2005 WRC Rally Australia

[Yeo]

Solberg and Gronholm share the limelight
Australia : Super Special 1 & 2 - 2.35 km

The 2005 World Rally Championship will end this weekend with the final round of the season: Rally Australia. The race started this evening with two runs of the Perth City Super Special stage, a 2.35km speed test.

Petter Solberg set the pace in the first run, completing the total distance in a time of 1'33�3. The Norwegian finished in front of the two Citroen drivers, Francois Duval and Sebastien Loeb.

Loeb's time, however, was identical with Marcus Gronholm's performance, both men losing eight tenths of a second over Solberg to take third place. Chris Atkinson lost only one tenth of a second on this duo to clinch fifth position. Harri Rovanpera crossed the line with the sixth best time, just fourth tenths of a second quicker than Daniel Carlsson in seventh place. Gianluigi Galli, Colin McRae and Manfred Stohl complete the top ten in SS1.

The results were slightly different in SS2: Marcus Gronholm improved his pace and finished at the top of the time sheets by completing the distance in 1'32�9. Toni Gardemeister showed the potential of the new Focus by setting the second quickest time, only one tenth slower than the Peugeot driver.

Sebastien Loeb and Petter Solberg achieved an identical time of 1'33�5 and share third place in SS2. Harri Rovanpera and Francois Duval share fifth position with a time of 1'33�6.

Colin McRae improved his SS1 time by more than a second to clinch seventh place. Daniel Carlsson and Chris Atkinson are both eighth, 1�6 slower than the leader.

After these two runs of the Super Special stage, Petter Solberg is leading the race by a mere two tenths of second over Marcus Gronholm. Francois Duval is third, three tenths ahead of his teammate Sebastien Loeb.

Harri Rovanpera is 1�6 behind Solberg in fifth position. Chris Atkinson follow in sixth place, just one tenth ahead of Toni Gardemeister in seventh spot. Colin McRae, Daniel Carlsson and Manfred Stohl complete the top ten.

Subaru driver Hamed Al Wahaibi retired in the first stage of the race when he experienced mechanical problems with his Impreza.

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[Yeo]

Atkinson starts the day with a stage win
Australia : SS 3 - 15.92 km

Despite a few clouds, the weather is expected to be beautiful today in Perth for the first leg of the 2005 edition of Rally Australia.

Actually, the action started yesterday evening with two runs of the Perth City Super Special but the rest of Leg 1 will take place today, with nine more stages on the programme.

The first challenge for the crews this morning is Murray North 1, a fast 16-km stage. Local star Chris Atkinson set the pace with a time of 8'48�1, followed by his own teammate Petter Solberg.

Third on the time sheets is Marcus Gronholm. The Finn is fighting against Solberg for second place in the drivers' championship and also hopes to get a win for Peugeot's final race in WRC. Marcus lost 1�1 over Solberg in SS3 and is third overall behind the two Subaru drivers, 1�3 behind race leader Solberg.

Despite being the first driver on the road and having the disadvantage of �sweeping' the slippery surface for the other drivers, Sebastien Loeb still managed a strong fourth place, 5�2 slower than Atkinson.

Roman Kresta set an encouraging fifth quickest time for the new Focus WRC06 but unfortunately he received a 30-second penalty, just like his teammate Toni Gardemeister because the new car is fitted with a new engine, which is against the two-race per engine rule.

Francois Duval lost 11�5 over Atkinson and barely finished in front of Xavier Pons. Only three tenths of a second separated the two Xsara drivers in sixth and seventh places.

Antony Warmbold (8th), Manfred Stohl (9th) and Harri Rovanpera complete the top ten in SS3.

One works team driver has already retired: Daniel Carlsson went off the road only two kilometres after the start of the stage and wasn't able to get back on the road.

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[Yeo]

A new and popular race leader!
Australia : SS 4 - 20.12 km

Chris Atkinson is pleasing his numerous fans by clinching another stage victory. The young Subaru driver also takes the lead of the race, 11�3 seconds ahead of his teammate Petter Solberg.

