Subscription

Car Racing

Motorcycle Racing

Racing in Oz

Shop

2006 WRC: RALLY GERMANY

• Rallye Deutschland 2006, Aug 11-13, 2006, Round 9 of 16
• 19 stages; 8 repeated
• 351.55km competion; 1300.48km total
• BEFORE RALLY, GRONHOLM (FORD): "I think I can do it ... I've been close to winning previously. It won't be easy because Loeb has won four times in Germany and he is good in the slippery conditions that we often find there. It would be good to beat him and shake him up a little.
• BEFORE RALLY, LOEB (CITROEN): "The duel (with Gronholm) will be tight and it might happen that other drivers share the battle as well. The weather could also play an important role. But I am convinced the team, the car and myself are ready for the fight."

RALLY RESULT

CITROEN RALLY REPORT  (TOP OF PAGE)

• The two Kronos Total Citroen WRT Xsaras got through the four stages of the final day without the slightest problem. Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena won the Rallye Deutschland for the fifth consecutive time, becoming the first crew ever to achieve such a feat on the full World Championship. Their excellent win, after a rally which they dominated from the start, is the 26th in total for the Franco-Monegasque pairing. Seb now joins Carlos Sainz as the most successful driver in the history of the sport.
• Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I love the Rallye Deutschland and it has always been good to me. But it's fair to say that the traditionally complex weather makes it quite a stressful experience. There was a bit of extra pressure on top as well : I had to make sure I made no mistakes on my home territory and score the maximum number of points for the championship. Now it's over and I can relax a bit ! I want to really savour the feeling of equalling Carlos Sainz's record number of wins. I've never hidden the fact that this is a record I really wanted, because of the immense respect I have for Carlos and his career. Yet it's still a benchmark I want to beat. "
• Dani Sordo/Marc Marti: "Marc Van Dalen and the entire Kronos team showed a lot of faith in me by nominating me to score points. I am really pleased to thank them by bringing back the maximum possible number of points. I'm also really pleased to see that my pace notes - made last year when I was driving the C2 Super 1600 - worked perfectly. I'd like to thank Marc [Marti] who has always pushed me to get my notes absolutely right. Finally, I'd like to thank Seb. He has been incredibly good to me, and his advice on tyres and setup is a huge help. "

FORD RALLY REPORT  (TOP OF PAGE)

• BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen finished third on the Rallye Deutschland today to claim their fourth podium in five years here. It was the sixth occasion the Finns have claimed a top three finish this season in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, and they remain second in the FIA World Rally Championship after nine of 16 rounds. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished ninth in a similar BP Ultimate and Castrol-branded Focus RS, after a last-gasp drama when the Finns stopped with a broken alternator on the liaison section to the finish in Trier after the final stage. Hirvonen would have finished fifth but the five minute penalty incurred for being helped to the finish cost four driver points.
• Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "A podium is a good, solid finish and after a difficult rally I have to be happy with that," he said. "But I had hoped to be fighting with the Citroen of Sébastien Loeb for victory rather than the similar car of Gardemeister for third. But I wasn't happy in the rain on Friday and so there was no chance of that. I was a little bit slow on the first stage this morning but then I found my pace and it was just a question of keeping an eye on Toni's stage times.
• Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "I started to have battery problems on the stages because the alternator wasn't charging any more," he said. "Then the car stopped and there was no power in the battery to get moving. After everything that has happened this weekend, I just can't believe this. I've lost driver points and a manufacturer point and that's a big shame. My Saturday performance was very good but on Friday I was off the pace in the wet weather. It has been a tough weekend and now my thoughts are focused on my home rally next weekend where I hope my luck will be better."

SUBARU RALLY REPORT  (TOP OF PAGE)

• Chris Atkinson crossed the finish ramp of Rally Germany in eighth place today to score one driver point. Despite limited experience of the specialist asphalt rally, the Australian drove swiftly and consistently all weekend to record his best ever finish on the event. His Impreza WRC2005 ran faultlessly throughout. For Stephane Sarrazin the rally came to a premature end following an accident on the first stage of the Leg.
• Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: Retired - Engine
• Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: "It's very frustrating. I was anticipating a good fight for seventh place today and, after yesterday, I was feeling positive about the car and my driving. We were less than one kilometre into the stage when we went off. I just under-steered straight on at a slow, second-gear corner. Spectators helped push the car back on the road, but unfortunately I couldn't continue"
• Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: "Today was okay. We came here hoping to get in the points, and we got there in the end. The first stage was quite good for us, although the brakes didn't feel so good on the second and caused us to have a small spin. As we weren't in a position to fight for any more places, we took it fairly steadily over the final two. Generally it's been a useful rally for us. I'm looking forward to getting back in a 2006 model Impreza for Finland."

