Klarius which we could use on the car, whilst keeping it within the GpN regulations. "It's great to have the guys from Klarius back on board for this year. We had an amazing year and the everyone was really happy with the progress made." The 2012 campaign will see Sara again concentrating on local events, giving her the most time behind the wheel and gaining the best experience. New for 2012, Sara will be accompanied by experienced navigator Andrew Sankey. The pair sat together on the Cambrian Rally back in 2010 and enjoyed a fantastic result together. "We're heading in to the Wyedean Forest Rally with an open mind about what this year will bring. We're going to do a championship and we'll register for the REIS-Get Connected! BTRDA Rally Series, Pirelli Welsh National and Welsh Clubman Championship. Ultimately, which one we decide to contest will come down to the results and budget." Bill Godfrey, UK Sales Manager for Klarius Group, said "We're happy to be backing Sara again in 2012. She ticked all the boxes for us last year and put the Klarius products through the ultimate test. We're looking forward to seeing the same great results in 2012". For 2012 Sara is also welcoming back sponsors Woodford Trailers, Ian Jones Tyres, Brecon Motors, Brecon Car Rentals and Millers Oils. Follow her progress on the GMF Wyedean Forest Rally on the 11th February, based out of Chepstow, by following her on Twitter @SaraRally and on her website www.sararally.com
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| Multiplatform Co-Op Motorsports Team join forces to race the King of the Hammers 2012 Posted: 30 Jan 2012 10:56 AM PST "Countries united to make a stronger stand at wars back in the day, why not unite Pro Drivers to make an international stand at the King of the Hammers. Iceland + USA + Mexico = The Co-Op Team" That 's right, Bill Bridge and Tim Vezina from the USA, Jose Manuel Ponce from Mexico, and new teammate Ragnar Róbertsson, formula off-road champion from Iceland, return in a new Ultra 4 vehicle built by Bridge to go race the King of the Hammers, the toughest one day off road race in the world. This international Co-Op team has once again been granted an international spot and will be racing for a pole position against top world drivers such as Robby Gordon, Shannon and Nick Campbell, Loren Healy, Doug Bigelow, Cottin Rodd, Les Figueroa, Dean Bullock, Jeff Knoll, TJ Flores, Mike Coleville, JT Taylor, Travis Carpenter, Fabio Manno, Derek West and many more from the USA, Italy, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Japan and Mexico on Tuesday Feb 7 in the desert and rock terrain of the Mojave desert in California. The main race takes place on Friday Feb 10th. Keep an eye out for Team Bongo Mexico/Inviscid Motorsports/4x4 IS #9009 on the live coverage at www.ultra4racing.com  Team Bongo Mexico / Inviscid Motorsports / 4x4 IS * KOH 2012 Team #9009 "We will be using the same racing strategy that proved to be successful in the King of the Hammers 2011, along with some new tricks that we have learned from rally racing. Bridge is a fantastic teammate and we get along great, like Pancho and Lefty. Tim and Bridge prepped the rig and know it very well, so having one of them race in the vehicle is a big plus in these type of endurance racing. Ragnar Róbertsson will add his Scandinavian formula off road expertise to push the team to finish. We just need to pre run, which we have never done before for this race, we believe that is the key to finishing in the top 20 and avoiding traffic in the rock sections" Ponce says. The team will be using Ponce's new Jeep Speed 3700 Class Cherokee with FOA, Raceline, KC HiLites and Masterpull gear to pre run.  Bridge and Ponce having a great time at WRC MEXICO 2010 Bill Bridge and his wife Kristen, and Tim Vezina of Inviscid Motorsports plan to race the Ultra 4 2012 series, while Ponce will go into rally mode and concentrate on racing a Rally America USA event and some Norwegian regional rallies for the rest of the year. But their main goals for the future are to participate and finish a Score Baja race and the Dakar in 2013. Planning for these future endurance races have already begun and the Mexican American multi platform racing team is very excited to take on these new challenges.  Ragnar Róbertsson, formula off road champion, defying gravity on land and water!  Ponce's FIA Homologated Peugeot 206 powered by Scorpion Mezcal, Masterpull, FOA, Raceline, PRP and KC Hilites. Ponce, team owner of the World Rally Team, also announced that they have also recently partnered up with comedian George Lopez to promote the Lopez Foundation (www.theLopezFoundation.org ) as part of the team's new Philanthropy. http://www.CharityRacer.org/id18.html Ponce and Bridge and the rest of the Bongo team would like to thank their wives, family, friends, and partners who continue supporting them, such as MASTERPULL, SCORPION MEZCAL, Inviscid Motorsports, Branik Motorsports, Ironman Offroad, Motorcity Machines FOA, Raceline Wheels, PRP Race seats, CASANOVA Motorsports, Ramsey Winch, DynoMax, IRC tracking, Rusty's Offroad, Tom Woods, KC HiLites, Moods of Norway, Redding Black Sheep 4x4 Club, Fred Riojas, Pronto Muffler, The Lopez Foundation, HEB Food Stores, Thrandur Arnthorsson of 4x4 Offroads, KEFCAR, 4x4 IS, and Quartermile Graphics. "I personally would like to thank Dave Cole and Jeff Knoll for giving us the opportunity to participate in this world class event since 2009! Gracias! As well as Doug French and Barbara Sweetman of Scorpion Mezcal, Ragnar Róbertsson, Emil Bjornsson for the last minute support that made it possible to race this year. Bongo, Bongo, Bongo!" expressed Ponce.
