



|
Gigi Galli 2008 News Archive
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31/12/08
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"Sciare Per La Vita"
would like to thank you
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2008 is by now at
the end. While wishing you all a happy New Year, we would like
to remind that in the season, following Gigi’s own idea, was
launched a charity initiative in favour of the no-profit
association “Sciare Per La Vita”. The association was set up in
Bormio (SO) by the Olimpic Ski Ladies’Champion Deborah
Compagnoni in order to sustain the research about children
diseases.
We would like to
take this opportunity to thank publicly all the people who took
part to the various tenders launched along the season.
Thanks to their
generosity, 4750 Euros were raised and directly addressed to the
“Sciare Per La Vita” association.
We thank the
winners of the single tenders: “Peppina”, “Alessandra”,
“Sara Laporta”, “Cristina”, “Gian GDS”,
“Evelyn”, “Hayley”, “Ann & Ger”, “Nancy”,
“Celso” and, finally, “Amanda” who gave a
spontaneous donation in favour of “Sciare Per La Vita”, even if
never having the chance to see her name shown on Gigi’s car.
Thanks to
everybody with all our heart. |
17/12/08
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Memorial Bettega Trophy
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“I
can’t hide that as soon as I sat in the Focus I felt thrilled” –
Gigi admits” – After the accident I hadn’t driven a rally car so
far. Restarting to contest the Memorial Bettega has been great!
“
Always frank and sincere, the driver from Livigno does not try
to hide the feelings he experienced in returning to the
competition :” The first run on the track was really strange. I
had to find quickly the confidence to push both the Focus and
the Pirelli, and the stage conditions did not help at all. The
asphalt was very slippery and a trifle was enough a make a
mistake” – remembers Gigi – “Ending the Memorial Bettega final
at 2 to 2 and losing the top position for the fastest run rule
pissed me off a bit, but Dani Sordi deserved the victory and I
am very happy about my physical reaction after such a long
period of rehab.”
Gigi, at the wheel of the usual Stobart Motorsport Ford Focus,
Pirelli-equipped, gathered an important second place that,
despite the accident of the last summer, confirms him as one of
the doggest driver in WRC.
The competition being very tough (Marcus Gronholm, Petter
Solberg, Dani Sordo, François Duval, Chris Meeke, Simone
Campedelli and Piero Longhi in the entry list), Gigi fought like
a lion for the two days of heats, achieving the score to contest
the final heat for the top podium position. Gigi won the first
run, Dani won the second. Gig won the third, the Spanish won the
fourth. Due to the dead heat the race control had to appeal the
fastest run rule in order to assign to Dani Sordo the victory of
the XXIV edition of Memorial Bettega Trophy.
A week-end to remember then for the driver from Livigno, who
came back to racing in the best way.
In Bologna Gigi had as well the chance to meet all his fans, who
attended the event in great number to plaude his return, and he
could show a clear evidence of his mental and phisical recovery.
Now all the efforts are focused on 2009. The relationship with
Malcom Wilson is very good. The M-Ford manager is doing his best
to help out Gigi in outlining a program for next year. Despite
this aid, the situation so far is not at all defined and Gigi is
right now looking for new partnerships enabling him to contest
the 2009 WRC season.
Anybody should be interested in sponsoring Gigi, please do not
hesitate to contact him! |
28/11/08
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Gigi is back
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The colourful and passionate crowd attending the
24° Memorial Bettega Trophy at Bologna Motorshow will be the
warm setting to welcome Gigi return to competions.
On December 13th , date of the event,
four months will have elapsed after the bad accident in Germany.
For Gigi, four long months of rehabilitation and waiting and
thinking…lots of thinking… sometimes also about retirement from
rallying.
Now all doubts have been banished and Gigi can’t
wait to get in a rally car again.
Gigi will contest the classical Motorshow event
driving a Stobart Motorsport Ford Focus WRC, his inseparable
rallymate of the 2008 season.
“Was a long and difficult wait, but finally I’am
back to rallying!” – says Gigi joyfully – “There are still a few
weeks until the Memorial Bettega, but I am looking forward to
driving a Focus again and feeling that thrilling emotion I have
been missing since last August.
I want to show I am still the same and, even if
it is not a proper rally, I am convinced I can do quite well.
My leg is not 100% perfect yet, but when I drive
I do not feel any particular troubles and this is the key point
at present.”
Together with Gigi, another welcome return to
rallying: also the twice World Rally Champion Marcus Gronholm
has confirmed his attendance to the Bologna contest. The Flying
Flyinn will get the wheel of Ford Focus WRC of BP Ford Abu
Dhabi Rally Team. |
18/11/08
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Gigi Galli
Official Page #25
|
Join “Gigi Galli" on
facebook
A
brand new facebook page dedicated to our beloved driver, the “Gigi
Galli Official Page #25”, has just been launched.
As this is the only
Gigi Galli's official facebook page, regularly will update you with
fresh news, photos, videos that you can comment, download and share
with other friends. Together with the official website, the page
will represent the best meeting point on internet with Gigi, his
Fans Club and his network of friends.
Just register on
www.facebook.com and join
us! |
05/11/08
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"Now
I feel like rallying very much..."
|
Three months
have elapsed since that bad accident in Germany. We think is
now time to ask Gigi what’s going on.
Hi Gigi, in the
latest months we have been reading many of your interviews in
the rally magazines. First of all, tell us how is your phisical
condition now.
Hi guys!
Phisically-wise I feel good. According to the X-ray I had a
fornight ago the bone is fully calcified. What’s to do now is
the rehabilitation of muscles and tissues. By now I can walk
without crutches but, honestly, I look a bit drunk… Anyway
Dr.Costa and I agreed about a slow, but well done,
rehabilitation. There was no need to hurry and therefore we
preferred to follow a less intensive program, enabling me to
achieve the best results in the medium term.
As far as
training is concerned at moment I practise a lot of swimming and
cycling. Both activities allow my muscles to train without
burdening the leg too much.
And what about
your psychological condition?
For sure I’am
much better then three months ago. I can’t hide that I thought a
lot about the accident immediately afterwards, about what was
worthy to do. I tried to keep rally at some distance for a
while. Not
because I did
not love it any more but in order to keep quiet, thinking of my
recovery and of myself only. It has
been
tough, indeed. But now I feel like rallying very much, may be
just testing or something alike. At the moment there is nothing
planned, but I am working on it.
Tell us
honestly: about what happened in Germany, are you more angry or
more disappointed?
Honestly,
neither one nor the other. As many people could see from the
videos, the accident was caused by a stone moved to the middle
of the road. This is also the fact that made me think deeply,
immediately after the off road. The awareness that such an
accident was due to an external factor, and not to a mistake or
a failure on our side, frightened me the most. Running at 140
kph, under the trees, when I saw the stone it had been too late.
We were about 15 meters away and were already steering to drive
a right-hand corner. At that point there was nothing I could do.
Many people have
been asking me about safety in rally nowadays. I think that if
this accident had happened ten years ago its consequences would
have been probably much worse. In order to avoid this kind of
accidents in the future a possible solution could be to thicken
the marshalls spread along the stage, so that they can visually
supervise every section of the stage and clear the road from any
dangerous obstacle moved, by chance, in the way. On the other
hand we can’t forget that rallying is a motorsport and as such
implies some risks.
Two months “at home” gave you some time off
from rally world. Do you miss it?
Of course, I
miss it a lot. I spent most of my life following the rally
passion and the dream to become a rally driver, and I cannot
cancel all the beautiful souvenirs it has left me. Actually, as
soon as I recovered a bit, I decided to fly to Spain in order to
do the rally recce. The purpose was to get in touch again with
the team and my friends and to be ready in view of the 2009
season. In fact Rally Catalunya and Rally Wales GB are the only
two events I am not contesting this season that are scheduled
again in 2009 calendar.
This is the
first year of Pirelli control tyre. The new rule introducing a
singe tyre suppliers seems to have encountered a general
approval. As driver, did you find any differences in performance
with respect to the past?
Not at all. And
that was a surprise for all the drivers. I must admit, and not
because Pirelli helped me a lot in these years, that they did a
terrific job. We must remember that the introduction of the
control tyre overlapped with the proscription of the ATS system
and this was the biggest and unknown challenge for Pirelli. The
tyres performed very well both on the snow swedish surface and
on the stony greek gravel and, considering the strict FIA rules
about compounds, this result could not at all be taken for
granted.
This year in
Finland for example, on a stage of 25 ks, run in the same
condition as 2007, Hirvonen was 9 seconds faster then the 2007
record. I underline that performances comes when there’s also a
good feeling with the tyre, as this is a crucial factor in tyre
performance.
Unfortunately
your 2008 season finished earlier then expected. You won many
special stages, you achieved a podium at the second rally and
were constantly in the top positions in each rally. But also
some inconveniences occurred. How is the glass, as a whole: half
full or half empty?
Thanks to my
optimistic attitude I tend to see the glass half full. We have
lived a season of ups and downs. Many times small problems
obliged us to retire or to restart with the SuperRally: in
Mexico a light bang into a rock damaged the rollcage and
consequently we have been unabled to keep on experiencing the
car, for us totally new at that time; in Argentina an unusual
damage to the exhaust deprived us of a likely podium; in Jordan
we got some troubles due to the rear differential; in Turkey a
bolt, that worths 10 cents, caused a boost valve failure.
We also had some
accidents, like in Finland and Greece, but if you’re aimed at
keeping score positions in a WRC rally you must drive fast and
take some risks as well. We often were competing with the very
top drivers but with the support of a private team only, which
is not easy. I do not refer to the mechanical mean, which is
competitive at the top level, but to the fact that a
manufacturer team plans each event doing specifical tests aimed
at finding the right set up for every kind of surface. A private
team cannot afford this effort and the drivers only can run
twice, as everybody else, on the special stages during the recce
and then get on the rally car at the start of the rally. In the
first events of the season this gap of experience influenced me
a bit but from Jordan afterwards, together
with my engineer Gavin Minor, we could define the Focus set-up
according to my driving style and the feeling improved
immediately. Unfortunately, in the following events some
misfortunes did not allow us to harvest what we seeded with so
much effort. Bad luck is often part of the game.
What can you say
about Stobart Motorsport? Considering your performances it seems
to be a top team!
It’s true. For
sure our being the first “cousins” of the Ford manufacturer
team is a huge advantage and a big luck. Among other things we
have in common the Team Manager, Malcom Wilson. He is the ideal
type of person to play this role: he was himself a driver in the
past and knows how to face and to manage any different
situations. These skills joint to the Stobart passion,
represented by William Stobart and Andrew Tinkler, create the
perfect blend for a team of the World Rally Championship.
Mitsubushi
Lancer, Peugeot 307, Citroen Xsara and Ford Focus…4 different
cars in 4 WRC seasons. Every year you had to find the right
feeling with the new “friend”. Will you keep the same number of
cars even for the 5th WRC year?
Yes, of course,
if I could choose. I never felt at ease like this year. I want
to underline: I am not saying that I felt bad in the past years.
