Rally Preview

There has been a major change in the event's format for 2006. In previous years the rally was based in central Greece around the town of Lamia, 200km North of Athens. This year the service park, Super Special stage and rally HQ will be located at the Athens Olympic stadium complex, making the rally the only event to be based entirely in a capital city.The route takes crews to the hills north and west of Athens, with no test further than 80km from the service park. The stages combine roads used in previous years with new stretches of freshly-regraded gravel, however with large rocks littering the roads, the event retains its rough, abrasive character. With average speeds higher than those in Sardinia and temperatures approaching 40ºC, Greece is one of the toughest events of the year.

The 2006 route includes 18 special stages and 355.62 competitive kilometres. Legs one and two will feature two loops of three stages separated by a midday service halt, with two loops of two tests on Leg three. There will be two passes through the Superspecial in the Olympic stadium built for the 2004 games on Thursday and Sunday, with an expected crowd of more than 60,000 fans. The podium finish is scheduled for 1530hrs in the stadium on Sunday.

Team Previews:

1. Kronos Total Citroen

Leading the 'Manufacturers' classification, the Kronos Total Citroën WRT will enter two Xsaras on the Hellenic ground : one for reigning World Champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena - who are also leading the drivers' rankings - and another one for young Catalan driver Xevi Pons, co-driven by experienced Carlos Del Barrio. Lying in a great third position in the championship, Dani Sordo takes part in the Greek event with Marc Marti and thanks to its faithful supports (Grupo Lábaro, Banco Santander, Gobierno de Cantabria, RACC and Würth) on the same Xsara which allowed him to clinch his first podium on gravel in Italy.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "For Greece, the terrain and the tyres change. We will have at disposal brand new BFGoodrich tyres which should be very useful, like in Sardinia after the second loop of Friday where the tyres reached the wear limit. Of course Marcus has the same rubber but the efficiency also lies in the tyres-car association. Who will do best? It gives a lot of interest to the next  match."

Xavier Pons/Carlos Del Barrio: "Sardinia has been a sort of preview for Greece, with difficult stages and a heavy heat. On that last thing I have no problems as I realised Carlos and I are really fit. You shouldn't forget also that I am Mediterranean. Spaniards don't fear the heat.I don't know the new route but if I believe what I've heard, the rough stages and high temperatures will make of the new Acropolis a hard event."

2. OMV-Peugeot Norway

The OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team is under testing pressure prior to the "bp ultimate acropolis rally". Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor (Aut) encountered no problems when they completed 120 testing kilometres on Saturday. On Monday it will be the turn of OMV teammates Henning Solberg and Cato Menkerud (Nor). One of the main goals is to get used to the new region. After several years in Delphi and Lamia the traditional rally will return to the Athens area. This means completely unchartered territory for the drivers in the FIA World Rally Championship.

Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: "Of course, the road conditions and the character of the special stages are very similar to recent years. But as for really knowing even one singular stage, I don't. Which makes the recce extremely important. You have to have to be highly focussed and can't rely on pace notes from recent years."

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "We already proven in Argentina that we have no problems with new rallies and can be very fast there. And we like gravel. Following the streak of bad luck in Argentina and Sardinia all we have to do is get a good result across the finishing line."

3. BP-Ford

BP-Ford World Rally Team ends the first half of its 2006 campaign next week by taking on what is expected to be the toughest round of the FIA World Rally Championship. The Acropolis Rally of Greece (1 - 4 June) is one of the series' classic events, which was voted the best in the 2005 championship, and a new format based around Athens' majestic Olympic Stadium ensures this eighth round is eagerly awaited.

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "My retirement in Italy was disappointing but the pace of the car on the opening morning was so good.  It surprised me because it was a disadvantage for Loeb to run first on the road in the loose gravel, but it wasn't that much better for me in second in the start order. I'm confident we can set the same kind of pace in Greece.  The Focus has a strong history on this rally and it would be nice to add to its winning record."

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "After finishing second in Sardinia, I'm really excited about this rally.  Despite the conditions, it's still a sprint rally so I will drive flat out from the start, but with an element of caution to avoid the rocks.  Personally I feel well prepared.  I stayed in Sardinia for two days to train in the heat and then I have two days' testing so I should be acclimatised to the high temperatures.  The thing to remember is to keep drinking to replace the fluids you sweat out.  Even when you think you can't drink any more, you have to keep drinking."

4. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford

Brit Matthew Wilson reaches the half-way mark in his rookie FIA World Rally Championship season with one of the toughest rallies on the calendar, BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally, based around the Athens home of the 2004 Olympic Games. Wilson and co-driver Michael Orr will have to put on a performance worthy of Olympic athletes in the Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team as they tackle the 18 fast rock-strewn stages with the possibility of searing weather and car damaging rocks around every corner of the 356km of competitive distance.

Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr: "It's another rough rally and until we've done the recce we won't know how bad it is. We've got a lot more protection on the car for this one as it is going to be that tough on the car. It's been a busy start to the season and I think everyone's looking forward to having a break before the next event. It will be good to get a solid result in Greece before the summer break and head to Germany on a high."

Kosti Katajamaki/Timo Alanne: "The last rally was not so good for me but now I am concentrating on Greece. I have done the rally four times before but this year the stages are different. I think it was difficult getting back in the Focus after the long break from Sweden but it will be a lot better to start again in the Acropolis. We are hoping for a lot better result than last time."

5. 555 Subaru

The Subaru World Rally Team will enter two Impreza WRC2006s. One car will be driven by Petter Solberg (co-driven by Phil Mills) with the other by Chris Atkinson (co-driven by Glenn Macneall). Subaru has won the Acropolis Rally four times in the last 10 years. Colin McRae drove to victory in 1996 and 1998, with Richard Burns sealing a third Greek win for the team in 1999. Petter Solberg scored the seventh win of his career at the event in 2004. The Acropolis Rally will be Solberg's 100th WRC start. The 31-year-old will become the youngest driver to reach this total. Solberg made his world-level debut at the 1998 Swedish Rally and has since secured 13 wins, 17 podiums and the 2003 drivers' world title. Chris Atkinson starts his second Acropolis Rally this year.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "Of course I was disappointed not to have finished higher in Sardinia as we did have the pace when everything went well. I never give up though and I'm going to Greece with the same goal I always have - to win. I enjoy the rally, I got my first podium there and this time it will be my 100th start. I want to make it a memorable one."

Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: "The stages are all new for this year so we'll be learning them the same as everyone else on the recce. I'm quite positive about Greece. I was happy with the improvements we found in the test we did in Greece earlier this month. We found a good set-up that worked well in Sardinia and we will use more or less the same again in Greece. We showed in Italy that we had the speed to get a good finish and score some points, in Greece we've got to follow this through. I'm aiming for a top six."

6. Red Bull-Skoda Team

Red Bull Skoda will participate in the Acropolis Rally in Greece with both Fabia WRC just two weeks after Rally Sardinia. The car transporter has already been shipped to Athens, the crew has little time to prepare for the next WRC event. A lot will depend on Thursday's shakedown.

Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietiläinen: "I need to start into the rally very aggressively from day one. The Sardinia result had been a very unsatisfying one for me, I want to eradicate the team's bad gravel debut at any cost. I hope we'll find the proper setup right away, that's imperative to a good result."

Andreas Aigner/Timo Gottschalk: "I guess the Greek stages suit us more because they are hard and have less loose sand on the edge than those in Sardinia. Besides I hope for a good shakedown to better get to grips with the setup than before. I'm already looking forward to working with my new co-driver Klaus Wicha, he's a genuine professional, I'm sure we'll form a good team."

Leaderboard after Leg 1

1.  M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 19min 45.7sec
2.  P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza 1hr 20min 12.0sec
3.  S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen Xsara 1hr 20min 21.2sec
4.  M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 1hr 21min 01.6sec
5.  F Duval/ P Pivato B Skoda Fabia 1hr 21min 15.1sec
6.  M Stohl/I Minor A Peugeot 307 1hr 21min 23.8sec
7.  H Solberg/C Menkerud N Peugeot 307 1hr 21min 25.5sec
8.  T Gardemeister/J Honkanen FIN Citroen Xsara 1hr 21min 27.8sec
9.  D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen Xsara 1hr 21min 33.1sec
10 J Välimäki/J Kalliolepo FIN Mitsubishi Lancer 1hr 21min 36.2sec

Leg One News

Petter Solberg (Subaru) was Grönholm's closest challenger.  He was second on every stage except one today to open a 9.2sec advantage over championship leader Sébastien Loeb (Citroen).  The Frenchman was hindered by running first over the gravely stages this morning.  But he could not match Grönholm's pace on cleaner roads this afternoon, despite admitting to taking many risks.  François Duval (Skoda) was a surprise fifth, ahead of a fierce battle for the remaining places on the leaderboard which saw positions changing hands on every test.  Toni Gardemeister (Citroen) held sixth for most of the day but he was edged out by Manfred Stohl and Henning Solberg (both Peugeot) on the final stage.  Punctures were common on the rocky tracks but the only driver to encounter major problems was Chris Atkinson (Subaru).  The Australian broke a rear differential and dropped three minutes before repairs could be made in service.  He is 17th.