Atkinson's pace was quite impressive since he was more than ten seconds faster than anybody else in SS4. Sebastien Loeb and Colin McRae set an identical time to share second place, which is a great result for the Skoda driver.

Petter Solberg only managed the fifth fastest time and is now just nine tenths of a second ahead of Gronholm, who is third overall.

Once again Francois Duval is chased by one of the Kronos drivers. This time it is Manfred Stohl, the Austrian taking seventh place in SS4, one tenth of a second behind Duval!

Harri Rovanpera is also less than a second behind Duval but finished in eighth position, three tenths of a second ahead of Toni Gardemeister (9th). The other Kronos driver, Xavier Pons set the tenth fastest time, beating Gigi Galli by one tenth of a second!

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[Yeo]

Another one-two result for Subaru
Australia : SS 5 - 5.35 km

Subaru continued to dominate in Australia with another one-two result, this time in the Turner Hill stage. Petter Solberg took the stage victory by beating his teammate Chris Atkinson by just eighth tenths of a second.

Atkinson is still the leader of the race, just over ten seconds ahead of Solberg.

Marcus Gronholm crossed the line with the third fastest time. The Peugeot driver finished in front of Roman Kresta, fourth at the wheel of the new and promising Focus. The Czech driver is still getting familiar with his car but has nevertheless been able to achieve good stage results.

The other Ford driver, Toni Gardemeister, isn't far behind in sixth place, just three tenths of a second behind Manfred Stohl in fifth spot.

Antony Warmbold (7th) and Harri Rovanpera (8th) finished in front of the two Citroen drivers. Loeb, Duval and Mitsubishi driver Gianluigi Galli set an identical time of 3'15�2, good enough for ninth place.

Xavier Pons hit a rock on the road and damaged his Xsara's radiator. The Kronos driver had no choice but to retire from the leg.

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[Yeo]

Mixed fortunes for the Subaru drivers
Australia : SS 6 - 15.92 km

The drivers return to the Murray North stage for a second run on the 16-km timed event. Petter Solberg claimed his third stage victory and moves back into the lead of the race.

While everything went smoothly for Solberg, the situation was very different for his teammate Chris Atkinson. The Australian driver lost more than 40 seconds in this stage and drops to fifth place overall.

Sebastien Loeb came close to match Solberg's pace in this stage. The Citroen driver lost only 1�1 on the leader and moves up to second overall, just three tenths of a second in front of Marcus Gronholm. The Peugeot driver was third fastest in SS6, 5�1 slower than Loeb.

Another strong result for the Ford drivers. Roman Kresta continues to do well with the fourth quickest time. Toni Gardemeister also achieved a good performance, the Finn 1�7 slower than the impressive Colin McRae in fifth place.

Francois Duval, Harri Rovanpera, Manfred Stohl and Gigi Galli complete the top ten in that respective order.

Antony Warmbold retired from the leg, the Ford driver rolled and was not able to continue.

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[Yeo]

Gronholm's turn to be in trouble
Australia : SS 7 - 20.12 km

Just like SS6, Murray South is used for the second time today and that makes the road surface noticeably cleaner, which helps the first drivers out on the road.

Sebastien Loeb is the first one to go in the starting order but on this surface it wasn't a handicap for the Citroen driver. Loeb clinched his first stage victory since the beginning of the rally and gets closer to race leader Petter Solberg. The gap between the two men is down to just 6�7.

Solberg set the second fastest time. Despite the growing pressure from Loeb, Solberg's situation is still positive since he gained a major advantage over Marcus Gronholm, his opponent in the battle for second place in the drivers' championship.

The Peugeot driver lost more than a minute in SS7 when he broke a suspension on his 307. The Finn is hoping to reach the service area but his chances of eventually catching Solberg are greatly reduced. Marcus is now only eleventh overall, 1'19�5 away from Solberg.

Toni Gardemeister and Roman Kresta are third and fifth fastest in SS7, the Ford drivers only separated by Colin McRae in fourth place. McRae's performance is nothing short of amazing, the Skoda driver is now moving up to third place in the cumulative race standings!