CITROEN LEG 2 REPORT  (TOP OF PAGE)

• At the end of leg two, run largely through the Baumholder military ranges, Sébastien Loeb/Daniel. Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Marti have a firm grip on first and second places. Xevi Pons/Carlos Del Barrio were forced to retire after SS12 with a hydraulic problem. They will restart tomorrow morning under the 'superally' regulations.
• Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "Dani was very quick this morning in tricky conditions. This afternoon we were thinking more about the championships. Maintaining our positions would be extremely positive both for Kronos and ourselves, before we go to face Marcus Grönholm on his home territory in Finland. We have to be extremely careful on the final leg now, where the weather could make life very complicated."
• Dani Sordo/Marc Marti: "We just drove calmly. I really hope I can seal this second place tomorrow. A result like that would be fantastic for me and would fulfil exactly what the team asked."
• Xavier Pons/Carlos Del Barrio: "Tomorrow we will start again in order to try and finish this rally on a positive note by setting some quick times."

FORD LEG 2 REPORT  (TOP OF PAGE)

• BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen won two speed tests as they climbed to third during the second leg of Rallye Deutschland today. Their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car excelled on the mainly dry asphalt roads of south-west Germany as the Finns chase their fourth podium finish in the five-year history of the rally. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen were also in winning form on this ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. They claimed one special stage victory as they moved into fifth in their similar BP Ultimate and Castrol branded Focus RS.
• Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "We swapped the settings back to those we used on the pre-event test, which was dry, and the car felt good. It's just in the wet that I'm struggling because I don't have the confidence. I need to practise driving in the wet to find the right set-up for this car, but there hasn't been much rain this summer to do that. It has been so much better in the dry today. Slick tyres in the rain are just not for me.
• Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "I will try to catch Toni tomorrow but the key factor will again be tyres and everyone will be nervous. I'm not sure I can catch him if we both make the same tyre choice because there are not enough kilometres remaining but if we take different options then it's possible,"

SUBARU LEG 2 REPORT

• At the end of the second Leg of competition in Germany, Subaru's Stephane Sarrazin holds eighth place overall and leads the Subaru World Rally Team's challenge. The Frenchman moved up two places on the leaderboard during the day and set the third-fastest time on the Leg's final special stage.Chris Atkinson made steady progress through the notoriously difficult Baumholder stages to end the day tenth overall. After an encouraging performance on Leg one, Petter Solberg's Rallye Deutschland came to a premature end in the first stage today when an engine problem forced his retirement.
• Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "Things started well today, but without any warning, when we were flat out in sixth gear on SS9, the engine made some pretty bad noises, stopped and that was it. There are still some positives to take from this rally though. We have made some good improvements with the car and when we had the right tyre for the conditions we were quick. I think in general we have taken a good step forward over the summer.We're planning for Finland now.It's a rally that I like a lot and I think it will be a very interesting event this year."
• Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: "Today has been better than yesterday.I've had a trouble-free run and I'm here with the car in one piece. This morning we made a mistake with the tyre - we thought it would be wet but it was dry.In those circumstances it was difficult to push as hard as we wanted.But in the afternoon we had a more suitable tyre, increased the pace and set better times."
• Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: "Overall the day has been good.It's a shame we gave away some time on the first stage, when we didn't have such a good feeling in the car, but things improved steadily after that. The Baumholder stage was pretty tough, the surface was loose in places and it's hard to judge the grip levels - especially on slicks.Skating along the road in fifth gear, centimetres from those Hinkelsteins is not ideal! But on the last stage out in the fields (SS14) we did a pretty good time. Tomorrow we'll do what we can, I'm looking forward to the smoother roads of Leg three; they should suit us better."

