Kuali Baba SG Before the new WRC season begins, here is the driver line-up: Citröen C4 WRC Sebastian Loeb (France, World Champion)/Daniel Elena François Duval (Belgium)/Stephane Prevot Ford Focus WRC Toni Gardemeister (Finland)/Jakke Honkanen Roman Kresta (Czech Republic)/Jan Tomanek Subaru Impreza WRC Petter Solberg (Norway)/Phil Mills Stephane Sarrazin (France)/Jacques-Julien Renucci Chris Atkinson (Australia)/Glenn Macneall Peugeot 307 WRC Marcus Grönholm (Finland)/Timo Rautianen Markko Märtin (Estonia)/Michael 'Beef' Park Mitsubishi Lancer WRC Harri Rovanpera (Finland)/Risto Pietilainen Gilles Panizzi (France)/Herve Panizzi Gianluigi Galli (Italy)/Guido D'Amore koda Fabia WRC Armin Schwarz (Germany)/Manfred Hiemer 2nd car: Janne Tuohino (Finland, gravel rallies)/Mikko Markkula Jani Paasonen (Finland, gravel rallies)/Jani Vainikka Alex Bengue (France, asphalt rallies)/Caroline Escudero 3rd car: Mattias Ekstrom (Sweden)/Stephan Bergman Jan Kopecky (Czech Republic)/Filip Schovanek
Kuali Baba SG Monte Carlo is the oldest tally on the calendar, first organised in 1911. This year sees its 75th running. Competitors start and finish in Monaco while most of the action takes places in the mountains of France. The conditions are mixed - snow, black ice, rain and dry asphalt can make appearances in the same event. Tommi Makinen won the rally 4 times consecutively - 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 - the only driver to have done so in history. Walter Rhorl and Sandro Munari also recorded 4 victories each. This event is Peugeot's jinx in recent times - it never gets a good result here.
EvilDead SG Last Peugeot victory was in 1985, courtesy of Ari and the 205T16. He said that was his best victory
Kuali Baba SG There’s a question mark over the reliability of the new C4 but Loeb has a good chance of winning this. Let’s see how Gardemeister and Kresta perform in better machinery.
EvilDead SG This year will be Duval's best chance of securing his maiden WRC victory, lets hope he doesn't disappoint his fans, Citroen and himself. The pressure is on him.
EvilDead SG The drivers moved south for the second stage of the race, Saint-Antonin / Toudon. While the course is mostly uncomplicated, the drivers must keep an eye for the sharp rocks on the side of the road, which can easily puncture the tyres. This time a driver was able to beat the mighty Xsaras: Marcus Gronholm! The Peugeot driver sets the pace with a time of 14'05"7, only three tenths better than Francois Duval in second place and 1"1 faster than Sebastien Loeb in third. Behind the leading trio is Petter Solberg. The Norwegian's rhythm is also very close to the leader: he loses only 2"5 seconds over Gronholm in this stage. Markko Martin takes fifth place in his Peugeot 307. The Estonian is just barely faster than Toni Gardemeister in sixth, which is an encouraging performance by the Ford driver. Gilles Panizzi (Mitsubishi), Didier Auriol (Peugeot), Stephane Sarrazin (Subaru), and Roman Kresta (Ford) complete the top ten in that respective order. Loeb is still the leader in the overall results, followed by his teammate Francois Duval in second position and Marcus Gronholm in third place. Armin Schwarz continued to lose time in this stage because of the differential problem affecting his Fabia.
Kuali Baba SG Duval, Auriol, Sarrazin and Schwarz are all out of the rally, while Panizzi won SS8! At the end of Day 2 the order is Loeb, Grönholm, Gardemeister, Solberg, Panizzi, Märtin, Kresta, Bengue, Rovanpera, Stohl
EvilDead SG If he wins a rally this year it will be on gravel and not on his favourite surface tarmac.
EvilDead SG shame I was hoping for Sarrazin to do well. Bengue has been quite impressive in the below average Fabia
