Breslau Rally 2013: Cars and Motorcycles

This is the fourth and final of our posts of photo albums from the Breslau Rally 2013.

In this last post of photos from the 2013 Breslau Rally, we’ve selected some of our favorites from throughout the race.

Gilles Girousse and Max Delfino in their yellow Mercedes G during the Prolog:

The Mercedes 300 GD of Peter Serra and Olivier Martin:

Bretons Cedric Porcher and Damien Kermorvant, who finished the rally in second place with their Toyota Mudracer:

We didn’t get pictures every day because of the liaisons and and other service needs, but we had a front seat for the action on Days 4, 5 and 6 as we were able to ride along in one of the press cars.

Read more of this post and see the rest of the photos

Breslau Rally 2013: Trucks Part 2

This is the third of four posts of photo albums from the Breslau Rally 2013.

This second post of our Breslau Rally trucks photo series contains our favorite truck photos from from Days 5-8 of the rally. The photos are arranged in rough chronological order, and Tatra fans will find some of our best photos of the Svoboda Tatra Team.

Within the first 10km of the start of the 210km Special Stage on Day 5, the Puch GE 280 of Martin Heidrich and Gary Hagen rolled over on its side on a muddy section of the stage.

Several cars passed, while they looked for a way to turn the car over.

Not long after, the Svoboda Tatra arrived on the scene.

Read more of this post and see the rest of the photos

Breslau Rally 2013: Trucks Part 1

This is the second of four posts of photo albums from the Breslau Rally 2013.

There were thirty trucks in competition at the Breslau Rally in Poland this year. Thirteen of them were in the over 7.5 ton category. After sorting through our photos, we had so many interesting ones that we decided to split them into two parts so the posts would take less time to load.

In this second post of our Breslau Rallye photo series, we’ve collected our favorite truck photos from from Days 1-4. The photos are arranged in rough chronological order, and for Tatra fans there are a number of photos of the Svoboda Tatra Team throughout the series.

From the Prolog, on the Motorcross track at the Lausitzring (EuroSpeedway Lausitz), starting with the 6×6 Volvo 306 (TGB13) of Harry and Janny Van Steijn, which was actually classed with the cars,

the field was composed mostly of Mercedes Unimogs and MAN KATs, but not only German teams. This one driven by Gildas Carnet is from France.

The IFA L60 of Harald Chemnitz, Philipp Beier and Thorsten Moeler.

Read more of this post and see the rest of the photos

Breslau Rally 2013: Team Photo Album

This will be the first of three four posts of photo albums from the Breslau Rallye 2013.

Here are a few of the best photos of the team, in chronological order.

The Prolog at the Lausitzring (EuroSpeedway Lausitz) took place on the Motocross track. There was quite a bit of mud in some places and two good uphill climbs. The racers each completed eight laps of the course, which became increasingly difficult with each pass.:

Changing the rear axle after the shaft broke,

We didn’t get many pictures on Days 2 and 3 because of the liaison to Drawkso Pomorski and service needs. On Days 4, 5 and 6, we had a chance to accompany the press cars.

Despite having to abandon the stage because of transmission problems on Day 4, we got a few photos of Sylvain and Gaby during the first part of the stage. The water crossings were deeper than expected from the reconnaissance.

The Special Stage on Day 5 was long, but the water crossings were not as deep as the previous day’s and the team made an impressive come-back.

The organization decided to shorten the stage on Day 6 due to the difficulty of this year’s rally. The wet, rainy spring meant more mud and deeper water than had been planned. The change gave the racers a reprieve before the endurance test the following day.

We moved camp again on Day 7. For the racers, it was the longest day, with 11 “Hannibal” stages. We spent the day driving the service truck camp to Zagan, so aside from the photos we took at the station while Sylvain repaired the oil sump, we didn’t have a chance to take any pictures.

We didn’t get many photos on the last day. The Special was a bit shorter than on earlier days, but the teams were tired and still had to navigate quite a bit of mud and a water crossing.

Sylvain and Gaby’s makeshift repair of the tie rod knuckle just before the finish was the last of the excitement for the team. The race was over.

