Mitsubishi announced the signing of Harri Rovanpera today. Rovanpera will contest all 16 rounds of the championship next season. Mitsubishi management said the Gilles Panizzi and Gigi Galli will share the second Lancer, with Panizzi running all of the sealed surface events and selected gravel events. There is also a possibility that a third car […]
Posted on December 7th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on WRC Rosters Nearly Complete
Ford announced today that Roman Kresta would join Toni Gardemeister and drive the second works Focus for the 2005 campaign. Kresta previously split his time between a third works car at Peugeot and a Bozian racing privateer Peugeot. The only team with a seat remaining is Mitsubishi, and that is expected to be filled by […]
Posted on December 3rd, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on More WRC News
After spending yesterday wrestling with the political applications of my faith and today talking with Joshua about reformed theology, I’m going to rest my mind a bit… Since there are still some unanswered questions about what the WRC driver landscape will look like next season, I’ll throw out my predictions of what the line-ups will […]
Posted on November 18th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on A Change of Pace
Rarely is Australia a rally of attrition, but this year’s race wasn’t typical. Only four factory cars made it to the finishing ramp (one of each of the four major makers), and one (Marcus Gronholm) crashed out not once but twice. In the end, Sebastien Loeb matched Didier Auriol’s record of six rally wins in […]
Posted on November 14th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rally Australia Recap
On a lighter note, let’s talk about the season ending Rally Australia. First, a couple of big pieces of news: 1. PSA, which owns both Peugeot and Citroen, announced that 2005 would be Citroen’s and Peugeot’s final year competing the WRC. Shocking news indeed, but this could open the door for Skoda and Mitsubishi to […]
Posted on November 11th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rally Australia Preview
Finally, something new to report besides Petter Solberg winning and Sebastien Loeb taking second. Markko Martin set a blistering pace all weekend in his Focus, and beat Loeb by over two minutes. Ford was set to sweep the top two places, but Francios Duval had engine trouble on day three and didn’t even make the […]
Posted on October 18th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rallye de France Wrapup
As usual, the Rallye de France is providing some surprises, best of which is the fact that the top two positions aren’t held by drivers named Loeb or Solberg. In fact, Ford is finally showing some speed, with Francois Duval and Markko Martin holding the top positions going into day two. Sebastien Loeb has picked […]
Posted on October 15th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rallye de France Day One
Petter Solberg cruised to his third consecutive rally win on Sunday, setting 13 of 19 scratch times. But the win did little for his title hopes, as Sebastien Loeb finished second, giving up only two championship to Solberg. Loeb’s lead stands at 26 points with only 30 left on the table. Solberg has promised to […]
Posted on October 4th, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rally Italy Recap
Petter Solberg is firming in control of the rally, but with Sebastien Loeb comfortably holding second place, it does little to help his title defence. Marcus Gronholm held second place through most of the day til turbo problems got the better of his Peugeot, and the Finn lost over 23 minutes to the leaders, though, […]
Posted on October 2nd, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rally Italy — Leg Two
A switch for this year’s rally in Italy — instead of the sealed roads of San Remo, the WRC comes to the island of Sardina, with it’s narrow, sandy roads. Both Sebastien Loeb and Petter Solberg downplayed their chances to win, given their unenviable tasks of running first on the roads on day one, acting […]
Posted on October 1st, 2004 by admin
Filed under: World Rally Championship | Comments Off on Rally Italy – Day 1