2001 Formula Rally World Championship Season Review

2001 Formula Rally World Championship Season Review.
The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship Is The Renamed 2 Litre Rally Challenge Which It Ran Between 1975 To 2000, This Is A New Generation Of The Series With Rally Cars Allowed To Compete With 2 Litre Normally Aspirated Engines, It’s Like The World Of Formula One Of Rallying In The Forests, Gravel Or Tarmac, And Of Course The Touring Car Racing Of Rallying As Well, The Series Mainly Focuses On Group A, Group N, GT, Group H, 1400cc, 1600cc, 2000cc, 2WD, 4WD, FWD, RWD, Diesel, Petrol, Turbo, Modified World Rally Car, 4x4, Modified, Proto, Special, Classic, Formula 2000 And Hillclimb Cars, And It Focuses On Seperated Rallies Around The World Based On The Rounds Of The World Rally Championship, British Rally Championship, European Rally Championship, African Rally Championship, Irish Rally Championship, Colin McRae Rally Championship, Celtic Rally Championship And International Rally Championship.
Here’s A Look At The Calendar For The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship, A Total Of 21 Rallies Based On The Real Ones From The World Rally Championship, British Rally Championship, European Rally Championship, African Rally Championship, Irish Rally Championship, Colin McRae Rally Championship, Celtic Rally Championship And International Rally Championship In Europe, Asia, Africa, The Americas And The Oceania With The Final Round In Japan Being Part Of The 2001 World Olympics In Tokyo, There Will Also Be Medals There As Well As Claiming The 2001 FRWC Title.
Calendar
Round Event Date
 1 Rally Sweden February 2-4
 2 Sasol Rally South Africa February 23-24
 3 Rally Mexico March 9-11
 4 Rally Argentina March 16-18
 5 Rally Greece March 31-April 2
 6 Cyprus Rally May 18-20
 7 Tofas Rally Turkey June 8-10
 8 Donegal International Rally June 22-24
 9 Ypres Rally Belgium July 6-8
 10 Rally Finland July 20-22
 11 ADAC Rally Germany August 3-5
 12 Vinho Rally Da Madeira August 17-19
 13 Rally Australia August 31-September 2
 14 Manx International Rally September 7-9 
 15 Rally Italy September 21-23
 16 Rally France October 12-14
 17 Rally Spain October 26-28
 18 Rally Kenya November 2-4
 19 Rally USA November 16-18
 20 Rally Of The United Kingdom November 30-December 1
 21 Rally Of Japan December 7-9
And There’s A New Regulation Of 2 Litre Rally Cars Joining In To Challenge The Formula 2 Cars, The Super 1600 Regulations, Build On A Hatchback Or A Small Coupe With 1600cc Normally Aspirated Engines With Front Wheel Drive, The Ford Puma, Citroen Saxo, Volkswagen Polo, SEAT Arosa, Opel Tigra, Toyota Yaris And Proton Satria Are The Cars Build On These Regulations Ready To Challenge The Older Cars Like The Opel Astra Kit Car, Renault Megane Maxi, Citroen Xsara Kit Car, Peugeot 306 Maxi, Peugeot 106 Maxi, SEAT Ibiza Kit Car, Nissan Almera Kit Car, Nissan Micra Kit Car, Renault Clio Kit Car, Ford Escort Maxi Kit Car, Hyundai Coupe Kit Car And So Much More.
Group N Cars Are Also Allowed To Enter In This Series, The Subaru Impreza And Mitsubishi Lancer Are The Weapons Of Choice, Plus There Are Others As Well, And There’s Also A Cup Of Showroom Cars To Be Won As Well.
The One Make Series Such As The VW Polo, Peugeot 106, Ford KA, Ford Puma, Peugeot 306, SEAT Ibiza, SEAT Arosa, Opel Tigra, Opel Corsa, Toyota Yaris, Renault Clio, Renault Megane, Citroen Saxo And Daewoo Lanos Cups, Whoever Wins Those Championships Can Also Purchase A Super 1600 Or A Kit Car For Next Year And Graduate Into The Rally Championships Around The World.
There Are Also Other Classes To Be Won As Well.
Group H, GT, 2WD, 4WD, FWD, RWD, Diesel, Petrol, Turbo, 4x4, Proto, Modified, Special, Classic, Modified World Rally, Formula 2000 And Hillclimb Classes As Well. Cars Build On Those Regulations Can Also Be Allowed To Enter In The Series As Well.
Touring Cars And Rallycross Cars Are Amongs The Hillclimb Cars Allowed To Enter.
Modified And Group H Cars Build With Rear Wheel Drive Like The Ford Escort MK2 And The BMW M3 Are Allowed To Compete As Well.
And There’s Also A National Class As Well With Cars Either Build On Each Regulation For The Series.
Proto Rally Cars Are Also Allowed To Compete As Well Like This Opel Kadett GT/E.
The Special Rally Cars Like This Mitsubishi Pajero From The Dakar Are Allowed To Enter As Well.
And Let’s Not Forget The Modified World Rally Cars Including This Ford Focus WRC Driven By Colin McRae Are Also Allowed To Enter As Well.