1. Kronos Total Citroen

Despite suffering from the handicap of being roadsweepers for everyone else, Sebastien Loeb, Daniel Elena and their Kronos-run Citroen Xsara WRC fought at the sharp end of the action throughout the opening leg. The reigning World Champions have Petter Solberg and Marcus Gronholm as their targets, which promises a thrilling three-way battle tomorrow.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "I'm not at all unhappy though. For thefirst time this season, we're going to get the fight between three drivers and cars that we've all been waiting for. It's pretty exciting. On the other hand, I can't get away from the fact that I'm not where I would ideally like to be.  During the first loop of stages, I knew that I would be sweeping the road clean and dropping time. But I expected a bit more from the second loop. It's not through lack of trying ! I didn't go for the new BFGoodrich H2 tyres, but equally my tyre choice seemed good. I gave it everything I
could - and I wasn't alone in that . Tomorrow, I've got an excellent sparring partner in Petter. Trying to get past him will be the best way to get me closer to Marcus . In any case, I'm going to keep putting on pressure."

Xavier Pons/Carlos Del Barrio: "We picked up two punctures, on SS3 and SS7, but the mousse worked well and we didn't really have to slow down. We also had a stall on SS7, which cost a few seconds. During the recce, I really liked Skourta [SS3/6] and I was convinced that we could do something special there - but that didn't happen. Everything's open for tomorrow though, and we are 25 seconds away from fifth place. Given that there's so much road still ahead of us, it's not a huge margin. We can still do the job here."

2. OMV-Peugeot Norway

It was a successful first leg for the OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team at the "bp ultimate Acropolis Rally of Greece". Following a rather cautious beginning Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor (Ö) as well as Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud put their foot really down in the afternoon of the first day. The continuous improvement also showed in the results. Stohl lies in sixth place after seven of 18 special stages, Solberg is only 1,7 seconds behind in seventh place.

Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: "We didn't take too much risk since one can slip off the road quite easily under such conditions. Everything went much more smoothly (this afternoon) vand we were able to gain half a second in comparison with the top. This means a good starting position for Saturday."

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "We're still part of the game. And we'll surely be able to improve even more on Saturday."

3. BP-Ford

BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen lead the Acropolis Rally of Greece after dominating today's opening leg in the hills around Athens. The Finns won all six speed tests in their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to build a 26.3 second advantage at the head of this eighth round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen are fourth in a similar Focus RS.

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "I won every stage and it doesn't get much better than that. The car is fantastic and I have the tool to beat Solberg and Loeb - and that's a good feeling.  I made a good start this morning but I knew that I had to build on that.  I was leading by 40sec after the first morning on the last rally in Sardinia.  But by Saturday night I was at home watching Finland win the Eurovision Song Contest on television, so that's how quickly things can change."

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: "Fourth is a good position and tomorrow I must concentrate on keeping the car on the road and avoiding the rocks. I made some changes to the suspension settings at lunchtime and they worked well this afternoon.  Conditions were better than I expected this morning but they were rougher this afternoon and tomorrow's leg will be rougher still.  This morning I was driving in 'safe' mode, the kind of pace I used in Sardinia, so I pushed harder to try to increase my advantage over the cars behind."

4. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford

It was a trouble free first day for Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson in the BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally though the 19 year-old Brit's performance potential was blunted by the effects of energy-sapping food poisoning in the searing heat around the Greek capital, Athens.

Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr: "I can't wait to get to bed after today. I've been trying to drink as much as I can through the day but if anything I've felt worse and eating at lunch didn't help. But once you're out on the route and you put your helmet on you forget about being ill and get on with the job. The heat has been quite something; once you've got hot on the first stage that's it for the rest of the day. The stages in the afternoon were unbelievable, I've never driven a stage so rough in my life."

Kosti Katajamaki/Timo Alanne: "We had three punctures after the first stage this afternoon and then only had one spare so we kept swapping tyres. The rims were damaged so we could feel vibrations the whole time. The power steering was fixed at the service stop and the M-Sport crew did a brilliant job, there wasn't a single problem in the afternoon. Tomorrow will be even harder but despite the tough stages it has been fun today."