But this season, beside the car, which was perfect, I could rely
as well on a group like Stobart turning the teamwork into a sort
of family business. Should it be my decision only, Stobart and
the Ford Focus would be my first choice. Nevertheless we must
consider the economical side as well. During the last meeting
with Malcom we both expressed our strong willingness to continue
together in 2009. Now is time to work hard in order to find the
missing gussets able to complete the mosaic work.
The thousand of fans want to see back again
Gigi Galli. What can we tell them?
I hope to make
them happy soon. In the near future nothing is planned. It’s too
early to make statements or forecasts. As I said, there are many
factors to be considered. Anyway I wish everything goes in the
right way and I can come back to rallying very soon.
|
17/08/08
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Rallye Deutschland
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Final
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Gigi Galli is recovering after the surgery he undergo
on Friday evening after the accident.
Gigi Galli is recovering well after the surgery he
undergo last Friday evening after the accident occurred in the
afternoon.
“Really bad moments” said Gigi “The organizers did a
good job and assistance both immediately after the accident and here
at the hospital in Trier was very good. The Ford Focus proved to be
very strong as well as the seat and absorbed the impact quite well.
I have to thank Giovanni who has been really quick in organizing the
assistance. Unfortunately I’ll have to stop for a while, but I hope
to recover soon. Wednesday I’ll be going home and than we’ll see. I
want to thank everyone for their support and for the many greetings
they sent me”:
The rally has been won by Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena
(Citroen C4) who were leading throughout the whole race, followed by
their team mates Dani Sordo/Marc Martì and by Francois Duval/Patrick
Pivato on Ford Focus RS. |
15/08/08
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Rallye Deutschland
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First Leg
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini had to retire
from Rally Germany, 10th round of the FIA WRC
Gigi Galli and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini
while running special stage 5 this afternoon went off road in quite
a fast part of the stage and rolled. Gigi Galli has been immediately
brought to the hospital here in Trier and the doctors diagnosed the
fracture of the left femur.
This evening he will undergo a surgery at the
hospital in Trier.
Giovanni Bernacchini was uninjured.
The accident happened approximately 11 km after the
start of stage 5 in a right fast bend. The car has been thrown in
the air and into the wood along the road. The roll cage of the Ford
Focus RS resist well against the impact avoiding worse damages.
The organizers staff worked fast and did a very good
job. The special stage has been cancelled in order to allow a quick
assistance. The last stage has been cancelled because of too many
spectators along the road.
Sébastien Loeb (Citroen C4) won all the special
stages of the day and he is leading followed by the Ford driver
Mikko Hirvonen and by the other Citroen driver Dani Sordo.
The second day will start tomorrow at 06.25 and
provide 8 special stages for a total of 159,76 timed kilometers,
with two remote zone service parks of 15 minutes each in Birkenfeld.
The crews will be back in Trier at 18.58 |
11/08/08
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Rallye Deutschland
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Preview
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS of the
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, ready to start the tenth round of the
FIA World Rally Championship, Rally Germany a challenge on tarmac.
Gigi Galli and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini prepared the tenth
round of the season, Rally Deutschland that will take place on the
asphalt roads around Trier in Germany, doing some tests with the
Ford Focus RS tarmac set-up and the Pirelli PZero tyres.
“I’m satisfied with the test we have done before this new round of
the World Rally Championship” said Galli “We didn’t have the
possibility to test much before other events, now we had the
opportunity to test the Ford Focus with asphalt set-up and the new
Pirelli PZero tyres both with hard and soft compound, and we are
quite happy with the results. We took part in this race few times
and the last asphalt event this year was Rally Montecarlo last
January, where the Focus RS showed to be quite fast, so I think
it’ll take a few stages to get the right feeling with this surface
again. The last time we entered this race was in 2005 and we
finished fifth overall, such a result will be good this year. The
Super Special stage on Sunday will be spectacular. Trier is a
beautiful and get crowded with fans crazy for rallies”.
The Italian Crew Galli/Bernacchini has been nominated by Stobart VK
M-.Sport Ford to score points for the Manufacturer Championship
together with the Belgian crew François Duval/Patrick Pivato.
Rally Germany is going to be quite a demanding event, with asphalt
speed tests very different from those of last tarmac event Rally
Montecarlo. There are three different type of stages: the narrow and
winding roads along the Mosel River, the wider and fast roads in the
Saarland region, that can become treacherous in case of rain, and
the famous stages inside the military complex of Baumholder. These
last ones have a very abrasive asphalt, often covered with sand or
gravel that make it very slippery and that will put under strain the
Pirelli PZero tyres, this time provided both with soft and hard
compound. Furthermore along the roads there are big kerb stones
known as “hinkelstein”. A rally route that does not forgive even the
smallest mistake.
The route hasn’t change much from last year, with some stages used
in the opposite direction. The rally HQ is located as usual in the
town of Trier, close to the Luxembourg border. On Thursday crews
will take part in the Ceremonial start from the historic Porta Nigra,
the next day speed tests are in the vineyards along the Mosel river,
while on Saturday stages will be run in Saarland and at Baumholder,
with two remote service parks. On Sunday the stages will be again
among the vineyards and the event will close with the spectacular
Super Special in Trier close to Porta Nigra, with several cars
racing at the same time. A total of 352,89 timed kilometers divided
into 19 special stages and a total route of 1174,91 km. |
02/08/08
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Neste Oil Rally
Finalnd - Second Leg
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Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini with the Ford
Focus RS of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, had to retire from
Rally Finland.
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini have been obliged
to retire after rolling off the road in special stage 16.
A tricky bend hidden behind a crest, after the jump
the car landed on the road awkwardly, rolled and ended in a ditch.
Driver and co-driver are uninjured. Other two cars
went off the road in the same place.
It’s been impossible to repair the Ford Focus, so the
Italian team of the Stobart VK M-Sport team had to retire from the
competition.
This morning Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini
started well, a good steady rhythm that brought them up again in
third place overall.
“What a shame” said Galli “That section was part of
the famous Ouninpohja stage, but this time was run in the opposite
way and we did just two recce passages there. We took a left bend
and it was longer than what we put in our pace notes, so we went out
wide, went off road and rolled into a ditch. A real shame, we were
doing fine so far”.
This morning the 94 crews in the race left the
Service Park at 06.00 in a nice clear and sunny morning. This has
been the longest leg of the Finnish event, 168,25 timed kilometers
divided into 10 Special Stages, some of them new.
The French crew of Citroen, Sébastien Loeb/Daniel
Elena dominated the whole day and have been constantly attacked by
the Finnish crew of the Ford team Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen
Tomorrow the third and last day of Rally Finland will
start at 08.20 and will provide 3 Special Stages, 40,47 timed
kilometers. Crews will be back in
Jyväskylä at 13.30
for the Prize Giving ceremony.
Next appointment for Gigi Galli and Giovanni
Bernacchini will be Rally Germany, 10th round of the 2008
FIA World Rally Championship, that will take place in Trier from 15
to 17 August. |
01/08/08
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Neste Oil Rally
Finalnd - First Leg
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford
Focus RS
of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, are 4th
overall at the end of day 1 of spectacular Rally Finland, 9th
round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship.
The classic Finnish race started yesterday evening
with the usual Super Special at Killeri trotting track. 99 crews
left the Jyväskylä Service Park at 19,45, to tackle the 2.6 km of
the opening stage of the event, while the real action started this
morning. Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) won the Killeri Super Special,
that has been repeated, as closing stage of day 1, this evening too.
This morning short before the start of the rally at
06.30, a started to rain and the first stage of the day a little
slippery. The weather improved during the day and the sun peep out
of the dark big clouds.
Today’s leg provided 131,70 timed kilometers divided
into 10 special stages.
Gigi Galli, supported by a crowd of fans, among those
a big group of Italians that used their summer vacation to follow
him on the rally, maintained a good steady rhythm throughout the
whole day, without pushing too much and climbing up to third
position overall during the second half of the day. A consistent and
steady pace that allowed him to close the first racing day in an
excellent position.
“This morning we started quite well, I’ve lost a
little bit my rhythm and therefore also some time, during SS 2.In
the following stages we’ve tried to be constant, without pushing too
much. This is an important rally for us but also important to get
points for the team in the Manufacturer Championship. The race is
still quite long, but I’m really happy with how the car feels, we
did just few adjustments during the second Service Park. I like also
the new Pirelli Scorpion soft compound tyres that we are using here
for the first time and that proved to be very good also on the wet
surface we had today. Towards the end of the day I lost some speed
and Henning (Solberg) passed me, anyway it is a good place to start
from tomorrow”.
Tomorrows’ second day, will be the longest of the
rally. The stages are located near Jamsa as before, but five of the
10 stages (168,25 km), are brand new. Crews will leave the Service
Park in Jyväskylä at 06.00 and the day will close at 19.51. |
28/07/08
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Neste Oil Rally
Finalnd - Preview
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS
of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, after the summer
break are now ready to tackle the spectacular Rally Finland, 9th
round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship
After a seven weeks summer break, Gigi Galli and his
co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini, with a Ford Focus RS of the Stobart
VK M-Sport Ford, are now ready to start Rally Finland, ninth round
of the 2008 world rally season.
During summer vacations Galli trained running three
times a week and together with his team mate Henning Solberg took
part also in a rallycross show called Bjerkeracet, that has been
held on a specially-designed gravel track, with some technical
sections and wide fast bends. A real change for the Italian driver,
taking the wheel of a Ford Fiesta rallycross car for the first time.
Andreas Mikkelsen, Mads Østberg and Patrick Sandell took part in
this event too.
Rally Finland, that has over 100 entries this year,
is a classic race that entered the WRC for the first time in 1973
and it’s been known before with the name of “1000 Lakes”. The
Finnish race is one of the fastest in the Championship, its
characteristics are a gravel smooth and hard surface, with wide
roads and furthermore there are the famous jumps that cars tackle at
very high speed and that throw them into the air for several meters.
On this kind of route it’s very important to have a precise driving
and accurate pace notes, because jumps are often followed by hidden
curves and it is important to get the right line up before jumping
and being able to tackle the next bend without losing speed.
Very important will be also the Pirelli Scorpion
tyres with soft compound that will make their debut in this rally.
The Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team has nominated the
Italian crew Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini and their team mates
Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud to score points in the Manufacturers
Championship.
Gigi Galli took part in this race seven times,
winning Group N in 2004 and finishing fifth in 2006.
“I can’t wait to get back rallying after this long
break” said Galli “I took part in this rally quite a few times and I
know it, it’s a pity the Ouninpohja stage has been cancelled this
year, it was one of my favorites. It’ll be a fast and fun race with
lots of jumps, but it wont be easy because Mikko (Hirvonen) and
Jari-Matti (Latvala) will push hard here. In the last three events
we had a good pace so now here we need to be consistent. We’ll do
our best to get a good result. Rally Finland is also famous for the
high numbers of spectators, there will be lots of Italian fans,
because it’s vacation time in Italy, I hope that lots of them will
cheer for us.”
“It’s one of the rallies I like most” said Giovanni
Bernacchini “A hard and smooth gravel surface, very fast with lots
of jumps that make this race really spectacular both for drivers and
spectators. Gigi took part in this race quite e few times and he did
well.”
Jyväskylä will host again the rally HQ, but almost
half of the route is going to be new. The rally opens with the
traditional Super Special at Killeri trotting track on Thursday July
31st.
