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10 <strong>Motoring</strong> <strong>News</strong><br />
On Saturday, June 7th 2014, Donington<br />
Park will reverberate to the unmistakable<br />
sound of Bentley engines spanning<br />
nine decades, as Bentleys of all<br />
ages come together in a unique onemarque<br />
race.<br />
This spectacular sight of the iconic<br />
British marque at the legendary British<br />
circuit celebrates the 90th anniversary<br />
of Bentley’s first win at Le Mans and is<br />
being staged by the Bentley Drivers<br />
Club (BDC) at the AMOC Donington<br />
race meeting.<br />
Already a tradition at the BDC annual<br />
race meeting at Silverstone, models<br />
spanning the decades will be out on<br />
track together for a 20-minute scratch<br />
race at Donington Park, a favourite circuit<br />
of racing legends and spectators<br />
alike. The sight and sound of Bentleys<br />
just a few months old hurtling towards<br />
Redgate or weaving their way round<br />
the Craner Curvers side by side with<br />
Bentleys old enough to be their grandparents<br />
- or even great-grandparents -<br />
is sure to be one race that fans will never<br />
forget.<br />
Showcasing the racing heritage and diversity<br />
of the marque, this is a fabulous<br />
opportunity to witness some simultaneous<br />
open- and closed-wheel racing,<br />
with speed differentials equivalent to<br />
that at Le Mans between the prototypes<br />
and GT touring cars, as 3-litres,<br />
3/4½s, 3/8’s, 4½s, Derbys, Mark VI Specials,<br />
the explosive 24-litre Bentley<br />
Napier and the Worthington brothers’<br />
Mulsanne Turbo and technicolour Continental<br />
GT demonstrate their paces.<br />
Duncan Wiltshire, Race Co-Ordinator<br />
for AMOC Racing, said “AMOC Racing<br />
are delighted that the Bentley Drivers<br />
Club will be racing at the AMOC Donington<br />
race meeting. Given the warm<br />
relations between the Aston Martin<br />
Owners Club and the Bentley Drivers<br />
Club over many decades, the Bentley<br />
race is a most fitting and welcome addition<br />
to our programme, which includes<br />
races for the AMOC Intermarque<br />
Championship, 50s Sports Cars and<br />
‘Equipe’ GTs.”<br />
Bentley Drivers Club Competitions<br />
Captain Sebastian Welch added, “The<br />
BDC is a comparatively small club, and<br />
organising a one-marque race at another<br />
race meeting is a significant<br />
achievement. We are thrilled to be celebrating<br />
the 90th anniversary of the<br />
first Bentley Le Mans win in this way<br />
with an extra race, and would like to<br />
thank AMOC Racing for inviting us to<br />
stage the race at AMOC Donington. We<br />
are sure it will prove hugely enjoyable<br />
for competitors and spectators.”<br />
THE LEGENDARY ‘MONTE’:<br />
VOLKSWAGEN STARTS THE<br />
WRC WITH A CLASSIC<br />
From the hunter to the hunted: Volkswagen’s<br />
mission to defend its titles in<br />
the FIA World Rally Championship<br />
(WRC) opens with a genuine motorsport<br />
classic at the Rally Monte Carlo,<br />
as the “Monte” is the oldest rally in the<br />
world. From 14 to 19 January, the<br />
French pairing of Sébastien Ogier and<br />
Julien Ingrassia will line up for the first<br />
time as defending World Champions in<br />
both the Driver and Co-Driver competitions.<br />
Together with team-mates Jari-<br />
Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila (FIN/FIN),<br />
they are the team to beat in the Manufacturers’<br />
Championship, in which they<br />
can also count on able assistance from<br />
Andreas Mikkelsen/Mikko Markkula (N/<br />
FIN). The first of the 13 rallies on the<br />
2014 calendar is immediately one of<br />
the hardest nuts to crack in the WRC.<br />
Virtually unpredictable conditions and<br />
15 testing special stages on asphalt, ice<br />
and snow in the French Maritime Alps,<br />
not to mention night stages and temperatures<br />
well below freezing – the Rally<br />
Monte Carlo is one of the greatest<br />
challenges in motorsport.<br />
“We line up at the Rally Monte Carlo<br />
with start number 1 on one of our Polo<br />
R WRCs for the first time,” said Volkswagen<br />
Motorsport Director Jost Capito.<br />
“This honour is reserved for the<br />
