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| 2008 Acropolis Rally : WRC Round 7 of 15 : 30th May - 1st June In this issue: 1. Final Unofficial Leaderboard 2. Final News 4. Final Team by Team News 5. Championship Points 6. Next Event 1. Final Unofficial Leaderboard 1. S Loeb/D Elena FRA Citroen C4 3hr 54min 54.7sec 2. P Solberg/P Mills NOR Subaru Impreza 3hr 56min 04.2sec 3. M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 3hr 56min 50.8sec 4. U Aava/K Sikk EST Citroen C4 3hr 59min 14.4sec 5. D Sordo/M Marti ESP Citroen C4 3hr 59min 44.1sec 6. M Wilson/S Martin GBR Ford Focus RS 4hr 01min 06.0sec 7. J-M Latvala/M Anttila FIN Ford Focus RS 4hr 01min 42.2sec 8. H Solberg/C Menkerud NOR Ford Focus RS 4hr 04min 08.7sec 9. T Gardemeister/T Tuominen FIN Suzuki SX4 4hr 05min 08.5sec 10 C Rautenbach/D Senior ZIM Citroen C4 4hr 08min 23.8sec 2. Final News Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) claimed his 41st WRC win, finishing 69.5sec ahead of Petter Solberg (Subaru), an excellent second on the debut of his team's new car. Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen claimed a gutsy podium finish on Acropolis Rally of Greece today as Ford maintained its lead in the manufacturers' standings of the FIA World Rally Championship. Behind Hirvonen, Urmo Aava (Citroen) claimed a career best fourth with Dani Sordo (Citroen) and Stobart driver Matthew Wilson (Ford) completing the top six. Henning Solberg's (Ford) hopes of a podium ended with electrical problems this morning, the Norwegian slipping to eighth as it cut out intermittently. The only major retirements were Chris Atkinson (Subaru), who stopped with rear suspension damage after hitting a rock in stage 15, and Gigi Galli (Ford) who broke his car's rear suspension in stage 18. 4. Team by Team News BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen claimed a gutsy podium finish on Acropolis Rally of Greece today as Ford maintained its lead in the manufacturers' standings of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Finns finished third in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car after one of the roughest WRC events in recent memory. Team-mates Jari-Matti Latvala and Miikka Anttila were seventh in a similar Focus RS on the three-day event, which proved a matter of survival as much as pure speed. BP Ford Abu Dhabi World Rally Team holds a two-point lead after seven of the 15 rounds. Hirvonen staged a determined recovery after hitting problems on each of the first two days to remain in the midst of the battle for the drivers' title. He lies second, just one point off the lead. #3 : Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "That was the hardest rally I've ever driven," said Hirvonen. "It was so rough and we had so many troubles that third is a great result. I've lost the championship lead but that will give me the advantage of a better start position on the next round in Turkey so it's still looking good. I saw that Henning had a problem this morning so I pushed hard. I didn't wake up this morning thinking about third, I just wanted to find good speed and secure fourth place points because I thought the time gap was too big. "It's a nice surprise to be on the podium. It would have been difficult to beat Sébastien here but without our problems it would have been a good fight. Our emotions have been up and down and I thought we would be a long way behind Seb in the championship but it's only one point," he added. #4 : Jari-Matti Latvala/Miikka Anttila: Latvala recovered from sixth to fourth yesterday morning before a broken turbo pipe cost eight minutes and he dropped to eighth. The 23-year-old Finn gained a place today while displaying blistering speed. He won three of today's seven tests, covering 102.32km, to add to two wins earlier. "I saw on the recce that it was going to be a hard rally but it was much rougher than I thought. I've learned that I need to find a balance. The car is strong but I have to be aware of what I can and can't do with it. I hope I've learned that and the next round in Turkey will be better for me. If yesterday had gone well I could have had a chance of winning. I was so disappointed when we were challenging again and I kept asking myself 'why me?' But that is how it is," he said. #19 : Khalid Al Qassimi/Michael Orr: Abu Dhabi's Khalid Al Qassimi and Michael Orr finished 12th in another Focus RS. "I didn't push as hard as I wanted to because it was so rough out there. I was trying to hold nice straight lines and up my pace in the fast sections but in the narrow twisty areas I had to hold back This has been one of the hardest rallies I have ever driven. It was a constant battle to push for pace and protect the car and getting the balance right was a challenge to the entire field," said Al Qassimi. Citroen Total World Rally Team http://citroen.