World Rally 2005 - MotorSM.com

2005 RALLY RESULT:

FINAL RESULT, SUN, MAY 1, 2005

1 Sebastien Loeb Citroen Xsara , Michelin
2 Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza, Pirelli
"I am very happy actually. In the circumstances it's good to take second place and I'd like to thank everyone in the team for their hard work. It's been a good fight with Sebastien, but of course I'd hoped it would be a lot closer. But, it didn't happen like that and so I've got the best result I could. At this point in the Championship it's still very close and I think it's going to be a very interesting year. The key thing we have to do is work harder to find some more performance, but we have a good plan and I'm 100 per cent confident that we will succeed."
3 Marcus Gronholm , Peugeot 307
"I really wasn't sure if I would be able to pass Harri, especially when I saw that he was fast on the first stage today. I thought my only chance would be to keep him under pressure, and this tactic must have worked because he went off on the following stage. It's been a tough rally - maybe the toughest of the year - but the car has once more been perfectly reliable which is very encouraging. Now I would like to find a bit more speed."
4 Markko Martin , Peugeot 307
"There was not a lot I could do today apart from try and drive safely to the finish. That still required the maximum concentration, because the conditions and the stages were extremely difficult. But I've learnt a lot on this event about the car and the tyres, which will be very useful for the three rough and hot rallies coming up in Cyprus, Turkey and Greece."
5 T Gardemeister, Ford Focus RS
"I've been cruising today, driving at a pace which ensured I would finish ... Considering I wasn't pushing, I was happy with my stage times. We scored good points and when I was throwing stones for five hours in the dark in the woods last night waiting for the team to come and collect our car, I didn't think that would be possible. It's been a tough weekend but one which turned out well. My pre-event test helped establish a good set-up for the Focus, and although I'm not 100 per cent there yet, everything is heading in the right direction."
6 R Kresta, Ford Focus RS
7 A WarmboldFord Focus RS
8 J Pykalisto Citroen Xsara
9. M Stohl Citroen Xsara
10 M Higgins Ford Focus RS
RETIREMENT: Rovanpera, Galli, Hirvonen, Atkinson

LEG 2, SAT, APR 30, 2005

1 Sebastien Loeb Citroen Xsara , Michelin
2 Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza, Pirelli +55s
"I think today has been a good day. We have had no major problems. I'm happy with my own performance, and when you look at how fast Sebastien is going, we have to be pleased with where we are. That's just how it is sometimes. I pushed as hard as I could, but clearly we have some work still to do. But still, this rally isn't over yet. With six more stages and no service tomorrow, a lot of things can happen. You can be sure I'll push as hard as I can right until the end."
3 Harri Rovanpera , Mitsubishi Lancer +3m 1s
4 Marcus Gronholm , Peugeot 307
"It's been a good day, and I hope it will get even better tomorrow. I've had a good feeling with the car and the tyres, although these stages do not get any easier! The car has been entirely reliable and I have had enough confidence to push hard. In many ways this makes me regret my accident of yesterday: without that I think we could have been pushing for victory. But a podium finish is still a good result and that will be my aim."
5 Markko Martin , Peugeot 307
6 M Higgins, Ford Focus RS
7 R Kresta, Ford Focus RS
8 T Gardemeister, Ford Focus RS
9 J Pykalisto, Citroen Xsara
10 A Warmbold, Focus RS
RETIREMENT:
Hirvonen (Ford) - crash "I lost the brakes just 1km after the start and had to scrub off speed in the corners. But near the finish I hit a stone and damaged the steering. I continued but 1km later I went off the road and lost the wheel. I also found the engine had lost its oil"
Atkinson (Subaru) - crash

LEG 1, FRI, APR 29, 2005

1 Sebastien Loeb Citroen Xsara , Michelin
"It only took a couple of corners for me to realise that the suspension settings were a bit too soft since the rear had tended to float about too much. Also, in the trees, I was hampered by the dust thrown up by Petter. Between SS1 and SS2, I adjusted the front and rear shock absorber settings by a number of clicks and immediately knew on SS2 that we had gone in the right direction, as revealed by our splits and fastest times over the last two stages of the first loop! "
2Petter Solberg Subaru Impreza, Pirelli +31.7s
"I'm very pleased to finish today in second place. Sebastien has done a good job and I've been working very hard out there, let me tell you. First on the road here is a very tough place to be, it is so slippery and I had a couple of spins in the morning. Since then, we've had a few things to contend with like no brakes for some of SS4 and a very difficult road surface for our tyres, but that's how it is in rallying and we just have to deal with it. In the past the Pirellis have been so strong in these conditions, but we can see now that the competition has taken a big step forward. I must say I have enormous respect for both tyre companies; their battle is as fierce as the ones between the drivers and the manufacturers. In some particular conditions it seems the competition is ahead just now, but with the work that Pirelli are doing, I'm 100 per cent sure we will get a better tyre. This rally isn't over yet though, it's very rough and easy to make a mistake. I think we'll see a good fight over the next couple of days. "
3Mikko Hirvonen Ford Focus RS, Pirelli +59s
"The car is easy to drive, exactly how I wanted it ... I gained an awful lot from my road position this morning. I had a few lucky escapes but I tried to drive neatly through the corners and then flat out everywhere else, even over all the rocks and the rough sections. I will try to keep the same pace tomorrow but I'm sure Toni will trying just as hard to catch me."
4 Harri Rovanpera , Mitsubishi Lancer +1m 17
"Our first day result is good and we've had no technical problems. The feeling with the car is okay, but the roads are very bumpy and rough and generally it's much hotter than we expected. It's a very difficult rally and although we're pushing hard, it's not so easy. We ran a harder specification damper this afternoon and maybe the car was more stable, especially in the fast corners. But we have to wait and see
what happens tomorrow with the tires, as maybe this will be an issue".
5 Toni Gardemeister , Ford Focus RS +1m 33
6 Markko Martin , Peugeot 307 +1m 34
"It's not been an exceptional day, and I have ended up with sixth overnight. I've still got a lot to learn about the tyre range here in Sardinia, and it was difficult to know how to make the right choice. The stages were very rough -- even more than I expected -- so it was mostly a question of staying out of trouble. The car was perfect mechanically, and I hope we can move further up the leader board tomorrow. "
7 Marcus Gronholm , Peugeot 307
" It's not been an easy day for us, but without the roll in the morning (SS3) I think I could have been in the lead. I rolled the car because there was a little bit of asphalt road in the middle of the stage, and I did not have as much grip as I thought. In the afternoon it was more difficult, and I struggled quite a bit. But we have set two fastest times today which shows what the car is capable of. After the accident it did not feel completely right, so I think with a perfect car I would have gone even quicker. "
8 Armin Schwarz , Skoda Fabia
9 Juuso Pykalisto , Citroen Xsara
10 Manfred Stohl , Citroen Xsara
RETIREMENT: Atkinson (Subaru) - crash

BEFORE RALLY: SOLBERG: "we have a strong chance of winning"
GALLI: "my dream is to get to the finish inside the top five ... for everyone, but particularly my people: the Italians"

2005 WRC: ITALIA SARDINIA

2005 ITALY WORLD RALLY