Chris Atkinson is obviously struggling at the wheel of his stricken Impreza. The Australian driver lost more than a minute in this stage, which might be the result of a steering problem.

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[Yeo]

Loeb takes the lead!
Australia : SS 8 - 22.84 km

The drivers are back on the road for two more timed events, followed by two runs later this evening on the Perth City Super Special stage.

Sebastien Loeb drove well and managed to beat the Subaru drivers, taking his second consecutive stage victory by just one tenth of a second over Chris Atkinson. The Citroen driver is now the new leader of the race... although Petter Solberg is just seventh tenths of a second behind.

The Norwegian set the third fastest time in SS8 and lost 7�4 over Loeb. Solberg is followed by Toni Gardemeister (4th), Francois Duval (5th) and Harri Rovanpera (6th).

Marcus Gronholm, who was fighting against Solberg for second place in the drivers' championship, retired from the race. Finn was stopped by the police on his way to the service park and was not allowed to continue because of his car's broken suspension.

Colin McRae is still holding on to third place overall but the Skoda driver must face growing pressure from Francois Duval. The Citroen driver gained four seconds on the Fabia driver and is less than a second behind him in the cumulative standings.

Manfred Stohl is facing a similar challenge. The Xsara driver holds an excellent sixth overall but the two Ford drivers are getting closer and closer to him, despite their 30-second penalties at the start of the race. Toni Gardemeister (7th) is just 7�6 behind the Austrian while Roman Kresta (9th, behind Gigi Galli) is 21�6 from the Kronos driver.

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[Yeo]

Sebastien Loeb out of the race
Australia : SS 9 - 19.87 km

Sebastien Loeb didn't lead the 2005 Rally Australia for very long. The World Champion made an uncommon mistake and went off the road, putting an end to his race.

Chris Atkinson took his third stage victory of the race, beating his Subaru teammate Petter Solberg by 4�3. The Norwegian moves back into the lead after Loeb's retirement. Solberg is nearly a minute ahead of two drivers fighting for second overall. Colin McRae has the advantage over Francois Duval but the gap between the two men is only three tenths of a second!

The Mitsubishi drivers did well in SS9, taking the fifth and sixth fastest times. Gigi Galli beat his teammate by 2�7 and the Italian moved ahead of the two Ford drivers in the cumulative results. Galli is now only 7�5 behind Manfred Stohl, who is fifth overall.

Either the team didn't make the right tyre choices or this timed event didn't suit the new Focus. Unlike in the previous stages, Roman Kresta and Toni Gardemeister didn't do very well in SS9, finishing in ninth and eleventh positions, respectively.

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[Yeo]

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[Yeo]

Duval pushing his way up to second overall
Australia : Super Special 10 & 11 - 2.35 km

The Perth City Super Special stages give the opportunity for the spectators to see the drivers compete side by side (two at a time) on a short, 2.35-km course.

Despite the short distance, Francois Duval gained enough time to move ahead of Colin McRae in the overall results. The Citroen driver is now second, 46�7 behind race leader Petter Solberg.

Duval finished only seventh in SS10 but did much better in the second run, clinching second place only two tenths of a second slower than stage winner Harri Rovanpera. The Mitsubishi driver finishes leg one in a fine fourth position.

Chris Atkinson set the pace in SS10 and finished a second away from Rovanpera's time in SS11 to take sixth place, in a tie with Colin McRae. The Skoda driver lost one position in the cumulative standings but the gap separating him from Duval is only 1�4.

Gigi Galli set the fourth quickest time in both SS10 and SS11 and gained around one second over Manfred Stohl, who is fifth overall. The Mitsubishi driver is now 6�8 behind Stohl.

Ford drivers Toni Gardemeister and Roman Kresta round up the top eight in the race standings.

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[Yeo]

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[Yeo]

A long retirement list...
Australia : Leg 1 - Summary

Nine stages was all it took for the mighty to take a fall in the first day of Telstra Rally Australia. Three World Rally Championship drivers retired along with two second priority drivers, one of those retirements being World Champion elect Sebastien Loeb.

