Location:  Trier, Germany
Start:  Friday, 26 August 2005
Finish:  Sunday, 28 August 2005

EVENT DESCRIPTION

Created in 1982, a WRC qualifying round since 2002 and renamed the OMV ADAC Rallye Deutschland in 2004, the German event continues to be based in Trier, one of the country's most ancient cities, situated 10km from Luxembourg and 50km from the French border. The Porta Nigra, the monument built by the Romans in the 4th Century BC, will again serve as backdrop for the start ceremony (Thursday August 25th, 20:00) and for the podium ceremony (Sunday August 28th, 16:30).

The total length of this year's rally is 1,298.19 km, including 355.40 km divided into 19 stages (10 different).

Unofficial Leaderboard after Leg One

1.  S Loeb/D Elena              Citroen Xsara    1hr 09min 54.0sec
2.  F Duval/S Smeets            Citroen Xsara    1hr 10min 05.7sec
3.  M Grönholm/T Rautiainen    Peugeot 307      1hr 11min 05.5sec
4.  P Solberg/P Mills          Subaru Impreza    1hr 12min 19.1sec
5.  T Gardemeister/J Honkanen  Ford Focus RS    1hr 12min 25.0sec
6.  R Kresta/J Tománek          Ford Focus RS    1hr 12min 31.2sec
7.  M Märtin/M Park            Peugeot 307      1hr 12min 38.5sec
8.  G Galli/G D'Amore          Mitsubishi Lancer 1hr 12min 45.5sec
9.  A Schwarz/K Wicha          Skoda Fabia      1hr 13min 27.6sec
10 D Solà/X Amigo              Ford Focus RS    1hr 13min 27.8sec

Unofficial Leg One News

Team-mates Sebastien Loeb and François Duval (both Citroen) dominated the day, recording the fastest two times on all six stages.  Loeb led initially but quickest time for Duval on the third test edged him in front by 3.2sec.  However, Loeb was fastest on all three afternoon stages to lead by 11.7sec.  Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot) lies a lonely third, 1min 11.5sec behind Loeb and more than a minute clear of Petter Solberg (Subaru), who spun on the opening stage.  Markko Märtin (Peugeot) held fourth but dropped down the order after clipping a wall on the third stage and ending the test with the right rear wheel down to the rim.  Stephane Sarrazin (Subaru) lost sixth when he was hindered by a faulty handbrake on stage three and the Frenchman dropped two minutes on the penultimate test after spinning into a ditch.  Team-mate Chris Atkinson lost time all morning with a lack of turbo boost.  Alex Bengue (Skoda) retired on the third stage after crashing.

The second leg is the longest and toughest of the rally.  Much of it is based on the challenging Baumholder military land, more commonly used by US soldiers for tank training exercises.  The road surface varies almost constantly, including fast, wide asphalt, highly abrasive broken concrete, and treacherously slippery sand-covered cobblestones.  There are more than 100 surface changes in only 48km of speed tests.  The two Baumholder stages will be used twice, as will a more flowing Saarland test before the day ends with a spectacular stage through the streets of St Wendel.  The seven tests cover 145.94km and after leaving Trier at 07.00, drivers return there at 20.01. 

Citroen

One-two finishes for Citroën's Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and François Duval/Sven Smeets in each of today's six stages have enabled the Xsara WRC pair to pull out a handsome lead over their closest chaser, Marcus Grönholm.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "It's practically been a perfect day," said the reigning World Champion. "It's been a good fight and there are two Citroëns in front. I am not surprised by the times of François. He was my biggest challenger here last year and, if he hadn't had a clutch problem on SS4, it would have been an even closer run thing between the two of us. On the other hand, I'm pleasantly surprised by the gap we have pulled out, even over Marcus who is always quick here. I want to thank our technical team and our partner Michelin. I really have an excellent feeling with the car. We will simply adapt the set-up for tomorrow's stages which are run over a different sort of terrain."

