Sun August 7, 2005

 Janne & Armin finish 10th, 11th Janne Tuohino and Armin Schwarz brought the Škoda Fabia WRC 05 home in 10th and 11th places respectively on Rally Finland. Jani Paasonen’s rally ended on SS5 when a rear wheel collapsed under the car following a heavy landing after a jump that caused problems for several crews....

 Bosse Boss of Finland Marcus Grönholm stormed to an overdue victory on the Rally Finland 2005. The performance of the 307 WRC always seemed to be there, but luck wasn’t on the team’s side. Markko Märtin claimed and showed that new shock absorbers were a big improvement to him. However the team insists...

NEWS JUST IN

 FIN end - Grönholm and Peugeot win @ 10:52 AM - PSA podium lock out. Aitkinson retired (mechanical) for the 3rd time in this rally! Unofficial provisional end results: 1 Grönholm 2h54m11s 2 Loeb +1m06s7 3 Märtin +1m35s6 4 Solberg +2m08s 5 Hirvonen +2m13s6 6 Gardemeister +3m32s4 7 Rovanperä +4m27s9 8 Duval +5m10s4 9 H Solberg +5m45s8 10 Tuohino +6m42s3

 FIN SS20 - Still Petter vs Mikko @ 10:30 AM - Only a 5.2s gap between Solberg and Hirvonen for 4th. There is only a 25km stage left, however it is reported to be wet with deep ruts and stones, anything can still happen to anyone. Unofficial provisional results after SS20: 1 Grönholm 2h42m04s2 2 Loeb +1m03s7 3 Märtin +1m37s4 4 Solberg +2m16s7 5 Hirvonen +2m21s9 6 Gardemeister +3m31s5 7 Rovanperä +4m01s2 8 Duval +5m09s2 9 H Solberg +5m49s9 10 Tuohino +6m22s6

 FIN SS19 - Fight Toni vs Harri settled @ 09:23 AM - Despite a tyre vibration Gardemeister manages to be 20s faster than Rovanperä. Grönholm and Loeb appear on judged drives. Unofficial provisional results after SS19: 1 Grönholm 2h38m18s 2 Loeb +1m01s9 3 Märtin +1m37s6 4 Solberg +2m17s9 5 Hirvonen +2m25s 6 Gardemeister +3m31s1 7 Rovanperä +3m53s4 8 Duval +5m09s8 9 H Solberg +5m50s8 10 Tuohino +6m16s3

 FIN SS18 - Short stage starts last day @ 08:21 AM - Roads are damp this morning. Gardemeister passes Rovanperä. Next stage 25km with fights for 4th and 6th position well hot. Unofficial provisional results after SS18: 1 Grönholm 2h26m16s3 2 Loeb +1m10s4 3 Märtin +1m45s4 4 Solberg +2m22s 5 Hirvonen +2m25s8 6 Gardemeister +3m35s3 7 Rovanperä +3m38s9 8 Duval +5m01s9 9 H Solberg +5m47s7 10 Tuohino +6m01s9

Sat August 6, 2005

 Armin moves up on day 2 The Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team completed the second leg of Rally Finland with Janne Tuohino in 10th place and Armin Schwarz in 11th. Jani Paasonen did not restart this morning as the penalties he collected under the SupeRally system would have been impossible to overcome....

 Finland leg2 (complete) report At long last a day of World Rallying worth reporting about. This truly is action packed with split second fights, tiny gaps that in “drive carefully for no damage” rough rallies of late would only have been coincidence. Sadly last year’s surprise Basti Lindholm (2nd until crashin...

 Get well soon Tomi Tuominen Tomi Tuominen, Sebastian Lindholm’s codriver, suffered from the landings over the large jumps on stage five, yesterday. His back was examined Friday night at Jyvaskyla hospital. The results of the examination and the advice of doctors mean that he did not restart the rally this m...

NEWS JUST IN

 FIN leg2 - Loeb punctures @ 04:42 PM - Loeb: "I wasn't pushing in this one, I was pushing in the long one, there were big stones after a crest, I hit it and puff, the tyre is gone." Now Bosse is boss by over a minute! Unofficial provisional results after leg2: 1 Grönholm 2h22m30s7 2 Loeb +1m07s 3 Märtin +1m42s4 4 Solberg +2m22s2 5 Hirvonen +2m25s9 6 Rovanperä +3m32s7 7 Gardemeister +3m36s5 8 Duval +4m56s2 9 H Solberg +5m43s9 10 Tuohino +5m53s9

 FIN SS16 - Gardemeister punctures @ 03:42 PM - Gardemeister's mouse didn't work, front tyre completely deflated for last 13km, losing 1m30s. Chris Atkinson gone off and out. Grönholm leads by half a minute, saying "I'm not pushing". Unofficial provisional results after SS16: 1 Grönholm 2h15m30s8 2 Loeb +30s 3 Märtin +1m35s6 4 Solberg +2m20s7 5 Hirvonen +2m24s5 6 Rovanperä +3m23s5 7 Gardemeister +3m37s1 8 Duval +4m50s1 9 H Solberg +5m35s3 10 Tuohino +5m37s9