Friday the crews will enter the real race west of
Jyväskylä.
Saturday will be te longest day with 168,25 timed
kilometers divided in 10 special stages near
Jämsä, five of them brand new. The spectacular and difficult
Ouninpohja stage has been cancelled, but part of it
has been incorporated in another speed test.
Sunday the last leg with three special stages east of
Jyväskylä. Rally will close at 13.30 on Sunday August 3rd.
A total route of 1461,58 km with 340,42 timed
kilometers divided in 24 special stages. Weather has been forecast
to be dry with temperatures around 25°C and high humidity. |
15/06/08
-
Rally of Turkey -
Final
|
After
two excellent days Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini, in a Ford
Focus RS of the Stobart VK M-Sport team did not start for the last
leg.
An excellent race, three stages won,
third overall during the first part of the rally, but unfortunately
the braking of a valve in the turbocharger in the third special
stage of day 2, dropped Gigi Galli and his co-driver Giovanni
Bernacchini to 8th place overall.
The second day has been really tough,
with stages covered with stones, an abrasive surface and tight
transfer times. This put under strain drivers and Gigi Galli was
exhausted at the end of the day and suffering a strong dehydration
that weakened him. His been assisted by the doctor of the team.
This morning it’s been taken the
decision not to re-start even considering the fact that the position
in the classification was jeopardized and Gigi’s not optimal
conditions.
“It is a very disappointing end to a tough event that
we started really well on. “ said Gigi “The first day was fantastic
for us and we managed the performance well and found a good
compromise between preserving the tyres and keeping a fast speed;
indeed we would have been leading for the whole day without the time
penalty. Too bad…now some rest and we will re-start in Finland”.
The hard-fought Rally of Turkey has been won by Mikko
Hirvonen (Ford Focus RS) ahead of his team mate Jari-Matti Latvala
who alternate in the lead, Sébastien Loeb (Citroen C4) finished
third.
Now the FIA World Rally Championship
will stop for a month and will re-start at the end of July, so next
race for Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini will be Rally Finland
that will take place from July 31st to August 3rd
|
14/06/08
-
Rally of Turkey -
Second Leg
|
An excellent race today for Gigi Galli and Giovanni
Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford
team, spoiled by problems with the turbo charger in the afternoon.
The Italian crew closed the second day of Rally Turkey in 8th
position overall
The 52 crews still in the race started day two at
08.30 from Kemer Service Park in a very hot and sultry morning.
After winning three stages yesterday Gigi Galli and Giovanni
Bernacchini started from a good 4th place the second day
of Rally Turkey, 8th round of the FIA World Rally
Championship. The Italian crew maintained a steady rhythm, obtaining
good times and climbing up to third place.
After the mid morning Service Park on the first pass
of SS 12 Kemer 20,50 km long, short after the start the car started
to loose power forcing Galli to a slower speed. At the end of the
stage after a quick check he found out that a valve of the turbo
charger has broken and they had to tackle the next stage 27,36 km
long with this problem and therefore loosing a lot of time and
dropping to 8th place.
At the next Service Park the turbo charger has been
fixed, but unfortunately they closed the day 8th overall.
The day has been hard for everyone and the exhausting
speed tests put under a lot of strain drivers.
“It’s been a very long day and I’m exhausted” said
Gigi “It’s been a pity losing so much time for the problem with the
turbo charger and not being able to fight for the podium anymore.
The strange thing is that few years ago I had a similar problem on
that same stage. This is rally, it’s difficult to preview what will
happen. I still have the possibility to score a point in the
Drivers’ Championship and more points for the team, so tomorrow I’ll
do my best.”
The third and last day of Rally Turkey will start
tomorrow morning at 08.30 and provide three speed tests for a total
of 76,56 timed kilometers and two passes on the tricky Olympos,
31,03 km long, the longest of the whole rally.
The rally will close with the Ceremonial Finish at
the Service Park in Kemer at 15.00. |
13/06/08
-
Rally of Turkey -
First Leg
|
A very good start for Gigi Galli and Giovanni
Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford
team, in the first day ofRally Turkey, 4th overall
winning 3 special stages
A really good start for Gigi Galli and Giovanni
Bernacchini, they won 3 out of the 9 today’s special stages and
obtaining good times in the others, are now 4th overall
in the classification at the end of day one of Rally Turkey, 8th
round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
The race started yesterday evening and immediately
after the Ceremonial Start crews tackled the Super Special Stage of
2,60 km in Antalya on a gravel track with two cars racing at the
same time. A big crowd gathered at the Ceremonial Start and along
the stage.
Today crews started the real race at 07.30 am from
the Service Park located in Kemer and tackled 9 special stages a
total of 154,90 timed kilometers. This first day has been the
longest of the rally, very hot and with lot of dust.
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford
Focus RS started real well with a second and a third best time and
winning the third stage of the day.
The Italian crew incurred in a 10 sec. penalty due to
late arrival at time control of SS 2, Gigi explains what happened:
“After the first stage we stopped to check the tyres pressure and we
noticed that the bumper was on fire because it was touching the
exhaust pipe, so Giovanni and me hat to extinguish the fire and we
arrived at time control before the next stage 3 seconds later. It’s
been a pity getting this penalty, but apart fro this everything else
was fine”.
After the late morning Service Park crews tacled a
loop of other three stages and Galli maintained a good pace and won
SS 5 too. After the second Service Park of the day, crews re-started
to tackle the last two stages for the day. Galli started very
determined won the first stage of this last loop and disputed the
last one calmly and closing the day in a good 4th place.
“It’s
been a long day today” said Gigi” with more stages than what we are
normally used to. We had a problem getting the jack into the car
today and weren’t able to change the tyres between some stages. The
second pass over the stages was quite hard as we had to find a good
compromise between preserving the tyres and keeping a good speed but
I think we did a good job. It seems that we are now in a perfect
position for tomorrow.”
Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala, both in a Ford
Focus RS, alternate in the lead for the whole day. Latvala suffered
a puncture in SS 7 and lost some time but closed the day third
overall. The four times World Champion Sébastein Loeb is leading the
classification at the end of day two after being for most part of
the day in third and fourth place, he is going to be first on the
road tomorrow and will have to sweep the road. |
09/06/08
-
Rally of Turkey -
Preview
|
Another gravel race awaits Gigi Galli and his
co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini and their Ford Focus RS of the
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, Rally Turkey, 8th round of
the FIA World Rally Championship.
Only two weeks after leaving Greece and a difficult
and hard Rally Acropolis, the drivers of the World Championship head
to Kemer to tackle Rally Turkey, eighth round of the 2008 season.
Placing on file the Greek race, so tricky and full of
problems, the Italian crew is now ready to face another gravel
rally, not less difficult but with fastest special stages and a less
uneven route then the last one. The experience done so far and the
good pace achieved, shown also by winning four special stages in
Greece, give good hopes to the Italian standard-bearers.
Rally Turkey is back in the World Championship after
one year absence and close the loop of three races in the
Mediterranean area.
Gigi Galli took part in this race only twice, in 2004
when he finished 10th overall and in 2005 when, after
leading during the first part of the race, he finished in a good 8th
place.
The Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team has nominated
GigiGalli/Giovanni Bernacchini and Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud to
score points in the Manufacturers Championship.
“I have good memories of the rally in Turkey as it
was the first time I ever led a WRC event back in 2005. The road
conditions are generally quite good and not as rough as the last
rally in Greece which I think is a welcome change for everyone. My
confidence is high after the last two gravel rallies. We have learnt
a lot and it feels good to have set fastest stage times on both
Sardinia and Greece and I know that the feeling with the car is very
good now. The Pirelli tyres have proved they can cope with the rough
conditions and my pace is getting much better; now we just need some
luck on this rally.”
The route is almost the same of 2006, last time this
event was part of the WRC, with few changes in some of the special
stages. All three legs are located on the Anatolian mountains with
steep and winding stages and generally quite fast. The clay ground,
especially during the second pass tends to break up and pull out
loose sharp rocks. The weather should be hot and dry this time of
the year, but if it rains the clay ground will become quickly muddy
and rutted.
Temperatures in Kemer, where the Rally HQ is located,
should be around 30°C, but the speed test are on the mountains and
some of them climb as high as 1800 meters above sea level, so
temperatures should be lower and therefore less demanding on
drivers, cars and engines.
The race will start on Thursday June 12th
with the Ceremonial Start from Akdeniz University, followed by a
Super Special 2,6 km long in Antalya, that will be repeated as
closing stage of the second leg on Saturday. The first day is the
longest one with 154 timed kilometers, while the shortest day will
be the third and final one, but with two passes on SS Olympos 31,20
km the longest of the whole event.
A total length of 1263,74 km with 360,12 timed
kilometers divided into 19 special stages. |
01/06/08
-
Acropolis Rally -
Gigi Galli won the Colin McRae Trophy
|
A little satisfaction after such a difficult race
came by winning the Colin McRae Trophy. The Organisers of Rally
Acropolis awarded this prize to the fastest time obtained in one of
the special stages of the event, not including the two super special
stages. On the first pass on SS Avalos, Gigi had an average speed of
100,77 km/h.
“It is a very special feeling and a big honour to
receive this award. Colin was a great hero of mine and to be
compared to him is a real pleasure. My rally has not gone according
to plan but I pushed as hard as I could when I could to get some
fastest times and I’m sure he would have done the same thing in that
position. People say we drive in the same style with a lot of energy
and passion and it is fantastic when I hear this. Even with a bad
rally this has really lifted my spirits.” |
01/06/08
-
Acropolis Rally -
Final
|
Gigi
Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS of the Stobart
VK M-Sport Ford team, were not able to finish Rally Acropolis and
after winning 2 of today special stages, had to retire three stages
before the end of the race.
The third and last leg of Rally
Acropolis started this morning at 05.50. The 50 crews already in the
race, 25 of them racing under Super Rally rule, headed north west of
Athens to tackle other 7 special stages before coming back to Tatoi
to run the last short super special closing the rally. A total of
102,32 timed kilometers.
Rally Acropolis confirmed to be one
of the toughest and rough rounds of the World Rally Championship
both for drivers and cars. Today’s leg was not as rough as
yesterday’s one but the thick dust created some problems.
Gigi Galli, who re-started yesterday
under Super Rally rule because he has been stopped by hydraulic
problems, was able to find a good pace and a good rhythm immediately
and obtained the second best time in the second stage of the day,
Avlonas of 18,52 km and won the next one Aghia Sotira 10,80 km, that
was quite rough.
After the service park Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini pushed hard in the subsequent stage, Avlonas,
winning it.
Unfortunately 15km into SS 18, they
hit a rock and they broke a suspension arm and had to stop.
Really a difficult race for the
Italian crew of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, that anyway won 4
special stages and set good times in several others.
“What a cruel rally this has been for us” said Gigi
galli “I knew it would be tough but the conditions were very
difficult indeed as you can see from the problems we had on all
three days. But we have found a really good feeling with the car and
a good speed which has meant some more fastest times and this is the
most important thing for me. The only thing we need now is some more
luck and hopefully in Turkey this will come. Even in the rough
conditions the tyres worked well and I’m confident they will do a
good job in Turkey also.”