Classic Rally Cars Are Also Allowed To Enter Like The Lancia Stratos.
Turbo And Diesel Cars Are Also Allowed To Enter Like The Renault 5 Turbo And Volkswagen Golf MK4 TDI Kit Car Competing Alongside The Petrol Cars.
And There Are Also 4x4 Rally Cars, These Cars Are Build On 4WD With A Engine Of A WRC Car, Cars Build On Either FIA Rally Or Touring Car Regulations Are Allowed To Compete With This Regulation.
And Finally The Formula 2000 Cars From The National French Rally Championship Are Also Allowed To Compete In The FRWC Not Just In France, But Also Other Rallies Amongs The Fictional National Or International Rally Championships, Will Hopefully See Some Of Them This Year.
There Will Be Guest And Local Entries At Every Round In The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship By Every Regulation Of Car And In The Class Championships As Well As The National Or International Championships.
Here Are The Entries For This Year’s Series, Kicking It Off With Citroen, They’ve Entered A Pair Of Saxo S1600s With 2000 Imaginary British Rally Super 1600 Champion Niall McShea, The Ulsterman Is Joined By Frenchman And 1999 Imaginary World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, While SEAT Unveil Their Secret Weapon, The All New Arosa Super 1600, The Successor To The Ibiza Kit Car, It Will Be Driven By 1996 BRC And 1999 IBRC Champion Gwyndaf Evans, Joining CItroen And SEAT, Opel With The All New Tigra Super 1600 Driven By Jarmo Kytolehto And Mitsubishi Test Driver Lasse Lampi, The Blue Oval Of Ford Have Entered A Pair Of Pumas With 1998 BRC Champion Martin Rowe And French Rally Ace Patrick Magaud, Volkswagen Have Also Entered A New Car, Introducing The Successor To The Mark 4 Golf Kit Car, The Polo GTI, It Will Be Driven By David Higgins And Neil Simpson, An All British Line Up, The Car Was About To Be Prepared For The Formula Rally Championship This Year As A One Year Replacement For The British Rally Championship Due To The Foot And Mouth Disease In The Country And Will Also Be Contested For The Imaginary British Rally Championship, Toyota Also Entered A Pair Of Yaris Super 1600s With Kenyan Ian Duncan And Australian Neal Bates, They Would Not Compete A Full Season With The Car As Bates Is Going To Focus On His National Rally Championship In Australia, He’ll Also Enter In A Kitcar For His Home Event, Toyota Would Enter Drivers At Selected Events, And Finally We Have Peugeot Sport UK Entering A Pair Of 106 Maxis With Reigning IBRC Champion Justin Dale And Touring Car Driver James Thompson, We Will Also Be Seeing Other Entries Including National Entries In Their Privateer Entered Cars, And The This Year’s Entries Of This Year’s JWRC Championship In The WRC.
So A New Season Of A Rally Championship With 2 Litre Rally Cars Is Just Beginning As The First Round Of The Series Is Rally Sweden In February.
Round 1, Rally Sweden.
The All New Formula Rally World Championship Kicked Off In Sweden In February, With A Seperated Rally Held Just 2 Weeks Before The WRC Rally, It Has A Karlstad Super Special Stage, Some Stages From This Year's WRC Rally Sweden And Some Stages From Colin McRae Rally 2.0 The Video Game, Just 3 Days Of Rallying In The Snow And Ice Of Scandinavia, First Away Was Gwyndaf Evans And New Co Driver Chris Patterson At The Wheel Of The All New SEAT Arosa S1600, It Was A Great Start For The Car After Winning The Super Special, And Now Heading Into The Stages In The Lead, However, The Arosa’s Debut Was Set To Be Short Lived By Stage 3, When The Welshman Was Forced Into Retirement, With Oil Leaking From The Clutch After Suffering A Hole From Under The Car, And That Was The End Of That, With Evans Out It Was Another Brit That Was Leading The Rally, That Was Niall McShea Driving In A Citroen Saxo S1600, He Went Into The Lead After Stage 3, And Holding The Advantage Over Marko Ipatti In 2nd Place, And To Continue On Staying In Front For The Rest Of The Rally, Marko Ipatti, The Reigning British Rally Champion And Reigning IBRC Production Class Champion Now At The Wheel Of The Car Which Vauxhall Won The Manufactuers Championship In Last Year’s BRC, The Astra G Kitcar, However, Ipatti’s Astra Is An Opel Instead Of A Vauxhall, The Finn Is Doing Really Well In This Rally, To Bring The Car Home In 2nd Place, And 1999 IWRC Champion Sebastien Loeb Would Dominate The Podium By Finishing 3rd In His Saxo, Many Drivers Were Caught By These Swedish Stages, Which Leads To The Result Of A Retirement With Mechanical Damage From The Stages, Or Crashing Out Of The Rally, Here’s One Of Them, Didier Auriol In His Peugeot 306 Sedan Kitcar Rolling Out Of The Rally On Day 2, Volkswagen Like SEAT Were Also Not Going To Make It To The End Of The Swedish Rally, On Day 1, Neil Simpson Retired With Clutch Problems, While David Higgins Also Retired At The End Of Day 2 With Fuel Pressure Problems, And They Were Not Alone, Robbie Head Retired His Renault Megane Maxi With Head Gasket Failure Just Near The End Of Day 1,
Victory For The Argentine Driver Gabriel Pozzo In The Group N Class In His Mitsubishi Lancer, Cody Crocker, The Australian Who Was Leading The Class Just Into His Turbo Blew Just Near The Finish In His Subaru Impreza STI N8, With 4 Time Production World Rally Champion, Gustavo Trelles From Uruguay Finishing In 2nd Place In The Similar Mitsubishi, And The New Zealander Possum Bourne Finishing 3rd In His Subaru Impreza WRX.
