Rally Sardina

[Marcus]

Once again (much to the disgust of the cunning liguists of this forum) the grammar and spelling disaster that is Alliance Motorsport's WRC Rally Predictions returns to bring our rather unique look at the world of the WRC.

Frankly, it's so boring doing this, we've decided to go fishing instead. And while in the sun and casting a line into the still waters of the Nepean River (and wondering how fast the toxic water can dissolve the boat we're in) we discovered the thing called Beer. And this Beer alters one's mind in all sorts of unusual directions, in that even the most predictable and uninteresting of jobs like predicting WRC winners becomes somewhat bearable. And with much interest, we found out that the majority of WRC crews like fishing too with some taking to the calmness and peace with some trouble however.

Sebastian Loeb doesnt fish. He simply stands in the water nude and hte fish come to nibble on his tackle. With the inhuman reflexes that he possesses, he can catch an attacking Great White Shark, fillet it and have it ready to be cooked before the surprised fish can have a chance to react. Of course, sharks dont have a backbone as such, but what cartlige they possess can be seen swimming off in stunned amazement that it's flesh is being consumed by a ravenous Citroen Sport. Thence Loeb wins the Sardinia fishing tornament by any measure.

Chris Atkinson is quite a fisherman. And unlike the pathetic that is his Subaru, he has access to some seriously good fishing equipment - a store of dynamite, genades and a shotgun. One stick of TNT and the fish willingly leap at Atkinson to escape the underwater carnage and he is so good at it that even Loeb fears his fishing skills. Or he fears Atkinson's skill with explosives, like most teams do. They also fear his culinary skill with a chainsaw - surprising how well Atkinson can slice a barra with a Stihl. Thence Atkinson comes second.

Third will be of all people Petter Solberg. Petter is also quite a good fisherman, given how he's had lots of practice this year, altho by his own admission he would rather be rallying - but seems his Subaru keeps on sustaining fatal damage from passing Leprecauns and fairies, rallying tends to be out of the question. Armed with a axe, he simply waits for salmon take their leap on waterfalls. He also uses the axe on bears, but that's another story. Third.

Fourth in the fishing contest is Mikko Hirvonen. Relaxation and fishing go hand in hand, so the normally comatose Finn is well suited to catching fish. He manages to catch a Fish Called Wanda and ..... well.....

Oh now come on, do I need to draw a pciture? What would YOU do with a younger hot and sexy Jamie Lee Curtis?????

Fifth is surprsingly Danni Sordo. Now, being so utterly without charisma and charm, the Spaniard would frighten even the most retarded fish away - but while Sordo needs a charisma transplant, I never said he was unintelligent. Setting up a net on the other side of the lake, terrified fish flee fom him, only to be caught in his cunning trap.

Sixth is Matthew Wilson. You cant crash a fishing rod, but he still manages this amazing feat, which makes a school of trout die with laughter. And thence, the fishies are easy pickings.

Seventh is Captain Ahab and did you know there really was a Moby-Dick?

Wikipedia (Links)

Mocha_Dick

There you are, a bit of actual fact and education

Eigth is Jari-Matti Latvala. He uses vodka. Not for fishing of course, but to bribe the judges.

If anythin like this even looks like happening in the rally, I'll be shocked. And even more because I have as you may have noticed, selected Marcus Gronholm as a DNF for the Sardinia Fishing Competition. You see, Marcus doesnt like fish. He prefers. Moose. Raw. And preferably still alive when he begins to devour it.

[kam_baker]

Marcus G?

[mattj]

Leading shakedown times:

1. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1mins 54.3secs M
2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 1mins 54.4secs M
3. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 1mins 54.6secs M
4. Juho Hanninen MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 1mins 55.3secs
5. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 1mins 55.5secs M
6. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1mins 55.7secs M
7. Toni Gardemeister MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 1mins 55.8secs
8. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 1mins 55.9secs M
9. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 1mins 56.8secs M
= Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 1mins 56.8secs

[Mike Cherry]

SS1 Atko 3rd fastest behind Latvala & Gronholm, 7secs off the pace over 31k, looks promising!!!
SS2 Work in progess.

[Marcus]

Unfortunantly the Subaru's are now 6th and 7th. But on the positive side, they are still running.

[TX3 Rally]

Originally Posted by Marcus

But on the positive side, they are still running.

So's Forest Gump, but he wasn't quick either.

[kam_baker]

Citroen's Sebastien Loeb finished in his usual position at the top of the pack - following the opening leg of the Rally d'Italia Sardegna on Friday however, early on things looked a lot different.

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 1hour 42mins 10.0secs M
2. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +00mins 22.4secs M
3. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +00mins 29.1secs M
4. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +00mins 32.9secs M
5. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +01mins 18.3secs M
6. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +01mins 21.0secs M
7. Toni Gardemeister MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 +02mins 04.2secs
8. Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC +02mins 35.8secs M
9. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +03mins 34.9secs
10. Gareth MacHale Ford Focus WRC 06 +04mins 38.3secs
11. Mads Ostberg Adapta Subaru Impreza WRC +04mins 43.5secs
12. Juho Hanninen MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 +05mins 21.3secs
13. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 +06mins 33.2secs M
14. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +09mins 50.3secs M#
15. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +10mins 32.0secs M#
16. Urmo Aava Suzuki Swift S1600 +11mins 44.2secs J
17. P-G Andersson Suzuki Swift S1600 +11mins 52.5secs J
18. Simone Campedelli Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +13mins 43.3secs
19. Luis Perez Companc Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 +13mins 53.4secs M
20. Giovanni Manfrinato Subaru Impreza +13mins 56.7secs

Sebastien Loeb [Citroen Total WRT]:

"We still had more roadsweeping work on SS4, but the following stage was once again more favourable to us. After that, Marcus Grönholm's problems helped us move into first place. It's great to be leading going into tomorrow's stages. Our cushion of 22.4s isn't all that big and the fight will continue, that's for sure, but I know I will be able to count on the competitiveness of my C4 and my BFGoodrich tyres."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "After getting a feel for the amount of grip available on SS1, I managed to limit the damage, even though I made some small mistakes. The profile of the next stage was different, however, and I was able to post the fastest time. On SS3, though, I was once again forced to take the lack of grip onboard while at the same time taking care not to make any mistakes. In the end, my deficit was just 10.4s and I have rarely been in such a favourable position after the opening loop. That's a positive pointer for the rest of the weekend."