Francois Duval/Sven Smeets: "I have found my natural pace," enthused François Duval. "I'm very happy. It's been a good day, although the clutch tended to engage a little sharply and I stalled at the start of SS4, then again in a hairpin on the same stage. That probably cost me about 8 seconds. Seb and I were in front here last year, and we are again this time round. But it's not by any means over. Tomorrow's stages over the military ranges are very different. To ward off a possible come-back by our rivals, we will need to continue at the same pace, without losing sight of the fact that the main thing is to score as many points as possible for Citroën…"

Subaru

At the end of the first Leg of competition on Rallye Deutschland, Petter Solberg leads the Subaru challenge and holds fourth position overall. Solberg enjoyed a trouble-free run in his Impreza WRC2005, but despite his best efforts was unable to match the pace of Citroen's tarmac experts who dominated the day's action. Subaru's second points nominated driver, Stephane Sarrazin, set a string of top-10 stage times although his overall position was affected by a handbrake problem in the morning and a spin later in the day. On his first ever asphalt rally, Subaru's youngest driver, Chris Atkinson, controlled his pace carefully to gain experience of the specialist conditions.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: There have been no major problems today and I've had a good, smooth drive. The car has been good and I think we made the right tyre choices. We're not planning on making many big changes for tomorrow as the balance feels about right. It's a little frustrating that we cannot be further ahead, but I'm really trying.

Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: I was very happy with my speed today but we then had the problem with the handbrake and then this afternoon lost a lot of time when I got stuck on a bank. I wasn't really going too fast, but there was a lot of dirt and gravel on the road then I made a small mistake, spinning and ending up stuck. Thanks to the spectators I got back on and there was no problem with the car so I could continue. The tyres were good today and I'm happy with my choices. The pace was good and I think I have a good car so am looking forward to being back tomorrow.

Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: Today we did what we had to do. It's my first tarmac rally and after so few kilometres in the car on this surface, I didn't know what to expect. We ran at a safe pace to get the experience of the rally and while I know I could run quicker, I don't think we need to go out and do that on our first event!

Ford

Both BP-Ford World Rally Team pairings held top six places after today's opening leg of the Rallye Deutschland.  Finns Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen led the team's challenge in fifth place in a Ford Focus RS World Rally Car, just a handful of seconds ahead of the similar car of Czech duo Roman Kresta and Jan Tománek.  A third privately-entered Focus RS, driven by Spain's Dani Solà and Xavier Amigo, is 10th.

Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen: A close encounter with the vines left Gardemeister sixth after the opening loop.  "I was about 20km into the first stage when I slid into a vineyard at a left bend just over a crest," said the 30-year-old.  "I went a long way off and all I could see were grapes smashing into the windscreen.  When I stopped I had to put the wipers on to clear the mess.  I couldn't see where the road was for all the tall vines but somehow I found it and got back on.  I punctured the front left and rear right tyres on some wires that were on the ground.  I think I own the vineyard now - I know the grapes were white because there were plenty in the car!  It also happened right in front of my manager…" 

Roman Kresta/Jan Mozny: "I had a couple of scares in the mud on the first stage although I didn't take any risks," said 29-year-old Kresta.  "I also hit a bank quite hard in the second stage but it wasn't a problem.  I followed Manfred Stohl for quite a long way in the third stage, because he had crashed and regained the stage just in front of me.  There were a lot of people in the road trying to get a good view of Manfred without realising I was close behind.  It was a shame I didn't have a clear run because the conditions there suited my tyre choice perfectly." Kresta dropped 20 seconds on the opening stage this afternoon.  "I was just too fast into the braking area for a long left-right sequence of bends.  I spun and hit some hay bales with Jan's side of the car.  I was quite lucky not to drop more time but I wish I hadn't made that mistake because I think I could have been fourth tonight otherwise," he added.

Peugeot

Marcus Gronholm has ended leg one of the Rally Deutschland, round 11 of the World Championship, in third place behind two Citroens after a day without incident. Markko Martin's 307 WRC slipped from fourth to seventh place after hitting a kerb in the morning and knocking a tyre off the wheel rim. The Peugeot drivers would have preferred damp conditions, but this weekend's weather forecast indicates a steady and noticeable improvement. They both chose soft slick tyres for the first loop of stages, then slightly harder tyres for the warmer conditions of the afternoon. Under these tricky circumstances, Marcus Gronholm held an impressive third place throughout the day and he returns to Parc Ferme 1m11s behind Loeb. Markko Martin got away with clipping a kerb on the opening stage but when it happened again, four kilometres from the end of SS3, the wheel came off the rim and he lost 30 seconds while limping to the end of the stage.