5. 555 Subaru

After an excellent first day of the Acropolis Rally, Subaru's Petter Solberg lies well placed in second overall, 26 seconds off the lead, with two more days of the rally remaining. Driving an Impreza WRC2006 the Norwegian was the closest rival to current leader Marcus Gronholm and the pair pulled 35sec clear of current World Champion, Sebastien Loeb who is third. Chris Atkinson made a promising start in the second Subaru but a differential problem in the morning cost him several minutes and dropped him from sixth place to eighteenth. With his car back to full strength after the mid-point service Chris began a spirited recovery and set the fourth fastest stage time on the last test of the day.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills:  "Today I felt the car and new Pirelli tyre were very good and gave me the chance of a good battle. The last three stages of the day were difficult to drive as we took an extra spare wheel for safety after the punctures this morning. That's Greece though and it is the same for everyone, but it made the car a bit more tricky to drive and not so good to attack. We're having a good fight out there and I'm looking ahead to try and get closer to Marcus."

Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: "This afternoon was much better than this morning but it took me a while to get used to the changes in setup we made this morning. I feel more confident in the car and that showed in finishing the last stage in fourth. I think that tomorrow we can continue to move back up the leaderboard and maybe a top ten finish is still possible, but getting into the points will be hard."

6. Red Bull-Skoda Team

Team managers Raimund Baumschlager/Armin Schwarz commented on today's events with an interesting observation: "Both driver complained about the tracks on the roads. The Fabia WRC is four centimetres narrower than every other car.  Therefore our car doesn't run in the ruts left by our competitors. Andreas' performance was very satisfactory, but we need to continue examining why Harri isn't up to speed at the evening service."

Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietiläinen: "I can't explain our problem. We tried to get rid of the car's understeering at the midday service, so we changed some settings, which subsequently proved to be not very useful. We need to continue to work hard to increase our speed, I hope that we'll find the problem over the next two days."

Andreas Aigner/Klaus Wicha:  "The first few kilometres this morning were rather tough for me. I was hardly able to see the road, I transpired a lot and the sweat got into my eyes. Then my condition improved thanks to the antibiotics. My times were alright, but three tyre failures held me back. Thank goodness the mousse kept working every time. On SS6 I had a spin which cost me 17 seconds. Apart from that I'm happy, the Fabia WRC works like clockwork, the working relationship with my new co-driver Klaus Wicha is very good. I'm confident that I'll be able to improve over the course of the rally."

Leaderboard after Leg 2

1.  M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 51min 18.3sec
2.  S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen Xsara 2hr 53min 05.5sec
3.  M Hirvonen/J Lehtinen FIN Ford Focus RS 2hr 54min 17.5sec
4.  D Sordo/M Marti E Citroen Xsara 2hr 55min 15.8sec
5.  M Stohl/I Minor A Peugeot 307 2hr 55min 18.7sec
6.  H Solberg/C Menkerud N Peugeot 307 2hr 55min 21.7sec
7.  T Gardemeister/J Honkanen FIN Citroen Xsara 2hr 55min 33.5sec
8.  X Pons/C Del Barrio E Citroen Xsara 2hr 57min 08.6sec
9.  P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza  2hr 57min 35.2sec
10 J Välimäki/J Kalliolepo FIN Mitsubishi Lancer 2hr 58min 38.1sec

Leg Two News

Sébastien Loeb (Citroen) won two stages but when a rear tyre punctured 1km after the start of the final stage, he dropped 1min 20sec dragging his car through the remaining 16km on its suspension. Hard luck story of the day concerned Petter Solberg (Subaru).  The Norwegian lost second this morning after spinning and then the gearchange paddle mounted on the steering wheel broke this afternoon.  Finally on the liaison section to the final stage the Norwegian had to swerve to avoid an oncoming car on the same side of the road.  He hit a rock and the impact broke his car's steering, leaving him stranded.  Dani Sordo and Toni Gardemeister (both Citroen) and Manfred Stohl and Henning Solberg (both Peugeot) enjoyed a terrific four-way fight for fourth.  The quartet were covered by a handful of seconds and swapped positions on every stage.  Sordo eventually claimed fourth from Solberg, who incurred a 20 second penalty after a brake problem this morning.  Less than 18 seconds cover the four drivers.  François Duval (Skoda) and Kosti Katajamaki (Ford) both retired with a broken gearbox while Chris Atkinson (Subaru) stopped on the final stage with broken steering.  Thirty-three of the day's 79 starters failed to complete the leg.