Marcus Gronholm [BP Ford WRT]:

"I can't believe it because I was leading and now I'm more than 20sec behind. I'll try to catch Loeb but it will be hard. It's a lot of time but there are two days remaining and anything is possible. It's sad because the car was working so well. The car was difficult to drive after the damper broke but luckily we made it back to service with no more problems."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "I didn't expect to see Jari-Matti there but he had a good start position and drove well. I'm ahead of Loeb and that's the important thing. The first stage was my favourite because I remember it better than the others and it's good to drive. There was a lot of loose gravel which we were clearing for those behind. There should be less gravel on the same stages this afternoon and I hope it's not too rough. Everything will be more equal and start position will be less important. It will be maximum attack and I have to keep Loeb behind me."

Mikko Hirvonen [BP Ford WRT]:

"It has been a really enjoyable day and I'm happy with my position. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a rally as much as I have today. I had more traction this afternoon because the roads were cleaner but it was hard on the cars with big rocks and stones sticking out of the ground. We hit a few but I was pushing hard and the Focus is a strong car so we were OK. My times are closer to Seb and Marcus here than in Argentina so I feel I'm back on track."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "It was a fantastic morning. It has been a long time since I enjoyed a rally as much as I have today. I think I should have had more cuts in my tyres because there was more loose gravel than I thought. I had softer springs to ensure the best traction but now the roads are cleaner I will make them stiffer. I was too slow towards the end of the first stage when the roads were narrow and twisty. I need to push harder there this afternoon."

Henning Solberg [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“This is definitely my best day in the World Rally Championship, ever! I am really starting to feel comfortable with the car and more confident. The car has always been good, I knew that, but now it is starting to feel good for me and starting to fit my driving style. The surface was still very slippery on the second pass especially under braking for slow corners; and there were a few times we were slightly wide and untidy. It is very easy to make a mistake, some places in the stage are fast with heavy braking and there are many rocks at the side of the road ready to get you. Tomorrow should be good and I think I will make some small changes to try and make the good feeling even better.”

[Speaking in the mid-day service] “It's coming, the feeling is coming. I have a much better feeling with the car now and it means I have more confidence also. The three stages this morning have been good for me and you can see that with my fastest time on stage 3. The car is working well and my pace-notes for the stages are good also. We made new pace-notes on the recce and I'm very happy with them. The road was still quite slippery for us but I think it will be much cleaner for the second pass and hopefully we can keep the same pace this afternoon. But generally I am much happier with the car and my driving.”

Daniel Sordo [Citroen Total WRT]:

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "I had a little trouble finding my marks this morning. I was also scared of making a mistake and I no doubt eased off too much. We will make a few changes to the set-up of my C4 WRC for the afternoon and I think things should go better."

Petter Solberg [Subaru WRT]:

"We got off to a really good start today, and after service we were going well too – matching the pace of Marcus and Sebastien on the first couple of splits on SS4 – but then we lost the brakes and that ruined everything. I did my best in the circumstances, but with no brakes we had no chance and now we've dropped a long way back. From being in a position where we were fighting for the lead it's pretty frustrating, and I almost couldn't believe it, when I knew what was happening. Still, we've shown that we can be in the fight and tomorrow, when the car is back to 100 per cent I'll do all I can to get the time back.”
Speaking in the mid-day service] “It feels good, I must say. We have a good feeling in the car and I'm very pleased with what we've done so far. The main thing is that our pace is right up there with the best drivers. We still have just a little bit more to do, but overall I'm happy. In these conditions we could be quicker in the very narrow places, as that's where I'm lacking a little precision in the chassis, but we might be able to improve that in service. Road position helps a bit here of course, but it's actually not as simple as you might think – in places the gravel is so big that it's better to be at the front, rather than running down the order in the ruts that form.”

Toni Gardemeister [MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05]:

[Speaking in the mid-day service] “We had set up problems - it is too hard. For the second loop we will change the suspension settings.”

Manfred Stohl [OMV Kronos Citroen WRT]:

"I don't want to sound too euphoric but the new dampers show potential - and the set-up is okay, too. Now we have to get acquainted with the Xsara. At the beginning of a special stage everything goes great but the good feeling vanishes as the stage goes on. We will work on this. It is high time that we come back with absolute top times. That is the reason I drive rallies."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "Suddenly the handling of the car was gone. At first I thought we had tyre damage and the mousse wasn't working correctly. But everything was in order after the [first] special stage, except that the Xsara was not good drive. I hope that [after service we can fix it and] it will be like in the beginning - I was really happy at the start."

Matthew Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“It's a pity we had the problem with the gear change this morning as this afternoon's stages went quite well. Basically I had to lift off the throttle every time I went to change gears resulting in the obvious loss of time. It also meant that I wasn't concentrating fully on the pace-notes and it was just a difficult morning. The second loop of stages were good, however, we took no chances but still pushed on quite a bit and drove well to the pace-notes; they were working better than before. The tyres were going off on the last stage and braking for some corners was very slippery; but the grip was actually quite good in other sections of the stage. I'm looking forward to the roads tomorrow as I'm more familiar with them from last year.”
Speaking in the mid-day service] “It has been a really difficult morning. The gear problem started just one kilometre into the first stage and its continued for all three stages. I have had to lift off when changing gears instead of being able to use the normal system of flat-shifting. Obviously this has lost us some time but I am still confident that if we get it sorted, our times will be quite good this afternoon. The pace-notes seemed fine and the road will be cleaner and even with the problem we are still just outside the top ten at the moment. We just need to start the rally again this afternoon and concentrate on getting a few good stages in.”