Marcus Gronhölm/Timo Rautiainen: "We are doing what we can – the Citroens are in a class of their own. The best we can hope for is to finish third under normal conditions, although you never know what can happen. For the time being I do not have answer to their pace: the rally may as well be over now! But of course I will carry on and see what I can do. For the time being, we are just best of the rest."

Markko Martin/Michael Park: "It's a real pity we lost all that time in the morning: it was just a stupid thing where we slid a bit wide. I was quite surprised that the whole tyre came off the rim. I actually quite enjoy these vineyard roads; when it is going well I can get into quite a good rhythm with the car. Tomorrow we have the opportunity to make up some places, so we've got to attack – even though I don't really like the Baumholder stages."

Skoda

Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team drivers Armin Schwarz and Jan Kopecký ended the opening leg of Rallye Deutschland in ninth and 13th places respectively. However Alex Bengue was forced to retire from the event when he spun his Fabia WRC 05 into a vineyard near the end of SS3 and could not regain the road despite the help of the spectators.

Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha: “I couldn’t get the car working properly this morning but we solved the problem in service. This afternoon was good and we set two top 10 times but Baumholder could suit us better.”

Alex Bengué/Caroline Escudero: “I am really upset at my mistake. We cut a hairpin near the end of the stage and the bank on the inside pushed the car into a spin. We ended up in the vineyard with a very steep slope back to the road. The spectators tried to help but it was too steep and we had to stop. The car was completely undamaged and we drove it back to service ourselves.”

Jan Kopecký/Filip Schovánek: “The stages are lined with hundreds of Czech fans waving flags and cheering. Maybe 30% are Czechs. There is a fantastic atmosphere and we must thank them all for giving us this support.”

Mitsubishi

At the end of the first leg of Rallye Deutschland, the Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 crew of "Gigi" Galli and Guido d’Amore head the team’s assault in eighth position. The fight around them is however intense and less than 30 seconds is all that splits them from fourth position. Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports team-mates Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen hold 11th, easing themselves back into asphalt rallying after an absence of three years.

Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen: "For sure it’s not so easy after such a long time away from this surface", said Harri. "It’s been a difficult day with some small mistakes like the stall on a hairpin in SS3 and then an overshoot in the following stage. We went for harder suspension this afternoon but there wasn’t such a big difference, both settings worked well. We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but the nature of the stages is very different".

Gigi Galli/Guido D'Amore: "We started very carefully this morning and I am trying to maintain a good pace, preferring to think of the experience", commented Gigi. "We have tried different set-ups to use this information for the future and although our tires this afternoon were maybe too soft, we wanted to try them to judge the performance. It still doesn’t feel right to push harder tomorrow. Each leg is different and I don’t want to make a mistake. You don’t have to think about whether you want to go faster; if the feeling is right you just know".

Unofficial Leaderboard after Leg Two

1.  S Loeb/D Elena          Citroen Xsara      2hr 34min 44.3sec
2.  F Duval/S Smeets        Citroen Xsara      2hr 35min 12.2sec
3.  M Grönholm/T Rautiainen  Peugeot 307        2hr 36min 32.0sec
4.  M Märtin/M Park          Peugeot 307        2hr 38min 29.1sec
5.  R Kresta/J Tománek      Ford Focus RS      2hr 39min 39.7sec
6.  G Galli/G D'Amore        Mitsubishi Lancer  hr 39min 42.1sec
7.  S Sarrazin/D Giraudet    Subaru Impreza    2hr 41min 48.6sec
8.  D Solà/X Amigo          Ford Focus RS      2hr 42min 02.6sec
9.  P Solberg/P Mills        Subaru Impreza    2hr 42min 05.6sec
10 H Rovanperä/R Pietilainen Mitsubishi Lancer  2hr 42min 28.8sec
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Unofficial Leg Two News

Of the 57 crews that started the rally on Friday, 53 restarted on Saturday morning. Leg two comprised seven stages and 145.94 competitive kilometres. The Leg was run on a mixture of public and military roads, with a Superspecial in the town of St. Wendel. The morning started overcast but warm, with temperatures ranging from 10°C to 23°C. The day stayed dry throughout.

