2nd round out of 16 in the 2005 FIA World Rally Championship, 1st round out of
eight in the 2005 FIA Production Car World Rally Championship
FIA RALLY NEWS
Media Press Conference
Thursday, February 12th, 2005
Present:
Francois Duval – Citroen
Mattias Ekström – Skoda
Harri Rovanperä – Mitsubishi
Henning Solberg – Ford
Marcus Grönholm – Peugeot
Petter Solberg - Subaru
Interviewer:
Welcome to the press conference. Joining us are Francois Duval and Mattias
Ekström. Francois, you retired in Monte Carlo how well prepared are you
for this event, is the car easy to drive?
Francois Duval: Too early to tell. The car is going really well, but the
conditions have been changing since I came here, so it is difficult with
the settings. But I hope it goes well.
Interviewer:
Mattias, It’s is your first time in a World Rally Car. How well prepared
are you?
Mattias Ekström: I did some testing in Finland in December. And done some
testing here in Sweden before the event. And I think I am quite well
prepared. I have lot of new things to learn but I think I have a good
chance.
Interviewer:
Francois, last year your teammate Sebastian Loeb showed that the Xsara
could be a winner on the snow. Do you think you will be challenging for
victory yourself?
FD: I don’t take to many risks it is not necessary. The road conditions
are quite bad. I prefer to take some points for Citroen.
Interviewer:
You have some experience from this Rally in a Group N Car. How relevant is
that experience is that to driving a World Rally Car?
Mattias Ekström: It is good some experience but you can’t compare a
group N car with a World Rally Car. It’s a big difference in handling
the car and the power. I think you need to collect kilometres to get a
good feeling of the car.
Interviewer:
We welcome now Harri Rovanperä and Henning Solberg. Harri, you have
driven in the past in this event. How are the conditions as you can see
from the recce comparing from the past?
Harri Rovanperä: It is the first time there was no snow at all. It is
difficult for the tyres of course. But now it is coming soft snow and I
hope it will be freezing, that would be better for everybody.
Interviewer:
Harri, to keep the studs in the tyres, will that be the biggest problem?
HR: Yes, and after that to keep the car on the road.
Interviewer:
Henning, What do you expect to achieve from this event?
Henning Solberg: It’s my first time in this New Focus so it was a good
experience for me to go to the shakedown. I had a good feeling immediately
about this car. It was very difficult; it was a lot of snow. But the car
works well and the tyres is good.
Interviewer:
Harri, Podium at Monte Carlo for Mitsubishi, does the same possibility
exists here?
HR: I really hope that, we had a good testing just before Christmas. First
time with a new kind of suspension here. But I can’t say how it will be
this weekend and this weather. We will se tomorrow.
Interviewer:
Henning, It will be a lot of attention on the fight between you and your
brother Petter, Do you think you can beat him?
HS: I don’t know. I have to wait and see. I didn’t have so much time
to test. I think everything can happen this weekend.
Interviewer:
We now welcome Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg. Marcus, The biggest
issue before this event is the amount of snow. Do you know its going to be
a problem, is it going to be acceptable?
Marcus Grönholm: It was snowing during the night and it looked quite good
in Hagfors and I hope it will be some minus degrees tonight. It can be
quite ok I think.
Interviewer:
Petter, What are your impressions, will it be a normal Swedish rally or do
you think there will be problems?
Petter Solberg: Luckily it started to snow, but we don’t actually
know how the stages will be. But I think it will be good.
Interviewer:
Were you worried during the recce? Would you think that the conditions
would be a problem?
PS: No not really. Nothing is a problem we just have to deal with every
circumstances on each event.
Interviewer:
Marcus, you have quite a record on this event. Why do you have so much
confidence on this event?
MG: I don’t know. I like this rally. I have been here many times as a
private driver so I know this rally quite well and then we have the first
win in 2000 and since then it has been a good rally for me. I think my
chances are good. The feeling is quite good.
