| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 12:31 PM |
[SIZE=5][B]SS16: Solberg may have taken stage[/B] [/SIZE]
Solberg finishes stage 16 ahead of Loeb by 1.3 seconds. Loeb as behind both Gronholm and Solberg at this time.
The stage is live and results are still coming in but the Loeb continues to lead Solberg by almost 50 seconds on this penultimate stage
Solberg finishes stage 16 ahead of Loeb by 1.3 seconds. Loeb as behind both Gronholm and Solberg at this time.
The stage is live and results are still coming in but the Loeb continues to lead Solberg by almost 50 seconds on this penultimate stage
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 12:37 PM |
[IMG]http://rallymexico.com/%5CGallery%5CPhotos%5CMiscellaneous%20%20(low%20res)%5CIMG_0485.JPG[/IMG]
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 12:41 PM |
[SIZE=5][B]S16: Stohl on podium?[/B][/SIZE]
OMV-Peugeot Norway World Rally Team driver Manfred Stohl should find his first podium position of the 2006 season in the Corona Rally M�xico. If the Peugeot driver maintains his car during the last stage of the event, the Nextel Superspecial, he will find bronze in the third round of this year's championship.
Sebastien Loeb finished stage 16 without incident, and though Petter Solberg took the stage's quickest time, he did not make up enough time to overtake the Frenchman. Petter Solberg now sits nearly 50 seconds off of Loeb's time.
Marcus Gronholm finished the stage second quickest, followed by Citroen's Sebastien Loeb. Dani Sordo continues to have an amazing rally, taking the fourth quickest time on the stage. Fifth position went to Gronholm's team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. Sixth position went to Subaru's Chris Atkinson.
[url]http://www.wrc.com/page/News/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~797925,00.html[/url]
OMV-Peugeot Norway World Rally Team driver Manfred Stohl should find his first podium position of the 2006 season in the Corona Rally M�xico. If the Peugeot driver maintains his car during the last stage of the event, the Nextel Superspecial, he will find bronze in the third round of this year's championship.
Sebastien Loeb finished stage 16 without incident, and though Petter Solberg took the stage's quickest time, he did not make up enough time to overtake the Frenchman. Petter Solberg now sits nearly 50 seconds off of Loeb's time.
Marcus Gronholm finished the stage second quickest, followed by Citroen's Sebastien Loeb. Dani Sordo continues to have an amazing rally, taking the fourth quickest time on the stage. Fifth position went to Gronholm's team-mate Mikko Hirvonen. Sixth position went to Subaru's Chris Atkinson.
[url]http://www.wrc.com/page/News/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~797925,00.html[/url]
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 12:49 PM |
[QUOTE=Subie Gal]...something about...
it's a good idea to make sure your cars are spec legal with the proper papers
before entering a round of the WRC Eh?[/QUOTE]
[B][U][URL=http://www.rallymexico.com/Documents.asp]This information[/URL] [/U][/B] has been on the [URL=http://www.rallymexico.com]Rally Mexico Site[/URL] for some time now, so there is no excuse!
it's a good idea to make sure your cars are spec legal with the proper papers
before entering a round of the WRC Eh?[/QUOTE]
[B][U][URL=http://www.rallymexico.com/Documents.asp]This information[/URL] [/U][/B] has been on the [URL=http://www.rallymexico.com]Rally Mexico Site[/URL] for some time now, so there is no excuse!
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 12:58 PM |
Too Late !!!
| MPME | 03-05-2006 01:10 PM |
Loeb clinches Rally Mexico victory
Sunday, March 5th 2006, 17:36 GMT
Sebastien Loeb has won the Rally Mexico and taken the World Rally Championship points lead in the process.
Having led for so much of the event, Petter Solberg had to be content with second place, 48.9 seconds adrift.
The Norweigan began the final day in an optimistic mood, hoping he could still take the fight to Loeb despite dropping 37.7 seconds behind his rival after power steering failure and a spin late on leg two.
But instead Solberg lost more time to Loeb in Leon, the rally's longest stage, after some issues with his brakes. With just the 18 kilometres of Silao and then a quick blast around the Nextel Superspecial remaining, it was clear that only a mechanical disaster or an uncharacteristic mistake could now stop Loeb. Neither materialised, and he duly clinched his first win of 2006 - a prospect that had looked unlikely when he completed the opening loop of leg one in fourth place, 33 seconds behind Solberg.
"On Friday we lost a lot of time because we were second on the road so we had to clean the stages," said Loeb. "Petter was really fast, but since then we pushed really hard and we came back and had a good lead. It was really a good rally for me."
Manfred Stohl completed the podium in his OMV Peugeot, continuing to ease away from the chasing Dani Sordo in the second Kronos Citroen. Both drivers took a measured approach to the final day and focused on getting to the finish rather than scrapping furiously for the final podium spot. Stohl was relieved to make it after struggling with the 307's handling all weekend, while fourth was a pleasing achievement for reigning Junior WRC Champion Sordo on his first attempt at the event.