Round 2, Sasol Rally South Africa.
Round 2 Was From The Snowy Swedish Forests Of Scandinavia To The Mpumalanga Province in South Africa Which Is The Venue For The Sasol Rally, It Was Also Part Of The African And South African Rally Championships, As Well As Running A Round In The International Rally Championship Or The Intercontinental Rally Championship, It’s One Out Of 2 Trips To Africa In The Formula Rally World Championship, And It Promises To Be A Great Rally On One Of The Biggest Events In The Country, Local Drivers Will Also Be Joining The Entry List Amongs The FRWC Contenders, They’re Also Competing For The Local Championships As Well With National Entries As Well, This Is Also The First Out Of 2 Rallies To Be Split Into 2 Days, The Victory Of The Rally Went Once Again To Early Championship Leader Niall McShea In His Citroen Saxo, Finishing Ahead Of His Team Mate Sebastien Loeb In 2nd, And Martin Rowe Finally Got 3rd Place In His Rapid Fit Ford Puma Super 1600, The 1998 BRC Champion Finally Moves Up From 4th To 2nd In The Standings, Behind Them There Was A Battle For 4th Between Jarmo Kytolehto In The Opel Tigra And The Ford Puma Of Patrick Magaud, The Finn Would Finish In 4th Ahead Of The Frenchman, Mats Andersson Would Finish In 6th Place In His Proton Satria, Ahead Of The Toyota Yaris Of Ian Duncan, David Higgins Was Hoping To Get Better Luck For VW In This Rally After The Disappointment Of The Last Round In Sweden, He Was Running In 5th After Day 1, But On Day 2, He Hit A Rock Which Damaged The Suspension And Knocked Off A Rear Wheel, Higgins Was Out Of The 2nd Rally In A Row, While Team Mate Neil Simpson Would Bring His Polo GTI Home In 8th Place, Here’s Gwyndaf Evans At The Wheel Of His SEAT Arosa, Hoping To Have Better Luck Also After That Retirement In Sweden, He Won’t Compete A Full Season With The Car As He Continues To Focus In The Imaginary British Rally Championship With The Cordoba WRC, But At The Sasol Rally, He Would Finish In 7th Place, SEAT However Would Use Various Drivers To Drive The Arosa S1600 Throughout The Entire Season, Finishing 9th In The Rally Was Robbie Head In His Renault Megane Maxi Finishing Ahead Of The Other Toyota Yaris Of Neal Bates In 10th, The Rally Is Also Full Of Local Entries Including This Toyota Corolla Being Driven By Serge Damseaux, Running Amongs The South African Championship Competitors, He Was Lucky To Finish The Rally Despite A Throttle Problem At The End Of Day 1, He Would Also Finish In The Top 40, Jean-Pierre Damseaux Is Also Another Local Driver Also Driving The Similar Corolla, However He Would Eventually Retire From The Rally Due To An Engine Problem, Toyota Is Not The Only Manufactuer Popular In Rallying In South Africa, There’s Also Volkswagen And This Mark 4 Golf Being Driven By Jan Habig, He Of Course Claimed Victory In The National Rally Section, Despite Hitting A Rock And Breaking The Suspension On The First Day, But At The End, He Finished The Rally In The Top 20,
Round 3, Rally Mexico.
The 3rd Round Of The Formula Rally World Championship Heads To The Americas First To Central America And The Rally Of Mexico, Loads Of Entries For This Rally From Local And National Drivers Competing With The International Crews From All Over The World As Well, This Rally Was Of Course Known As Rally America In Real Life, Before It Would Change It’s Name To Rally Mexico, And Would Also Be Contested As A Candidate Rally For The WRC, It’s 3 Wins Out Of 3 For Niall McShea At This Rally, Finishing Ahead Of Team Mate Sebastien Loeb In 2nd Place, And Lasse Lampi Took 3rd For Opel And The First Podium For The New Tigra S1600, Mexico Claimed Victims At This Rally, Martin Rowe Broke The Suspension On His Ford Puma, And He Was Forced To Retire, So Too Was Francois Duval Also In A Ford Puma, He Also Retired With A Broken Driveshaft, And Manfred Stohl Crashing His Fiat Punto S1600 Out Of The Rally Also, Many Crews Finished The Rally, While Some Didn’t.