Next race for Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini
will be anothe gravel event, Rally Turkey, 8th round of
the the FIA World Rally Championship, that will take place in Kmer
from June 13 to 15th. |
31/05/08
-
Acropolis Rally
- Second Leg
|
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS of the Stobart VK
M-Sport Ford team, obliged to retire again because of hydraulic
problems, they’ll re-start tomorrow under Super Rally rule.
Another warm day
welcome this morning at 08.30 the 58 crews tacing in the 55th
Acropolis Rally.
The second leg was
run in the area of the Corinth Canal and it’s been really tough ,
confirming what ahs been reported by drivers after the recce. Other
three special stages to be repeated twice for a total of 119,12
timed kilometers.
The heat,
temperatures rise as high as 35°C, the thick dust rose by cars and
the sharp stones and rocks covering the route, put under strain both
drivers and cars.
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini that re-started this morning under SuperRally
rule and with 30 minutes penalty started the first stage, Aghii
Theodori 32,16 km the longest of the rally, with a good pace but
towards the end they’ve been slowed down by the dust rose by the car
ahead. The Italian crew of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford won the other
two stages, Pissia 16,60 km and Aghia Triada 10,80 km, before
heading back to the mid day service park.
After the service
park crews re-started for the second run on the same stages run in
the morning, but Gigi Galli has been obliged to stop again before
entering the stage because of loss of pression in the hydraulic
system of his car. The system lost all the fluid and also the gears
were not working. Since they had to run three stages in a row the
team decided to stop and re-start tomorrow under Super Rally rule.
“We started off this morning losing some time by
getting caught in Rautenbach’s dust but the car and tyres felt
really good so we pushed in the next two stages and it was great to
set two fastest stage times. However on the way to the first stage
after service I heard a bang and felt some vibration in the car. We
lost hydraulic pressure which meant no gear changes and no diffs so
I decided it was too unsafe to attempt these three stages and I
didn’t want to damage the car even more with Turkey only two weeks
away.”
A difficult race
also for the crews on top, Sèbastien Loeb (Citroen) had a puncture
in the second special stage of the rally losing 30 seconds and
therefore also the leadership passed to his team mate Dani Sordo.
Then Loeb recovered taking the lead again after special stage 12
when Sordo suffered a puncture. In the Ford team Jari-Matti Latvala
and his co-driver Mikko Hirvonen yesterday had suspension problems
and both lost few positions, this morning they were able to gain
ground, but then Latvala had turbo problems and Hirvonen hit a rock.
The third and last
day of Acropolis Rally will start tomorrow morning at 05.05 am, The
crews will tackle 6 special stages north west of Athens before
coming back to Tatoi to run the last short super special stage near
the military airport. A total of 110,74 timed kilometers. |
30/05/08
-
Acropolis Rally -
First Leg
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford
Focus RS of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, had to retire from
today’s leg of Rally Acropolis and will re-start tomorrow under
Super Rally rule.
Yesterday evening a big crowd gathered under the
Greek Acropolis to watch the Ceremonial start of the 55th
Acropolis Rally, seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
Today the 60 entrants left the Service Park in Tatoi
at 08.15 a.m. and headed north to tackle 6 special stages, three to
be repeated twice, and than in the late afternoon they returned to
Tatoi to take part in the Super Special near the military airport.
In the second special stage of the day Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini had a good start and their split times were
very good. Approximately 12 km into the stage in a fast left hand
corner, they hit a big rock that had been pulled out by a previous
competitor and broke a suspension arm and consequently the
driveshaft. They have been obliged to retire and after FIA
inspection they have been allowed to re-enter the race under Super
Rally rule.
“It’s quite disappointing” said Gigi Galli “ Tomorrow
we will re-start with a high penalty, but we hope we can find a good
pace and do some good times”.
The Italian crew will have a 30 minutes penalty.
Sèbastien Loeb (Citroen), who won 4 out of the 7
today’s stages is leading the provisional classification, followed
by his team mate Dani Sordo, with 15 seconds difference. Jari_matti
Latvala (Ford), who won the first and the third SS, is now in sixth
position. The Super Special Stage has been won by Urmo Aava
(Citroen).
Rally Acropolis’ second leg will start tomorrow
morning at 08.30 am and provide 6 special stages, three to be
repeated twice for a total of 119,12 timed kilometers. |
26/05/08
-
Acropolis Rally -
Preview
|
After the good result obtained in
their home rally, Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford
Focus RS of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, are ready to tackle
another difficult World Rally race Acropilis Rally Greece.
The good fourth place obtained by
Gigi Galli and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini in their home
race, Rally d’Italia Sardinia, give the Italian crew of the Stobart
VK M-Ford Sport team new motivations tackling the 7th
round of the World Championship, Rally Acropolis in Greece.
Rally Acropolis, that has now reached
its 55th edition, is an historic race, very famous for
its hard and tricky gravel roads and Gigi Galli took part in it
three times already, with his best result a 7th place
overall in 2005, the last time he raced here.
Also for this round the Stobart VK
M-Ford Sport team has appointed, to score points in the Manufacturer
Championship and shorten the distance with Subaru now third only
three points ahead, the crew Galli/Bernacchini and Henning
Solberg/Cato Menkerud.
“I
am looking forward to Rally Greece as we found a good level of
consistency in Sardinia and hopefully it will be possible to keep
this going.” Said Gigi Galli “Although I haven’t competed in this
event for a few years, we did the recce for the last two years and
so have a good understanding of the stages and the rocky conditions.
Even so it is still sure to be a tough event, the stages are rough
and demanding and I expect the temperatures to be hotter than in
Sardinia. It’s definitely going to be a hard test for the car, crew
and the Pirelli tyres, but I’m confident we are all up to the
challenge.”
This year for the third year in a row
the race has a different HQ, it’s in Tatoi approximately 20 km north
of Athens in the military airport area, that hosted a special stage
in the 70’s and this year will host the new gravel super special
stage on Fiday evening at thend of leg one and on Sunday afternoon
to close the event. The Ceremonial Start is back at Acropolis, on
the highs of Athens, were it used to be for a long time. The route
is the same of last year edition, there are only two new special
stages Psatha (SS 3 and 6), disputed for the last time in 2006 and
the short 4.6km super special stage at Tatoi near the Service Park.
The first day drivers will head
north-west of Athens, while the second leg, the longest of the
rally, will be held west of the city near the Corinth Canal. The
third and last day will be held again north-west of Athens and crews
will than head back to Tatoi for the arrival.
Temperatures will be quite high
around 30°C with high humidity rate.
Rally Acropolis is famous for its
tough roads with sharp rocks where the Pirelli Scorpion tyres, that
so far got over all the difficulties of the past events, will be put
under strain.
Rally Acropolis has a total length of
1311,32km, including 339,94 timed kilometers divided into 20 special
stages.
|
18/05/08
-
Rally d'Italia
Sardegna - Final
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini, 4th
overall in their home rally Rally d’Italia Sardegna in their Ford
Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team.
A tough and difficult race Rally d’Italia Sardegna
2008, 6th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, and
Gigi galli together with his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini
maintained the good position 4th overall that they
obtained tomorrow gaining important points for the Manufacturers
Championship.
The 49 crews still in the race left the Service Park
in Olbia this morning at 07.00 in a sunny clear day. The 5 special
stages of today the shortest leg of the rally, 78,57 timed
kilometers, were run south of Olbia and the short last stage in the
beautiful frame of Costa Smeralda near Porto Cervo were the rally
finished with the podium ceremony.
Yesterday Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini recover
two positions and closed the second leg forth overall. Today they
kept an easy pace maintaining the good position obtained yesterday.
The first stage of the day was rutted and tricky.
“It’s been a good race and I’m satisfied” said Gigi
Galli “It’s been a pity loosing so much time in the last second
stage of the rally, but Malcolm Wilson was confident I could finish
in a good place, and at the end of the day here we are. The car
feels good and the Pirelli Scorpion tyres proved again to be good
and helped me to finish the stage were I had a puncture and were
strong enough to hold out the difficult and tricky conditions of
this rally. It’s been good also for the Italian fans that followed
the race.”.
Sèbastien Loeb (Citroen C4) was always in the lead
and won the rally. In the back there was a big fight between Mikko
Hirvonen (Ford Focus RS), who finished second overall, and his team
mate Jari-Matti Latvala who won all yesterday’s special stages.
Next round of the FIA World Rally Championship is
Rally Acropolis in Greece.
Final
Standings Rally d'Italia Sardegna 2008
1. S. Loeb/D. Elena |
F |
Citroen C4 |
3h 57min 17.2sec |
2. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen |
FIN |
Ford Focus RS |
+ 10.6sec |
3.
J-M Latvala/M. Anttila |
FIN |
Ford Focus RS |
+ 15.3sec |
4. G. Galli/G. Bernacchini
|
ITA |
Ford Focus RS |
+ 1min 42.5sec |
5. D. Sordo/M. Marti |
E |
Citroen C4 |
+ 2min 05.6sec |
6. C. Atkinson/S. Prevot |
AUS |
Subaru Impreza |
+ 5min 08.6sec |
7. H. Solberg/C. Menkerud |
N |
Ford Focus RS |
+ 6min 01.6sec |
8. U. Aava /K. Sikk |
EE |
Citroen C4 |
+ 6min 21.3sec |
9. P-G Andersson/J. Andersson |
S |
Suzuki SX4 |
+ 7min 48.7sec |
10. P. Solberg/P. Mills |
N |
Subaru Impreza |
+ 9min 41.0sec |
|
17/05/08
-
Rally d'Italia
Sardegna - Second Leg
|

Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini good race goes
on, 4th overall at the end of day two of Rally d’italia
Sardegna, in their Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford
team.
Second leg of Rally d’Italia Sardegna started this
morning at 08.00 from the Olbia Service Park under a thin rain. The
54 crews in the race headed towards the region of Gallura to tackle
other six special stages, three to be repeated in the afternoon.
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini maintained a good
rhythm without problems. In the second stage of this morning, the
first pass on the spectacular Monte Lerno stage (29,31 km) famous
for the its high jump, Gigi had a spin loosing a little time but
obtaining the forth fastest time, while in the other two stages he
was third.
After the mid-day service crews re-started for the
second pass on the same stages.
Galli maintained a good pace without pushing too
much, gaining ground over the Spaniard of Citroen dani Sordo and
passing him after SS11.
“I’m happy with my pace today” said Gigi Galli “In
the morning I pushed a little bit more but without risking too much.
We climbed back few positions and it’s important not to loose
concentration and we also have to give an eye to the Championship
points. The car feels good, no problems. We spin in today’s second
stage but we didn’t loose much, than towards the end of the next
stage we hit a rock and took out a chunk of the tyre, but the
Pirelli Scorpion were strong enough to hold up until the finish and
to the service park. The rhythm of the race is quite fast and
tomorrow is going to be very important for us to keep our position
ahead of Sordo”.
Sebastien Loeb (Citroen C4) has been in the lead for
the whole day, while behind him there was a big fight between the
two Ford drivers Mikko Hirvonen and Jari-Matti Latvala.
