Cars That Go Fast: FIA World Rally Championship Japan - leg One Report

FIA World Rally Championship Japan - leg One Report
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Julian on 01 September, 2006 12:00:00
 
The Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team has completed its first day of rallying
with its new Ford Focus RS WRC06 rally cars with drivers Matthew Wilson and Luis
Perez Companc ending the day strongly in the top ten of Rally Japan, the
eleventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
As a change from the previous ten rounds of the championship, the Stobart VK
M-Sport Ford Rally Team used the latest generation Ford Focus RS rally car for
this event. Compared to the previous version there were significant differences
for the two crews to learn as they tackled the first day and 124 km of
competitive distance of the event spread over ten stages based out of the city
of Obihiro in Japan.
The latest car has a five speed gearbox as opposed to the older car’s
six. The front and rear differentials are passive as opposed to active on the
earlier version and the car is both wider and longer. A different centre of
gravity allied to different suspension means all new set-ups have to be learnt
by the team as the event progresses.
Matthew Wilson and co-driver Michael Orr placed strong times throughout the day
with a best of sixth fastest on the day’s penultimate stage to finish
ninth in the overall standings of the 87 cars entered in the event. In keeping
with the aim of this season to learn the events rather than go all out for
results, Wilson drove with discretion and his new car ended the day with no
damage from the narrow stages.
The second Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team entered Focus of the Argentinean
crew of Luis Perez Companc and José Maria Lopez ended the first day right
behind Wilson in tenth position after a strong and consistent day. A best of
seventh fastest on the sixth stage was their highlight of the day.
The weather was dry for the majority of the running although plenty of
precipitation in previous days meant that the stages held a lot of water in the
first run through for the morning stages. The new cars were certainly plastered
with mud for their first return to the high-pressure Kärcher cleaning
facility at the Service Park on the outskirts of Obihiro. Limited rain in the
afternoon did not coincide with the Stobart cars’ running and when the
cloud cover did disperse the temperature rapidly climbed.
The second day of Rally Japan covers 128.02 km of competitive distance spread
over eleven stages with the first cars leaving the Obihiro Service Park at 06:00
local time.
Quotes: Stobart VK M-sport Ford Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson says:
"It was alright to start the rally like that. There’s not a lot to
report except that I’ve got a sore back as we’ve covered over 600
km today. The first stage was very nice but the third and fourth ones were
really difficult as they’re so narrow but they’re really fast in
places. The biggest challenge is getting used to the car. The engine has
different torque characteristics and there are five gears instead of six. It
takes time to know which gear you should go through the corner in. You have to
drive it differently from the last one but it’s going alright. You really
have to concentrate, and the fact the stages are narrow and tricky makes it
difficult. Our pacenotes are not where we need them to be but that’s
something that everyone says in their first time in Japan. Because you
can’t see what’s around the corner the notes have to be exactly
right, especially on the long corners, and it takes time to get that. It has
been a very good day. We’ve had a clean run with no major problems. I
need to get my seating position changed, but that’s the only thing we
need to do at the end of the day."
Stobart VK M-sport Ford Rally Team driver Luis Perez Companc says:
"A new car and a new rally. In the fourth stage I went off two times, just
doing a bit of grass cutting, but luckily there was nothing wrong there. I did
spin at a hairpin and the engine shut off, but I restarted it without problem.
It has been a long day and we had problems with the intercom on the second loop,
it’s not easy if you can’t hear the pacenotes. I was more
confident when the stages were drier in the afternoon. Other than that
it’s been fine, the car is wonderful, I’m very happy as
it’s a tough event, it’s an incredible car."
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team manager Malcolm Wilson says:
"I’m very pleased with today’s running with the new cars. Both of
the two first customer Ford Focus RS WRC06 ran without problem on their first
day of competitive rallying. Matthew put in a great performance and stayed in
the middle of the road and away from danger perfectly. He found that his
pacenotes were not as good as they could be and you can only improve these
things if you complete the day’s running so it has been invaluable
experience."
More at: http://www.stobartmotorsport.com