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Kresta Equals Career-Best Finish for BP-Ford in Germany

Staff, Monday August 29, 2005.

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BP-Ford World Rally team driver Roman Kresta matched his career best result when he and co-driver Jan Tománek finished sixth on Germany's OMV ADAC Rallye. The Czech duo enjoyed a thrilling final day battle with Gigi Galli on this 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The result was in doubt until the final few kilometres of the 355.40km event when Kresta's Ford Focus RS World Rally Car was edged out of fifth by his Italian rival.

Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen, driving another BP-Ford Focus RS, climbed to 17th after a massive time loss in the second leg due to an electrical problem.

The three-day all-asphalt rally was based near Trier, Germany's oldest city, in the south-west of the country. The opening two days' action covered narrow but fast speed tests in the Mosel vineyards and the constantly changing surfaces of the Baumholder military land, more commonly used by US soldiers for tank training. The final leg's competition was based on more traditional asphalt roads in the Saarland region.

Despite losing 50 seconds when spinning off the road in leg #2, Kresta began the morning 2.4sec ahead of Galli. The duo fought for every tenth of a second on the opening loop of three special stages, after which Kresta returned to service just 0.6sec ahead of Galli. The battle continued on the final three stages but Galli edged ahead to finish 8.7sec clear.

"I could have driven faster but that would have meant taking risks, and I didn't want to do that," said Kresta. "It's better to finish sixth than not at all. I really wanted the points and this is a good result for me and the BP-Ford team. The battle with Gigi was good for the spectators to watch but not so easy for me!

"I held fourth on the first day and I think that if I had not made any mistakes I could have finished there. The Focus has been perfect for all three days and the only things that have gone wrong were my fault. I had a good test before the rally and that helped me a lot," added Kresta, who moved up to eighth in the drivers' standings. The result matched his sixth place finishes in Cyprus and Sardinia earlier in the season.

Gardemeister climbed from 23rd to 17th on the final day, the Finn using the final leg as a test session after losing more than 20 minutes on the second day with an electrical problem. "It was a disappointing weekend for me," said the 30-year-old Finn. "It was difficult to fight for good times and then the problem cost me a lot more time. I have tested tyre and suspension set-up so the data we have gathered from that has been useful. I'm pleased I made it to the finish, but I wanted a good result here and that didn't happen."

News from our Rivals

Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) scored his eighth victory of the season and his fourth consecutive German success, cruising through the final day to beat team-mate François Duval by 37.4sec. The Frenchman extended his championship lead to 32 points and the 1-2 result lifted the French team back into the lead of the manufacturers' series. Team-mates Marcus Grönholm and Markko Märtin (both Peugeot) were similarly untroubled en route to third and fourth. Behind the Galli and Kresta battle, Petter Solberg (Subaru) climbed back into the points following gear selection troubles in leg #2 by finishing seventh. His cause was helped when team-mate Stephane Sarrazin drove the final three stages with a broken front right driveshaft. However, the Frenchman claimed the final drivers' and manufacturers' point in eighth.

Next round

The series returns to gravel for round 12. The fast forest tracks of south Wales play host to Rally GB which is based in Cardiff on 15 - 18 September.

Final positions
1. S Loeb (Fra) / D Elena (Mon) - Citroen Xsara 3hr 27min 13.2sec
2. F Duval (Bel) / S Smeets (Bel) - Citroen Xsara +0:37.4
3. M Grönholm (Fin) / T Rautiainen (Fin) - Peugeot 307 +2:04.8
4. M Märtin (Est) / M Park (GB) - Peugeot 307 +4:09.4
5. G Galli (Ita) / G D'Amore (Ita) - Mitsubishi Lancer +5:03.6
6. R Kresta (Cz) / J Tománek (Cz) - Ford Focus RS +5:12.3
7. P Solberg (Nor) / P Mills (GB) - Subaru Impreza +7:48.1
8. S Sarrazin (Fra) / D Giraudet (Fra) - Subaru Impreza +8:34.1

FIA World Rally Championship (after round 11 of 16)
Drivers
1. S Loeb 93pts
2. M Grönholm 61pts
3. P Solberg 55pts
4.M Märtin 53pts
5. T Gardemeister 47pts 6. H Rovanperä 22pts
8. R Kresta 13pts

Manufacturers
1. Citroen 123pts
2. Peugeot 117pts
3. Ford 72pts
4. Subaru 62pts
5. Mitsubishi 47pts
6. Skoda 8pts

For further information contact:
Mark Wilford
Media Coordinator
Ford Rallye Sport
Phone: +49 6852 896158
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

Further information and high-resolution images relating to Ford Racing Australia can also be found at : media.ford.com

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