1. Kronos Total Citroen

By getting the better of Petter Solberg in the morning loop of stages, Sebastien Loeb, Daniel Elena, and their Citroen Xsara WRC had climbed to second place overall. A sustained attack during the afternoon loop of stages closed them to within 25 seconds of Marcus Grönholm by the end of SS12. Then came Psatha 2 - "special stage 13" pointed out a superstitious Daniel Elena - and the start of an odyssey that will remain in the minds of the Kronos Total Citroen team for many years to come.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: "From the start of that loop, and especially in Kineta, the cars and the tyres really went through hell" said Seb and Daniel. "A kilometre and a half after the start of Psatha, we picked up a left-rear puncture - which the mousse could not prevent. We took the decision to carry on, and it was the right one as we lost less time than we would have done had we stopped to change the wheel. On the other hand, it proved impossible to put on a new wheel after the stage as the suspension was too badly damaged. We continued on like that for a while before stopping to change the right-rear wheel, which had picked up a puncture as well. The problem was that the spare wheel was already on the limit of its mousse, so it just had to hold on for as long as it could. Finally we arrived at service on time, on only two front wheels and a hub."

Xavier Pons/Carlos Del Barrio: "The second run through the stages was horrible. The surface was totally destroyed. I adapted my pace to this minefield, but I still wonder how we got through it without doing more damage."

2. OMV-Peugeot Norway

The OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team was able to defend their top positions on the second day of the "bp ultimate Acropolis Rally of Greece". This in spite of several minor problems of Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor (Aut) which culminated in a small fire in the Peugeot 307 WRC during the last leg. They nevertheless moved up to fifth overall place. Henning Solberg and Cato Menkerud also firmly put their foot down and finished the second leg in sixth place.

Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: . "I don't know how it started. For a moment I wondered whether I should stop but then I went on and we extinguished the fire after the finish of the stage. The smoke emission was quite heavy, though. But whatever happens, we will ride a full attack on Sunday in order to overtake Sordo"

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: "It was a lot of fun. We didn't take full risk on the long special stage. There are so many rocks on the road that a tyre damage is almost unavoidable. But we'll also ride a full attack on Sunday."

3. BP-Ford

BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen extended their lead of the Acropolis Rally of Greece today as the rocky gravel roads in the hills surrounding Athens wrecked the hopes of many competitors.  Their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car returned to the Greek capital this evening after a gruelling second leg with a 1min 47.2sec advantage, with team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen lying third in a similar car.

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "Things look good tonight and I hope tomorrow will go as well as the last two days. This is the toughest Acropolis for six years and I cannot feel comfortable yet.  In these conditions, whatever the size of the lead, it is not enough.  Rocks have been banging the underneath of the car everywhere and I've been pushing hard but the Focus has stood up to everything that has been thrown at it.  It's incredible.  I carried two spare wheels this afternoon, which was a good decision as I had two punctures."

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen:  "My aim is to hold position and gain points for BP-Ford," he said.  "I have no need to push hard because our position is safe as long as we have no troubles.  I'm in no rush and I just want to take it steady and bring the car home safely.  It's unbelievable the punishment this car can take because it was so rough this afternoon.  I have never seen rocks like it on a special stage.

4. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford

Information unavailable at time of going to press.

5. 555 Subaru

Today's second Leg of the Acropolis Rally of Greece started well for the Subaru World Rally Team. Petter Solberg set a string of top three times as he fought with Sebastien Loeb for second place, while Chris Atkinson was among the four fastest drivers on each of the morning's stages. But both drivers hit trouble in the afternoon. Atkinson retired on the last stage after damaging a steering arm, while Solberg was forced into a rock wall as he avoided an oncoming car on the road section to the same stage. Both cars are expected to re-start for tomorrow's final Leg.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: "It's just incredible what happened. I came around a tight right hander and was forced to swerve to avoid an accident with a car coming the other way, hitting the rock face and breaking the steering arm. What with Sebastien's problems it's just so frustrating, but that is mine and Phil's luck all year. We'll have to see what happens from here as the plan is to get the car back and re-start tomorrow."

Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall:  "We had a good start to the morning and set some good stage times. Then this afternoon the steering arm was damaged in the long rough stage. But we lost time with that then made some repairs and hoped to get through to the end of the final stage. It later failed and unfortunately we dropped five minutes and are now entering super rally."

6. Red Bull-Skoda Team

A very eventful second day of the 53rd Rally Acropolis in Greece for Red Bull Skoda. Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietilainen were struggling with a faulty on-board intercom system in the morning, in the afternoon big rocks on the road led to a broken rim, a smashed shock absorber and a cut tyre. Andreas Aigner was hit even worse. The Austrian had four tyre failures on the penultimate stage of the day, and not only had to complete an entire stage driving on the rim, but also the remaining road section of more than 50 kilometres back to Athens. This meant positions 12 and 15 for the two Red Bull driver at the end of the second leg.

Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietiläinen:  "I was feeling more comfortable in the car today compared to yesterday. Unfortunately a connector had unplugged itself from the helmet in the morning, so communication between Risto and myself was limited and then failed altogether in one stage. We lost a vital amount of time that way. At the midday service we replaced the rear axle, which turned out to be a good decision. Sadly our increase in speed was impaired by tyre failures. Now I hope to get to the finish tomorrow without any further problems, maybe we can gather a few points for the manufacturers' championship."

Andreas Aigner/Klaus Wicha:  "I don't feel physically fit yet which is fatal on these long stages in scorching conditions. The car was very good to drive today, I felt quite comfortable. On the long 37 kilometres stage I picked up three tyre failures caused by big rocks, and on the final SS a fourth tyre went 6 k before the end of the stage. From this moment on I had to drive to the finish on the left rear rim. Summing up, I lost four minutes that way. This sadly means P15 instead of P11 overall, but I'm satisfied with my performance as a driver in Greece so far."

Leaderboard After Final Leg

1. Marcus Gronholm (FIN) Ford 3:56:26.8
2. Sebastien Loeb (FRA) Citroen + 2:26.8
3. Mikko Hirvonen (FIN) Ford +3:43.8
4. Toni Gardemeister (FIN) Citroen + 4:20.8
5. Henning Solberg (NOR) Peugeot + 4:55.6
6. Daniel Sordo (ESP) Citroen + 4:56.4
7. Petter Solberg (NOR) Subaru + 5:34.4
8. Xavier Pons (ESP) Citroen + 8:19.0
9. Jussi Valimaki (FIN) Mitsubishi +11:28.7
10. Matthew Wilson (GB) Ford + 13:30.8
11. Chris Atkinson (AUS) Subaru + 14:01.8
12. Harri Rovanpera (FIN) Red Bull Skoda + 14:35.6
13. Francois Duval (BEL) Skoda + 11:51.4
14. Andreas Aigner (AUT) Red Bull Skoda + 20:50.9
17. Manfred Stohl (AUT) Peugeot + 29:43.0

Final Leg News

Sébastien Loeb's (Citroen) mechanics did a superb job to rebuild the wrecked rear of his car without penalty last night and he drove safely through the final day to take second.  Behind Hirvonen, Toni Gardemeister (Citroen) emerged from a four-way fight to comfortably claim fourth while Henning Solberg (Peugeot) just edged out Dani Sordo for fifth.  Sordo dropped a minute on the opening stage when faulty spark plugs gave him engine troubles but recovered to finish just 0.8sec behind the Norwegian.  Manfred Stohl (Peugeot) was the day's main retirement when the Austrian rolled on the opening stage.

Seventy-one of the original 84 starters started today’s final Leg. Thirty one of today’s crews had retired earlier in the event. The Leg comprised four rough gravel stages in the countryside to the north and west of Athens, followed by a second trip to the Olympic stadium Superspecial. Dry and sunny all day. The temperature ranged between 26 C in the morning to an afternoon high of 36 C.

1. Kronos Total Citroen

At the end of the rough and rocky stages, Kronos Racing finishes once more with all three Citroen Xsaras in the points. Thanks to Sebastien Loeb/Daniel Elena, who finished second, and Xevi Pons/Carlos Del Barrio, who were eighth the Kronos Total Citroen World Rally Team will spend the two-month summer break leading both the drivers and manufacturers championships. Having swept the road clean at the start of the rally, Seb dropped 35 seconds on Friday. With a better set-up for the conditions he took second place and reduced the gap to the leader to 25 seconds, before a puncture on Saturday evening obliged him to call a ceasefire and settle for the eight points that came with second place.

Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: « It was a difficult rally » concluded the World Championship leader. « What with sweeping the road clean, getting a puncture and a tricky journey back to service, I’m very happy to come away with eight points for second place. Once more, I take my hat off to the entire Kronos team for putting my Xsara back into shape on Saturday night. Marcus was very quick, but nonetheless we managed to get some time back off him on Saturday. From Germany onwards, I know he’ll be right there. It will be a very close fight, as always, but those tight battles with him are always the best ones…

Xavier Pons/Carlos Del Barrio: Xevi Pons will probably be able to challenge for the world puncture record, having collected them throughout the event. Thankfully he was prevented from losing too much time by BFGoodrich’s anti-deflation mousse, which holds up the tyre if any air escapes. « I can’t hide the fact that I am personally a bit disappointed said Xevi openly. « I expected to be a bit quicker on this terrain that we were all discovering for the first time. As well as that – or perhaps because of that – I didn’t really enjoy myself here. It’s not nice to hear the car taking all those impacts, to be constantly on edge and not to be able to drive in a relaxed way. Luckily I succeeded in my main objective, which was to bring some manufacturer points to the team. »

