Tue November 30, 2004

 Skoda confirm new lineup for 2005 Armin Schwarz is to lead the Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team throughout the 2005 FIA World Rally Championship as part of a driver line-up that blends experience with youth and future talent. The 41-year old German starts his second consecutive season with the team, bringing vit...

Sun November 28, 2004

 Lombard Revival amazes to the end Yet more twists and turns marked the final of a majorly exciting Lombard Revival Rally. On leg1 we saw the surprise lead of a Holden with pre-event favourite Gwyndaf Evans’ MG in 4th. But after Kielder at midnight we had Owen Turner leading until he ditched his Rover 114 early in...

Sat November 27, 2004

 Three 106s hunt for leading Mini Leg2 of the Lombard Revival Rally was the shortest and easiest leg of the rally, only 16 stages…. The action was gripping and the selection of stages not only revived the spirit of the RAC and rallying as a whole, there were some unusual crowd and crew pleasers too. The Leyland T...

NEWS JUST IN

 Lombard Revival after SS36 @ 11:04 AM - After SS36, Sweet Lamb(!) the 106s are catching the 1968 Mini fast, having nearly halved its lead. What an exciting finale. Gwyndaf Evans is also catching up: 1. Chris Day, Mini Cooper 2. Don Whitehurst, Peugeot 106 Rallye 1.3 +1m17s 3. Carl Hawkins, Peugeot 106 Rallye 1.3 +2m11s 4. Matthew Fowle, Peugeot 106 Rallye 1.3 +3m22s 5. David Johnson, Proton Satria +4m49s 6. David Winstanley, MG ZR +4m52s 7. Graham Parkinson, Vauxhall Astra +5m22s 8. John Cotton, Citroen AX GTI +5m46s 9. Kevin Wilson, Citroen AX GTI +5m57s 10. Robin Eyre-Maunsell, Citroen AX GTI +6m59s 11. Gwyndaf Evans, MG ZR +7m10s

Fri November 26, 2004

 Ford announces Gardemeister Finland's Toni Gardemeister has signed a one-year contract to drive for Ford Motor Company in next season's FIA World Rally Championship. He will drive a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car on all 16 rounds of the championship with the Blue Oval squad that finished second in the...

 Lombard Revival after Kielder At the end of leg1 we now count SS17, only 2 stages further on than our last report. However, these were long Kielder stages. It seems Kielder has been rather kind to the boys and girls this time. Still the classification looks rather different after the 2 stages of midnight Kiel...

Thu November 25, 2004

 Lombard revival Rally surprises The Lombard Revival Rally is this week’s 2nd attempt at reviving the old spirit of the RAC Rally and rallying as a whole. The event got under way this morning from York and is to follow a REAL Rally GB route, meaning it deserves the name “GB” rather than “Rally Around Cardiff”! F...

NEWS JUST IN

 6 drivers for Skoda? @ 05:56 AM - Czech Sports server DenikSport are reporting Skoda have signed 6 drivers for next year; Car 1: Schwarz, Car 2: Paasonen, Tuohino, Kopecky, Bengue, Car 3: Ekstrom (Sweden)

Wed November 24, 2004

 RAC Revival - or Revolution? In WRC with 16 events, 2-car works teams instead of 3-car, ever less manufacturers, the events are shortened yet again, we have sometimes 4 stages a day with a 4 or 5 hours break in between. Then we get rid of anything that is unique, we have new, meaningless events such as Turke...

NEWS JUST IN

 Tuohino & Ekstrom to Skoda? @ 12:23 AM - Latest rumours from the Czech Republic are placing Janne Tuohino and Mattias Ekstrom with Skoda for 2005. An announcement is expected at the end of the week.

Tue November 23, 2004

 Old Boys with Old Toys

 McRae will not drive for Skoda Former World Champion Colin McRae has admitted that talks between himself and Czech team Skoda have broken down. The Scot, who tested a Fabia WRC at the end of October, was trying to do a deal to bring his protoge Kris Meeke a World Rally Car drive whilst participating in a limit...