Latvala yesterday lost 1.min40 sec for Gigi’s same
reason and in the same stage, and today pushed hard winning all
special stages and climbing back from 7th place, joining
Hirvonen and finishing the day with his team mate same time.
Tomorrow the third and last day of Rally d’Italia
Sardegna will provide 5 special stages, two to be repeated twice and
the short special stage Liscia Ruja (2,69 km) that will close the
race. |
16/05/08
-
Rally d'Italia
Sardegna - First Leg
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini 6th
overall at the end of leg one of Rally D’italia Sardegna, in their
Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team.
Rally Italia Sardegna 6th
round of the FIA World Rally Championship started yesterday evening
with the Ceremonial Start from the enchanting Marina Vecchia of
Porto Cervo.
The 57 crews taking part in the event
this morning at 09.00 left the service park and headed towards the
south of Olbia to tackle the 6 special stages provided for today’s
leg, three to be repeated twice, for a total of 131,56 timed
kilometers.
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini
started well this morning obtaining the third best time in the first
stage, Monte Corvos 16,43km. In the second stage, Castrazza 33,96km,
the longest of the rally, at approximately mid through the stage
they went off road and had a puncture. They had a delay of
1min12sec. In the following stage, Terranova 15,39km, they obtained
again the third best time and so they kept under control their
delay.
In the afternoon crews re-started for
a second loop on the same stages and Galli was immediately very
quick winning SS 4 (Monte Corvos) and obtaining again the third best
time in next one (Castrazza).
“We started quite well and our time in
the first stage was good despite the slippery route, because of the
heavy rain of the previous days” said Gigi at the last Service Park
of the day “When we were almost half through the stage we slid off
road in a right hand corner and we hit a rock causing a puncture. I
had to drive almost 20 km on the damaged tyre and I have to say that
the Pirelli Scorpion tyres did a great job. The car feels good and
in the next stage we did the third best time again. Things are going
well so far and tomorrow I’ll push a little bit more and we’ll try
to shorten the gap with the leaders”.
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini
are now 6th overall, just 3.3 seconds away from 5th
place.
Tomorrow’s second leg will start at
08.00 from the Olbia Service Park and provide 134,60 timed
kilometers divided into 6 stages, three to be repeated twice.
|
12/05/08
-
Rally d'Italia
Sardegna - Preview
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni
Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford
team, ready for the gravel roads of their home race, Rally d’Italia
Sardegna
The 6th round of the 2008 FIA World Rally
Championship, Rally d’Italia, will take place on the gravel roads of
the beautiful island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean sea.
This will be the home race for the Italian crew of
the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, Gigi Galli and Giovanni
Bernacchini.
Gigi Galli took part in this
rally three times already since the Italian round of the World
Championship has been moved to Sardinia, and his best result so far
has been a 6th place overall and 1st of Group
N in 2004.
Last season Gigi didn’t take part in this race and
this year he is raring to go, surrounded by his fans and seeking
another podium finish like in Sweden.
The crews nominated to score manufacturer points in
Sardinia are the crew Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini and Matthew
Wilson/Scott Martin.
“Well finally we have come to my home rally!” said
Gigi Galli “Sardinia is a very nice island, quite wild in some
parts, and some of the stages run through beautiful landscapes. I’ve
taken part in this race a few times since it was moved to Sardinia
in 2004. It is a very technical, tricky and difficult rally with
very hard gravel roads and lots of loose stones. One of the stages I
like most is Monte Lerno, the one with a very big jump that is so
easy to catch out unwary drivers. I really look forward to getting
there, to see all the Italian fans, and hopefully we can find the
right rhythm and pace from the beginning.”
“This event will provide another good opportunity for
the Stobart team to pick up some good results after a fine effort in
Jordan where all three crews finished in the points.” Said Malcolm
Wilson principal of the team “I was pleased that Gigi found his pace
in Jordan and hopefully he can take this speed into his home rally;
I feel confident he’ll be battling for a podium here”.
The rally will begin with the Ceremonial Start on
Thursday May 15 from Porto Cervo, a beautiful and exclusive resort,
the next day crews will enter the real competition. The first day
will be run south of Olbia in the region of Nuoro and the route will
be partly new. The second leg is very similar to last year, will be
run inlands in the region of Gallura and includes the special stage
Monte Lerno, famous for its high jump. Third leg will be again south
of Olbia and the race will close with a short Super Special stage
near Porto Cervo along the beautiful Cala di Volpe Gulf.
The 29 percent of the total route will be new and
some of the stages will be run in the opposite direction to previous
editions. There will be a single Service Park located as usual along
Olbia harbor.
There will be 344,73 timed kilometers divided into 17
special stages and a total route of 1040.35 km. |
27/04/08
-
Jordan Rally - Final
|

Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini 8th
overall at Rally Jordan in their Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK
M-Sport Ford team.
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini finished 8th
overall the difficult and tricky Rally Jordan, that entered the main
rally championship this year as fifth round of the season.
A real good recover for Galli after he had to retire
yesterday afternoon, two stages before the end of the leg,
re-entered the race under Super Rally rule and made his way up
winning the last three stages of yesterday’s leg and posting some
very good times during this last longest leg in the Jordan desert,
that included the treacherous stage Jordan River 41.45 km long, one
of the longest of the entire championship.
“We are definitely pleased with this result but we
were disappointed with the problem on Friday.” Said Gigi at the and
of the leg “On Saturday I really had to concentrate again and we
found a good feeling and a good rhythm with the car and managed to
set three fastest times so for sure I must be happy with this
progress. Today was quite tough and the long stage made it a
difficult way to finish the rally but now I have much more
confidence going into my home rally in Sardinia.”
Galli’s team mates Henning Solberg and Matthew
Wilson, finished respectively 4th and 5th
overall, all of them bringing important points for the Manufactures
Championship.
“We’ve seen another fantastic performance from the
entire Stobart team on what was a tough, demanding and tricky Jordan
Rally.” Said Malcolm Wiilson, principal of the Stobart VK M-Sport
Ford team “Gigi proved again that he has the speed as he set three
fastest times during the rally, while Matthew and Henning both put
in faultless drives. Three Stobart cars in the top-eight is ample
proof of how they all drove with their heads and in a very sensible
manner especially with the next rally so close.”
Rally Jordan started last Thursday along the coast of
the Dead Sea at 420 m under seal level. It included 359 timed
kilometers divided into 22 special stages. The heat with
temperatures as high as 40°C, put a strain on all drivers. This
morning there was a short shower, but before the rally started the
route was almost completely dry again.
The gravel abrasive surface put a lot of strain also
on the Scorpion Pirelli tyres, that proved anyway to be very
reliable,
Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus RS) won the race; second
place for Spaniard Dani Sordo (Citroen C4) who leaded the race for
quite a long time, but he span in the last stage of the event losing
over 40 seconds; third the Australian driver of Subaru Chris
Atkinson who got on the podium for the fourth time this season.
Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus RS) who has been in the lead fighting
with Sordo, lost over a minute in today’s second stage because of a
broken rear left suspension. World rally Champions Sebastien Loeb,
who retired yesterday morning, and re-started today, closed the race
in 10th place.
Next appointment for all World Rally drivers is Rally
Italy, 15/18 May, in Sardinia.
Final Standings Jordan Rally 2008
1. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen |
FIN |
Ford Focus RS |
4h
0min 47.9sec |
2. D. Sordo/M. Marti |
E |
Citroen C4 |
+1min 15.7sec |
3. C Atkinson/S Prevot |
AUS |
Subaru Impreza |
+4min 59.5sec |
4. H Solberg/C Menkerud |
N |
Ford Focus RS |
+7min 35.8sec |
5. M Wilson/S Martin |
GB |
Ford Focus RS |
+10min 41.7sec |
6.
F. Villagra/J. Perez Companc |
ARG |
Ford Focus RS |
+11min
22.2sec |
7.
J-M Latvala/M Anttila |
FIN |
Ford Focus RS |
+12min
15.8sec |
8. G Galli/G Bernacchini
|
ITA |
Ford Focus RS |
+12min
24.4sec |
9.
K Al-Qassimi/M Orr |
EU/GB |
Ford Focus RS |
+19min
05.7sec |
10. S Loeb/D Elena |
F |
Citroen C4 |
+23min
38.1sec |
|
26/04/08
-
Jordan Rally -
Second Leg
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini 10th
overall winning 3 special stages in their Ford Focus RS WRC of the
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini are 10th
overall at the end of leg 2 of Rally Jordan, 5th round of
the FIA World Rally Championship. Yesterday the Italian crew of the
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team had to retire two stages before the end
of the leg and they re-started today under Super Rally rule and
therefore with 10 minutes penalty. Gigi’s rhythm today was quite
good and steady and he won the last three special stages of the day.
It’s been another hard day for drivers today who
tackle 109,84 timed kilometers divided into 8 special stages on a
difficult route with some very narrow passes, on a hard surface
often covered by gravel where it was difficult to find the right
feeling and the right braking points and giving a hard time to the
first drivers on the route. It was another very hot day with
temperature as high as 40°C, tough on drivers and cars.
The Scorpion Pirelli tyres proved again to work well
on this tough kind of surface.
“We have been going quite well this morning and the
car is feeling very good after yesterday. “ said Gigi Galli at the
end of the leg “I feel more relaxed today and am finding a good
feeling and rhythm with car. I’m using my time now to make some
changes and get a better feeling on gravel for the next few rallies
so we are using the time to concentrate on learning more about the
car. Malcolm (Wilson) gave me some good advices this morning and
they have been useful and we obtained three fastest time this
afternoon. I think that, before, I was attacking too hard trying to
find the times but now I’m driving more smoothly and it feels a lot
better like this. The car has really been great today and now I’m
starting to feel the Pirelli tyres working with me. It’s going well
and we are still looking good for some manufacturer points”.
The World Champion Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) who this
morning passed his team mate Dani Sordo and settled on top of the
classification, had to retire when Rautenbach (Citroen) hit his car
on a road section after SS12. At this point Dani Sordo took the lead
for a short time until Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford Focus) passed him
and leaded the race until the last special stage of the day when
Sordo passed him. Sordo will be first on the road tomorrow sweeping
the route for the following drivers.
Tomorrow the final day of Rally Jordan will start at
6.45 am and is going to be the longest one, with 134,24 timed
kilometers divided into three special stages to be repeated twice,
including the longest one of the rally, Jordan River, 41,45 km. The
arrival will be tomorrow at 3.00 pm. |
25/04/08
-
Jordan Rally -
First Leg
|
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford
Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, had to stop today,
they will re-start tomorrow under Super Rally rule.
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini two special
stages bifore the end of day 1 of Rally Jordan, had to stop and will
re-start tomorrow under Super Rally rule with 10 minutes penalty.
Two kilometers after the start of SS 6 Galli slid
with the back of his Ford Focus into e bank and this caused a damage
to the differential cooling system and the exhaust.
Rally Jordan, that entered the World Rally
Championship this year for the first time, started yesterday evening
with the Ceremonial start at Emaar South Park on the coast of the
Dead Sea.
The real action started this morning at eight with a
high temperature that grew during the day and reached 40°C, quite
tough on drivers that had to tackle 115 timed kilometers.
