| FIA RALLY NEWS
COMING EVENT - Acropolis Rally of Greece (23-26 June 2005) 8th round out of 16 in the 2005 FIA World Rally Championship, 4th round out of eight in the 2005 FIA Junior World Rally Championship FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP DRIVERS/TEAM MEMBERS: JEAN-PIERRE NICOLAS (PEUGEOT) Q : Life is good for Peugeot. You lead the championship as you come in
Greece with 4 points. Q: But how much does your ambition to win the manufacturers
championship limits the ambitions of Marcus? I know you will say to him:
”We must have as priority no1 the manufacturers’ championship”. Q: How difficult is for you to motivate Pirelli, motivate the team,
motivate the drivers when they thinking Peugeot will not be around next
year? Q: What are your instructions to Marcus this weekend? What have you
told him for this Rally? Q: Joan you have three cars this weekend, one more than Jean Pierre. Q: What are the areas that you want to work most? Q: Greece will give you a very good opportunity to test the suspension.
Are you confident that the three cars will reach the end? Q: You start with a disadvantage because Janne Tuohino starts with one
minute penalty because of the troubles he had in Cyprus. Maybe Janne is
your best chance, or would have been your best chance and now starts with
a penalty. Q: I asked Jean Pierre if it’s difficult to motivate other partners
when he know that the team will not be here next year. But for you, what’s
the future for Skoda GIGI GALLI (MITSUBISHI) Q: Did you have an interesting shakedown? Q: You have led rallies, you have fastest times, fast rallies, and you
won SS’s, now you have to get a podium? Q: Is that luck, or is that work on certain areas that make the
difference? Q: Are you frustrated, angry after what happened after your great
Friday in Turkey? When I ask you, have you forgot your anger now? Q: This will be the last Weekend of Mario Fornaris with you. How are
you going to send him away? Q: I guess you that as you are friends with Mario, and he gave answers
to your questions, now that he finishes, what happens? Q: It is what English say, “foot down” this weekend. You can go at
every speed you like. Malcolm has given you instructions to go for it. Q: Have you wanted to push earlier but have to wait until now? Q: You are under pressure, you have been asked to drive faster, do you
enjoy more? Q: And you say it was your idea, you want it to have a real go. Q: It is instruction of Malcolm to give your chance this weekend Q: And how does the team work on things like this? What else happens
around you? Q: And what would you like to achieve this weekend? Do you hope for
podium, or just for points? STEPHANE SARRAZIN (SUBARU) Q: Stephane I will start with you. Your second WRC gravel event. It is
still all new to you, driving on gravel? Q: You have to learn very quickly. Q: Do you think that Subaru give you a lot of advice and help on gravel?
And if so, what did they say? Q: You have a very good car for Greece and very good tyres, so you have
a very good pedigree. Q: Give as a quick inside in to your relationship with Denis (Giraudet),
on the delivery of pace notes. Are you confident with him? Q: And how do you find Greece? What is your opinion after the recce? Q: Do you remember your early days on gravel on the beginning of your
career? Do you have any words of advice for Stephane? Q: At the moment you certainly have the best car, because you won four
rallies, but you have never won here. So how is going to be this year? Q: There is a lot slippery gravel for you out there to swap. So what
about starting first on the road? Q: From listening to Petter this morning, he sounded that he will take
risks and he is out in a fight. Because he has to be out for a fight. You? Q: But is easier for him, because he has not to think about Guy and
manufacturers Championship. You have your own aim, but also have to
contribute to the manufactures Championship. You almost have to do twice
the job. Q: Can you take the same risks, that Petter can? Event Timetable LEG 1 : Athens - Lamia LEG 2 : Lamia - Lamia LEG 3 : Lamia - Lamia Total distance 1065 km - 19 Special Stages (349.57 km) Leading positions after the first day of the rally: 1. S. Loeb / D. Elena Citroen 1:24.37,6 Leg One News Driver's comments after Leg 1
Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena, Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti and their respective
Xsara WRCs completed the first full day of the 2005 Acropolis Rally, run
in scorching sunshine, in 1st and 3rd places in Lamia this evening. With
fastest times to its name in four of the seven stages contested to date,