Interviewer:
Petter, you have always wanted to improve on snow. Do you think you can
still improve in this area or are you happy with the way things are going?
PS: I have a quite smooth driving style compared to Marcus. But obviously
I have been improving over the last few years. And it is just something I
have to learn. I have a good feeling now. I think I have a good chance to
win.
Interviewer:
One thing that’s new here is that Peugeot and Subaru has three cars.
Marcus, is that good or is it to push the resources to far? Should all the
teams have three cars all the time?
MG: I think it is good for the young drivers to get the opportunity to
show what they can. It is also good for the people. It will be more cars.
It is a good idea. Yes, I would like to see all teams with three cars. But
it is a question of money. It is difficult.
Leading positions after the first day of the Swedish Rally:
1 GRONHOLM/RAUTIAINEN MARLBORO PEUGEOT TOTAL
58:20.8
2 SOLBERG/MILLS SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM
+00:00.2
3 LOEB/ELENA CITROEN TOTAL +00:10.2
4 GALLI/DAMORE MITSUBISHI MOTORS MOTOR SPORTS
+00:18.9
5 DUVAL/PREVOT CITROEN TOTAL +00:28.0
6 MARTIN/PARK MARLBORO PEUGEOT TOTAL
+00:36.9
7 GARDEMEISTER/HONKANEN BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM
+00:57.4
8 ROVANPERA/PIETILAINEN MITSUBISHI MOTORS MOTOR SPORTS
+00:58.3
9 EKSTROM/BERGMAN SKODA MOTORSPORT +01:03.8
10 TUOHINO/MARKKULA SKODA MOTORSPORT
+01:07.1
11 SOLBERG/MENKERUD BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM
+01:08.9
12 KRESTA/TOMANEK BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM
+01:09.2
13 CARLSSON/ANDERSSON Peugeot 307 WRC +01:25.6
14 PAASONEN/VAINIKKA SKODA MOTORSPORT +01:46.8
15 ATKINSON/McNEAL SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM +02:00.9
16 SARRAZIN/GIRAUDET SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM +02:36.9
17 WARMBOLD/ORR BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +02:47.4
Driver's comments after Leg 1
1. Sébastien Loeb
Quite happy with the day even though I made a misstake at the beginning of
leg 1. I will push a little bit harder tomorrow.
3. Toni Gardemeister
Very disappointed after leg 1. The car works well but I don´t know why I
keep loosing time.
8. Markko Märtin
Not happy after this first day. Too far behind.
7. Marcus Grönholm
I am quite happy that I am leading but the margin is too small. I am ready
to fight tomorrow. The second lap of the stages were not good.
9. Harri Rovanperä
Me and Galli had the same settings and I can not understand why he is so
much faster than me. We try different settings.
Notes: Rovanperä looked dejected.
17. Roman Kresta
I have much to learn but I am getting better and better all the time. Too
much gravel on the stages.
5. Petter Solberg
I am happy with the day but the margins are small and everything could go
wrong. I promise that I will push hard tomorrow.
23. Mikko Hirvonen
I have had lots of problems during the day but hopefully it will get
better tomorrow.
19. Daniel Carlsson
I am pretty satisfied with the day but will push harder tomorrow.
11. Mattias Ekström
I think I did some amateur misstakes during the day but I am quite pleased
anyway.
31. Toshihiro Arai
I am happy that the first day is over and the car is working well. I am
pleased by leading the production car cahmpionship.
37. Mark Higgins
I am happy with the first day, I have not made any big misstakes. It has
been lots of fun and I am looking forward to fighting Arai tomorrow.
70. Per-Gunnar Andersson
Earlier today I went off the road that was the only misstake I made.
Otherwise no other plans for tomorrow.
71. Jimmi Joge
We had problems adjustings back to two wheel drive. Other than that no
problems. Great fight with the Suzuki drivers.