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=1 This year's Acropolis Rally, round seven of the 2008 World Rally Championship, turned out to be a gruelling marathon contested at the pace of a sprint. The final day not only saw Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and their C4 secure the spoils but they have also recovered first place in the Drivers' standings. Dani Sordo/Marc Martí steered the second Citroën Total car to 5th overall, harvesting five points for Citroën which takes the French firm to within two points of the lead in the Manufacturers' table. #1 : Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "We haven't had such a quiet Sunday for some time," joked Sébastien at the finish. "After yesterday's punishing stages, today's conditions were far more straightforward. We succeeded in driving sufficiently quickly to stayed concentrated but at the same time we did what we could to make sure we spared our tyres and car all the way to the flag." "This is an important win for us," continued the reigning World Champion. "It shows the progress we have made on the loose, while the work put in by everyone in the team to adapt our Citroën C4 WRC to its Pirelli tyres across the full spectrum of surface types has paid dividends. I am pleased with our run over what are incontestably the toughest stages of the season. Today's result has enabled us to recover the lead in the championship and it's been a good weekend, too, in terms of the Manufacturers' championship. The strength and competitiveness of our C4 and the successful management of our Pirelli tyres were the main keys to success here." #2 : Daniel Sordo/Marc Marti: "Our objective today was to reach the finish," admitted Dani Sordo. "Marc and I opted for a safe pace, yet we still managed to move up two places, so that's a good result. Had it not been for our problems yesterday we would probably have finished higher up the order, but I am still pleased with our final position which means valuable points for Citroën. I succeeded in staying completely focused over the three days." "It would be difficult not to be pleased with the outcome of this rally, which is the roughest of the entire championship," said Olivier Quesnel. "Victory went to the C4 WRC, Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena are back on top of the Drivers' standings and Citroën is still very much in the running for the Manufacturers' title. Dani and Marc put in a strong run, too, while Urmo finished 4th and Conrad 10th. Citroën has every reason to be satisfied with its weekend here in Greece and, if we manage to enjoy the same sort of run in Turkey in two weeks' time, it will an ideal way to go into the summer break." Subaru World Rally Team http://subaru.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=5 The debut of the all-new Subaru Impreza WRC2008 was marked in style with second position overall at the close of the Acropolis Rally, the most challenging event on the WRC calendar. On the final day, Chris Atkinson and Stéphane Prévot were fastest on the opening stage, whilst Petter Solberg and Phil Mills crossed the finish to clinch their best result of the season. #5 : Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: Solberg and Mills consolidated a solid weekend aboard their new Impreza WRC2008 by retaining a remarkable second position overall. After a steady morning in which the pair took no risks and focused on simply driving to the finish, they marked a key milestone in the team's illustrious history. "Ah! This is just incredible! I am so, so pleased. I can't put it into words!" exclaimed an excitable Solberg. "It is so good to be back here again, and so important. I'm so happy for the team who've put in so much work to get this car ready. It's incredible, I can't believe it. First time in the new car, second is not bad at all! We knew it would be tough here but to finish second is just great. It's what everyone has been waiting for. Phil and I, the team, the fans, everybody. This car has so much potential, I mean so much. This is it, we're coming back!" #6 : Chris Atkinson/Stephane Prevot: Atkinson and Prévot set out to prove a point this morning. They left the service park for the first stage focused and fired up, and promptly delivered the Impreza WRC2008 its first stage win on its debut event. After his electric pace during the day's opener, Atkinson had a spin on the second stage of the morning whilst running third fastest. Normally this would cost no more than a few seconds but, being the unforgiving Acropolis Rally, it lead to damage to his rear suspension when he struck a rock. Completing the remainder of the test, he was nevertheless unable to start stage 16 and was forced into retirement. "It's good to get the first stage win for the new car on its first rally; it's a good feeling" said Chris Atkinson. "It obviously hasn't been a good weekend for points for us, but other people have had bad luck this year and we were just unlucky this time. We wanted to see what the car would do and it felt good this morning, which showed in the speed. We can be faster though as there is still more to come. When we get the package just right we'll be a lot faster still." Stobart VK M-Sport Ford World Rally Team http://ford.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=2 The seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship threw everything at the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford rally team this weekend with Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin leading the way with a superb sixth placed result on the Acropolis Rally of Greece. Team-mates Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud pushed through Sunday setbacks to finish eighth overall and score three valuable manufacturer points for their Stobart team. Wilson's fine result sees him move up to ninth in the Drivers' Championship while Solberg occupies eighth. Solberg's manufacturer points haul also keeps the Stobart team in sight of third place as they nestle just 13 points behind in fourth. Solberg was set for a fine result coming into today's final leg comfortably in third position overall. Unfortunately for the Norwegian a mysterious electrical issue caused his car to cut out several times during the stages and most prolifically on stage 17 this