Federico Villagra [Munchi's Ford WRT]:

“It was a positive day. This is my first time in a World Rally Car and as such I am learning to drive the Focus WRC. I am disappointed that my team-mate, Luis Perez Companc had problems with the alternator.”

Luis Perez Companc [Munchi's Ford WRT]:

[Speaking in the mid-day service] “A difficult rally, but I'm happy with the times I'm setting.

Notable retirements:

Daniel Carlsson [OMV Kronos Citroen WRT]: [withdrew before SS1]

“Carlsson cited personal reasons for this action [withdrawing] and doesn't want to give any further comment for the time being.” – official statement from team.

Chris Atkinson [Subaru WRT]: [retired in SS5 – rock damage]

"It's been another tough rally. I don't like to make excuses, but it was almost as if somebody had put the rocks there. We came around a blind corner and there were two big rocks in the middle of the road, right on the line. I suppose it was a good job it was on a relatively slow section, as the damage doesn't seem too bad, but there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. I think the car will be fine and we'll be able to get back out again tomorrow. We've got to keep moving forward with the development of the car and our performance. We've seen today that there's still room for improvement and that's the main focus.”

[Speaking in the mid-day service] “We made a good start, and our pace on SS1 was pretty encouraging even though we weren't pushing to the limit. But we've still got to work on a few things as I struggled a little bit with the handling on the last two (SS2 & SS3) and lost time, which is frustrating. I'm going to talk to the engineers about that now and we're going to try some different set-up things for this afternoon.”

Jari-Matti Latvala [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired in SS5 – rock damage]

“What a day. It was an absolutely amazing feeling to be leading my first WRC event. I know that I had an advantage with my road position but I was very happy with my driving and the car. Even over the second pass when the road conditions were the same for everyone, my times were still up there in the top three. It was all feeling good and coming together really well. Then on stage 5 on a left hand corner I hit a rock on the inside. I remember from the first pass I was a bit wide so I tried to keep the car in some more. I felt the rock and immediately the track control arm broke and we were forced to stop. I can't believe it; I wasn't pushing and it was all feeling really comfortable with the car and the pace-notes.”

[kam_baker]

Sebastien Loeb leads the Rally d'Italia by 36.5secs at the end of leg two; Marcus Gronholm heads the chasing pack; Mikko Hirvonen lies third, 50 secs off his team-mate; Dani Sordo and Henning Solberg round out the top five...

Overall times after SS12 / Leg 2 - Top 20:

1. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 3hours 12mins 45.6secs M
2. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +00mins 36.5secs M
3. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +01mins 30.2secs M
4. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +02mins 22.4secs M
5. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +02mins 32.7secs M
6. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +03mins 02.6secs M
7. Toni Gardemeister MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 +05mins 21.5secs
8. Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC +05mins 44.8secs M
9. Juho Hanninen MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 +09mins 43.3secs
10. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +12mins 15.8secs M
11. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 +15mins 21.4secs M
12. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +16mins 06.4secs M
13. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +22mins 44.7secs #
14. Urmo Aava Suzuki Swift S1600 +23mins 06.1secs J
15. P-G Andersson Suzuki Swift S1600 +24mins 34.6secs J
16. Giovanni Manfrinato Subaru Impreza +27mins 23.7secs
17. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +28mins 06.4secs J
18. Simone Campedelli Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +29mins 09.4secs
19. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio R3 +30mins 42.1secs J
20. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 S1600 +30mins 43.1secs J

Sebastien Loeb [Citroen Total WRT]:

"I didn't want him to think he could catch us and everything went to plan. The C4 performed immaculately, our choice of BFGoodrich tyres was spot on and I didn't make any mistakes. We just had one big scare when we narrowly missed hitting the spare wheel that had come off Marcus Grönholm's car and which was lying dangerously in the middle of the road. I hesitated and finally decided to take the risk-free option of braking and steering round the obstacle, but if I had hit it the consequences could have been very serious. Our fastest times on SS7 and SS8 and the problems encountered by Marcus on SS9 enabled us to double our lead. The important thing now will be to stay focused tomorrow in order to keep our lead all the way to the finish."

"It's not up to me to push, nor to take risks. I tried to drive quickly to remain concentrated while at the same time trying not to make any mistakes. The last leg stages are new and short, but there won't be a chance to service so we will tackle them cautiously so as not to compromise our chances of winning."

Marcus Gronholm [BP Ford WRT]:

"It's virtually impossible to catch Loeb with that type of advantage. There is nothing much between us on the stages but losing time last night cost us dearly and the fight for victory probably ended after this morning's second stage. I've not given up, I'm still driving fast but there aren't many kilometres tomorrow in which to catch him and I don't want to risk losing a good second place."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "It has been a strange morning. I finished the second stage and realised that the spare wheel had been knocked out of the rear of the car. I also had a rear puncture so I had to drive steadily through the next stage to ensure that we finished with four wheels on the car. I was worried because another puncture could have meant retirement. I went out this morning to attack but Loeb knows it is hard for me to catch him if he has a lead of more than 20sec and can control his pace."

Mikko Hirvonen [BP Ford WRT]:

"I didn't attack. I decided at lunchtime not to push because it's better to finish third than take risks to try to catch Marcus and possibly lose a podium. I tested the new tyres and a few other things on the car in preparation for the Acropolis Rally in Greece next month. Even though tomorrow's stages are short, they are technical. I don't want to make mistakes so I will concentrate on bringing the car home safely."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "It was a good morning for me. I had a good rhythm and found a consistent speed. It is definitely a step forward for me compared to Rally Argentina earlier this month. The tyres were excellent but conditions could be trickier this afternoon because the surface is hard, but I'll try to continue at the same pace."

Daniel Sordo [Citroen Total WRT]:

"We have continued to fine-tune the set-up of my Citroën C4 and I had an excellent feeling with the car this afternoon. I continued to push hard and I'm delighted to have achieved my objective. It was close, and the rally's not yet over, so my intention is now to defend my position."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "The set-up of my C4 really suited today's stages which were faster and wider and much more to my liking than Friday's narrower tests," enthused the young Spaniard during the lunchtime break. "I succeeded in pushing hard and set some quick times that were either close or equal to the faster drivers. That's very encouraging for me and I have every intention of fighting for 4th place."

