July 2009
LOEB TO DELIVER LATE SEASON CHARGE?
In the FIA World Rally Championship there is drama and surprise with five-time champion Sebastien Loeb suffering a hat-trick of disappointments. Having lost time with a puncture in Italy, and a penalty for undoing his straps while still on the move, the Stilo-supplied Frenchman has also crashed out of the Acropolis Rally of Greece and was forced to restart the Rally Poland after retiring on the first day, netting only a seventh place finish.
After winning the opening five events of the year, Loeb's previously unassailable lead has now turned into a one-point deficit to Mikko Hirvonen, who has been by far the most consistent finisher of the year. Loeb must now look to his laurels in the second half of the season, starting in Finland at the end of July, if he is to secure his record sixth title.
"It's very simple, I just need to win more rallies than Mikko," he concluded.
July 2009
MEEKE WINS IN YPRES
The Intercontinental Rally Challenge is shaping up to be another hard-fought championship, with Britain's Kris Meeke taking a surprise victory in the Belgium Ypres Rally to keep the series lead. Stilo-supplied Meeke pressed the pre-event favourite - and previous championship leader - Freddy Loix into cutting a corner and collecting a puncture on the treacherous Belgian stages and took a euphoric victory.
Loix nevertheless finished third overall and as a result the title race between the young Briton and the veteran Belgian is poised at just six points after five of this year's 11 events.
July 2009
GAI HEADS FERRARI GENTLEMEN
Meanwhile at the classic Paul Ricard circuit in France, now rebuilt under the ownership of Bernie Ecclestone to be the world's most advanced facility of its kind in the world, Stefano Gai has been defending his series lead in the Gentleman's class of the European Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli. The glamorous action among a field of identically-prepared Ferrari F430 racers is a hard-fought battle at every corner, with Stilo-helmeted Gai holding the lead with 114 points after the opening three events of seven in the season.
April 2009
LOEB CONTINUES VICTORY RUN
The 2009 World Rally Championship is still riding out the storm of Stilo-equipped Sebastien Loeb: the five-time world champion has yet to show any inclination to surrender a single point to his rivals after five victories in five events. So great has been his domination, following his most recent win in Portugal, that many people now tip the Stilo-helmeted driver to make it 12 wins out of 12 this year.
“That’s not something that I’m thinking about at all: however I am fully focused on winning another world title, which would be a fantastic objective” said Loeb. “In order to achieve this, I rely on the help of all my valued partners - including Stilo.”
As the WRC teams prepare for the Rallye d’Italia-Sardegna later this month, the international sporting world is quite simply witnessing a maestro at the very peak of his abilities, with absolute certainty in the tried-and-tested performance of every component that he relies upon, from the all-conquering Citroen C4 to the user-friendly comfort and security of his Stilo Carbon Piuma helmet.
The good news for the World Rally Championship is also that Loeb seems set to continue in the World Rally Championship for a number of years yet. “When Citroen proposes to me to sign for next year I will maybe sign,” said Loeb. His team boss Olivier Quesnel confirmed: “I’m quite sure for the next two years he should be there.”
Loeb has won four out of his five world titles wearing Stilo helmets.
April 2009
HUFF TRIUMPHS IN MARRAKECH WTCC
More world championship glory has been reached by a Stilo-helmeted driver with the first World Touring Car Championship win of 2009 for Chevrolet’s British driver Rob Huff in the category’s first ever race on the streets of Marrakech in Morocco. The weekend proved to be extremely profitable for Chevrolet's championship chances, and Huff was the star of the show at the all-new venue.
After taking a lights-to-flag victory in the first race, he followed up in race two with a charge from eighth on the reverse grid to third place at the finish in his Chevrolet Cruze, behind veteran team mate Nicola Larini, who scored his first-ever WTCC win. Another street circuit awaits the flying Chevrolet racer next time out - albeit the historic streets of Pau in France, host to motor sport events since 1901.
April 2009
GP2 KICKS OFF IN BARCELONA
This year's GP2 season kicks off at the Barcelona Grand Prix, with the unofficial 'feeder series' to Formula One featuring a host of young talent keen to follow the likes of Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Timo Glock through into the sport's premier league. Among the title challengers this year is GP2 race winner, Portguese ace Alvaro Parente, who recently rounded out a successful GP2 Asia campaign at the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Stilo-wearing Parente, 24, already has one GP2 victory to his credit, and will be hungry to make the grade in his Ocean Racing-entered machine. Parente will also rely on his Stilo helmet, which is also homologated for use in Formula 1, with its fully integrated communications and drinks system, meaning that all the driver needs to do is concentrate on racing.
Parente said: “The Stilo helmet offers a number of significant advantages over its rivals, and it is certainly the best helmet that I have ever raced with. One of the particular benefits of choosing Stilo is the low weight of the helmet, without compromising strength in any way.”
