Subaru World Rally Team report
Most of leg three’s stages took place to the north-west of the main service area at Valence, although the Superspecial in Monte Carlo tomorrow morning is also included as part of this leg of the rally. Today there were six stages in the mountains (two loops of three tests). The total competitive mileage including the Monaco Superspecial is 131.52km.
Weather
Another dry, clear and sunny day, although there were damp patches on the morning stages. Temperatures ranged from nine degrees Celsius to a high of 13 in the middle of the day, before falling to eight degrees by the time the crews returned to the central service area in Valence in the evening.
Summary
The Subaru World Rally Team still has two cars firmly in the points with just one stage remaining in this year’s Rallye Monte Carlo. Chris Atkinson was one of the stars of the rally and set two fastest stage times as he fought over fourth position with Mikko Hirvonen. Chris lost the position by a slender margin on the last stage of the day, but remains confident that he will have a chance of clawing it back on the Monaco superspecial tomorrow morning. Petter Solberg successfully moved one place up the order from seventh to sixth and was satisfied with the stage times he set during the leg.
Stage Summaries
SS9: 0731hrs Labatie D\'Andaure - Lalouvesc 1 (19.67km)
It was a cold and bright morning as the first stage of leg three got underway. Both Subaru World Rally Team drivers had their sights set on maintaining their positions in the points. Chris set a time of 11m 07.9s and lost some time to Mikko Hirvonen behind him, but wasn’t particularly worried: “We had a good run but we stalled on a slow corner and lost 10 seconds. It was my mistake and it took a while for us to get going again. If it wasn’t for that, we would have been up with Mikko.” Petter posted the fourth-fastest effort through the stage and edged closer to sixth-placed Toni Gardemeister in the overall standings. Just 6.6s separated Subaru’s driver from a move up the order. ”Things worked well in that stage,” explained Petter. “We made a good tyre choice and I’m trying hard, so we’ll see if we can catch Toni today.”
Fastest time: Seb Loeb (Citroen) 10m 47.2s
SS10: 0813hrs St Bonnet - St Bonnet 1 (25.93km)
This stage was one of the fastest in the event. Highlighting his growing confidence behind the wheel of the Impreza WRC2006 on asphalt, Chris was quickest through the stage, 3.6s quicker than Marcus Gronholm. It was also the first time Chris had set a fastest time on an asphalt special stage, and the 22nd stage win of his WRC career. It was the Subaru World Rally Team’s first stage win on a hard-surface event since Rallye Monte Carlo in 2005. Chris smashed the record for the St Bonnet stage, which was 13m 27s, set by Armin Schwarz in a Toyota Celica in 1996. Crucially, Chris and Glenn also pulled a further 8.9s clear of Hirvonen and strengthened his hold on fourth position. Petter was fifth fastest through the stage with a time of 12m 50.4s, having lost a few seconds when he briefly understeered wide on a corner. Nevertheless, he set a time fast enough to move him up the overall order from seventh to sixth, past Gardemeister.
Fastest time: Chris Atkinson (Subaru) 12m 42.7s
SS11: 0938hrs Lamastre - St Barthelemy Grozon 1 (18.76km)
The last test before the competitors returned to service was very slippery towards the end, ready to catch out the unwary. Chris was not able to match his stunning performance on the previous stage and dropped 11.4s to Hirvonen. The Australian felt he was unable to get into a decent rhythm during the stage. Petter’s 11m 56.6s effort put him seventh fastest, but crucially he only dropped a small amount of time to Gardemeister, who was fighting with the Norwegian for sixth. Petter said: “I couldn’t get a very good feeling on the wet and slippery roads in the last two stages, so we were not as quick as I would have liked.”
