2010 WRC Rally Turkey Review

Sébastien Loeb (on right) claims 57th career World Rally Championship victory (with co-driver Daniel Elena on left) at Rally Turkey. Photo from RallyOfTurkey.org (Ralph Hardwick / Andre Lavadinho).

Based in Istanbul, Turkey, the 2010 Rally of Turkey took place this past weekend. The pre-rally shakedown was on Thursday - April 15th, and the three day rally itself happened Friday through Sunday - April 16 though April 18, 2010. It was the fourth rally in the FIA 2010 World Rally Championship Season, and as expected, it was a great event.

If you missed the preview for Rally Turkey, you might want to visit that post first. You'll find snippets with title links to several articles, published during and after the rally, below (in chronological order).

Any WRC items not specifically dealing with this rally, or the main WRC class of competition, may be included in Junior's Eyes' regular 'Reading And Viewing List' blog entries.


Rally of Turkey stage guides - Friday
Posted at WRC.com on April 15, 2010

After Thursday afternoon’s ceremonial start in Istanbul, the proper competitive action of Rally of Turkey kicks off on Friday with one of the longest road trips of the season.

Driving non-competitive liaison sections between Special Stages is one of the features that sets rallying apart from other forms of motorsport, but Friday’s opening day in Turkey is one of the most extreme examples. With 98km of timed stages and a marathon 333km of road sections, Friday’s liaison to stage ratio is one of the lowest of the year at just 27 per cent...

SS1: Petter Solberg takes an early lead
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

Citroen privateer Petter Solberg moved into an early lead of the Rally of Turkey after setting the fastest time through the event's opening stage.

After the 15.66km Darlik section, Solberg heads Ford driver Jari-Matti Latvala by a slender margin of 0.1sec. Citroen C4 driver Sebastien Loeb is third, 0.5sec behind Solberg...

SS2: Hirvonen into the lead
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

A fastest time from Ford driver Mikko Hirvonen on Friday's second stage moved him into the lead of the Rally of Turkey...

SS3: Ogier edges ahead
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier became the third leader of the Rally of Turkey in as many stages after setting the fastest time through the 13km Bozgoca section...

SS4: Ogier stays out front at Friday's midpoint
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier holds the lead in the Rally of Turkey after the opening morning of the competition.

The Frenchman was second quickest to Petter Solberg through the rough and rocky Halli stage (SS4) to complete Friday morning's loop of stages with an overall lead of 2.1sec...

Teams welcome stewards' bulletin
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

World Rally Championship manufacturer teams Ford and Citroen have welcomed a reminder that the use of tactics on this week’s Rally of Turkey will be investigated by the event stewards.

Six-time world champion Sebastien Loeb had led calls for a change to the regulations in time for the fourth round of the series, following the use of tactics on the previous round, the Jordan Rally...

Rally of Turkey midday wrap: Friday
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

The Citroen Junior Team’s Sebastien Ogier leads after a dramatic opening four stages of the Rally of Turkey, held in hot and dry weather close to Istanbul.

The first stage claimed two high-profile victims: the Monster World Rally Team Ford Focus RS WRC of Ken Block, who hit a tree stump, and the Stobart Focus of Henning Solberg - who retired with a broken steering arm...

Sébastien Ogier pours it on during Day 1 of Rally Turkey.
Photo from RallyOfTurkey.org (Ralph Hardwick / Andre Lavadinho).

SS5: Ogier edges ahead
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier extended his lead in Rally of Turkey by going fastest on the first of Friday's repeated stages...

After SS7: Top three hold steady
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

The Rally of Turkey top three of Sebastien Ogier, Dani Sordo and Mikko Hirvonen remained intact through SS5 and SS6, while the group of three drivers chasing them continued to shuffle positions...

SS8: Ogier leads with just the Superspecial to go today
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

With just the Istanbul Superspecial to go tonight, Sebastien Ogier holds the lead of the Rally of Turkey by a margin of 2.8 seconds...

Rally of Turkey day one wrap
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

With only tonight's Superspecial to go, Sebastien Ogier leads after the opening day of the Rally of Turkey, having claimed the lead from the third stage of the day.

Ogier reported no problems with his Citroen Junior Team C4 WRC, helped by an advantageous road position of fifth. Tomorrow, however, he has the dubious honour of running first and sweeping the road clean for his rivals...

