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Monte-Carlo () - 19-21 Jan 07Posted: January 26, 2007 3:27 PM - 8729 Hits Round 1 - 2007 FIA World Rally Championship
Posted: January 26, 2007 3:27 PM
No ‘Arm done as Loeb clinches Season Opener It was a one-two finish for Citroen in the opening round of the World Rally Championships in Monte Carlo this weekend, which also saw three Irish competitors finishing in the top 15. The release of the Citroen C4 WRC proved to be a winner, with Frenchman Sébastian Loeb and his Spanish team-mate Dani Sordo dominating the tarmac stages ahead of BP Ford Team’s Marcus Gronholm’s Focus WRC. Despite recovering from a broken arm and coming to grips with the new car, the reigning Wold Champion never looked off the pace. At well over a minute behind the leader, Finland’s Gronholm found himself in no-man’s land, unable to catch up to Loeb, and with no real prospect of being caught, so concentrated his efforts on the final leg in maintaining a safe and steady pace. The real dogfight in the event was the battle for fourth and fifth position between Gronholm’s team-mate and fellow Finn Mikko Hirvonnen and the Subaru of Australian Chris Atkinson, who went into the final stage on Sunday morning separated by only 0.8 seconds. Atkinson, however, emerged victorious, with the slimmest 0.2 second margin, having given Subaru their first tarmac stage victories since Monte Carlo last year. Irish pair Gareth MacHale and Paul Nagle, who will contest eleven WRC rounds this year, were delighted to finish the event in 11th position overall. “Monte Carlo has a reputation as being the best and most challenging tarmac round in the Championships for competitors, so we were keen to move up the rankings from 16th on last year’s event and this finish has been an excellent result,” said MacHale. “I have no doubt, though, that the top WRC teams will regard Ireland as the best, most challenging tarmac round come Rally Ireland WRC in November!” Rallye Monte Carlo is the first of sixteen rounds in the World Rally Championships. Rally Ireland WRC will be the penultimate round, and could see both the drivers and manufacturers championships being hotly contested. Michael Orr from Bangor, co-driving with Matt Wilson in the Stobart M-Sport Ford WRC team, took 12th place two minutes behind MacHale and Nagle. Eamonn Boland (Wexford) and Francis Regan (Belfast) finished the event in 15th place, having maintained a steady pace throughout. A Great Start to the year for MacHale Irish competitors Gareth MacHale and Paul Nagle have finished an excellent 11th place in the World Rally Championship season opener in Monte Carlo this weekend. MacHale kicked off Thursdays stages in 14th place, but posted the eleventh fastest time on the St. Pierreville stage, 2.1 seconds ahead of Subaru’s Petter Soldberg, to move up to 12th overall, a position he retained until Saturday evening. An understeer and collision with a stone wall on the penultimate stage then caused Finnish competitor Yari-Matti Latvala to lose valuable time, allowing MacHale and Nagle to move up the ranking. The pair took to the roads of the Ardeche region of France, the Rally’s new home this year, in their 2003 Ford Focus WRC, which ran perfectly all weekend, seeing the pair beat off stiff competition from a number of other privateer teams. “Monte Carlo has a reputation as being the best and most challenging tarmac round in the Championships for competitors, so we were keen to move up the rankings from 16th on last year’s event and this finish has been an excellent result,” said MacHale. “I have no doubt, though, that the top WRC teams will regard Ireland as the best, most challenging tarmac round come Rally Ireland WRC in November!” The team will unveil their new 2006 Ford Focus WRC, jointly prepared by M-Sport and Tom Gahan, in advance of the Galway International Rally the first weekend of February and were confident that it would be onwards and upwards as the season progressed. MacHale said: “Obviously it’ll take a little time getting used to the left hand drive and getting the feel of the car, but given that it’s three years newer that what we’re in, we’re hoping it gives us an edge to continue improving throughout the season.” Citroen’s release of the C4 WRC proved to be a winner, with Sébastian Loeb and Danni Sordo dominating the tarmac stages ahead of BP Ford Team’s Marcus Gronholm’s Focus WRC. The real dogfight in the event was the battle for fourth and fifth position between Mikko Hirvonnen and Chris Atkinson, who went into the final stage on Sunday morning separated by only 0.8 seconds. Atkinson, however, emerged victorious, with the slimmest 0.2 second margin. Eamonn Boland & Francis Regan finished in 15th. Full Results and News PRE EVENT NEWS
16/01/07 MacHale takes on the World Gareth MacHale and Paul Nagle kick off the World Rally Championship (WRC) Season in Monte Carlo this Thursday; the first of eleven rounds of the sixteen the pair plan to compete in this year. Gareth said: “Last year was a great introduction to WRC for us. Being the first Irish competitors to score World Championship points since Billy Coleman in the Tour de Corse in 1985 was an excellent achievement for me personally and indeed for the whole team. Our goal this year is to continue to make an impact and to get ten months solid practice in before Rally Ireland WRC in November, where we aim to give the international competition a real run for their money at home.” MacHale and Nagle will take to the French roads in the 2003 Ford Focus which served them so well in Rally Ireland and Rally GB last year, but plan to unveil their new vehicle in advance of the Galway International Rally the first weekend of February. “We’ve put some new sponsors in place for this year and are preparing the new car, which will get its first outing next month. We’ll then have a month of testing before going back to Rally Mexico in March, where we scored our championship points last year. Internationally, MacHale and Nagle plan to compete in the World Rally Championship rounds in Monte Carlo, Mexico, Portugal, Argentina, Sardinia, Finland, Germany, Corsica, Catalunya, Ireland and Wales Rally GB, whilst at home they will take part in both the Galway and Donegal International Rallies. Rally Monte Carlo has been completely revised this year, with the Service Park moving to Valence in the Ardèche region of France. Competitors will face some challenging terrain in the Vercors mountains, including a stage passing over the massive 46km St Pierreville - Antraigues. The rally concludes on Sunday morning in its traditional Monte Carlo home, where a Super Special Stage around the harbour area of Monaco's Grand Prix circuit brings the competition to a close. In total, there are 15 stages covering 328.54km in a route of 1185.02km. 14/01/07 Leading the Irish Challenge in Monte Carlo is Michael Orr, who will be co-driving for Matthew Wilson throughout the entire 2007 WRC Championship Gareth MacHale will most likely use the 03 Focus in Monte Carlo, before making his debut with the 06 Left Hand Drive Ford Focus WRC on the Galway International. Full Entry List on:
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