Day 1
Despite storms and torrential rain in the run-up to the event and the cancellation of three stages on safety grounds, the opening leg of the Rally of Turkey was one of the closest-run things for a long time.
With the absence of Sebastien Loeb, many thought Marcus Gronholm would run away with the event but that wasn't to be the case. The Finn won three of the day's stages but Petter Solberg, clearly back on form, won the other three and, as the field headed back to service in Kemer in Anatolia, was just 26 seconds behind Gronholm. But behind them, there are position changes with almost every stage, as the crews threaded their way through a series of extremely slippery stages.
The day's first two stages were cancelled because the medical helicopter would not have been able to land if it were needed, due to low cloud and heavy rain. Both were driven as road sections and the crews proceeded to SS3, where the action began. Once again, Gronholm set the pace, despite having no windscreen washer fluid and making full advantage of running first on the road. The conditions were so bad, many drivers were content just to get to the end of the stage, rather than worry about times.
However, following service, the rain abated and the stages began to dry out. The Turkish roads are renowned for drying quickly and this was no exception. Stage four was again cancelled, this time because of mud and stage five was shortened, starting around its mid-point. Most drivers reported better grip over the stages and Gronholm was again fastest, benefiting from being first car on the drying gravel. McRae moved past Henning Solberg to take fourth, despite mud tyres moving around too much under him. Manfred Stohl was suffering a power loss which he couldn't explain and Kosti Katajamaki was putting in a strong of excellent times, although he did admit he couldn't go any faster.
The day's final loop of stages began with a short 5.50Km, the shakedown stage run in reverse direction, followed by a near-30Km test higher up in the mountains. The first of the two was muddy and slippery but the later was expected to be drier. It was but not as dry as some expected. Both Fords and Subarus seemed to be happy with their selection but Dani Sordo and McRae weren't; each had taken far too hard a tyre for the long stage and lost grip, and time, in the process. The time loss meant that not only did Henning Solberg pass McRae, so did Kosti Katajamaki and Chris Atkinson, as the field headed for the superspecial, with the Scot in seventh. For Petter Solberg, running fifth on the road, it was the ideal place to be, as the surface dried out with each passing car and his grip levels increased accordingly. He went on to set the fastest time on each of the last three stages of the day.
On the final superspecial, Colin McRae went joint second fastest with Mikko Hirvonen, reclaiming sixth place from Chris Atkinson for leg two.
Day 2
The second leg of Rally Turkey saw extreme weather conditions, and though the weather was a major challenge for all of the drivers, the second leg was fortunate to not suffer the same fate of cancelled stages that blemished the opening leg.
BP-Ford World Rally Team ace Marcus Gronholm has lead Rally Turkey from the start of the opening day until the end of the second, and though Gronholm has benefited from the absence of his main competitor this season, Sebastien Loeb, the Finn has not utterly dominated the rally as many had expected.
Gronholm began the day with a 26.1 second lead over Subaru World Rally Team's Petter Solberg, and though he did increase his overall rally lead by the end of the second leg, Gronholm and his Ford Focus RS suffered when the conditions turned wet and slippery.
It was not Petter Solberg, however, who finished the second leg in second overall. A collision with a rock only four kilometres into the penultimate stage of the day saw Solberg's Impreza bounce into a ditch. Solberg and co-driver Phil Mills were unable to get the Impreza out of the gully, and the duo was unable to complete that or the final stage of the day.
Solberg had run incredibly well during the second day, and at one point, the Norwegian even caused noticeable concern with Marcus Gronholm. In a season that has seen one disappointment after another for Solberg, it seems unfair that one man bare such incredibly bad luck.
Mikko Hirvonen had spent the majority of the second leg in third overall and was the immediate beneficiary of Solberg's retirement. Hirvonen and Gronholm look to provide Ford with their first one-two finish in three years, as neither driver is in immediate danger of losing their position.
Though as fate would have it, there is a Solberg in the top three as the field moved into the final leg of Rally Turkey.This honour goes to Henning Solberg, elder brother to the Subaru ace and former World Champion Petter Solberg. Henning Solberg has never claimed a podium position in the FIA World Rally Championship, though he has come close several times.
Chris Atkinson is now the standard-barer for the Subaru team, as the young Australian carries fourth overall into the final day. Atkinson began the day in seventh overall but was able to move up through the standings thanks to a dawdling Kosti Katajamaki and Colin McRae.
Katajamaki was as high as third overall during the early stages of the opening leg, but the difficult conditions saw Katajamaki fall to fifth overall at the end of the second leg.
Xavier Pons has gone largely unnoticed this weekend, despite holding sixth on the leaderboard at the end of the second leg. Pons had only minor moments of drama during the second day, the most memorable being miscalculated pacenotes.The pacenotes were not so bad as to end his rally, and Pons has posted a solid result despite not being one of the two nominated drivers for manufacturers' points.Pons is the highest placed Citroen Xsara in Rally Turkey, ahead of team-mates Dani Sordo and McRae.
McRae has steadily slid down the overall classifications during the two days of Rally Turkey. The 1995 World Champion had been fourth overall during the early stages of the opening leg, but ill-tyre choices saw McRae give away place after place on the leaderboard until he fell to eighth overall. McRae moved into seventh overall after the retirement of Petter Solberg.
