Mon August 21, 2006

 Wilson brings it home 10th Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson has finished his first Neste Oil Rally Finland with a strong placing in the top ten, scoring Manufacturer points in the tough highly specialised event, the tenth round of the FIA World Rally Championship....

Sun August 20, 2006

 Kopecky scores again The Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký's Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek achieved a superb result in their Škoda Fabia WRC in the Finland Rally. Jan Kopecký's composed performance during all three legs was enough to earn a point in the drivers standings of the World Rally Champ...

 Subaru's focus switches to testing After Petter Solberg crashed out of Rally Finland on Leg two and mechanical problems dropped Chris Atkinson out of contention for a podium finish, the team’s focus for today’s final Leg was testing for the forthcoming gravel rallies. Atkinson set three top-five times on today’s f...

 Both 307s finish top 10 The OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team finished the “Neste Oil Rally Finland” with both cars among the top-10. The only registered works team of the FIA World Rally Championship to match this feat was Ford. Thus Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud in fourth overall place and Manfred S...

 Another rally, another podium for Loeb After a trouble-free final leg, Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Citroen Xsara WRC took an excellent second place on the aweinspiring Rally Finland, just as they did last year. The reigning twotime World Champions have therefore continued a remarkable unbroken series. F...

 Flying Finn takes home win BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen won Rally Finland today after dominating the fastest rally of the year in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car. It was the team's fourth victory of the FIA World Rally Championship season, already making this...

 Grönholm wins Finland Marcus Grönholm won the Rally Finland for the 6th time. After 5 wins with Peugeot this was his first Finnish victory in a Ford. And it was his hardest fought victory. The 2006 season seems to be clear cut with nobody else winning but Grönholm and Loeb. After 10 rounds the score i...

 Kopecky moves up to 8th The Czech Rally Team Škoda-Kopecký was very happy with Saturday's leg of the Rally Finland. The crew of Jan Kopecký and Filip Schovánek put in a composed, faultless performance which pushed them up to a superb eighth place, which would give them a point in the drivers standing...

NEWS JUST IN

 Tense Group N battle decided @ 09:38 AM - Throughout the event there has been a tense battle for the group N lead between Patrick Flodin and Markku Alen's son Anton. After SS18 Alen lead Flodin by only 3.8s, and that was a big gap! But in SS19 Flodin has rolled. More in our post FIN article

 FIN SS19 - Hirvonen wins stages @ 09:21 AM - Hirvonen won both stages so far today. Two more stages to go and with so few kms on the last day everyone goes for a finish. Unofficial, provisional results after SS19:
1. Grönholm, Ford, 2h38m24s4
2. Loeb, Citroen, +1m06s7
3. Hirvonen, Ford, +1m38s3
4. Solberg, Peugeot, +3m51s5
5. Galli, Peugeot, +5m08s4
6. Tuohino, Citroen, +5m55s2
7. Valimäki, Mitsubishi, +6m31s1
8. Kopecky, Skoda, +9m42s4
9. Stohl, Peugeot, 13m05s5
10. Wilson, Ford , +14m08s9

Sat August 19, 2006

 Wilson in the top ten Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson enjoyed a fruitful second full day of Neste Oil Rally Finland working his way into the top ten of the overall standings of the tenth round of the FIA World Rally Championship....

 Marcus strengthens lead BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen dominated today's second leg of Rally Finland to strengthen their lead. The Finns, chasing their sixth victory here in seven years, were fastest on seven of the eight speed tests in their Ford Focus RS World...

 Petter crashes out of 4th The second Leg of Rally Finland turned out to be a frustrating one for the Subaru team, as lead driver Petter Solberg crashed out of fourth place and two mechanical problems dropped Chris Atkinson from sixth to 21st. The day started well for Solberg, who set the third fastest tim...

 Henning consolidates 4th The OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team has reason to be satisfied with the second day of the “Neste Oil Rally Finland”. Henning Solberg consolidated his fourth overall place. And Manfred Stohl even gained eight places and currently lies in ninth place. This would mean nine point...

 Seb goes for silver Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena started this morning determined to challenge for victory in their duel against Marcus Grönholm. They conceded little in Vaheri (SS10) – 1.7 seconds – and won Ouninpohja Länsi (SS11). So for the first time, they beat the five-time winner of this ...

Fri August 18, 2006

 Tough day for Stobart crews British rally driver Matthew Wilson completed the first leg of Neste Oil Rally Finland with a strong placing inside the top fifteen of the highly specialised event after working his way back up the order following a puncture on Friday's first stage....

 Encouraging first day for Subaru After an encouraging first day of Rally Finland for the Subaru team, Petter Solberg holds fourth place overall, but remains less than ten seconds behind third place with two days of competition still to go. Highlighting the performance improvements already made to the Subaru Impr...

 An epic battle for the lead Having won in Germany a week ago, Sébastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Xsara WRC face a rematch against Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen in Finland. With the opening day of competition completed, the duel is already shaping up to be a classic one....

