Preview for the Jordan Rally - the fifth round in the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship, part 2.
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally team:
[Gigi Galli, car #7 and Henning Solberg, car #8 and Matthew Wilson, car #16]
Henning set to try again, Galli out to avoid trouble.
With only four points to his credit this year, Henning Solberg will be gunning for a top-five spot in Jordan this week.
Henning season hasn't exactly really gone to plan so far and while he bucked the trend with a fifth place in Mexico, he was back in the doldrums in Argentina.
Indeed he retired from each leg, with rock impacts taking him out on legs one and three, while he was withdrawn from the afternoon stages on leg two to preserve his car for this week's trip to the Middle East, when he will again be nominated to score manufacturers' points for the Stobart squad.
"We will try again here in Jordan, it was quite unlucky what happened in Argentina but that is in the past and we have to focus on this rally now," said the Norwegian.
"I don't know much about the rally only what I have seen on the internet from last year.
"My engineer has done many years in the Middle Eastern Championship so I think it will be an advantage to have someone onboard who knows a lot about the surface already. We will be fighting hard again and hopefully we can get a top-five result in this rally."
Gigi Galli meanwhile hasn't had much luck on the last two events either and while he still managed to score in Argentina - and eventually finished in seventh due to the high attrition rate, he is hoping for a more trouble-free run this week.
"Rally Jordan enters the World Rally Championship this year for the first time so it is going to be brand new for most of the drivers," he added.
"We haven't been to the rally or to this country so we are particularly curious to discover it. Part of the route is below sea level which is going to be quite strange!
"I hope not to have trouble here and be able to have a good race and maintain a good pace. We did not have the best events in the last two rallies but I am really starting to get used to the new Focus now and I can't wait to see what it can do in Jordan."
M-Sport boss Malcolm Wilson is confident Henning, Gigi and his son Matthew - who will be entered in the third Stobart car - all have the potential to shine.
"This is going to be a unique event which could benefit the Stobart team with it being new to the WRC calendar. Conditions will be demanding in the heat and the long stage on Sunday will be a true test of concentration and fitness.
"All three Stobart drivers have shown impressive speed on gravel this year and Gigi's speed in Mexico was right up with the top guys until his retirement.
"A new rally brings with it new challenges and the main aim will be for each crew to finish with maximum experience of the new event with strong points for the team," Wilson Sr concluded.
STOP PRESS: Crash.net spoke exclusively to Matthew Wilson ahead of the Jordan Rally. To hear the interview in full: CLICK HERE
Munchi's Ford WRT:
[Federico Villagra, car #9 and Luis-Perez Companc, car #10]
Ice cream team eager to extend gap to Suzuki.
Federico Villagra and Luis-Perez Companc are both targeting points on the inaugural Jordan Rally.
Villagra has had a strong start to the season and has claimed points on both of his outings - taking a seventh place in Mexico and a sixth place in Argentina.
He recently built on that success by winning the Rally de Bariloche, the latest round in the Argentine Rally Championship, by just over half a minute and now has a commanding 12 point lead in his national championship after winning both the opening two rounds.
"We will be looking to score points for the third event in a row in Jordan next week. It has been a great start to the year for both Jorge [Perez Companc - my co-driver] and I and hopefully this can continue over in the Middle East," he noted.
"I don't know too much about the conditions in Jordan but I have heard it will be dry and quite smooth which will be a big change from Argentina last month.
"I have been racing in the Argentine Rally Championship before this event and we won the Rally de Bariloche so I am feeling very good coming into this event.
"The plan will be to again score more points for the Munchi's team and stay ahead of Suzuki in the Manufacturers' Championship. This will be a new rally for everybody which could help our result and I am looking forward to starting the event next Friday morning."
Luis Perez Companc meanwhile wants points too and he will be especially determined after retiring early on in Argentina.
The event in the Middle East will be a special one for him as well as it will mark his 30th WRC start - a feat only 106 WRC drivers have achieved. It will also be his second and penultimate appearance in this year's WRC after he scaled back his personal programme due to business and family commitments.
