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2005 WRC: MONTE CARLO

SEASON OPENER WON BY SEBASTIEN LOEB / CITROEN

• the world champion's 3rd consecutive win at Monte Carlo. He led every leg and dominated from the start to finish almost 3 hours ahead of the rest.
• Toni Gardemeister finished 2nd in his first drive for Ford while Solberg and Duval retired.

• 1. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) Citroën Xsara WRC 1 hr 18 min 46.9 s
  LOEB: "... Everything went well. The only tiny incident was in SS3 when the engine stalled after a spin on snow thrown onto the road by spectators. On the day's final stage, I concentrated on managing my tyres, notably in the hairpins. Thanks to that, I was able to benefit from super tyres all the way to the flag which allowed me to finish the stage
  strongly."
  
  2. Francois Duval (BEL) Citroen +32.7s
  3. Marcus Gronholm (FIN) Peugeot +1m 1.5
  4. Petter Solberg (NOR) Subaru +1m 27.7
  5. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Ford +1m 30.3
  6. Markko Martin (EST) Peugeot +1m 39.1
  7. Didier Auriol (FRA) Peugeot
  8. Gilles Panizzi (FRA) Mitsubishi
  9. Stephane Sarrazin (FRA) Subaru
  10. Roman Kresta (CZE) Ford
  11 ROVANPERA 12 BENGUE 13 STOHL 14 SCHWARZ

• Drivers: Sebastien Loeb and Daniel Elena; Francois Duval and Stephane Prevot
• LOEB: "... I have to accept the role of favourite. There's even a nice side to it. I'm getting used to the pressure that goes with it, but I remain lucid. All good runs come to an end some time and I tell myself that this one will too. On the other hand, the complexity of the Monte Carlo is such that, more than anywhere else, winning is a team effort. And we have a strong team, made even stronger by its recent record on this event. So although I am totally aware that anything can happen, I feel confident. More confident than last year"
• DUVAL: "... After something like 1,000 km in the car, I can say I feel very much at home in the Xsara. I received a warm welcome from the team whose rigour and professionalism doesn't really surprise me. My co-driver Stephane competed with Citroën in 2000 and he had given me prior warning! Seb tested in Roquesteron during the day between my two days there, so I stayed on to watch and chat with him about set-up. We seem to be on a similar wavelength in that respect"

PEUGEOT

• Drivers: Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen, Markko Martin and Michael Park
• GRONHOLM: "... I believe we have a number of trump cards in our hands to succeed this year ... Our most recent test work with the 307 WRC was particularly encouraging. The first encounter of the season - the Monte Carlo - probably won't be the easiest of course. It's still very much a fickle event when the weather and stage conditions are mixed. It's never much fun driving over snow or ice on slicks, although I have gained a lot of experience and confidence in this sort of situation."

FORD

• Drivers: Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen; Roman Kresta and Jan Tomanek
• GARDEMEISTER: "... On rallies with difficult weather, I seem to get good results so I hope that will be the case here ...We can be sure that at some point we'll have tyres that are not perfect for the conditions. Our ice note crews drive the stages more than two hours before we have to make our tyre selection. Although their information will be accurate at the time, the weather can change so quickly that conditions are totally different. It's never nice to be on unsuitable tyres so it will be important to set my speed accordingly. To try to drive at 100 per cent when the tyres are not suited to the conditions can bring nasty surprises"
• KRESTA: "... Every year this rally offers difficult conditions but I drive well here. One of the most important aspects of this event is to have a good ice note crew. The Focus is very fast on asphalt and so this is a good rally to begin my career with Ford. The most important thing is to finish and gain as much experience of the car as I can. After that, my second target is a top six place. If I can achieve both of those I will be delighted."

SUBARU

• Drivers: Petter Solberg ; Stéphane Sarrazin
• SOLBERG: "... It's great to be at the start of a new season. Up to now Monte Carlo has not been such a good event for me, but I can't wait to get back behind the wheel and be fighting for Championship points. I like the rally and, this year, hope to make it to the podium. In terms of the season, my aim is to get the Drivers' title back again - I'm going to try and do everything correctly and not make any mistakes. I know you can't win solo in this sport, it's a team game and I'll be working with everyone, the mechanics, management, everyone to make sure we get back on top. We're all standing together in this and going for the same goal. I'm looking forward to working with Stéphane. He's already shown he's got good speed on gravel and he's got a lot of asphalt experience, so I think I can learn a lot from him."
• SARRAZIN: "... Driving the Subaru Impreza WRC2004 feels very good, I have a nice feeling in the car and am starting to know it better. During the pre- event test we made lots of changes, the car was very reactive and now I'm confident as I know where to go. It's a good start for the race, but I can't say I will finish on the podium in Monte Carlo, as it's too early for me. The most important thing is to stay on the road and get more experience, so we will see. The team is very open, which is fantastic, I've just arrived and already have a good feeling with everyone. It's a very, very good start for me I think."

MITSUBISHI

• Drivers: Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen ; Gilles and Hervé Panizzi
• ROVANPERA: "... This is a difficult rally, for sure, but also for me it will be my first Tarmac event since Sanremo in 2002; a long time ago. Monte-Carlo is always hard, but this year I also have a new car and tires so there are many things to feel a little bit nervous about. I hope the weather is snowy, but each year the rally gets closer and closer to Monaco so we will have to see. It's difficult to say what is possible because there are so many different factors specific to this event; Monte is Monte, that's all I can say! The feeling with the team is very good though. It is small, but because of this I already know everyone, and after the Swedish test I had a very nice feeling about everything".
• PANIZZI: "... We have made a lot of progress with the car since last year, but it is impossible to say how we can do in Monte-Carlo. It is such a different and difficult event that anything can happen. Also we are running for the first time with Pirelli tires, so this is something very new for us. We will see, but for sure there is also a lot of luck involved with this rally. We will be aiming for a good result with the Lancer WRC05 in the first event of the new season though".

SKODA

• Drivers: Armin Schwarz and Klaus Wicha ; Alex Bengue and Caroline Escudero
• SCHWARZ: "... I am feeling quite confident about our performance in Monte Carlo. We had two very good tests on lots of different surface conditions. The new route probably means that the worst weather we can expect is rain but that would actually be quite good for me and so I hope that this is the
  case."
• BENGUE: "... My tests went very well and we have made many adjustments. We worked on general balance and specifically the engine, the brakes and the differentials so that I could be more confident with the car. My style is very different to Armin so it would not be possible just to use his set-up. The shakedown before the rally will be very important to finalise settings but I have a very good feeling with the team. I cannot speak about the final result in Monte Carlo as this is only the second time I have competed on the rally and it is necessary for me to know the competition. My aim is to achieve the best possible result and be able to
  give maximum of information to my new team."

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