CITROEN LEG 1 REPORT  (TOP OF PAGE)

• At the end of leg one through the vineyards of the Mosel, Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and Dani Sordo/Marc Marti return to Trier at the head of the field. The two Kronos Total Citroen WRT Xsaras are on fighting form for tomorrow's battle through the Baumholder military ranges. Xevi Pons/Carlos Del Barrio were less happy, coming home tonight in 11th place.
• S LOEB: "We had some good information and made the right choices : a fantastic job from everyone in the team. Dani has driven very well, but we've managed to pull out a gap.Nonetheless, we are going to remain concentrated in order not to make the slightest mistake tomorrow - either at the wheel or in our tyre choice"
• Dani Sordo/Marc Marti: "The team has given me a fantastic car - a Xsara that is easy to drive and gave me confidence even in the tricky conditions that we encountered. Seb is in his rightful place : he is the quickest here. But my second place makes me very happy : the team asked me to try and score the maximum possible number of points. I am going to do everything I can in order to try and achieve that goal."

FORD LEG 1 REPORT  (TOP OF PAGE)

• BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen ended the opening leg of Rallye Deutschland in fourth after a day dominated by tyre choice in the inconsistent weather. Their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car lies just 5.4sec from a top three placing with two days remaining of this ninth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen are seventh in a similar Focus RS.
• Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "The rain this afternoon was incredible. The forecast said it would be dry after lunch so I chose hard, dry weather tyres and I couldn't do anything apart from try to stay on the road. I took it easy in the rain but found it hard to get my confidence and rhythm back
  when it stopped. It's difficult to choose tyres when the weather changes so quickly and we made a mistake this afternoon. But there are still many kilometres remaining and tomorrow's stages won't be easy for anyone so we will see what happens then."
• Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "Today was unreal and I hate this weather. The grip changed all the time and I'm just not used to these conditions with this car. My day was typified by stage seven. Five minutes before I started it was dry and sunny. It poured with rain as I started the stage and then a few hundred metres after the finish the roads were dry again! Hard tyres in heavy rain just don't work and it shows the importance of getting the tyre choice right. I hope the weather will be better tomorrow because if it is as wet as it has been today, then the stages will be incredibly slippery."

SUBARU / ATKINSON LEG 1 REPORT  (TOP OF PAGE)

• Atkinson ninth after opening day in Germany
• Subaru rally driver, Chris Atkinson, sits in ninth place after the opening day of Rallye Deutschland and is within striking distance of sixth position and a solid points result with two days remaining in the ninth round of the 2006 World Rally Championship.
• It was a mixed bag weather-wise with heavy showers alternating with warm, sunny spells throughout the day, testing even the most experienced drivers in the field.
• Sebastien Loeb came out on top once again and leads by 42.7 seconds from Daniel Sordo with Toni Gardemeister third, a further two minutes six seconds off the pace.
• Petter Solberg, in his rebuilt Subaru Impreza WRC after his dramatic accident at Shakedown, sits in fifth place two minutes 23.1 seconds behind the leader, with Atkinson, driving the Subaru Rally Team Australia entered car, ninth and one place ahead of fellow SWRT driver, Stephane Sarrazin.
• Crews completed two identical loops of four stages and 134.72 competitive kilometres in the Mosel vineyards east of host city Trier.
• After a challenging opening stage, where Atkinson spun and stalled on a hairpin, he and co-driver Glenn Macneall settled into the day. Their confidence on wet asphalt increased throughout the morning and by the lunchtime service, at the halfway mark of the day, the pair had moved up to 10th place.
• Atkinson settled for a cautious choice of intermediate tyres for the second loop of stages, and they proved ideal as heavy rain continued to fall. On Special Stage Six Atkinson posted his best stage finish of the day with the joint third fastest time and moved into ninth.
• Atkinson had endured a day of many challenges and was aware that a solid ninth could have been even better.
• “It was not a bad day for us,” Atkinson said.
• “The morning was particularly difficult. We gave away too much time on the first stage but I just didn’t have any feeling with the car. I just couldn’t make it work at all and I was dealing with issues on every corner, and that’s not the way to drive fast.”
• “But we made a few adjustments on the run and we set some reasonable times and at lunch we were in an OK position.”
• “I had a reasonable tyre call this afternoon but unfortunately we still got caught out a bit by the weather. On the afternoon loop we were at the back of the running order and it absolutely poured down. We lost some time there, and even through we were better that everyone around us, the guys with a clean run were much faster."
• “But we’re ninth now, and not too far away from sixth really, we’ve been competitive with our team mates and that’s what we wanted to do.”
• Subaru World Rally Team Sporting Director, Luis Moya, was thought Atkinson had made good progress in just his second Rallye Deutschland.
• “Chris is still relatively inexperienced on fully wet asphalt but he’s kept a cool head and has run well, increasing his pace and confidence throughout the day,” Moya said.
• Day Two sees crews head for the notorious Baumholder military area tomorrow, famed for its fast straights, tight 90 degree bends and concrete boulders which line the route. The roads are commonly used as a tank training ground so the asphalt surface is hard, broken and covered with a fine layer of dust and gravel.
• Crews will cover 148.64 competitive kilometres over six stages in the tank area and one loop through a Superspecial in the small town of St.Wendel.

