TWO CITROENSIN TOP FIVE IN NEW ZEALAND
Kronos Total Citroen has completed Rally New Zealand with both crews in the top five.
Xevi Pons/Carlos Del Barrio and Dani Sordo/Marc Marti have finished the final leg of the three-day event(November 17-19) with no problems and in fourth and fifth places respectively.
The New Zealand round of the World Championship is based around Hamilton, south of Auckland, and its springtime date means the weather can be inconsistent and unpredictable – as proved to be exactly the case on this event. The crews frequently encountered wet, damp, muddy and therefore tricky conditions on the magnificent gravel roads that characterise New Zealand.
In the absence of Sébastien Loeb, who went home to continue rehabilitation on his broken arm after completing the recce of the new route, Xevi Pons was once more entrusted with the number one Citroen Xsara.
Confirming his current form and impressive turn of speed, Pons drove one of the best rallies of his career on roads that he loved. Having been slightly delayed by a spin on Friday, the Spaniard set two fastest times on Sunday that allowed him to move past his team mate.
“For the third time in succession, we’ve finished just off the podium,”said a delighted Pons, having congratulated the entire team.
“I think that we’re getting there now. I really like fast roads and we found them here. I had a lot of fun even though the surfaces were very slippery. These conditions prepared us well for the Rally Great Britain, and I hope to have the same success in Cardiff.”
In New Zealand, Dani Sordo had to get to grips with a brand new rally for the fifth consecutive time. The reigning Junior World Rally Champion took particular care to do a good job on the recce. It worked and he had the satisfaction of seeing that his notes were correct during the actual rally.
Sordo occupied a provisional podium place on Friday night, having been encouragingly quick on stages that were new for everyone. But the Spaniard wisely decided that discretion was the better part of valour, eventually dropping two places en route to a faultless finish on Sunday.
“It was a difficult rally for me, and I imagine that is the case for any driver coming here for the first time,” he said.
“I’m very happy to have got to the end without problems in quite a good position, and I’m very happy with the notes I made with my codriver Marc Marti. I think we’ve done an excellent job with an eye to the future.”
Kronos Total Citroen team principal Marc Van Dalen was delighted with the formation finish from his two young Spanish crews.
“Of course, we would have preferred the fight for the constructors’ title to go down to the wire on the Wales Rally GB,” he said.
“But Malcolm Wilson’s [Ford] team has done a brilliant job here and I would like to congratulate them before anything else. It’s a great honour for Kronos to have given this team such closelyfought and fair competition, which hung in the balance for so long.
“Xevi and Dani were free to drive as they wished here. They were both well placed and close to each other throughout the rally, and both crews reached the finish. This has allowed them to learn as much as possible, which is very encouraging for their future.”
Earlier in the rally, the team had hopes of a podium finish. At the end of Day One, it was Sordo/Marti in third and Xevi Pons/Carlos Del Barrio in and fifth.
Sordo, a newcomer to New Zealand, was third on the road but quickly found a comfortable pace. The reigning Junior World Champion stayed in touch with Manfred Stohl throughout the day, and passed the Austrian on the final stage to move onto the provisional podium.
The next day was more challenging. The action consisted of two loops of three stages, before a final run through the Mystery Creek spectator super special. The first loop of stages – Port Waikato, Klondyke and Wairamarama (SS68) – was new for all the crews. Port Waikato had actually been run before, but back in 1982!
The Te Akau South and North stages that constituted the bulk of the afternoon’s action have been a feature of Rally New Zealand since 2003. They proved a stiff challenge for the Kronos drivers in their fight with Manfred Stohl and the tyre of choice – slightly harder rubber – proved less than ideal, particularly when a downpour fell on Te Akau North.
Sordo/Marti finished the day in fourth and Pons/Del Barrio in fifth and that was the way Citroen would finish the event, aside from the teammates changing places.The championship now moves to Great Britain, with the final round – Wales Rally GB – set for an expected cold, wet and perhaps even snowy run over the weekend of December 1-3.
(Photos available on the Ateco website)
Rally facts
Stage wins
Leg 1. SS1, 2, 3, 4 and 5: Marcus Grönholm (Ford Focus).
Leg 2. SS6: M. Grönholm – SS7 and 8: C. Atkinson (Subaru Impreza) – SS9: M. Grönholm –SS10: Mikko Hirvonen (Ford Focus) – SS11: M. Grönholm.
Leg 3. SS12, 13, 14 and 15: M. Grönholm – SS16: Xevi Pons (Citroën Xsara) and M. Grönholm – SS17: X. Pons.
Best performers
M. Grönholm, 13 fastest times (incl. 1 eq.) – Ch. Atkinson, 2 – X. Pons, 2 (incl. 1 eq) M. Hirvonen, 1.
Leader
SS1 to 17: M. Grönholm.
Final leader board of the Rally New Zealand
1. M. Grönholm/T. Rautiainen (Ford Focus) 4h:02 min:30.7s
2. M. Hirvonen/J. Lehtinen (Ford Focus) + 56s
3. M. Stohl/I. Minor (Peugeot 307) + 2min:39.3s
4. X. Pons/C. Del Barrio (Citroën Xsara) + 2min:56.1s
5. D. Sordo/M. Martí (Citroën Xsara) + 3min:20.7s
6. P. Solberg/Ph. Mills (Subaru Impreza) + 4min:57.1s
7. L. PerezCompanc/JM. Volta (Ford Focus) + 10 min:51.6s
8. JM. Latvala/M. Anttila (Subaru Impreza) + 16min:22.4s
9. J. Hanninen/M. Sallinen (Mitsubishi Lancer) + 17min:30.2s
10. R. Mason/S. Randall (Subaru Impreza) + 20min:20s
FIA World Rally Championship standings for Manufacturers after round 15 *
1. BP Ford WRT, 185 pts 2. Kronos Total Citroën WRT, 160 pts 3. Subaru WRT, 97 pts– 4. OMV Peugeot Norway, 80 pts – 5. Stobart VK/MSport Ford RT, 39 pts – 6. RedBullŠkoda, 23 pts.
FIA World Rally Championship standings for Drivers after round 15 *
1. S. Loeb (F), 112 pts (Champion du Monde 2006) ** 2. M. Grönholm (FIN), 101 pts – 3. M. Hirvonen (FIN), 65 pts 4. D. Sordo (E), 47 pts – 5. M. Stohl (A), 46 pts 6. P. Solberg (N), 34 pts– 7. X. Pons (E), 28 pts. – 8. H. Solberg (N), 25 pts – 9. T. Gardemeister (FIN), 20 pts – 10. Ch. Atkinson (AUS), 17 pts
(ends)
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Miles Williams
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11/20/2006