Today’s leg provided 8 special stages, four to be
repeated twice, in the region of the Jordan Valley. The gravel
stages of the Jordan desert have a very hard surface, in some parts
quite slippery with some asphalt parts, like towards the end of
SS1/5, where cars reach the maximum speed. Other stages go along a
hill side on very narrow roads, with drops on the side and others
wide, fast and with flowing curves. The Pirelli Scorpion tyres were
very good on this abrasive surface.
“Obviously I am very disappointed with my problem
today as the rally was going quite well for me and I was starting to
get a good feeling with the car. We slid on a slippy section of the
stage and went backwards into a big bank of rocks and this damaged
the diff cooler and I was unable to continue as the temperature rose
so high; I didn’t want to cause a lot of damage. I hope the team can
repair this for tomorrow as its very important for me to get back
out there and learn more about this rally and this unique surface.
The first loop of stages today went well for me and I was starting
to find a good rhythm and getting more confidence with the car and I
would like to continue with this progress tomorrow.”
Dani Sordo (Citroen), who won 3 stages today, is
leading provisional standigs and his team mate Sebastien Loeb, who
also won 3 stages today, is following him very close. Few seconds
beheind them Jari-Matti Lavala (Ford) and Mikko Hirvonen (Ford).
Tomorrow’s leg will start at eight and the crews will
head north towards the capital city Amman and provide other 4
special stages to be repeated twice for a total of 109,84 timed
kilometers. Weather conditions will be again high temperature and
dry. The arrival is at 16,29 after a 45 minutes service park.
|
30/03/08
-
Rally Argentina
-
Final
|
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini finished 7th overall in Rally
Argentina, 4th round of the FIA World Rally Championship
in their Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team.
Yesterday Gigi galli
and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini had problems with the exhaust
pipe of their car and despite the great job of the Ford Stobart team
mechanics to repair the damage, the car couldn’t get out of the
service on time and the Italian crew had to retire. At that point
Gigi Galli was 4th overall and had won one special stage
and done some good times in the previous stages. This morning they
re-start under SuperRally rule with 25 minutes penalty.
Last leg of rally
Argentina provided 3 special stages, the famous and difficult El
Condor and Giulio Cesare, two of the most tough stages of the entire
Championship, and the final super special stage at the Cordoba
stadium, that closed also the previous two legs, and this time has
been disputed with inverted starts.
As usual the crowd
of Argentine fans was huge and despite the rain that accompanied the
whole event, the stages were packed with people.
Finishing 7th
Gigi Galli obtained important points for Ford in the manufacturers
Championship.
“Last night I didn’t
think I could finish the race 7th” said Gigi “But well
the race is not over until you get to the final ramp. It was a pity
what happened yesterday, the mechanics did a great job and I really
want to thank them. At the end of the day we finished the race and
we drove some more kilometers on gravel. The car was feeling good
despite the very poor weather conditions. We did some good times as
well and won a stage, a good preparation for the next rally. We
didn’t push too much this morning, we tried to keep a points
position. The weather on the stages was really bad, rain and some
fog. Despite the weather there were a lot of spectators along the
stages. It’s been a tough race. Weather made problems for everyone.
Now we will get ready for Rally Jordan in three weeks, that’s going
to be new for all of us”.
Sebastien Loeb
(Citroen C4) won Rally Argentina for the fourth time. He took the
lead on SS5 and maintained his position to the end. Petter Solberg
(Subaru), who was second., had an electric problem that stopped him
on the first stage of the day and his team mate Chris Atkinson took
his place. Third Dani
Sordo (Citroen).
Final Standings Rally Argentina 2008
1. S Loeb/D Elena |
F |
Citroen C4 |
4hr
05min 48.6sec |
2. C Atkinson/S Prevot |
AUS |
Subaru Impreza |
+2min 33.2sec |
3.
D. Sordo/M. Marti |
E |
Citroen C4 |
+4min 0472sec |
4.
C. Rautenbach/D.
Senior |
ZIM |
Citroen C4 |
+20min 03.5sec |
5. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen |
FIN |
Ford Focus RS |
+25min 15.3sec |
6.
F. Villagra/J. Perez Companc |
ARG |
Ford Focus RS |
+27min
42.0sec |
7. G Galli/G Bernacchini |
ITA |
Ford Focus RS |
+27min
51.8sec |
8. A Aigner/K
Wicha |
GER |
Mitsubishi EvoIX |
+28min
59.3sec |
9. S Beltran/R
Rojas |
ARG |
Mitsubishi EvoIX |
+30min
04.9sec |
10. J Ketomaa/M
Teiskonen |
FIN |
Subaru Impreza |
+31min
52.6sec |
|
29/03/08
-
Rally Argentina
- Second Leg
|
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini in the Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK
M-Sport Ford, had to retire after the Service Park of mid day while
they were in fourth position overall. They will re-start tomorrow
under Super Rally rule.
On SS 13, the last
one before the mid-day Service, there were several rocks that gave
problem also to other drivers. Gigi Galli hit one of these stones
and damaged the exhaust pipe, he finished the stage despite the
smoke that invaded the cockpit. At the Service Park mechanics start
to repair the damage but they found out they were obliged to change
the whole exhaust system and therefore the time was not enough and
the car has been retired from the race and will re-start tomorrow
under Super Rally rule with 25 minutes penalty.
“It’s a pity” said
Gigi “It has been going well so far and we were in a good placement.
Yesterday it’s been a tough day. Most of the stages were very muddy
due to the heavy rain of these days. We were doing fine and we won
also one stage. Pity. Tomorrow’s leg will help us getting some more
experience with the car and the gravel”.
The first leg
provided 9 SS and finished yesterday evening at 19.25. Gigi won SS 7
– San Marcos Charbonier 9,61 km – and obtained two best second times
in SS 5 and 6..
This morning the 53
crews left the Service Park in Villa Carlos Paz at 06.10 and headed
south of the town. Today’s leg is the longest of the rally with
154,38 timed kilometers. The last stage of the day will be again the
Super Special (1,78 km) at the Cordoba Stadium. Crews will be back
in Villa Carlos Paz at 19.25 for the last service |
28/03/08
-
Rally Argentina
- First Leg
|
A good start for
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini, fifth after 5 of the 9 SS
provided today, in their Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport
Ford in a very wet Rally Argentina.
An incredibile crowd
was following yesterday night in Cordoba the Ceremonial Start of
Rally Argentina, fourth round of the FIA World Rally Championship.
The action began
early this morning in a grey day, windy and rainy and with a thick
fog on the first pass of the two first special stages.
Today’s nine special
stages are located north of Villa Carlos Paz, HQ of the rally, there
will be 4 stages to be repeated and a last stage at the Cordoba
stadium.
The heavy rain of
the last few days made the gravel route very muddy with deep ruts
during the second pass of the 56 crews in the race.
After 5 SS Gigi
Galli is 5th and leading the group of Stobart VK M-Sport
Ford team, his team mate Matthew Wilson is 8th.
Gigi arrived
to the Service Park with the rear part of his car damaged, mechanics
had to repair the suspension and unfortunately the car exit the
service with 2 minutes delay, so Galli got a 20 sec penalty. In SS 5
Galli obtained the second best time immediately behind Loeb
(Citroen) actual leader of the race. Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) has been
leading the rally during the morning but in this stage hit a rock
and has been oblige to retire and maybe re-start tomorrow with
SuperRally.
“It’s been a good
start” said Gigi “even if the bad weather made the first two stages
really very tough. We drove very little on gravel so far and here
I’m learning a lot about the behavior of the Ford Focus especially
yhis morning on the wet. Let’s hope the second pas will be a little
bit dryer”.
The race today
provide another pass on three stages and the super special stage at
the Cordoba stadium, that will close the day. |
22/03/08
-
Rally Argentina
- Preview
|
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini on Argeninan mountains at their fourth race in
the Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team.
Argentina is as special race for Gigi Galli since
here in 2006 he obtained his first podium finishing third. Is going
to be his third participation in this race and he will try to obtain
a good result after the third place in Sweden and after being very
fast in Mexico before retirement. Despite his retirement in the last
race Gigi Galli remains a well positioned fifth in the Drivers
Championship.
Rally Argentina is always exciting, colored and
joyful. The landscape changes from the vast pampa north from Villa
Carlos Paz, venue of the Rally HQ, to the mountains on the west
where the narrow gravel roads pass through a lunar like landscapes.
The Argentine special stages differ a lot in their characteristics
since the race passes through three different valleys. In general
the roads are soft and sandy, with several water splashes, sometimes
they become rutted during the second pass. The legendary stages
called El Condor and Giulio Césare, instead are quite different from
the rest of the route, narrow and rocky and do not allow errors.
Another characteristic are the water splashes, cars fly through the
fords raising high sprays of water, to the delight of the numerous
spectators.
This year Rally Argentina is a little bit different
from last year edition, it will always pass through three different
valleys of the Cordoba province, each one of them offering different
characteristics and landscapes, but some of the stages of the first
leg have been cancelled and have been re-introduced two stages that
haven’t been used in the two past editions. The first two days of
race close with a new Super Special Stage at the Cordoba soccer
stadium.
The last leg will be run south-west of Villa Carlos
Paz and is only 42 km but comprises the stages El Condor and Giulio
Cesare at an altitude of 2195 m, two of the most difficult ad
toughest of the entire WRC.
Crews will tackle 21 special stages, 347,91 km, and a
total route of 1619,45 km.
This year the rally has been moved forward in the
calendar, temperature will be slightly lower than Maxico and this is
going to be another test for the Pirelli Scorpio gravel tyres, that
will require efforts by driver to heat them and obtain subsequently
a better grip.
Here too the stages are quite high, some of them at
approx 2000 m, and therefore robbing cars precious horsepower in the
thin air.
This year driver will be hoping for dryer conditions,
as last year a storm caused cancellation of the entire first leg,
because several drivers got stuck at the Buenos Aires airport after
the ceremonial start.
“I’m
really happy to go back to Argentina. I have very good memories of
the rally, not only because it’s where we got our first podium but
also because of the fans; there are so many and you can feel their
warmth. This is going to be the second race on gravel but is going
to be different from Mexico. There, the stages were fast with a hard
surface, while Argentine’s special stages are twisty with a soft and
dirtier surface. It is going to be cooler than in Mexico and the
tyres will take a little bit longer to get to the right temperature.
Furthermore Argentina is famous for water splashes and this also
will cool down tyres, so we have to consider this factor too. It’s
been a pity we couldn’t finish Rally Mexico, it would have been
helpful to get to know better the Ford Focus’s behaviour on gravel.
Anyway we are ready for this new challenge and we hope to find again
the good performances of the first two races. I’m also looking
forward to the famous Argentine steaks, I love them!” |
01/03/08
-
Rally Mexico -
Gigi has retired
|

Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK
M-Sport Ford team, have been obliged to retire from Rally Mexico
after only 4 spèecial stages.
The problem with the
suspension suffered by Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini yesterday
in SS4 force them to retire from the leg and the team hoped to
re-enter today under Super Rally rules, that provide a penalty of
five minutes for each stage not disputed, but give the possibility
to be back in the race.