Leading positions after the second day of the Swedish Rally:
1 SOLBERG/MILLS SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM 2:14:27.9
2 GRÖNHOLM/RAUTIAINEN MARLBORO PEUGEOT TOTAL +00:12.6
3 LOEB/ELENA CITROEN TOTAL +00:34.3
4 MARTIN/PARK MARLBORO PEUGEOT TOTAL +02:05.8
5 GARDEMEISTER/HONKANEN BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +03:18.6
6 SOLBERG/MENKERUD BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +03:21.8
7 ROVANPERA/PIETILAINEN MITSUBISHI MOTORS MOTOR SPORTS +03:22.7
8 GALLI/DAMORE MITSUBISHI MOTORS MOTOR SPORTS +03:35.6
9 CARLSSON/ANDERSSON Peugeot 307 WRC +03:48.9
10 ATKINSON/McNEAL SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM +03:51.8
11 TUOHINO/MARKKULA SKODA MOTORSPORT +04:00.0
12 KRESTA/TOMANEK BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +04:15.3
13 PAASONEN/VAINIKKA SKODA MOTORSPORT +04:29.8
14 WARMBOLD/ORR BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +05:48.5
15 DUVAL/PREVOT CITROEN TOTAL +06:14.5
16 EKSTROM/BERGMAN SKODA MOTORSPORT +06:54.2
Driver's comments after Leg 2
16. Jani Paasonen
My road position will be a little bit better tomorrow; I am number two on
the road. I know the stages tomorrow quite well and it will give me the
opportunity to go a little bit faster. I am not making any changes to the
car tonight. I now know the car and it is working well.
19. Daniel Carlsson
The gears have malfunctioned. I was very optimistic this morning.
Vargåsen went really well until the gears broke. I will do my best to
regain 30 seconds to gain 6th position.
17. Roman Kresta
My road position tomorrow is not great so it will be another difficult day
but I will try and keep the same pace.
4. Henning Solberg
Everything is going OK but do not forget that this is the first time I
have driven this car and it is taking time getting used to it. I have made
some changes to the differentials to make the car softer and I also do not
have much experience on these conditions.
Note: He is used to driving snow rallies in Norway where there is snow
everywhere.
11. Mattias Ekström
I am very tired and disappointed because of the power steering that broke.
3. Toni Gardemeister
Comments from the co-driver Jakke Honkanen: We made no mistakes today but
this rally is a hard test for tyres.
When asked if there will be any team orders from Ford he answered ”No
I do not expect
there will be any team orders”.
2. Francois Duval
I had a good start of the day but got a puncture and lost 4 minutes. I am
just going to go on now.
10. Gigi Galli
I am pleased with the day. I spun around on the last stage due to lack of
front wheel drive. I really want to make it to the finish but do not want
to take any risks.
5. Petter Solberg
I am pretty satisfied with the day. I am glad that I could gain time on
the last stages, and on Marcus.
Notes: From a journalist ”How much money would you bet that you stand
as a winner tomorrow?” Petter replies ”1 Euro”. On the question to
the codriver, Philip Mills, how the spirit is he replies” 100% upgoing.
Goes better and better.”
7. Marcus Grönholm
I think the day has been pretty good. Had a bad finish of leg 2. Lost too
much on the last two stages. Petter has driven very fast. There will be a
big fight tomorrow.
15. Chris Atkinson
I have damaged my door twice now. I think we drivers are supposed to
damage the co- drivers door. We have changed the differentials more
towards the front, the car now suits my driving style and is easier to
drive. We are taking no risks. I came here with the idea of improving
every day maybe we can find a little more tomorrow.
6. Stephen Sarrazin
We had a spin on stage 9 and hit a rock on stage 10 and after that there
was a big vibration from the car and this affected my confidence. I am
still learning this car I am not happy with my own performance. I know I
could do better but when everything is ok we are setting good times.
