New-Zealand (P) - 31 Aug-2 Sep 07

Posted: September 3, 2007 4:10 PM

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Grönholm wins Super Sunday showdown for Ford in Rally NZ
BP-Ford World Rally Team drivers Marcus Grönholm and Timo Rautiainen won Rally New Zealand today after a titanic battle with arch rival Sébastien Loeb produced the closest finish in the history of the FIA World Rally Championship. The ice-cool Finns withstood immense pressure inside their Ford Focus RS World Rally Car to win this 11th round of the series by just 0.3sec after more than 350km of blistering driving – a margin which equates to 7.5 metres or less than two car lengths!

It was 39-year-old Grönholm's fifth victory of the season and also his fifth in New Zealand, making him the most successful driver in the event's history. It extended his lead in the drivers' championship to 10 points. Team-mates Mikko Hirvonen and Jarmo Lehtinen finished third in another Focus RS to seal BP-Ford's seventh double podium of the season and extend the reigning champion's lead in the manufacturers' series to 46 points.

New Zealand's North Island roads provide some of the best rallying territory in the world. The smooth and flowing gravel speed tests wound their way through lush, green countryside close to the Tasman Sea coastline, west of Hamilton. Muddy roads during the opening leg contrasted with dry and dusty conditions throughout the second day and damp tracks today to provide a tricky tyre choice throughout the three-day event.

The margin between Grönholm and Loeb never rose above 15sec and the duo started the final leg with the Frenchman ahead by 1.7sec. After overnight storms the roads dried quickly but were still damp and Grönholm opted for BFGoodrich's soft compound rubber throughout the day's seven special stages covering 95.94km.

He moved ahead on the opening stage but Loeb retaliated to lead by 0.5sec after the next test. He extended that to 2.9sec before the BP-Ford driver edged ahead with three consecutive stage wins, culminating in a thrilling performance through the classic Whaanga Coast test, one of the most spectacular in the championship. Grönholm started the final 3.14km test with a 0.7s lead, enough to claim his 30th career win.

"It was an incredible fight all weekend and this win is fantastic for my championship hopes," said Grönholm. "It's the closest and best battle in my career and I'm delighted to have won it. There wasn't room for a single missed gearchange. I'm really happy for the team, more so because everyone was able to stand outside and watch the final stage near the service park and share in our excitement when we knew we had done it.

"I stayed calm in the rally car and that's something I've learned from many years' practice of attacking. The only big stress came with choosing tyres because the conditions were inconsistent and when it's as close as it has been here, then one wrong tyre choice would have ruined everything. It's good to extend my championship lead and I think it's going to be a great end to the season," he added.

Hirvonen held third from Friday's opening stage. With no pressure from behind and no opportunity to join the fierce battle ahead, the 27-year-old Finn took no risks to settle for his sixth consecutive podium and ninth of the season. "I made one wrong tyre choice on Friday and I was out of the battle," he said. "I'm not upset with third and I've enjoyed the weekend but I was a little unhappy with my driving and not being able to join Seb and Marcus in the fight for victory. But I feel like I've learned how to drive here and it was important for the team to get the points for third." BP-Ford team director Malcolm Wilson said the timing of the win was perfect considering the rallies remaining. "It's good psychologically for Marcus and has strengthened our position in both championships. It's outstanding for him to come from behind and win and I've never seen a finish like that in my career. When I saw Marcus jumping up and down on the roof of his car at the finish line I knew he had done it. Now I'm going to send him a bill for the dents to the roof!" he said.

Ford Team RS director Jost Capito was equally exhilarated by the outcome. "The drama and excitement we've seen over the weekend was a match for any of the world's great sporting events and demonstrates what a thrilling sport WRC is. My congratulations to Marcus and Timo who kept cool under the most extreme pressure," he said.

News from our Rivals
Behind the leading trio, Jari-Matti Latvala (Ford) and Chris Atkinson (Subaru) were engaged in a battle almost as exciting as the victory duel. Latvala started with a 10.5sec advantage but Atkinson clawed his way back into the lead on the penultimate stage and held on to take fourth by 4.6sec. Dani Sordo (Citroen) rounded off the top six. The only change to the leaderboard came when Henning Solberg (Ford) moved ahead of Stobart VK team-mate Matthew Wilson in ninth.

Next round
The championship returns to asphalt next month when Spain hosts Rally Catalunya on 4 - 7 October. Based in Salou, it is the first of two sealed surface fixtures on consecutive weekends.

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Dream start ends in disappointment for Alister McRae in New Zealand
After a dream start to his one-off return to the FIA World Rally Championship in New Zealand, when he won the New Zealand Rally Championship category of the event convincingly, Alister McRae was cruelly denied the overall Group N win of the event at the last moment. Having lead the class from the beginning of the second leg, the former works Hyundai and Mitsubishi driver suffered a puncture 10Km from the end of the penultimate stage and the time lost in changing the tyre meant that he dropped from a convincing lead to ninth in class and 21st overall.

Alister had already clinched both Friday and Saturday’s heat wins of the NZRC category of the event and with them, the overall win in the national class. With seven stages between him and the finish ramp in Hamilton, he knew exactly what he needed to do to secure the outright Group N win on his first WRC event in almost a year.

Rain throughout the preceding night and during the morning meant that the first loop of three stages was very slippery and treacherous. However, Alister started the day with an almost-30 second lead over Niall McShea in Group N. He and co-driver Erin Kyle settled into a pace that would ensure they remained ahead of the Irishman, as well as the FIA Production car World Rally Championship leader, Toshi Arai.

