Mon October 18, 2004

 Skoda satisfied with Corsica performance The Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team got both its drivers home in the top 10 places of the Corsica Rally with Armin Schwarz eighth and Toni Gardemeister ninth. With the rally route concentrated in the mountains around the island’s capital of Ajaccio, the notoriously changeable...

Sun October 17, 2004

 Citroen rei(g)ns! The 2004 WRC titles are decided with 2 rounds to go. For Sébastien Loeb to claim the deserved WRC drivers title here on Corsica, he needed to finish 4th or higher, or alternatively he needed Petter Solberg 4th or lower. In the end Loeb was 2nd and Solberg 5th, so even both altern...

 Fabias enter the top 10 The second leg of the Corsica Rally saw Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team drivers Armin Schwarz and Toni Gardemeister end the day’s four stages in ninth and 10th places respectively. The changeable weather has continued so Toni switched to softer compound Michelin tyres more sui...

 Citroen champ, strange luck for Ford Citroen are confirmed the 2004 manufacturer WRChampions since the first stage of leg3 of this Tour de Corse. Before the event we calculated that in a worst case scenario for Citroen, they only needed 7points to confirm their title. Worst case for Citroen in this respect means tha...

NEWS JUST IN

 Makes title battle @ 07:36 AM - provisional, unofficial standings after F: 1st Citroen 178points // 2nd Ford 127 // 3rd Subaru 108 // 4th Peugeot 85 // 5th Mitsubishi 17 - Citroen can no longer be beaten

 Drivers title battle @ 07:35 AM - provisional, unofficial standings after F: 1st Loeb 108points // 2nd Solberg 78 // 3rd Märtin 69 // 4th Sainz 67 // 5th Grönholm 54 // 6th Duval 47 // 7th Hirvonen 23 // 8th Rovanperä 20 // 9th Tuohino 16 // 10th Loix 9 - Sébastien Loeb can no longer be beaten

 F end - Loeb is champ!!!! @ 07:33 AM - Märtin wins the rally truely in style, winning the last stage by another 10s. Loeb comes 2nd in the rally and can no longer be beaten to the 2004 drivers title! Funny enough the last stage was still drama packed. Hirvonen loses a minute with mechanical problems, Carlsson could so easily have capitalised on this but decided to go off for 6 minutes instead! Unofficial, provisional positions at finish: 1. Märtin 4:11:51.4 2. Loeb +2:02.0 3. Sainz +2:55.3 4. Grönholm +3:29.1 5. Solberg +5:06.3 6. Sarrazin +7:09.1 7. Loix +8:21.2 8. Schwarz +9:08.3 9. Gardemeister +9:35.3 10. Hirvonen +11:58.2

 F SS11 - close to an exciting finale! @ 06:53 AM - Märtin wins yet another stage, but this time it was a little lucky, as he took Grönholm by only 0.2s. Only one more stage and a truely exciting finale: will Märtin bag this sensational win? It would be Ford's first win on asphalt since Rallye Catalunya 4 years ago! Will Loeb secure his title? Unofficial, provisional positions after SS11: 1. Märtin 3:52:43.4 2. Loeb +1:42.7 3. Sainz +2:46.2 4. Grönholm +3:18.0 5. Solberg +4:44.2 6. Sarrazin +6:35.5 7. Loix +7:21.4 8. Schwarz +8:35.8 9. Gardemeister +9:00.6 10. Hirvonen +10:21.6

 F SS10 - time to calm down? @ 03:57 AM - Loeb clearly eases off to make sure of the finish and title. Märtin could also ease off as he has seen his team mate parked up on the previous stage. This gives Märtin a far more comfortable lead but also the discomfort that the same could happen to his car. He won SS10 by over 10s nevertheless! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS10: 1. Märtin 3:37:42.9 2. Loeb +1:34.1 3. Sainz +2:43.7 4. Grönholm +3:17.8 5. Solberg +4:33.9 6. Sarrazin +6:15.6 7. Loix +7:01.6 8. Schwarz +8:14.2 9. Gardemeister +8:43.0 10. Hirvonen +9:32.0

 F SS9 - Citroen has title... @ 03:14 AM - ...see following Just In note. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS9: 1. Märtin 3:18:06.5 2. Loeb +1:11.6 3. Sainz +2:31.2 4. Grönholm +3:03.3 5. Solberg +4:21.6 6. Sarrazin +5:41.2 7. Loix +6:25.4 8. Schwarz +7:47.3 9. Gardemeister +8:02.2 10. Hirvonen +9:06.0

 Citroen is World Champion! @ 03:02 AM - According to the championship runners day3 of WRC events is a bit of a waste, boring, we should shorten rallies. Day3 in Corsica starts with a bang nevertheless! We are getting reports that Francois Duval has stopped in the 1st stage with engine problems and has retired. This means whatever the result of the rally, Ford can no longer beat Citroen in the 2004 makes WRC!!!!

