Midseason report 2007

8 of 16 rounds are already done, and we are halfway through the 2007 season. WRC is now enjoying summer-holiday, and will be back in August for Rally Finland. So – while waiting for august to come, here is a short midseason report. Petter is number five in the championship with 26 points.

1. Rally Monte Carlo

The season started on tarmac in France, with a change of tyres for Petter, from Pirelli to BF Goodrich. The rally was moved from Monte Carlo to Valence, a 3 hour drive from Monte Carlo. The lack of snow and cold weather made the rally a tarmac-rally. Thursday night opened with a stage in the dark, a big challenge not only for the drivers – but also for the codrivers. On Sunday everybody moved down to Monte Carlo for a super special.

Petter finishes number 6, and hands over his driversgloves to Prince Albert at the finishing ceremony. Loeb is the winner, Sordo number two and Grønholm number three. Chris manages to beat Hirvonen on the final stage, and takes fourth place.

2. Swedish Rally

Sweden came with both snow and cold weather. The servicepark at Hagfors is a really cold place to be a mechanic. Petters launches his new blog and is wearing Olivers pirate-skihat. The rally starts with a stagewin for Petter and Phil, and they manage to keep the lead until SS5. But after a small trip into the ditch on Saturday, Petter had to retire.

Grønholm wins the rally, Loeb is 2nd, Hirvonen 3rd and Henning is 4th.

3. Rally Norway

The day after the teams travel directly to Hamar and Rally Norway. Finally Petter would be driving a WRC-event on his homefield. The servicepark were based inside the Vikingship and fantastic stages were waiting. Thousands of people are gathered at the starting ceremony, and it seems they all went out on the stages during the weekend.

Three Fords on the podium on Sunday, Hirvonen wins, Grønholm 2nd and Henning 3rd. Petter ends up number 4, while Loeb ends up number 14 after he went off the road on Saturday.

4. Rally Mexico

The seasons first gravel rally, and SWRT is finally revealing the new Impreza. Petter and Phil wins the 3 first stages and proves to everybody that they can fight in the top when everything is working correct. But, a small oil-leak forces Petter to retire. The winner is Loeb, Grønholm second and Hirvonen number 4. Chris is 5th.

5. Rally Portugal

Portugal is back on the calendar and gives a weekend with fantastic stages and a lot of spectators. But the thing we remember most, is Fords penalty for having too thin rear windows. FIA gives all the Fords a five minute penalty, and this makes Loeb the winner and Petter is number 2. Sordo ends up in 3rd place.

6. Rally Argentina

The rally is based in Cordoba, but Thursday morning all teams and personell is travelling to Buenos Aires by air for a super special. The rallycars is loaded on to trucks, that will bring 800km to Buenos Aires and back to Cordoba. A hugh thunderstorm causes a delayed return to Cordoba, and Fridays stages were cancelled, except the superspecial in the evening at Cordoba Stadium. Argentina is also were we first had to manage without RallyRadio, and we all had a hard time trying to catch up on the latest news from Argentina. The pictures we remember is ralldrivers sleeping at the airport.

Petter drives fast and again he proves that he has the pace, but a damaged radiator forces him to retire on Saturday. Again Loeb is the winner, Grønholm 2nd and Hirvonen 3rd.

7. Rally Italy – Sardegna

The rally is based in Olbia on the beatiful italian island Sardegna. Tricky stages with lots of loose gravel makes a challenge for both cars and drivers, but Petter is really enjoying the stages. Breakproblems makes it difficult for him, but he manages to finish in 5th position. Loeb went off the road and retires from the rally.

Grønholm wins with Hirvonen 2nd and Sordo on 3rd.

8. Acropolis Rally of Greece

Two Subaru-drivers on end of leg-pressconference Friday night. And Petter manages to stay in top three the rest of the weekend. Loeb and Grønholm showered him in champagne on the podium on Sunday, and Petter is so happy to be up there again.

Grønholm wins, Loeb is 2nd and Petter is 3rd.

The next event is Rally Finland, 3. 5- August 2007. Xevi Pons will be there as Petter and Chris’ new team colleague, and RallyRadio will do whatever it takes to get back on the air. And maybe Petter and Phil can do something with Loeb and Grønholm.

Have a nice summer!