Welcome to issue 218 of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, your favourite free source of rally entertainment!

To download this week’s issue, please click here: http://handbrakeshairpins.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/hh-218.pdf

As always, please enjoy this week’s read!

Yours in Rallying,

Evan Rothman (Editor) and Eva Kovkova (Photojournalist)

The SKODA UK Motorsport star was embroiled in a tight battle for victory with factory SKODA driver Juho Hanninen until he was instructed to hold position in second place in order to secure a one-two finish for the Czech manufacturer.

“I’m really motivated to win this rally,” said Mikkelsen. “Of course it will be a great start to the year and great for SKODA UK if I do but after last year I would really like to win this special event. It’s one of my favourite rallies with a really good atmosphere and amazing stages.”

SATA Rallye Acores forms round one of the 13-event IRC season in 2012. It takes place from 23-25 February on the island of Sao Miguel.

Flodin, a 27-year-old from Sweden, has considerable international event experience and is highly rated, particularly on gravel-based rallies. Although he has yet to finalise his programme for the upcoming IRC campaign he said: “We are working hard to achieve a full IRC season, even if nothing is ready yet.”

If Flodin does progress his plans and finalise an IRC bid then he will be one to watch according to Andreas Mikkelsen, the defending IRC champion. “He’s a good driver and I’m sure he can do some really, really good results. The IRC is a fantastic series and I hope as many drivers as possible come to find that out.”

IRC stars will go head-to-head on the course in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter in front of thousands of fans gathered for the opening of the Titanic Festival on Friday 6 April. The stage is just over two kilometres in length and is set to form a thrilling spectacle.

At the rally’s official launch in Belfast today (Thursday), event director Bobby Willis said: “The Titanic Super Special Stage will be a feast for motorsport fans and families alike with some of the world’s biggest rallying stars, including current IRC series champion, Norway’s Andreas Mikkelsen, thrilling crowds on a stage that will be built beneath grandstands yards from where the Titanic was launched.”

The Donnelly Group Circuit of Ireland will be based in the historic city of Armagh and will consist of a total of 15 stages, including a test through the centre of Lisburn, which attracted 15,000 fans in 2011. More information on this story is available at www.rally-irc.com.

View his tweet with the image here, and engage with the WRC star directly: https://twitter.com/#!/MadsOstberg/status/162624899679133696/photo/1

The highly popular Southern Car Club-organised event, which was voted BRC 2011 ‘Rally of the Year’, takes place in the forests near Bournemouth and Poole. Over the last 26 years it has grown into one of the best-loved and keenly contested events in the rally calendar.

Over the course of the event, rally officials will drive a fleet of award-winning four-wheel ŠKODA Yetis, which are ideally equipped for the slippery gravel forest roads.

ŠKODA UK will also loan the Dorset Police’s Traffic Division a Superb 3.6 V6 Elegance Estate 4×4 in police livery. This will be used before and during the event by Inspector Matt Butler (Dorset Police Rally Commander) and Neil Roden (Safety Manager, Rallye Sunseeker).

Rick Smith, Rallye Sunseeker Event Director: “The feedback from our senior officials last year about the Yeti was phenomenal, they loved the car, so much so that I know one has recently brought a ŠKODA. We are therefore very pleased to retain ŠKODA as the official car.”

This year’s Rallye Sunseeker will feature a 10% increase in stage mileage, with 11 gravel speed tests for FIA homologated R1, R2 and R3 cars as well as Group A and N. The event will once again begin with a ceremonial start on Poole Quay on the Friday night (February 24), which last year attracted an 8,000 strong crowd, with the action taking place in forests near Ringwood, Ferndown and Wareham the following day. The event includes a stage and Motor Fair at Somerley Park and further information is available from: www.rallyesunseeker.co.uk

Video uploaded to YouTube by SudRallye.

Video uploaded to YouTube by rivierarallynet.

Video uploaded to YouTube by amjayes2.

Video uploaded to YouTube by rallyexara.