Also cruising sensibly to the finish were Henning Solberg and Gareth MacHale in fifth and sixth. Brake problems plagued Solberg all weekend, and convinced him to switch to conservative points gathering mode early in the rally. For young Irish privateer MacHale, a debut top six so soon in his first WRC programme was a remarkable result.
The final leg was relatively anti-climactic compared to the incident and excitement of legs one and two, but Chris Atkinson and former championship leader Marcus Gronholm's recovery drives provided some late interest. Both had rolled on Friday afternoon - Gronholm while running third and closing on the leaders - and rejoined under SupeRally regulations on leg two. They came back from 19th and 23rd positions to seventh and eighth respectively.
Leading positions after leg three:
Pos Driver Make Time
1. Loeb Citroen 3h 47:08.8
2. P Solberg Subaru + 48.9
3. Stohl Peugeot + 4:39.1
4. Sordo Citroen + 5:27.7
5. H Solberg Peugeot + 12:35.4
6. MacHale Ford + 16:02.3
7. Atkinson Subaru + 20:39.5
8. Gronholm Ford + 21:44.2
Sunday, March 5th 2006, 17:36 GMT
Sebastien Loeb has won the Rally Mexico and taken the World Rally Championship points lead in the process.
Having led for so much of the event, Petter Solberg had to be content with second place, 48.9 seconds adrift.
The Norweigan began the final day in an optimistic mood, hoping he could still take the fight to Loeb despite dropping 37.7 seconds behind his rival after power steering failure and a spin late on leg two.
But instead Solberg lost more time to Loeb in Leon, the rally's longest stage, after some issues with his brakes. With just the 18 kilometres of Silao and then a quick blast around the Nextel Superspecial remaining, it was clear that only a mechanical disaster or an uncharacteristic mistake could now stop Loeb. Neither materialised, and he duly clinched his first win of 2006 - a prospect that had looked unlikely when he completed the opening loop of leg one in fourth place, 33 seconds behind Solberg.
"On Friday we lost a lot of time because we were second on the road so we had to clean the stages," said Loeb. "Petter was really fast, but since then we pushed really hard and we came back and had a good lead. It was really a good rally for me."
Manfred Stohl completed the podium in his OMV Peugeot, continuing to ease away from the chasing Dani Sordo in the second Kronos Citroen. Both drivers took a measured approach to the final day and focused on getting to the finish rather than scrapping furiously for the final podium spot. Stohl was relieved to make it after struggling with the 307's handling all weekend, while fourth was a pleasing achievement for reigning Junior WRC Champion Sordo on his first attempt at the event.
Also cruising sensibly to the finish were Henning Solberg and Gareth MacHale in fifth and sixth. Brake problems plagued Solberg all weekend, and convinced him to switch to conservative points gathering mode early in the rally. For young Irish privateer MacHale, a debut top six so soon in his first WRC programme was a remarkable result.
The final leg was relatively anti-climactic compared to the incident and excitement of legs one and two, but Chris Atkinson and former championship leader Marcus Gronholm's recovery drives provided some late interest. Both had rolled on Friday afternoon - Gronholm while running third and closing on the leaders - and rejoined under SupeRally regulations on leg two. They came back from 19th and 23rd positions to seventh and eighth respectively.
Leading positions after leg three:
Pos Driver Make Time
1. Loeb Citroen 3h 47:08.8
2. P Solberg Subaru + 48.9
3. Stohl Peugeot + 4:39.1
4. Sordo Citroen + 5:27.7
5. H Solberg Peugeot + 12:35.4
6. MacHale Ford + 16:02.3
7. Atkinson Subaru + 20:39.5
8. Gronholm Ford + 21:44.2
| Chromer | 03-05-2006 01:32 PM |
[QUOTE=Subie Gal]all this info and nobody is mentioning the fact that Subaru rally team usa
was forced to withdraw from the event at the very start :lol:[/QUOTE]
Schadenfreude much?
was forced to withdraw from the event at the very start :lol:[/QUOTE]
Schadenfreude much?
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 02:06 PM |
[SIZE=5][B]SS17: Loeb wins M�xico[/B][/SIZE]
The third round of the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship season was full of firsts: Kronos Total Citro�n World Rally Team ace Sebastien Loeb has won his first rally of the 2006 season. Sebastien Loeb will also stand atop the podium in Mexico for the first time, joining 2004 winner Markko Martin and last year's champion Petter Solberg on the very short list of event winners.
[B]The rally was also the first event of the season where Subaru World Rally Team driver Petter Solberg finished with drivers' points and a podium finish. [/B] Solberg finishes the event with the silver, after leading most of Leg one and battling with Loeb for the top finish during the early part of Day two. Solberg lost power steering in his Impreza WRC06 late during Leg two, and Loeb permanently captured the lead which he held for the rest of the event.
Stage 17, the last run of the Nextel Superspecial, did nothing to change the final results from stage 16 other than solidify the final finishing times.
Manfred Stohl also finished the event with his first podium of the year with the OMV-Peugeot Norway World Rally Team. The Peugeot driver finished the first event of the year, Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo, in fourth position.
