Corona Rally Mexico

[lukeh]

thanks for the shakedown result
Atkinson 7th yes yes yes i will start dancing now.

[DasModell]

my "money" are on Loeb . as usual

[Cotterik]

Originally Posted by Cotterik

looks like peugeot are on form, until they race that is, gronholm always crashes and martin isnt used to the car enough to keep the times constant to the end, my bets on solberg

Am I physic or what!? :

2003 world champion Petter Solberg started his bid to back-up his Uddeholm Swedish Rally win with another in Mexico in the best possible fashion, by setting the best time on the first stage of the first leg. Citroen's Sebastien Loeb, the only other 2005 round winner so far, was just 2.2 seconds behind the Subaru star as these two edged ahead of the pack.

Solberg's exciting young Subaru team-mate Chris Atkinson set the third best time on only his second ever event in a World Rally Car, completing the 22 .56km run from Ibarilla to El Zauco 5.5 seconds slower than Solberg. The stage has been cleared of gravel by pre-event rain and is now packed down tight and almost as abrasive as asphalt.

Francois Duval made it an all-Subaru/Citroen top four with a time just 0.7s slower than Atkinson's as Peugeot's Marcus Gronholm and Skoda's Jani Paasonen rounded out the top six on the stage. Completing the top 10 were Ford's Roman Kresta, Peugeot's Markko Martin, Mitsubishi's Harri Rovanpera and Ford privateer Anthony Warmbold. So far it a bit tops-turvy in Ford-land with both Kresta and Warmbold quicker than the Blue Oval's points-nominated Ford drivers, Dani Sola and championship leader Toni Gardemeister, who were 11th and 12th best respectively.

Times so far (after Stage 1) :

1. 5 P. SOLBERG 13:25.4 0.0
2. 1 S. LOEB 13:27.6 2.2
3. 6 C. ATKINSON 13:30.9 3.3
4. 2 F. DUVAL 13:31.6 0.7
5. 7 M. GRÖNHOLM 13:32.5 0.9
6. 12 J. PAASONEN 13:33.3 0.8
7. 14 R. KRESTA 13:34.2 0.9
8. 8 M. MÄRTIN 13:37.2 3.0
9. 9 H. ROVANPERÄ 13:38.5 1.3
10. 15 A. WARMBOLD 13:39.2 0.7


GO SOLBERG! GO SUBARU!

[Cotterik]

subaru photos live frm mexico:

[Cotterik]

the latest:

Pos. No. Driver/Car Stage Time Pen Time Total Time Diff Prev
1. 5 P. SOLBERG 1:23:56.0 0:00 1:23:56.0 0.0
2. 7 M. GRÖNHOLM 1:24:16.5 0:00 1:24:16.5 20.5
3. 8 M. MÄRTIN 1:24:26.9 0:00 1:24:26.9 10.4
4. 2 F. DUVAL 1:24:29.9 0:00 1:24:29.9 3.0
5. 6 C. ATKINSON 1:24:46.6 0:00 1:24:46.6 16.7
6. 14 R. KRESTA 1:25:12.8 0:00 1:25:12.8 26.2
7. 9 H. ROVANPERÄ 1:25:15.6 0:00 1:25:15.6 2.8
8. 4 D. SOLA 1:25:25.3 0:00 1:25:25.3 9.7
9. 15 A. WARMBOLD 1:25:32.2 0:00 1:25:32.2 6.9
10. 3 T. GARDEMEISTER 1:25:32.9 0:00 1:25:32.9 0.7
11. 10 G. PANIZZI 1:25:52.6 0:00 1:25:52.6 19.7
12. 11 A. SCHWARZ 1:26:50.1 0:00 1:26:50.1 57.5
13. 17 X. PONS 1:26:59.8 0:00 1:26:59.8 9.7
14. 1 S. LOEB 1:27:57.1 0:20 1:28:17.1 1:17.3
15. 32 G. WILKS 1:30:52.3 0:00 1:30:52.3 2:35.2
16. 31 P. ANDERSSON 1:31:35.7 0:00 1:31:35.7 43.4

[lukeh]

keep the results coming but i am so happy for chris atkinson 2nd rally and 3rd on first stage. I think he will become a world champion. when I watched it on t.v I almost started to cry
good job from marko martin he is in the puegeot and from what marcus gronholm has said about the car, last year. the car dosnt sound to good. but marko is still conteding for the wining position. last wrc round in sweden though on tv it showed you the difference in speed between the 2004 pug and the 2005 pug and the difference was quite amazing so maybe the pug is better.

[lukeh]

what happend to atkinson i look on all rally sited and cannot find him did he retire?

[Matra et Alpine]

He took over 5 minutes extra on stage 9 - see http://www.wrc.com/page/StageTimes/0...005139,00.html

That would be about a puncture's worth

[Cotterik]

solberg is keeping strong up at the front, like i said he would THe new impreza wrc2005 is obviously proving to be a great car, this should be his 2nd win of the season, and if he carrys on, maybe he can win the championship again

Latest times attatched

[DasModell]

Solberg won . with Loeb finishing 4th !!!!! . great recovery in the last stage . +30 seconds over Rovanpera and Gardermeister