RALLY PREVIEW

CITROEN (KRONOS) RALLY PREVIEW  (TOP OF PAGE)

• Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "The rally route has remained quite stable over the years since it first counted for the World championship. In consequence, we determine our set-up on the Xsara WRC about the same way from one year to another. We fine-tune it progressively with a first sequence in the Vosges region, similar to the Saarland stages, and with a German test with typical sections of the Mosel vineyards. And we still found some interesting things! This time the pre-event tests were a bit special : first because it was the last one of the Xsara WRC on tarmac and secondly because we also had the C4 with us. We had a great time."
• Xavier Pons/Carlos Del Barrio: "Usually the Spaniards perform quite well in Germany. Our 'asphalt' background and the good level of the Spanish championship give us a good basis to tackle this tricky terrain. In 2004, we achieved a good result considering the tight fight amongst several good drivers in the 'Production' category. In 2005, I competed for the first time on tarmac with the Xsara in 'Deutschland'. We improved our pace throughout the event without making mistakes."
  

FORD RALLY PREVIEW  (TOP OF PAGE)

• Germany restarts WRC action after BP-Ford's summer testing
• Following a two-month summer break, BP-Ford World Rally Team returns to competitive action on next week's Rallye Deutschland (10 - 13 August). The German round of the FIA World Rally Championship marks the beginning of the second half of the 16-round series, but also brings the asphalt sector of the campaign to a close as the rally is the last of four sealed surface events.
• Although the last rally was in early June, BP-Ford drivers Marcus Gronholm and Timo Rautiainen and team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen have been busy since. They tested for two days each in Germany and Finland in July ahead of a four-day development test in Sardinia, which ends today (Friday). And a new engine evolution, aimed at improving top speed, will be available to both drivers for the rally.
• This ninth round can be as unpredictable and demanding as January's opening asphalt encounter in Monte Carlo, which brought a debut victory for Gronholm in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. The roads could not be more different than the French Alpine mountain passes, but the changing nature of the speed tests and the ever-present threat of rain in the region could make conditions tricky for the Finn and fellow countryman Hirvonen.
• The rally is based close to Trier, Germany's oldest city and just across the border from Luxembourg and France. However, the special stages are located in three different areas and the characteristics of each vary enormously, requiring a different car set-up for each. The bumpy narrow tracks in the Mosel vineyards, which host the opening day, comprise fast sections linked by tight hairpin bends. Corners are partly hidden by tall vines and dirt dragged onto the driving line makes conditions slippery. The smoother roads in Saarland, tackled on the final leg, are more flowing but are frequently wooded and can be equally tricky in the wet.
• But the infamous Baumholder military ranges provide the toughest test of all. The roads are used for tank training by US soldiers and are unique to the championship. Fast, wide asphalt contrasts with bumpy, abrasive concrete which has been damaged by the tanks and will demand high durability from the BF Goodrich tyres fitted to the Focus RS cars.
• Massive kerb stones, known as Hinkelstein, sit right on the edge of many of Baumholder's tracks. Designed to keep the tanks on the road, they can punish the slightest mistake by drivers. The military tracks are frequently dirty, a mixture of gravel and sand making conditions slippery in the dry and treacherous in the wet weather which often characterises the region in August.
• Gronholm, winner of the Acropolis Rally of Greece which ended the first half of the season, has three podium finishes to his name from four starts in Germany. The 38-year-old Finn, who lies second in the drivers' standings, is keen to step up from a second and two thirds to the top step.
• "I think I can do it," he said. "I've been close to winning previously. It won't be easy because Loeb has won four times in Germany and he is good in the slippery conditions that we often find there. It would be good to beat him and shake him up a little. The Focus RS is good enough and now it is up to the driver. We tested in two locations, on Baumholder and in the vineyards, and I have good experience from that.
• "The rally is OK in the dry but it's awful in the wet. Conditions can change quickly and it's easy to be on the wrong tyres. Baumholder is a difficult place. It's slippery when it's dry, it's slippery when it's wet - it's slippery all the time. And a driver can't afford to make a mistake because it's so easy to hit a hinkelstein and if that happens then it's unlikely the car will go any further," he added.
• Hirvonen ended the opening half of the season with podiums in both Italy and Greece and the 26-year-old Finn has his sights set on more. "I think there are many rallies in the second half of the season where I can fight for a podium," he said. "BP-Ford is second and still has a chance of the manufacturers' title so I need to score as many points as possible and that will be my target for the rest of the year. I have a chance of a top three in Germany but it won't be easy.