Round 4, Rally Argentina.
Round 4 Of The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship Was From Central America To South America For The Rally Of Argentina, It’s The 2nd Seperated Rally From The WRC Held On The Same Stages Of This Year’s WRC Rally Argentina, Trying To Make It 4 Wins Out Of 4 For Niall McShea Wasn’t That Easy, However He Picked Up A Puncture, And Then Developed An Engine Problem, He Clawed Back From 10th Place And Would Finish The Rally In 3rd, However, It’s Not All Good News At Citroen, Sebastien Loeb Was Running In 2nd Place, But His Rally Was Over After He Drowned His Saxo In A Watersplash On Day 2, That’s A Shame For The 1999 IWRC Champion And Winner Of The First JWRC Event In Spain, He Suffers His First Non Finish Of The Year, The Group N Machinary Are Also Contested At This Rally Including This Mitsubishi Lancer Being Driven By Local Hero Gabriel Pozzo, Despite Losing Time With Turbo Pressure Problems, He Would Finish 2nd In His Class Behind The Group N Class Winner Gustavo Trelles From Uruguay In The Similar Mitsubishi, Good Job Gustavo, The Legend On Winning The PWRC 4 Times And A Victory Close From Where You Live, The Victory Of Rally Argentina Goes To Martin Rowe In The Rapid Fit Ford Puma, Winning The Rally For Ford In The 2001 Campaign For The First Time Ahead Of The Italian Giandomenico Basso In His Fiat Punto S1600.
Round 5, Rally Greece.
Round 5 Heads Back To Europe And A Trio Of Hard Rallies Held In Hot Conditions Starting Off At Rally Greece, It Was Both The Same Stages Held As Part Of The Acropolis Rally As Well As The Same Stages From Colin McRae Rally 2.0, Well Greece Saw Another Citroen Domination This Time With Sebastien Loeb Taking The Victory Over Niall McShea In 2nd Place, And Taking 3rd Place Was The Fiat Punto Of Giandomenico Basso, Martin Rowe Finished 4th In His Ford Puma Ahead Of David Higgins’ VW And Jarmo Kytolehto Finishing 6th For Opel, This Rally Had Dramas As Neil Simpson Was Running 4th After Day 1, But On Day 2, He Rolled His Polo GTI, Luckily He And His Co Driver Were Alright, Andrea Dallavilla Was Another Victim He Retired His Fiat Punto With Electrical Failure, He Was Also Joined By Larry Cols Who Also Retired With A Blown Engine On His Peugeot 206 S1600, Greece May Be One Of The Hardest Rallies, But It Does Not Stop The Front Runners Finishing The Rally, As The Next Round Was Cyprus.
Round 6, Cyprus Rally.
We Head To The Island Of Cyprus For Round 6 Of The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship, It’s The 3rd Seperated Rally Held Just Before The WRC Rally Of Cyprus, And Promises To Be One Entertaining Rally For The Cypriot Rally Fans On The 2nd Hard Rally, Niall McShea Took Only His 4th Victory At This Rally To Extend His Lead In The Championship, While David Higgins Finally Scored A Podium For VW With Their New Polo GTI, And Belgian Larry Cols Finished In 3rd Place In His Peugeot 206 S1600, While Victory In The Group N Class Also Went To Possum Bourne In His Subaru Who Finished Ahead Of Gabriel Pozzo’s Mitsubishi And Gustavo Trelles Retired From The Rally With A Gearbox Problem Meaning That Local Driver Andreas Peratikos Finished 3rd In His Mitsubishi Lancer, Another Local Hero Kypros Kyprianou Would Finish In 5th Place In His Privateer Peugeot 306 Maxi Ahead Of Martin Rowe, While Sebastien Loeb Lost Many Time On Day 1 With Driveshaft Problems And Would Eventually Finish The Rally In 8th, Justin Dale Brought His Peugeot 106 Maxi Home In 4th Place And Jarmo Kytolehto Would Finish In 9th For Opel.
Round 7, Tofas Rally Turkey.