Team-mates Sebastien Loeb and François Duval (both Citroen) continued their dominance at the top of the leaderboard.  They won all seven stages, Loeb taking five victories to end the leg 27.9sec ahead of Duval, who won two tests.  Neither escaped a tough day unharmed though. Loeb survived a high speed spin on the first stage and Duval went off briefly on the same test.  Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot) was under no pressure either in front or from behind and drove cautiously to retain third ahead of team-mate Markko Märtin, who went off the road on the opening stage and struggled for grip this morning.  Gigi Galli (Mitsubishi) survived two spins this afternoon and is just 2.4sec behind Kresta in sixth.  Petter Solberg (Subaru) dropped almost 3min 30sec when a gear selection problem meant he drove all of stage eight in third gear.  He is ninth.  The only major retirement was Armin Schwarz (Skoda) who broke his car's radiator after crashing on stage eight. 

The final day is based on the smooth, flowing roads of the Saarland region, which are predominantly narrow and treacherously slippery in the wet.  Drivers face six tests, two of which will be used twice, covering 90.08km.  The final stage will be a repeat of tonight's last test through the streets of St Wendel.  After leaving Trier at 06.50, competitors finish at Bostalsee at 14.03, before the leading cars return to Trier for the ceremonial finish at 16.30.

Citroen

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena and François Duval/Sven Smeets today continued to monopolise the top two slots of the provisional leaderboard after dominating the 2005 Deutschland Rally since the start thanks to a clean sweep of fastest times over all the stages contested so far.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I upped my pace through the cleaner portions," explained Seb, "but took things more carefully wherever there was gravel on the road. A day like today is obviously less fun than when you've got a good fight on your hands. But knowing how to control from in front is part of a rally driver's job. Given the gaps, there wasn't much else to do."

Francois Duval/Sven Smeets: "We tried to be just quick enough without giving too much away," underlined François. "Just enough for the car to still be comfortable to drive and to stay concentrated. It would have been risky for me to try to win at all costs. Sébastien wouldn't have simply stood back and let me pass. To have fought each other wouldn't have made sense. I am really pleased this evening. I feel comfortable with the car and my confidence is back."

Subaru

At the end of the second Leg of competition on Rallye Deutschland, Stephane Sarrazin heads the Subaru charge, holding seventh place overnight with six more stages remaining tomorrow. On his first ever asphalt rally in the Subaru Impreza WRC2005, Sarrazin set three top-five stage times and became one of the few drivers to challenge the dominance of the lead Citroens by setting the second fastest time on SS7. A gear selection problem robbed Petter Solberg of his fourth place and dropped him to 12th overall, but after a spirited recovery he was back up to 9th at the end of the day. Chris Atkinson's asphalt rally debut continued to run without a hitch and with his confidence increasing the Australian ended the day in 13th position.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: On the whole, today was average! We had the gear selection problem this morning that lost us a lot of time and then this afternoon found some small improvements to the setup that will hopefully help for tomorrow. The feeling in the car is now good, and from here we're going to try and get some points - that's the main thing.

Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: Today was a good day and we set some good stage times. I didn't have a lot of confidence this morning on the Panzerplatte stages as they are so difficult to drive and inside I was scared to make a mistake, as there is more to lose than win. I'm happy with my progress so far and pleased with my second place on the first stage of the day. Even when I went straight at a corner on the repeat of that stage I still managed a good time! The set up is good and I am pleased to be setting times close with the Peugeots. We are going to continue at the same pace tomorrow and make sure we stay on the road.

Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: Tonight I am pretty happy. Today is a definite improvement over yesterday and my confidence too is higher than yesterday. I had struggled a bit as this is just my second day ever on tarmac and the car is so responsive when compared with driving on gravel. I now have a better understanding of the car and have more ability to predict what to do. It's good at times to be just half a second from Stephane's pace, which is encouraging. Tonight I'm going to look at the data and see where we can pick up some pace tomorrow without taking too many risks.

Ford

BP-Ford World Rally team drivers Roman Kresta and Jan Tománek climbed to fifth during today's tough second leg of the Rallye Deutschland.  Cheered on by a huge number of fellow Czechs who have made the 700km journey to watch their favourites, Kresta overcame a near-minute time loss this morning when his Ford Focus RS World Rally Car spun off the road.  He faces a massive final leg battle tomorrow with Gigi Galli who is just 2.4 seconds behind. Spain's Dani Solà and Xavier Amigo are eighth in a privately-entered Focus RS, having climbed to fifth earlier in the day.  But BP-Ford pair Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen dropped more than 20 minutes with an electrical problem on their Focus RS this morning and they are 23rd.

Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen: Gardemeister, fifth last night, saw his hopes of a points finish end early on the second stage this morning.  "About 10km after the start I entered a right corner and suddenly the car just stopped," said the 30-year-old Finn.  "I worked on it for almost 20 minutes while talking to our team engineers on the telephone and was able to bypass the problem and start the car again.  I lost more seconds because I was then held up by slower cars ahead of me.  All I can do now is just drive for a finish.  It's not a nice thing to happen but that's the nature of the sport."

Roman Kresta/Jan Mozny: "I was struggling for grip at the front and on a fast left corner I spun and went off the road," said Kresta.  "The car went down a bank and it took quite a long time to get back on the road.  I don't know why I lost grip but it was disappointing to drop time when other drivers also had problems, because we could have moved up the order.  Instead we lost a place." Kresta continued to struggle with poor grip early this afternoon but changes to the suspension geometry before the final group of stages made a big improvement and he moved up to fifth.  "Once we made changes to the geometry this afternoon, the car felt much better and the grip improved," he added.  "I had a puncture on both stages 11 and 12 and had to drive the final test with a rear left puncture but Michelin's ATS mousse system worked perfectly to keep the tyre inflated and I had no problems.  Tomorrow will be a big battle with Galli.  I'm looking forward to it and there will be nothing less than maximum attack," promised Kresta.

Daniel Sola/Xavier Amigo: "Before stage 12 I was warming up the tyres when the hydraulic oil leaked away," explained Solà.  "I had to select the manual gearshift instead of the semi-automatic version and had no differential pressure for the final two tests.  It's disappointing because I was in a strong position.  But the pre-rally plan was to learn as much as I can about the car on asphalt and I have done that today.  I'm lucky to still be here and I can continue to learn tomorrow. "Today was like a different rally because the roads were so different from those in the vineyards yesterday.  I'm still changing some things on the set-up and my braking isn't perfect, but my feeling with the car is improving all the time.  It feels more precise now and I'm really pleased with my stage times.  I had much more confidence today," added Solà.

Peugeot

As Marcus Gronholm suggested yesterday, the positions of the top three drivers on the Rallye Deutschland seem more or less fixed. Only an incident can now deprive the two Citroens of the lead and Gronholm's Peugeot 307 WRC of a podium. The second Peugeot of Markko Martin made up time today to recover the fourth place lost after clipping a kerb on the opening leg.

Marcus Gronhölm/Timo Rautiainen: "Nothing has changed much since yesterday: to be honest it has been a little bit boring. There is no way that I am going to catch either of the Citroens in front and I am quite safe from behind as well. The car has worked well but I have not really been pushing it today. I think we will end up third tomorrow, but we still have six stages to drive so it is far from over yet."

Markko Martin/Michael Park: "The only thing we can do is keep fourth now, so I have to be happy with that. We made up some places today, but this is where we stop. The only way that we could improve things is to have one or two less Citroens in front – but I doubt that is going to happen! I'm quite glad that it didn't rain today, otherwise the stages would have been incredibly risky."

Skoda

Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team driver Jan Kopecký ended the second leg of Rallye Deutschland in 11th place. However Armin Schwarz retired from eighth place in service after today’s second stage. Jan began steadily today on some of the event’s most demanding stages but by the afternoon was closing in on his rivals with times just outside the top 10 before setting ninth fastest time on the day’s penultimate stage. This brought him to within 10 seconds of tenth place and with every chance of moving further up the order on tomorrow’s final leg. Armin spun off near the end of the Panzerplatte stage, damaging the clutch and pushing the cooling fan into the radiator. By the time he reached service the engine was too badly damaged for him to continue.

Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha: This wasn’t how my home rally was supposed to end for me. I’m so disappointed.

Jan Kopecký/Filip Schovánek: The Baumholder stages are very difficult and everyone has had problems getting the suspension right to cope with the high-speed roads and the really vicious dips where the car bottoms out. We had one small scare on SS9 when we had a severe vibration from the mousse in one of our tyres but since then everything has been fine and I’m happy with the result so far.