• "It's difficult because each day has different stages and the team has to make set-up changes to the car for each type of road. They are all fast but I enjoy the Sunday stages in Saarland the best. They are more traditional as the roads cross fields and pass through forests but drivers cut the corners so there can be a lot of gravel and mud dragged onto the road. Baumholder is tricky. There are so many surface changes that it is hard to judge what kind of traction there is. It often rains and that makes the rally even more difficult and makes tyre choice hard," he added.
• Team News
• * BP-Ford will choose tyres from two different patterns. BFGoodrich's g-Force Profiler rubber is available in soft, medium and hard compounds for dry asphalt while the Profiler Humid pattern for wet roads is accessible in soft and medium compounds. If the rain is heavy, tyre engineers will carve additional cuts into the rubber of the Humid pattern. The grooves can be either longitudinal to combat aquaplaning, or lateral for extra braking and traction.
• * The Stobart-VK-M-Sport Ford Rally Team has entered 2004 Focus RS WRCs. Britain's Matthew Wilson / Michael Orr and Finns Jari-Matti Latvala / Miikka Anttila will drive. Privately-entered Focus RS cars will also be driven by Irish crew Gareth MacHale / Paul Nagle and Belgians Pieter Tsjoen / Eddy Chevaillier. Barry Clark / Scott Martin will pilot a Fiesta ST in the FIA Junior World Rally Championship and it is also round four of the Fiesta SportingTrophy International.
• * The rally has huge significance for Ford. The company's European headquarters in Cologne is less than 200km from the Bostalsee service park and the route passes close to Ford's Saarlouis factory, the home of the Focus road car.
• Rally Route
• The rally shows few changes from 2005. It contains a mix of stages in the Mosel vineyards, on the Baumholder military land and in Saarland, each offering totally different characteristics. It begins with a ceremonial start at Trier's historic Porta Nigra on Thursday before venturing into the tricky vineyard roads on Friday where competitors tackle one new stage. The second leg is the longest of the rally. The bulk of the action is on Baumholder while the spectacular end of day test around the streets of St Wendel will be used in the opposite direction this year. The short final leg is centred in Saarland before competitors return to the Trier finish. Bostalsee hosts the single service park. There are 19 stages, eight of which are repeated, covering 351.55km in a route of 1300.48km.

ATKINSON SUBARU RALLY PREVIEW

• Subaru rally ace, Chris Atkinson, is fresh, fit and fired up for the second half of the World Rally Championship season after a few weeks back at his Gold Coast residence.
• Atkinson, who is in his second season with the Subaru World Rally Team, has set himself some major goals for the last eight events of the season, seven of which are on his preferred gravel surface.
• “I’ve been relaxing, doing a bit of training and making sure my fitness levels are up for the second half of the year,” Atkinson said.
• “The next events are pretty important to me. We need to get some results, get some finishes and consolidate our place in the championship.”
• The two-month mid-season recess has suited Atkinson.
• “The break gives us a chance, especially when we haven’t had such a good first half of the season, to almost look at the second half as a new championship, a new start.”
• Rally Germany from August 11-13 is the first event back and the final tarmac rally of the year.
• Just one week later the teams tackle the famous Rally Finland, with Rally Japan a fortnight after that and Cyprus another three weeks on.
• “It’s a pretty hectic program coming up so the idea is to be as ready for that as possible. We won’t have time to take a breath in between events so we are just making sure that everything is right.”
• Atkinson will compete in Subaru Rally Team Australia colours at Rally Germany, driving the 2005 Impreza World Rally Car that he took to sixth place in Monte Carlo at the season opener.
• “We are not underestimating the challenge of Germany and if we can stick with our teammates (Petter Solberg and Stephane Sarrazin) we’ll be pretty happy.”
• “It (the car) is still a good thing and we’ve got it well sorted and it is not a problem to us.”
• “Finland is one of the tougher events. I enjoy it and there are a lot of top Finnish drivers but we will be aiming for a top five finish.”
• “In Japan we’ll start looking for a podium, but when you get around to Cyprus it is a little bit about luck, being such a rough and tough event. But if we have a solid run we can be in the top five, but you never know with that one.”
• Atkinson had his best result in Japan last year, finishing in third place. He has high hopes of another strong result in the Subaru heartland.
• “Obviously if you’ve got a car that follows the ruts well then that is the important thing because on the second pass (of stages) you need a car that is nice and easy to handle those conditions.”
• “Last year we definitely had a car for the first pass but the second pass we lost some time, so hopefully we can have a car that is good in both conditions this year.”
• Atkinson returns to Europe at the end of this week.
• “When I go back we’ll go testing in Finland for that rally and Japan. Our development work has been done for the car so we’ll try and get the set-up fine-tuned in the couple of days we have there.”