SS9: No Superspecial shocks
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

The all-asphalt Superspecial in Istanbul brought no nasty surprises on Friday night, with all the leading crews completing it without a hitch.

Fastest around the tight and twisty head-to-head stage was Sebastien Loeb, who was four-tenths quicker than his nearest rival, rally leader Sebastien Ogier. Petter Solberg was third quickest to seal a Citroen one, two, three on the night-time stage...

Rally of Turkey stage guides - Saturday
Posted at WRC.com on April 16, 2010

Day two in Turkey starts at 0857hrs, when the first car leaves the overnight parc ferme in Pendik. Ahead lie 145.82 competitive kilometres arranged over eight timed special stages.

In the morning, crews will tackle a loop of four consecutive stages in the countryside north of the Service Park before heading back for a 30-minute midday service. In the afternoon crews will repeat the same loop before a 45-minute end of day service...

SS10: Jari-Matti Latvala crashes
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Finn Jari-Matti Latvala crashed his Ford Focus RS WRC on Saturday's opening stage, the 18km Gocbeyli.

The BP Ford Abu Dhabi team driver began the day in sixth place but rolled his car after nudging a bank 1km from the start line on the asphalt part of the mixed surface stage...

SS11: Hirvonen on the attack
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Ford team-leader Mikko Hirvonen set the fastest time through Saturday's second stage and moved ahead of Dani Sordo into second place overall...

SS12: Ogier responds
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Sebastien Ogier extended his lead of the Rally of Turkey to 12.4sec on SS12, while the surface of the stage drew criticism from several drivers...

Petter Solberg churns up some gravel on Day 2 of Rally Turkey.
Photo from RallyOfTurkey.org (Ralph Hardwick / Andre Lavadinho).

SS13: Petter up to second
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Citroen privateer Petter Solberg moved up to second place in the Rally of Turkey after setting the fastest time through Riva - the last of Saturday morning's loop of speed tests...

Rally of Turkey midday wrap: Saturday
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Ten stages after he took the lead of the Rally of Turkey, Frenchman Sebastien Ogier remains out front at the end of a tough second morning on the Istanbul-based event.

Citroen Junior Team driver Ogier was fastest on one of the loop’s four tests, but he still managed to double his advantage (to 10 seconds) at the top of the table. Behind him, Petter Solberg’s Citroen C4 leap-frogged his way up the leaderboard having started the day fourth...

After SS15: Wheel change costs Ogier the lead
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier lost the lead of the Rally of Turkey on SS15 when he stopped during the stage to change a puncture...

SS16: Loeb extends his lead
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

The new leader of the Rally of Turkey, Sebastien Loeb, set the fastest time through the repeated Bozhane stage and almost doubled his advantage at the top of the leaderboard...

SS17: Loeb leads after day two in Turkey
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Defending World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb was quickest through Saturday's last stage in Turkey and will carry an overnight rally lead of 16.2sec into Sunday's final day of the competition...

Rally of Turkey day two wrap
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Citroen star Sebastien Loeb will take a 16.2 second lead into the final day of the Rally of Turkey, after Sebastien Ogier was deprived of the advantage that he had held since the third stage by a puncture.

Ogier ran first on the road today but still managed to maintain his position at the head of the field, despite sweeping the stages clean for his rivals. The 2008 Junior World Rally Champion’s impressive run suffered a major setback on SS15, when his tyre instantly deflated at 170kph, pitching the Frenchman off the road and damaging the front-left corner of his car...

Wilson: Latvala’s roll a “temporary blip”
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Ford team boss Malcolm Wilson has backed Jari-Matti Latvala to recover from the roll that cost him a certain points’ finish on Rally of Turkey earlier today.

Latvala was sixth overall on Saturday’s opening stage when his works Ford Focus got out of shape on a fast, tightening, right-hander, struck a bank and flipped onto its roof...

Rally of Turkey stage guides - Sunday
Posted at WRC.com on April 17, 2010

Day three in Turkey starts at 0757hrs, when the first car leaves the overnight parc ferme in Pendik. Ahead lie 114.60 competitive kilometres arranged over six special stages.

In the morning, crews will tackle a loop of three consecutive stages in the countryside east of the Service Park before heading back for a 30-minute midday service. In the afternoon crews will repeat the same loop before a 10-minute end of rally service and the finish podium in Pendik at 1611hrs...