Daniel Carlsson was the first misfortune of the day when he went off the road on stage three and the car caught fire. Both crew were unharmed and removed from the scene, but their Peugeot World Rally Car was unable to continue.

Chris Atkinson had taken the rally lead by stage four, the second stage of the day. Atkinson held off a determined charge by his Subaru team mate Petter Solberg to establish an impressive lead which held his country in suspense. But it was only short lived as the steering on his Subaru World Rally Car inexplicably broke on stage six. The Queenslander lost the rally lead and dropped to sixth outright.

Xavier Pons, in a privately-run Citroen, hit a tree on stage five and retired. Antony Warmbold in an 04 spec Ford rolled and also joined the retirement list.

Marcus Gronholm was the next to suffer. On stage seven he dropped from third to eleventh outright when the front suspension on his Peugeot collapsed. As his suspension was destroyed so too was the chance for an impressive finale for the final outing for the Peugeot Sport team.



Topping the list of mistakes and misfortunes was Champion-elect Sebastien Loeb. In a rare moment of miscalculation, Loeb applied the brakes too late on some loose gravel, and came off the road and hit a tree on stage nine. The crew were unharmed.

The gremlins even spread to the Australian drivers. Subaru Australia announced their retirement from Australian rallying only days before Telstra Rally Australia and were supposed to be enjoying their final rally as a team. Australian Rally Champion Cody Crocker retired first when he glanced a tree and bent a control arm. His West Australian team mate Dean Herridge suffered sudden engine failure and they were left stranded on the side of the stage.

The Production Cup World Rally Championship also has one less contender. Marcos Ligato rolled his Subaru and while he was able to continue the stage, he chose to retire shortly thereafter.

The day even started with dilemma for the BP Ford World Rally Team. The two drivers running in the latest 06 spec Focus incurred 30 second penalties due to an FIA ruling insisting on engine pairing between events. This forced the team to infringe regulations regardless of them using the old engine in a new car, or the new engine in the old car. Penalties aside, Toni Gardemeister holds seventh place, and Roman Kresta lies in eighth place. Team Director Malcom Wilson said he was delighted with the new car's debut performance.

There was good news for two teams. Mitsubishi team personnel reported that for them it had been a good day. Their cars lie in fourth and sixth outright. Skoda also enjoyed a trouble free run. Armin Schwarz, who will retire from the sport after this rally, lies in 11th outright while Colin McRae said his third outright was a result of a day going completely to plan.

Despite the day's drama Petter Solberg comes out of Leg One on top of the leaderboard, with a 46.6 second lead over Francois Duval, and Colin McRae only 1.4 seconds adrift in third.

The rally action continues tomorrow at the spectacularly famous Wespine jumps and water splash.

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[NarendZORCE]

[Yeo]

Duval takes maiden victory in Australia
Australia : Finish - Summary

Citroen's Francois Duval has taken his first ever WRC rally win at Telstra Rally Australia, while veteran Colin McRae (Skoda) topped the list of today's retirements.

The unique gravel makes Telstra Rally Australia a challenging event. This year's rally was even tricker, with many experienced drivers failing to finish. Today's leading retirement was third place holder and rally favourite Colin McRae.

Duval was only fastest on four of the rally's stages and while the young Belgian did benefit from many retirements he was consistently quick enough to hold onto the rally lead he gained after stage 13.

Mitsubishi's Harri Rovanpera finished the rally second outright, benefiting from the demise of Colin McRae. McRae was holding off Rovanpera by a slim 3.5 seconds when a precautionary clutch change took too long, and the Skoda World Rally Team ran out of time to complete the change and allow the Scotsman to finish the rally.

Privately run Citroen driver Manfred Stohl finished the rally in third outright but it was not a podium without pressure. Australian Chris Atkinson charged through today's stages. Last night, the Queenslander vowed to take fourth place. With McRae's retirement making this goal easy, third place moved into his sights and he was either first or second fastest on all of today's stages. Atkinson finished the rally in fourth place, a result one better than his best achieved last year.