Mitsubishi

At the end of the second leg of Rallye Deutschland, the 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship, "Gigi" Galli and Guido d’Amore continue to lead the assault for Mitsubishi Motors Motor Sports. The Italians hold sixth position, having climbed from an overnight eighth, while team-mates Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen are 10th in the second Lancer WRC05.

Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen: "This rally is not so easy, our speed has been quite consistent all day and I am learning about the rally all the time", commented Harri Rovanperä. "Our tire choices have generally been right, apart from first thing this morning when they were too soft. The harder compound has been the right choice since, but the construction felt very hard in the Baumholder stages and the car was bumping more and not following the road so well".

Gigi Galli/Guido D'Amore: Today has been another difficult one, but for sure the repeated stages are easier for me", said Gigi Galli back in Bostalsee. "We made two or three mistakes, which it is better not to do, but generally we did what we planned and maintained the right pace. Our spin in SS 12 was another really scary one and lost us at least 10 seconds, and then on a tight handbrake corner the car stalled and we lost more time. I am quite happy with the way things are going though and the feeling with the car has been good all day".

Unofficial Final Positions

1.  S Loeb/D Elena  Citroen Xsara  3hr 27min 13.2sec
2.  F Duval/S Smeets  Citroen Xsara  3hr 27min 50.6sec
3.  M Grönholm/T Rautiainen Peugeot 307  3hr 29min 18.0sec
4.  M Märtin/M Park  Peugeot 307  3hr 31min 22.6sec
5.  G Galli/G D'Amore  Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 32min 16.8sec
6.  R Kresta/J Tománek  Ford Focus RS  3hr 32min 25.5sec
7.  P Solberg/P Mills  Subaru Impreza  3hr 35min 01.3sec
8.  S Sarrazin/D Giraudet Subaru Impreza  3hr 35min 47.3sec
9.  X Pons/C Del Barrio  Citroen Xsara  3hr 36min 22.4sec
10 H Rovanperä/R Pietilainen Mitsubishi Lancer 3hr 36min 24.8sec
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Unofficial Final News

44 crews started Leg three, 12 of which restarted under Superally regulations. Leg three included 90 competitive kilometres and six stages located to the East of the host town, Trier. Five stages were run in the Saarland farming area, with one Superspecial in the medieval town of St. Wendel. The day stayed dry and sunny, with temperatures ranging from 11 - 24°C.

Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) scored his eighth victory of the season and his fourth consecutive German success, cruising through the final day to beat team-mate François Duval by 37.4sec.  The Frenchman extended his championship lead to 32 points and the 1-2 result lifted the French team back into the lead of the manufacturers' series.  Team-mates Marcus Grönholm and Markko Märtin (both Peugeot) were similarly untroubled en route to third and fourth.  Behind the Galli and Kresta battle, Petter Solberg (Subaru) climbed back into the points following yesterday's gear selection troubles by finishing seventh.  His cause was helped when team-mate Stephane Sarrazin drove the final three stages with a broken front right driveshaft.  However, the Frenchman claimed the final drivers' and manufacturers' point in eighth.  Jan Kopecky (Skoda) was the only major retirement today when he crashed out of ninth and ripped the rear left wheel from his car on the third stage this morning.   

Citroen

Taking the WRC Rally of Germany 1-2 once wasn't enough for Citroen at the weekend (26-28 August 2005); the French car maker did it twice! Stamping its total domination on the latest round of the World Rally Championship, first Citroen's Sébastien Loeb won the rally for the fourth consecutive time - no one else has ever won this event in its history at WRC level - in his eighth win of the season, followed home by team mate François Duval in a performance that saw no other driver, team or car take a fastest stage time or the lead of the event on day one or day two. Then, as the icing on the cake, Citroen's Junior World Rally Championship drivers, Dani Sordo and Kris Meeke, brought their Citroën C2 cars home in a second Citroën 1-2! For Loeb, the win - his 18th career victory - gives him a 32 point lead over Marcus Gronholm and, along with the points gifted by Duval, puts Citroen back in the lead of the manufacturers' title chase.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "Everyone knows that I consider the Deutschland Rally to be my home event," said Seb to the backdrop of the incredible hubbub of final service. "This is the rally my childhood friends come to watch and I really wanted to win it again; it's great to have succeeded. Like François, we pushed hard on Day 1, and then it was a case of controlling from in front. That's less fun, but that was amply outweighed by the pleasure we derived from scoring such a superb result for the team. It's looking promising for the rest of the season!"