Round 7 Of The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship Heads Back To The Balkans And The Tofas Rally Of Turkey, Loads Of Entries Lined Up For This Rally And We Don’t Know Who We Will Be Watching In This Rally, Except For Championship Leader Niall McShea, Who Began In This Rally In The Lead After Day 1, He Would Go Into The 2nd Day First On The Road, One Of The National Formula 2 Cars Are Featured In This Rally Including This Fiat Palio Kit Car Here Being Driven By Ethem Genim, It’s Really Going Well For The Car At The Moment Finishing Amongs The Top 40 Cars In This Rally, Here’s Another Local Driver Hakan Tolon In His Ford Focus, Lucky To Stay In The Rally Despite Going Off The Road On The First Day, But He Recovered And Finished Outside The Top 40, Taner Sengezener Is Another Local Driver At This Rally, He Was Running In 32nd In His Fiat Palio Kitcar And Amongs The National Entries Of This Rally, Despite A Moment With A Rock On Day 1 Which Then Caused A Puncture, But He’s Okay To Keep The Car Going, Niall McShea Was Hoping To Keep His Lead From Day 1 Ahead Of Giandomenico Basso, However, All Hopes Of Another Victory Came To An End On Day 2 After He Hit A Rock On The Road, And Damaging His Suspension, It’s Rally Over For The Championship Leader, Just Wait Until You See Him At His Home Rally At The Donegal International Rally, So Basso Now Leads The Rally Going Into Day 3 Over Francois Duval In 2nd Place While Citroen’s Hopes Would Be On Sebastien Loeb Now Running In 3rd At The End Of Day 2, There’s A Fight Going On In The Group N Championship Between 2 South Americans In Their Mitsubishis Gustavo Trelles Of Uruguay And Gabriel Pozzo Of Argentina, And At The End Victory In The Class Went To Trelles And Leads The Class Championship By 5 Points Heading Into The Next Round In Ireland, While Giandomenico Basso Took Victory In The Overall Rally For Fiat At A Rally Which The Cars Are Famous In This Country, The Palio Has Been Build Here At The Tofas Factory Which Is The Sponsor Of The Rally, Awesome Stuff For The Italian Driver And Car, Francois Duval Finished 2nd And Sebastien Loeb Finished In 3rd.
Round 8, Donegal International Rally.
Round 8 Of The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship Was The Donegal International Rally In Ireland, And This Was Home Territory For Niall McShea, And He Didn’t Disappoint, He Won His Home Rally Over His Team Mate Sebastien Loeb In 2nd And Neil Wearden Finishing 3rd In His Vauxhall Tigra S1600 Despite A Gearbox Problem On Day 2 Which Led Him To Push His Car Into Service, McShea Isn’t The Only Ulsterman In A Saxo, This Is The Asquith Motorsport Citroen Saxo Kit Car Being Driven By Max McKillen, He’s Also Competing With This Car In Both The British Formula Rally And Imaginary British Rally Championships, Hopefully Will See More Of Him At The Manx International Rally And The Rally Of The United Kingdom, There’s Also Modified Rear Wheel Drive Cars Entered In This Rally Including This Ford Escort G3 Here Being Driven By Eugene Donnelly, He Took Victory In The Modified Section While Andrew Nesbitt Is Doing Great Guns Driving In A Subaru Impreza 4x4, And He Also Won The National Rally And 4x4 Class As Well As Finishing 8th Overall, And Victory In The Group N Class For Dominic Buckley In The Mitsubishi Lancer Finishing Ahead Of Championship Leader Gustavo Trelles.
Round 9, Ypres Rally Belgium.
Round 9 Was The Ypres Rally In Belgium, And It It’s Another Seperated Rally For The 2 Litre Rally Cars, And This Is Where Francois Duval Failed To Finish His Home Rally In The Real World Due To An Accident, However He Was Able To Win His Home Event In The Formula Rally World Championship At The Wheel Of The Ford Puma S1600, Fellow Belgian Larry Cols Finished In 2nd Place, While Martin Rowe In His Rapid Fit Puma Finished 3rd, The Ypres Rally Always Claims Victims In This Rally, Sebastien Loeb Rolled His Car On Day 1, And It’s More Spectacular For David Higgins In His Volkswagen Polo Crashing Into A Pond, Higgins’ Rotten Luck At The Ypres Continues, He Managed To Save His Helmet, But Not The Car, Niall McShea Avoided All These Troubles At This Rally, And Eventually Finished 4th In The Rally Despite An Off Road Trip To A Field On Day 1, He Clawed Back After Running In 12th Place During This Much Of The Rally, McShea Was Still Leading The Championship Heading For The Next Round In Finland, And Victory Also To Gabriel Pozzo In The Group N Championship.
Round 10, Rally Finland.
The 10th Round Of The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship Was Rally Finland, Just Held A Month Before The Real WRC Event, This Will Give The 2 Litre Rally Cars A Chance On Challenging This Fast Finnish Event Based On The Real WRC Event And The Stages From Colin McRae Rally 2.0, Martin Rowe Had Been Leading The Rally After Day 1 And 2, However, All Hopes Of Winning This Rally Were Drawn Away After His Driveshaft Fails On The Final Day, That Means Niall McShea Took Another Victory At This Rally Ahead Of The Other Rapid Fit Puma Of Patrick Magaud With Team Mate Sebastien Loeb Taking 3rd, Marko Ipatti Had Been Running 3rd For Much Of This Rally, The 1999 2 Litre Rally Champion Headed For The Final Day 2nd Behind McShea, But Then Suffered A Puncture, A Sticking Throttle Pipe And A Time Behind, And That Dropped Him Down To 4th, He Would Finish Ahead Of Justin Dale In 5th Place In His Peugeot 106 Maxi, And Another Finn Jarmo Kytolehto In 6th In His Opel Tigra With Team Mate And Fellow Finn Lampi In 7th And Pasi Hagstrom Completing The Top 8 In His Toyota Corolla Sedan Kitcar Ahead Of The Higgins Brothers, David In 9th In His Volkswagen, And Mark On His First Drive In The SEAT Arosa S1600 In 10th, Another Finn Was Also Flying High, Jussi Valimaki In His Peugeot 206 S1600, He Was Running 7th Until His Rally Came To An End On The Final Day When He Took The Finnish Jumps Too Fast And Which Led Him To Roll Out Of His Home Event, He Was Joined On The Sidelines By Francois Duval, Who Had Also Retired With Driveshaft Failure In His Ford Puma, The Next Round Of The 2001 FRWC Is On The Asphalt Roads Of Germany.
