Mon November 22, 2004

 AUS result believed to be confirmed soon

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...

NEWS JUST IN

 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

 AUS leg2 - News? What news? @ 07:24 AM - Next year we are going for a new record: let's have some more rough events and see if more cars can retire than started! Unofficial, provisional positions after leg2: 1. Loeb 2:30:06.7 2. Rovanperä +1:20.5 3. Duval +2:30.0 4. Hirvonen +4:56.0

 AUS SS17 - after leg2 @ 03:57 AM - Sorry, I doubt I will stay up for the 2 super specials. Do you realise that in this rally there are more super specials than works cars?!!!! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS17: 1. Loeb 2:26:56.9 2. Rovanperä +1:24.0 3. Duval +2:32.2 4. Hirvonen +4:56.5

 AUS SS16 - Helena West 2 @ 03:38 AM - Sorry, I don't find the action to report about. I feel sorry for the TV commentators that have to sound excited. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS16: 1. Loeb 2:23:55.7 2. Rovanperä +1:20.9 3. Duval +2:29.8 4. Hirvonen +4:53.9

 AUS SS15 - ? @ 02:53 AM - Unofficial, provisional positions after SS15: 1. Loeb 2:15:14.9 2. Rovanperä +1:17.4 3. Duval +2:16.8 4. Hirvonen +4:41.8, Did I forget anyone? Nope, don't think so.

Fri November 12, 2004

 Leg 1 - Sebastien Chases Down Marcus After running first on the road throughout the opening leg, Xsara WRC crew Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena figure in a strong 2nd place this evening in Perth, a little over 20 seconds behind Marcus Grönholm. The withdrawal of Carlos Sainz from the event following his accident...

 Consistant Duval Targets Podium BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers François Duval and Stéphane Prévot ended today's opening leg of Rally Australia with their sights set on a podium finish on Sunday afternoon. They lie fourth on this final round of the FIA World Rally Championship in a Ford Focus RS World Rall...

 It doesn't go right for Petter Subaru's Petter Solberg secured second place in the 2004 FIA World Rally Championship for Drivers' today, despite losing the chance to end the season with an annual total of six WRC wins. Pushing for victory from the outset, the Norwegian made a perfect start before damage ...

 Peugeot quotes after SS5

NEWS JUST IN

 AUS SS14 - half way point @ 11:34 PM - What, still 4 cars left in the rally? We have to do something about that! OK, half the rally is done and half the works cars are left. If we can't get rid of the last 4 cars, I would suggest reducing the number of works cars per team to 0! Surely that would make it cheaper for the manufacturers? Unofficial, provisional positions after SS14: 1. Loeb 2:03:15.1 2. Rovanperä +1:07.7 3. Duval +2:03.2 4. Hirvonen +4:16.0

 AUS SS12 - Warmbold still for podium @ 10:17 PM - Yawn.... Solberg wins all the stages now as he has nothing to lose - in contrast to the people that are actually in the rally! Mind you, I reckon we should give Grönholm a 170 minute time penalty and let him start again, he could still win! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS12: 1. Loeb 1:45:21.5 2. Rovanperä +1:00.1 3. Duval +1:33.9 4. Hirvonen +3:40.6

 AUS SS10 - Grönholm out! @ 09:06 PM - First stage of leg2 and Marcus Grönholm did his usual, he crashed out from a decent lead! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS10: 1. Loeb 1:28:45.9 2. Rovanperä +58.2 3. Duval +1:35.3 4. Hirvonen +1:24.9 5. Krank Enwagen +we count in calendar years

 AUS leg1 @ 08:01 AM - Unofficial, provisional positions after leg1: 1. Grönholm 1:15:43.6 2. Loeb +21.4 3. Rovanperä +1:06.6 4. Duval +1:37.9 5. Hirvonen +3:21.2 6. Warmbold +5:43.9 7. McRae +6:09.9 8. Atkindon +6:20.9 9. Crocker +6:37.3 10. Herridge +6:37.6