Later, we loaded the Patrol onto the trailer, packed up the assistance vehicles and began the slow 1,200km drive home. After we arrived, the guys had to weld a small piece on the broken knuckle before unloading the Patrol.

The next posts will be our photo albums of the trucks and cars.

Back From The 2013 Breslau Rally

This will be a sticky post post for the next few days as we wind down after the 2013 Breslau Rally, where we provided support for the LM 4×4 Nissan Patrol V8 with the Erg Racing Service truck.

We arrived home late Sunday evening after a drive of almost 1,800 km. We’ve already started sorting through our photo album and should have a selection of the best photos up in the next few days. Scroll down for the latest updates, and come back in a few days to check for more photos.

If you got here through a direct link, you might want to go back to the Home Page to scroll through the latest news.

Breslau Rally 2013, Day 8

The Breslau Rally 2013 is almost over. Just a little while ago the first of the cars and trucks began to arrive at the Finish.

The Starting Line was in the town of Zagan today. Quite a crowd came out to watch the parade of motorcycles, quads, SSVs, cars and trucks.

The “Gigglepin” Defender of James Marsden and Chris Abel at the Start,

The Svoboda Tatra,

The last Special Stages of the rally took place in the woods around the town.

A Dutch Landrover overturned, but no one was hurt.

The favorites to win in the car category, Bretons Cedric Porcher and Damien Kermorvant.

The Svoboda Tatra made a big splash.

Sylvain and Gaby at the same crossing.

They arrived a little while ago. Their tie rod kuckle broke just 200m from the end of the Special, and they had to do a makeshift repair to reach the Finish Line.

Same day Update: Here’s a photo of the jerry-rigged knuckle.

As the last of the racers continue arriving, we’ve started packing up to leave. We have over 1000 km ahead of us since we have to unload part of the team before returning home ourselves. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to stay for the winner’s party this evening. We’ll be driving through the night taking turns at the wheel. We’ll post more news when we get back.

Breslau Rally 2013, Day 7

Yesterday was Day 7 of the Breslau Rally, the longest day, known as “Hannibal,” with 11 timed Special Stages. Sylvain and Gaby didn’t arrive at the bivouac until almost midnight, so today’s report was delayed.

We don’t have any pictures of the action since we spent the day on the road moving all the equipment from Drawsko Pomorskie to the camp at Zagan. We got into Zagan around 15:30. Around 17:00 Sylvain called. The oil sump was fissured and he needed the soldering gear.

In a few minutes, we were underway. He was about 30 km away in Jasień, so it took us about a half an hour to get there.

In less than an hour he had fixed the problem and was headed back to the next Special. We went back to camp to wait. About two hours later, Sylvain called again. The alternator wasn’t working, and he was without power. We sent a car over with a spare battery and alternator to fix the problem.

Unfortunately, the power had failed during one the timed Specials, so they lost quite a bit of time and they missed one of the Check Points. As the hours grew later and it became dark, negotiating the course became more difficult and navigating was tricky. They had some trouble locating one of the final Check Points according to the heading in the roadbook and ended up losing more time.

With all the accumulated problems, they finished in 38th position for the day.

Today is the final stage. It’s a nice morning in Zagan, and we’ll be riding again with the press team so we should find some good photo spots. We’ll post the next update once the race is over.

Breslau Rally 2013, Day 6

Today was our last day with the press cars. Tomorrow we drive the 200km liaison to Zagan, where we will set up the final camp.

The day started out hot and humid. Then we had a rain shower and the weather turned much cooler.

The special was 150km long. Here are a few pictures from the start.

In case you don’t recognize it from yesterday’s photo when it was covered in mud, the bright red Mud Racer of Cedric Porcher and Damien Kermorvant, currently 2nd overall in the cars.

The Svoboda Tatra Team was the fastest among all the cars and trucks yesterday, so they were the first to start today. Here they are at the start,

and later at a water crossing near the end of the stage.

We got a few photos of Sylvain and Gaby too.