Francois Duval/Sven Smeets: Running in the wake of the reigning World Champion - and at the same pace - from Day 1, François Duval and Sven Smeets went on to make it a resounding one-two finish for Citroën. "It's been a tremendous weekend for us and for Citroën," beamed François after saluting his fans who were just as numerous and enthusiastic as those of his team-mate. "Sven and I had the potential to win but the way the event unfolded meant that we had to make sure of finishing first and second. It was a little stressful because we couldn't afford to make any mistakes. To have shown that I am capable of matching Seb's speed is very important for me, for my confidence and for my future."

Subaru

Subaru's lead driver Petter Solberg crossed the finish ramp of Rallye Deutschland in seventh place this afternoon after a tough three days of competition on the German asphalt. On the Leg's six stages Solberg continued to make up lost time, after problems on day two dropped him from fourth to 13th overall. Determined to achieve the best possible result, he pushed hard right until the end and set the fastest time on the penultimate special stage. Stephane Sarrazin's day started well, with the French asphalt ace closely matching the pace of the lead Citroen duo on SS14, but a broken driveshaft later on meant he had to settle for eighth overall. Chris Atkinson completed a trouble-free run on his first ever asphalt rally to finish 11th overall.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: Today Stéphane and I agreed not to fight for this position, as he had deserved this place. It was very unfortunate that his driveshaft problem then cost him the place giving me the extra point. On the whole, today was better for me as the stages were narrow and twistier and suited the car and me. We kept pushing, always trying a few things and kept learning more. We now have lots of work to do before Rally GB, as we want to be able to push for a fourth win there!

Stephane Sarrazin/Denis Giraudet: I am very happy with my pace all weekend, although the result itself was not so great. Today it was a big shame to lose the driveshaft and with it another position. I now know that I can fight with the top guys and being in the same car as Petter am pleased that I have swapped and sometimes bettered his times. When I push I know I can be very fast. I am pleased with the car and it is so easy to drive which gives me the extra confidence to push and drive fast. I'm now looking forward to Corsica and Spain when we should be able to get a good result.

Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: This has been one of my better rallies of the year, despite never having driven a tarmac rally before. I have been improving steadily all weekend and that is encouraging. I started the weekend nearly three seconds a kilometre behind the top drivers but by today that gap has been as little as 0.4 seconds a kilometre. I'm definitely happy with my progress and have met or exceeded all the targets we agreed before the weekend. There's a lot we can take away from here that will stand us in good stead for the tarmac rallies later in the year.

Ford

BP-Ford World Rally team driver Roman Kresta matched his career best result when he and co-driver Jan Tománek finished sixth on Germany's OMV ADAC Rallye today.  The Czech duo enjoyed a thrilling final day battle with Gigi Galli on this 11th round of the FIA World Rally Championship.  The result was in doubt until the final few kilometres of the 355.40km event when Kresta's Ford Focus RS World Rally Car was edged out of fifth by his Italian rival. Dani Solà and Xavier Amigo finished 12th in a privately-entered Focus RS after losing more than eight minutes when they went off the road this morning.  Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen, driving another BP-Ford Focus RS, climbed to 17th after yesterday's time loss.

Toni Gardemeister/Jakke Honkanen: Gardemeister climbed from 23rd to 17th today, the Finn using the final leg as a test session after losing more than 20 minutes yesterday with an electrical problem.  "It was a disappointing weekend for me," said the 30-year-old Finn.  "It was difficult to fight for good times and then the problem cost me a lot more time.  I have tested tyre and suspension set-up today so the data we have gathered from that has been useful.  I'm pleased I made it to the finish, but I wanted a good result here and that didn't happen."

Daniel Sola/Xavier Amigo: Spaniards Solà and Amigo were eighth overnight in a privately-entered Focus RS, having been as high as fifth yesterday afternoon.  However, they dropped to 13th after going off the road on the second stage this morning and losing more than eight minutes.  "Going into a left corner, I went slightly off the road," said Solà.  "I tried to correct it but ended up in a field.  I couldn't see where to go because the grass was long and in trying to get back onto the road I drove into a ditch.  It took a long time to get out again.  "I tried a stiffer roll bar on the car but that was a mistake because I had a lot of understeer and didn't have a good feeling.  It's a shame I tried that because that's why I ended up in the field.  My pre-event plan was to use this rally as a test for future rounds.  From that view it has been a good weekend.  I've improved my speed and learned a lot about the car on asphalt, but it hasn't been easy.  The team has worked well with me to set up the car in the way I want," he added.