Unfortunately the
FIA commission found a damage to the roll cage and for safety
reasons decided not to give the Italian crew the permission to
continue.
Gigi Galli’s times
in the first stages were quite good, but we have to wait until Rally
Argentina at the end of this month, to see him back in action.
|
29/02/08
-
Rally Mexico -
First Leg
|
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK
M-Sport Ford team, unfortunately had to retire from the race due to
a problem with the suspension and they might re-start tomorrow under
the Super Rally Rule.
Rally Mexico, third
round of the FIA World Rally Championship, started yesterday form
the beautiful town of Guanajuato, approximately 50 km from the Rally
HQ based in Leon. The opening ceremony full of music and colors, was
attended by thousands of fans that invaded the narrow streets of
this mining town designated by UNESCO Heritage of the World.
The rally itself
started at 08.00 am in a clear sunny day. The first three stages of
the day were located East of Leon and will be repeated this
afternoon. The day will close with two pass on the short city stage.
It hasn’t rain much
lately so the stages are covered with lose gravel.
In the first two
special stages Gigi’s times were quite good, in the second one he
obtained the second best time, then in the third stage, before the
service park, the back part of the car slightly slid off road in a
ditch and he lost one minute. “The first two stages went really
well” said Gigi “The feeling with the car and the Pirelli Scorpion
tyres was good and we were having a good pace. In the third stage we
entered a left tight turn, I thought the road was wider then what it
really was, I had to shift down but the car slid into a ditch. There
were few spectators there so it took a little to get the car back on
the road”.
Unfortunately short
after the beginnig of special stage 4 Gigi’s car hit a rock breaking
a suspension arm. Gigi and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini tried
to fix it in order to finish the stage, but they lose too much time
and therefore the team decided to stop them and try to re-enter the
rally under Super Rally rule tomorrow. The final decision will be
taken this evening when the car will be back at the service park and
damages will be checked.
The first leg will
end this evening at 17.08 at the second Service Park of the day.
Second leg will
start tomorrow morning at 07.30 and provided 8 special stages. |
25/02/08
-
Rally Mexico -
Preview
|
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini, first race with the Ford Focus RS WRC of the
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team Rally Mexico, 3rd
round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship.
After the good third
place obtained in Sweden, Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini are
getting ready to tackle their first gravel rally with the new car
and the new team.
Rally Mexico is the
first gravel round of the 2008 World Rally Championship and also the
first one outside Europe. It’ll take place in Leon, approximately
400 km from Mexico City. The special stages, quite fast and flowing
last year average speed reached 95 Kph, are located at approximately
2000 meters altitude and some stages of the first leg will reach
2700 meters above sea level.
Altitude is
something to be taken into consideration during the race, because
the thin air will affect engine and made them lose power.
Tyres without
anti-deflation mousse will also play an important role. Pirelli, the
only tyres supplier of the WRC, provided for these gravel and rocky
stages tyres with a hard compound and used the experience acquired
with the “run-flat covers”, that have strongly reinforced sidewalls
and therefore are harder and resist better to cuts and punctures.
The route of Rally
Mexico is the same of last year with just very few changes in the
first stages and it is also the shortest of the World rally
Championship, 830,83 km total route length but 43 % of them
competitive.
The race will start
on Thursday February 28th with the Ceremonial Start at
Guanajuato, town designated by UNESCO as World Heritage Site and
famous for its beauty and an undergound road network. Last year
there were over 60.000 fans at the ceremonial start.
“I can’t wait to be
in Mexico” said Gigi Galli “I feel like a racing horse that can’t
wait to get on the track. I took part in this race in 2005 but I
only completed five special stages. Anyway we did the recce in 2006
and 2007 and this will help for sure. It’ll be difficult for us to
compete at good level here not having completed this race before,
but it doen’t matter It’ll be good to be there and understand the
car behaviour on gravel and get used to the new Pirelli tyres we
never used or tried before.
Like every rally I set a pace on the first stage, see
where we are and then develop the speed and feeling from there.
Mexico is a wonderful place and the fans create a great atmosphere”.
Malcolm Wilson, Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Principal said:”The
Stobart team head to Mexico sitting in a great position and with a
good chance of finishing scoring points. Altitude and high
temperatures will play a big part in this rally and it will be tough
on drivers. Drivers will need full concentration to help the team
maintain a strong position in the championship and continue to
assist the BP Ford Abu Dhabi team at the top of the Manufacturer
standings. Gigi has shown a level head on the first two events this
year and already stepped onto the podium in Sweden. It will be a
tricky first gravel event for him, however, he’ll learn how the car
acts on a new surface”. |
10/02/08 -
Swedish Rally -
Final
|
Gigi
Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in their Ford Focus RS WRC of the
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, on the third step of the podium at the
end of Rally Sweden, second round of the 2008 FIA World Rally
Championship
A great result for
Gigi Galli and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini at their second
race with the Ford Focus RS WRC in a kind of anomalous Rally Sweden
characterized by little snow.
The third and last
leg started this morning at 06.20 in a foggy morning. The 53 crews
still in the race moved again up north near Hagfors to dispute the
remaining six special stages. Special stage 18 has been cancelled
due to road conditions.
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini started quietly and didn’t push too much. The
first three stages of this morning were tricky, with an icy start
and the last part very slippery.
“I’m extremely happy
with this result, both for the team and for us” said Gigi at the
arrival “We hope it would happen but it was not easy to achieve. We
started quietly this morning, the target was to maintain the
position and control the gap with Petter Solberg (Subaru). A super
weekend also for Ford, three cars on the podium! The car has gone
really well and the Pirelli tyres did a splendid job considering
also that they were supposed to be used on snow.It’s bee quite a
tough race we tried to keep concentration high all the time and this
result is really rewarding. I can’t wait to start the next race!”
Next appointment for
the Italian crew is Rally Mexico (29th February – 2
March), third round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship and
first race on gravel.
Final
Standings
Rally Sweden 2008
1.
J-M Latvala/M Anttila |
FIN |
Ford Focus RS |
2hr 46min 41.2sec |
2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen |
FIN |
Ford Focus RS |
+58.3sec |
3. G Galli/G Bernacchini |
ITA |
Ford Focus RS |
+2min 23.2sec |
4. P Solberg/P Mills |
N |
Subaru Impreza |
+2min 59.4sec |
5. A Mikkelsen/O Floene |
N |
Ford Focus RS |
+5min 46.0sec |
6.
D. Sordo/M. Marti |
E |
Citroen C4 |
+7min
13.1sec |
7.
T.Gardemeister/T.Tuominen |
FIN |
Suzuki SX4 |
+10min
35.3sec |
8.
J.Hanninen/M.Markkula |
FIN |
Mitsubishi EvoIX |
+12min
27.5sec |
9.
M.Ostberg/K.Unnerud |
N |
Subaru Impreza |
+13min
28.5sec |
10.
J.Ketomaa/M.Teiskonen |
FIN |
Subaru Impreza |
+13min
50.7sec |
|
09/02/08 -
Swedish Rally -
Second Leg
|
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini in a Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK
M-Sport Ford team, 3rd overall at the end of Leg 1 of Rally Sweden,
second round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship
Gigi Galli and
Giovanni Bernacchini at the end of leg two of Rally Sweden are 3rd
overall. A good position that the Italian crew is keeping under
control. Of the 61 crews that started the rally, 58 left the Service
Park of Karlstad this morning at 07.00, in a rainy and not too cold
morning, moving north towards Hagfors were they tackle five special
stages the second pass on SS Horssjon of 14,86 km, has been
cancelled due to road conditions. The actual Wordl Rally Champion
Sebastien Loeb, after rolling yesterday towards the end of SS4, was
able to restart this morning but at the end of today’s SS11 he has
been obliged to retire due to engine problems. At mid-day service
park Gigi Galli said he was satisfied of how things have been going
and that he has been driving safely without pushing too much. The
sudden tyres provided by Pirelli for this race, despite of the
little snow and ice, did a great job.
“I’m really pleased
with this position, I didn’t hope it would have been possible at the
beginning of the race. I tried to maintain a good rhythm without
pushing too much” said Gigi Galli in the Press Conference at the end
of the leg “The Ford Focus has a good set up and balance and I feel
at my ease. Third place is a very good position for us with the new
car and in a strange Rally Sweden with little ice. After Henning
(Solberg) retired we kept our position controlling the gap with
Petter (Solberg). Tomorrow our tactic will be the same of today, a
good pace without risking too much”.
Third and last leg
of Rally Sweden will start tomorrow morning at 06.37. Crews will
tackle 6 stages (97.22 km) again near Hagfors and will be back in
karlstad for the final arrival at 14.58.
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08/02/08 -
Swedish Rally -
First Leg
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Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini
in a Ford Focus RS WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, 4th
overall at the end of Leg 2 of Rally Sweden, second round of the
2008 FIA World Rallt Championship
Rally Sweden started yesterday with
the Super Special Stage of 1.9km at the Karlstad trotting track.
Despite the cold temperature the
stands around the track were full of enthusiasts fans and even if
there was little snow it was spectacular to see the powerful world
rally cars confronting each other on a parallel floodlit track and
loudly supported by fans.
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini
posted the 6th time overall. “It’s been nice to see so
many fans despite of the cold weather” said Galli “Now we will focus
on the real special stages that will start tomorrow. This morning at
the Shakedown and also this evening during the super special, the
feeling with the car was good”.
Today’s route provided six special stages, three to be repeated
twice, with a total of 122,14 timed kilometers, in the area west of
the
Värmland region,
with a remote service area in the town of Sunne. Crews then came
back to karlstad to take part in the Super Special won by Gigi Galli.
Gigi Galli maintained a good pace for
the whole day, rising from sixth to fourth position overall with
constant times. “I’m glad of how things went so far” said Gigi “the
feeling with the Ford Focus is good. I lost time in a corner I took
a little bit too fast on a slippery surface on SS4, but on the whole
I like the stages and we are in a good position. There is not much
ice or snow on the stages but despite of this the Pirelli tyres are
doing a very good job. In the last stage of the day we pushed a
little bit more and it’s been fun. The race is still quite long so
we are keeping a good pace and trying to improve”.
The second leg will start tomorrow at
07.07 from Karlstad, crews will then move north in the area of
Hagfors were they will tackle the six stages of the day, 120.88
timed kilometers. The leg will finish at the Service Park in
Karlstad at 17.25.
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04/02/08 -
Swedish Rally -
Preview
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Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini
at Rally Sweden, their second race with the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford
team and the Ford Focus RS WRC
This coming weekend will take place
Rally Sweden, second round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship.
Gigi Galli and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini in a Ford Focus RS
WRC of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, after Rally Montecarlo,
where they first drove this car, are now ready in the only real
winter round of the whole season, Rally Sweden. Gigi Took part in
this race seven times already and his best result so far has been a
fourth place, only 7 seconds from the podium, in 2006. Living in
Livigno, that’s on the Italian Alps, Gigi is used to drive on snow
so he is hopes to get another good result now. Rally Sweden is a
winter race, with icy surface and bank of snow along the route and
one of the fastest rounds of the championship. The Pirelli tyres,
with its assymetric design and the suds inserted during production
procedure, which is a patent of the Italian manufacturer, will play
an important role here.