Round 11, ADAC Rally Germany.
Round 11 Was The ADAC Rally Germany, And It’s The 3rd Asphalt Event Of The 2001 Series, And It’s Going To Be A Good Battle For The Title Between Niall McShea And Martin Rowe Heading For This Rally, And In The Battle Of The Celtic Nations Between Northern Ireland And The Isle Of Man, As Well As Citroen Against Ford In The Manufactuers Championship, But The Victory Went To A Local Car, That Is The Volkswagen Polo And It’s The Debut Victory For The Car Came Courtesy Of David Higgins Who Also Grabbed His 1st Victory Of The Season, Giandomenico Basso Was 2nd In His Fiat While Justin Dale Took 3rd In His Peugeot 106 Maxi, Championship Leader Niall McShea Was Lucky To Finish The Rally Despite Losing Time On Day 1 With Gearbox Trouble But Would Eventually Finish In 6th, While Team Mate Sebastien Loeb Was 4th And Rival Martin Rowe Was 5th, Loads Of Action On This Rally Continued Just Until The End.
Round 12, Vinho Rally Da Madeira.
Round 12 Was The Vinho Rally Da Madeira Held On A Portuguese Island Lost In The Atlantic Ocean, Niall McShea Extended His Lead In The Championship After Claiming Another Victory Here, While His Rival Martin Rowe Went Out Of The Event After Clutch Problems On Day 2, Patrick Magaud Finished In 2nd In His Ford Puma, While David Higgins Took 3rd In His Volkswagen, Loads Of Rally Action Continued Until The End Of This Event.
Round 13, Rally Australia.
The 13th Round Of The 2001 Formula Rally Championship Was To The Other Side Of The World And Rally Australia, Like Usual Same Stages From The WRC And Colin McRae Rally 2.0 Would Make This Rally The Toughest One Yet, Niall McShea The Championship Leader Onto These Stages Looking Like A Man On The Mission, He Had Led The Rally From The Start And Took Another Well Deserved Victory, He Was Challenged At This Rally By One Of The Local Drivers Of This Event Including This Toyota Corolla Liftback Kitcar Driven By Neal Bates Who Had Switched From Driving A Yaris S1600 For This Event, Toyota However Are Using A Variety Of Different Drivers To Drive With The Yaris S1600 Other Than Ian Duncan Or Neal Bates, Freddy Loix And Carlos Sainz Have Joined Ian Duncan For This Rally At The Wheel Of The Yaris S1600, Loix Would Finish In 7th Place Despite Mechanical Troubles On Day 2,, While Sainz Would Finish In 12th Despite A Moment After A Jump On Day 1, Ian Duncan Unfortunely Retired From The Rally After A Gearbox Problem On Day 2, Sebastien Loeb, Martin Rowe, Francois Duval, Justin Dale, David Higgins And Jarmo Kytolehto All Failed To Score At This Rally While Neil Simpson Took 3rd Place For VW At This Rally, Victory For Cody Crocker In The Group N Class In His Subaru Meaning He’s Now Up To 3rd In The Championship.
Round 14, Manx International Rally.
Round 14 Was Back In Europe And The Irish Sea Island Of The Isle Of Man Was The Venue For The Manx International Rally, This Was Originally Part Of The British Rally Championship, But The Real Event Was Cancelled Due To The Foot And Mouth Disease In Britain, And The Imaginary Round Took Place Here, But This Is A Seperated Rally For 2 Litre Rally Cars From The WRC Cars, And Niall McShea Never Put A Foot Wrong At This Rally, He Took Victory After Local Hero And 1997 Real Rally Winner Martin Rowe Went Out Of The Rally With The Same Problem That Put Him Out Of Rally Finland, And With 6 Rallies Left, It’s Going To Be One Fight To The Title, Mark Higgins Was Back For His Home Rally On Only His 2nd Drive At The Wheel Of The SEAT Arosa S1600, He Did Develop A Brake Problem On Day 1, However He Kept It Steady On The Road, And Finished In 2nd Place, While Sebastien Loeb In The 2nd Citroen Would Finish In 3rd Place Ahead Of Justin Dale In The Peugeot 106 Maxi, John Lloyd, The English Man At The Wheel Of His Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI Is Attacking The Manx Stages Really Well, However He Could Not Match The Pace Of The Other Cars And Would Finish Outside The Points, And This Is Andrew Nesbitt At The Wheel Of His Subaru Impreza 4x4, He Would Finish In The Top 40 And Claim A Victory In The 4x4 Class, And Victory For Gabriel Ponzo In His Group N Mitsubishi Lancer In The Showroom Category.