Today we took lots of photos and some video with the camera. We’ll try to transfer everything onto the Mac and post it as soon as possible after we get back next week. There are already some excellent photos of the team in this Gallery from Didier on the Breslau Rallye website and from the Dutch Rally Press here.

At the end of the day, the Svoboda Team finished 2nd of the trucks (>7.5t), 7 minutes behind the IFA of Harald Chemnitz and Philipp Beier, and is in 4th place overall. Cedric Porcher and Damien Kermorvant finished 3rd of the cars, and Sylvain and Gaby finished in 8th position for the day. They got back to camp around 3pm, and the maintenance crew took over.

Today’s list of service and repairs:

• Control power train (daily maintenance)
• Break pad change (every 2 days)
• Change the start engine
• Change the winch engine
• Re-intitialization of the ECU and it’s display (configurable display of settings from the engine sensors)
• Change the transmission fluid
• Change the 2 rear shocks

We started packing the truck a little while ago. Tomorrow is the Hannibal stage: 200km of liaison and 250km of timed special stage. We’re planning to break camp and set off for Zagan around 8:00am.

Breslau Rally 2013, Day 5

Today’s stage was 210km. A rather fast track with a few mud pits. We had a chance to ride in the press car again, so we got to see many of the highlights.

The mud racer of Bretons Cedric Porcher and Damien Kermorvant won the stage.

Sylvain and Gaby had a good day. After being forced to abandon yesterday, they ended up 60th to start, but managed to finish 3rd in the stage. Quite an impressive come-back, although they still have a few problems with the transmission and a few concerns about the front axle to check this evening.

The mechanics just finished changing one of the drive shafts a little while ago.

We had a chance to talk with the Svoboda Tatra Team at the bivouac. After rescuing a Mercedes that rolled over in the first 10 km of the stage, they went on to win and are currently in 4th place for the trucks and 8th place overall.

We exchanged information about rally plans and had a tour of their Tatra, with it’s particular architecture. It looks like a Jamal with the torpedo cabin, but there are some differences. For example the engine is set farther toward the rear than the Jamal.

Tomorrow should be another fast stage, but we don’t know yet how long it will be. It’s been a challenging course so far this year, and the orga may shorten the stage by ending at one of the CPs to give the racers a rest. Friday comes the long Hannibal stage and the move to the second bivouac in Zagan.

The first cars will start around 9am. Since the stage will be fast, the motorcycles will start quite a bit earlier to avoid being overtaken by too many cars along the way.

Breslau Rally 2013, Day 4

It was a long day for us today. We had the opportunity to ride along in one of the Breslau Rally press cars, a Toyota HDJ 80.

It wasn’t as touristy as it looks. At one point we were on the rally track going at high speed in the opposite direction as the racers! Everything turned out fine though.

We caught up with the IFA of Harald Chemnitz, who is currently in first place in the truck category.

We also got a photo of Sylvain and Gaby early on in the special.

Unfortunately, their water-logged automatic transmission wasn’t cooperating and wouldn’t switch gears. They had to abandon the stage after 25-30km.

Pierre and Corinne Malquion had to abandon too.

Their problem was more serious as they almost destroyed the engine of their Toyota KZ. Unfortunately, the rally is over for them this year.

We also spotted the Svoboda Tatra a few times during the day.

We got lots of good pictures, but unfortunately they’re all on the camera and we can’t get them off until we get home. Today, we filled up the iPhone with video and don’t have any space for more photos until we copy them off onto the Mac. Hopefully, we’ll have a little time to do that tomorrow.

When we got back to the camp this evening, the mechanics had been working all day on the Nissan Patrol to fix the transmission, as well as doing some work on the carburetor, and making a number of other repairs. Sylvain and Gaby receive a penalty for abandoning today’s stage, but the car will be ready to go again in the morning.

Tomorrow’s special has been reduced from 250km to 210km because the army is carrying out maneuvers in the area. The Roadbooks had to be updated at the last minute and they’re not ready yet. The co-pilots won’t have much time to study them in the morning.

We’re hoping to join the press team again. We won’t break camp until Friday, when we move to Zagan.