Motorbike ace set for IRC debut
Not content with showing his speed on two wheels, Gabor Talmacsi will spend 2012 attempting to demonstrate his pace on four when he embarks on his first full season of rallying.
And the 2007 125cc world motorcycle champion will make his Intercontinental Rally Challenge debut when he contests June’s Canon Mecsek Rallye in his native Hungary.
The 30-year-old nine-time grand prix winner has changed disciplines this year and is contesting the Hungarian Rally Championship, which supports the IRC round from 2/3 June.
“I reached everything in MotoGP I had wanted,” said Talmacsi, who will drive a Ralliart Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IX. “As I taste rallying I feel more motivated. It’s one of the most complex technical sports and this is a big challenge for me. This year I try to learn as much as possible.”
On his rallying debut on the Szilveszter Rally late last season, Talmacsi finished fifth out of 140 entrants.
IRC champion goes skiing to keep fit
Andreas Mikkelsen has turned to cross-country skiing to stay in shape ahead of the 2012 Intercontinental Rally Challenge season-opener on SATA Rallye Acores later this month.
The defending IRC champion was a promising downhill skier until injury curtailed his career and prompted his switch to rallying as a teenager in 2006.
All IRC regulars undertake rigorous training regimes to maintain optimal fitness levels and SKODA UK Motorsport driver Mikkelsen is no exception.
“Cross-country skiing is very good for physical training because you train your whole body,” said the 22-year-old Norwegian ace. “I go to the mountains in Norway and the longest run I’ve done in a day is 60 kilometres. It really helps because when you are away from home competing you need to be fit and if you are fully fit you can be 100 per cent concentrated.”
Nicolas: IRC stars will be flat out in Azores
Jean-Pierre Nicolas says a thrilling spectacle is in store when Intercontinental Rally Challenge season six gets underway on SATA Rally Acores from 23-25 February.
Nicolas, a former international rally-winning driver and now the IRC’s Motorsport Development Manager, says the testing nature of the gravel event and the fact it forms the opening round of the IRC season will make it an epic.
“It’s a fantastic place to have a rally, with fast and flowing stages, a uniquely beautiful location, and unpredictable weather,” said Nicolas. “It’s a real drivers’ event, and this year of course it will be even more special because it marks the first rally of the IRC season, so everyone will be flat out.”
This year’s SATA Rallye Acores features 14 stages over a competitive distance of 194.40 kilometres. The untimed City Stage on the streets of Ponta Delgada will open the action on Wednesday 22 February.
Fighting talk from 2WD rookie Catania
Davide Catania plans to come out ‘fighting’ when he contests up to six rounds of the IRC 2WD Cup in 2012.
The Italian has chosen the IRC 2WD Cup to take advantage of the strong level of competition he expects to face in the highly competitive category, won in 2011 by Jean-Michel Raoux following a dramatic final round title decider in Cyprus last November.
“It’s an honour to participate in the IRC series this season,” said Catania, whose last IRC appearance was in Sardinia in 2010. “We like gravel rallies and in this season the IRC has more gravel events than last year. We will try to fight for the IRC 2WD Cup and will definitely do five or six events of the IRC series.”
Catania will pilot a Citroen DS3 R3T prepared by the BP Racing Team starting from SATA Rallye Acores later this month. Youngster Fabio Salis will co-drive.