2005 J-WRC champion Dani Sordo finished the event fourth, and Peugeot driver Henning Solberg finished the event fifth. Henning had complained during the entire event that he was having difficulties with his brakes. Solberg's previous outing was a win at Rally Norway.
Relatively unknown Irish driver Gareth Machale finishes Corona Rally Mexico in sixth position, securing the first drivers' points finish of his career. After the retirements of BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen (who held a secure second position until his retirement on stage eight) and Marcus Gronholm (who misses out on the podium for the first time of the season), Machale finishes the event as the highest finishing Ford.
[B]Subaru's Chris Atkinson finishes the event in seventh position, securing two more drivers' points.[/B] Marcus Gronholm, who is rallying under SupeRally rules finished the event in eighth position, narrowly finishing with points.
[url]http://www.wrc.com/page/News/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~797933,00.html[/url]
The third round of the 2006 FIA World Rally Championship season was full of firsts: Kronos Total Citro�n World Rally Team ace Sebastien Loeb has won his first rally of the 2006 season. Sebastien Loeb will also stand atop the podium in Mexico for the first time, joining 2004 winner Markko Martin and last year's champion Petter Solberg on the very short list of event winners.
[B]The rally was also the first event of the season where Subaru World Rally Team driver Petter Solberg finished with drivers' points and a podium finish. [/B] Solberg finishes the event with the silver, after leading most of Leg one and battling with Loeb for the top finish during the early part of Day two. Solberg lost power steering in his Impreza WRC06 late during Leg two, and Loeb permanently captured the lead which he held for the rest of the event.
Stage 17, the last run of the Nextel Superspecial, did nothing to change the final results from stage 16 other than solidify the final finishing times.
Manfred Stohl also finished the event with his first podium of the year with the OMV-Peugeot Norway World Rally Team. The Peugeot driver finished the first event of the year, Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo, in fourth position.
2005 J-WRC champion Dani Sordo finished the event fourth, and Peugeot driver Henning Solberg finished the event fifth. Henning had complained during the entire event that he was having difficulties with his brakes. Solberg's previous outing was a win at Rally Norway.
Relatively unknown Irish driver Gareth Machale finishes Corona Rally Mexico in sixth position, securing the first drivers' points finish of his career. After the retirements of BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Mikko Hirvonen (who held a secure second position until his retirement on stage eight) and Marcus Gronholm (who misses out on the podium for the first time of the season), Machale finishes the event as the highest finishing Ford.
[B]Subaru's Chris Atkinson finishes the event in seventh position, securing two more drivers' points.[/B] Marcus Gronholm, who is rallying under SupeRally rules finished the event in eighth position, narrowly finishing with points.
[url]http://www.wrc.com/page/News/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~797933,00.html[/url]
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 02:20 PM |
[SIZE=5][B]Rally Mexico Course Penalties[/B][/SIZE]
(excludes SupeRally)
No.==Driver==Control==Penalty Reason==Penalty
6 C. ATKINSON (AUS) TC 10C 10 M LATE AT TC 10C 1:40
8 H. SOLBERG (N) TC 15 1 M LATE AT TC 15 0:10
16 R. TRIVINO (MEX) TC 7C 2 M LATE AT TC 7C 0:20
32 M. LIGATO (RA) TC 10C 1 M LATE AT TC 10C 0:10
36 M. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 7E 1 M LATE AT TC 7E 0:10
37 J. LATVALA (FIN) TC 9 4 M LATE AT TC 9 0:40
43 S. VOJTECH (CZ) TC 10 1 M LATE AT TC 10 0:10
43 S. VOJTECH (CZ) TC 12 6 M LATE AT TC 12 1:00
60 F. NAME (MEX) TC 15 3 M LATE AT TC 15 0:30
61 L. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 7E 4 M LATE AT TC 7E 0:40
61 L. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 8 1 M LATE AT TC 8 0:10
61 L. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 10 1 M LATE AT TC 10 0:10
61 L. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 13C 6 M LATE AT TC 13C 1:00