Fastest time: Mikko Hirvonen (Ford) 11m 46.9s
SS12: 1303hrs Labatie D\'Andaure - Lolouvesc 2 (19.67km)
After mid-day service, the action began under clear blue skies. Chris resumed his battle with Hirvonen, but lost fourth place by just four-tenths of a second. “I struggled with the car moving around too much,” said the Australian. “But we were fast on the next stage this morning, so we need a quick time to pull it back again.” Petter started the afternoon with a slender lead over Gardemeister, but was second-fastest and pulled out 11.9s over his rival in the stage to safeguard his sixth position. “It’s going quite well now,” reported the Norwegian, who posted a time of 10m 45.9s. “We are working all the time to get quicker, but I’m quite happy with the position we are in so we will just try to make sure we finish.”
Fastest time: Hirvonen (Ford) 10m 45.1s
SS13: 1345hrs St Bonnet - St Bonnet 2 (25.93km)
With just two full stages remaining in the rally, Chris knew he had to respond to Hirvonen to stand any chance of regaining fourth place overall. Once again he clicked with this fast, flowing piece of road and stormed to his second fastest stage time of the event, reclaiming his fourth place in the best way possible. Hirvonen was 7.6s slower, meaning Subaru’s man took a 7.2s advantage into the final test of the day. Petter came through in 12m 38.7s, significantly faster than his morning run through the stage, and also 10.8s clear of Gardemeister.
Fastest time: Atkinson (Subaru) 12m 32.4s
SS14: 1510hrs Lamastre - St Barthelemy Grozon 2 (18.76km)
The last stage of Saturday was mainly dry, although there were some slippery patches of dirt along the second half of the route. Chris knew his fourth position would come back under attack from Hirvonen on this test. The Finn won the stage and although Chris was second fastest, he slipped back to fifth place by just 0.8s. Completing a strong final stage for the Subaru World Rally Team, Petter was third fastest with a time of 11m 42.8s. After a final service halt in Valence, the rally cars were loaded onto transporters and taken 300 kilometres south to Monte Carlo for the Monaco superspecial on Sunday morning.
Fastest time: Hirvonen (Ford) 11m 30.5s
Quotes
Subaru World Rally Team Managing Director, Richard Taylor: “There’s still one more stage to go but it looks like being a positive start to the season. We’re very pleased with the way our new partnership with BFGoodrich has worked. Chris has driven very well throughout the rally and it will be interesting to see if he can grab back fourth place on the superspecial in Monte Carlo tomorrow morning. Overall, Petter has had a good event. For the entire team it has been all about getting a better understanding of the tyres and how our car works on them, and what we’ve seen gives us a lot of confidence that we can continue to improve the performance of the car as the season progresses.”
Chris Atkinson: “We just lost too much time at the end of the final stage today. I thought we’d done enough to hold Mikko back but that wasn’t the case. It will certainly make the superspecial in Monaco very interesting and will be good for the spectators. Even though we lost position to Mikko it’s been a hugely encouragin
g weekend. We’ve been able to battle competitively on asphalt and it’s the first time I’ve been in a position to do that. It’s a good step forward for us.”
Petter Solberg: “Our position is okay and overall I am very happy with this rally. It has been a tough weekend and the time we lost on the long opening stage on Friday really hurt our chances of getting any higher up the order. Don’t forget that we have also been learning more about how the BFGoodrich tyres work with our car this weekend. Chris has gone particularly well and it has been a good team effort. The atmosphere on this rally has been incredible. I’m really looking forward to tomorrow. I know the roads pretty well and it’s good to know my family will be watching from our apartment!”
Tomorrow
The final day of Rallye Monte Carlo consists of just one stage – a 2.8km test around part of the circuit used for the Monaco Grand Prix. The event will be broadcast live on television and will offer the World Rally Championship competitors a chance to show off their skills in the millionaire’s playground.
Pos Driver Make Time
1. Loeb Citroen 3:08:36.2
2. Sordo Citroen + 31.1
3. Gronholm Ford + 1:23.6
4. Hirvonen Ford + 2:28.6
5. Atkinson Subaru + 2:29.4
6. Solberg Subaru + 3:06.0
7. Gardemeister Mitsubishi + 3:38.3
8. Kopecky Skoda + 4:36.4
9. Cuoq Peugeot + 5:55.2
10. Stohl Citroen + 6:35.7
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