In fact, Stilo’s patented helmets are up to 200 grams lighter than some of their direct rivals: a factor that has led a number of drivers such as Parente to switch to Stilo. Other drivers who will race in GP2 with Stilo helmets this year include Italian driver Davide Valsecchi and Angolan racer Ricardo Teixeira. A fourth driver is also expected to make the switch to Stilo in the coming weeks.
April 2009
MEEKE MAKES IT TWO IN A ROW
Irish driver Kris Meeke, who uses Stilo helmets, has made it two victories in a row on the Intercontinental Rally Challenge. Meeke - the winner of the last IRC round he contested in Brazil - won the Sata Rally Acores with a dominant drive from start to finish in his Peugeot UK 207 S2000. As a result, the Stilo-equipped driver now leads the IRC championship, just as Loeb leads the WRC standings.
“I'm seriously thrilled about our performance here this weekend,” he said “I wasn't intentionally pushing on the stages, just holding it together. I'm delighted for Peugeot UK and for everyone who has supported and helped me to perform.”
The next round of the IRC - where the majority of the front runners use Stilo equipment - takes place at the Belgium Ypres Rally from 18-20 June.
March 2009
LOEB CLAIMS 50th VICTORY IN CYPRUS
Five-time World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, who uses Stilo helmets, has claimed his historic 50th win on the Cyprus Rally. The Frenchman’s latest win reinforces his status as the most successful rally driver of all time, putting him 20 wins clear of his nearest contender, Marcus Gronholm. Carlos Sainz is third on the list of all-time winners, with a total of 26 career victories.
Loeb commented: “I’m obviously absolutely delighted to take my 50th win as it is something that means a lot to me. I’ve always taken my career one step at a time; then one day we saw that we were equal with Carlos Sainz’s record. That day does not seem like such a long time ago. When I passed the record of Carlos, this was special for me, but it feels incredible now. This is something I could never have dreamed of.”
Both Loeb and his co-driver Daniel Elena are equipped by Stilo, together with their Citroen Racing team mates Dani Sordo and Marc Marti.
Stilo’s Elena Perini commented: “Congratulations to Sebastien, Daniel and Citroen for this landmark achievement. At Stilo, we are all very proud of the role we have played in their success. We will of course continue to develop our products into the future, in order to help drivers such as Sebastien onto even greater exploits in the coming years.”
March 2009
A SUCCESSFUL WEEKEND FOR STILO IN BRAZIL
Italian helmet manufacturer Stilo has enjoyed an extremely successful weekend in Curitiba, Brazil, which hosted both the opening round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship and the second round of the Intercontinental Rally Challenge at the same venue.
The top four finishers on the Rally Internacional de Curitiba -Kris Meeke (Peugeot UK), Nicolas Vouilloz (Peugeot Belgium), Giandomenico Basso (Abarth) and Freddy Loix (Peugeot Belgium) all used Stilo’s unique rally helmets with their fully-integrated intercom systems, lending a competitive advantage and providing a key ingredient to success.
It was Kris Meeke’s first victory on the IRC series, which he achieved after winning all seven stages on the opening day, together with his co-driver Paul Nagle. On the second day he controlled his advantage to win by nearly half a minute, while Loix moved into the lead of the championship.
After the rally finished on Saturday afternoon, the attention turned to the opening round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, with the opening two races dominated by Spanish marque SEAT - which claimed the top four places in both races.
Five drivers in the top 10 of the WTCC standings are now proud to wear Stilo helmets, including the most experienced competitor and the winner of race two, Gabriele Tarquini. Despite torrential rain before the start of the race, Tarquini rapidly picked his way through all the standing water to record a stylish victory in his SEAT Leon TDi.
Stilo’s Elena Perini commented: “Congratulations to all our winners at Curitiba. Once more our helmets are well represented at the sharp end of the field, whether it is in rallying or racing. These latest successes only underline the fact that Stilo is the choice of champions, and we wish all our drivers the very best of luck throughout the season ahead after this thrilling start.”
This weekend, Stilo driver Sebastien Loeb is bidding for an historic 50th World Rally Championship win on the Cyprus Rally.
February 2009
LOEB CLAIMS ANOTHER WIN IN NORWAY
Reigning World Rally Champions Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena have claimed another win to add to their impressive total of success with Stilo helmets, on the second round of the World Rally Championship, in Norway, last month. If Loeb goes on to win the next round in Cyprus as well - the World Championship’s only mixed-surface event - the Frenchman will celebrate a historic half century of career victories.
“We are very proud to be associated with two great champions such as Sebastien and Daniel,” said Stilo’s Elena Perini. “Their latest win in Norway only underlines the depth and versatility of their talent on every surface, and we are delighted that our helmets too have coped well with these challenging conditions, where drivers and teams had to work in temperatures below minus 25 degrees centigrade.”
Sebastien and Daniel have won the last four of their record-breaking five championships using Stilo helmets, which feature a unique design and fully integrated communications system.