WRC: Rally New Zealand

[Rory Phoulorie]

Sunday, 2nd September 2007

Marcus Gronholm wins SS16 - and closes further in on Sebastien Loeb, who now leads overall by just 0.2 seconds.


SS16 - Maungatawhiri 2 (5.35 km): Gronholm fastest through SS16 - which was wet in places; Loeb second; Hirvonen third; Latvala fourth; Atkinson fifth; Sordo sixth; Wilson made a few mistakes; McShea heads the PWRC category; Loeb leads the overall rally by just 0.2seconds.


Stage times and overall standings after SS16.

Top ten stage times for SS16:

1. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 07 7mins 43.0secs M
2. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +00mins 02.1secs M
3. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 07 +00mins 02.5secs M
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +00mins 03.5secs M
5. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2007 +00mins 03.7secs M
6. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +00mins 04.1secs M
7. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2007 +00mins 04.9secs M
8. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +00mins 07.2secs M
9. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +00mins 09.0secs
10. Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC +00mins 10.3secs M


Overall times after SS16:

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 3hours 29mins 28.7secs M
2. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 07 +00mins 00.2secs M
3. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 07 +01mins 33.3secs M
4. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +02mins 24.6secs M
5. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2007 +02mins 28.8secs M
6. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +03mins 32.4secs M
7. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2007 +03mins 47.0secs M
8. Urmo Aava Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 +08mins 45.1secs
9. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +09mins 36.9secs M
10. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +09mins 45.2secs
11. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 +15mins 11.8secs M
12. Luis Perez Companc Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 +16mins 03.1secs M
13. Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC +16mins 41.5secs M
14. Alister McRae Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +18mins 17.1secs N4
15. Niall McShea Subaru Impreza +18mins 56.1secs P
16. Toshihiro Arai Subaru Impreza +19mins 11.5secs P
17. Gabriel Pozzo Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +20mins 06.5secs P
18. Fumio Nutahara Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +20mins 09.4secs P
19. Richard Mason Subaru Impreza +20mins 20.7secs P
20. Armindo Araujo Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +20mins 48.2secs P


Overall PWRC after SS16:

1. Niall McShea Subaru Impreza 3hours 48mins 24.8secs P
2. Toshihiro Arai Subaru Impreza +00mins 15.4secs P
3. Gabriel Pozzo Mitsubishi Lancer Evo +01mins 10.4secs P

Notable retirements:

SS1. Stuart Jones Mitsubishi Lancer Evo Mechanical P
SS3. Xavier Pons Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2007 Went off the road.*
SS4. Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC Went off the road. M*

SS5/6. Takuma Kamada Subaru Impreza Driver sick P
SS7. Patrik Flodin Subaru Impreza Mechanical. P
SS8. Xavier Pons Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2007 Rolled.


* denotes elected/able to re-start/finish under the SupeRally format.

M - denotes Manufacturer entry.
P - denotes Production WRC entry.

all times unofficial

crash.net

[Rory Phoulorie]

STOP PRESS: Marcus takes NZ win by only 0.3s.

Sunday, 2nd September 2007

Rally New Zealand - Day 3 BRIEF report: Marcus Gronholm triumphs on the Rally New Zealand, narrowly in front of Sebastien Loeb.


BP Ford team leader, Marcus Gronholm came through to win the Rally New Zealand on Sunday by a minuscule amount.

Gronholm led from the off on Friday in his Focus RS WRC car, but was overhauled in the final test of the day on Saturday, when his chief championship rival, Sebastien Loeb went in front. With only 1.7 seconds between though the scene was set for a thrilling final day and leg 3 didn't disappoint.

Indeed on the first loop there virtually nothing between the two championship rivals, until SS14, when Loeb inched ahead in his Citroen C4 WRC to go into the remote service zone at Raglan with a 2.9 second cushion.

On the repeat runs though, Gronholm bounced back, winning all three tests and going back up to P1 in the second run through Whaanga Coast 2.

That wasn't enough to decide things however and with only a 0.7 second advantage it went all the way to the wire and the third run through the Mystery Creek super special. Marcus held on there though to take the maximum ten points - even though Seb took the stage win and the Finn eventually secured the victory by just 0.3 seconds.

It was the fifth time he has won in NZ - and makes him the most successful driver in the 38-year history of the event. The result also increases his lead in the drivers' championship over Loeb, from 8 points to 10, with five rounds still remaining.

Mikko Hirvonen meanwhile completed the rostrum in the second BP Ford Focus RS WRC car, over 1.5 minutes off the top two, but also nearly a minute up on the squabble for fourth.

Subaru's Chris Atkinson took P4, overhauling Jari-Matti Latvala's Stobart Ford in the final �proper' test of the event.

Citroen's #2 driver, Dani Sordo was next up in sixth, while Petter Solberg had to make do with seventh, after yet another torrid event in which he was less than happy with his Impreza WRC pretty much throughout.

Suzuki's Junior Rally Championship star, Urmo Aava took the final drivers' point in eighth in his privately entered Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05, while Stobart Ford duo, Henning Solberg and Matthew Wilson completed the top ten.

Henning incidentally scooped the final manufacturers' point.

In the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship category meanwhile Niall McShea started the leg with a 60 second lead, but was unable to hold off a hard charging Toshi Arai, who went in front in SS17.

Arai eventually took the PWRCwin from McShea by 2.6 seconds, while Richard Mason was third in the category to give Subarua 1-2-3 finish.


crash.net

[Plex]

Nice..I was telling a friend its Ford & Citroen ruling Rally...He had a different veiw..

[Rory Phoulorie]