CYPRUS [P] WRC - 13-15 May 05

Posted: May 21, 2005 11:58 PM

Citroën's Sebastien Loeb extended his overall lead in the FIA World Rally Championship, after cruising to an emphatic victory in the Cyprus Rally, round six of the 16-event series, in Limassol, today (Saturday).

Rocky stages and dry, dusty conditions caused a high rate of attrition among the leading cars and both former World Champions Marcus Grönholm and Petter Solberg were sidelined with engine problems on day one. This paved the way for Loeb to pull away from the field and he eventually cruised to the finish 4m 09.5s ahead of second-placed Austrian Manfred Stohl, who took a career-best second overall in his OMV-backed Citroen Xsara.

"Everything worked perfectly for us today," said Loeb. "It was strange being out in front with a good lead and no real pressure and it has put me in a strong position now in the championship."

Loeb and co-driver Daniel Elena extended their overnight lead to 3m 38s through the 13th stage, as Stohl maintained second position and Martin closed the gap on third-placed Solberg to a mere 7.4 seconds. The Estonian was on a charge and moved to within 1.9 seconds of the Norwegian through the 14th stage, as Loeb set yet another fastest time.

Solberg was demoted to fourth through the 15th stage when he stalled the Ford after an engine fly-by-wire problem and lost 15 seconds, but he redressed the balance in the Vavatsinia stage by beating Martin by 8.6 seconds to close within 5.1 seconds of the podium. An inspired Martin put the outcome beyond doubt in the penultimate Machiaras stage when he beat Solberg by 16.9 seconds and with only 9.49 kms of Kellaki to run, the Estonian had done enough to snatch third position. "I lost my place when the engine stalled several times," said Solberg. "It was really bad luck."

Finland's Toni Gardemeister was an untroubled fifth in the factory Ford Focus RS, well ahead of Czech team mate Roman Kresta. The Finn also set his first two outright fastest stage times in the WRC on the 11th and 16th stages. "The times might not suggest it, but I was driving quite slowly," said Toni. "It's hard to find a good rhythm when the pace is not 100%."

Mitsubishi's Harri Rovanpera benefitted from the Super Rally regulations to restart this morning in seventh place, after suspension problems and sump damage on Saturday. "We were cruising today," said the Finn. "We had the steering wheel work loose in SS13 and then a rear left puncture, but nothing serious today."

Sweden's Daniel Carlsson (Peugeot 206) took eighth overall, Finnish Skoda driver Janne Tuohino finished in ninth in his Fabia and the revitalised Australian Subaru driver Chris Atkinson completed the top 10.

For the second successive year Cypriot Andreas Tsouloftas was the leading local driver. Last year he finished ninth overall and he would have been an impressive 11th overall this year had reinstated Super Rally drivers not pushed him down to 15th place.

Germany's Anthony Warmbold succumbed to oil pressure problems late on Saturday evening and started the final leg in 10th position. Unfortunately the Ford's oil pressure slumped again on the road section to the 13th stage and he was forced to retire. Britain's Natalie Barratt retired two stages from the end when she left the road and spent several anxious minutes with two wheels teetering over the edge of a precipice.

Frenchman Brice Tirabassi held a 2m 17s advantage over Argentina's Sebastien Beltran in the FIA Production Car World Championship category at the start of the final day and extended his advantage to 3m 10s after the 15th stage. He eventually held on to take victory and his first PWRC points of the season.

Argentinean Marcos Ligato held third place, despite shock absorber problems, and fellow countryman Gabriel Pozzo was fourth. Japan's Toshi Arai maintains the overall championship lead, but Malaysia's Karamjit Singh rolled out of the rally in the 14th stage.

Oman's Hamed Al-Wahaibi came under pressure from Qatar's Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah for fifth place early on Sunday. The Omani's cause was not helped when he broke an anti-roll bar, bent a steering arm and suffered power steering problems in unlucky SS13. Al-Attiyah eventually finished fifth, but the luckless Al-Wahaibi retired three stages from the end with a broken steering rack.

2005 Cyprus Rally - positions after SS18:
1. Sebastien Loeb (F)/Daniel Elena (F) Citroën Xsara 5h 02m 29.4s
2. Manfred Stohl (A)/Ilka Minor (A) Citroën Xsara WRC 2004 5h 06m 38.9s
3. Markko Martin (EE)/Michael Park (GB) Peugeot 307 WRC 5h 07m 11.3s
4. Henning Solberg (N)/Cato Menkerud (N) Ford Focus RS WRC 04 5h 07m 45.1s
5. Toni Gardemeister (FIN)/Jakke Honkanen (FIN) Ford Focus RS WRC 04 5h 10m 06.7s
6. Roman Kresta (CZ)/Jan Mozny (CZ) Ford Focus RS WRC 04 5h 12m 46.8s
7. Harri Rovanperä (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer WR05 5h 14m 48.1s
8. Daniel Carlsson (S)/Mattias Andersson (S) Peugeot 206 WRC 5h 18m 32.6s
9. Janne Tuohino (FIN)/Mikko Markkula (FIN) Skoda Fabia WRC 5h 19m 15.7s
10. Chris Atkinson (AUS)/Glenn MacNeall (AUS) Subaru Impreza WRC 2005 5h 29m 30.9s

Cyprus Rally Website

Cyprus Photos
Sperrins Photography - John O'Neill

www.wrc.com - World Rally Championship Offical Site

• 2005 World Rally Championship

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• Along with WRC & PWRC regulars navigators Michael Orr and Trevor Agnew, MJ Morrissey is also co-driving on the Event
• RECENT CYPRUS RALLY WINNERS AND WRC LEADERS SOLBERG AND LOEB SET FOR DUEL IN THE MOUNTAINS