2. OMV-Peugeot Norway

The OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team finished the “bp ultimate Acropolis Rally of Greece” with a top result. Henning Solberg and Cato Menkerud (Nor) reached fifth place after 355,62 special stage kilometres. Beside four points in the driver-WRC this also means five points in the manufacture ranking. The Austrian OMV Team was less lucky. Manfred Stohl and Ilka Minor overturned on the first special stage of the last day. Fortunately they remained unhurt, but couldn’t take up the rally again and therefore finished in 17th place in the overall ranking in the context of the SupeRally regulation.

Manfred Stohl/Ilka Minor: For Manfred Stohl the Acropolis Rally ended prematurely. After the OMV driver had finished the second day in fifth place, problems arose at the final service on Saturday. The exchange of the exhaust manifold on the Peugeot 307 WRC lasted nine minutes longer than the permitted repair time-frame of 45 minutes. Therefore Stohl received a 1:30-minutes time penalty and dropped back to seventh place. Troubles continued for the OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team on the morning of the final day. The car started to lose oil on the connection stage to the first special stage. Even though the leak was sealed the problem became acute once again after a few kilometres at racing speed. The 33-year-old Austrian switched to the emergency program. Stohl: “This causes quite a loss of engine power. We basically ambled through the stage. In a left turn I was too far on the inside and we overturned three times down the embankment. It wasn’t too bad but the car was unsteerable, of course. A sad ending to a rally that was filled with a lot of minor problems.“

Henning Solberg/Cato Menkerud: After a heart-stopping finale on the super stage in the Olympic Stadium of Athens, his lead on Daniel Sordo
(Spa/Citroen) was only 0,8 seconds. Thereby Solberg also repeated his best result this season in Mexico. In an internal brothers-duel he remained two places ahead of Subaru works driver Petter Solberg.
Solberg: “In the end I’m very happy about this result, even though we had planned to attack once again on the last day in order to reach fourth place. We managed to overtake Sordo but couldn’t ward off Gardemeister’s attack. This is also due to the fact that we were rather cautious in the end. Following the bad luck in Argentina and Sardinia I didn’t want to put this good result at stake.“ Thus, with currently eleven points to their account, the OMV Peugeot Norway World Rally Team Henning Solberg moved up from eleventh to seventh place in the World Championship driver ranking.

3. BP-Ford

BP-Ford World Rally Team won its third rally of the season today when Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen took an emphatic victory on the gruelling Acropolis Rally of Greece.  Their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car led for almost the entire four-day event, excelling in the toughest conditions experienced in the FIA World Rally Championship for many years.  Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen secured a second straight podium with third in a similar Focus RS. It was the fifth victory for the Focus in Greece in seven years on a rally that is acknowledged as the toughest in the calendar.  It was Grönholm's 21st world rally success and strengthens his grip on second in the drivers' standings while Hirvonen's podium promoted him to fourth.  BP-Ford remains second in the manufacturers' championship.

Marcus Grönholm/Timo Rautiainen: "It's great to experience the winning feeling again," said Grönholm.  "We have been on the pace all year but had some bad luck, but now we are back on the top step of the podium. It's satisfying to win such a tough rally.  The Focus was strong and fast all the way through and that was down to the hard work during our test.  It was terribly rough and I could never drive with total confidence because I knew how easy it was to damage the car on the rocks. "BFGoodrich's tyres were strong on such a demanding rally and when we had a puncture the mousse worked perfectly.  I could not believe that the tyres withstood the impact from some rocks.  The Focus has huge potential and I hope we can show that more over the next few rallies.  I think we can push for victory everywhere during the second half of the season," he added.

Mikko Hirvonen/Jarmo Lehtinen: Hirvonen established himself in fourth on the opening morning and climbed to third yesterday.  With no pressure from his rivals, he cruised through the final leg.  The 25-year-old Finn survived a scare when a broken centre differential meant he had to tackle the final test in second gear. "That's two podiums in a row and that is where I should be," said Hirvonen.  "I hope my first win is not too far away.  I saw on Friday that I could not match Marcus' pace so I just watched the split times in the stages and drove accordingly.  I avoided problems all weekend and the team has done a fantastic job.  It was really difficult today because it was too rough and not nice to drive as I was just trying to avoid the rocks.  I'm really confident now for the rest of the season.  My car is reliable and strong and I hope we can deliver more podiums."