SS18 and SS19 cancelled
Posted at WRC.com on April 18, 2010

Sunday's opening two stage of Rally Turkey have been cancelled by organisers on safety grounds.

Sections of the 16.79km Deniz (SS18) and the 21.32km Mudarli (SS19) stages have a clay, rather than gravel, base and after rain overnight organisers felt the conditions were unsuitable for rallying...

Sébastien Loeb leaves trail behind on Day 3 of Rally Turkey.
Photo from RallyOfTurkey.org (Ralph Hardwick / Andre Lavadinho).

SS20: Top two hold steady
Posted at WRC.com on April 18, 2010

Rally of Turkey leader Sebastien Loeb was the fastest driver through SS20 - the only stage of Sunday morning's schedule to run as planned after stages 18 and 19 were cancelled...

Rally of Turkey midday wrap: Sunday
Posted at WRC.com on April 18, 2010

The final morning’s action on the Rally of Turkey was cut short considerably by the cancellation of two special stages in the morning, as the event organisers considered them to be too rough to use.

The decision was on the whole welcomed by drivers and team bosses, who had already complained that some of yesterday’s stages were too hard on the cars...

SS21: Dani Sordo out
Posted at WRC.com on April 18, 2010

Citroen C4 WRC driver Dani Sordo lost third place in the Rally of Turkey after stopping on the 16.76km Deniz stage.

The Spaniard stopped three kilometres before the finish control. Following him though the stage, Citroen Junior Team driver Sebastien Ogier reported that Sordo's car was parked by the side of the road in a muddy and slippery section...

SS22: Leaders clear the penultimate hurdle
Posted at WRC.com on April 18, 2010

Rally leader Sebastien Loeb romped though the penultimate stage of the Rally of Turkey to extend his advantage to 51.6sec ahead of the final, decisive stage...

BREAKING NEWS: Sebastien Loeb wins Rally of Turkey!
Posted at WRC.com on April 18, 2010

Citroen C4 WRC driver Sebastien Loeb sealed victory on the Rally of Turkey today, round four of the 2010 World Rally Championship, to extend his lead in the FIA Drivers' standings.

Loeb, the defending and six-time World Champion stretched his 16sec overnight lead throughout Sunday's four stages to finish 54.5sec ahead of Petter Solberg who was second in another C4 WRC. BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team driver Mikko Hirvonen was third, 48.9sec behind Solberg in a Ford Focus RS WRC...

Rally of Turkey final result wrap
Posted at WRC.com on April 18, 2010

Sebastien Loeb won Rally of Turkey by nearly a minute to extend his lead of the World Rally Championship to 40 points over privateer Citroen driver Petter Solberg, who finished second.

Citroen now has a 15-point lead over Ford in the manufacturers’ rankings. “It was good to be able to fight from the front and not have to think about the tactics,” said Loeb. “It was not easy because I really had to push from the start.”...

Q&A with Sebastien Loeb
Posted at WRC.com on April 18, 2010

Congratulations on winning one of the most closely contested rallies this year; it was a great fight!
"It was a big battle, but not between two drivers - it was five and that’s really exciting. The first day I lost a little time cleaning the road, but the second day was also difficult. I couldn’t make up the time. Finally, in the afternoon, I found a good rhythm. On the second day we were leading and we decided to keep this lead, I didn’t know what the weather would be like. I thought it might rain; I had some memories of rain in Turkey before and I knew it was better to be first on the road. So I decided to keep my 17 second lead. We tried that and it was really a good choice."...

Sebastien Loeb Reached his 57th Victory in Turkey
Posted at RallyOfTurkey.org on April 18, 2010

Citroen´s Sebastien Loeb reached his 57th rally win by claiming the victory in Rally of Turkey. Third day´s first and second stages were canceled but the day offered great enthusiasm.

It was rain causing Deniz and Mudarli´s clayey sections to form unsuitable conditions for rallying and resulting organisers to cancel both stages. Due to cancelled stages drivers followed the route through Ballica´s start prior to midday service...

The wrc.com rally review: Turkey
Posted at WRC.com on April 22, 2010

Now that the dust has settled - but not in the skies over Europe - the Rally of Turkey comes into focus. On paper, it was another Loeb victory, another 10 points, another step in the inexorable march towards the Frenchman?s seventh title (Michael Schumacher, beware).

Looking at it more closely, it was the most tightly fought event of the year, as Mikko Hirvonen pointed out...