63 W. GUBELMANN (USA) TC 7E 3 M LATE AT TC 7E 0:30
66 J. ORTU�O (MEX) TC 3 1 M LATE AT TC 3 0:10
70 A. DIAZ CANEJA (MEX) TC 9 2 M LATE AT TC 9 0:20
71 J. CASSIDY (USA) TC 3C 3 M LATE AT TC 3C 0:30
71 J. CASSIDY (USA) TC 7C 2 M LATE AT TC 7C 0:20
73 R. GNECCHI (MEX) TC 14A 1 M EARLY AT TC 14A 1:00
73 R. GNECCHI (MEX) TC 14C 4 M LATE AT TC 14C 0:40
74 L. A. RODR�GUEZ (MEX) TC 3C 1 M LATE AT TC 3C 0:10
75 O. URIBE F (MEX) TC 3A 6 M LATE AT TC 3A 1:00
75 O. URIBE F (MEX) TC 6A 3 M LATE AT TC 6A 0:30
75 O. URIBE F (MEX) TC 10C 4 M LATE AT TC 10C 0:40
(excludes SupeRally)
No.==Driver==Control==Penalty Reason==Penalty
6 C. ATKINSON (AUS) TC 10C 10 M LATE AT TC 10C 1:40
8 H. SOLBERG (N) TC 15 1 M LATE AT TC 15 0:10
16 R. TRIVINO (MEX) TC 7C 2 M LATE AT TC 7C 0:20
32 M. LIGATO (RA) TC 10C 1 M LATE AT TC 10C 0:10
36 M. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 7E 1 M LATE AT TC 7E 0:10
37 J. LATVALA (FIN) TC 9 4 M LATE AT TC 9 0:40
43 S. VOJTECH (CZ) TC 10 1 M LATE AT TC 10 0:10
43 S. VOJTECH (CZ) TC 12 6 M LATE AT TC 12 1:00
60 F. NAME (MEX) TC 15 3 M LATE AT TC 15 0:30
61 L. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 7E 4 M LATE AT TC 7E 0:40
61 L. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 8 1 M LATE AT TC 8 0:10
61 L. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 10 1 M LATE AT TC 10 0:10
61 L. BALDACCI (RSM) TC 13C 6 M LATE AT TC 13C 1:00
63 W. GUBELMANN (USA) TC 7E 3 M LATE AT TC 7E 0:30
66 J. ORTU�O (MEX) TC 3 1 M LATE AT TC 3 0:10
70 A. DIAZ CANEJA (MEX) TC 9 2 M LATE AT TC 9 0:20
71 J. CASSIDY (USA) TC 3C 3 M LATE AT TC 3C 0:30
71 J. CASSIDY (USA) TC 7C 2 M LATE AT TC 7C 0:20
73 R. GNECCHI (MEX) TC 14A 1 M EARLY AT TC 14A 1:00
73 R. GNECCHI (MEX) TC 14C 4 M LATE AT TC 14C 0:40
74 L. A. RODR�GUEZ (MEX) TC 3C 1 M LATE AT TC 3C 0:10
75 O. URIBE F (MEX) TC 3A 6 M LATE AT TC 3A 1:00
75 O. URIBE F (MEX) TC 6A 3 M LATE AT TC 6A 0:30
75 O. URIBE F (MEX) TC 10C 4 M LATE AT TC 10C 0:40
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 02:27 PM |
[IMG]http://pix.crash.net/view/190588.jpg[/IMG]
| Subie Gal | 03-05-2006 02:48 PM |
[QUOTE=STiMULi][B][U][URL=http://www.rallymexico.com/Documents.asp]This information[/URL] [/U][/B] has been on the [URL=http://www.rallymexico.com]Rally Mexico Site[/URL] for some time now, so there is no excuse![/QUOTE]
aahh very good. thanks :)
didnt see it posted in THIS THREAD :alien: [i]until now....[/i] :D
aahh very good. thanks :)
didnt see it posted in THIS THREAD :alien: [i]until now....[/i] :D
| Kostamojen | 03-05-2006 03:31 PM |
Are the day 2 or day 3 torrents up yet?
| Mopho | 03-05-2006 04:25 PM |
[QUOTE=Subie Gal]all this info and nobody is mentioning the fact that Subaru rally team usa
was forced to withdraw from the event at the very start :lol:
I'm suprised this hasnt come up?
something about...
it's a good idea to make sure your cars are spec legal with the proper papers
before entering a round of the WRC Eh?
Jamie [url=http://www.subiegal.com/][img]http://www.subiegal.com/subiegal-smilie.png[/img][/url][/QUOTE]
It was announced over a week ago they would only be doing Recce and not competing, so there was no mess up on their part. Withdrawing right before the event was only a formality, the cars were not even brought down to the event
was forced to withdraw from the event at the very start :lol:
I'm suprised this hasnt come up?
something about...
it's a good idea to make sure your cars are spec legal with the proper papers
before entering a round of the WRC Eh?
Jamie [url=http://www.subiegal.com/][img]http://www.subiegal.com/subiegal-smilie.png[/img][/url][/QUOTE]
It was announced over a week ago they would only be doing Recce and not competing, so there was no mess up on their part. Withdrawing right before the event was only a formality, the cars were not even brought down to the event
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 04:51 PM |
[SIZE=5][B]Mexico WRC - Leg 3 Report[/B][/SIZE]
On the final leg there were only two orthodox stages plus one run on the Superspecial. All 34 cars on the provisional restart list were present and correct. Missing was Pozzo, on account of engine failure, and Nutahara for disciplinary reasons. The line up included all four official Fords, each of them still in the event courtesy of the Five Minute Rule!