4. Stobart VK M-Sport Ford

Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team driver Matthew Wilson fought off food poisoning to finish the BP Ultimate Acropolis Rally, arguably the FIA World Rally Championship's toughest event, in tenth place after a strong and consistent run through the order where his M-Sport-run Ford Focus RS ran faultlessly to take two manufacturer points. Harsh gravel stages littered with rocks which Wilson described as being as big as footballs characterised the 336km of competitive distance around the Greek capital of Athens with the rally starting and finishing with a Super Special in front of tens of thousands of spectators in the Olympic stadium built for the 2004 games. Whilst Wilson's run was trouble-free the same could not be said for the second Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team Focus RS with the Finnish crew of Kosti Katajamaki and Timo Alanne. The first day saw the duo in a fine 12th position despite having to battle through a stage with no power steering in ambient heat in excess of 30 degrees. On the second day an off over rocks in the morning damaged their gearbox which failed on the final stage. Sunday saw the pair break two track rod ends and have to park their car on the second stage of the day.

Matthew Wilson/Michael Orr: "It's good to get to the end of the rally. We had a drama before the end of the penultimate stage with the steering arm and we had to change it, but that was the only mechanical problem we've had. The car took a real battering so it was good to be at the end and with manufacturer points too. Compared to the dramas of the last event in Sardinia, mechanically it has been a dream come true. It's been a tough old rally, we knew after the recce it would be a tough rally and it certainly lived up to its reputation."

Kosti Katajamaki/Timo Alanne: "In the first stage this morning we had a puncture. The mousse worked so we could keep on driving but then the tyre exploded and we were driving on the rim which eventually broke the steering arm which we had to stop and change in the stage. We continued and everything was okay until the second stage. We came over a jump and landed badly off the road and the steering broke again. We were lucky to stay on all four wheels and be able to stop safely. It has been my worse rally ever.

5. 555 Subaru

Petter Solberg finished the Acropolis Rally of Greece with a flourish by winning every gravel stage of the Leg. The Norwegian proved the speed of his Impreza WRC2006 in the most difficult stage conditions seen so far this year. But even Solberg’s best efforts weren’t enough to make up for the time lost through no fault of his own on Saturday and he ended the rally seventh overall. Chris Atkinson also had a mountain to climb after his own problems earlier in the rally. The Australian drove well throughout the day and moved up two places to finish eleventh.

Petter Solberg/Phil Mills: I’m really disappointed as I just did not deserve this luck this weekend. Despite the accident yesterday I’ve got to say that we have seen some very good improvements in the car and it looks positive. We need to take the positive points and put them into a package and I know we can get there. The team are going to be busy all through the summer but we know where we can improve and we are not going to give up. We’ll be back.”

Chris Atkinson/Glen MacNeall: “It’s been an unbelievably tough weekend. Glenn and I didn’t really make any mistakes and I’m happy with how I drove which makes it all the more frustrating that instead of a podium we are not in the top ten. I’m looking forward to having a clean run through a rally, however we need to work together and sort out the problems we encountered.”

6. Red Bull-Skoda Team

For Red Bull Skoda the negative aspects outweighed the positive ones. Raimund Baumschlager and Armin Schwarz give their summary as team
representatives: “The only positive aspect of this WRC event was that we brought both Fabia WRCs to the finish, even though we had no mechanical issues to speak of. We mainly worked on the handling of the cars here, changed a lot of parts, but that didn’t lead to the desired effect. It was worse for Harri, there’s still something wrong with the entire package, for Andreas it was a little bit better. We need to use the summer break until Germany to develop new parts and test them beforehand. Kudos to our drivers and the entire team for their efforts.”

Harri Rovanpera/Risto Pietiläinen: “I still have a certain limit while driving right now which I can’t transgress yet because of my car setup. We changed a lot, but haven’t found the settings that would allow me to bring home some points for the drivers’ championship. So we need to continue to work together to improve this situation as fast as possible. It was a tough rally by the way, too many rocks led to numerous tyre failures.”

Andreas Aigner/Klaus Wicha: “Our car tipped over and on its side in a hairpin corner on the first stage. Klaus and I couldn’t put the Fabia back on its wheels. Unfortunately there were no spectators at hand, so we had to wait for three minutes before three fans came to the rescue and enabled us to continue. Apart from that I was very satisfied with my performance in this rally. The flu bothered me, as did the frequent tyre failures and having to run 60 kilometres on the rim yesterday. Today I just missed a top ten time on two stages as 11th fastest, but I want to build up on these results in the future. I was very happy with the Fabia WRC, the car was virtually problem-free.”