25. Stig-Olov Walfridsson
I am pretty satisfied with the day even though I tried to compete with the
best times. I have made a lot of changes on the car and have tested
different settings. I will continue doing so tomorrow.
23. Mikko Hirvonen
If everything on the car works ok we will continue to go flat out. I am
getting a better feeling with the car. Before the rally I only tested the
car once, we did about a 140 km. I would not be unhappy if it snows
tonight or tomorrow, we are a private entry so we could use snow tyres
which could be an advantage. Comment from the co–driver: When the car is
working well we are the fastest Ford-car.
31. Toshihiro Arai
Difficult to keep clean lines. During the day I had to avoid rocks. The
plan for tomorrow is to calm down a bit and not push too hard. I want to
make it to the finish.
50. Aki Teiskonen
We are currently in second place in the WRC Production Car category, Arai
is too far ahead for us to catch him so tomorrow we will try to stay on
the road and take no risks. The car behind us in third place is a long way
behind so there is no pressure on us.
43. Angelo Medeghini
This is my first time in Sweden and I am very happy to have reached so far.
It is difficult to get the right stage notes. I think it is difficult with
the surface and the choice of tyres.
38. Fabio Frisiero
I have tried different settings during the day. I think I have found the
right settings now but I will not push too hard tomorrow.
45. Riccardo Errani
They have a problem with the head gasket on the engine. Tomorrow they will
carry 20 litres of water inside the car because they have to stop at the
end of every stage to refill the radiator. They stopped in one stage to
put in more water.
65. Jukka Ketomäki
We have all 5 forward gears but no reverse. We will make some small
changes to the front suspension at the service tonight but otherwise the
car is ok. Tomorrow we continue to go flat out.
63. Jussi Välimäki
We have an engine problem but do not know what the problem is. We have
also had a puncture today. I am anxious for tomorrow. They changed the
gear box today in 33 minutes which was fantastic. We had one puncture
today and I am very happy tonight because we were 4th fastest on the
Hagfors sprint.
Notes: Looks stressed and irritated.
66. Stig Blomqvist
Everything is ok.
When a journalist posed the question ”Is it better now or then?”
Blomqvist answered ”it was better before”.
70. Per-Gunnar Andersson
I have almost had a trouble free day. It works well and I will not make
any changes for tomorrrow. The weather is not an issue.
71. Jimmi Joge
I am pleased with the day and that I have not made any mistakes. I had
minor clutch problem but everything is fixed.
72. Guy Wilks
We lost some time to P-G Andersson on the last stage, he has been using
new tyres on the front and the rear. We have been using new tyres on the
front and used on the back of our car. The geometry of the rear suspension
is not right. This is because yesterday we damaged the floor pan. We have
made up over one minute on the second placed driver in class A6 and maybe
we can give the Suzuki team first and second place at the end of the rally.
73. Peter Zachrisson
It has been a hard day with a puncture. A bit hard work but we will try to
push a little bit harder tomorrow. We drive with good spirits.
Note: Zachrisson is happy with his times and that he drives as fast as
his competitors.
64. Oskar Svedlund
Having started in the superrally this morning I had to struggle with my
motivation during the day. It would be fun to be among the best and fight
for points in group N.
Driver's comments after Leg 3
2. Francois Duval
Happy to finish. Not satisfied but I gained experience with the car.
14. Antony Warmbold
This is a specialised event and I have improved my driving during the
rally. I’m gonna do better next year.
16. Jani Paasonen
Difficult event. Some troubles but happy over all. Many thanks for the
team for all the work.
17. Roman Kresta
Very good event for me. I like this rally very much. I am very happy.
15. Chris Atkinson
First rally in a WRC car and everything worked well. Happy to reach the
finish after spin off the road couple of times.
19. Daniel Carlsson
Very very pleased with the results. I have proved now that I am worthy for
the seat.