NEWS JUST IN

 RAC SS23 - More Kielder twists! @ 05:58 AM - Wilson started the last day with a mindblowing pace through Kielder-Kershope to extend his lead over Blomqvist to a comfortable 1m29s, while another strong rival, Tuthill's Porsche, retired here. But just as things seems settled, Wilson too retired after crashing in the very next stage. Blomqvist now leads with Mikkola and Bellm having a good fight for 3rd. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS23: 1. Stig Blomqvist, Ford Escort RS1800 3:04:32 2. Jeremy Easson, Ford Escort RS1800 +4:39 3. Hannu Mikkola, Ford Escort RS1800 +9:13 4. Ray Bellm, Ford Escort RS1600 +9:31 5. Philip Squires, Ford Escort RS1600 +13:36 6. Grant Shand, Ford Escort RS1800 +14:49 7. Richard Lepley, Ford Escort RS1600 +18:43 8. Alexander Hack, Ford Escort RS1600 +21:57 9. Brian Gill, Opel kadett GT/E +35:53 10. Anthony Ward, Ford Escort RS1600 +25:04

Mon November 22, 2004

 Killer Kielder kills again

 AUS result believed to be confirmed soon

NEWS JUST IN

 RAC leg2 - Kielder bites old fox @ 03:27 PM - Yes, Kielder did it again! First year back and victim 2004 is Hannu Mikkola. Unofficial, provisional positions after leg2: 1. Malcolm Wilson, Ford Escort RS1800 2:05:24 2. Stig Blomqvist, Ford Escort RS1800 +53 3. Jeremy Easson, Ford escort RS1800 +3:35 4. Richard Tuthill, Porsche 911 +7:20 5. Ray Bellm, Ford Escort RS1600 +8:09 6. Hannu Mikkola, Ford Escort RS1800 +9:57 7. Richard Gower, Ford Escort RS1600 +10:03 8. Philip Squires, Ford Escort RS1800 +10:44 9. Steve Perez, Porsche 911 +11:20 10. Grant Shand, Ford Escort RS1800 +11:25

 RAC SS15 - before Kielder @ 11:44 AM - The old boys seem to take control, but everything may change as the event is taking to Killer Kielder next! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS15: 1. Malcolm Wilson, Ford Escort RS1800 1:48:40 2. Stig Blomqvist, Ford Escort RS1800 +40 3. Hannu Mikkola, Ford escort RS1800 +2:14 4. Jeremy Easson, Ford Escort RS1800 +2:53 5. Ray Bellm, Ford Escort RS1600 +6:47 6. Richard Tuthill, Porsche 911 +7:02 7. Philip Squires, Ford Escort RS1800 +8:13 8. Richard Gower, Ford Escort RS1600 +8:18 9. Grant Shand, Ford Escort RS1800 +9:13 10. Steve Perez, Porsche 911 +9:55

 RAC leg1 - Wilson leads @ 11:37 AM - The Roger Albert Clark = RAC Rally is part 1 of a revival attempt of a proper RAC Rally GB. This is the historic cars. Part 2 will be a longer version of this event with modern cars and a route more typical for old days. This event started off with a fight between Stig Blomqvist in a Ford Escort RS1800 and Richard Tuthill in a Porsche 911. But at the end of the day it was Malcolm Wilson to take the lead in another Ford Escort RS1800. Unofficial, provisional positions after leg1: 1. Malcolm Wilson, Ford Escort RS1800 45:52 2. Jeremy Easson, Ford Escort RS1800 +31 3. Richard Tuthill, Porsche 911 +56 4. Stig Blomqvist, Ford Escort RS1800 +59 5. Hannu Mikkola, Ford Escort RS1800 +1:24 6. Ray Bellm, Ford Escort RS1600 +2:40 7. Grant Shand, Ford Escort RS1800 +3:51 8. Philip Squires, Ford Escort RS1800 +4:06 9. Richard Gower, Ford Escort RS1600 +4:22 10. Brian Gill, Opel Kadett GT/E +4:40

Fri November 19, 2004

 Capello to drive Fabia WRC Sports car driver Rinaldo ‘Dindo‘ Capello will drive a Škoda Fabia WRC at next weekend’s Monza Rally (November 27-28). The event takes place over eight stages using different parts of the famous Grand Prix circuit. Five stages take place on Saturday with three on Sunday plus a ‘m...

 Fans rally round to help Kresta Fans and supporters of Czech driver Roman Kresta are rallying round to find the necessary budget for the former works Skoda driver to start Monte Carlo 2005 in a World Rally Car. FansForKresta.com launched earlier this we...