Ford's Toni Gardemeister was poised to take fifth place but on the penultimate stage of the rally, the water pump on the 06-spec Focus broke and his rally was over.

While the grins and champagne took place on the podium there were other rally celebrations taken in private. 2005 World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb, wore his crown in privacy. The double World Rally Champion did not finish this rally as did the duo fighting for second place in the Championship. With both Petter Solberg and Marcus Gronholm failing to finish the rally, Petter Solberg gains second place in the Championship for taking three rally wins in the season to Gronholm's two.

Alongside the celebration, there will also be tears of sadness. The event marks the final rally for the Peugeot Sport team as well as Subaru Australia, though both teams are without crews who finished the rally. Telstra Rally Australia will also be the final event for the Citroen Sport team before they come back to the sport in 2007.

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[Yeo]

The Mitsubishi Motorsport crew of Harri Rovanper� and Risto Pietil�inen claimed the team's best result of the season today when they finished on the podium in second position. The Finns claimed five fastest stage times during the three-day event, demonstrating the increased performance of the Lancer WRC05. Team-mates �Gigi� Galli and Guido d'Amore finished a fine fifth in only their second outing in Rally Australia.

The final leg of Rally Australia was the shortest at 103.32 competitive kilometers. However, the route still took in two loops of three identical stages and with battles throughout the top of the leaderboard, action was always guaranteed to be fast and furious. The stages have been as tricky as ever, with all the crews reporting unbelievably slippery conditions on the fast and flowing roads.

Harri Rovanper� started the day in third but in the first stage he reduced the gap to Colin McRae to just 3.5 seconds. Then, in the longest stage of the event (Helena North), the Finn powered ahead of his rival to claim a 4.7 second advantage in the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05. Consolidating the position in the last of these three stages, Harri beat rally leader, Citro�n's Fran�ois Duval, and a charging Chris Atkinson in the Subaru Impreza, to claim another fastest stage time.

Harri and Risto returned to the mid-leg service with a 6.9 second advantage going into the final three stages. However, the task ahead was made much easier when what should have been a routine clutch change on McRae's �koda saw the crew go over the time permitted. So, even though the pressure was off the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 crew, they still had three stages to complete without mistakes before returning to Perth in a fantastic second position.

�I am very, very happy for the whole team,� said a delighted Harri, �and especially for all the mechanics who have worked so hard since the beginning of the season. It's been a great rally for us; the car has worked well, the performance and speed has been good and the feeling has been right all weekend. It's a great way to round off the year.�

Gigi Galli, who had climbed as high as fourth yesterday, slipped from fifth to seventh this morning. The Italian had no problems, but was once again tackling stages for the first time and intent on finishing the rally without incident. This afternoon however he still had to continue defending his position from a charging Roman Kresta and, following the retirements of McRae and Toni Gardemeister, the crew claimed fifth overall.

�It's been a really, really tough rally,� said Gigi. �Now I can see and believe why it's so important to have experience of this event with the surface, pace notes, speed; everything that makes a difference to your performance. I have to keep in mind our goal was to finish, but fifth is a good position for us.�

Isao Torii, Head of Mitsubishi Motorsport said: �Finally, a great rally! I am very pleased and so proud of our team; thank you very much to Harri, Risto and everyone. The first and last rally of the season we achieved a podium position and this leads us into next year in a very positive way; a very big thank you. Gigi also kept our team orders and finished in fifth position, which is very good.�

Adding to their comments, Roger Estrada, Principal Rally Engineer said: �I'm very pleased; this podium is the result of a fantastic team effort. The cars have run extremely reliably all weekend and it's a big confidence boost for our 2006 campaign. Congratulations to Harri, Risto, Gigi and Guido for their performance on this rally and it's a great gift, from the team, to Andrew (Cowan) on his last event.�

Rally Australia closed the 2005 FIA World Rally Championship season and although the crews don't return to competitive action until Rallye Monte-Carlo, in January 2006, teams will now start a hectic round of test and development work for next season.

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