Henning Solberg [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“I really tried to push today to keep the fourth position but a few small problems made it really difficult. I had problems with the brakes on both the morning and the afternoon stages and on the day's last two stages we had only rear brakes towards the end of them. I spun twice on the last stage. The first time we were able to drive away quickly but the second time I had to reverse and I lost about ten seconds; this dropped me down to fifth position. The stages tomorrow are very technical and difficult and they are new to everyone. I will definitely push again tomorrow and try to get back fourth place; the stages are more similar to Friday's roads and I was going really well then. Hopefully we can get the Friday feeling back again and score some more points for me and the team.”

Petter Solberg [Subaru WRT]:

"We're on course to finish in the points tomorrow, and of course I'm looking forward to the battle with my brother, but generally it's been a difficult day on which I haven't been able to push as hard as I wanted. We got off to a great start yesterday, and set some excellent times, but today the car became very difficult to drive and I simply couldn't attack. We're trying everything we can to make it better, and I can change my driving style to get around the problem to some extent, but when I'm doing that I can't push hard enough. It's a very tough situation for all of us in the team, but the engineers are working flat out and I'm confident they will find a solution soon."
[Speaking in the mid-day service] “It's disappointing that we haven't been able to chase down the drivers ahead of us this morning. We made some changes to the set-up last night and now in service we'll have to look at the data and try to understand why they didn't have the effect we expected.”

Manfred Stohl [OMV Kronos Citroen WRT]:

"It will surely be very hard to overhaul Toni for seventh since he has been around long enough and knows how to drive fast. But if our Citroen Xsara WRC continues to perform this problem-free I see an opportunity. I will attack right from the off on Sunday morning. Each second I come closer puts him more and more under pressure."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "For the first time we have got a really good feeling in the car. It is very important for the future to regain full confidence in the Xsara WRC."

Jari-Matti Latvala [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“Today has been difficult running second on the road, it has been even more difficult than I expected. But I need to be able to drive in these conditions and so I must learn how to cope with it. The more experienced drivers can do it and now I must learn. This afternoon has been quite good and the road conditions have been similar to yesterday; this means I can push harder and it's good that I have been able to finish today in the manufacturer points. There was still quite some gravel on the roads on the second pass and I think the two-wheel-drive cars have been dragging some more out as they have a different line to us. I was pushing a bit too hard and sliding on this gravel, so I decided to accept the situation and back off; immediately it felt more comfortable. This gave me more confidence for the last stage and now I have ended the day well, with a third placed stage-time, which gives me a good feeling to start tomorrow."

Chris Atkinson [Subaru WRT]:

“The conditions on the stages today were pretty good and the roads weren't in a bad state on the repeat run. Our road position meant that the morning was always going to be difficult, as we swept the worst of the loose sandy stuff of the road, but the times improved in the afternoon. I'm far from satisfied with the pace we have relative to the competition, and clearly we still have plenty of work to do on the handling of the car, but hopefully the data we have gathered today will help the team find a solution.”

[Speaking in the mid-day service] “It was busy out there this morning: the spectators seemed pretty excited when we came through – maybe because they had been waiting for a long time and we're the first car on the road. Running first meant that the road was very slippery for us, because there was some loose sandy gravel on top of the hard base surface. The road will be cleaner when we revisit the stages after service, but we won't be taking any huge risks, because we must also use this car in Greece in two weeks. We're treating today and tomorrow as an opportunity to try some set-up changes and gather some important data to put us in a strong position for Greece.”

Notable retirements:

Daniel Carlsson [OMV Kronos Citroen WRT]: [withdrew before SS1]

“Carlsson cited personal reasons for this action and doesn't want to give any further comment for the time being.” – official statement from team.

Chris Atkinson [Subaru WRT]: [retired in SS5 – rock damage – re-started on Saturday under the SupeRally]

"It's been another tough rally. I don't like to make excuses, but it was almost as if somebody had put the rocks there. We came around a blind corner and there were two big rocks in the middle of the road, right on the line. I suppose it was a good job it was on a relatively slow section, as the damage doesn't seem too bad, but there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. I think the car will be fine and we'll be able to get back out again tomorrow. We've got to keep moving forward with the development of the car and our performance. We've seen today that there's still room for improvement and that's the main focus.”

[Speaking in the mid-day service] “We made a good start, and our pace on SS1 was pretty encouraging even though we weren't pushing to the limit. But we've still got to work on a few things as I struggled a little bit with the handling on the last two (SS2 & SS3) and lost time, which is frustrating. I'm going to talk to the engineers about that now and we're going to try some different set-up things for this afternoon.”

Jari-Matti Latvala [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired in SS5 – rock damage – re-started on Saturday under the SupeRally]

“What a day. It was an absolutely amazing feeling to be leading my first WRC event. I know that I had an advantage with my road position but I was very happy with my driving and the car. Even over the second pass when the road conditions were the same for everyone, my times were still up there in the top three. It was all feeling good and coming together really well. Then on stage 5 on a left hand corner I hit a rock on the inside. I remember from the first pass I was a bit wide so I tried to keep the car in some more. I felt the rock and immediately the track control arm broke and we were forced to stop. I can't believe it; I wasn't pushing and it was all feeling really comfortable with the car and the pace-notes.”
[Speaking in the mid-day service] “What an amazing feeling, leading a WRC event for the first time for both myself and the Stobart team; I could not have dreamt this would happen so soon. My car feels very good and the stages I drove this morning were so comfortable; it didn't feel that I was pushing but just concentrating on driving well. Okay I know that my road position was an advantage but I still had to use that advantage. I have to remember that that road was cleaning and for sure the rest of the guys will be coming much harder this afternoon when the conditions will be the same for all of us. I will try not to worry about them though; I will concentrate on driving my own rally rather than staying ahead of the more experienced drivers. If I'm still ahead at the end of the day then it will be a bonus.”