 FIN SS13 - Good battles @ 10:15 AM - Loeb struggles to fight back, stating at the finish of SS13 Urria: "I try to go as fast as yesterday but it's not possible, I don't know, maybe the tyre choice, not happy with the time." Unofficial provisional results after SS13: 1 Grönholm 1h41m00s1 2 Loeb +19s3 3 Märtin +1m07s1 4 Gardemeister +1m16s9 5 Solberg +1m25s1 6 Hirvonen +1m40s 7 Rovanperä +2m32s2 8 Duval +3m32s 9 Tuohino +4m06s7 10 H Solberg +4m35s4

 FIN SS10 - Loeb fights back @ 06:03 AM - Loeb wins first stage. Battle for first has Grönholm only 2.3s ahead of Loeb, in 3rd Märtiin is only 2.8s ahead of Gardemeister. The 3rd 307 of Lindholm didn't start as navigator Tomi Tuominen injured his back on the SS5 jump yesterday. Unofficial provisional results after SS10: 1 Grönholm 1h21m50s9 2 Loeb +2s3 3 Märtin +53s2 4 Gardemeister +56s 5 Solberg +1m09s6 6 Hirvonen +1m18s4 7 Rovanperä +2m05s5 8 Duval +2m42s9 9 H Solberg +2m51s7 10 Tuohino +3m22s1

 FIN SS15 - Ouninpohja part2 @ 00:14 AM - "Best stage of the Word" Hirvonen says. More details in seperate report. Unofficial provisional results after SS15: 1 Grönholm 1h55m14s3 2 Loeb +23s7 3 Märtin +1m17s1 4 Gardemeister +1m36s1 5 Solberg +1m55s9 6 Hirvonen +2m 7 Rovanperä +2m52s9 8 Duval +4m05s5 9 Tuohino +4m46s9 10 H Solberg +5m02s5

 FIN SS12 - The famous Ouninpoja @ - Over the Ouninpohja stage, this year split in two halves, Grönholm extents his lead from 2.3s to 14.8s. Grönholm: "I know some corners of this stage too!" Unofficial provisional results after SS12: 1 Grönholm 1h26m20s5 2 Loeb +14s8 3 Märtin +1m04s6 4 Gardemeister +1m13s2 5 Solberg +1m21s 6 Hirvonen +1m34s2 7 Rovanperä +2m23s5 8 Duval +3m22s4 9 Tuohino +3m52s8 10 H Solberg +4m27s5

Fri August 5, 2005

 Ford's Finns in top 6 BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen and fellow Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen each hold top six positions after today's pulsating opening leg of the Rally Finland. Gardemeister lies fourth in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, less tha...

 Bad luck for Paasonen on day one The Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team completed the opening day of Rally Finland with Janne Tuohino in 10th place and Armin Schwarz in 14th. Jani Paasonen went off the road for two minutes on SS2 trying to avoid the stricken car of Gigi Galli that was blocking the road and then h...

Thu August 4, 2005

 Debut for Fiesta ST Group N rally car Ford's newest rally car, the Fiesta ST Group N, will make its world championship debut on this weekend's Rally Finland (4 - 7 August). Two of the showroom specification vehicles, which have been designed and built by British-based preparation company M-Sport, will be used ...

Wed August 3, 2005

 Marcus: I don't like coming second As competitive as ever however strong the opposition, Marcus Grönholm continues to throw everything into the fight in his bid to get return to his winning ways with the 307 WRC. And success could well come his way on home ground in Finland? ...

 Citroen WRC winning ways in Finland? They're called Yumps and they have entered motorsport folklore as providing a potent mix of excitement for spectators, fear for drivers and a remarkable challenge for rally car designers and builders. Yumps live in the forests of Finland and in what is the fastest rally of ...

 BP-Ford focuses on flying Finns BP-Ford World Rally Team plans to maximise local experience when it lines up for arguably the most specialised event in the FIA World Rally Championship in Finland next week. The team has recruited Finns Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen to join fellow countrymen Toni Gardemeist...

 Petter and Chris head for WRC Finland Subaru World Rally Team drivers Petter Solberg and Chris Atkinson will tackle some of the fastest and most spectacular roads of the FIA World Rally Championship when they begin Rally Finland, the tenth of the sixteen-round series. Starting on Thursday 4 August from the host town ...

Tue August 2, 2005

 A strong Finland line-up Currently second in the Manufacturers' championship standings, Peugeot Sport is looking to return to its winning ways in order to keep its chances alive of conquering another world title. The tenth round of the 2005 calendar, Rally Finland, stands out as a first class opportun...

Mon August 1, 2005

 Atkinson says experience is the key Australian Chris Atkinson will this weekend tackle one of the toughest challenges since beginning his career with the Subaru World Rally Team, the highly rated Neste Rally of Finland. The Neste Rally of Finland is one of the most popular events on the calendar. Based in the...

Fri July 29, 2005

 Two Finns field Fabias for Finland The Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team will enter three cars for Rally Finland (August 4-7) with Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha and Jani Paasonen/Jani Vainikka nominated for points on the tenth round of the 2005 World Rally Championship. A third Škoda Fabia WRC 05 will be entered on th...

Mon July 18, 2005

 Ford nominates Mikko Hirvonen -Finland Ford will tomorrow name Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen as nominated drivers for next month's Rally Finland. The Finns will drive an M-Sport prepared 2005-specification Ford Focus RS World Rally Car on their home event, tenth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. They...