afternoon when he lost over five minutes. Still it was a gallant effort to bring his Stobart Ford Focus RS WRC07 back in one piece and in a position to pick up some vital manufacturer points. Wilson had a fairly clean run all weekend due to safe and intelligent driving and good preservation of his Pirelli tyres which held up well throughout the event. The only major issue for the 21-year-old was a broken prop-shaft on stage 3 which lost him around 45 seconds. Despite their four stage wins it was just not Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini's rally as they retired on all three days. On day 1, just over 12 kilometres into stage 2, on a fast left hand corner the Italian hit a large rock in the middle of the road which immediately broke the front, right track control arm in the suspension and this in turn damaged the driveshaft. The exact incident was cruelly re-enacted this afternoon 15 kilometres into stage 18 ending what has been an unlucky event for the Italian star. Re-entering day 2 under SupeRally regulations Galli picked up his first two stage wins on the morning loop of three stages but disaster struck in transit to the first test after service. He felt a vibration on the motorway and lost hydraulic pressure before arriving to the start of stage 11. As a result he lost the use of both his gear shift and differentials; important components to ensure the safe and efficient passage through the stages. On a brighter note, however, Galli won the inaugural Colin McRae Trophy, offered by the organisers of the Acropolis Rally of Greece, for achieving the highest average speed -100.77kph - on a stage. #7 : Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "I'm very disappointed with dropping those places today after working so hard throughout the rally. We concentrated on taking care of the car and preserving the tyres but still managed to put in some good times and I was delighted last night to have reached third position. But these things happen and although I am not very happy we will go to Turkey with a good feeling with the car and confident that we can set some good times and cope with the rough gravel conditions." #8 : Gigi Galli/Giovanni Bernacchini: "What a cruel rally this has been for us, I knew it would be tough but the conditions were very difficult indeed as you can see from the problems we had on all three days. But we have found a really good feeling with the car and a good speed which has meant some more fastest times and this is the most important thing for me. The only thing we need now is some more luck and hopefully in Turkey this will come. Even in the rough conditions the tyres worked well and I'm confident they will do a good job in Turkey also." #16 : Matthew Wilson/Scott Martin: "I'm really pleased with our result here. I knew we had to improve on Sardinia when I didn't have a good feeling with the car and we did just that. The times on the first day were really encouraging for me but unfortunately we had the prop-shaft problem which knocked us back. But we climbed back into a fantastic position then concentrated on preserving the car and getting round without any other major dramas; this was definitely an achievement in itself. Now I just want to keep improving and the result here will help me in Turkey where we will try for more decent times." Suzuki World Rally Team http://suzuki.rallye-info.com/teams.asp?sid=12 The final day of the Acropolis Rally of Greece took crews through another six tough stages to the north of Athens, with the last test being played out in front of thousands of passionate rally fans at the superspecial at Tatoi military airbase, the event's base for the last three days. Sweden's P-G Andersson turned in a sensational day at the wheel of his Suzuki SX4 WRC. He was only out of the top 10 times once and managed one fifth and one sixth quickest time after a trouble-free day. #11 : Toni Gardemeister/Tomi Tuominen: "We've had a good day today. The dust has been quite bad on some of the stages. With the very hot conditions and the rocky roads, when there is no wind around, you know the dust can stay around. I was pleased with the car. Today the engine felt very good. This rally shows we are going in the right direction with the car and making very good progress." #12 : Per-Gunnar Andersson/Jonas Andersson: "The car has been fantastic today. I've really enjoyed driving in these stages, we've had a lot of fun. Parts of the third and sixth stage were so rough, you couldn't believe it - but we came through without the car missing a beat. It's been perfect. My only problem today was this morning, when I missed one junction in the dust. This is a great event for the whole team - particularly coming on the back of Sardinia which was strong for us as well. Now we're all looking forward to Turkey in two weeks." 5. Championship Points Drivers 1. S Loeb 50pts 2. M Hirvonen 49pts 3. C Atkinson 31pts 4. J-M Latvala 26pts 5. D Sordo 25pts 6. P Solberg 17pts Manufacturers 1. BP Ford Abu Dhabi 81pts 2. Citroen Total 79pts 3. Subaru 50pts 4. Stobart VK M-Sport 37pts 5. Munchi's Ford 16pts 6. Suzuki 10pts 6. Next Event The next round of the series is Rally Turkey, last seen on the calendar in 2006. The sixth gravel event in a row this year is based in the city of Antalya, running from the service park in the town of Kemer. It consists of nineteen stages totalling 360 competitive kilometres. The stages are rough, and having moved to a date in June, the temperature is predicted to be near 30 degrees Celsius and the humidity high making for another punishing challenge. |