Tough first day for Abu Dhabi-backed Ford team in Ireland
The BP-Ford World Rally Team, partnered by Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, endured a difficult first day of action on the penultimate round of the 2007 FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Ireland. Championship leader Marcus Grönholm crashed out of the event after hitting a wall and losing two wheels from his Ford Focus RS WRC, meaning that the task of scoring maximum points for the Manufacturers’ title falls on the shoulders of team-mate Mikko Hirvonen.
Abu Dhabi’s rally ambassador, Sheikh Khalid Al Qassimi also endured a difficult start to the event. The Emirati driver is competing in his fourth and final outing of the 2007 WRC and adopted a conservative approach to ensure that he maximised his mileage and as a result, experience on the event.
After a short superspecial stage last night at the Stormont Castle in Belfast, the crews took to the stages ‘proper’ as dawn gave way to daylight. The bumpy and narrow roads were damp as the crews headed for the first of nine stages around the rally base of Sligo.
Having set the fastest time on the first stage, Grönholm was fast out of the traps this morning but arch-rival Sebastien Loeb was faster, taking the stage wins on the first of the day’s two timed tests. However, on the third stage, Grönholm missed his braking point for a corner and slid into a low stone wall, removing the two wheels from the driver’s side of the car in the process and effectively ending his rally.
This heaped the pressure on Hirvonen, as the team’s other nominated points-scoring driver, to maximise the haul for the Manufacturers’ championship. Ford can take the Manufacturers’ championship this weekend if it scores three points, so the responsibility of capitalising on its lead in the title since the third round is now the domain of Hirvonen. The young Finn put in a determined performance, returning to parc ferme in fourth place.
Al Qassimi started the event with a careful approach, mindful of the conditions and his lack of experience on this surface and in this weather. He deliberately settled into a safe rhythm that would ensure he completed the event and gained as much experience as possible. However, his first loop of three stages was not without incident.
“It was incredibly slippery and tricky,” the Emirati said. “We had a moment on the first stage, when we slid wide into a small ditch that was filled with muddy water. I had to find the windscreen wipers quickly but it was not too bad. We also had a few moments on the second stage when the car was sliding on the wet and dirty tarmac and clipping the edge of the roads but again, we got away with it.
“The third stage of the day was cancelled as we were on the start line, when we heard that Marcus had gone off, so we drove it as a road section and returned to the service area.”
Following the routine service, Al Qassimi and British co-driver Nicky Beech headed back to the Irish countryside to repeat the three stages.
“This time round, the stages were much worse – a lot more mud from the cuts. So I decided to be extremely careful for the first two stages. However, the third was a lot drier and I pushed a little harder to begin with. My safety crew told me that the middle section of the stage was very twisty and slippery, so I backed off but pushed harder again towards the end and was quite pleased with the time.”
A further service followed the repeat of the three stages, before another hattrick of tests, back to back before the crews reached the final service of the first leg. Once again, Al Qassimi adopted a pragmatic pace and was rewarded with a trouble-free run back to Sligo. During the course of the day, the Abu Dhabi driver had climbed from 40th overall after the day’s first stage to 25th by the end of the leg, demonstrating the wisdom of his approach.
“This has been a very tough day,” he said. “Even the local drivers are saying to me how difficult it is – they do not take such cuts as the WRC drivers and aren’t used to the roads being as dirty as they are now. On the recce, the roads were very clean and it has been hard relating my pace notes to the faster and dirtier roads today.
“I was quite encouraged by my pace when it was dry and I felt confident enough to push a little harder. However, this is only the first day. There are two more difficult and long days to go, so we must make sure we maintain this approach and ensure that Abu Dhabi is directly represented at the finish of this event.”
About Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi is the largest of the seven emirates which form the United Arab Emirates (UAE), forming 80% of the country’s land-mass and is home to the capital, Abu Dhabi City. The Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA) has embarked on a dynamic campaign to develop a world-class infrastructure as an up-scale sporting, cultural and leisure destination, aimed at discerning visitors. In rallying, Abu Dhabi has formed a ground-breaking partnership with the BP-Ford World Rally Team in the FIA World Rally Championship, as well as developing a three-car national team competing in the Middle East Rally Championship (MERC), Team Abu Dhabi. The nation hosts a round of the FIA Historic Rally Championship and the UAE also hosts the final round of the MERC. Abu Dhabi has launched a host of global sporting initiatives, including the European Tour-backed Abu Dhabi Golf Championship and from 2009, it will host a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship. The nation has recently announced plans to welcome some of the world’s most famous cultural icons, including the Louvre Abu Dhabi and the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.