While Arai managed to close the gap slightly during the morning, the second loop of stages were beginning to dry and Alister maintained his lead and even opened it slightly, to almost 40seconds entering the last ‘proper’ stage of the event before the final superspecial, the 30Km Whaanga Coast test.

However, 20Km into the stage, the front-right tyre on the Taylor Motorsport-run Mitsubishi Lancer EvoIX caught a rock in one of the ruts and punctured. With 10Km of the stage left to run, over tight and twisty sections, the crew was forced to stop and change the tyre to avoid damaging the car or going off the road. The resulting three-minute time loss dropped them from the convincing class lead and 12th overall to ninth and 21st overall, by the time they returned to the finish ramp in Hamilton.

McRae was understandably bitterly disappointed; having already achieved the double win in the NZRC class and coming so close to the WRC Group N class win as well. “It’s a pity we didn’t get the result,” he said, “especially when we were so close. The car set-up and the Silverstone tyres had been working extremely well all day. There was just a small rock step in one of the ruts and the tyre must have caught it at a funny angle and punctured. We had to stop and change it, otherwise we could have damaged the car or had an accident, which would have been far worse.

“Of course, winning both the heats, on Friday and Saturday and taking the overall win in the New Zealand Rally Championship class was a fantastic result and one which I was delighted to be able to achieve for our sponsors KPMG New Zealand, Waikato Milking Systems and for the team. KPMG and Waikato were delighted with that and the Taylor Motorsport team did a fantastic job of preparing and running the car during the event. Erin also did a superb job co-driving for me this weekend, on an event that is very challenging for an experienced crew, let alone one competing together for the first time. I have to thank all of them for their support and efforts in making this weekend, and the results we achieved, possible.

“The most frustrating thing for me is that we’d had such a good event up to that point and it looked like we were on for the result which I believe we deserved. It was a small team running the programme and it would have been fantastic to add the Group N win to the achievements this weekend. But I think we showed what we can do, even when we haven’t competed in the WRC since Wales Rally GB last year and we should all be extremely proud of that.”

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Niall McShea/Gordon Noble lost out on the PWRC win by 2.6 seconds to Toshi Arai

Full Results
www.wrc.com - World Rally Championship Offical Site

Rally New Zealand

• 2007 FIA World Rally Championship

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PRE EVENT NEWS

• Entry List available
• Alister McRae returns to WRC on Rally New Zealand
• Event Website

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24/08/07
Entry List on Event Website:

Rally New Zealand

• 2007 FIA World Rally Championship

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31/07/07
Alister McRae returns to WRC on Rally New Zealand
Former British Rally Champion and works driver for Hyundai and Mitsubishi, Alister McRae, will make a welcome one-off return to the FIA World Rally Championship later this month when he takes part in Rally New Zealand, the 11th round of the 2007 season. Alister’s entry has been made possible by professional services firm KPMG, which will be supporting his challenge in the Taylor Motorsport-run Group N Mitsubishi Evo9.

After a positive start to the season in New Zealand, when Alister finished the first round of the domestic championship seventh after running as high as second overall, he is understandably delighted to be returning to the WRC on his favourite event. Like many drivers, he relishes the challenge of the North Island stages, with their high speed and flowing nature.

His Rally NZ challenge will be run by Taylor Motorsport, using a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 in Group N specification. Alister will be co-driven by Erin Kyle, one of New Zealand’s up and coming co-drivers. Alister worked with 22 year-old Erin earlier in the year, as she was involved in the team’s challenge on the Otago Rally after winning a national co-driver scholarship.

“I’m delighted to be returning to the FIA World Rally Championship for this year’s Rally New Zealand,” Alister said. “The rally is my favourite event and not only do I always enjoy driving there, I’ve had a fair degree of success as well. I was second in Formula 2 in 1999 and took Hyundai’s first outright stage win in the Accent World Rally Car there. I was also third in the Production car World Rally Championship in 2004, even with several technical problems.”

The support of KPMG, the global network of Audit, Tax and Advisory providers will be invaluable for Alister’s southern challenge. Alister is a former client of the organisation and therefore, has a long-standing relationship, which resulted in the partnership for this event.

“I’m delighted to be welcoming KPMG aboard for this event and am of course very grateful for their support. I’ve known the company for some years, when I was a client and have always enjoyed an extremely professional yet personal relationship with them. I’m sure that this event will reward both parties.”

Tony McNaught, a partner at KPMG New Zealand, said; “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to bring one of the world’s leading rally drivers to New Zealand.”

Not only will KPMG be focussing on its relationship with Alister during the rally itself, it will also be taking part in a co-drive event prior to the start, to allow its key clients to get a true taste of rallying. “The company has asked us to carry out a drive day for its guests and this is always an excellent opportunity to show people what rallying is all about. It’s one thing watching the stages in New Zealand but it’s quite another to get a feel for what it’s like actually inside the car,” said Alister.

The event itself begins with a ceremonial start in the town of Hamilton on the evening of Thursday 30 August, before three days of action. Based at the Mystery Creek leisure complex at Hamilton, crews will face 18 stages over the three days, totalling more than 360 kilometres. These will include three runs of the Mystery Creek superspecial stage, on each of the three days, before the winning crew takes the top step of the podium at 15.00hrs on Sunday 2 September.

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18/07/07

Rally New Zealand

• 2007 FIA World Rally Championship