By finishing third and fifth on the Rally of Turkey, the 307 WRC drivers Marcus Gronholm and Markko Martin have allowed Peugeot to retain the lead of the manufacturers' championship with a four-point advantage over Citroen.
The two stages which made up the final leg of the Rally of Turkey decided the podium places behind the undisputed winner Sebastien Loeb. Even though Marcus set fastest time on the last stage, it was not enough to take second place from Subaru's Petter Solberg – who was fastest by nearly 10 seconds on the penultimate stage.
Marcus Gronholm: « I did my best to pass Petter today – I even removed the air conditioning unit from my car at service in order to save a bit of weight, but there was nothing more I could do. We were very close until the last 7 kilometres of SS17, then Petter did a very good time. Of course I was pushing, but my instructions were to get to the finish and make sure of scoring some points for Peugeot in the manufacturers championship. Luckily we were able to do that and Peugeot remains in the lead. »
Markko Martin: "This has been a tough rally for us and we have struggled to find complete confidence in the car. It was also difficult to judge the tyre choices, but for the most part I think we got it right. We still have a lot of work to do, but at least we have come away with some points which are vital for both championships. Today we did not take any risks and just made sure we got to the finish with no problems. There was not much to get excited about ! »
Jean Pierre Nicolas : «Looking at the result, it's clear that we have limited the damage by keeping the lead of the manufacturers' championship, but to be honest that is not enough. Speaking objectively, we did not show ourselves to be capable of winning. We will take clear stock of the situation, first with Pirelli but also with our car – as our Pirelli-equipped rivals were frequently quicker than us. This was particularly the case on on the very slippery sections, where our technical team needs to improve the 307WRC, which currently seems difficult to drive. Marcus Gronholm has driven a very good and intelligent rally, which proves once more the progress he has made as a driver. Markko Martin has been once more a model of consistency, as has been the case since the start of the season. »
Final classification : 1. Loeb Citroën 3h56mn39s7 2. Solberg Subaru at 1'07"9 3. Grönholm Peugeot at 1'25"6 4. Sainz Citroën at 4'03''6 5. Märtin Peugeot at 5'34''7 6. Gardemeister Ford at 7'54''5
World Championships classification Drivers 1. Loeb 55pts 2. Solberg 42pts 3. Märtin 38pts 4. Grönholm 32pts 5. Gardemeister 31pts 6.Rovanperä 13pts
Constructors 1. Peugeot 72pts 2. Citroën 68pts 3. Ford 49pts 4. Subaru 46pts 5. Mitsubishi 30pts 6. Skoda 8pts