Follow Ponce and Bridge on their new racing escapades at http://www.facebook.com/InviscidMotorsports http://www.facebook.com/WorldRallyTeam
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| Yokohama to become the control tyre for ITCC for 2012 Posted: 30 Jan 2012 03:12 AM PST The UK distributor for Yokohama tyres, Yokohama HPT Ltd, is proud to announce that as of 2012 it will be the new control tyre for one of the most exciting motorsports in Ireland - the Irish Touring Car Championship or ITCC. Offering a diverse range of cars, circuits and drivers, the ITCC encapsulates the most exciting aspects of Touring Car racing, putting it firmly in the fold with other Touring Car Championships across the globe. With races running at 30+ cars on the grid up to four times per race day, the ITCC has become one of the most watched and most exciting forms of motorsport Ireland has seen in recent years. Attracting both new drivers and experienced racers, the ITCC always delivers excitement and thrills and promises a lot more as the series progresses into 2012. Yokohama is currently used as the control tyre for the FIA World Touring Car Championship as well as the Russian, Chinese and Scandinavian Touring Car Championships. With the ITCC entering the fold it's only logical that Yokohama become part of the Irish series, bringing with it the global motorsport recognition which Yokohama is proud to be behind. Yokohama is the perfect choice for the ITCC, due in no small part to the exciting nature of the cars racing. The ITCC caters to a diverse range of cars from BMWs to Sierra Cosworths, so the supplier of the control tyre has to be a company that can cater to cars of all specifications. With Yokohama's range of competition tyres available, every car and driver is able to race safe in the knowledge that they are benefitting from years of race tyre development. Further support comes from appointed Yokohama dealers in Ireland including Murray Motorsport, based in Southern Ireland. Eoin Murray, the man behind Murray Motorsport is incredibly excited to have Yokohama on board with the ITCC. As an experienced BTCC driver, Eoin knows the importance of a quality control tyre being utilised within a race series. Commenting, Eoin said: "We are delighted to be involved with the ITCC and I'm confident our partnership together with Yokohama will prove successful for the series. With the use of a controlled Yokohama tyre we can expect to see close and exciting racing during the coming season". More information on the ITCC can be found at www.yokohama.co.uk and www.itcc.ie.
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| The Accolades Keep Coming for Breen Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:43 AM PST A week after claiming his maiden SWRC win on Rallye Monte Carlo, Craig Breen returned home to two more awards for his achievements. Nationally in Ireland, Craig was named 'Sports Person of the Week' by the Irish Independent (Newspaper) for his SWRC win on Rallye Monte Carlo at the wheel of his Ford Fiesta S2000 and in his native Waterford, Craig was announced as the Quarter Four, finalist for the 'Waterford Person of the Year, 2011' for his amazing victory of the inaugural FIA WRC Academy (Ford Fiesta R2). On being selected for the award from the Irish Independent, Craig said, "Being chosen by such an esteemed national paper as the Irish Independent is a great honor. This again shows how much rallying has come to the fore in Ireland. Motorsport is still a minority sport in the Country but in association with Motorsport Ireland, there's a strong network of Motorsport clubs stretching from Cork to Donegal and an even stronger group of passionate members of those clubs. The exposure that comes from my success I hope helps in some small way." On Saturday evening (January 28) at The Tower Hotel, Waterford City, surrounded by family and friends, the rally driver who turns twenty-two on Thursday (2-Feb) was flattered to be recognised, "I'm delighted to receive this award; it's fantastic to know that the people of Waterford are behind me. I love every minute of my job and being presented with awards for that is especially great. I'd like to thank everyone who nominated me, winning this type of an award is extra special because it shows that motorsport and particularly rallying is becoming more well-known. I've received incredible coverage over the passed three years from both the local newspapers and radio, this has proved vital not only to my own P.R. but to the exposure of rallying, which is a minority sport here in Ireland." In presenting the award, Tower Hotel Deputy Manager, Catherina Dempsey commented, "We are thrilled to present the award to Craig; he is a fantastic role model and inspiration to everyone. What Craig has achieved so far at just the early stages of his career is really outstanding and richly deserving in commendation and it is clear that through this public nomination process the citizens of Waterford are very proud to claim Craig as a great Waterford ambassador." The four finalists of the 2011 Waterford Person of the Year Awards will now go head to head in a public vote for the overall 'Waterford Person of the Year 2011' to be announced on February 19 at The Tower Hotel Waterford. One of Waterford's favourite former County hurlers, Ken McGrath was named quarter one winner of the Waterford Person of the Year Awards 2011. Ken was nominated by the public for his valuable contribution to the game since and his presence as a role model for the young Deise hurlers. In quarter two Chairman of Waterford Tall Ships Race event Des Whelan was named as the 2011 quarter 2 finalist. Des was nominated by the public for his huge voluntary contribution to the event over the last two years. Eamonn McEneaney was announced as the Quarter three finalist for the Waterford Person of the Year Awards 2011, Eamon is the Curator of the Waterford Museum of Treasures and Bishops Palace, the key driver of the Viking Triangle and the building of the Viking Long Ship are just some of the many projects Eamonn is behind. Eamonn was nominated through the public voting system for his hard work and dedication to the history of Waterford and to the growth of its tourism sector. You can vote online on the Facebook page for the Waterford Person of the Year Awards. Voting sheets can also be found and filled from The Munster Express Newspaper, 37 The Quay, Waterford City or dropped into a designated nominations box at The Tower Hotel, Waterford and Faithlegg House Hotel.