Sat October 16, 2004

 Driver quotes from service D

 Driver quotes after SS6

NEWS JUST IN

 F leg2 - heart attack action @ 12:16 AM - Markko Märtin extended lead to over 20s. Some shock news are circulated that his car is on fire. However it was only the heat after such a long asphalt stage, everything is under control, no worries. Bengué however didn't start the stage, too long for the damage he suffered in his SS7 off. Unofficial, provisional positions after leg2: 1. Märtin 3:02:39.2 2. Duval +20.8 3. Loeb +1:08.3 4. Sainz +2:28.5 5. Grönholm +3:03.4 6. Solberg +4:28.2 7. Sarrazin +5:26.6 8. Loix +6:20.4 9. Schwarz +7:38.1 10. Gardemeister +7:48.1

 F leg2 - @ 12:12 AM - Unofficial, provisional positions after leg2: 1. Märtin 3:02:39.2 2. Duval +20.8 3. Loeb +1:08.3 4. Sainz +2:28.5 5. Grönholm +3:03.4 6. Solberg +4:28.2 7. Sarrazin +5:26.6 8. Loix +6:20.4 9. Schwarz +7:38.1 10. Gardemeister +7:48.1

 F SS7 - Duval comes back @ 10:20 AM - Duval halfs the gap to leader and team mate Märtin. Bengué drops 4 minutes with a minor off and drops from 8th to 13th. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS7: 1. Märtin 2:35:02.2 2. Duval +9.6 3. Loeb +1:07.5 4. Sainz +2:00.1 5. Grönholm +2:21.7 6. Solberg +3:34.5 7. Sarrazin +4:26.9 8. Loix +5:09.8 9. Gardemeister +5:41.4 10. Schwarz +6:11.9

 F SS6 - the longest stage @ 06:32 AM - Actually all stages on this year's Tourde Corse are around the 35-40km mrk, this one is the longest at 41km. Schwarz loses about a minute with transmission hydraulic problems. Märtin extends lead. Ford is truely dominating this event. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS6: 1. Märtin 2:08:56.3 2. Duval +17.0 3. Loeb +57.3 4. Sainz +1:30.1 5. Grönholm +1:56.2 6. Solberg +3:22.0 7. Sarrazin +3:56.8 8. Bengué +4:02.1 9. Loix +4:23.2 10. Gardemeister +4:56.3

 F SS5 - continued @ 04:39 AM - Following Cedric Robert's crash (see following "Just In") the stage has been re-started. Marcus Grönholm and Carlos Sainz have received notional times. Markko Märtin set a blindingly quick time to re-take the lead of the rally! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS5: 1. Märtin 1:41:54.7 2. Duval +5.5 3. Loeb +43.9 4. Sainz +59.5 5. Grönholm +1:21.2 6. Solberg +2:42.8 7. Sarrazin +3:12.7 8. Schwarz +3:19.8 9. Bengué +3:20.4 10. Loix +3:38.8

 F SS5 - Bad morning for Peugeot @ 03:53 AM - Cedric Robert went off the road near the start of the stage and is out of the rally. At the moment it looks like the stage has been stopped or is at least delayed. This nearly was a double blow for Peugeot. While the crew in the #6 car seems to be alright, the car blocked the road for the next car, the #5 Peugeot!

Fri October 15, 2004

 Difficult day for Subaru A difficult day for the Subaru World Rally Team. As expected, the inconsistent Corsican weather made tyre selections extremely tricky and the variable levels of grip on the mountain roads were difficult to predict. Struggling to find the necessary traction and confidence on tyres...

 Peugeot drivers fight for points Peugeot driver Marcus Gronholm has finished the opening leg of the Rally de France-Tour de Corse in fifth place, just ahead of his team mate Cedric Robert. The other Peugeot 307 WRC of Freddy Loix ends the leg in 11th. Today’s action consisted of just four long asphalt stages, ...

