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Changes are coming to World Rally Championship racing in 2010… new schedule was just posted on WRC.com last week and rules changes/safety changes will be added in the coming weeks. This PR regarding the new “electronic yellow flag system” was posted this week….

A new electronic version of the yellow flag traditionally waved to warn drivers of hazards ahead will be introduced on World Rally Championship events from 2010.

The new system, developed by Italian automotive company Magneti Marelli, can receive and display information about hazards on the rally stage far more quickly than is possible using the existing method of personnel by the road side waving flags.

The Magneti Marelli Yellow Flag device is mounted inside a car’s cockpit and enables rally organisers to communicate directly with driver and co-driver via a flashing yellow light to warn them of a hazard ahead. The device also sounds a loud alarm to capture the crew’s attention.

By pressing a confirmation button, the co-driver informs the organisers that the danger signal has been received, after which the flashing and the loud noise stop.

The device is also equipped with a wireless connection to a GPS antenna fitted on the car, which transmit the car’s position and allows for further interaction between the crew and the race organisers.

Magneti Marelli boasts a rich tradition in motorsport and has been the Official Automotive Telemetry Sponsor of the World Rally Championship since 2008.

Roberto Dalla, Managing Director of Magneti Marelli Motorsport, said: “The WRC is the ideal scenario in which to improve our products and a market where to present innovative technological solutions. As of today, thanks to the WRC Electronic Yellow Flag System, it also represents a chance to do something extremely useful for the pilots and the fans who watch this exciting sport.

“In 2009 Magneti Marelli feels even more a part of this world and with the awareness that there is still plenty that can be done to improve both fun and safety,” he added.

Find out more about the new warning system from Magneti Marelli in our EXCLUSIVE ‘Electronic yellow flag’ video in the WRC TV section.

Fans of the FIA World Rally Championship will be able to tackle the stages themselves next year when a new WRC video game, billed as the most realistic and playable rally game of all time, is launched.

WRC promoters, ISC, have signed a three year agreement with Black Bean Games to produce the new game which, for the first time, will be available in PS3, X-Box 360 and PC versions.

Black Bean, and their in-house development studio Milestone, are two of the most respected names in motorsport gaming, and were behind the highly rated SBK Superbike championship and MotoGP games.

Simon Long, ISC CEO, said: “The official WRC game will engage a whole new audience for the sport and we’re tremendously excited at the opportunities to grow our fan base and the profile of the WRC. It provides a hugely powerful touch point for us in which to showcase the WRC to consumers, and it will be the most realistic and playable rally game of all time.”

Virgilio Bixio, Black Bean Games president, added: “We are particularly proud to bring the WRC franchise back into the video games arena after so many years of absence. Milestone has been working hard on this title and our expectations are really high.”

If you’re a fan of historic rally cars, and especially the Audi Quattro, then this is a competition not to be missed.

Wrc.com has teamed up with McKlein Publishing to offer three copies of its fabulous new book ‘Audi Quattro - A Rally History’ personally signed by the world renowned rally photographer Reinhard Klein.

The turbocharged, four-wheel-drive Audi Quattro sparked a WRC revolution when it made its competitive debut on the 1981 Rallye Monte Carlo.

After only ten snow-covered kilometres of the first special stage, Hannu Mikkola in a Quattro had caught and passed the helpless Lancia Stratos of Bernard Darniche, the winning combination in 1979.

Superb traction and seemingly limitless power were the keys to its success that made the Quattro legendary and helped Audi to capture the hearts of thousands of fans.

McKlein’s new book provides a detailed record of all the rally cars that Audi launched - from the Audi 80 to the Quattros and the Coupé S2 - as well as a comprehensive statistics section.

Written by John Davenport, a former rally co-driver and team manager, and accompanied by more than 400 beautiful pictures taken by Klein, this high-quality 252-page book would make a terrific addition to any coffee table.

We have three signed books up for grabs. To be in with a chance of winning one, answer the question in the WRC Extra section.

For more information about the full range of McKlein’s motorsport publications visit: www.rallywebshop.com

Citroen Racing director Olivier Quesnel has revealed that the car which will replace the C4 World Rally Car in 2011 is nearing completion at the team’s headquarters in Paris.

The C4’s successor is based on the DS3 model, which will be officially unveiled at the Frankfurt motor show next month and will go on sale in March 2010.

The DS3 is being built to Super 2000 technical specifications but will be fitted with a 1600cc turbo charged engine - in accordance with the FIA’s decision to reduce the size of top class rally car engines from the present two litre capacity.

Quesnel told wrc.com that development of the new DS3 had started at the beginning of the year, initially as a two litre car, but had recently stopped pending a decision of the FIA’s Technical Group on the details of the 1600cc engine.
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It could be argued that the arrival of the World Rally Championship in Australia was a deal born more out of commercial sense rather than a sporting necessity. Australia might not have had the kind of lengthy rallying tradition which Europe can boast, but it certainly new how to put on a show.

Within a few years of its arrival in 1989 - courtesy of the departure of America’s Olympus Rally - Australia’s inclusion on the annual roster of world rallies was assured. The event soon grew to become a benchmark rallies against which others would be judged. While events in the northern hemisphere talked about superspecial stages and taking the sport to the public, Australia got on with it, running through the streets of Northbridge and then to a purpose-built side-by-side spectacular in Langley Park on the banks of the Swan River.

