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Front Page
BP-Ford Claims Double Points Haul on Rally Finland
Staff, Monday August 8, 2005.
Page 1 of 1
Finn Hirvonen was promoted to the BP-Ford squad for his experience and knowledge of the dauntingly fast Finnish roads, the most specialised in the 16-round calendar. He never put a foot wrong and was only just edged out of fourth by former world champion Petter Solberg in a thrilling final day battle. He finished 1min 18.8sec ahead of the Castrol-branded Focus RS of Gardemeister, who was comfortable in fourth until a puncture late in Leg #2 cost two minutes. The results strengthened Ford's grip on third in the manufacturers' standings.
Average speeds topped 129kph on the smooth roller-coaster gravel speed tests of this 10th round of the series. The wide, hard forest roads were packed with spectators throughout the three days of action, which included 355.59km of competition. Overcast skies threatened rain throughout the final leg, which covered two loops of two speed tests near the rally base of Jyväskylä.
Hirvonen started 3.7sec behind Solberg. The 25-year-old won the third stage and posted two other top three times but could not close on the Norwegian, ending just 5.6sec behind.
"It's a great result both for me and the team," he said. "The fight with Petter was one of the best battles of my career. The team sent us Petter's split times during the stages so I knew exactly what I had to do, but unfortunately I couldn't quite manage it. It has been a fantastic opportunity to drive for the Ford team and the pace has been high all weekend. Before the rally started my target was to set times that were close to Marcus Grönholm and Sebastien Loeb and I achieved that."
After the Leg #2 time loss, Gardemeister's target for the final leg was to overhaul fellow Finn Harri Rovanperä. He started just 3.8sec behind and moved into sixth on the opening test, eventually stretching his advantage to 55.5sec.
"I attacked hard on the first two stages and that was enough to get by Rovanperä," said Gardemeister, who was fastest over the opening test. "After that I was able to cruise because he was too far back to worry me. The roads were quite wet today and I had a tyre vibration on the second stage so I drove carefully to avoid any problems ? fast but safe. I'm pleased to score points for Ford but disappointed from a personal view. Until yesterday evening, I was comfortable in fourth."
Roman Kresta and Jan Mo?ný, driving a 2003-specification Focus RS, enjoyed a clean run in the final leg after two troubled legs. The Czechs, competing in Finland for the first time, adopted a risk-free strategy throughout as they concentrated on learning the characteristics of the technically difficult Finnish stages. After going off the road and losing further time with hydraulic problems on the opening two legs, 29-year-old Kresta climbed from 30th overnight to 23rd.
"At last I've had a good day!" said Kresta. "I just drove to finish this morning. It has been a hard weekend and I hope the next round in Germany will be easier than this. This was my first time in Finland and the pace of the event was just incredible. It is like Formula 1 in the forests and it really does take some getting used to. The amount of time in sixth gear is amazing."
News from our Rivals
Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot) ended Sebastien Loeb's (Citroen) six-rally winning run by beating the Frenchman by 66.7sec. It was Grönholm's first victory since winning in Finland 12 months ago and his fifth Rally Finland success. He survived an early morning scare when his team found an oil leak in a new power steering system and had to replace the old unit. Markko Märtin (Peugeot) completed the podium places while Petter Solberg (Subaru) held off Hirvonen in their fight for fourth. Behind Gardemeister, Harri Rovanperä (Mitsubishi) and François Duval (Citroen) completed the points scorers in both championships. Chris Atkinson (Subaru) completed three retirements in three days when he stopped after the opening two stages with an engine problem.
Next round
The championship returns to asphalt later this month for the first time since the opening round in Monte Carlo in January. The Rallye Deutschland is based in Trier on 25 - 28 August.
Final positions
1. M Grönholm (Fin) / T Rautiainen (Fin) : Peugeot 307 2hr 54min 11.0sec
2. S Loeb (Fra) / D Elena (Mon) : Citroen Xsara +1:06.7
3. M Märtin (Est) / M Park (GB) : Peugeot 307 +1:35.6
4. P Solberg (Nor) / P Mills (GB) : Subaru Impreza +2:08.0
5. M Hirvonen (Fin) / J Lehtinen (Fin) : Ford Focus RS +2:13.6
6. T Gardemeister (Fin) / J Honkanen (Fin) : Ford Focus RS +3:32.4
7. H Rovanperä (Fin) / R Pietilainen (Fin) : Mitsubishi Lancer +4:27.9
8. F Duval (Bel) / S Smeets (Bel) : Citroen Xsara +5:10.4
FIA World Rally Championship (after round 10 of 16)
Drivers
1. S Loeb 83pts
2. M Grönholm 55pts
3. P Solberg 53pts
4. M Märtin 48pts
5. T Gardemeister 47pts
6. H Rovanperä 22pts
Manufacturers
1. Peugeot 106pts
2. Citroen 105pts
3. Ford 69pts
4. Subaru 59pts
5. Mitsubishi 43pts
6. Skoda 8pts
For further information contact:
Mark Wilford
Media Coordinator
Ford Rallye Sport
Phone: + 358 14 4107 508
Mobile: +44 7770 756214
Email: mwilford@ford.com
Ben Beazley
Media Coordinator
Ford Racing Australia
Phone: 03 9359 8190
Mobile: 0417 262 753
Email: bbeazle3@ford.com