Thu November 18, 2004

 Richard Burns: Letter to Fans

 Skoda to announce drivers within 2 weeks Skoda, along with most of the other teams are expected to announce their driver lineup within the next two weeks. Only Citroen have so far confirmed their pairing of world champion Sebastien Loeb and Belgian Francois Duval. Armin Schwarz is under contract at Skoda until the end o...

Tue November 16, 2004

 Duval signs for Citroen For the 2005 season, François Duval and his co-driver Stéphane Prévot are to join the 2004 World Rally Champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena at Citroën. For the young Belgian driver, the move marks a return to his origins in the sport since he began his rallying career in 19...

NEWS JUST IN

 Duval signs for Citroen @ 10:11 AM - Citroen have confirmed they have signed Francois Duval for the 2005 season.

Sun November 14, 2004

 Harri ends year well for Peugeot Peugeot driver Harri Rovanpera has finished the final day of the Rally Australia and 2004 World Rally Championship in a strong second place overall, scoring valuable points for himself and Peugeot. The Finn ran rapidly and reliably all day, underlining a solid performance in wh...

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 Makes title battle @ 01:29 AM - provisional, unofficial final standings: 1st Citroen 194points // 2nd Ford 143 // 3rd Subaru 122 // 4th Peugeot 101 // 5th Mitsubishi 17

 Drivers title battle @ 01:28 AM - provisional, unofficial final standings: 1st Loeb 118points // 2nd Solberg 82 // 3rd Märtin 79 // 4th Sainz 73 // 5th Grönholm 62 // 6th Duval 53 // 7th Hirvonen 29 // 8th Rovanperä 28 // 9th Tuohino 16 // 10th Loix 9

 AUS SS25 - Loeb beats who exactly? @ 00:44 AM - Xavier Pons is the PWRChampion. We also are receiving news that Dean Herridge has retired from 6th place overall with a blown Subaru gN engine. Unofficial, provisional final positions: 1. Loeb 3:39:46.8 2. Rovanperä +1:55.1 3. Duval +3:40.2 4. Hirvonen +6:00.4

 AUS SS24 - Grönholm out?! @ 00:11 AM - How can you.... I can't believe this.... Grönholm restarted under SoupRally and crashed again!!!! How can you crash twice in the same rally? Unofficial, provisional positions after SS24: 1. Loeb 3:30:25.4 2. Rovanperä +1:52.9 3. Duval +3:34.2 4. Hirvonen +5:56.1

Sat November 13, 2004

 Loeb takes the lead as Gronholm exits After two full days of competition Australians are the dominating force in Telstra Rally Australia – the final round of the World Rally Championship, and local boy Dean Herridge is heading the pack! Herridge, lies in sixth place outright, and is the leading Group N car ahead of ...

 Marcus Grönholm: "How I went off"

NEWS JUST IN

 AUS SS23 - McRae out the window @ 10:50 PM - At long last interesting news! Alister McRae appears to have retired with gearbox problems on SS22. He looked like taking the PWRC crown, but now the battle is open between Pons (1st), McShae (2nd) and Paasonen (delayed)! Basically, these 3 drivers are only seperated by 2points, tho whoever of them comes first will take the title! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS23: 1. Loeb 3:11:29.3 2. Rovanperä +1:49.4 3. Duval +3:39.8 4. Hirvonen +5:39.5

 AUS SS22 - Bannister Short @ 10:14 PM - I take it with short they mean the entry list? The stage anyway is longer than the 5 superspecials put together. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS22: 1. Loeb 3:01:57.6 2. Rovanperä +1:49.9 3. Duval +3:01.9 4. Hirvonen +5:30.1 5. Warmbold +29:52.0

 AUS SS21 - only Bannister left now @ 06:50 PM - And Warmbold drives slower than usual,he has serious engine problems and drops many places. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS21: 1. Loeb 2:54:32.7 2. Rovanperä +1:52.4 3. Duval +3:03.0 4. Hirvonen +5:26.4

 AUS SS20 - Everybody going for a finish @ 06:17 PM - Unofficial, provisional positions after SS20: 1. Loeb 2:41:44.2 2. Rovanperä +1:33.3 3. Duval +2:44.2 4. Hirvonen +5:11.1