Michael Orr is co-driving for Anthony Warmbold, Trevor Agnew with Mark Higgins and Michael Morrissey with Germany driver Edith Weiss is a Skoda Octavia Kit Car

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RECENT CYPRUS RALLY WINNERS AND WRC LEADERS SOLBERG AND LOEB SET FOR DUEL IN THE MOUNTAINS

Martin, Grönholm and Gardemeister aim to close gap on WRC leaders; Qatar's Al-Attiyah and Oman's Al-Wahaibi among leading PWRC runners

Last year's Cyprus Rally winner and defending FIA World Rally Champion Sebastien Loeb will be hoping to extend his slender one-point lead in the championship when he leads 60 international teams to the ceremonial start of the Cyprus Rally in Limassol on Thursday evening.

The Citroën driver currently has a single point advantage over the 2003 FIA World Rally Champion Petter Solberg in the Drivers' Championship, courtesy of a trio of outright victories this year in Monte Carlo, New Zealand and Sardinia. Solberg won the other two rallies in Sweden and Mexico, as the Frenchman and the Norwegian have pulled clear of their closest rivals Markko Martin, Marcus Grönholm and Toni Gardemeister at this early point in the season.

Loeb starts as the slight favourite to win the 18-gravel stage event along the sinuous tracks of the Troodos mountains, north of Limassol, as he bids to add to Citroën's points tally in the battle with Peugeot, Subaru and Ford for the Manufacturers' title. His team carried out a four-day test in Greece after the last event in Sardinia.

"It has been a good start to the season," said Loeb. "Perhaps, better than last year. In 2004 my third win came after the event in Cyprus. This year I won in Sardinia. When I feel that the combination of the Xsara, my tyres and myself are in a position to win, then I push."

In what is developing into the closest WRC for many years, Peugeot's Martin and Gronhölm have given the French manufacturer an 11-point lead in the series after five rounds. Mitsubishi's Harri Rovanperä has shown a rich turn of form in recent Cyprus rallies and was runner-up two years ago in a Peugeot 206 WRC. The new Lancer showed promise in New Zealand last month and the Finn will be keen to change the Japanese company's run of poor fortune. Belgian Francois Duval and Frenchman Gilles Panizzi cannot be ruled out either.

This year's Cyprus Rally also counts as the third round of the FIA Production Car World Rally Championship and sees Japan's Toshi Arai hoping to extend his three-point lead over Spain's Xavier Pons in the points' standings. Both drivers have taken a victory apiece so far this season and already have a good lead over the likes of Italy's Angelo Medeghini and Fabio Frisiero and Japan's Fumio Nutahara.

The Cyprus Rally is the Middle East's round of the WRC and this year's event will see Oman's Hamed Al-Wahaibi pitched against Qatar's Middle East championship leader Nasser Saleh Al-Attiyah for the second time this year. Both drivers missed the opening round in Sweden and the Qatari got the better of his Omani rival in New Zealand, slipping from second to fourth overall late on.

Al-Wahaibi and British co-driver David Senior will be hoping to redress the balance in the Troodos mountains, but Al-Attiyah is unbeaten in the Middle East since last September and set 18 fastest stage times during last weekend's WRC candidate rally in Jordan.

"Last weekend has given me great confidence for this rally," said Al-Attiyah. "The stages around the Dead Sea were rocky and twisty and very similar to Cyprus. We have managed to get as close to the Cyprus Rally set-up for the car as we could."

A strong Cyprus contingent bolsters the lower reaches of the entry list. Multiple Cyprus National Champion Andreas Tsouloftas - fresh from taking sixth place in Jordan last weekend - takes part in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 6. Tsouloftas finished ninth overall in Cyprus last year and is joined by the likes of Andreas Peratikos, Chris Thomas, Kikis Koutsakos, Yiotis Hartoupalos and Demetris Papasavvas.

Teams carried out their detailed reconnaissance of the route on Tuesday and today (Wednesday) and will take part in a timed shakedown stage on Thursday. After a ceremonial start at 20.30 hrs on Thursday evening on the Promenade in Limassol, competitive action begins at 09.35 hrs on Friday morning with the first of six timed stages in leg one.

A further six special stages take place on both Saturday and Sunday, with the event reaching a conclusion on the seafront in Limassol at 15.15 hrs on Sunday afternoon.

2005 Cyprus Rally - top 10 starters 1. Sebastien Loeb (F)/Daniel Elena (F) Citroën Xsara
5. Petter Solberg (N)/Philip Mills (GB) Subaru Impreza WRC 2004
8. Markko Martin (EE)/Michael Park (GB) Peugeot 307 WRC
7. Marcus Grönholm (FIN)/Timo Rautiainen (FIN) Peugeot 307 WRC
3. Toni Gardemeister (FIN)/Jakke Honkanen (FIN) Ford Focus RS WRC 04
9. Harri Rovanpera (FIN)/Risto Pietilainen (FIN) Mitsubishi Lancer WR05
10. Gilles Panizzi (F)/Herve Panizzi (F) Mitsubishi Lancer WR05
2. Francois Duval (B)/Stéphane Prevot (B) Citroen Xsara
4. Roman Kresta (CZ)/Jan Mozny (CZ) Ford Focus RS WRC 04
14. Henning Solberg (N)/Cazto Menkerud (N) Ford Focus RS WRC 04

Cyprus Rally

• 2005 World Rally Championship