[B]Petter Solberg had a bad experience on the Superspecial when he spun, stalled and lost any hope for reclaiming the lost time. "Something we learned, however, was that the car had a hydraulic leak from the power steering before we hit a rock on stage 13."[/B]
BP-Ford's Marcus Gronholm's efforts had some rewards. At the end of Saturday, he was up to 11th place overall and sixth in the line-up for makes' points. Today he needed to see if he could get into the drivers' points. On a similar catch-up mission was Atkinson who started 10th. After stage 15 Atkinson had jumped three places, passing the private Peugeot 206WRC of Trivino and also the P-WRC cars of Arai and Al Attiyah, while Gronholm had got passed only Trivino. "It was unusual, because we were getting slowed down by the dust of the car in front of us - which was driven by our team-mate Hirvonen!"
After stage 16, the last of the long stages on the event, Subaru World Rally Team driver Chris Atkinson stayed put at seventh overall and Gronholm passed the two P-WRC cars as well to end up eighth, finally in the drivers' points. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson reached the finish despite losing power before the first stage of the day, and Atkinson despite power steering failure.
[B]At the head of the field Solberg checked his split times on the first stage of the day, found he was not gaining any ground and eased off appropriately. [/B] Kronos Total Citro�n World Rally Team ace Sebastien Loeb was thrilled how things panned out and did celebratory "doughnuts" outside the Polyforum rally headquarters as he drove up to the final service control.
[url]http://www.wrc.com/page/News/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~797966,00.html[/url]
On the final leg there were only two orthodox stages plus one run on the Superspecial. All 34 cars on the provisional restart list were present and correct. Missing was Pozzo, on account of engine failure, and Nutahara for disciplinary reasons. The line up included all four official Fords, each of them still in the event courtesy of the Five Minute Rule!
[B]Petter Solberg had a bad experience on the Superspecial when he spun, stalled and lost any hope for reclaiming the lost time. "Something we learned, however, was that the car had a hydraulic leak from the power steering before we hit a rock on stage 13."[/B]
BP-Ford's Marcus Gronholm's efforts had some rewards. At the end of Saturday, he was up to 11th place overall and sixth in the line-up for makes' points. Today he needed to see if he could get into the drivers' points. On a similar catch-up mission was Atkinson who started 10th. After stage 15 Atkinson had jumped three places, passing the private Peugeot 206WRC of Trivino and also the P-WRC cars of Arai and Al Attiyah, while Gronholm had got passed only Trivino. "It was unusual, because we were getting slowed down by the dust of the car in front of us - which was driven by our team-mate Hirvonen!"
After stage 16, the last of the long stages on the event, Subaru World Rally Team driver Chris Atkinson stayed put at seventh overall and Gronholm passed the two P-WRC cars as well to end up eighth, finally in the drivers' points. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson reached the finish despite losing power before the first stage of the day, and Atkinson despite power steering failure.
[B]At the head of the field Solberg checked his split times on the first stage of the day, found he was not gaining any ground and eased off appropriately. [/B] Kronos Total Citro�n World Rally Team ace Sebastien Loeb was thrilled how things panned out and did celebratory "doughnuts" outside the Polyforum rally headquarters as he drove up to the final service control.
[url]http://www.wrc.com/page/News/BreakingNewsDetail/0,,10111~797966,00.html[/url]
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 05:08 PM |
[SIZE=5][B]Post-Event FIA Press Conference[/B][/SIZE]
(3/5/2006 2:42:00 PM)
[SIZE=4][B]2006 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
CORONA RALLY MEXICO[/B][/SIZE]
Final FIA Press Conference
Sunday March 5, 2006
[B]Present:[COLOR=DarkGreen]
1st S�bastien Loeb � Total Kronos Citro�n World Rally Team
1st Daniel Elena � Total Kronos Citro�n World Rally Team[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]2nd Petter Solberg � Subaru World Rally Team
2nd Phil Mills � Subaru World Rally Team[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]3rd Manfred Stohl � OMV Peugeot Norway
3rd Ilka Minor � OMV Peugeot Norway[/COLOR]
Representative of the winning Manufacturer Total Kronos Citro�n WRT - Marc Van Dalen[/B]
[b]Welcome to the final FIA press conference. Joining us are winners S�bastien Loeb and Daniel Elena from Total Kronos Citro�n, Petter Solberg and Phil Mills, who finished second for the Subaru World Rally Team, and Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor who took third for OMV Peugeot Norway. Marc Van Dalen is also in attendance as the representative of the winning manufacturer.
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Congratulations on your first win of the year, which puts you in a five-point lead in the World Championship. You had a big fight with Petter throughout the rally, but moved significantly ahead last night after Petter had a steering problem at the end of the day. Without Petter�s problem, do you still think you could have beaten him?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkGreen]SL:
It�s difficult to say, it was close. Petter lost 30 seconds with his problem yesterday, but I lost 30 seconds on day one when I was cleaning the road. It was a good fight, really interesting. Then I had a more comfortable lead for today and it was easier for me to finish the rally in this position. Then also on the first leg we had Mikko and Marcus, we will have some nice fights in the future. It�s interesting to drive like this, when you fight for seconds in a 25 kilometre stage, very exciting. We had some very good moments on this rally. The car was perfect; we had no problems all weekend.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
How difficult was this victory for you? Many drivers complained of animals on the road: did you hit anything?