World Champion, and is something we<br />
are very proud of. However, this does<br />
not mean that we will be arrogant or<br />
complacent this season – particularly<br />
not at the iconic ‘Monte’. We will approach<br />
it with the greatest respect,<br />
maximum concentration, and absolute<br />
commitment. It is easier to win a World<br />
Championship title than it is to defend<br />
it. And that is our goal. The 2014<br />
‘Monte’ will give us the first indication<br />
of where we stand compared to the<br />
new-look opposition. We are looking<br />
forward to it.”<br />
Victory at the “Monte” – a question of<br />
prestige<br />
Formula One Grand Prix in Monaco, the<br />
Le Mans 24 Hours, the Indianapolis<br />
500, the Rally Dakar and the Rally<br />
Monte Carlo – they are the five most<br />
prestigious motorsport competitions in<br />
the world. This year’s “Monte”, as the<br />
mother of all WRC rallies is affectionately<br />
known by fans, features four former<br />
winners. Sébastien Ogier/Julien Ingrassia,<br />
now driving for Volkswagen,<br />
won in 2009. They were followed in<br />
2010 by Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen,<br />
who will race for Ford in 2014, and<br />
fellow Ford pairing Bryan Bouffier/<br />
Xavier Panseri who triumphed in 2011.<br />
However, all three of these duos are<br />
missing the icing on the cake – their<br />
victories all came in the IRC (Intercontinental<br />
Rally Challenge) in a car complying<br />
with the Super 2000 regulations.<br />
A “Monte” win in the World Rally<br />
Championship? Only old hand François<br />
Delecour from France – also in action<br />
for Ford in 2014 – can boast one of<br />
those.<br />
New rules, new challenge<br />
A new sporting format and a new challenger<br />
– the 2014 World Rally Championship<br />
season has a number of new<br />
features for fans and competitors alike.<br />
The previous qualifying procedure at<br />
gravel rallies is omitted. Instead, the<br />
starting order will now be based on the<br />
c u r r e n t W o r l d C h a m p i o n s h i p<br />
standings. Detailed amendments have<br />
also been made to the rules allowing<br />
competitors to return under Rally2 regulations.<br />
Over the course of the season, the<br />
itineraries for the rounds of the World<br />
Rally Championship will be standardised.<br />
In the future, the rallies will all begin<br />
with the start ceremony on Thursday<br />
and end with Sunday’s final stage<br />
at about midday. The final special<br />
stage will always form the so-called<br />
Power Stage, in which bonus points are<br />
up for grabs in the Drivers’ and Co-<br />
Drivers’ Championship for the first<br />
three cars. However, the “Monte” is an<br />
exception to the rule when it comes to<br />
the itinerary: it ends with the final special<br />
stage – “Sospel – Breil-sur-Roya” –<br />
in the dark on Saturday evening.<br />
Home race for Sébastien Ogier – Gap<br />
hosts “Monte” start<br />
Home banker? Well, there can certainly<br />
be no doubting that this is a home race<br />
for one man. The Rally Monte Carlo begins<br />
in the birthplace of the reigning<br />
World Rally Champion – in Gap. The<br />
town, with a population of 40,000,<br />
hosts the opening two days of the<br />
Rally, before the WRC circus heads to<br />
Monaco. For Sébastien Ogier, this<br />
means both an extra incentive and a<br />
little extra pressure. Scores of friends<br />
and family are expected in his home<br />
town to support the Volkswagen works<br />
driver at the start of the “Monte”.<br />
Ice spies and tyre tactics – skill and<br />
flair are the order of the day in the<br />
Alps<br />
Rain in the Service Park, dry conditions<br />
at the start of the stage, snow in the<br />
middle and ice at the end – the standard<br />
madness at the Rally Monte Carlo.<br />
Selecting the right tyres for a loop consisting<br />
of three special stages is a real<br />
gamble. Winter tyres with and without<br />
spikes, soft and super-soft slicks are<br />
available to the drivers, who can call<br />
on the detailed information they receive<br />
from their trusted ice spies.<br />
Nowhere in the World Rally Championship<br />
is it more important for the<br />
weather crew to be perfectly coordi-