Luis Perez Companc [Munchi's Ford WRT]: [retired from leg 2 in SS8 – rolled]

No comment.

Matthew Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired from leg 2 in SS10 hit a rock]

“In general I was pretty pleased with today's performance. My times were much better and I was really happy with how things have improved. It's a pity that we got caught behind a slower car this morning as we lost quite some time with that; we just couldn't get close enough to get past him because of the dust clouds. Then this afternoon we broke the rear suspension. There was a rock on the line and I tried to avoid it causing the car to run onto the slippery gravel at the side of the road and we got off line going into the next corner; the back wheel hit a massive rock square on. Six inches either side and we would have got away with it. It came as a surprise as the pace was very comfortable, everything was well under control and I wasn't pushing hard.”

Team principals:

Guy Frequelin [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:

"With a total of 143km of stages to cover, today's leg was far from easy. Even so, Seb managed to increase his lead before controlling from in front. He didn't put a foot wrong and his Citroën C4 ran like clockwork. Dani Sordo carried on his good run of yesterday afternoon. He was concentrated, quick and consistent and managed to successfully challenge for 4th place. We mustn't underestimate the final leg however. With a cushion of 36.5s, Seb will need to keep a clear head and Dani will need to continue to push."

[Speaking in the mid-day service] "Both crews got off to a great start today. Seb has pulled further clear at the top and Dani continues to improve on the loose. This afternoon's stages will be rougher though, and anything can still happen, so I prefer to remain cautious for the moment."

Malcolm Wilson [BP Ford WRT - team director]:

"Marcus lost any real chance of catching Seb after the problems this morning in SS9, but we still have a good team result at the end of leg two. Tomorrow must be a case of trying to consolidate what we have."

Malcolm Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT - team boss]:

“I am pleased with Matthew's performance today and he still has a chance to get more experience of these difficult stages tomorrow. Henning has being going well also; Sordo has being putting him under pressure all day so it is shaping up to be an interesting battle tomorrow. Hopefully Henning can move back in front as the team are looking good for more manufacturer points. Jari-Matti has struggled with road position today but he posted some good time this afternoon when the roads were cleaner. He is aware that Greece isn't far away and needs to bring the car to the finish safely.”

Richard Taylor [Subaru WRT - managing director]:

“We're happy that Petter is still on course to score points, but having been on the pace with Seb (Loeb) and Marcus (Gronholm) for most of Friday, it was disappointing not to be challenging right at the front today. The changes we made for this morning's loop did not have the effect we anticipated, so for this afternoon's tests we moved back towards the set-up used on leg one. Clearly there is more to do, but we'll work hard to find a good set-up for the final six stages tomorrow. Although Chris is outside the top ten, both he and the team can collect a lot of data to help us improve the car for future gravel rallies.”

[TX3 Rally]

Sounds like Petter and Chris are looking for the Italian phrasebook to find out what "These cars are mishandling pieces of *****" translates into.

[Marcus]

END OF WORLD ALERT!!!! END OF WORLD ALERT!!!!

Sebastian Loeb makes a driving mistake. I repeat, on Day Three Sebastian Loeb makes an actual driving mistake. Cats and dogs reported to be friends and Marcus makes an entire post without a spelling error!

[kam_baker]

Originally Posted by Marcus

END OF WORLD ALERT!!!! END OF WORLD ALERT!!!!

Sebastian Loeb makes a driving mistake. I repeat, on Day Three Sebastian Loeb makes an actual driving mistake. Cats and dogs reported to be friends and Marcus makes an entire post without a spelling error!

I thought I felt the earth shake just at that moment - he is human after all.

[TX3 Rally]

Originally Posted by Marcus

END OF WORLD ALERT!!!! END OF WORLD ALERT!!!!

Sebastian Loeb makes a driving mistake. I repeat, on Day Three Sebastian Loeb makes an actual driving mistake. Cats and dogs reported to be friends and Marcus makes an entire post without a spelling error!

Say whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaattttttttt???

Loeb having an off - Not Possible - sounds like WRC.com might have been hacked by Chris and Petter in a fit of rage!

[kam_baker]

What a difference a day can make. Going into the final leg of the Rally d'Italia on Sunday it looked at if it would be the usual tale, with Sebastien Loeb pacing himself to another win. However it all went wrong for Seb in the first test of the day, when he made a mistake handing the victory to his chief championship rival, Marcus Gronholm.

Overall times after SS18 / Leg 3 - Top 20:

1. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 3hours 48mins 42.0secs M
2. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 +00mins 29.2secs M
3. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC +01mins 21.8secs M
4. Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +01mins 36.6secs M
5. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +02mins 34.2secs M
6. Toni Gardemeister MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 +05mins 02.1secs
7. Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC +05mins 28.6secs M
8. Juho Hanninen MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 +09mins 31.7secs
9. Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +11mins 27.7secs M
10. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 +16mins 19.4secs M
11. Federico Villagra Munchi's Ford Focus WRC 06 +17mins 05.1secs M
12. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 +23mins 25.1secs
13. Urmo Aava Suzuki Swift S1600 +26mins 21.9secs J
14. P-G Andersson Suzuki Swift S1600 +27mins 31.3secs J
15. Giovanni Manfrinato Subaru Impreza +31mins 41.4secs
16. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +32mins 44.7secs J
17. Simone Campedelli Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX +32mins 45.5secs
18. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 S1600 +35mins 31.8secs J
19. Jaan Molder Suzuki Swift S1600 +36mins 02.2secs J
20. Bruno Bentivogli Subaru Impreza +37mins 00.4secs

Overall JRC after SS18 / Leg 3 - Top 10:

1. Urmo Aava Suzuki Swift S1600 4hours 15mins 03.9secs J
2. P-G Andersson Suzuki Swift S1600 +01mins 09.4secs J
3. Martin Prokop Citroen C2 S1600 +06mins 22.8secs J
4. Aaron Burkart Citroen C2 S1600 +09mins 09.9secs J
5. Jaan Molder Suzuki Swift S1600 +09mins 40.3secs J
6. Jozef Beres Renault Clio S1600 +15mins 11.1secs J
7. Bryan Bouffier Citroen C2 R2 +19mins 58.9secs J
8. Patrik Sandell Renault Clio R3 +22mins 39.2secs J
9. Vilius Rozukas Suzuki Swift S1600 +24mins 05.4secs J
10. Shaun Gallagher Citroen C2 R2 +24mins 39.0secs J

World Rally Drivers' Championship (after 7 of 16 rounds):

1. Marcus Gronholm BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 55 points M
2. Sebastien Loeb Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 48 points M
3. Mikko Hirvonen BP Ford Focus RS WRC 06 44 points M
4. Daniel Sordo Citroen Total WRT C4 WRC 28 points M
5. Petter Solberg Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 20 points M
= Henning Solberg Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 20 points M
7. Chris Atkinson Subaru WRT Impreza WRC 2006 12 points M
= Jari-Matti Latvala Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 12 points M
9. Daniel Carlsson OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC 9 points M
10. Toni Gardemeister MMSP Ltd Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 8 points
= Manfred Stohl OMV Kronos Citroen Xsara WRC 8 points M
12. Gigi Galli Aimont Citroen Xsara WRC 5 points
13. Jan Kopecky Czech RT-Skoda Fabia WRC 2 point
14. Matthew Wilson Stobart Ford Focus WRC 06 1 point
= Juho Hanninen MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 1 point

World Rally Manufacturers' Championship (after 7 of 16 rounds):

1. BP Ford WRT 99 points
2. Citroen Total WRT 78 points
3. Stobart M-Sport Ford RT 37 points
4. Subaru WRT 34 points
= OMV Kronos Citroen WRT 25 points
6. Munchi's Ford WRT 0 points

Marcus Gronholm [BP Ford WRT]:

"It's a great feeling to be back on top of the podium and the team deserves this result because everyone has been working so hard. I had good speed on Friday but was unlucky. Fortunately we had our luck today when Seb crashed. I kept the pressure on him this morning and this is a big confidence boost for us in our championship fight. It's nice to see he does not drive like a machine all the time! It wasn't an easy win after difficulties on Friday and Saturday and there is still a long way to go, but it's nice to be leading the championship and not behind."

Mikko Hirvonen [BP Ford WRT]:

"I aimed for a podium and that's what I achieved so I'm happy. There are areas where I can still improve but my times were closer to the pace of Marcus and Seb here so that's good progress. We had ups and downs here but no problems with the Focus and I'd like to thank everyone in the team for its efforts. I've enjoyed this rally enormously. A 1-2 for Ford is excellent and we need to keep going like that for the rest of the season."

Daniel Sordo [Citroen Total WRT]:

“I am very happy with my weekend. I was a bit hesitant to begin with but I managed to find a pace that was both quick and safe. The work we did with the Citroën Sport guys on the set-up of my C4 really paid off and I am especially pleased to have scored this result for Citroën on gravel, a surface on which I still need to improve.”

[Speaking after SS15] "They [the stages] were short but really quite intense. First of all we had to cope with dust on SS13, and I then had a little trouble adapting to the profile of the following stage; it was so different to what we had come across since the start. I drove much better over the final stage of the loop, but a small mistake prevented us from setting a good time."

Henning Solberg [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“I said on Friday that it was my best ever day on a rally and this rally as a whole was one of my best. Friday was a big step up for me and the car felt amazing; Saturday was not so good but again today it was much more comfortable. I started this morning thinking it was possible to catch Sordo and I pushed hard to try and get fourth position back. We had six very good stages today and it was the best the car has ever felt for me. It has been a big step forward and if you look at the times, I am much closer to the winner than in most other rallies. Now I'm looking forward to Greece even more; the car feels great.”

Petter Solberg [Subaru WRT]:

"Today was all about making sure we got to the end of the rally and preserving the car for the Rally of Greece in two weeks. The stages on this leg were fast and narrow, so we knew that any mistakes could have cost us heavily. Although there was a chance we could have caught Henning (Solberg) if we went on the attack, we just couldn't afford to take that risk. It's been an up-and-down rally. Once again the pace we've shown at the start of the event has been encouraging for us. The task now is to get to a point where we can maintain that speed throughout the event. There's still some work to do, but we're getting there and the team is working harder than ever.”

Toni Gardemeister [MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05]:

"On the first day, I had a spin on the third stage. I dropped about 20 seconds because of that. Then I nearly hit a wall. After that, I was driving a bit calmer! The next day went well and we made some more good times and when the final leg came, I just wanted to make sure that I got the finish without any problems. I didn't push hard, but the roads were fantastic today as well. All-in-all I'm satisfied. My sixth place is OK.”

Manfred Stohl [OMV Kronos Citroen WRT]:

"We definitely made a step forward. You can't complain when you score WRC-points. We had a comparatively problem-free rally. That is comforting and makes me more confident in my car. We drove very fast especially during the last two days. Unfortunately Gardemeister did the same and we couldn't catch up."

Juho Hanninen [MMSP Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05]:

"It was very tough to concentrate on the roads on Friday. I was very worried about Mikko [Markkula – my co-driver], he looked terrible. He was reading the notes, but all of the time that was making him sick. On the last stage on leg one, I told him not to read the notes at all, so I drove the stage blind. I thought we were going to have to stop, but he seemed better after a couple of stages on Saturday. Mikko's troubles aside, the event was good for me. It's always fantastic to drive the World Rally Car and particularly on these stages. After our problems for the first half of the event, to come away from the rally with a championship point is very good."

Jari-Matti Latvala [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“I am happy with my times today, there were no big mistakes, but I did lose some time as I tried to go a bit too fast on the first pass when there was a lot of gravel on the road. It has been an up-and-down rally. To be leading the rally outright on Friday was an amazing feeling, just a shame with my problem when we broke the suspension on a rock. I have learnt much from this event; especially that I need to be able to drive when first on the road and be able to change my driving style for this in the future. It is also fantastic for me to end the rally on a high with a very good feeling with the car; it will help for the next event just a few weeks away.”