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkGreen]DE:
The temperature is very hot in the car because the engine needs heating, so we sit there all day with the heater on � it�s not easy, I don�t like that. The roads were okay, but on day one, on SS6, we saw four dogs, then yesterday you have the cow. Manfred touched it, then Petter touched the dog. It�s very dangerous. If you don�t want to compromise the result, the solution is to check for animals on the stages.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
Petter, you said you felt very confident but then you had a steering problem which ruined your chances of victory. What exactly happened? Did you still think this morning that you might have a chance of catching S�bastien? Without the problem, do you think that you would have won the rally?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]PS:
Well, we were flat out. We tried to get some time from Loeb, on the last split we were five seconds ahead. We came downhill, very sideways into a corner. I hit a rock a little bit and then lost the power steering. I said I broke it, but the engineers tell me from the data it was a leak from one of the pipes; it happened before I hit the rock. It was very unlucky, we pushed very hard so we wouldn�t lose too much more than 22 seconds. I didn�t think I could win, not really after the Super Special. We tried hard from the start this morning, it came up to minus one but when there was still a long way to go, it was difficult.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Phil, Daniel was telling us about how he and Seb hit a dog. Did you have problems too?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]PM:
We did. Yesterday especially. On every stage we saw a dog, a donkey, a goat, cow� everything. I actually got quite concerned at one point. We�ve all seen what hitting an animal at high speed can do. We spoke to the organisers and today there was nothing at all. Hopefully that problem has gone away now.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Congratulations on another podium place Manfred � your first with the Peugeot 307 WRC. You had quite a big gap to S�bastien and Petter in front, but Daniel Sordo seemed to be coming up quickly behind you. How difficult was it to stay in front of him?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
MS:
In the rally everything can happen. He was very inconsistent, he would make one good time then one bad time. I knew if he was doing it all the time, we knew what he could do � but in the end it was okay.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
This result has also reinforced OMV Peugeot�s third place in the Manufacturers� Championship. Judging from the performance you have seen in the three rallies so far, how realistic is it for the team to finish in the top three manufacturers at the end of the year? How high in the Drivers� Championship do you think you and Manfred might be placed?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
IM:
This is difficult to say. We had a very good run in Monte Carlo and then a good start in Sweden before the accident. We make some big improvements on the car and hopefully we can make some more podiums and more good results, but to keep third place is going to be difficult.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
Congratulations Marc. How hard was it for Kronos to achieve this win, given that the team has never been to Mexico before? Did the early retirement of Xevi Pons cause you some concern about Seb?[/COLOR]
MVD:
It�s hard work from the middle of last year to achieve this deal. It�s really not been easy to convince the sponsors of what we were trying to do and to get them involved. Today I�m so proud, first to be ready for Monte Carlo and then to make this result. I want to thank S�bastien and Daniel. We�re so proud to win our first WRC round. It�s a dream come true for everybody. We weren�t worried about the engine problem, it was a plug which broke on Xevi�s car; it wasn�t directly involved with the engine. We checked S�bastien�s engine, but it was okay � it wasn�t directly linked.
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
This gives you a Championship advantage of five points over Marcus and now we head for Spain and Corsica, which has been extremely successful for you in the past. Is this the best opportunity for you to make up points of the season? How confident are you feeling now?
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkGreen]SL:
I hope to make up some more points in the next rallies. I know on Tarmac we usually go well and I�ve won a few rallies on Tarmac. Our car and tyres work well on this surface. I hope we can win some other rallies.
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Daniel, What do you think of Catalunya and Corsica, can you win?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkGreen]DE:
Yeah, sure. You see for the first time we won Corsica and Catalunya last year, but it was not easy. They seem to get faster each year, but you can still make a mistake, we will see at the end of the race.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Petter, how worried are you about the two asphalt rallies that are coming up next? S�bastien has been stronger than you there in the past. Do you think you will be able to fight on equal terms with him again?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]
PS:
No, we have to be positive. We�re going to have some testing next week and we�ll try very hard. Pirelli has some new tyres, if they come with some big improvements � as we hope � then we have a good chance of win on Tarmac. We�re not far away. If we work as a team then I think it is possible[/COLOR].