Luis isn't underestimating the task though and goes straight into the event having competed in the opening round of the FIA GT Championship at Silverstone from April 18-20.
"Jordan is going to be a very challenging event with the fast and slippery stages. I have heard that only a few drivers have competed in the Middle East which will make for an interesting competition because none of the drivers have pacenotes to look over, so it will be a fresh start for everybody," he continued.
"I don't think there will be any problem with the Pirelli tyre in Jordan because on this event we will reach the proper tyre temperature faster with the hot conditions. Punctures could be an issue with any slight off road excursions because I have heard there will be lots of stones on the side of the roads.
"My plan for this event is to finish inside the top-eight and score my first drivers' point this year. Also hopefully the Munchi's team can stay head of Suzuki in the manufacturers' after a good start so far."
To date the Munchi's Ford WRT team has scored 10 points, while Suzuki has 6 - 4 less.
Suzuki WRT:
[Toni Gardemeister, car #11 and Per-Gunnar Andersson, car #12]
Suzuki enhances performance and reliability.
Suzuki team boss Nobuhiro Tajima has admitted that while there is still a long way to go for his team, he is still hopeful they can get points this weekend in Jordan.
The Paris-based squad has managed to score driver or manufacturer points on three out of the four rallies held so far this year and while the reliability of the new SX4 WRC car has been somewhat undesirable, the team maintains it is making 'regular and steady improvements'.
Indeed for the latest round in the World Rally Championship, in order to cope with the specific demands of the event, there are 'a number of evolutions' to the SX4 WRC designed to 'enhance the performance and reliability'.
"The path to success is rarely a smooth one," said Tajima. "It is precisely because the World Rally Championship is so difficult that it holds so much attraction for us. Every time we compete we have to overcome new and bigger challenges, and the Jordan Rally is the latest in a long line of them.
"With such high temperatures and a wide variety of surfaces, this new event is sure to place a huge strain on the cars and drivers. It is also an event where we have no real idea of what to expect, but like the drivers I am hopeful that we can use this situation to our advantage.
"Of course, there is still a lot to learn and a long way for us to go, so our realistic objectives need to be modest.
"Nonetheless, I would like to fix the objective of continuing our rate of improvement and scoring points with both cars if possible. If we can achieve that after such a tough rally, then I will be very happy!"
Toni Gardemeister concurs that the fact Jordan is a step into the unknown could be good for them.
Indeed he is hoping to turn this situation into a positive and while a small number of drivers did do the recce for the round before it joined the WRC, none of the 'main' drivers have any real experience of it.
"It's very hard for me to know what to expect," said Toni, who is a WRC veteran, having taken in just over 100 events. "In fact, it's very strange to be setting off to compete somewhere and to have no idea what I will find there: I can't remember the last time I was in that situation!
"I think Jordan will be quite different from anywhere else though, and that can only be good for us as it makes everything more equal."
Per-Gunnar Andersson has a similar outlook: "It's going to be a bit of a mystery tour for us, but the same is true for everyone," he added. "I'm going to take the same approach as I have done on all the rallies this year: I'll push hard but nothing crazy and see where that puts us relative to everybody else. So far, our pace has been pretty good.
"I'm not actually sure which developments have gone on the car since Argentina, but for the moment I think we need to concentrate on reliability so we are sure of making the finish."
Junior WRC:
Round 2.
16 of the 18 competitors in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship category have opted to choose Jordan as one of their six nominated events.
After winning in Mexico, round 1 of the JWRC, Sebastien Ogier leads the series, with Jaan Molder and Michal Kosciuszko second and third.
Ogier was in a class of his own last time out and while it was only his first outing in the WRC, it didn't show and he led from start-to-finish, eventually taking the win by over 1.5 minutes and claiming the final 'senior' WRC point for good measure.
The Frenchman isn't getting carried away though, and is cautious about his prospects this weekend.
"The fact that we won the opening round doesn't mean that the Junior World Championship is ours for the taking! There's still a long way to go," said the FFSA-supported man
"Our main aim is to see the finish [in Jordan]. If we're as much at home there as we were in Leon we'll try to score another good result. One thing's certain: as it's a new event in the world championship we'll all start on a level playing field.