Francois Duval has also kept quiet this weekend, but the Belgian has posted several competitive stage times and ended the second day eighth overall. As with nearly every outing for him this season, Duval suffered problems with his brakes overheating, but unlike several events this season, the problem never became a catastrophe, which allowed the 2005 Telstra Rally Australia winner to complete the second leg holding onto a point position.
Manfred Stohl holds ninth overall leading into the final leg. Stohl suffered problems throughout the rally, and the usually consistent OMV-Peugeot Norway World Rally Team ace has spent a majority of his rally trying to correct for mistakes that have prevented him from moving into the top eight.
Dani Sordo is contesting Rally Turkey for the first time in a World Rally Car, and the young Spaniard has shown moments of brilliance, like claiming the fastest time on the penultimate stage of the day. Though he has been unable to move into the top eight after the first two days, Sordo remains in position to gain manufacturers' points by the end of the event. Sordo currently holds 10th overall.
Andreas Aigner and Harri Rovanpera finished the second leg 11th and 12th respectively.The Red Bull Skoda drivers have driven a rather clean event, and after the disappointing withdrawal of both drivers from Rally Cyprus late last month, simply finishing the event with both cars intact will be a major accomplishment for the team.
Day 3
Clear skies and drier conditions marked the final three stages of Rally Turkey. After two days of extremely difficult weather conditions, many drivers were pleased to have a day of action without hail, monsoon-like rains, or even snowy conditions.
Marcus Gronholm began and ended the third leg on the top of the leaderboard and claimed his fifth FIA World Rally Championship victory of the season.
The weekend was as good as it could get for the BP-Ford World Rally Team with Mikko Hirvonen matching his best-ever WRC result, second overall. The BP-Ford team, which trailed the Kronos Total Citroen World Rally Team in the manufacturers' standings coming into Turkey, now has possession of the championship lead by eight points.
OMV-Peugeot Norway World Rally Team driver Henning Solberg finished Rally Turkey with his best-ever WRC finish, third overall. Even with brake problems and several drivers breathing down his neck during the third leg, Solberg managed to find his first WRC podium in Turkey.
Xavier Pons finished Rally Turkey as the highest placed Citroen Xsara. Pons began the day sixth, moved up two places in the overall classifications on the final stage of the day to match his best result of the season. Unfortunately for the Kronos Total Citroen World Rally Team, Pons was not nominated to score points for the manufacturers' championship.
Stobart VK M-Sport Ford Rally Team driver Kosti Katajamaki finished the rally with his best-ever WRC finish, fifth overall. His previous top place was sixth in the Uddeholm Swedish Rally earlier this year. Katajamaki had been as high as third overall early in the event, and for several stages during the second leg, it looked as though Katajamaki was in danger of being passed by quicker drivers. Luckily for the Stobart team, that did not happen, and the team had one of their best finishes of the season.
Chris Atkinson began the day fourth overall, but problems during the day saw the young Australian drop to sixth by the end of the rally. Because of his team-mates problems during the end of the second leg, Atkinson finishes Turkey as the highest placed Subaru. Turkey was the sixth rally this season where Atkinson had a point scoring finish.
Dani Sordo finished Rally Turkey seventh overall, after a weekend where it seemed he would not finish inside the top-eight. Sordo was contesting the event for the first time in a World Rally car and like many of the other drivers in the field, had difficulty adjusting to the extreme weather conditions of the first and second days. Sordo began the day 10th, but problems suffered by Francois Duval and his team-mate for the weekend, Colin McRae, saw the 2005 J-WRC champion move into seventh overall.
Manfred Stohl had many problems throughout the weekend, and he too was the beneficiary of problems suffered by Duval and McRae. Stohl finished Turkey eighth overall, and though he finished with only one drivers point, Stohl will maintain possession of fifth in the drivers' championship.
Duval finished the rally ninth overall, the highest placed Skoda Fabia in Turkey. Things looked good for Duval, but brake problems which had plagued the Belgian throughout his tenure with the Fabia were again present this weekend.
Andreas Aigner and Harri Rovanpera finished the event tenth and eleventh respectively. After a Rally Cyprus where neither Red Bull Skoda driver completed the event, or even the first leg, both drivers were happy with finishing the event with their Fabias intact.
Stobart's Matthew Wilson completed Rally Turkey in one piece, which was especially impressive considering that Michael Orr, his co-driver, had a dislocated vertebra.
Petter Solberg completed the event 13th after starting the day in 14th overall. Solberg ran well throughout the three stages, but the time difference between he and those above him on the leaderboard were impossible to overcome. Solberg's luck had seemed to turn during the first two legs when he captured and held second overall. It was not until the penultimate stage of the second leg when Solberg hit a rock four kilometres into the stage that ended his day early and prevented him from claiming a podium finish in Turkey. It was especially disappointing considering just how pleased he had been with his Impreza during the weekend.
Colin McRae stopped on the final stage of Rally Turkey. It was not known if the problems were caused by a battery failure or alternator troubles. The team has not yet had a chance to examine the Xsara to see exactly what the problem was. McRae had been brought to Turkey to help aide the Kronos Total Citroen team in their quest to hold the manufacturers' championship lead but ill-tyre choices and tricky weather conditions were especially difficult on the driver who had not competed in a WRC event since late 2005.
Final Results
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