SUBARU RALLY PREVIEW    (TOP OF PAGE)

• After a nine-week break the FIA World Rally Championship roars back into life with Rallye Deutschland. Round nine of the 16 event series takes place from 11 to 13 August on the asphalt roads of the Mosel and Saarland regions in the far west of Germany, with Trier, the oldest city in the country, as permanent rally headquarters. The rally's location in central Europe attracts spectators from all over the continent and an estimated 200,000 fans are expected to make the pilgrimage this year.
• The event may be pure asphalt, but the rally has one of the widest varieties of tarmac on the calendar as each Leg has a distinctly different character. Day one's stages are run in the vineyards of the Mosel, one of Germany's largest wine producing areas, and dry leaves and squashed grapes combine to make an exceptionally greasy surface. On the second day of competitive action crews move to the tank training ranges of the Baumholder military ground where the roads are flanked with huge, unforgiving concrete kerbstones, known locally as ‘Hinkelsteins.' The wide asphalt sections are abrasive and dirty, while a fine dusting of sand makes them very slippery when wet. The final day's action takes place on the smoother, fast Saarland roads.
• With the rally taking place at the height of the German summer, the weather is expected to be hot and sunny, although there is some chance of showers as rain moves in from the Eifel and Hunsruck mountains surrounding the area. Wet weather dramatically changes the characteristics and grip levels of the roads and crews can be faced with Monte Carlo-esque variations between stages. To minimise the dangers associated with wet roads, each driver and co-driver has a safety crew who drive the stages before their competitive running to report conditions back to the driver.
• Rallye Deutschland will be a challenge for the team as well as the crews. With just 42 hours between the finish of Rally Germany and the start of the Rally Finland recce, teams will start to deconstruct their service areas from Saturday night onwards ready to depart after the first service of the final Leg. Rallye Deutschland organisers have had to make special plans for teams to make the journey in time, with Sunday's Leg shortened from six to four stages as a result.
• While rally HQ and parc ferme will be in the centre of Trier, the service area will be located in Bostalsee, a small holiday resort approximately 70km from Trier. The rally comprises 351.55 competitive kilometres and 19 special stages, including a spectator-friendly Superspecial in Sankt Wendel on Saturday night. One new stage will be run (Grafschaft Veldenz) on Leg one. The ceremonial start will take place at the Porta Nigra, the arch built by the Romans in the centre of Trier, at 2000hrs on Thursday 10 August. The podium finish is scheduled for 1224hrs in Trier.
• Entries
• Petter Solberg (co-driven by Phil Mills) and Stephane Sarrazin (co-driven by Stephane Prevot) will drive a Subaru Impreza WRC2006 each, while Chris Atkinson (co-driven by Glenn Macneall) will drive a Subaru Australia-entered Impreza WRC2005.
• Petter Solberg has competed in Germany four times before. Last year the Norwegian achieved his highest finish in the event with seventh overall. Stephane Sarrazin made his WRC debut in Germany in 2004 at the wheel of a privately-entered Subaru Impreza and finished a remarkable ninth. Last year the Frenchman claimed eighth position.
• Chris Atkinson enters his second Rallye Deutschland this year. The Australian had a solid asphalt debut to finish eleventh in 2005. Since then Chris has steadily gathered more sealed surface experience both in the WRC and non-championship events.
• Driver Quotes
• PETTER SOLBERG: 'This year we've not had such good results on asphalt so the most important thing in Germany will be to progress from our previous form. We had two days of testing in Germany at the end of July and we did find some improvements, which will be very important for us. I do enjoy the rally in itself, despite not having such a great history in the event. It's a reasonably difficult rally for a driver as each Leg has a different character with a different type of asphalt and all of the roads are very dirty and slippery. Saturday's military stages are particularly tough.'
