WRC Rally Australia
FIA WRC Rd. 14
26-29 October, 2006
Leg 1
For anyone wanting an easy and predictable day of rallying, Perth was definitely not the place to be today. The first leg of the 2006 Telstra Rally Australia was full of incidents that shook up the order and potentially, could decide the championship.
The event began with the traditional double-blast around the superspecial stage in Gloucester Park on Thursday evening. However, as usual, the rally proper began on Friday morning, as the crews headed south from Perth to the fast gravel tracks in the forests.
Running first on the road, Marcus Gronholm knew that to keep his driver's title hopes alive, he needed to win. He'd said before the event that he would look at the positives and not be fazed by the prospect of sweeping the road clean for following drivers.
However, five kilometres into the first stage, it all went horribly wrong. He clipped a rock in a ditch and rolled off the road. He got going again but not before losing ten minutes to the front runners. He struggled through the following four stages before service with a sick car gradually filling with dust and finally arrived 12 minutes behind the leader.
Top of the leader-board to begin with was Chris Atkinson's, the Australian clearly revelling in his Subaru Impreza. He set the fastest time on each of the day's three stages and was looking good for upholding the team honours.
Behind him was a great scrap between Petter Solberg and Mikko Hirvonen; Solberg was complaining that the car was not set-up as he wanted it but the times were still coming in. Hirvonen, on the other hand, said he was suffering from running early on the road and was taking a cautious start. However, he still managed to claim second from Solberg on the second of the day's stages.
Another early casualty was Dani Sordo, whose Citroen Xsara lost all its gears just a few metres into the first of the day's stages. Matthew Wilson was another driver to fall foul of Gronholm's rock, bending a steering arm and ending his day's driving. His team-mate, Luis Perez Companc's day came to an end on the following stage, as he also rolled off the road and came to rest against a tree.
Atkinson's run of success was to be short-lived however, as he slid off the road and got his car beached in soft soil. The hot underside caused a small fire on dry undergrowth and by the time it was extinguished, he was out of the leg but would return for leg two.
Henning Solberg's event was also cut short, when he had a high-speed excursion after putting a wheel onto the loose gravel at the side of the road. When his car was returned to the service park, it was found that the 180kph impact with a tree had chipped the roll-cage and therefore, he would not be returning under SupeRally.
Atkinson's retirement handed the lead to Mikko Hirvonen, which he maintained to the end of the day over Solberg. However, the man on a mission after the lunchtime service was Marcus Gronholm, clearly not acknowledging first on the road as a disadvantage. In fact, for the last forest stage, it was a positive benefit, as dust clouds kicked up by the cars got progressively worse. In fact, he took almost a minute of the time he lost to the other WRCars back on one stage alone.
Xevi Pons enjoyed a clean and tidy first day, rewarding the faith the Kronos Total Citroen team put in him, to return to Perth in an excellent third place. Manfred Stohl is fourth, despite a difficult day where he was unable to get confident in the car or its handling.
Leg 2
The second leg of this weekend's Telstra Rally Australia was a much more drama-free affair than yesterday. Mikko Hirvonen and Petter Solberg enjoyed a huge scrap, the pair never more than fractions of seconds apart in terms of stage times, with Hirvonen maintaining control of the event and with it, the overall lead. Manfred Stohl consistently out-performed Xevi Pons throughout the day and ends leg two third.
The day began with five stages in the Bannister forestry complex, formerly known as Bunnings. All five stage wins went to a Ford, three to Hirvonen and two to Gronholm. However, so close were Hirvonen and Solberg that the gap between them changed by just 0.2 seconds over the five stages and 75Km. Gronholm began a steady climb back up the leader-board, heading back to Perth for the lunchtime service in 12th overall.
Manfred Stohl and Xevi Pons were also fighting for third place but the OMV Peugeot Norway driver began to demonstrate a distinct advantage, as Pons complained that he was finding it difficult to get the right feeling with the car. Stohl eventually headed back towards Perth for the first time today with an 11.4 second margin over Pons.
Behind them, there were four drivers returning under SupeRally regulations. Dani Sordo realised that there was absolutely no pointy in taking any big risks with the time lost on the first leg, missing each of the nine forest stages. So he spent the second day gaining experience, refining his pace notes and developing his Citroen Xsara ready for the following round in New Zealand.
In a similar vein, Chris Atkinson was putting in consistent times, working on his Subaru's set-up for the next round, explaining that the team were finding steps forward all the time.