 Ford dominate day one in Corsica BP-Ford World Rally Team lies first and second after dominating today's first leg of the Rallye de France in Corsica. François Duval and Stéphane Prévot's Focus RS World Rally Car leads the similar car of team-mates Markko Märtin and Michael Park by 15.1 seconds after more ...

 Solid day one performance for Fabias At the end of today’s first leg of the Corsica Rally - the first of two asphalt events in October - Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team’s Armin Schwarz is tenth overall with team mate Toni Gardemeister 13th. Over today’s four long stages, Armin was only once outside the top nine st...

 Driver quotes after SS4

 Driver quotes after SS3

 Driver quotes after SS2

 Grönholm has reason to celebrate Somehow Marcus has not stuck to his rhythm this year. His usual self was like for many reigning World Champions to have a truly amazing year followed by a somewhat rotten year. For Marcus he was a World champion in the even years 2000 & 2002, but as soon as he had the #1 on his d...

NEWS JUST IN

 F leg1 - A French car wins a stage @ 09:52 AM - Loeb wins stage and now has switched positions with team mate Sainz after every stage of the day. This time however the Fords don't swap places. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS4: 1. Duval 1:15:50.6 2. Märtin +15.1 3. Loeb +35.1 4. Sainz +50.6 5. Grönholm +1:06.8 6. Robert +1:49.1 7. Solberg +2:17.8 8. Sarrazin +2:31.6 9. Bengué +2:33.0 10. Schwarz +2:39.3 11. Loix +2:47.4

 F SS3 - Ford & Citroen game goes on @ 09:26 AM - Once again the Ford pair swapped places as did the Citroen pair. The weather was a bit iffy, so Märtin decided on a softer tyre than Duval in case of mild rain. It stayed dry, advantage Duval. Vouilloz retired after SS2 with a broken water pump. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS3: 1. Duval 59:34.4 2. Märtin +14.5 3. Sainz +38.6 4. Loeb +43.6 5. Grönholm +57.5 6. Robert +1:34.2 7. Solberg +1:44.2 8. Schwarz +2:04.2 9. Sarrazin +2:10.7 10. Bengué +2:14.8 11. Loix +2:22.3

 F SS2 - Ford confirm their pace @ 04:57 AM - Another Ford 1-2 on the stage, however the Ford pair as well as the Citroen pair swap places. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS2: 1. Märtin 38:16.1 2. Duval +8.3 3. Loeb +37.5 4. Sainz +37.8 5. Grönholm +58.1 6. Solberg +1:10.3 7. Robert +1:20.5 8. Schwarz +1:30.6 9. Sarrazin +1:34.2 10. Bengué +1:48.3 11. Loix +1:49.4

 F SS1 - Ford Focus French Flier @ 03:57 AM - Wow this is a change to the asphalt norm. After years of French cars dominating on asphalt it now looks like on French soil it is Ford to be in a league of their own! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS1: 1. Duval 21:43.2 2. Märtin +4.3 3. Sainz +18.8 4. Loeb +20.4 5. Grönholm +26.6 6. Solberg +36.3 7. Robert +42.7 8. Schwarz +46.0 9. Sarrazin +57.8 10. Loix +58.0 11. Bengué +1:01.0

Thu October 14, 2004

 Corsica FIA Pre-event Press Conference 2004 Tour de Corse pre-event press conference....

Wed October 13, 2004

 4 is the magic number With two rounds left to go after this weekend’s event, the 2004 WRCrowns can be lifted here on Corsica. Thanks partly to the new since 2003 points system, the championship final seems quite boring. While under the old points system we had in 2001 the closest battle ever with 4 di...

Mon October 11, 2004

 Corsican weather holds key With just three of the 16 rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship season remaining, it is late in the calendar for the BP-Ford World Rally Team to break new ground. But next week's Rallye de France (14 - 17 October) is the first traditional pure asphalt event of the year. T...

 In-Form Subaru Head to Corsica After claiming a hat-trick of wins on the last three rounds of the 2004 FIA World Rally Championship, the Subaru World Rally Team will travel to Corsica next week for the 14th of the 16-event series, the French Tour de Corse. Starting on Friday 15 October, the rally will be the f...