10. Gigi Galli
First day was very good. Day two and three we have not pushed so much,
this result is very greatful for the team and myself.
9. Harri Rovanperä
I am pleased with the handling of the car. This result is good for
Mitsubishi.
4. Henning Solberg
No studs at the end of the stage, have to slow down little bit, but I am
very happy with the
best result in my career.
3. Toni Gardemeister
Happy with the third place. The start of the rally was not good but it
became better and better.
8. Markko Märtin
Of course I am happy with the result, but I hope to continue to get more
confidence with the car.
5. Petter Solberg
Note: Jumped out of the car and up on the bonnet as the winner of the
rally
Co-driver: Phillip Mills commented
We were very nervous before the start. Half way through we got a message
that we are the winner and could slowdown.
24. Jari-Matti Latvala
Very satisfied but i need the fast car.
31. Toshihiro Arai
I am happy for the victory in production car but whole rally i have had
concentration problems. Sometimes, very scared of the speed but now OK.
43. Angelo Medeghini
Incredible to finish in second would have expected it when I arrived in
Sweden.
38. Fabio Frisiero
This is like a dream to finish third, I am very happy.
67. Martin Stenshorne
Today the car has been good and we have set some very quick time.
72. Guy Wilks
Great fun. I want to do this stage all over again.
Sébastien Loeb / Daniel Elena: "It is very frustrating,
when you are in a good position with just two stages to go and you can't
do anything. We did our best. Now we have to overcome this setback."
Francois Duval / Stephane Prevot: (Commenting on the three punctures he
endured throughout the rally) "We were obliged to go in the inside of
the corners as the other cars did so but we did not have the tyres nor the
wheel rims to deal with the lack of snow."
Subaru
Petter Solberg / Phil Mills: "It's a great feeling, like a big dream,
I almost can't believe it's true. This rally is so special but has been
tough for me in the past, and now this year it's just gone perfectly. We
made no mistakes all rally - not in the car, or in the team, or anywhere -
it just all came into place so well. There are so many people to thank,
everyone from Phil Mills, to the guys who work on my car, to Pirelli who
have built such an incredible tyre, and the supporters out on the stages
who cheered us along. Thanks so much to all of you!"
Stephane Sazzazin/Denis Gairaudet: "I'm quite happy with the way this
rally has gone, especially today as we changed some of the set-up and it
was much, much better. It was almost like a different rally to me. The car
was much easier to drive and gave me more confidence so I could get a
better driving rhythm. There's still a long way to go, but I'm encouraged.
I'm very happy for Petter too - it's a great result for him and the whole
team."
Chris Atkinson/Glen Macneall: "Today I picked up the pace a little
bit, drove a bit harder, and on SS18 I found the limit, but it's all good
experience and there's no better way to learn than that. Overall I'm very
pleased with what Glenn and I have achieved here in Sweden. It would have
been disappointing if we had driven slowly and didn't go off and learn
anything, so instead we had a fair bit of a go and obviously made some
mistakes. Of course the overall result could have been an awful a lot
better, but the goal for us was to come here to learn and we've certainly
done that. Petter has had an awesome weekend and I'm very happy for him
and the team. He's proved how quick the car can be here and I look forward
to doing that myself in the future. I'm concentrating on Mexico now. After
some more time in the car I don't think we'll be too far off the pace."
Ford
Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen: "To be leading both world
championships is a superb situation for both myself and Ford. I've
never been in this position before. My pace wasn't so good on the
first day but I've felt much more comfortable since and gained a lot more
confidence in the car. I took no risks but just kept to a speed with
which I felt happy. The last two stages were comfortable. The
team sent us split times for Rovanperä and I was able to moderate my
speed accordingly to ensure he didn't get too close. We had some luck with
the retirement of drivers ahead of us, but the Focus is a strong car and
while others had problems, we didn't."
