BP-Ford World Rally Team claimed a double points haul as three Focus RS World Rally Cars finished in the top nine on the Rally of Turkey yesterday. Toni Gardemeister and Jakke Honkanen were sixth, finishing this seventh round of the FIA World Rally Championship 41.0 seconds and one place ahead of team-mates Roman Kresta and Jan Možný. A third privately-entered Focus RS, driven by Antony Warmbold and Michael Orr, was ninth.
The result means that Gardemeister and Honkanen maintained their record of scoring points on all seven rounds of the championship to date. They lie fifth in the drivers' standings while Kresta and Možný are eighth with nine rounds remaining. Ford remains third in the manufacturers' table.
The three-day Rally of Turkey was the third consecutive hot weather, rough road event. Based at Kemer in the south of the country, drivers faced 348.43km of competition in a route of 1183.54km. Inconsistent weather in the Anatolian Mountains made conditions tricky. Sweltering heat contrasted with torrential rain, and even hail, and the clay-based tracks cut up quickly in places to expose large rocks on the ideal driving line. Competitors also had to contend with mud and fog and accurate tyre selection was difficult throughout.
With no chance of climbing the leaderboard unless drivers in front hit trouble and with no pressure from behind, Gardemeister took no risks in his Castrol-branded Focus RS on today's short final leg, comprising just two speed tests and 49.80km. "It's been a hard weekend," said the 30-year-old Finn. "I've scored points which is good but I really wanted to finish ahead of Markko Märtin and I didn't. I've not been so happy with my performance. I like the roads here but I've not had a good feeling. I lost time yesterday with a puncture and that was my fault because I hit some stones.
"I was happier with the set-up of the car today. I made the suspension stiffer and that felt good but then the grip wasn't as strong, so maybe if we change the set-up we need to look at different tyre options as well. The surface is different on the next round in Greece and I'm aiming for a good result there," he added.
Team-mate Kresta maintained the risk-free strategy that has served him so well in recent rallies. The 29-year-old Czech driver, handicapped by an illness to co-driver Možný who suffered with a sore throat and swollen glands all rally, cruised through the final day but admitted to stepping up the pace on the opening stage when he was fifth fastest.
"I pushed hard on the opening stage, which had good grip. The last stage had a lot of loose gravel on the surface so I made sure I was careful. It's been a good weekend and I've now scored points on each of the last three rallies which shows good consistency. It has been hard to choose the right tyres with the constant weather changes, and it's especially difficult when the weather is so different on the recce than it is on the rally," he said.
Warmbold was happy with a top 10 finish after a difficult weekend. "We've had our ups and downs," said the German. "I lack experience in muddy conditions because I don't trust the grip. It's like driving on snow without studs. I struggled for confidence on the first day but yesterday and today have been much better."
Private entrants Henning Solberg and Cato Menkerud finished 11th in their similar Focus RS. The Norwegians restarted today under the SupeRally regulations after retiring with a throttle problem yesterday. They lost third gear after 10km of the final 33.35km test, but it made no difference to their final placing. "The weekend has not been as good as it was in Cyprus last month. Maybe we've been a little unlucky but it hasn't really come together on this event," said Solberg.
Team Round Up
Overnight leader Sebastien Loeb (Citroen) cruised to his fourth consecutive victory and his fifth of the season. The Frenchman won by 59.6sec and leads the championship by 13 points. Having overhauled Marcus Grönholm (Peugeot) yesterday, Petter Solberg (Subaru) pulled further ahead today and took second, 15.7sec ahead of the Finn. Carlos Sainz (Citroen) claimed fourth on his return to the sport ahead of Markko Märtin (Peugeot). Eighth place was sufficient for Gigi Galli (Mitsubishi) to take the final points position in both the drivers' and manufacturers' series.
Next round
The final episode of this eastern Mediterranean trilogy comes in Greece later this month. The Acropolis Rally is based in Lamia on 23 - 26 June.
Final positions 1. S Loeb/D Elena F Citroen Xsara 4hr 21min 48.0sec 2. P Solberg/P Mills N Subaru Impreza 4hr 22min 47.6sec 3. M Grönholm/T Rautiainen FIN Peugeot 307 4hr 23min 03.3sec 4. C Sainz/M Marti B Citroen Xsara 4hr 26min 05.9sec 5. M Märtin/M Park EE Peugeot 307 4hr 27min 45.2sec 6. T Gardemeister/J Honkanen FIN Ford Focus RS 4hr 29min 55.3sec 7. R Kresta/J Možný CZ Ford Focus RS 4hr 30min 36.3sec 8. G Galli/G D'Amore I Mitsubishi Lancer 4hr 31min 26.9sec 9. A Warmbold/M Orr D Ford Focus RS 4hr 33min 14.7sec 10 H Rovanperä/R Pietilainen FIN Mitsubishi Lancer 4hr 35min 39.4sec
FIA World Rally Championship (after round 7 of 16) Drivers 1. S Loeb 55pts 2. P Solberg 42pts 3. M Märtin 38pts 4. M Grönholm 32pts 5. T Gardemeister 31pts 6. H Rovanperä 13pts 8. R Kresta 10pts
Manufacturers 1. Peugeot 72pts 2. Citroen 68pts 3. Ford 49pts 4. Subaru 46pts 5. Mitsubishi 30pts 6. Skoda 8pts
Stage Times
Stage 17: 1. P Solberg 11min 57.8sec; 2. Loeb + 8.7; 3. Grönholm + 9.9; 4. Galli + 24.8; 5. Kresta + 27.6; 6. Gardemeister + 29.9.
Overall: 1. Loeb 3hr 56min 39.7sec; 2. Solberg + 1:07.9; 3. Grönholm + 1:25.6; 4. Sainz + 4:03.6; 5. Märtin + 5:34.7; 6. Gardemeister + 7:54.5; 7. Kresta + 8:12.4.
Stage 18: 1. Grönholm 24min 58.0sec; 2. P Solberg + 2.0; 3. Loeb + 10.3; 4. Galli + 22.7; 5. Gardemeister + 23.1; 6. Sainz + 24.6; 10. Kresta + 46.2.
Overall: 1. Loeb 4hr 21min 48.0sec; 2. Solberg + 59.6; 3. Grönholm + 1:15.3; 4. Sainz + 4:017.9; 5. Märtin + 5:57.2; 6. Gardemeister + 8:07.3; 7. Kresta + 8:48.3