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
Now you�ve got some points on the board, how much does that increase your confidence? How much pressure to score points were you and Petter under here? Was that pressure a distraction for you both on the event?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]PM:
We go to every rally with the approach to win it. It does do the confidence good to get points. Coming here with nothing was strange. We start every rally with the approach to win it, that�s what it�ll be for the next 14, 13 whatever we have left. I don�t think we were really conscious of the pressure. We just wanted a strong finish, then we took the lead and the whole thing got quite interesting�[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
What about you, Petter?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]PS:
To have zero points is not very cool, is it? With everything that happened it�s been quite difficult. I�m very happy with second, unfortunately we could have had a great battle, but we had a boring day. We want more points. If we can come a little closer now, then we can take more risks, but points are the important thing now.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
You altered the set-up a bit during the first day of the rally � which changes did you make? Are you now happy with the way the Peugeot handles on gravel? What do you think of the car generally?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
MS:
The biggest mistake was not expecting the road to be so loose on top. I changed suspension and the anti-roll bars which gave me more confidence in the car, but still it was not perfect. On this surface, the feeling in the car is perfect, but the times are not perfect so we have to work on that. I don�t know too much about the car on this surface, I was much happier on the snow.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Neither of you have ever been to Mexico before, but you know the stages in France and Spain a bit better. How much do you think that will help your performance? Do you think that is possible to have another podium on the asphalt rallies?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]IM:
The experience is less than here. We did Spain in 2001, but Tarmac is not our specialist thing. Manfred doesn�t like it and I don�t like it. We just hope we can make a good position.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
There have been some reports in the press recently that Kronos will continue to run the Citro�n programme next year with the C4 � is this correct? How exactly will the collaboration between Citro�n Sport and Kronos work?[/COLOR]
MVD:
This is the first time I read about it. It was a great opportunity to run S�bastien and Xevi Pons this year, like we did with Manfred and Ilka last year. We run cars at a very high level, which means we have the best drivers. We will see, I hope the result we did so far will help in the future, but we are not expecting to run the C4 next year.[/b]
[url]http://www.rallymexico.com/newsReader.asp?f=releases&id=1246[/url]
(3/5/2006 2:42:00 PM)
[SIZE=4][B]2006 FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP
CORONA RALLY MEXICO[/B][/SIZE]
Final FIA Press Conference
Sunday March 5, 2006
[B]Present:[COLOR=DarkGreen]
1st S�bastien Loeb � Total Kronos Citro�n World Rally Team
1st Daniel Elena � Total Kronos Citro�n World Rally Team[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]2nd Petter Solberg � Subaru World Rally Team
2nd Phil Mills � Subaru World Rally Team[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]3rd Manfred Stohl � OMV Peugeot Norway
3rd Ilka Minor � OMV Peugeot Norway[/COLOR]
Representative of the winning Manufacturer Total Kronos Citro�n WRT - Marc Van Dalen[/B]
[b]Welcome to the final FIA press conference. Joining us are winners S�bastien Loeb and Daniel Elena from Total Kronos Citro�n, Petter Solberg and Phil Mills, who finished second for the Subaru World Rally Team, and Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor who took third for OMV Peugeot Norway. Marc Van Dalen is also in attendance as the representative of the winning manufacturer.
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Congratulations on your first win of the year, which puts you in a five-point lead in the World Championship. You had a big fight with Petter throughout the rally, but moved significantly ahead last night after Petter had a steering problem at the end of the day. Without Petter�s problem, do you still think you could have beaten him?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkGreen]SL:
It�s difficult to say, it was close. Petter lost 30 seconds with his problem yesterday, but I lost 30 seconds on day one when I was cleaning the road. It was a good fight, really interesting. Then I had a more comfortable lead for today and it was easier for me to finish the rally in this position. Then also on the first leg we had Mikko and Marcus, we will have some nice fights in the future. It�s interesting to drive like this, when you fight for seconds in a 25 kilometre stage, very exciting. We had some very good moments on this rally. The car was perfect; we had no problems all weekend.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
How difficult was this victory for you? Many drivers complained of animals on the road: did you hit anything?
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkGreen]DE:
The temperature is very hot in the car because the engine needs heating, so we sit there all day with the heater on � it�s not easy, I don�t like that. The roads were okay, but on day one, on SS6, we saw four dogs, then yesterday you have the cow. Manfred touched it, then Petter touched the dog. It�s very dangerous. If you don�t want to compromise the result, the solution is to check for animals on the stages.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
Petter, you said you felt very confident but then you had a steering problem which ruined your chances of victory. What exactly happened? Did you still think this morning that you might have a chance of catching S�bastien? Without the problem, do you think that you would have won the rally?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]PS:
Well, we were flat out. We tried to get some time from Loeb, on the last split we were five seconds ahead. We came downhill, very sideways into a corner. I hit a rock a little bit and then lost the power steering. I said I broke it, but the engineers tell me from the data it was a leak from one of the pipes; it happened before I hit the rock. It was very unlucky, we pushed very hard so we wouldn�t lose too much more than 22 seconds. I didn�t think I could win, not really after the Super Special. We tried hard from the start this morning, it came up to minus one but when there was still a long way to go, it was difficult.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Phil, Daniel was telling us about how he and Seb hit a dog. Did you have problems too?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]PM:
We did. Yesterday especially. On every stage we saw a dog, a donkey, a goat, cow� everything. I actually got quite concerned at one point. We�ve all seen what hitting an animal at high speed can do. We spoke to the organisers and today there was nothing at all. Hopefully that problem has gone away now.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Congratulations on another podium place Manfred � your first with the Peugeot 307 WRC. You had quite a big gap to S�bastien and Petter in front, but Daniel Sordo seemed to be coming up quickly behind you. How difficult was it to stay in front of him?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
MS:
In the rally everything can happen. He was very inconsistent, he would make one good time then one bad time. I knew if he was doing it all the time, we knew what he could do � but in the end it was okay.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
This result has also reinforced OMV Peugeot�s third place in the Manufacturers� Championship. Judging from the performance you have seen in the three rallies so far, how realistic is it for the team to finish in the top three manufacturers at the end of the year? How high in the Drivers� Championship do you think you and Manfred might be placed?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
IM:
This is difficult to say. We had a very good run in Monte Carlo and then a good start in Sweden before the accident. We make some big improvements on the car and hopefully we can make some more podiums and more good results, but to keep third place is going to be difficult.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
Congratulations Marc. How hard was it for Kronos to achieve this win, given that the team has never been to Mexico before? Did the early retirement of Xevi Pons cause you some concern about Seb?[/COLOR]
MVD:
It�s hard work from the middle of last year to achieve this deal. It�s really not been easy to convince the sponsors of what we were trying to do and to get them involved. Today I�m so proud, first to be ready for Monte Carlo and then to make this result. I want to thank S�bastien and Daniel. We�re so proud to win our first WRC round. It�s a dream come true for everybody. We weren�t worried about the engine problem, it was a plug which broke on Xevi�s car; it wasn�t directly involved with the engine. We checked S�bastien�s engine, but it was okay � it wasn�t directly linked.