Both of the Stobart VK Ford M-Sport drivers, Matthew Wilson and Luis Perez Companc were learning the event itself, each taking part for the first time. Perez said he was happy and enjoying the stages, while Wilson was happy to get to the end of the day's stages, having been first on the road in the Bannister complex and suffering with very little grip.
As the crews arrived at Perth for the service then, a rainstorm passed over and headed for the remaining two forest stages of the day. These were also the same two stages as yesterday afternoon, the second of which had caused so many problems with the dust. Many predicted the rain would help dampen down the problem, which the organisers had already resolved by introducing three minute gaps between cars.
As it transpired, the roads were not as damp as the drivers had thought. There were no major shake-ups in the standings, although both Xevi Pons and Petter Solberg said that they had taken soft tyres in anticipation of wetter stages.
So after two days, Hirvonen leads from Solberg, with Stohl in third and Pons fourth. However, at the end of the day, Marcus Gronholm had climbed up to 7th overall, just 45 seconds away from fifth place and the first group N car in the Production car World Rally Championship. At this rate, he will find himself in fifth within one or two stages on the final leg but will need at least two of the World Rally Cars ahead of him to drop at least nine minutes or retire to prevent Sebastien Loeb, undoubtedly watching the event from home with keen interest, to become the 2006 FIA World Rally Champion.
Leg 3
The final day of the last Telstra Rally Australia to be held in Perth was a relatively calm affair, with the manufacturer drivers remaining relatively static in the standings as they all drove with specific strategies in mind.
Mikko Hirvonen and Petter Solberg continued to swap stage times just as they had done throughout the event; they were never more than a few seconds apart, over the 100kms that made up the final leg. Had it not been for the time Solberg lost in the dust on the ninth stage of the event on Friday, the final result may well have been closer. As it was, the gap changed by just 4.8 seconds during the final day, culminating in a 37.1 second lead for Hirvonen.
The young Finn was understandably delighted to take his maiden FIA World Rally Championship win; "It's been a fantastic weekend," he said. "We got the lead early but the pressure was constant, from Petter and also to bring the car home and score points for the manufacturer's championship. I must say a big thank you to Jarmo [Lehtinen, co-driver] and the team. After the problem I had at shakedown, the car has been absolutely perfect. So now, my next challenge is to beat Marcus!"
Team-boss Malcolm Wilson was full of praise for Hirvonen; "This is brilliant, a dream result; for Mikko and his first WRC win and for the team. Mikko has been confident all weekend and has controlled the rally all the way through. We've seen him mature during the course of this year but to withstand the pressure that Petter was putting on him this weekend is fantastic."
Solberg was pleased with second, demonstrating the progress the Subaru World Rally team has made with the Impreza. He had been consistently on the pace throughout the rally and kept the pressure on Hirvonen for the full three days. It was only a loss of time in dense dust on the last forest stage on Friday that prevented him from realistically challenging for the win, despite maintaining the pressure. "I'm so pleased with this result. It shows that we're moving in the right direction. We still have some way to go but to get this result towards the end of such a year is very pleasing."
Austrian Manfred Stohl maintained the third place he held for the majority of the event, having got the advantage in a fierce battle with Xevi Pons on the first leg. His confidence grew steadily throughout the rally following what he admitted was perhaps too cautious a start. However, in hindsight, perhaps it was the perfect way to approach the early stages, with four drivers retiring on the first leg and Gronholm rolling. This is Stohl's second Australia podium in a row and is a fitting reward for the Bozian Racing organisation that runs the car, as his is the team's 100th WRC entry. It is also co-driver Ilka Minor's 50th WRC event, so plenty to celebrate for the OMV Peugeot Norway team in Perth tonight.
Pons put in an excellent performance to finish fourth, easily justifying Kronos Total Citroen's decision to nominate him as number one driver, to keep its manufacturer's title campaign alive. This is his third Rally Australia and he enjoyed a trouble-free event, driving carefully and with team goals in mind.
Marcus Gronholm finished fifth, a remarkable achievement considering the time lost on the opening forest stage, when he rolled and dropped to 56th and last overall. However, it was not enough to keep the fight for the drivers' title alive; he needed to finish third to take the fight to the next round. With a gap of more than eight minutes between him and Stohl, it would have taken a miracle. Sadly, none was forthcoming and so, subject to the official publication of the results by the FIA, Sebastien Loeb becomes 2006 FIA World Rally Champion without even being in Australia.
The result also means that BP-Ford extends its lead over Kronos Total Citroen to 16 points in the Manufacturer's championship with two rounds to go. 
-WRC.com
