World Rally Championship 2012

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Sordo quickest on Sweden superspecial

Mini driver Dani Sordo was quickest on the Karlstad superspecial that opened Rally Sweden on Thursday evening.
The Spaniard is likely to fall back down the order when the fully-fledged stages commence in the morning, but tonight he beat top Scandinavian driver Mads Ostberg - making his first appearance of the year in the Adapta Ford - to first place by 0.3 seconds.
M-Sport Ford's Ott Tanak is currently third.
The victory favourites are back in fourth through seventh positions. Petter Solberg (Ford) and Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) set equal times, just ahead of Mikko Hirvonen's Citroen and Jari-Matti Latvala's Ford.
Patrik Sandell got his Mini debut off to a good start in eighth, with Martin Prokop (Czech Ford) ninth and touring car driver Richard Goransson beating a host of rally regulars - including Evgeny Novikov and Henning Solberg in 10th place at the start of his guest appearance in a WRC Mini.

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Loeb wins Rally Mexico

Sebastien Loeb wins in Mexico again, heading home a Citroen 1-2, with Mikko Hirvonen second; Petter Solberg takes the final spot on the podium, after Jari-Matti Latvala rolls in SS22 and retires with just two stages to go.

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb has taken the victory on Rally Mexico today, the third round in the 2012 World Rally Championship.

Loeb began today's leg with a 36.2 second lead and in the end he took the victory comfortably, 42.4 seconds up on Mikko Hirvonen in the sister works DS3 WRC. It was his sixth successive win in Mexico.

Behind Petter Solberg took the final place on the podium for Ford, inheriting the position late on, when team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala rolled out in SS22, the long 54.30 km Guanajuatito test. Solberg also took the Power Stage win, ahead of Loeb and Mads Ostberg, who was fourth overall. Ott Tanak completed the top five.

mesinbasuh

takde org lain ke nak menang, asyik-asyik loeb asyik-asyik loeb, bosan dah aku

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JohnDeSouza

loeb menang!

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next race dah bole agak sapa menang lagi

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Toyota set for WRC return?

Toyota could return to the World Rally Championship in the next few years, it is being reported.

Toyota began testing a 1.6-litre turbo-charged powerplant this week at its HQ in Cologne and while its current focus is on the FIA World Endurance Championship, a spokesperson for the manufacturer told the official WRC site that rallying is on the firm's radar, in the 'medium to long term'.

“We're leaning towards an S2000-style of car which would be available for customers first,” a TMG spokesperson explained.

“This is a development project, but it's very early days - the engine only fired up for the first time a few weeks ago - at the very earliest, a car won't be available until next year.

“Obviously, this being a Global Race Engine, it could go in any car, but the Yaris seems to make sense.”

“Medium to longer-term there is a degree of logic in the WRC,” he added. “We have been there [the WRC] and this is a step back into rallying.”

Rumours of a Toyota return last surfaced back in June 2010 [see separate story - HERE], although then a deal with Prodrive was mooted. Prodrive is, of course, now involved with the MINI WRC programme, although the relationship with BMW has soured somewhat this year, with the Banbury-based outfit no longer running the manufacturer entry. Instead it has been reduced to the position of a 'works-supported privateer'.