 AUS SS7 - Warmbold aims for podium @ 03:57 AM - As another one bites the dust. Hirvonen loses 1 1/2 minutes with brakes and power steering problems. Mind you, he could spend a whole week in that stage without changing the points result for his team. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS7: 1. Grönholm 1:12:36.3 2. Loeb +21.1 3. Rovanperä +1:07.3 4. Duval +1:38.9 5. Hirvonen +3:18.5

 AUS SS6 - Beraking1 @ 03:31 AM - After a 4hrs break for 5 cars.... Unofficial, provisional positions after SS6: 1. Grönholm 1:03:29.9 2. Loeb +20.4 3. Rovanperä +1:03.5 4. Duval +1:28.4 5. Hirvonen +1:42.8

Thu November 11, 2004

 Strong start for Peugeot in Oz Marcus Gronholm and Peugeot got their Rally Australia off to a good start after the bad news from PSA at the end of last week. Gronholm topped the times on the superspecial on Thursday evening, SS1 of the 2004 Rally Australia. The Finn was 0.3s quicker than World Champion Sebast...

NEWS JUST IN

 AUS SS5 - Yawn... @ 11:30 PM - Maybe we need a rule change: from 2005 only 1-car teams per manufacturer! Unofficial, provisional positions after SS5: 1. Grönholm 50:26.4 2. Loeb +16.8 3. Rovanperä +45.1 4. Duval +1:07.9 5. Hirvonen +1:11.7

 AUS SS4 - Petter stopped on Stage @ 10:49 PM - Petter Solberg (Subaru) is reported to have stopped in the stage with a broken steering arm. Unofficial, provisional positions after SS4: 1. Grönholm 39:36.7 2. Loeb +18.3 3. Rovanperä +41.4 4. Duval +1:00.8 5. Hirvonen +1:01.4

 AUS SS3 - Stirling Long @ 09:33 PM - This stage is less than a km short of the longest stage of the rally. Therefore please come back after Christmas, when Natalie Barratt in her Hillman Imp will have finished the stage, to see if she still is in the points.... Unofficial, provisional positions after SS3: 1. Grönholm 30:38.6 2. Solberg +10.8 3. Loeb +19.5 4. Rovanperä +26.0 5. Duval +45.2 6. Hirvonen +50.5

 AUS SS2 - Märtin out as well @ 08:50 PM - This is a funny rally World where there are less cars starting than are eligible for points. On Märtin retirement, see seperate "just in". Unofficial, provisional positions after SS2: 1. Grönholm 10:47.4 2. Solberg +3.7 3. Loeb +8.4 4. Rovanperä +9.5 5. Duval +11.9 6. Hirvonen +18.9 7. Natalie Barratt, Hillman Imp +1week

 Markko Martin - Engine Failure @ 08:17 PM - Morning service has confirmed the retirement of Markko Martin. SSS1 the car dropped onto three cylinders and was losing oil. Markko will not start SS2. This secures 2nd in the drivers championship as Petter Solberg's.

Wed November 10, 2004

 Carlos Sainz Out of Rally Australia Carlos Sainz, the most successful rally driver all time, has been forced out of this weekend's (12-14 November 2004) Telstra Rally Australia following an accident during practice on Tuesday (9 November). Sainz is bitterly disappointed by his enforced withdrawal from what would...

NEWS JUST IN

 Petter in Shakedown Accident @ 08:20 PM - 9:30AM Perth - Petter Solberg has crashed in pre-event Shakedown east of Perth in wet conditions. The crew are ok, however, the car wedged between two gate poles has sustained front right hand corner damage and rear-end damage on a section where the stage transitions from gravel to tarmac. The team now have until tonights Super-Special Stage to repair the car. Photos here now! Duval also spun on the stage.

Tue November 9, 2004

 Newley Crowned Champs Head for Oz Citroën and Sébastien Loeb, the newly crowned 2004 World Rally Champions are heading for Australia with one purpose, to cap their historic 2004 season with victory in the Telstra Rally Australia (11-14 November 2004). This year will be Sébastien Loeb's third Telstra Rally Aust...