Roman Kresta/Jan Mozny: "I could have driven faster but that would have meant taking risks, and I didn't want to do that," said Kresta.  "It's better to finish sixth than not at all.  I really wanted the points and this is a good result for me and the BP-Ford team.  The battle with Gigi was good for the spectators to watch but not so easy for me! "I held fourth on the first day and I think that if I had not made any mistakes I could have finished there.  The Focus has been perfect for all three days and the only things that have gone wrong were my fault.  I had a good test before the rally and that helped me a lot," added Kresta, who moved up to eighth in the drivers' standings.  The result matched his sixth place finishes in Cyprus and Sardinia earlier in the season.

Peugeot

The two Peugeot 307WRCs of Marcus Gronholm and Markko Martin have finished the all-asphalt Rally Deustchland in third and fourth places, allowing Peugeot to stay in close touch with new championship leaders Citroen. Marcus consolidates his second place to Sebastien Loeb in the drivers' championship, while Markko is closing in on third-placed Petter Solberg.

Marcus Gronhölm/Timo Rautiainen: "I have to be pleased with third, as it was the best we could achieve here. Nobody could compete with the Citroens: they were in a class of their own here. Looking on the positive side, the car was totally reliable and we were faster than anybody else. Now I'm looking forward to getting back onto gravel. I think we have a better chance of winning there!"

Markko Martin/Michael Park: "This was quite a straightforward rally for me. I lost time on the first day when a tyre came off the rim, but by the end of it I was back to fourth again and from then on it was just a question of holding that position. I had a bit of excitement today when the Ford of Daniel Sola held me up in the morning and I had to overtake him, but apart from that we had no dramas. It was a good, solid performance from ourselves and the team."

Skoda

Jan Kopecký’s Rallye Deutschland ended this morning when the Czech Rally Champion slid off the road into a tree near the end of the third stage. The Fabia WRC 05 suffered damage to the left rear and he was unable to continue. On the opening stage of the day Jan had set eighth fastest time and was sixth on the next stage, moving into ninth place overall as a result. The two other Škoda Motorsport World Rally Team drivers, Alex Bengue and Armin Schwarz both retired from the event, Alex after leaving the road at a tricky corner on the third stage and Armin with engine damage caused by his crash on SS8.

Armin Schwarz/Klaus Wicha: Retired

Alex Bengué/Caroline Escudero: Retired

Jan Kopecký/Filip Schovánek: The set up of the car was great today and I was feeling very confident. We were not pushing hard but were trying to drive our own rally. Perhaps I wasn’t concentrating enough or I misunderstood Filip but I was too late on the brakes and we slid wide into a tree. It was my first mistake on this event but it was a costly one.

Mitsubishi

The Mitsubishi Lancer WRC05 crew of "Gigi" Galli and Guido d’Amore claimed a personal best in the FIA World Rally Championship today when they finished Rallye Deutschland, the first true asphalt event of the season, in fifth position. The Italians also registered a fastest stage time today in only their second outing on Tarmac in a Mitsubishi world rally car. Team-mates Harri Rovanperä and Risto Pietiläinen finished 10th in their first sealed surface event since Sanremo in 2002.

Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen: All the stages in this rally have effectively been new to me and I have only been listening to the notes and trying to stay on the road; I have no preview memories of this event", said Harri Rovanperä. "I am happy our car ran without problems and we reached the finish. We’ve stalled a couple of times today due to a problem with the handbrake and that’s why we lost position, but okay, we have learned a lot and the next two asphalt rallies will be better I think.

Gigi Galli/Guido D'Amore: A very interesting day….!" said Galli at the finish. "I can’t really believe it because our goal was to do well but not push hard and go off the road. Everyone in the team worked really well and at lunchtime I felt great support and that gave me real confidence this afternoon. Today, we made no mistakes at all and that makes a difference. It was a very tricky rally and we have made another step forward with the team and also our career. I am really surprised to have done that on this rally!"