Rally Germany 2007
Rally Germany is over and done! It was actually a very exciting weekend even though the results weren't quite the ones most of us Subaru fans had hoped for!
At the end of the 2nd day there were 3 Subarus in the top 10, two in the top 8! Quite amazing!!!
Unfortunately Chris Atkinson had an off on the first day and had to climb all the way from the bottom to the top 10 by the end of day 2. He showed the most incredible speed on Day 2 and 3 that many were amazed! But, another unfortunate off on Day 3 when he hit a wall and damaged the car and it was "rally over!" Xevi Pons also suffered engine trouble on the first stage of Day 3 and was out. So it was just the time for Petter to tow the line for the Subaru World Rally Team.
The last stages were very eventful! Toni Gardemeister in a Citroen had trouble the final few stages which dropped him down (sorry Toni) and boosted Petter up! And the biggest event of the day was in the final stage when Marcus Gronholm (BP Ford team) who had been holding 2nd place had an off and damaged his car severely. At the time control Colin Clark (Rally Radio) said it was unclear whether Marcus could even make it the 30kms back to service. Under new rules in 2007 the cars can't go into service dragging on 3 wheels like in the past. The car has to have all four wheels into the final service for scrutineering. Marcus did make it back in the end but had lost so much time on the final stage that he gave up his 2nd to Francois Duval (Kronos Citroen) and Marcus' team mate Mikko Hirvonen moved up to 3rd and Marcus had to settle into 4th place. When Colin interviewed him later he said he was surely disappointed but this is rally and anything can happen until the very last second.
Petter ended the rally in 6th place, his best ever finish for Rally Germany and took 3 points. Jari-Matti also ended the rally in the last points position and scored a point for 8th place. Jari-Matti's first ever tarmac rally points! So all in all the result wasn't so bad!
The top 8 looked like this:
1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen
2. Francois Duval, Citroen +20,3
3. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +1.19,1
4. Marcus Grønholm, Ford +1.36,5
5. Jan Kopecky, Skoda +3.07,0
6. Petter Solberg, Subaru +3.14,7
7. Toni Gardemeister, Mitsubishi +3.37,5
8. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford +5.29,3
In fact Petter would have been in 5th if it hadn't been for a gear box and clutch change which had to be done at mid day service. It normally takes more time but they managed to do it in 10 minutes but Petter was still 1 minute late out of service time control and incurred a 10 second penalty! Click Here to see the fantastic mechanics who made it possible and set a time record!
As a result the season standings have Gronholm in 1st, Loeb in 2nd, Mikko in 3rd and Petter in 4th!
Well done everyone, we are on to New Zealand in 10 days time!
Love,
Viki
xxoo
At the end of the 2nd day there were 3 Subarus in the top 10, two in the top 8! Quite amazing!!!
Unfortunately Chris Atkinson had an off on the first day and had to climb all the way from the bottom to the top 10 by the end of day 2. He showed the most incredible speed on Day 2 and 3 that many were amazed! But, another unfortunate off on Day 3 when he hit a wall and damaged the car and it was "rally over!" Xevi Pons also suffered engine trouble on the first stage of Day 3 and was out. So it was just the time for Petter to tow the line for the Subaru World Rally Team.
The last stages were very eventful! Toni Gardemeister in a Citroen had trouble the final few stages which dropped him down (sorry Toni) and boosted Petter up! And the biggest event of the day was in the final stage when Marcus Gronholm (BP Ford team) who had been holding 2nd place had an off and damaged his car severely. At the time control Colin Clark (Rally Radio) said it was unclear whether Marcus could even make it the 30kms back to service. Under new rules in 2007 the cars can't go into service dragging on 3 wheels like in the past. The car has to have all four wheels into the final service for scrutineering. Marcus did make it back in the end but had lost so much time on the final stage that he gave up his 2nd to Francois Duval (Kronos Citroen) and Marcus' team mate Mikko Hirvonen moved up to 3rd and Marcus had to settle into 4th place. When Colin interviewed him later he said he was surely disappointed but this is rally and anything can happen until the very last second.
Petter ended the rally in 6th place, his best ever finish for Rally Germany and took 3 points. Jari-Matti also ended the rally in the last points position and scored a point for 8th place. Jari-Matti's first ever tarmac rally points! So all in all the result wasn't so bad!
The top 8 looked like this:
1. Sebastien Loeb, Citroen
2. Francois Duval, Citroen +20,3
3. Mikko Hirvonen, Ford +1.19,1
4. Marcus Grønholm, Ford +1.36,5
5. Jan Kopecky, Skoda +3.07,0
6. Petter Solberg, Subaru +3.14,7
7. Toni Gardemeister, Mitsubishi +3.37,5
8. Jari-Matti Latvala, Ford +5.29,3
In fact Petter would have been in 5th if it hadn't been for a gear box and clutch change which had to be done at mid day service. It normally takes more time but they managed to do it in 10 minutes but Petter was still 1 minute late out of service time control and incurred a 10 second penalty! Click Here to see the fantastic mechanics who made it possible and set a time record!
As a result the season standings have Gronholm in 1st, Loeb in 2nd, Mikko in 3rd and Petter in 4th!
Well done everyone, we are on to New Zealand in 10 days time!
Love,
Viki
xxoo
posted by Subaru Girl Viki at 8/21/2007 12:41:00 AM
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