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
This gives you a Championship advantage of five points over Marcus and now we head for Spain and Corsica, which has been extremely successful for you in the past. Is this the best opportunity for you to make up points of the season? How confident are you feeling now?
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkGreen]SL:
I hope to make up some more points in the next rallies. I know on Tarmac we usually go well and I�ve won a few rallies on Tarmac. Our car and tyres work well on this surface. I hope we can win some other rallies.
[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Daniel, What do you think of Catalunya and Corsica, can you win?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkGreen]DE:
Yeah, sure. You see for the first time we won Corsica and Catalunya last year, but it was not easy. They seem to get faster each year, but you can still make a mistake, we will see at the end of the race.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Petter, how worried are you about the two asphalt rallies that are coming up next? S�bastien has been stronger than you there in the past. Do you think you will be able to fight on equal terms with him again?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]
PS:
No, we have to be positive. We�re going to have some testing next week and we�ll try very hard. Pirelli has some new tyres, if they come with some big improvements � as we hope � then we have a good chance of win on Tarmac. We�re not far away. If we work as a team then I think it is possible[/COLOR].
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
Now you�ve got some points on the board, how much does that increase your confidence? How much pressure to score points were you and Petter under here? Was that pressure a distraction for you both on the event?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]PM:
We go to every rally with the approach to win it. It does do the confidence good to get points. Coming here with nothing was strange. We start every rally with the approach to win it, that�s what it�ll be for the next 14, 13 whatever we have left. I don�t think we were really conscious of the pressure. We just wanted a strong finish, then we took the lead and the whole thing got quite interesting�[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]
Q:
What about you, Petter?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Navy]PS:
To have zero points is not very cool, is it? With everything that happened it�s been quite difficult. I�m very happy with second, unfortunately we could have had a great battle, but we had a boring day. We want more points. If we can come a little closer now, then we can take more risks, but points are the important thing now.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
You altered the set-up a bit during the first day of the rally � which changes did you make? Are you now happy with the way the Peugeot handles on gravel? What do you think of the car generally?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]
MS:
The biggest mistake was not expecting the road to be so loose on top. I changed suspension and the anti-roll bars which gave me more confidence in the car, but still it was not perfect. On this surface, the feeling in the car is perfect, but the times are not perfect so we have to work on that. I don�t know too much about the car on this surface, I was much happier on the snow.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
Neither of you have ever been to Mexico before, but you know the stages in France and Spain a bit better. How much do you think that will help your performance? Do you think that is possible to have another podium on the asphalt rallies?[/COLOR]
[COLOR=DarkRed]IM:
The experience is less than here. We did Spain in 2001, but Tarmac is not our specialist thing. Manfred doesn�t like it and I don�t like it. We just hope we can make a good position.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=Black]Q:
There have been some reports in the press recently that Kronos will continue to run the Citro�n programme next year with the C4 � is this correct? How exactly will the collaboration between Citro�n Sport and Kronos work?[/COLOR]
MVD:
This is the first time I read about it. It was a great opportunity to run S�bastien and Xevi Pons this year, like we did with Manfred and Ilka last year. We run cars at a very high level, which means we have the best drivers. We will see, I hope the result we did so far will help in the future, but we are not expecting to run the C4 next year.[/b]
[url]http://www.rallymexico.com/newsReader.asp?f=releases&id=1246[/url]
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 08:22 PM |
Too Late !!!!
| STiMULi | 03-05-2006 08:33 PM |
[IMG]http://members.rally.racing-live.com/photos-hires/2006/mexique/diapo_352.jpg[/IMG]
[SIZE=5][B]The End[/B][/SIZE] :)
[SIZE=5][B]The End[/B][/SIZE] :)
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