Chris Atkinson [Subaru WRT]:

"We expected it to be a tough day, but we also saw how important it is to keep plugging away, because we ended up scoring a point for Subaru in the manufacturers championship. Hitting those rocks on SS5 was a big setback for our rally and I'm disappointed in light of the competitive stage times we set on the first morning. Those times were a clear sign of this car's potential, because both myself and Petter were setting top-four times at one point. Now we'll get our heads down and try to get the car right for Rally of Greece.”

Federico Villagra [Munchi's Ford WRT]:

“I just started off quite steadily, trying to get used to the car and the stages with the new co-driver. I really wanted to finish this rally and get as many of the stages completed as possible so I was not pushing much. The first loop of stages was difficult, just getting used to the car, and the pace-notes weren't really as good as normal. The notes worked better on the second pass of stages and it was much easier to drive the car without thinking about it as much.

“It has been quite hard and it's not easy learning the car when you are running quite close to first on the road. There is so much loose gravel and the car is sliding and spinning wheels with the low grip making it difficult for me to get a good feeling and learn the new car. The biggest improvement has been in my confidence; now I can go to Greece and I know more what the car will do. It is still hard to know the limits but the feeling is much better for Greece.”

Matthew Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]:

“Today was very difficult running first on the road. We chose a harder compound tyre to see how it would work in Greece; it did feel good on the second pass. We didn't do anything stupid today and just settled into a comfortable pace; to be one second per kilometre off people who were battling for the podium is very positive. Overall it has been a good event, quite frustrating, but with our pace we were easily capable of finishing in the points. It would have been good to score a European point but there is still Greece to come before the summer break and I'm confident heading to this event. A lot of the improvement has come from my pace-note work and Robert Reid [former WRC Champion] has to take credit for his help and input with this.”

Notable retirements:

Daniel Carlsson [OMV Kronos Citroen WRT]: [withdrew before SS1]

“Carlsson cited personal reasons for this action and doesn't want to give any further comment for the time being.” – official statement from team.

Chris Atkinson [Subaru WRT]: [retired in SS5 – rock damage – re-started on Saturday under the SupeRally]

"It's been another tough rally. I don't like to make excuses, but it was almost as if somebody had put the rocks there. We came around a blind corner and there were two big rocks in the middle of the road, right on the line. I suppose it was a good job it was on a relatively slow section, as the damage doesn't seem too bad, but there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. I think the car will be fine and we'll be able to get back out again tomorrow. We've got to keep moving forward with the development of the car and our performance. We've seen today that there's still room for improvement and that's the main focus.”

[Speaking in the mid-day service] “We made a good start, and our pace on SS1 was pretty encouraging even though we weren't pushing to the limit. But we've still got to work on a few things as I struggled a little bit with the handling on the last two (SS2 & SS3) and lost time, which is frustrating. I'm going to talk to the engineers about that now and we're going to try some different set-up things for this afternoon.”

Jari-Matti Latvala [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired in SS5 – rock damage – re-started on Saturday under the SupeRally]

“What a day. It was an absolutely amazing feeling to be leading my first WRC event. I know that I had an advantage with my road position but I was very happy with my driving and the car. Even over the second pass when the road conditions were the same for everyone, my times were still up there in the top three. It was all feeling good and coming together really well. Then on stage 5 on a left hand corner I hit a rock on the inside. I remember from the first pass I was a bit wide so I tried to keep the car in some more. I felt the rock and immediately the track control arm broke and we were forced to stop. I can't believe it; I wasn't pushing and it was all feeling really comfortable with the car and the pace-notes.”

Speaking in the mid-day service] “What an amazing feeling, leading a WRC event for the first time for both myself and the Stobart team; I could not have dreamt this would happen so soon. My car feels very good and the stages I drove this morning were so comfortable; it didn't feel that I was pushing but just concentrating on driving well. Okay I know that my road position was an advantage but I still had to use that advantage. I have to remember that that road was cleaning and for sure the rest of the guys will be coming much harder this afternoon when the conditions will be the same for all of us. I will try not to worry about them though; I will concentrate on driving my own rally rather than staying ahead of the more experienced drivers. If I'm still ahead at the end of the day then it will be a bonus.”

Luis Perez Companc [Munchi's Ford WRT]: [retired from rally in SS8 – rolled]

“The rally started off quite well for us but then in the afternoon of the first day we had a few problems. I overshot a junction on stage 4, losing 30 seconds, as the braking was very slippery even on the second pass and I slid off on a fast corner; luckily though there was a lot of room and we just lost some time. Then we had a throttle problem and the car stopped 800 metres from the end of stage 6. With the team's help on the telephone we got it started again and it turned out to be an electrical problem. We lost a few minutes but made it back to final service. I just needed to concentrate for day 2 and try to put in some good times.

“Saturday started well and the first stage was very good. I had the perfect road position and this meant I could follow the racing line easily and keep it all neat and I was really happy with my driving. I was trying to do the same on the second stage but unfortunately I had a pace-note that wasn't exactly correct. There was a rock and I didn't have a warning in my notes to stay far enough out from it. This forced me over to the wrong side of the road and I hit a boulder with my right rear wheel; this pushed the car across the road and we went off on the other side, rolling into a ditch. It was quite a heavy impact and the car was damaged badly.”

Matthew Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT]: [retired from leg 2 in SS10 hit a rock – re-started on Sunday under the SupeRally]

“In general I was pretty pleased with today's performance. My times were much better and I was really happy with how things have improved. It's a pity that we got caught behind a slower car this morning as we lost quite some time with that; we just couldn't get close enough to get past him because of the dust clouds. Then this afternoon we broke the rear suspension. There was a rock on the line and I tried to avoid it causing the car to run onto the slippery gravel at the side of the road and we got off line going into the next corner; the back wheel hit a massive rock square on. Six inches either side and we would have got away with it. It came as a surprise as the pace was very comfortable, everything was well under control and I wasn't pushing hard.”