Roman Kresta/Jan Tomanek: "This is a great result for me. I'm
especially pleased because there were many good drivers here with more
experience than me. Yesterday was difficult because I made a few
mistakes and my times weren't so good, but today my performances have been
better. Some of my times were quite close to Toni which is good.
I would prefer this rally to be a few days longer because I have really
enjoyed it and learned so much."
Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "The final results just show that it
doesn't matter how fast you are, you get nothing if you don't reach the
finish. I did the best that I could and although I'm not used to the
kind of weather conditions that we've had today, I've had great fun.
Yesterday morning wasn't so good for me when I hit a stone and damaged a
wheel, but we recovered from that and a points finish is always a good
outcome."
Peugeot
Markko Martin/Michael Park: "I am a little surprised to finish second
here! It was an action-packed rally with nothing decided right until the
very end. I learnt a lot about the set-up of my car and about the new
Pirelli tyres. I was very pleased by their performance - they were very
fast and retained the studs extremely well despite the difficult and
gravely road conditions. I'm really looking forward to the Rally Mexico
next month now, which is an event I won last year."
Daniel Carlsson/Mattias Andersson: "The first stage today was new to
the rally, and the conditions were very different to those I had seen
during the recce. My notes could have been better, but I was still able to
attack with confidence thanks to some new differential settings that
worked very well. My two fastest times gave me a lot of pleasure but I
really regret the incident on the opening day, which cost me a lot of time
and meant that I was running first on the road on Saturday. Under the
circumstances sixth is an excellent result but we could have achieved even
more."
Skoda
Janne Tuohino/Mikko Markkula: "Overall I was happy with my
performance until I made a mistake near the end of SS19. I suffered badly
on the gravel yesterday afternoon but I thought that I could have still
finished in the points. In the end we had to stop and that is a
disappointing result for me."
Mattias Ekstrom/Stefan Bergman: "I have really enjoyed this
experience but I was quite frustrated last night about the power steering
problem. If you take away the time it cost me I think that I could have
finished on the podium and that would have been an incredible result for
both myself and the Skoda Motorsport World Rally Team. Now I must
concentrate on defending my DTM title with Audi Sport but maybe one day I
will be able to drive the Fabia WRC again."
Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka: "This was a really difficult rally for
anyone running near the front of the field but I am fairly happy with some
of the times I was able to set. Now I am looking forward to Mexico."
Mitsubishi
Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietiläinen: "In the end it was a good
weekend for Risto and I. During the first day and a half I never thought a
result like this was possible, but now the feeling is good and my
confidence with the car is much better. Next week we will be gravel
testing and I am looking forward to going to México."
Gigi Galli/Guido D'Amore: "This is only my fifth event in a world
rally car, so I am very happy to finish in the top ten. The small
technical problems yesterday took me away from a potential podium
position, but I don't feel so bad about that because I think we made a
good performance anyway. I always try to do my best and that is what
matters at the moment."
Final positions:
1 SOLBERG/MILLS SUBARU WORLD RALLY TEAM 3:00:52.1
2 MARTIN/PARK MARLBORO PEUGEOT TOTAL +02:11.1
3 GARDEMEISTER/HONKANEN BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +03:14.7
4 ROVANPERA/PIETILAINEN MITSUBISHI MOTORS MOTOR SPORTS +03:26.4
5 SOLBERG/MENKERUD BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +03:29.8
6 CARLSSON/ANDERSSON Peugeot 307 WRC +03:42.5
7 GALLI/DAMORE MITSUBISHI MOTORS MOTOR SPORTS +04:04.0
8 KRESTA/TOMANEK BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +04:39.6
9 PAASONEN/VAINIKKA SKODA MOTORSPORT +05:11.1
10 EKSTROM/BERGMAN SKODA MOTORSPORT +07:04.2
11 WARMBOLD/ORR BP FORD WORLD RALLY TEAM +07:04.3
12 DUVAL/PREVOT CITROEN TOTAL +07:19.6