"I don't know much more about Jordan than I did about Mexico. I believe that the surface is very hard, and that the roads are quick as the terrain is pretty similar to asphalt. In any case the Citroën C2 Super 1600's engine/chassis ensemble is so well balanced that it'll be on the pace whatever the set-up.
"Once again I haven't spent much time looking at the Junior WRC entry list. All I saw was that Martin Prokop wasn't on it. That means one tough rival less but there are still quite a few left."
Amongst his rivals, Suzuki Sport Europe duo, Molder and Kosciuszko, will both want to do well. Like Ogier though, they are also cautious.
"In Mexico my aim was to drive without taking too many risks for the maximum number of points, and this has to be the goal again in Jordan," noted Molder.
"I am not too sure what the rally will be like, so I think we have to be quite careful. There are sure to be many drivers having problems - and I don't want to be one of them!"
"From what I have heard Jordan will be a very tough rally, but I don't know much about it," added Kosciuszko.
"I think we will just have to see what the conditions are like when we get there to know how hard we can push. I always like new rallies, and the Swift is a very tough car, so if we stay out of trouble I think we can do well."
Other drivers' likely to figure include Patrik Sandell, who won the Junior title in 2006, as well as Alessandro Bettega, Andrea Cortinovis and Shaun Gallagher.
"Jordan is an entirely new rally so I don't really know what to expect," said the Irishman. "Whatever happens, I hope that we can get a better result than we did in Mexico.
"Martin Prokop and Aaron Burkart - my key rivals - won't be there, and I want to take advantage of their absence to score the maximum possible points. The challenge for me and the team will be to try and take a podium."
Florian Niegel meanwhile will be begin his JWRC campaign this weekend - and take in only his second ever WRC event under the 'Suzuki Rallye Junior Team Germany' banner.
"I have always dreamt of competing with the world's best juniors in the JWRC," said Niegel. "Although we are newcomers, my goal is to try and stick with the pace of the more experienced teams.
"It would be absolutely fantastic if we could finish somewhere on the podium on our first event."
Prokop and Burkart will not be in action as this is not one of their nominated events.
Other significant entries:
55 crews set to start.
55 crews are due to start round five - 16 of which will be in World Rally Cars, with all the manufacturer teams' represented.
In addition to the usual 'works' entries, Conrad Rautenbach and Urmo Aava will both compete in PH Sport-run Citroen C4 WRCs.
Rautenbach re-wrote the record books in Argentina last month by becoming the first Zimbabwean to ever score 'senior' points in the WRC, and while he concedes that is now history, there is no doubt it has done his confidence the world of good.
Indeed he can't wait to get out again in his PH Sport-run C4 WRC car and see how things go on the fifth round in the series.
Of the rest, in addition to the 16 JWRC runners, another 23 will compete for Group N honours, including Riccardo Errani and a number of local stars, such as Amjad Farrah, who was second on the candidate event last year.
Route:
The rally is based at the Dead Sea, 50km south-west of Amman and at 427m below sea level, the lowest point on earth. The stages will run through historical and biblical sites around the Jordan Valley and Rumman forests, and all except one are fully or partially below sea level.
World famous areas including the Baptism site of Jesus and Mount Nebo, where Moses looked over the Promised Land, will be part of the rally route.
Each day comprises two identical loops of tests with some roads being used four times over two separate legs.
The final leg is the longest and contains a sting in the tail with two passes over the twisty 41.45km Jordan River stage which runs through 'no man's land' on the Jordan - Palestine border.
Drivers tackle 22 stages in total covering 359.26 kilometres in a route of 983.44 kilometres.
Last year:
The Jordan Rally was not apart of the FIA World Rally Championship in 2007.
The candidate event though was won by Khalid Al Qassimi - the BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team's 'third' driver. Al Qassimi, who is taking in ten events in the WRC this season with the 'Blue Oval', won the round by just over a minute.
Amjad Farrah took the runners-up spot in his Evo, while Michel Saleh completed the podium, followed by Abdulla Al Qassimi and Abdulaziz Alkuwari in fourth and fifth respectively.
