WRC
24 June 2012Final spurt. Points. Tyre lottery.
Special stage wins and world championship points for MINI Downunder: In the Rally New Zealand Dani Sordo finishes with a final flourish. Fine performance, too: Armindo Araujo collects championship points.
A carbon copy of the opening day? Not really: Although the heavens opened overnight to soften the Rally New Zealand’s special stages – as they had on the opening day – this time MINI driver Dani Sordo held the upper hand when it came to tyres. Unlike his opponents, the Spaniard had ‘soft’ rubber at his disposal, which he used to good effect. With strong performances over the final seven special stages of the Rally New Zealand, he attracted attention, adding to MINI’s world championship points haul with a sixth place finish.
“A difficult weekend for us,” summarised Dani, who twice won the Auckland Domain Super Special Stage in his MINI John Cooper Works WRC in front of massive crowds. “Unfortunately on Friday we made the wrong tyre choice, so I had to push to get the best possible result, particularly on the Power Stage. Our focus is now on the next event.”
Juts reward for Armindo.
Armindo Araujo had reason for joy. In the MINI John Cooper Works WRC entered by the WRC Team MINI Portugal he had endured a difficult first day to secure a place amongst the points’ scorers, which he then defended to the end: Eighth place for Armindo. “I am more than satisfied,” he said. “We used our tyres well to maintain a good speed to defend eighth place.”
Up to the task: Paulo Nobre.
There are tasks that are all but easy. On two consecutive days Paulo Nobre found himself in just such a situation. Paulo opened the stages on both Saturday and Sunday – no easy task, particularly after weather conditions turned the going into a mud bath. Paulo fulfilled his task with aplomb, bringing his MINI John Cooper Works WRC home undamaged – in 17th place.
“I must admit to having felt nervous,” Paulo confessed. “It was unbelievably slippery and therefore I was extremely careful. One did not know what lay beyond the next corner. It was a difficult final day, but an absolutely great event. I will never forget it.”
Results Rally New Zealand after day 3:
1. #1 S. Loeb, 4h 04m 51.2s
2. #2 M. Hirvonen, + 29.6s
3. #4 P. Solberg, + 1m 36.4s
...
6. #37 D. Sordo,+ 3m 03.1s
8. #12 A. Araujo, + 9m 36.4s
17. #14 P. Nobre, + 31m 53.5s