 Gronholm sets scorching pace BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen led Rally Finland after winning five speed tests during today's first leg. The Finns, chasing their sixth victory here in seven years, powered their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car into the lead during a rain-...

 Mixed fortunes for OMV Peugeot The feelings of the two OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team-drivers couldn’t be more diverse. While Henning Solberg was true to his word and climbed up to the top five, Manfred Stohl lost over six minutes. The 34-year-old Austrian grazed a rock on special stage six which caused t...

NEWS JUST IN

 FIN SS8 - Grönholm can't relax @ 04:45 PM - Loeb beats Grönholm by 5.3s on only a 12.5km stage. Also amazing stage times by 307 drivers Henning Solberg and Gigi Galli. Galli even moves from 15th to 8th within 3 stages! We are missing Carlsson at the stage finish. These are basically leg1 resulst as only superspecial left. Unofficial, provisional results after SS8:
1. Grönholm, Ford, 1h11m38s
2. Loeb, Citroen, +11s9
3. Hirvonen, Ford, +42s2
4. Solberg, Subaru, +51s3
5. H.Solberg, Peugeot, +1m46s4
6. Atkinson, Subaru, +2m14s1
7. Sordo, Citroen, +2m44s4
8. Galli, Peugeot, +2m47s6
9. Valimäki, Mitsubishi, 3m00s8
10. Pons, Citroen , +4m18s2

 FIN SS7 - Heat is still on @ 03:47 PM - Grönholm wins this stage again, Atkinson suffers radiator trouble. But a flash back to SS6 says that Stohl's time loss was down to a major off, while Kristian Sohlberg retired his Subaru after the stage with a blown engine. Kosty Katajamäki is out too. Unofficial, provisional results after SS7:
1. Grönholm, Ford, 1h05m12s6
2. Loeb, Citroen, +17s2
3. Hirvonen, Ford, +30s
4. Solberg, Subaru, +41s2
5. H.Solberg, Peugeot, +1m42s8
6. Atkinson, Subaru, +2m00s9
7. Carlsson, Mitsubishi, +2m33s1
8. Sordo, Citroen, +2m34s7
9. Galli, Peugeot, 2m43s4
10. Valimäki, Mitsubishi, +2m49s7

 FIN SS6 - 2 stage wins for Loeb @ 01:09 PM - S.Loeb wins every stage of loop2 and passes P.Solberg and M.Hirvonen. Trouble in SS6 for both M.Stohl with a wheel folded under the Peugeot and K.Sohlberg, who suffers engine and transmission problems. Unofficial, provisional results after SS6:
1. Grönholm, Ford, 47m06s8
2. Loeb, Citroen, +13s
3. Hirvonen, Ford, +22s6
4. Solberg, Subaru, +33s
5. Atkinson, Subaru, +1m04s7
6. H.Solberg, Peugeot, +1m21s7m
7. Carlsson, Mitsubishi, +1m55s7
8. Katajamäki, Ford, +1m58s6
9. Valimäki, Mitsubishi, 2m01s1
10. Tuohino, Citroen, +2m01s9

 FIN SS4 - Some good battles @ 09:56 AM - Gap between places 6, 7, 8 just 0.1s, between 6th and 10th just 3.1s. Sordo dropped to 14th in the last stage. On the first loop Loeb says he has aquaplaning and Galli lacked concentration because of patchy fog. Unofficial, provisional results after SS4:
1. Grönholm, Ford, 23m00s1
2. Hirvonen, Ford, +11s7
3. Solberg, Subaru, +14s
4. Loeb, Citroen, +16s6
5. Atkinson, Subaru, +27s1
6. Carlsson, Mitsubishi, +56s5
=7. Galli, Peugeot, +56s6
=7. H.Solberg, Peugeot, +56s6
9. Sohlberg, Mitsubishi, 58s7
10. Valimäki, Mitsubishi, +59s6

 FIN SS3 - Flying start for Ford @ 09:33 AM - No problems to report except Janne Tuohino completing SS3 without intercom. Unofficial, provisional results after SS3: 1. Grönholm, Ford, 19m 02s9
2. Hirvonen, Ford, +8s1
3. Solberg, Subaru, +12s1
4. Loeb, Citroen, +15s7
5. Atkinson, Subaru, +20s8
6. Carlsson, Mitsubishi, +46s3
7. Galli, Peugeot, +47s4
8. Sordo, Citroen, +48s1
9. Sohlberg, Mitsubishi, 51s4
10. H.Solberg, Peugeot, +51s6

Wed August 16, 2006

 Ford's WRC Finnish duo poised Ford's flying Finns will carry the hopes of their home nation when they aim to continue their country's remarkable record on the Rally Finland (17 - 20 August). Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen and team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen will delight their legions ...

 Hopes for at least 1 better than 05 The Subaru World Rally Team will enter two cars in Rally Finland. One of the two Impreza WRC2006’s will be driven by Petter Solberg (co-driven by Phil Mills), the other by Chris Atkinson (co-driven by Glenn Macneall). Petter has driven the rally seven times before. Last yea...