Citroën has got its weekend in Greece off to a flying start. Xavier Pons/Carlos del Barrio: "I have never driven a car like it. It's fantastic, but I'm still finding out how it works! The brakes are really something else and I am not using them 100%. It's a car that needs you to take time to adapt. So I am more determined than ever to get in as many kilometres as possible, taking things one step at a time, progressing bit by bit and upping the pace gradually as I did today." Subaru Ford Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "We had a perfect morning. Our road position certainly helped but we made no mistakes and had a good run. Tomorrow will be very rough and I'll be happy to keep my position." Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "My times were really good considering I've not been here before.I've not driven at 100 per cent because I don't know the roads, but I'm driving faster than I expected and was quite close to Carlos Sainz this afternoon which is good enough for me. The power and handling of the Focus has been amazing and tomorrow I will aim for fourth or fifth." Antony Warmbold/Michael Orr: For me, the round in Greece was over before it had really begun. After two kilometres on the first stage, we hit a small wall along the inside of a corner that was hidden behind a small bush. We were driving in fifth gear and tore off a wheel. It was a mistake made while writing the road book, because we failed to mark this point in the book during our practice. We should have made a note though of driving along the outside of the corner. When you attack one hundred percent during the rally, such mistakes can easily force you to retire. Because the impact damaged the chassis as well, we were not able to start to the second leg under the SupeRally rules." Peugeot
Marcus Gronholm showed himself to be completely at ease in the tough
conditions, leading the rally before conceding a lead of just six seconds
to Sebastien Loeb on the final stage. Marcus is nearly eight seconds ahead
of Carlos Sainz, who is currently third. Skoda Mitsubishi Citroen JWRC Kris Meeke/Chris Patterson: "In the first loop, I found the car was understeering too much. We modified the set-up at the midday service and as we started on stage 5, I knew we had gone in the right direction. But three kilometres into the stage, we had to stop with a broken rear left suspension. Of course it's disappointing but the Greek event is very tough for everybody. Tonight we still lie tenth and tomorrow we will restart with the target of making it to the finish. We will count the points at that moment." Daniel Sordo/Oriol Julia: "I started to push a bit harder on the second loop. In a 'six-gear- right' corner, I felt something was wrong with the car. The rear left suspension just broke. It's a pity because I think what had been changed on the car at the midday service was paying off. I was more confident with the car. Now we just need to keep our motivation, first to continue to learn and also because we still have a good chance to score points." Suzuki JWRC Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: "We pushed hard on the first three stages, in order to be sure of building up a comfortable gap. The car is very good, and our test at the beginning of the week was extremely helpful, and a key factor in our strong performance. Conditions have been hot and difficult but I always enjoy them." Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh: "It's disappointing to start the rally in such a bad way, but I couldn't avoid hitting the rock as it was right in the middle of the road. I suppose it could have been worse as we are still in contention, but it was a big blow to have a problem of this type so soon. But we are still pushing, and we are going to be trying our hardest possible to make up the time lost." Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk: Today has been very good for us. However, I'm a little disappointed as I just lost out on fastest stage time on SS5 to Guy Wilks – by 0.7 seconds! I've got no real problems with the car and I'm quite happy. I hope we can build on this pace tomorrow." Kosti Katajamäki/Timo Alanne: "I'm disappointed that all these troubles with rocks have cost us time, but that is the nature of Greece I suppose. I'm hoping for a trouble-free run tomorrow. With no problems I think we can be challenging at the sharp end." Leading positions after the second day of the rally: 1 LOEB/ELENA CITROEN TOTAL 2:54:28.8 Driver's comments after Leg 2 Leg Two News Championship leader Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) dominated the leg as the Frenchman closed in on a record-breaking fifth consecutive victory. He was fastest on all eight stages to extend his advantage to 1min 24.6sec. Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot) was his closest challenger throughout the morning but he broke a driveshaft early on the second stage of the afternoon loop and dropped more than two minutes in the remaining three tests to slide to fourth. Carlos Sainz (Citroen) punctured four tyres on the opening loop but lost no time and punctured two more when he left the road briefly on the final stage. Sixth-placed Harri Rovanperä (Mitsubishi) struggled for grip during the afternoon while team-mate Gigi Galli dropped 40 seconds this morning after losing turbo boost. Jani Paasonen (Skoda) retired after crashing on the second stage while Petter Solberg (Subaru) climbed back to ninth after yesterday's problems. Citroen A grand slam run today, which harvested eight fastest stage times from a possible eight, has seen Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Xsara WRC extend their lead in the 2005 Acropolis Rally, while Carlos Sainz and Marc Marti still figure in 3rd position, more than a minute clear of their closest chaser. With a further 100km of competitive action to come tomorrow, Citroën enjoys an appreciable advantage at the sharp end of tonight's provisional leaderboard. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I pushed hard in the first two stages of the morning's loop, and even harder in the last two which were cleaner. I felt really comfortable during the morning running on the narrower Michelins. When I feel as good as I do today at the wheel of my Xsara, I can do what I want with it. And that's a terrific feeling!" Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti: "My main objective is still to score points for Citroën. If I can do that and finish on the podium too, it will be a bonus." Xavier Pons/Carlos del Barrio: We're doing okay. Unfortunately we had three tyre damages today. Our main goal remains to finish the rally but we naturally also have our sights on the top-10.“ Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: "These results mean very much to me. They show that I'm able to compete with the best. Kronos Racing have prepared the Xsara perfectly. Too bad I had to retire on Friday. But, after all, I can do better in three weeks in Argentina.“ Subaru Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "It's been a very difficult day. Running so close to the head of the field meant we had the worst possible road surface, and we simply couldn't go any faster. There was a lot of fine, sandy gravel out there and it was very, very slippery. I did my best, and the car has been perfectly reliable, but it was never going to be enough to make up for the road position. It's frustrating to be so uncompetitive on stages that I won last year - but I suppose not entirely unexpected in the circumstances. We made a few adjustments to the car set-up at the mid-point service, but somehow the package didn't come together properly. For tomorrow we'll keep fighting, keep doing our best, and aim to take away as many points as possible." Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: "I'm finding this rally is a lot harder than Sardinia, but I'm enjoying the challenge. I felt a lot more confident on the second pass through the stages this afternoon, we took a different tyre and of course had the benefit of experience at that point, but it felt much better. There are still plenty of areas in which I can improve - my pace notes for instance are still too cautious - but I'm happy with the progress. It's good to be exchanging times with some of the more experienced gravel drivers. The car has run perfectly, we've had no problems at all, and I'm looking forward to the final four new stages tomorrow." Ford Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen: "We've had a good battle with Carlos," said Gardemeister. "We wanted to get ahead of him and I knew that if I pushed a little harder I could do that. I drove over a lot of stones but it seems that this rally is suiting me and, especially, the Focus. It seems that you have to take some risks to go fast here. It has been different to yesterday and quite rough in places. I'm happier with today but the stages were nicer to drive yesterday." Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "We had a steady drive this morning. We decided to save the car and drove round all the stones. We needed to be a little quicker this afternoon and take some time out of Rovanperä and that's what we did. Everything has gone to plan. We had a puncture this afternoon but Michelin's mousse worked well and on the last stage we twice hit a stone really badly and were lucky to get away with it. The car felt strange afterwards but it didn't slow us." Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "It was completely my fault. It happened at a left corner which was tighter than I had in my pace notes. It's my first time on the rally and it was a wrong note. The car slid off the road and hit a tree. The impact spun the car right round and then it dropped down a bank to end up lying against some more trees." Peugeot At the start of the second stage of this afternoon's loop, Marcus Gronholm came onto the Peugeot Total team radio to announce that he thought he had broken a driveshaft. He was left to complete the unlucky stage 13, as well as two further stages totalling 28 kilometres, before he could have the problem fixed at service. The problem was eventually traced to an inexpensive yet essential jubilee clip in the transmission, but the damage had already been done. Marcus lost nearly two minutes and his comfortable second place. The Finn is now fourth, with a 2m44s gap to the leader. Marcus Gronhölm/Timo Rautiainen: "On the road section after the short SS12, I felt the car pull to one side and at first I thought it was a problem with a wheel or a tyre. But then off the line on the next stage the transmission was slipping, so I knew the problem was much more serious. The only thing I could do was lock the diffs and try to carry on, but the car was extremely difficult to drive. We did everything we could but of course we lost a lot of time so the chances to win are gone. Now we just have to concentrate on scoring the most points possible." Markko Martin/Michael Park: "Today was fine - we had no real problems. We made a generally good tyre choice for all the stages and the car was entirely reliable. There are maybe some little things that we can change at service but basically we are concentrating on getting to the finish. There is not much else to report." Skoda Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha: "With the SupeRally penalty the only thing today was to drive for the finish and to try some new things on the car. We can still get into the points if we are lucky so we have to keep going." Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka: "I was trying so hard not to make a mistake and so this was really bad luck. It was about 12kms into the stage on a fast left into a tightening right. The car slid a little bit wide and the left wheels went over the edge of the road. Normally there is something extra there but this time there was just nothing. The car rolled about three times and it was so slow that I had a lot of time to think about what was happening. It stopped about 20 metres down with no chance to get back." Mitsubishi Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen: "Mid- way through SS13 the gear-shift alarm came on and then another three or four kilometers later I missed second gear and switched to the manual system. It was tricky though and we lost time because the stage was so twisty. Then we had a puncture in the same stage, although it was impossible to tell which one. There was a vibration and we changed the front right for the next stage, but it was the same situation. We ended up changing all four tires, but then had another puncture on the front right before the start of the last stage! The tires were also too hard this afternoon, even though the roads were cleaner." Gigi Galli/Guido D'Amore: "Today has been good, other than the one small problem with the engine this morning. We started the day carefully and are sticking to our original tactics; this is good. Despite the engine problem, our position stayed the same and then we were able to pass Markko. For sure it is easier for me in the second lap each day, as I am learning the roads more, but the goal remains to learn for the future. Tomorrow three of the four stages are new so this will make it more even between everyone and it will be interesting to compare our performance in these conditions." Citroen JWRC Kris Meeke/Chris Patterson: "It's good to have a day without any problem. The car's set-up was satisfying even I find the car is still understeering sometimes. I was quite surprised I was the quickest on stage 8 and I even called the team to confirm I didn't drive faster than the pace we decided to take. I had a puncture on the rear right wheel on stage 10 and we used one of the two spares we had on board. This is the reason why I drove through the last morning stage with worn tyres. But as it was very smooth, I set the fastest time again even if I drove cautiously. I will continue like this tomorrow. " Daniel Sordo/Oriol Julia: "I can't help to be disappointed with what happened yesterday when I look at the car's performance for its first outing in Greece. The modifications we did on the car at the midday service were positive, as shown with our two stage wins. I don't push really hard and I'm always very cautious to avoid the big stones which come on the roads after the WRCs passage." Suzuki JWRC Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: It was another hot and rough day, which was almost certainly the toughest of the rally. Luckily we were able to start the day with enough of a lead not to have to push hard on the really rough parts, which was always the plan here. Of course you can never relax, but we were able to look after the car a bit and choose our lines carefully. The Ignis has once more been very easy to drive, despite the fact that conditions were really tricky." Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh: "Today was something of a damage limitation exercise. I needed to go as quickly as possible in order to make up for the time lost yesterday, but not so quickly that I compromised my chances of finishing. It's very easy to make a mistake in these tricky and slippery conditions, which is the last thing I need. Obviously I have a good chance of taking second place tomorrow, but I also have to drive with the championship in mind." Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk: "I'm very happy with today. I've been pushing quite hard though, and as is always the case in these types of situation, you often have one or two little 'moments'! There has been nothing to seriously worry me though, and I'm determined to keep on pushing hard. Guy Wilks is very close behind me, so it should be a good battle!" Kosti Katajamäki/Timo Alanne: This is a very tough rally, so to finish is a good achievement in itself, but I think we could have been even higher up the order if we had not had a couple of problems yesterday. It's a pity, as P-G has clearly demonstrated the pace of the Ignis here." Final positions after the third day of the rally: 1. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen Xsara 4hr 12min 53.7sec Driver's comments after Leg 3 Final Leg News Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) created rallying history when he became the
first driver to win five consecutive rounds. The Frenchman won by 1min
36.2sec and now leads the championship by 23 points. Behind Gardemeister,
Carlos Sainz (Citroen) ended his WRC career with a podium finish. It was his
97th podium from 196 starts. Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot) cruised through the
final day to claim fourth while Harri Rovanperä (Mitsubishi) took sixth,
despite a tyre vibration on the opening two stages. Gigi Galli (Mitsubishi)
and Markko Märtin (Peugeot) claimed the final drivers' points while ninth
for Petter Solberg (Subaru) earned his team the final manufacturers' point.