• STEPHANE SARRAZIN: 'I made my WRC debut in Rally Germany 2004 so I've got a good feeling about this event. It's a great tarmac event as grip is low, the surface is slippery and the stages are difficult so you've really got to concentrate. I particularly enjoy the second day's Baumholder roads as they're very challenging to drive. Last year we were very quick and it would be a good result if we could finish in the top five this year.'
• CHRIS ATKINSON: 'Germany was my first-ever asphalt event in 2005, but this year I'm going back there with a lot more experience. I've got another two Tour de Corse and Rally Catalunyas under my belt, plus Monte Carlo and Ireland. Competing in the Nurburg 24 hours helped too - over a 25km lap, you have lots of opportunity to get the right racing line and think about the set-up. Unfortunately, I've not had an opportunity to do a tarmac test before Germany this year so instead I've been concentrating on fitness, training and relaxing. Our goal for Germany has got to be a good finish, hopefully in the points.'
• Team Quotes
• SUBARU WORLD RALLY SPORTING DIRECTOR, LUIS MOYA:
• 'We've had a very busy off-event period over the summer. We've focussed on improving the general performance of the team for the second half of the season and hope that the coming events will show a step forward. Both Petter and Stephane will be aiming for a top five position, but the goal for Chris will be to get more experience on tarmac. He came to Germany as an asphalt novice and showed excellent pace, but he's now got a further three WRC sealed surface rallies to his name, plus Rally Ireland and the Nurburg 24 hours. Germany is different to any other rally on the calendar and it's not historically been a good event for us, but we will go and do our best.'
• SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING, STEVE FARRELL:
• 'Clearly our performance in the last two asphalt events was not as we expected and we've made an extra effort to make the Impreza WRC2006 a more competitive package for Germany. We've worked on all areas to develop the overall performance of the car, specifically by improving the suspension and differential set-ups. There have also been a myriad of small changes and developments which have been packaged together into an engine upgrade for this event. So far our testing has confirmed we're heading in the right direction. Over the summer we've also worked very closely with Pirelli and we should see an improvement in the tyres as well.'
• Between the Rallies
• It might have been a long summer holiday for some in the WRC field, but certainly not for the three Subaru World Rally Team drivers. Petter Solberg did take some time off after Greece to cruise around the Greek islands on an 80-ft yacht complete with Jacuzzi, sun decks and five staff, but he came back to work soon after when he signed a contract to continue with Subaru until 2009. The Norwegian announced the extension in front of a crowd of international media in his home country. Soon after Petter jetted over 9,000 kilometres to Japan to test new Subaru models and participate in a Subaru fan event that was attended by over 5,000 avid supporters. After a quick trip to Goodwood at the beginning of July Petter headed to Germany for a pre-event test before a short trip to Norway and over to Finland for another test.
• Stephane Sarrazin might just be the busiest man in motorsport as he combined Pirelli tyre and Subaru World Rally Team test programmes with endurance and sportscar racing. Between racing and rallying endeavours he squeezed in a trip to Cyprus in July to support the Cyprus Automobile Association's road safety awareness programme and a trip to Japan to test the Subaru Impreza GT300 and visit an aerospace facility owned by Subaru's parent company, FHI.
• Chris Atkinson stayed in Europe after Greece to participate in the Nurburg 24 hours, his first-ever circuit race. The Australian and his three team-mates contested the event in a Subaru Impreza and finished 13th in class. After a test in Spain and a debut Goodwood Festival of Speed appearance, Chris finally headed back to Australia for some rest and relaxation with friends. Not for very long, however, as he flew to Perth at the end of July to support the ticket launch for Rally Australia. He then returned to Europe for a test at the beginning of August.

(TOP OF PAGE)

Advertising Enquiry