Jan Kopecky [Czech RT-Skoda Kopecky Fabia WRC]: [retired from rally after SS12 – steering]

"In the initial three special stages of Saturday's leg the Skoda Fabia WRC car performed very well and although we were happy with the achieved times, we wanted to speed up even more in the second runs. Unfortunately on the transit to the tenth special stage the steering stopped reacting to the turning of the steering wheel and after a phone conference with the team we've decided to retire from the rally."

Sebastien Loeb [Citroen Total WRT]: [retired in SS13 – went off the road]

"I had difficulty finding the ideal pace from the very start," he relates. "I felt that I wasn't driving well and I had to push myself. It was starting to get a little better, but about halfway into the stage, on a fast portion which I had noted a little too optimistically, I hit the crest a little too fast and the car went light. I was no longer on the ideal line for the following right-hander and I had a wheel slightly on the verge. I tried to bring the car back in line but then I hit a big rock with my front left wheel. I tried to continue but the wheel ended up buckling underneath the car. I clearly wasn't going any further, so I parked up. Ever since the beginning of the weekend, it has been difficult to find the ideal pace for these stages. My error came at the worst possible moment because our lead over Marcus Grönholm should have enabled us to control from in front. It just goes to show that winning is never easy and that we are always very close to the limit. We still have every chance in the championship, but it won't be easy. The season reaches its halfway point after the Acropolis Rally in a fortnight's time and it will be up to us to reverse the trend."

Team principals:

Malcolm Wilson [BP Ford WRT - team director]:

"This is Ford's second 1-2 of the season (along with Rally Norway) and was richly deserved. Marcus outpaced Loeb on Friday until problems intervened but he never gave up and earned his reward today. Mikko was his usual consistent self and I'm pleased to see that he has stepped up his speed since the last rally. We're in a great position in both the manufacturers' and drivers' championships and we must concentrate on pressing home our advantage on future rallies."

Jost Capito [Ford Team RS director]:

"John Fleming [Ford of Europe president and CEO] is rapidly becoming our lucky omen. He came to Monte Carlo, Greece, Finland and Britain last year when we won. He attended in Norway in February when we won and now here. We are thinking of booking him up for the rest of the season!"

Guy Frequelin [Citroen Total WRT - team principal]:

"I know what I am saying when I say that an event is never until the finish line has been crossed! This incident came at a moment when Seb wasn't even pushing; that's the most frustrating thing about it. But that's rallying and anything can always happen, even to the best of them. That doesn't mean that we need to alter the way we operate though. The points differences are not insurmountable in either championship but it's true that our task won't be easy. It will be up to us not to make any mistakes on the events still to come and Dani's performance here gives us every reason to be hopeful. He deserved to finish on the podium on this event which called for a combination of spirit and a cool head."

Malcolm Wilson [Stobart M-Sport Ford WRT - team boss]:

“It has been another great team effort and everyone has performed exceptionally well. Jari-Matti had a blinding start to lead the rally outright and he backed this up with some other fast times on the final day. Henning's fight on the last day was exciting and it showed that he has moved forward with his pace and confidence with the car. I would say this has been Matthew's best performance to date. He has found a good pace which he is now able to build on in Greece. Overall an excellent weekend for the Stobart Team.”

Richard Taylor [Subaru WRT - managing director]:

"We've got to the end of the rally with both cars in the top ten, and with Petter and Chris scoring useful manufacturer championship points. At the same time, it is clear that we still have work to do to achieve consistent podium pace, however our engineers have got very positive ideas on how we can increase the speed of our 2007 car.”

Marc van Dalen [OMV Kronos Citroen - team principal]:

“It is very motivating to see that all the work pays off. Manfred is getting confident with the car once again and I think that we are on our way to create a good package. It was clear to us that this year wouldn't be an easy one. But if we all work together the success we hope for will come back.”

Didier Martin [BFGoodrich – tyre technician with the SWRT]:

"It was a very tough rally for everyone involved with the team, but both cars made it to the finish. I think the most important thing to look at is how the Subaru seems to work well on our new hard compound tyre. That bodes well for Rally of Greece, where we expect conditions to be very rough and particularly demanding for the tyres.”

[kam_baker]

Sebastien Loeb has revealed that an error in his pace-notes was to blame for his off on the Rally d'Italia Sardgena on Sunday, something that ultimately cost him not only the rally win, but also the lead in the drivers' championship.

The incident occurred mid-way through the short 10.66 kilometre S Giovanni stage, when the Frenchman landed badly after a jump and his car slid off into a ditch, clobbering a rock in the process and breaking the suspension on his Citroen C4 WRC.

The Frenchman, who had been leading by more than 35 seconds, was bitterly disappointed, especially as it looked as if he had the win in the bag, what would have been his fifth of the season - and his fourth in a row.

“I had difficulty finding the ideal pace from the very start [this morning]. I felt that I wasn't driving well and I had to push myself. It was starting to get a little better, but about halfway into the stage, on a fast portion which I had noted a little too optimistically, I hit the crest a little too fast and the car went light,” he explained.

“I was no longer on the ideal line for the following right-hander and I had a wheel slightly on the verge. I tried to bring the car back in line but then I hit a big rock with my front left wheel.

"I tried to continue but the wheel ended up buckling underneath the car. I clearly wasn't going any further, so I parked up. Ever since the beginning of the weekend, it has been difficult to find the ideal pace for these stages.

"My error came at the worst possible moment because our lead over Marcus Grönholm should have enabled us to control from in front. It just goes to show that winning is never easy and that we are always very close to the limit.”

As for the championship, Seb now trails Gronholm by 7 points and well it is far from over, with nine events still to go this season, it is something of a blow, as he had been on course to establish a 5 point advantage.

“We still have every chance in the championship, but it won't be easy,” added the triple world champion. “The season reaches its halfway point after the Acropolis Rally of Greece in a fortnight's time and it will be up to us now to reverse the trend.”

For the record, this was Seb's second non-points scoring finish of the year after his mistake in Norway - and his first retirement in 19 events, the last time it happened was on the Rally Australia in 2005.