It all started in 1989, when 59 cars left the Freemantle start bound for Richmond Raceway on a dreary September evening. Toyota’s Juha Kankkunen won the first ever WRC stage in Australia. Thirty-two stages later and the Finn won the inaugural Rally Australia. While the organisers of the event celebrated a highly successful debut at the highest level, Kankkunen’s employers at Toyota partied alongside them as they marked the first ever WRC win for the Celica GT-4. Kenneth Eriksson had made it a double celebration, completing a one-two down under. Given Australia’s ‘close’ proximity to Japan, Toyota’s win couldn’t have been better - or more dominant, with the Celica’s posting 29 fastest times to leave Lancia choking in the rich red dust.

With Miki Biasion left in Europe, his second world title all-but sewn up, Markku Alen and Alex Fiorio were sent to Australia, armed with a brace of battle-weary Deltas which had already seen service in Argentina. They were powerless on the Western Australian roads. Australia’s first WRC round would be the last time the eight-valve Delta was seen in official WRC action.

While the two powerhouses of world rallying fought over first, a certain Malcolm Wilson was turning in a star drive to place a Vauxhall Astra GTE in sixth overall. Ford’s team director was the highest placed two-wheel drive competitor and only a handful of seconds away from being the first non-Lancia or Toyota.

The ball-bearing -surfaced roads around Perth had arrived in the world of world rallying. And, for the rest of this week, wrc.com will remember some of the most intriguing moments on these rich red tracks.

BP Ford Abu Dhabi Team driver Mikko Hirvonen has won the Acropolis Rally of Greece, round seven of the 2009 World Rally Championship, after a perfect drive through the toughest conditions of the season in his Focus RS WRC.

The 28-year-old Finn carried a comfortable lead into Sunday’s final five stages, and kept out of trouble to finish 1min 12.9sec ahead of the man in second place, Citroen Junior team driver Sebastien Ogier.

See the full story at www.carracing.com/racing/rally/

The second half of the 12-round FIA World Rally Championship starts next week with the toughest event of the season - The Acropolis Rally of Greece.

In geographical terms Greece might only be a short hop from the last round in Sardinia, but when it comes to the state of the roads, the Acropolis is a world apart.

Rocky mountain tracks and searing heat combine to make the Acropolis a full on car-breaker. And although the event has a new-look for 2009, the fundamental challenges for cars and drivers remain.

For cars, success in Greece is all about strength, reliability and speed. They must withstand the pounding from loose rocks which litter the surface of the mountain tracks, as well as bedrock which forms the base of the roads.

Temperatures are likely to be well above 30ºC, placing high demands on engines and gearboxes. Because the winding, climbing roads and many hairpin bends make this a relatively slow rally (only Turkey was slower in 2008), there is little cooling from the flow of air.

Drivers and co-drivers can expect an uncomfortable weekend for the same reasons. Cockpit temperatures are expected to be the highest of the year, which makes fitness a crucial factor. Regular fluid intake is vital to stave off dehydration and ensure the crew operates at peak performance.

Saturday’s route takes competitors into the Peloponnese region, a traditional Acropolis venue during the 1980s, for all-new stages. Sunday’s final day, the shortest of the rally, heads north and east of Loutraki and includes two passes over the epic 33.00km Aghii Theodori - the longest stage of the rally

The rally finishes back in Loutraki at 1436hrs after 17 stages and 371.02 competitive kilometres.

One week after finishing third in the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Kimi Raikkonen is preparing to make his asphalt rally debut at the Rally della Marca in Italy this weekend.

Raikkonen, who was F1 world champion in 2007, will drive an Abarth Grande Punto S2000 on Saturday’s event, which starts from the town of Pederobba. The one day rally comprises ten special stages and a total of 124 competitive kilometres.

So far this season, rally fan Raikkonen has already contested two winter rallies in his native Finland - the Arctic Rally and the Rally of Mikkeli - but this weekend marks his first rally on asphalt.

As on his previous rallies, he will be co-driven by fellow Finn Kaj Lindstrom, the man who formerly partnered multiple WRC champion Tommi Makinen.

Sebastien Loeb, the winningest driver in the World Rally Championship series, is in a slump. No doubt about it, the “king of wins” in FIA’s WRC series is not having a good week - or a good season for that matter.

The extraordinary run of wins from the Citroen Total World Rally Team and its lead driver Sebastien Loeb came to an end in Sardinia today, where the team had to console itself with fourth place for Loeb and 22nd for Dani Sordo.

Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena had actually completed the final stage in third place but soon after were handed a two-minute time penalty which dropped them back a spot.

At the end of the first day of the rally, Loeb had seemed well placed to challenge for a record breaking seventh consecutive rally victory this weekend. But his puncture on Saturday afternoon ended his chances.

Best of luck to Loeb and his team for the rest of the 2009 season.

Is that Superman in the red cape? Nope - it’s Portuguese driver Armindo Araujo who clinched the first P-WRC victory of his career on the Algarve Stadium Super Special today to the delight of a crowd of more than 20,000 Portuguese rally fans.

Araujo moved into a comfortable lead at the top of the Production standings on Saturday and didn’t put a foot wrong through today’s final stages, eventually wining the category by 1min 07.1sec. After finishing second on the previous round in Cyprus, Araujo collected 10 points today to move three points clear at the top of the championship table.

“Finally, my first victory!” said the Mitsubishi Lancer driver. “After the disappointment of losing in Cyprus it makes me very happy to win here in Portugal. I felt very proud standing on the podium - I think I have the best fans in the world! During the rally I never made any mistakes, the car always worked well and so I feel very confident ahead of the next rallies.”