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| Sterckx Rally Sport Team Scores Podium at Sno*Drift Rally Posted: 30 Jan 2012 02:13 AM PST David Sterckx (Belgium) and Karen Jankowski (California) of David Sterckx Rally Sport Team, in their first event of the Rally America 2012 season, finished on the podium with 3rd in the super Production Class and 8th overall at Sno*Drift Rally over the weekend. This was the first time David had ever competed in the ice and snow. With over 60 cars competing in the event and a high rate of finishers, it was a very competitive event. The weather made it very difficult all weekend with below freezing temperatures, ice, and on the last day several inches of snow. "I am so happy with our results this weekend, especially for our partners AlphaSTAR, Genoa 5, and MCQ Composites. Our new Subaru was just finished and I drove it for the first time this week" stated David. "Having never rallied on the ice or snow I wasn't totally sure what to expect. Turns out you can't expect anything because the heavy ice and snow this weekend made the conditions very difficult to plan for. I know we will be even quicker next year though because we learned a lot of valuable information that will really help." The team's crew chief Don Jankowski, who himself has had class wins at Sno*Drift rally in the past, did an amazing job building the new rally car in such a short amount of time. The car was completed Tuesday night with testing the following morning. With very little sleep and the tenacity to press on regardless he and Ken Nowak made sure the car was ready in time. "If you look at all that we have overcome; finishing our brand new Subaru the night before testing, David never had rallied in the ice or snow, and this being his first National Rally America event I feel that the entire team did an outstanding job" explained Karen. Don and Ken building such a great car, all the tremendous help we received right before the event from Pete Gladys, the beautiful new car wrap Zach Thompson of Competition Graphics provided us, and awesome our crew of Andrea Nowak and Brett Duncan. Rallying is all about teamwork and we are so fortunate to have a great team. David drove consistently fast all weekend!" Next event in the Super Production Rally America Championship is only one month away at the Rally in the 100 Acre Woods in Salem, MO February 24-25th (http://www.100aw.org/ ). The team would like to thank the following people: For team updates, videos, and pictures follow us at: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/pages/David-Sterckx-Rallysport/188160584582275 http://twitter.com/SterckxRally http://davidsterckx.virb.com
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| ABS drama puts Quinn and Tillett out of Targa Wrest Point Posted: 29 Jan 2012 04:54 PM PST Tony Quinn and Naomi Tillet's Targa Wrest Point challenge has ended on the second competitive stage, after a braking problem put their V.I.P. Petfoods Nissan GT-R R35 off the road. The 390kW all-wheel drive supercar's ABS partially failed on the approach to a corner on the 22.9km Airwalk 1 stage, causing a front brake to lock . "The sensor on the front left wheel failed, which locked the brake for about 30 metres," Quinn said. "The car pulled left and slid off the road at something like 80km/h. "At first I thought we'd get away with just a few scratches, because there was a clearing with what looked like small bushes where we went off. "But there was a small tree in amongst them – it made a quite mess of the side of the car." Although the Queensland-based Scot and his Adelaide navigator were able to regain the bitumen and complete the stage, they incurred a 20-minute penalty for failing to complete the next stage while running repairs were made to the battered machine. The penalty put the V.I.P. Petfoods team out of contention in the two-day Hobart event, but Quinn and Tillett drove Saturday's remaining stages to gain practice mileage for April's Targa Tasmania, which will incorporate the same roads. They intended to continue the extended practice session today, but retired after four of the seven stages when the 2011 model GT-R's transmission began behaving irregularly. "We kept going even though we didn't have any chance in the event, because there were some things we wanted to test before Targa Tasmania," Quinn said. "This was only our second event in the new car, and it has quite a few things that are different compared to the 2009 model we ran most of last year. "It was going okay after we changed the sensor and took off the broken bits and pieces, but we hit a pothole on Cygnet 1, and that did something to the transmission. "There was nothing at stake, so I decided to stop rather than destroy a $40,000 gearbox." The event was won by Jason and John White in a Lamborghini, with Matt and Casey Close second in an Audi TT RS, and Brendon Reeves-Rhiannon Smyth third in a Mazda RX8. The V.I.P. Petfoods team's next tarmac rally is Targa Bambina in New Zealand from March 17-18.
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