The route has changed a bit this
year, as a matter of fact the stages on Friday will be now located
in the west part of the
Värmland region and have been used in 2000 and 2001.
The Remote Service Area will be located in Sunne known also as
“fairy tale town”.
Saturday and Sunday the special
stages will be more or less the same used last year with just few
changes and the Remote Service Area will be again in Hagfors. A
total route of 1440,80km, with 320,24 timed kilometers, divided in
20 special stages, ten to be repeated twice. The Rally HQ will be in
Karlstad and as in 2007, a Super Special Stage of 1,9km, will be run
twice during the first day of the event, at the town trotting track.
“I like Sweden” said Gigi “We have good memories of
this race. In 2005 I was fighting for the podium, before retiring
due to mechanical problems and in 2006 we were within an ace from
it. I like to drive sideways and on the snow, that’s why we did good
in the past. I hope we would be able to get a good result and maybe
fight for the podium once again. I’m still learning the car and this
year I have to do what’s best for the team. We’ll see”.
“After the good results in Montecarlo
I hope the team will do good here too and score points.”said Malcolm
Wilson Chief of the team “henning (Solberg) was fourth last year and
is a race were he feels comfortable. Two years ago Gigi (Galli) was
leading the race for a while, so I think a podium is an affordable
target”.
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27/01/08 -
Rally Montecarlo
- Final
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On conclusion of the opening round of the 2008 FIA World Rally
Championship, Rallye Monte-Carlo, the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally
team has all four crews in the top-ten. The superb result also puts
the team equal third in the manufacturers' championship just three
points behind the top spot.
Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini were the backbone of the team on
this event as they set consistent stage times over all four days to
comfortably finish sixth overall.
It has been a long and exciting start to the year with competition
spread over four days, kicking off in Valence before returning home
to Monte-Carlo for the close of proceedings. Snow on reconnaissance
worried crews but a week long bout of good weather kept things
fairly clean for competition; apart from patches of ice which were
reported mainly on the opening two days.
For Italian Galli it has been a superb start to his first full
season in the WRC and with the Stobart team. Using the event as a
means of reacquainting himself with the intense speeds at which
these cars travel, he has managed to finish Rallye Monte-Carlo as
planned and in style. Continuing his flamboyant manner where he left
off in Portugal last season, 35-year-old Galli was a hit on this
opening round with many of his fans from the famous #25 fan club
flocking from across Europe to support their WRC hero.
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Gigi Galli said: "What a great
start to the season for me. Now that I have a full year secured I am
able to take time to adjust to the car and the most important thing
for me in this rally was to get to the finish and learn as much as I
can. To finish with drivers points and score points for the Stobart
team makes it even more special. The Focus is really a wonderful
rally car, I love driving it, and we got to grips with it sooner
than I thought. For me the most important thing is to get to the end
of this event. Last year I had to prove myself in three events but
now I have the whole year to learn about the car and can push harder
later in the year."
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Principal Malcolm Wilson said: "It is a
fantastic start to the season for the Stobart team; all four entered
cars inside the top ten, both nominated crews scoring points and
they have grabbed a strong position in the manufacturers'
championship. For François tobe so close to a podium is a remarkable
achievement and you must remember this is his first time in the car.
It's very promising to see that the new guys have got to grips with
the car and team so quickly."
Final Standings Rally Montecarlo
1. S Loeb/D Elena |
F |
Citroen C4 |
3h39m17.0sec |
2. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen |
FIN |
Ford Focus RS |
+2m34.4sec |
3. C Atkinson/S Prevot |
AUS |
Subaru Impreza |
+2m58.6sec |
4. F Duval/E Chevailler |
B |
Ford Focus RS |
+2m59.7sec |
5. P Solberg/P Mills |
N |
Subaru Impreza |
+4m40.9sec |
6. G Galli/G Bernacchini |
I |
Ford Focus RS |
+8m46.5sec |
7. J Cuoq/P Janvier |
F |
Peugeot 307 |
+10m24.8sec |
8. P G Andersson/J Andersson |
S |
Suzuki SX4 |
+11m19.5sec |
9. H Solberg/C Menkerud |
N |
Ford Focus RS |
+12m43.6sec |
10. M Wilson/S Martin |
GB |
Ford Focus RS |
+14m00.1sec |
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26/01/08 -
Rally Montecarlo
- Third Leg
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Day three of Rallye Monte-Carlo has proved to be another top one for
the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team with both its nominated point
scoring drivers inside the top-six overall.
François Duval/Eddy Chevailler are still right in the fight for a
podium as they sit just 20 seconds behind Australian Chris Atkinson
while Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini occupy sixth overall with a
raft of consistency over the day.
Needing a wake-up call after an average night’s sleep, Galli leapt
into gear and continually set impressive stage times over the
afternoon. The Italian is still very much familiarising himself with
the car but has been very positive in the fact he is learning a
great deal every competitive kilometre covered.
Tomorrow sees the final day to this epic opening round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship season.
The event will conclude as all crews race
through the famous Col de Turini stage followed by the Monaco
Circuit, a 2.7 kilometre time-pursuit over sections of the famed
Monaco Grand Prix circuit.
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Driver Gigi Galli said:
“I found the stages difficult this morning as the temperatures were
low and the roads very slippery. It was better for me to slow down
and be careful and not make any mistakes. The afternoon was better
though and the car and tyres and me were working much better on the
dryer roads. But still for me the plan is to finish this rally and
come away with as much experience of this car as possible.”
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Team Principal Malcolm Wilson said:
“It has been another great drama-free day for the Stobart team and
especially for the point scoring crews. At the end of the day
François is in a strong position to challenge for a podium finish
tomorrow. It has been a good performance from Henning and Matthew
and now we have four Stobart cars in the top eleven. None of the
cars have had any problem either which is very positive.”
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25/01/08 -
Rally Montecarlo
- Second Leg
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Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini in a Ford Focus RS WRC of the
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team are 7th overall at the end
of Day 2 of 76th Rally Montecarlo.
At the end of day two of 76th Rally Montecarlo Gigi Galli
and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini are 7th overall.
Today drivers tacked 6 special stages, three to be repeated twice,
in the area west of Valence. A total of 116,96 timed kilometers.
The day started under a cloudy sky and a strong wind blowing, than
slowly the weather improved and the route dried except some parts
that were therefore slippery. At mid of SS 7, of 16,30km, the
steering power of Gigi’s car broke, but he was able to finish the
stage and also the next one, even if it has been quite hard.
“I’m quite satisfied of how it went today2 said Gigi “The car is
fine and I’m understanding it a little bit better and finding the
right feeling and rhythm. I feel much more comfortable now. The
first stage was a little bit tricky because some corners were dry
and some dump and slippery and it was difficult to maintain the
rhythm. At lunch time we made a few changes to the pace notes and
the second pass was better. Pity we had that problem with the
steering power, that broke at mid of the penultimate stage, we’ve
lost time and the last stage before the service park has been
difficult to drive. We are also understanding the new Pirelli tyres
better, as everyone anyway, and therefore exploit them better too.
There were lost of spectators along the route, both in the morning
and in the afternoon. It’ really nice to see so many fans of this
sport”.
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24/01/08 -
Rally Montecarlo
- First Leg
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Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini on Ford Focus RS WRC of the
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford, finished 7th overall the Day 1 of 76th
Rally Montecarlo, opening round of the 2008 FIA World Rally
Championship.
The 2008 FIA World Rally Championship started tonight when the
drivers tackled the first two special stages of Rally Montecarlo.
The two timed tests of 28,12 km and 17,58 km were run in dark and
Gigi Galli maintained a godd pace, closing 7th overall.
Gigi Galli decided for a cautious start in their first race after
nine month stop.
In the last days weather forecast previewed snow, but today the day
was clear and the route was dry so the Stobart team decided for the
new Pirelli PZero slick tyres. Pirelli became the only tyres
supplier for all the teams of the World Rally Championship.
“Tonight has been the first time I really drove this car and I think
it went well. We drove clean and I liked the special stages, even if
in some parts they were tricky. We did a few little mistakes on the
first stage and we slid on an icy patch that we didn’t notice. The
timed tests of today were quite fast and maybe not right for me ,
anyway we finished the first day and I’m happy. Tomorrow the leg
will be quite long, I’ll try to keep a good pace without risking too
much”.
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20/01/08 -
Gigi Galli and Giovanni Bernacchini at the
76° Rally
Montecarlo
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Gigi
Galli and his co-driver Giovanni Bernacchini with the Stobart VK
M-Sport Ford team will take part in the 76th Rallye
Montecarlo, first round of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship
The driver from
Livigno, who signed an agreement with the British team, will compete
in the 15 rounds of the 2008 FIA World Rally Championship in a Ford
Focus RS WRC07 of the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team, in its third
season in the WRC. Galli and Bernacchini, who have been nominated to
score points at Rally Montecarlo, have as team mates Henning
Solberg/Cato Menkerud, Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin, who have been
with the team last year too and Francois Duval/Eddy Chevallier, new
entry of this year as well.
On Sunday January 20th,
during the 2008 World Rally Championship launch at Automobile Club
Monaco, will be presented the newblue and green livery of the
Stobart team cars. On one side of the Ford Focus RS WRC07 Stobart,
blue shades representing the multimodal services of the newly born
Stobart Group while the other side will have the classic green of
Stobart Motorsport.
Rallye Montecarlo is the only WRC round
to run four full days' competition. The first three
days will be based in the area of Valence, while the fourth and last
day the competition moves south on the Alpes Maritime behind the
Monaco Principality and after one year absence, it’s been
reintroduced the legendary special stage Col de Turini. The last
special 2.7 km stage of the event and one of the most spectaculars,
will be run around the Monaco harbor and will cover many sections of
the Formula 1 Grand Prix.
The weather
conditions will play an important role and drivers can expect to
find snow, ice, wet and dry tarmac all in the same special stage.
All team will have the new Pirelli tyres. The Italian company have
been designated as sole supplier of tyres for the whole World Rally
Championship. The event will have 19 special stages, a total of
365,09 timed kilometers, in a route of 1.481,25 km.
“I feel a little rusty” said Gigi
Galli “because in the last few months the only vehicle
I’ve been driving is a
digger I used to finish my mother’s house, it’s been fun but nothing
to do with WRC cars! Joking apart I believe it’ll take a little time
to find the right feeling with the car and the right pace again but
then when we find the right feeling we will increase our pace and
we’ll adjust our targets. Rallye Monte-Carlo is renowned for sudden
changing conditions and being the first round of the season it keeps
pressure on drivers quite high. Driving a car that won the last two
manufacturers’ titles make us proud. We are also proud to be part of
a team that, despite being young, has done very well already. I’m
really looking forward to working with the team and it will be great
to be part of such an impressive set-up.”
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford team Principal Malcolm Wilson
said: “It’s really exciting to see the Stobart team with such a
strong line-up for their first event with both Gigi and François
nominated for points. The team is further strengthened by Henning
and Matthew who both put in strong performances on their last tarmac
event in Ireland. This will be the first time the team competes with
its striking new livery and it is also the first occasion where
three Stobart liveried cars have competed on a round of the World
Championship.”
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