Citroen Re-united once again in Greece, Citroën's dream team produced another sensational result this weekend. Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Xsara WRC were in unbeatable form on their way to claiming their record-equalling sixth win of the season and their fifth in a row, also a record-equalling feat. Carlos Sainz and Marc Marti also played a capital role in the team's successful weekend by finishing in 3rd position. Their result enables Citroën to regain the lead in the Manufacturers' championship and the Spaniard, a living rally legend, was given a long ovation when he returned to the Lamia service park at the end of the rally to mark his 97th podium finish from 196 world class rallying starts, another truly historic performance! Symbolically, it was in Greece fifteen years ago that he took the first of his 26 WRC victories. Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I really took it easy. I wasn't even flat out along some straights over the pebbles towards the end of 'Perivoli'! Five wins in a row? It hasn't really sunk in yet!" Carlos Sainz/Marc Marti: "A month and a half ago, I was following Citroën's results in the press and phoning up every now and again for a friendly chat. I didn't have the slightest idea I would soon find myself back competing with the Xsara WRC. It's been a fantastic weekend! I am proud to have succeeded in meeting the objective Guy set me, and proud to have scored valuable points in both events. The team is back on top of the championship and I hope it will stay there. They deserve it. As for me, I have finished my career in world class rallying on the podium of the event that gave me my first WRC win. What more could a sportsman ask for?" Xavier Pons/Carlos del Barrio: "For Greece it was nearly a perfect rally. We had a few tyre damages but no other troubles. Furthermore we gained valuable race kilometres and were able to improve by each special stage. Of course we're still far from the limit but we did more than okay for the first time. My thanks go especially to Kronos Racing and my Team Manager Marc van Dalen who have supported me professionally in each and every way,“ Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: "I think the brake problems are now under
control. I'm very confident for Argentina. On the last day I just didn't
want to risk too much for if I had dropped out I would have been the
laughing stock of the whole scene.“ Subaru After three difficult days of competition, Petter Solberg finished the
Acropolis Rally of Greece in ninth place this afternoon. Despite a
determined effort on today's stages to close the gap on the cars ahead,
Solberg was unable to make up the time lost earlier in the rally. Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "As you'd expect I'm disappointed with my result, it's not the one I was hoping for. In fact, I have been disappointed about my results on the last few rallies, that's for sure. But we have to put this aside and look forward to Argentina now. There are plenty of reasons to feel confident about the next rally; I know I can win it. We've reached the mid-point in the Championship and yes, I would have liked to have closed in on Seb, but it's certainly not over yet." Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: "I had a few problems with punctures
and tyre choices on Friday and Saturday which interrupted my rhythm on this
rally, but re-starting on Saturday allowed me more time to think about the
car set-up and I think that was quite a benefit. Generally I'm very pleased
with my performance. I think I am making good progress and I'm feeling
confident about the future." Ford BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen matched their career-best result by finishing second on the Acropolis Rally of Greece today in a Focus RS World Rally Car. The Finns equalled their runner-up position on the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally and climbed to third in the FIA World Rally Championship as the series reached its midpoint. They are one of only two pairings to have scored points on all eight rounds to date. Fellow countrymen Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished fifth in a privately-entered Focus RS. They held off another Finn, Harri Rovanperä, by powering their car to fastest time on both the final two speed tests. The margin between the two drivers fluctuated greatly yesterday but Hirvonen started today with a 26.9sec advantage. Rovanperä narrowed the gap to 2.3sec on the first two tests but a blistering pace on the final two stages allowed Hirvonen to stretch the advantage to 31.2sec. He set three fastest times in total. Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen: "We've had no big problems and the whole weekend has gone well. We've pushed hard from the very first kilometre. It's hard to fight against someone as experienced as Carlos but we did it. The Focus has worked well, Michelin's tyres have been excellent and now we have to try to turn second place into a win in the second half of the season." Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "It was really slippery in the first stage and so dusty that in places I couldn't see where I was going. I think I took the wrong tyres, they were too hard. I expected Harri to be faster than me on the opening stage because he has driven it before and I haven't. He was quick and I admit I was a bit worried going into the final two stages. As a privateer we have to work hard, but we've had a lot of help from M-Sport and Michelin for which I'm grateful. It has finally gone as it should. We had a few problems but we overcame them and this is a fantastic result." BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson was delighted with Gardemeister's podium. "He was under pressure to score a good result and he's delivered," he said. "Sebastien Loeb made history here and so this feels as good as a win for our team. Toni maintained a podium position virtually all weekend. It's taken him a while this season to fully understand the Focus but this rally has always been a good one for the car and so it proved again. Mikko was superb. Driving a 2003-specification car he set three fastest stage times and that proves the car is still super- competitive." Roman Kresta/Jan Mozny: Retired (electrical problems) Peugeot The final leg of the Acropolis Rally saw no surprises or twists, despite the fearsome reputation of the four stages that made up the end of the Greek event. The last 100 kilometres did not alter the leaderboard, with Marcus Gronholm too far behind Carlos Sainz to stand any hope of catching the Citroen driver. Instead Marcus sensibly chose to make sure of the points for fourth place. Markko Martin had no problems, but he is still looking for a way to find confidence in his 307 WRC. Marcus Gronhölm/Timo Rautiainen: "There was nothing we could do today; the only thing that could happen is that we made a mistake and went off. So I thought it was best just to bring the car home and make sure of the points. The roads were very rough and extremely dusty. It's been a disappointing rally as we were leading for most of the first day and we would have had a chance to challenge for the win. Looking on the positive side, the performance of the car is better and this is what we have to concentrate on for the future." Markko Martin/Michael Park: "This has been a strange rally for us: we
have had no real problems but we have struggled a bit to find the proper
feeling in the car. On the whole our tyre choices have been fine and we have
had no mechanical problems at all. We have been able to continue our record
of finishing every rally so far this year, and with more time I hope to find
a better feeling in the car." Skoda Armin Schwarz fought back from 48th position after the opening day to complete the Acropolis Rally of Greece in 18th place. Engine problems halted his progress after the second stage but he continued under SupeRally, picking up sufficient time penalties to deny him a possible points-scoring finish. Martin Muehlmeier (Head of Skoda Motorsport): "We had hoped that we would
be able to show the improvements we have seen in testing on this event but
this has not been the case. Once again we had problems early in the event
that destroyed our chances. Today's stages have been quite similar to some
of the ones we will use in Argentina so Armin has been testing some
suspension settings and his times have been quite encouraging. I was also
quite pleased with Jani's performance on the first day after being away for
several rallies. I still believe that we can get the results we need in the
coming events but I also hope that our luck changes very quickly for the
better as well." Mitsubishi: The Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports WRC team completed a successful Acropolis Rally, its crews bringing both cars to points-scoring finishes in what is viewed as one of the toughest rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship. Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen headed the assault and brought their Lancer WRC05 home in sixth position, while team-mates "Gigi" Galli and Guido D'Amore finished hot on their heels in seventh. Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen: "It was really good to be in a battle and to finish sixth and get points in a rough rally like Greece is good news. It's been a hot weekend and I'm happy our car has worked so well. Every stage was nice, we had no dramas and although the conditions were maybe a little easier than previous years, it was still a normal Acropolis. We've fought all weekend and sixth didn't come easily; I'm especially happy for Mario (Fornaris) that we had a good result on his last rally with the team." Gigi Galli/Guido D'Amore: "Everything has gone the right way for us; I am happy. I have to say this was always going to be the hardest rally of the year for me, because of my lack of experience, but things have worked well, the car has been very good and I think the whole team should be pleased for a good job. What I can say is that the rally was easier than I expected; I thought it would be rougher from what everyone said." Citroen JWRC Kris Meeke/Chris Patterson: " I don't forget that after we broke the rear left suspension arm on Friday, we were almost last in the rankings. This morning I was lying in tenth ! These three points allow us to maintain a good position compared to the new Championship leader who has participated in one more event than us so far. I'm also satisfied that we experienced no other problem than the one previously described. We've found a performing set-up and we set three fastest times. Now the rough events are behind us and another part of the Championship begins. I'm confident for the rest of the season. " Suzuki JWRC Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: "This was the perfect rally for me. It got off to a perfect start, as we had a two-day test near Livadia before the rally, which enabled us to fine-tune the car to the very specific demands of this famous event. We did some good work, as the car gave us absolutely no problems at all. Our plan was to push quite hard on the first day, when conditions were not too bad, and then try and conserve the lead over the second and third days, which were quite rough. Luckily this plan worked perfectly and we had no dramas at all. I'd like to thank the team for doing such a solid and professional job: this is certainly one of our most impressive victories." Guy Wilks/Phil Pugh: "It's not been an easy event, but you never expect that in the Acropolis Rally! It's a pity that we had those problems on the opening day, as I think our subsequent pace shows what we would have been capable of. However, there's no point in speculating on what might have been: I'm very happy to finish second and take the points. It's brilliant for Suzuki to have four cars in the top four: this result just goes to show the strength and speed of the Ignis in these types of very difficult conditions." Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk: "Everything went perfectly until the final morning. I have driven well, our pace notes were good, and the car has been entirely reliable over all three days. I am not sure if we could have kept Guy behind us on the final day or not, but it is always a pity to have these things decided by a punctures (4). I really enjoyed myself though, and the car gave me a lot of confidence in the rough conditions." Kosti Katajamäki/Timo Alanne: "I'm certainly glad this rally is over now! From the start we just tried to limit the damage as much as possible. It was very difficult to drive in this intense heat when I was feeling so ill. The car has been very good, and I have to be pleased with fourth place under these difficult conditions." FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 1st Sebastien Loeb - Daniel Elena, Citroen Q: Sebastien, congratulations. You seemed to control the rally from the end
of leg one, just how hard was this event? Q: That’s a fantastic record… Q: Guy, what did you think of the record? Q: How did this event compare to previous Acropolis Rallies? Q: Toni, there was a lot of pressure on you before this event, but you
delivered. Talk us through your rally… Q: How hard did you push this morning in your fight with Carlos? Q: Jakke, how does this rate among your performances this season? Q: So, do you think you have done enough to keep your place at Ford next
season? Q: Carlos, is this really the end for you? Q: Did you enjoy the event? Q: What did you think of the way Toni drove? Q: What are your plans now? Q: Marc how did it feel to be back with Carlos? Q: Marc, how will it feel going back to a JWRC car after this? Q: Seb, back to you, how does this compare to Le Mans? Q: Guy, how many more can he win? Q: And Carlos, will you miss him? And do you have 100 per cent confidence in
Francois? 2005 JUNIOR WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 1st P.G. Andersson – Jonas Andersson – Suzuki Now for the final press conference of the FIA JWRC, we have the winning crew: P.G. and Jonas Andersson. Q: Congratulations, P.G. what was you plan here? Q:What do you think of the championship now? Q: Did you have any problems at all on the event? Q: How hard was this event in a JWRC car? Q: You didn’t have any punctures, are you surprised? Q: This was the end of the road for the Ignis, how do you feel about that? |