Round 15, Rally Italy.
From The Tarmac Roads Of The Isle Of Man To The Tarmac Roads Of Italy, And These Stages Are Based On The Ones From Colin McRae Rally 2.0, Loads Of Entries For This Rally, A Mix Of All Types Of Cars, Hard It Is To Count On These, The Victory Of The Rally Went To Local Hero Giandomenico Basso Driving A Local Car The Fiat Punto S1600, He Won The Rally After Niall McShea, Martin Rowe, Sebastien Loeb And David Higgins All Failed To Score At This Rally, Finishing In 2nd In The Rally Was Another Fiat Punto, This Here Is A Kit Car Driven By Andrea Navarra, Another Local Driver, Who Finished Ahead Of Francois Duval In 3rd In His Ford Puma, Classic Rally Action From This Year’s Rally Italy In The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship, Just Wait Until The End Of The Event When A Victory Goes To An Italian Driver.
Round 16, Rally France.
From Italy To France For Round 16 Of The Series And The Rally Stages Are Based In The Island Of Corsica, Some From The WRC Rally, And Some From Colin McRae Rally 2.0, And It Was A Local Victory For A French Car On This Surface, That Was The Citroen Saxo Of Niall McShea, The Championship Leader, He Is In A Battle For The Title With His Rival Martin Rowe Heading For This Rally, Martin Rowe However Retired Once Again From This Rally After He Hit A Rock On The Road Breaking A Wheel On The Rear Of The Car, He And Chris Wood Were Okay, But Would Go No Further, Finishing In 2nd Place In The Rally Was The Debut Of The All New Renault Twingo S1600 Been Driven By Jean Ragnotti, But This Will Be Short Lived As The Twingo Would Be Replaced With The Clio By 2002, There Are Are Some Clio Kitcars Based On The Current Generation Competing In The Series All Year, And There Were Also Twingo Kit Cars And F2000 Cars Also Competing Throughout The Year, And Let’s Never Forget The Clio That Ragnotti Won The 2 Litre Rally Challenge Title That Was Also Competing In Some Rounds Throughout The Year, And The Megane Maxi Which Is Nearly At The End Of It’s Life To Make Way For The Clio Next Year, Ragnotti Would Finish Ahead Of Another Local Driver Cedric Robert In His Peugeot 206 S1600, Making It An All French Manufactuer Podium At Rally France, Sebastien Loeb Would Finish 4th At His Home Rally Despite Losing Time With Fuel Pressure Problems On Day 1.
Round 17, Rally Spain.
Round 17 Of The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship Was Rally Spain, This Was Based On The International Rally Championship Round And Would Have The Same Stages Ran With The Sparco Rally Championship In Colin McRae Rally 3 By Next Year, But It Is Seperated Between 2 Litre Rally Cars And WRC Cars For This Event, The Rally Was Won By Local Driver Sergio Vallejo In His Fiat Punto S1600, He Finished Ahead Of Patrick Magaud In 2nd, And Championship Leader Niall McShea In 3rd, He Could Claim The Title Heading For The Final Round In Japan, But First Will Be Kenya, USA And The United Kingdom, He’s Now Leading By 10 Points Over Martin Rowe Who Had To Finish In 6th Place Behind Sebastien Loeb, And Jesus Puras Taking 4th In His Citroen Saxo Kitcar.
Round 18, Rally Kenya.
Africa Was Next And Rally Kenya, The Stages Are Also Based On The Ones On Colin McRae 2.0, It’s Another Full Entry List For This Rally, One Of Those Entries Is Niall McShea The Championship Leader In His Citroen Saxo S1600, He Claimed Another Victory At This Rally With His Team Mate Sebastien Loeb In 2nd, And Local Driver Ian Duncan Took Third Place In His Toyota Yaris S1600, With 3 Rallies Left, Can Someone Stop McShea From Taking The Title, Martin Rowe, Sebastien Loeb Or Justin Dale Could All Challenge The Ulsterman As The Next Round Is Rally USA.
Round 19, Rally USA.
Round 19, Rally USA, David Higgins Took His 2nd Victory At This Rally And For Volkswagen, While Niall McShea Finished In 2nd Place And Extend His Lead In The Championship With 2 Rallies To Go, While Corrado Fontana In His Peugeot 206 S1600 Finished In 3rd Place, Sebastien Loeb Was Hoping To Catch McShea In The Championship, But He Pushed Way Too Hard And Rolled His Citroen Saxo S1600 Out Of The Rally, Martin Rowe Will Have To Settle For 5th Place With Justin Dale In 9th Place In His Peugeot 106 Maxi.
Round 20, Rally Of The United Kingdom.
With 2 Rallies Left, Rallying Returns Home For Round 21, Rally Of The United Kingdom, The Stages Are Based On The Ones In Colin McRae 2.0, And It's Hopefully To Be A Challenging Rally For The Crews Of All Classes And Regulations Of Cars, It Was An All British 1-2-3 With Martin Rowe Taking The Victory For Ford Ahead Of Justin Dale In 2nd For Peugeot, Niall McShea Finished In 3rd For Citroen To Extend His Lead In The Championship With Only 1 Rally Remaining.
