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Ogier triumphs at Rally Portugal |
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Sebastien Ogier has claimed his maiden victory of the season by narrowly defeating compatriot and teammate Sebastien Loeb in the Vodafone Rally de Portugal. The Frenchman started the final day with a 21.1 second lead over Loeb, and finished the final gravel stage with a lead of 7.7 seconds over the defending champion. It was a do-or-die situation, but the young Citroen driver held his nerve and safely negotiated the rally-closing super special to win by 7.9 seconds overall.
Loeb tried his best and pushed hard. While he managed to set the fastest time on all the four gravel stages on the Sunday, he couldn’t change the final result. He had to settle for an unaccustomed second place, as Ogier got the better of him at Portugal. Dani Sordo took the final podium position, as the Spaniard started the final day in fourth place and benefited from Solberg’s misfortune as the Norwegian ran into a steering glitch that put him in fourth position at the end of the gravel stages. Going into the super special stage, Petter would have hoped for a fourth place finish, but, much to his dismay, a crash into one of the water-filled barriers put his car on two wheels, and allowed Mikko Hirvonen to snatch his place by 3.7 seconds.
Matthew Wilson overcame his brake and steering problems to complete the top six positions for the Stobart M-Sport team. Earlier the team had lost Henning Solberg due to overheating, which ended the Norwegian’s rally. Driving the Subaru Impreza, Mads Ostberg completed the rally in seventh place, despite fears that he wouldn’t be able to complete the rally because of an engine warning light after stage 15. Federico Villagra, after surviving a crash on the penultimate gravel stage, managed to come in eighth – even though he ripped off his front bumper in the process, finishing 19.7 seconds ahead of Abu Dhabi’s Khalid Al Qassimi. The Argentine also managed to set the fastest time on the 2.03 kilometer super special stage – demonstrating his caliber and ability to compete in the sport.
Former Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen, in his Citroen C4, managed a 10th place finish, as he was hit with handling problems, followed by a tyre puncture on stage 16 – all of which ensured that his bad run continued. Nevertheless, he claimed the final point for the drivers’ championship.
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| Karthikeyan coming to terms with NASCAR |
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Using the momentum from his first couple of races, Narain Karthikeyan put in an impressive performance in his No. 60 Starbeast Motorsport Chevrolet Silverado, as he finished in 11th place at the Winstar World Casino 400, held at the Texas Motor Speedway last month. This finish is his best thus far, and, with only three races gone, the Indian is definitely picking up the pace and giving the front runners something to think about.
The qualifying session for the No. 60 car didn’t go too well, as his was only the second car to hit the track – when conditions were unfavorable. As a result, Narain was in 19th position on the starting grid, which wasn’t too bad, and it was just .6 of a second behind the pole sitter. On the opening leg of the race, Karthikeyan maintained his position till the first pit stop, during which he had to deal with a radio malfunction.
After the pit stop, however, he managed to pick up the pace, and soon began his assault on the other drivers. The crew then decided to bring him in for a green flag pit stop, but unfortunately the move backfired because, as soon as he rejoined, a caution flag came out – putting him at a disadvantage. Nevertheless, this didn’t affect the spirit of the ‘fastest Indian,’ as he kept at it, and set some good lap times to make up several positions – putting him in 12th place. On Lap 164, No. 33 and No. 81 trucks collided, and Karthikeyan just about managed to avoid another disaster as he narrowly missed the No. 81 truck as it slid down the track as he passed. With just three laps left, Narain picked up yet another place to finish in 11th position. His team were pleased indeed, as he set some quick lap times and made up positions during the race. He certainly appears to be getting the hang of racing trucks on ovals stateside.
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