Round 21, Rally Japan.
So This Is It, The Final Round Of The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship, Rally Japan This Rally Is Of Course Held As Part Of The 2001 World Olympics In Tokyo, It’s Also Part Of The International Rally Championship Which Was Seperated From The 2 Litre Competitors, This Rally Will Also Be Part Of The Sparco Rally Championship By Next Year When The Series Is Put In Colin McRae Rally 3 Which Is Due Out For Next Year, Loads Of Group A, Group N, GT, Group H, 1400cc, 1600cc, 2000cc, 2WD, 4WD, FWD, RWD, Diesel, Petrol, Turbo, Modified World Rally, 4x4, Modified, Proto, Special, Classic, Formula 2000 And Hillclimb Cars Made This Rally And Was Also Seperated From The Other Rally Japan Which Ran Part Of Rallying At The 2001 World Olympics With 4WD WRC Cars, But There Is A Title To Be Won Between These Men, Niall McShea, Martin Rowe, Sebastien Loeb And Justin Dale, Based On The Twisty Alpine And Touge Roads Of Japan With Changable Weather Conditions With Rain Mixing Up With Sun On The Stages Which Will Be Apart In Colin McRae Rally 3 Next Year, Martin Rowe Was Charging To Win This Rally To Clinch The Title, He Took The Lead Going Into Day 1 And 2, But All Hopes Of Claiming The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship Title Were Dashed On The Final Day When His Ford’s Engine Blew, It’s A Bitter Disaster For Rowe And The Rapid Fit Ford Team, They’ve Just Took The Title In The British Formula Rally Series This Year, But Not A Chance For Another Title In The World Formula Rally Series, Rowe Hides His Frustration And Will Find Out What The Next Year Will Bring, Toshi Arai Bought His Subaru Impreza Kit Car Into 5th Place Behind Patrick Magaud’s Ford Puma, While Behind Him Jesus Puras Had Driven 3 Different Citroens At This Rally, The Xsara Kitcar In Sweden, The Saxo Kitcar In Spain, And Now Here He Is Driving A Citroen Xsara 4x4 Alongside Team Mate Philippe Bugalski They Would Finish In The Top 30, But Back At The Front Of The Field The Final Victory And The Title Of The 2001 Formula Rally World Championship Goes To The Ulsterman Niall McShea, With Sebastien Loeb Taking 2nd Place And Justin Dale Took 3rd On His Final Drive In The 106 Maxi Before Switching To The 206 S1600, Not Only The Title Of The 2 Litre Rally, But Also The Gold Medal For McShea And Co Driver Michael Orr At The 2001 World Olympics In Tokyo As Part Of One Of The Rally Events At The Games, They’ll Sure Be Back To Defend Their Title In 2002.
Drivers Championship.
Pos Entrant Pts.
 1 Niall McShea 300
 2 Sebastien Loeb 295
 3 Justin Dale 290
Manufacturers Championship.
Pos Entrant Pts.
 1 Citroen 300
 2 Peugeot 295
 3 Opel 290
Ford And Toyota Were Excluded From The Manufactuers Championship After A Homologation Issue On Both The Puma And Yaris, Meaning That Opel Finished 3rd In The Manufactuers And SEAT Taking 5th Just Ahead Of Proton In 6th.
Ford And Toyota Would Still Enter Their Cars They Entered At This Year’s Formula Rally World Championship Despite Their Exclusion From This Year’s Series.
The Group N Championship Was Won By Garbiel Pozzo, He Took The Title Over Gustavo Trelles In 2nd While 3rd Place Goes To The Australian Cody Crocker.
And Victory Also In Other Championships By Various Drivers In Every Specification Of Car Would See Some Drivers Purchase A Super 1600 Or Kit Car For Next Year After Winning The One Make Championships, And Also Other Classes Including Hillclimb, Special, Classic, Proto, 4x4, GT, Group H, 1400cc, 1600cc, 2000cc, 2WD, 4WD, FWD, RWD, Diesel, Petrol, Turbo, Modified World Rally And Formula 2000 Classes.
2002 Will Also See New Manufactuers Coming Into The Series, MG Will Enter The Series With The New ZR S1600, Opel Will Replace The Tigra With The All New Corsa S1600, Suzuki Will Also Be Joining The Fray With Their All New Ignis S1600, And Finally Renault Are Replacing The Twingo With The Clio S1600.
We Will Also Be Seeing Different Rallies On The Formula Rally World Championship Calendar Next Year, With The Addition To The Pharaoh Rally In Egypt Which Was Dropped From The IWRC Calendar For Next Year, Rally De Portugal Would Also Be An Addition To The Calendar After It Was Dropped From The WRC Calendar After Bad Weather Caused Havoc At This Year’s Rally, And We Also Have The Barum Rally In Zlin, The Czech Republic Also Been Added To The Formula Rally World Championship Calendar For Next Year.
We Will See You Guys When The Formula Rally World Championship Begins All Again In 2002.
But Until Then It’s Bye For Now.